Just back - mini report

[UncleOrville]

We got home yesterday from a wonderful 9 day trip to WDW. We found the crowds to be very low in the parks during the day and around the MK area resorts. We stayed at the Polynesian, and it felt empty (except for the second floor lobby at dinner time!), and spent some time at the GF and the Contemporary.

Crowds/ Parks
We had a plan, but were able to accomplish so much during the day (not just in the early morning hours as we are used to during vacations we've typically taken earlier in the summer) that we park hopped quite a bit and were able to take it slow. We never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride, and barely used the fast passes we collected because we just didn't need to. TSM had waits of 70 minutes in the mid-afternoons some days, but we never saw another headliner with more than a 30 minute wait posted. Some afternoons and evenings, TSM had a wait of 30 minutes posted, so we hopped in the regular queue and each time waited about 10 - 15 minutes. It was fantastic!

The parks seemed more crowded in the evenings than we've found them to be in the past. In particular, Wishes, Spectro, and Illuminations were markedly more crowded than we've ever experienced. We did not do Fantasmic, so I can't comment on that. Perhaps the earlier park closings this past week (compared to park closings during our past trips in August) allowed more people to stay for the nighttime events.

There were also huge groups of Brazilian tourists in the parks. These were not the groups of teenagers, but groups of large families (being led by a tour guide or guides with big flags, similar to the groups with the teens). We avoided going to rides and areas where they were headed.

Dining
Restaurants were very crowded, and we found it almost impossible to get ADRs for sit-downs on the day-of. We had all of our ADRs booked, but a few times we wanted a later or earlier time, or to eat somewhere closer to our resort, but were only successful once in changing an ADR. We found counter service locations to be fine, but we always ate lunch or breakfast a bit earlier or later than peak times.

Transportation
Transportation for the most part was great. We had better luck with buses than usual, but that could be because we took advantage of the Poly's close proximity to the TTC and caught buses from there quite a bit. Monorails were slower and came less frequently than they came on past trips. We love the boat launch from the GF and Poly to the MK, but were disappointed that it stopped running quite soon after the MK's closing, and was not running during an evening EMH at the MK (it stopped running after regular park closing). The express monorail also closed very soon after park closing most nights, as did the ferry boat to the TTC, so there were tons of people taking the resort monorail. We actually found our transportation from the MK back to the Poly to be the worst out of all the parks.

Special Events
We attended MNSSHP for the first time (on Tuesday, September 15th), and we loved it! It was raining right as the party began, but we trudged through the rain and waited in line for Mickey and Minnie in the judge's tent for about 30 minutes, and by the time we emerged the rain had stopped. Crowds seemed very low. We got pictures with a few characters, went through some of the trick or treat lines, and enjoyed the dance parties. We only went on a few rides because we just didn't want to take the time to do many, but the wait times all seemed very minimal. We loved the parade and the fireworks.

We also attended Lunch with an Imagineer at the Brown Derby. It was interesting and the food was good, but it was quite expensive, so we probably would not do it again.


Overall we had a great trip, and we would not hesitate to go back again at this time of year.

We live-tweeted during our trip, and if you'd like to check that out, click here. I'll also be writing a detailed trip report. In the meanwhile, if you have any questions for me, please ask away!

[matt&jakesmom]

Glad to hear that you had a good time. We noticed,too, when we went from 8/31 to 9/7 that the crowds were much lower than normal at that time of year when we have gone. We did the 1st halloween party and had a blast too. The fireworks were the best!

[MAGGIED]

great mini report.... seems that some folks were seeing different dining scenarios... some have reported that they were seeing folks able to walk up to TS locations... guess it depends on where you are and if your in the right spot...

glad you had a nice vacation!!!

[crabbygal902]

Thanks for taking the time to write a mini-report. I have always wondered about the meal with an Imagineer and can't wait to hear about it in your full report!

[dax248]

Great mini report! I can't wait to hear all the details. DH wants to hear about the Imagineer. Thanks for showing me TSM.

[Pixiedust34]

Thank you for your report! We'll be ending our next trip at this time next year. I'm hoping we'll see low crowds and good weather.

[Scott MC]

You crazy gals!
I had a great time following you on Twitter, and now I can't wait to relive it all in your TR.
One of these days...one of these days....we're going to rendezvous in the World.