Just back from a week at WDW...a few thoughts...

[Born 2B a Princess]

We got home Saturday night. We were at WDW from 7/18 (checked in that night) and then checked out Saturday morning.

Our schedule was as follows:

Saturday 7/18 -- Epcot
Sunday 7/19 -- DTD, visit other resorts, do things at our resort
Monday, 7/20 -- MK
Tuesday, 7/21 -- DHS
Wednesday 7/22 -- TL, DTD, whatever we wanted to do (non-park day)
Thursday, 7/23 -- AK in the morning, whatever park we wanted in the afternoon
Friday, 7/24 -- whatever parks we wanted to do
Saturday 7/25 -- BB in the morning, DTD for late lunch, leave to go home

I used the UOG park recommendations for all but Saturday -- my parents were with us that day and they really wanted to do Epcot.

The weather the first few days was fabulous -- not too hot or humid and not much rain. The crowds were much, much lighter than we expected (the UOG crowd predictions were mostly 9s with a couple of 8s). We only got out our ponchos once and by the time we got them out and put them on, the rain had stopped.

We were at rope drop every morning and that made a huge difference in how much we were able to get done, especially at AK and DHS. We had very good luck with the buses for the most part, but a few times we decided to drive ourselves because it meant an extra 30 minutes of sleep in the morning for the kids.

We used FP to the maximum extent possible and were surprised at how quickly all of the FPs for many rides ran out! Particularly for TSMM...we were at DHS about 30-40 minutes before rope drop and went straight to TSMM...had a 5 minute wait to ride and then got FPs when we got off -- the FPs were for 2:35 in the afternoon! Crazy! We went back to DHS on Friday. I didn't realize it was EMH (poor planning on my part but that was a "do whatever we want" day) and we arrived at 8:30. The line for TSMM was 50 minutes long and FPs were already for 10:50 am. By 11:30 or noon, the FPs were all gone (both days).

We also ended up at Epcot on Thursday, which was evening EMH. Never again! It was insane. Again, poor planning on my part. We were as far on the FW side of the lagoon as we could possibly get for IllumiNations but still, by the time we got to Soarin' it was a 40-45 minute wait. We waited and rode it because the kids wanted to and then went back to the hotel.

The weather got to be miserably hot and humid on Thursday and stayed that way for the rest of the trip. Drink LOTS of water -- I could tell when I wasn't drinking enough water because I would start to get a headache and feel a bit woozy. Sitting in the shade and drinking water helped a lot.

Really, the crowds were very manageable the entire time -- and actually seemed quite light most of the time -- other than the morning and evening EMHs. I doubt we'll ever do those again -- now I understand why the UOG says to avoid them. LOL It was fun to experience, but I don't think we'll do that again.

Tour groups -- there were lots of them (I counted at least 12 different tour groups, plus what appeared to be some local day camp programs at the water parks), but as long as we stayed ahead of them we didn't have any problems. They seemed to be much more calm and better behaved than on our last trip -- no shout-offs between Argentina and Brazil that we heard (we heard a lot of those on our last trip), although we were surprised to see some of the teenage girls in one group strip down to sports bras and spandex boy shorts one night at MK. They just stood in the road and took off their shirts and shorts -- interesting.

We had very pleasant interactions with CMs and noticed that while some guests appeared to be quite rude, the CMs were, without fail, patient and as helpful as could be. One thing I did notice was that there seemed to be more CMs who didn't speak English well and it caused some frustration for a few guests. We saw at least three occasions where another CM came over and intervened to help guests who were having language difficulties with CMs who didn't speak English very well.

It was a wonderful trip and we can't wait to go back!

I would be happy to answer any questions that I can.

[mariepapa]

Wow! Thanks for the great report. My family and I will be there from 8/23/-8/28. I am hoping for a good first family trip! I am taking your advice and getting the FP for TSMM at DHS right when it opens. Then we will worry about the thrill rides and such.

Marie

[plutolovr]

We had very pleasant interactions with CMs and noticed that while some guests appeared to be quite rude, the CMs were, without fail, patient and as helpful as could be. One thing I did notice was that there seemed to be more CMs who didn't speak English well and it caused some frustration for a few guests. We saw at least three occasions where another CM came over and intervened to help guests who were having language difficulties with CMs who didn't speak English very well.

Just to let you know, when Disney has the Brazil/Argentinian tour groups come in (and they come at certain times of the year), they bring in more CMs from those countries to help with the language and such.

[PIRATEGIRL007]

Sounds like you had a great trip!

Did you eat at any of the TS resturaunts? If so was the service/food comparable to what you previously had?

Thanks

[RJS]

Your Sunday plan indicated visiting other resorts - which ones did you visit and what were your thoughts on them?

This is something we've never had time for and have always wanted to pick a few to visit (we've stayed at AKL and Pop, so that's all we've seen).

Thanks!

[RandFamily]

Last August we also found that the EMH in both the morning and evening are insane with crowds. Years ago we loved the early openings and could get so much in, but those days are over. I definitely avoid them now!

[Born 2B a Princess]

Originally Posted by mariepapa

Wow! Thanks for the great report. My family and I will be there from 8/23/-8/28. I am hoping for a good first family trip! I am taking your advice and getting the FP for TSMM at DHS right when it opens. Then we will worry about the thrill rides and such.

Definitely get your FP for TSMM as soon as possible...they were gone for the day by noon at the latest, both days we were at DHS. If the standby line isn't too bad, I would go ahead and do it standby and then grab FPs. The risk you run is that then the line for RNRR is going to be longer and you won't be able to get a FP for that until after your FP window opens again. That really didn't bother us and it worked out well.

Originally Posted by plutolovr

Just to let you know, when Disney has the Brazil/Argentinian tour groups come in (and they come at certain times of the year), they bring in more CMs from those countries to help with the language and such.

I noticed that! I hadn't noticed it on our previous trip but on this trip I saw several CMs who had been brought in to help with the tour groups. I thought it was a great idea. The language barrier issues we saw weren't with the tour groups, usually...it was with English speaking guests and CMs who didn't speak English as a primary language (one of the CMs was from China and I can't remember where the other two were from). I could tell they were doing their best, and it was great that they kept their cool when those particular guests started to get riled up and unpleasant.

Originally Posted by PIRATEGIRL007

Sounds like you had a great trip!

Did you eat at any of the TS resturaunts? If so was the service/food comparable to what you previously had?

Thanks

We ate at Hollywood and Vine (Fantasmi dining package), Ohana, and Rainforest Cafe. We had planned to eat at Restaurant Marrakesh but I ended up cancelling that ADR. H&V was ok -- it's fairly standard buffet and actually we thought the food was better there on our last trip. The dessert bar is fabulous, though. We loved Ohana -- it was every bit as good as our last trip. We had not been to Rainforest Cafe before and the servings were HUGE. My two girls and I could have easily split a salad and still had leftovers. We were all very happy with our meals and the service was absolutely wonderful.

Originally Posted by RJS

Your Sunday plan indicated visiting other resorts - which ones did you visit and what were your thoughts on them?

This is something we've never had time for and have always wanted to pick a few to visit (we've stayed at AKL and Pop, so that's all we've seen).

Thanks!

Well, that was the plan but it ended up not happening again on this trip. I wanted to go to AKL, the Beach Club (to see the sand bottom pool), and AS Movies but we just never made it. My sister and her family stayed at AKL and loved it and said they would stay there again if they go back. I really wanted to tour some of the resorts but my family wasn't really interested in doing that so we ended up at DTD instead while DH stayed at the hotel and watched golf.

Originally Posted by RandFamily

Last August we also found that the EMH in both the morning and evening are insane with crowds. Years ago we loved the early openings and could get so much in, but those days are over. I definitely avoid them now!

Yeah, we'll definitely avoid them in the future. They were crazy.