The story so far...

[DanMedix]

ok, I'm now officially 24 hours into my WDW trip. Here's some quickies...

1 - the dining plan....there's GOT to be an easier way!!! (I remember during my honeymoon in 1994, we had the "food and fun plan", which seemed MUCH easier to deal with. Why can't this current plan be as easy?

2 - crowds. Getting worse. Can't convince family of this fact, however. : (

3 - Pop Century. Still ok. We're staying in the 80's section this time. A bit cool to swim (tried today earlier...felt great IN the pool...but turned into a Dan-sicle when I got OUT of the pool). It's kinda cool becoming slightly disoriented by walking up and down the Rubik's cube staircases.

4 - Epcot was ok today, DTD was busy, mostly because it was saturday night. Looking forward to a good day tomorrow..

...more to come...

 

[sah95]

Thanks for the live report! Which dining plan do you have and what problems are you having w/ it?? I'm undecided on getting the dining plan this time.
TIA - Sarah

 

[Alesia]

Was the Food & Fun Plan the one where you prepaid $30 per person per day and they gave you $40 of food per day?

 

[seashoreCM]

Q:

1 - the dining plan....there's GOT to be an easier way!!! ... the "food and fun plan", which seemed MUCH easier to deal with. Why can't this current plan be as easy?

A:

2 - crowds. Getting worse.

Disney can't serve everyone dinner between 5 and 7 like they used to.

 

[mouseman41]

Thanks for the update. What is the problem with the meal plan? We used it the last 2 trips and found it to be wonderful.

 

[RMulieri]

I agree the dining plan does have its issues.But I found on my recent trip the issue stems from 1) people not having the first clue how it works or what is included 2) People not keeping track of their credit usage and not knowing which restaurants are worth which number of credits, and not making sure the correct number of credits are deducted. Most of the lines and waits were angry and upset people because of these 2 things.Occasionally, the server at the restaurant would also get confused because of a large party size or they were new.

 

[danny1649]

For sharing,hope you have great day at WDW

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

I LOVE live reports....thanks for thinking of us!!
Good luck with the crowds....
I hear ya about the staircase at POP. That is part of the reason we request a ground floor room!!!!

 

[DanMedix]

The fam's napping, and I have a free moment for ya...

- my problems with the DDP (the standard plan) include:
*CM's who don't know what's included, or what to call a "dessert" or "snack"

*inconsistency with "adult/child" portions. Some restaurants enforce portion rules, some don't. This makes ordering a bit of a challenge sometimes.


Yes, the "Food and Fun Plan" was the one they had back in 1994, that let you have just about anything, anywhere. I'm absolutely sure WDW lost money on it. But, hey, at least it was easier for us to figure out..LOL


Today. MK so far...BUSY!!!!! Got there at rope drop, and LORD, was it crowded! (and the airline wouldn't let me bring my machete...AAAAGH!) But, lines aren't too bad, and are at the very least manageable. However, today, it seemed like I've run into a few particular park stereotypes..

- I've been hit, and almost run over, by an ECV! one lady going against the flow at the splash mountain exit who claimed she couldn't see me...

- my DD was almost knocked over by....what could possibly be..A BRAZILIAN TOUR GROUP (group of mid to late 20 yr olds..no flags or chants or anything, but thought DD(9) was a tackling dummy.

But, like I said, it's not bad so far. In Fantasyland, Dumbo could use a coat of paint, but at least it's up and running. We had a great CM at Splash Mountain, who let us ride a 2nd time with no wait, because the photo people deleted our picture. Probably because of my inlaws....

....ON THAT SUBJECT.....

we're with BIL, SIL, and nephew (5). They thought it would be ok if the nephew (their son) sat on their lap during the ride. Apparently, this is a safety violation, and I can certainly understand. But oh well...



My DD and DS, not to brag, are doing quite well on this trip. DS even got picked today for Jack Sparrow's pirate tutorial! I'll have Capn Jack pix up for the ladies on here later.

Tonight is EMH.....I REALLY HOPE crowds aren't bad. If they are, we'll divert after dinner. (ressies at LTT)

The POP folks are still as friendly and helpful as ever. So far, this place still gets my vote....ALTHOUGH there are drawbacks - mostly with your bus pick-up location proximity. POP's is the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRTHEST from the park. My SIL did put it best....the first two letters of Pop Century are "PO"....and they keep us "po folks" in the back. LOL

oh well....almost time to rouse the fam before dinner tonight. As usual, I'll keep ya posted.

 

[squirrel]

At MK I actually liked having the Pop bus stop at the end. There were a lot of people at the end of the evening that were back tracking to their bus line as they had gone too far. I never had any problem-just kept walking til the end!

 

[catne]

The POP folks are still as friendly and helpful as ever. So far, this place still gets my vote....ALTHOUGH there are drawbacks - mostly with your bus pick-up location proximity. POP's is the FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRTHEST from the park. My SIL did put it best....the first two letters of Pop Century are "PO"....and they keep us "po folks" in the back. LOL

QUOTE]




Now come on, we're not PO, we're just frugal...just getting the best bang for our buck...just...well, by the time you're done with Disney, you will be PO I guess. Just give the Mouse your last dollar, relax & have lots of fun for the rest of your vacation. Love your report so far.

 

[MapleGirl]

Thanks for the report! We're staying at Pop in January. We stayed there last year too (in the 90's section). I know what you mean about the looooong walks to the buses. Have a great trip and keep us updated!

 

[mycutiepatooties]

Thank you for the live reports! We are heading out Dec. 5th-14th so I'm reading all I can lately! I hope you have a great day tomorrow at the parks.

 

[DanMedix]

Mkay. It's about 9pm EST, and we're in the room, ready for nite-nite time. Last night's EMH at MK wasn't bad. This was actually my first time to see SpectroMagic....not bad at all.

Almost had a problem at LTT. Seems that my ressies somehow got screwed up, and placed for the night BEFORE we were there. but, thanks to a great CM named "Courtney D", we were able to get in, even though things were booked. (after all, we DID have ressies). I'll show pix in my official trip report later. But, after this experience, I had to call WDW Dining, and reconfirm my other ressies.

The rest of the night wasn't bad. The crowds were still larger than I'd like, but still mostly manageable. Spent a good bit of time in Tomorrowland and Main Street. My first time doing TTA (a nice diversion). DS' first time on Space Mtn too, now that he's tall enough.

Today, we slept in because of the late night. Enjoyed lunch at Teppan Edo (this time was even better than before! I love that place) then hopped on the boat to DHS, per inlaws' insistence. CROWDED...plus the fact that the park entrance card/ticket reader system went offline.....creating lots of cranky people. TSM? as they say in the northeast (and maybe some of you can help me with the exact pronounciation)...FUHGEDDABOUTIT!!!!! RNRC? FUHGEDDABOUTIT!!!!! FastPasses were gone by the time we got there. We did ToT, which was cool....and...DS DID STAR TOURS!!!!! Of course, he loved it.

If you want to do RnRC or TSM, GET THERE EARLY AND DO IT FIRST THING..or you'll NEVER get to do it!

Did GMR....not bad....had a "gangster" girl that I'd never seen before. Now I firmly believe that it helps when you're held captive at "gunpoint" by a cute girl ; )

After that, it was "get out of the crowd" time, and time for dinner and bed at POP.

Thus was my day. More events to come..just for you!

 

[ScrapperBelle]

Thanks for the report. We have some friends down there and I've been wondering about the crowds.

I agree about the dining plan vs. food and fun option. I felt like the food n fun was much easier to deal with. We've never had any problems with the dining plan, it's just more complicated.

 

[LittleBugsMama]

Awesome report! 16 days away for us and these reports make me feel like I am going to explode!!!

 

[SuperTink]

Hi Dan,

Keep posting!! I'd love to see how the crowds play out closer to the weekend. We'll be there in 4 days!!

Have a great time! :

 

[DanMedix]

Before I begin tonight, there are many of you who are curious about the crowds. I'll start off like this:

I hate crowds.
I absolutely despise being in the middle of 18million stanky cranky people with no manners and no deodorant. (That's why last year's OCT trip was such a treat)

I'm following TGM's advice. I was hoping it would make a difference.

...as we say in the south... "IT AIN'T".

I'll put it this way. The crowds were larger and less manageable today (and today was supposed to be the least busy park!). More on this topic later on in this post...just stay tuned....

We did a full day at DHS...and went commando, at that. (for those that don't know, this means that we went without a break) We were walking off the bus right when they started to let people in the turnstiles. We headed directly to TSM. By the time we got there......

...there was a 60 minute standby wait....and an even longer line TO GET FASTPASSES!!! Makes absolutely no sense to me. Yes, we went in the standby line. Now, I liked the ride, don't get me wrong. But, it's seriously not worth the hassle of trying to fight rude crowds for over an hour...JUST TO GET A STINKING FASTPASS!!

Was able to do Star Tours again, which is now DS's favorite. Had to skip the Jedi Training Academy, due to the rain (which one particular CM seemed quite overjoyed about.. ) But oh well....After DD got her face painted, it was time for lunch at Pizza Planet. Wasn't bad there, and the food wasn't bad either.

During the line for pix with Lightning McQueen and Mater, the photographer.....just.....left. Didn't say anything, didn't close the line.....she just.....left. I grabbed my own pic of DD with Mater (her fave), and left.

DS did Jedi Training Academy when it ran later, got great pix. Then it was time for his own round of face painting....then more riding.....

....and noticing that the crowds (that started to briefly thin out during the little bit of rain) are starting to come back...

After a few rounds of RnRC and ToT, and chatting for a brief moment with one of the 'Streetmosphere' characters (who did bear a close resemblance so someone we all know (*COUGH*ADVENTURERSCLUB*COUGH*), I decided to do a futile check to see if any TS restaurants could fit us in. 50's couldn't, but Sci-Fi got us in at the tables in the back. Not bad food....and the milkshakes are on the DDP!

One more time to Endor, then it's back to POP for laundry.....and some seriously nice Captain's Mai Tai's at the pool bar! (definitely recommended)

NOW, on to the subject of the crowds.......
Things were worse today, admittedly. But, when I was heading back to the room with mugs and mai tai's, my jaw dropped.....

not one, not two...but THREE...yes...THREE MAGICAL EXPRESS BUSES dropping NEW people off at POP.

Looks like the largest of the crowds has just begun...

....Guess Who's Coming to (Thanksgiving) Dinner?.......

____________________________________

but oh well.....what can I do? (except report to you guys and gals)

Tomorrow we have breakfast ressies at Ohana, so I'll keep you posted tomorrow night. In the meantime, it's bedtime for me.

night all!

 

[moonpie85]

We had a great CM at Splash Mountain, who let us ride a 2nd time with no wait, because the photo people deleted our picture. Probably because of my inlaws....

 

[sah95]

Great reviews! Can't wait for the next one!!
I agree with you about the stinky people. What is up with the b.o. at the happiest place on earth??? ha!ha!