Just back, some of our experiences

[gregokdisney]

I stole the format from the person above me who posted the same thing. Thanks! We were there from 8/1 to 8/8.

Crowds

I thought the crowds were insane. We were there from 7/26 to 8/1 in 2006 and felt that the crowds were much lighter. Really, in 2006 we went on HM three times in a row with no wait. This time, there was a wait of 20 minutes every time we went by. The Magic Kingdom was the worst. After about 11 a.m. you couldn't even move. The fastpasses are great, but once you're holding one, you're stuck until your window to get another opens, so what do you do? Every single line was 40 minutes or more, and it's too dang hot to stand there. I was very frustrated with the crowds.

CM's
We didn't encounter any rude CMs, except we had a couple brushes with bad service. I'll post more about that later in the message.

Resort
Saratoga Springs was beautiful, but I would not say that it's really all that convenient to get to Downtown Disney. It's a heck of a walk unless you are staying at the main section. The boat docks only at the main section, so you have to hike there, and then wait 30 minutes for a boat. Then wait 30 minutes for a boat back, and then walk back to your section. If you took the bus, it was great getting there, but on the way back you have to ride to Typhoon Lagoon first. Ack! We ended up driving there when we wanted to go. Also, access to the main building, food court, and main pool was a nightmare because we were in the Congress Park section. Too far to go for a quick meal or swim.

Attractions
I noticed the same thing. The Yeti was not working when we were there. The shark in NEMO was working, and lots of things were just not quite right.

Fantasmic

We didn't go to Fantasmic, but we did go to the Wishes dessert buffet, and let me tell you that was money wasted. I specifically signed up for this because I didn't want to have to stand in line or in a crowd to secure a spot to watch the fireworks. Well, at 8:45 there was a HUGE line to sign in. Tomorrowland Terrace was already hugely crowded with people eating, and this huge group huddled together to get their wristbands for the dessert party made a mess of things. Now, after I realized that there was assigned seating, I realized we could have wandered around and come in and still gotten our seat, but I wasn't aware of that. Having said that though, the seats were worthless, because everyone stood up in front of us, so having a relaxing place to sit and watch flew out the window. The desserts were okay, but they ran out of some things because the people were absolute pigs and piled their plates about six inches high. I was quite disgusted.

ADR's

We had no problems with our ADRS and didn't notice people getting turned away. We made a reservation at WCC for 11 a.m., thinking they'd be serving lunch, but it was still breakfast. He said we could wait til 11:45, which we did, and had no problem getting seated.

Food

Our only bad experience with the actual food was the Turf Club at SSR. It was BAD! I had a cheeseburger, and it wasn't very good. It was heavily seasoned with some spicy seasoning and I didn't like it and neither did my mother.

The service was another story. We were a party of 6, but we didn't always eat together. So, out of our 9 table service meals, there were only 3 that we had our party of six together, so that the automatic gratuity would apply. Two out of those three meals were the absolute worst service I have experienced at Disney. At Turf Club and Ohana, we were virtually ignored by our server - no drink refills, no eye contact so we could get their attention, and dessert at Ohana arrived 30 minutes after he told us he was going to get it. I was fuming! However, at the Akershus Princess breakfast, there were six of us and the service was perfect. Anytime we were a party of five, the service was wonderful as well. I'd like to see that automatic gratuity eliminated, or moved to parties of 8 or more. I distinctly felt like those two servers decided they could phone it in because they were earning 18% no matter what. I do have to admit that Ohana was INSANELY busy, so I cut him a little slack, but it became clear that he was not going out of his way to help us out.

Buses

This was a huge problem for us at SSR. For the Magic Kingdom especially. We waited more than 30 minutes for a bus several times. It took us 1 hour 25 minutes to get from SSR to the Polynesian resort because we waited almost 40 minutes for an MK bus. I was thoroughly frazzled from trying to get where we were supposed to be using Disney transportation. I would say the old advice of allowing 1 hour to get to other places on Disney property should be increased to at least 1 hour 15 minutes. This really cut into our park time.

Tour Groups
No Problems at all. We saw a couple but they were not rude or loud. I was very happy with the tour groups we saw. We saw one day care group that was more trouble than all the tour groups we saw combined!

I will be glad to answer any specific questions if you have any!

[Anglefan]

What kind of planning did you do before your trip? You stayed in Congress Park? Isn't that the one closest to DTD? You're saying that it was too far away?

[Dissy]

Both times we've eaten at 'Ohana, it was a chaotic zoo. The second time their pagers weren't working so they were shouting out names. Lots of unhappy faces in the mass of crowds. But we finally got seated next to the window and got to see Wishes. So it was worth it. Halfway through Wishes my DH finally realized that the piped in music was coordinated with the fireworks. Some people just don't get it.

[*Emily*]

Originally Posted by gregokdisney

Every single line was 40 minutes or more

Honestly if I planned a trip in the middle of the summer I'd expect 40 minute wait times. Sounds like you lucked out last year.

[mariepapa]

Originally Posted by gregokdisney

Fantasmic

We didn't go to Fantasmic, but we did go to the Wishes dessert buffet, and let me tell you that was money wasted. I specifically signed up for this because I didn't want to have to stand in line or in a crowd to secure a spot to watch the fireworks. Well, at 8:45 there was a HUGE line to sign in. Tomorrowland Terrace was already hugely crowded with people eating, and this huge group huddled together to get their wristbands for the dessert party made a mess of things. Now, after I realized that there was assigned seating, I realized we could have wandered around and come in and still gotten our seat, but I wasn't aware of that. Having said that though, the seats were worthless, because everyone stood up in front of us, so having a relaxing place to sit and watch flew out the window. The desserts were okay, but they ran out of some things because the people were absolute pigs and piled their plates about six inches high. I was quite disgusted.


I will be glad to answer any specific questions if you have any!

You are the second or third person to mention this about the Wishes party. The exact same things too. Why bother to pay all that money if you still cannot see very well! You wanted a relaxed atmosphere and you got a pig fest it seems!

[rgf207]

Originally Posted by mariepapa

You are the second or third person to mention this about the Wishes party. The exact same things too. Why bother to pay all that money if you still cannot see very well! You wanted a relaxed atmosphere and you got a pig fest it seems!

My wife and I walked by the wishes dessert party while we were there. We looked at each other and laughed. People were on top of each other standing at the railing and no one was sitting. We saw the dessert table and it was empty and this was about 30 minutes before wishes started (spectro just ended). I'm glad we didn't do it since it seemed like a waste of money.

[KellyNY]

Thank you for sharing with us. I was thinking about Wishes Party, but I will reather skip it now.

[Texas Rob]

Thanks for the info about wishes party. Also, sorry you had such bad experiences on some of the other things.

[natashag76]

thanks for all the info! i especially found the bus info enlightening. we'll be staying at OKW and therefore at the mercy of the buses, too. and we won't have a car to use either. did you notice that the buses were faster (or the wait was shorter) at different times during the day? we're traveling with small kids, so our time, and sanity, are very precious!

[EpcotMatt2]

Just a side note that makes me chuckle from time to time. For people like the OP who say the big crowds were frustrating {I am in the same boat, so don't mistake this for a jab}, why do we complain about crowds when in fact "we" are part of the crowds?

[gregokdisney]

Originally Posted by *Emily*

Honestly if I planned a trip in the middle of the summer I'd expect 40 minute wait times. Sounds like you lucked out last year.

Well, having only that one experience to relate to, it was a shock to me! We felt like we had done so well last time using TGM's recommendations and doing the recommended park days. However, due to Disney's releasing park hours so late, I had to make ADRs and chose some days that were not recommended, so I think that had a lot to do with it.

Unfortunately I'm a teacher so the only time I can go is in the middle of summer.

[gregokdisney]

Originally Posted by natashag76

thanks for all the info! i especially found the bus info enlightening. we'll be staying at OKW and therefore at the mercy of the buses, too. and we won't have a car to use either. did you notice that the buses were faster (or the wait was shorter) at different times during the day? we're traveling with small kids, so our time, and sanity, are very precious!

No, the longer waits were spaced all around and were very unpredictable. Some mornings we saw 3 of all the other busses come around before the Magic Kingdom bus. That bus seemed to be the main problem. The others seem to come around pretty regularly and on a reasonable delay.

[HolliePoppins]

Originally Posted by gregokdisney

I stole the format from the person above me who posted the same thing. Thanks! We were there from 8/1 to 8/8.

Crowds

I thought the crowds were insane. We were there from 7/26 to 8/1 in 2006 and felt that the crowds were much lighter. Really, in 2006 we went on HM three times in a row with no wait. This time, there was a wait of 20 minutes every time we went by. The Magic Kingdom was the worst. After about 11 a.m. you couldn't even move. The fastpasses are great, but once you're holding one, you're stuck until your window to get another opens, so what do you do?

I may be misunderstanding your post but you do not have to wait until your window opens to get another fastpass. If you get a fast pass and it is for hours later you can get one after 2 hours or when your window opens. Whichever is shorter. I hope my explanation was clear.(I know what I mean. LOL) We use this time to go into shows that take a lot of people or fast loaders like Pirates,Haunted Mansion that do not have fastpass, at least the last time I was there.

[gregokdisney]

Originally Posted by Anglefan

What kind of planning did you do before your trip? You stayed in Congress Park? Isn't that the one closest to DTD? You're saying that it was too far away?

Congress Park might be closest to Downtown Disney if you could jump in and swim across! However, the walkway and boat dock are closest to the Springs (main building area). The main building is very INCONVENIENT to Congress Park.

I think I did some pretty careful planning. I read the DISboards for months prior to going. We were there at rope drop every day. I planned successfully for seeing Tinkerbell, for example, and also got to ride TSM twice, which I understand is pretty hard. We got to do everything we wanted to do, but we got to do very few things twice. That was a disappointment to us. Also, the crowds in the parks were just so big, I was paranoid all the time about getting separated from my kids. They just plowed past us and through us and didn't stop for anything!

I had to laugh at the other post, saying that we complain about crowds when we ARE part of the crowds, and that's so true. Now, I truly hate crowds and rarely do anything that draws a crowd. I am willing to get up at the crack of dawn to be early to avoid other people. For instance, the only time I was willing to swim at the main pool was at 8 a.m.! I just am not very crowd tolerant and was unpleasantly surprised compared to my experience in 2006.

[gregokdisney]

Originally Posted by HolliePoppins

I may be misunderstanding your post but you do not have to wait until your window opens to get another fastpass. If you get a fast pass and it is for hours later you can get one after 2 hours or when your window opens. Whichever is shorter. I hope my explanation was clear.(I know what I mean. LOL) We use this time to go into shows that take a lot of people or fast loaders like Pirates,Haunted Mansion that do not have fastpass, at least the last time I was there.

Right, I know what you mean, but you do have to wait at least an hour or something and none of the fast loaders were all that fast in the meantime.