1nfrequent
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2012
Just got back from a holiday to the US so thought I'd share my highs and lows:
HIGHS
- Got some unexpected pixie dust from the off with a complimentary upgrade to Club Level at the Beach Club. First time I've ever stayed in one of those rooms and I did enjoy the free breakfast and snacks but to be honest, for the price you pay for those rooms I simply didn't eat enough to make it a cost effective option for me. It was my first stay at the Beach Club and I did enjoy it - cast members were great, the location is awesome but it is very family-orientated. If you're on an all adult trip, you may prefer Yacht Club.
- Eating at new to me restaurants - I deliberately decided to go to different restaurants than I've been to on previous trips and got good meals at Tokyo Dining, Nine Dragons, and Chefs du France.
- Fast passes and single rider lines - I saved a lot of time using these and managed to do loads of rides multiple times - particularly Expedition Everest, Space Mountain and Test Track.
- Weather - it had been pouring down the week before I arrived but they went through an unseasonal warm period while I was there - the temperature was consistently between 27 and 30 degrees celsius but not too humid.
- St Patrick's Day - it was a bit weird to be in the parks during Paddy's Day because they make such a big deal of it but there was a good vibe - lots of green being worn and while I do feel a bit embarrassed that the UK is lumped in with Ireland in Epcot the celebrations were good fun and I got given some green beads (which rubbed off and gave me an allergic reaction but it's the thought that counts ...
)
- Cast members - with the exception of one (described below) the cast members were great - those manning Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion were completely into the whole creepy thing and everyone else was friendly and helpful.
- Universal Studios - the 2 new Harry Potter rides are really good and the world building there is amazing. I think that Disney will always be popular because there's much more to do there (especially for families with small kids) but Universal Studios is kicking bottom in the ride design stakes.
- Queues generally - I was there during the later part of spring break, which I thought would mean nightmare queues but with the exception of Soarin' and Seven Dwarves (which both came in at about 90 to 120 minutes max) the queues weren't particularly long.
LOWS
None of these spoiled my trip but were more minor issues
- Magic band woe. Having linked my band to my booking a couple of months before going (and got all the confirmation messages), I arrived to find myself presented with a grey band of shame rather than a blue band of awesome. Concierge told me that this happens a lot apparently - there's a glitch in the system so it doesn't take even though it says it has. In the end they found me a blue band, which was cool but it's something to be aware of.
- Although the cast members were generally great, I did have an unpleasant experience with a waiter at Chefs du France. I don't know if he was playing a snooty French waiter or if he was having a bad day and taking it out on me by being snide, but he was really rude and I had no hesitation in calling him on it.
- Cancelling dining reservations - I had made dining reservations before leaving using MDE but ended up not being able to make my early lunch reservation for 50s Prime Time. I tried to cancel it on MDE but it doesn't let you without making a call (and apparently in addition to having to pay for the call they charge you for the privilege of cancelling - even if you do it several hours before on the same day). I went to 50s Prime Time direct to cancel it direct and the cast member told me not to worry as she'd take care of it. However she didn't do it at all (which I only discovered when I went back an hour later to check as it was still showing on MDE) so I had to get another cast member to do it. I then discovered that even if you cancel direct, the reservation will still show on MDE, which means you can't make another reservation for that meal time, even if it's for a later time. Another guest later told me that cancelling direct with the concierge may have resolved the problem but I didn't think of it at the time. Anyway, something to note for the future.
- Single rider line abuse - there were loads of groups using the single rider line and then asking to be sat together. Some cast members were hard line and said no but others just let it go because they didn't want an argument. That created delays for those of us who were genuine single riders.
- Seven Dwarves Mine Cart - this opened a couple of weeks after my last visit so I was looking forward to riding it but it's a pretty short ride and the queuing experience wasn't as great as the imagineers made out (there's basically a couple of games but you wait a while to get there). I honestly prefer Big Thunder Mountain as a ride and I'd only recommend doing it on a fast pass.
Finally, this didn't happen to me but I got talking to a US family on the bus one morning and though I'd pass it on. They had their pushchair stolen while they were on a ride. They hadn't left anything valuable on it but the pushchair itself was apparently an expensive model and relatively new. Apparently Disney security is aware of this but it's difficult for them to monitor because it's so easy for someone to just go up and walk away with one. I don't know if there's such a thing as pushchair locks but if you've got an expensive model, it might be worth while looking into getting one or alternatively make sure you don't leave it unattended. I don't have kids myself and I didn't speak to anyone else who experienced this while I was there but I know most of the UK Disboarders here have younger children so I thought it was worth mentioning.
Gotta say I think it's going to be a while before I go back to WDW - although I am looking at a trip to Hong Kong so I can complete the Disney set (well, at least until Shanghai opens ...)
1F
HIGHS
- Got some unexpected pixie dust from the off with a complimentary upgrade to Club Level at the Beach Club. First time I've ever stayed in one of those rooms and I did enjoy the free breakfast and snacks but to be honest, for the price you pay for those rooms I simply didn't eat enough to make it a cost effective option for me. It was my first stay at the Beach Club and I did enjoy it - cast members were great, the location is awesome but it is very family-orientated. If you're on an all adult trip, you may prefer Yacht Club.
- Eating at new to me restaurants - I deliberately decided to go to different restaurants than I've been to on previous trips and got good meals at Tokyo Dining, Nine Dragons, and Chefs du France.
- Fast passes and single rider lines - I saved a lot of time using these and managed to do loads of rides multiple times - particularly Expedition Everest, Space Mountain and Test Track.
- Weather - it had been pouring down the week before I arrived but they went through an unseasonal warm period while I was there - the temperature was consistently between 27 and 30 degrees celsius but not too humid.
- St Patrick's Day - it was a bit weird to be in the parks during Paddy's Day because they make such a big deal of it but there was a good vibe - lots of green being worn and while I do feel a bit embarrassed that the UK is lumped in with Ireland in Epcot the celebrations were good fun and I got given some green beads (which rubbed off and gave me an allergic reaction but it's the thought that counts ...
)- Cast members - with the exception of one (described below) the cast members were great - those manning Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion were completely into the whole creepy thing and everyone else was friendly and helpful.
- Universal Studios - the 2 new Harry Potter rides are really good and the world building there is amazing. I think that Disney will always be popular because there's much more to do there (especially for families with small kids) but Universal Studios is kicking bottom in the ride design stakes.
- Queues generally - I was there during the later part of spring break, which I thought would mean nightmare queues but with the exception of Soarin' and Seven Dwarves (which both came in at about 90 to 120 minutes max) the queues weren't particularly long.
LOWS
None of these spoiled my trip but were more minor issues
- Magic band woe. Having linked my band to my booking a couple of months before going (and got all the confirmation messages), I arrived to find myself presented with a grey band of shame rather than a blue band of awesome. Concierge told me that this happens a lot apparently - there's a glitch in the system so it doesn't take even though it says it has. In the end they found me a blue band, which was cool but it's something to be aware of.
- Although the cast members were generally great, I did have an unpleasant experience with a waiter at Chefs du France. I don't know if he was playing a snooty French waiter or if he was having a bad day and taking it out on me by being snide, but he was really rude and I had no hesitation in calling him on it.
- Cancelling dining reservations - I had made dining reservations before leaving using MDE but ended up not being able to make my early lunch reservation for 50s Prime Time. I tried to cancel it on MDE but it doesn't let you without making a call (and apparently in addition to having to pay for the call they charge you for the privilege of cancelling - even if you do it several hours before on the same day). I went to 50s Prime Time direct to cancel it direct and the cast member told me not to worry as she'd take care of it. However she didn't do it at all (which I only discovered when I went back an hour later to check as it was still showing on MDE) so I had to get another cast member to do it. I then discovered that even if you cancel direct, the reservation will still show on MDE, which means you can't make another reservation for that meal time, even if it's for a later time. Another guest later told me that cancelling direct with the concierge may have resolved the problem but I didn't think of it at the time. Anyway, something to note for the future.
- Single rider line abuse - there were loads of groups using the single rider line and then asking to be sat together. Some cast members were hard line and said no but others just let it go because they didn't want an argument. That created delays for those of us who were genuine single riders.
- Seven Dwarves Mine Cart - this opened a couple of weeks after my last visit so I was looking forward to riding it but it's a pretty short ride and the queuing experience wasn't as great as the imagineers made out (there's basically a couple of games but you wait a while to get there). I honestly prefer Big Thunder Mountain as a ride and I'd only recommend doing it on a fast pass.
Finally, this didn't happen to me but I got talking to a US family on the bus one morning and though I'd pass it on. They had their pushchair stolen while they were on a ride. They hadn't left anything valuable on it but the pushchair itself was apparently an expensive model and relatively new. Apparently Disney security is aware of this but it's difficult for them to monitor because it's so easy for someone to just go up and walk away with one. I don't know if there's such a thing as pushchair locks but if you've got an expensive model, it might be worth while looking into getting one or alternatively make sure you don't leave it unattended. I don't have kids myself and I didn't speak to anyone else who experienced this while I was there but I know most of the UK Disboarders here have younger children so I thought it was worth mentioning.
Gotta say I think it's going to be a while before I go back to WDW - although I am looking at a trip to Hong Kong so I can complete the Disney set (well, at least until Shanghai opens ...)
1F
