Just Back! Thoughts Observations ETC! Pics Added!

[Sleeping Becca]

Holy Guacamole!!!!!!! Wowsers! What an amazing trip!

Saw several DISers! Yay!!!!!

MNNSHP!! Definite Yay!!!!!! We did it twice this trip on Tues and Fri both nights were not crowded, we were able to get all of the villians from the Mix and Mingle (we saw 6 shows to do it). We dressed up on Tues, I was Cruella, mom was Malificent, and DD was the Evil Queen, it was a hoot, our costumes were a big hit! It was sweltering though, so for the Friday party we wore Halloween T-shirts. The candy was a dissapointment, we got one piece of chocolate on Tues, but got more on Fri, nothing like last year though. Lines for rides were minimal. Lines for characters were long (except for Adventureland, those were really short) The Headless Horseman did not ride for the first parade Tues. night it was too wet, but we saw him Friday. The parade and fireworks were amazing, so was the Villains show. Tues night the audio was not working properly and the Halloween music was not playing throughout the park. Still this party is a must do, the atmosphere is just fun!

Our Costumes:



Hakuna Ma Treat A:



Contemporary Resort. We could not have been more pleased. I struggled with staying here, I almost switched to the GF several times, but DD had her heart set on the MK view. I am sooo glad we stayed! The view was unbelieveable! We requested an odd numbered room (thanks CR Resort Fan for Life) and we could lie in our bed at night and watch the fireworks! Everything about this hotel is super convienient! It took less than 5 min to refill our mugs, or go to the bar to pick up a drink, go to the gift shops, or fill our ice bucket. We never had to wait more than a few seconds for an elevator. The walk to MK was a breeze. The opening of BLT had no affect on the busy-ness of the CR Tower or monorail. Our room was lovely. What the CR lacks in atmosphere it makes up with convienence.

Our View:



Disney Transportation. Blech..... I have never been a fan, we usually rent a car, or we drive our own. DD had her heart set on ME, so we did not rent a car (I could have rented one from the Car Care Center but didn't), never again. Our busses made waaaaay too many stops, it took forever to get anywhere. At DHS there is not direct transportation to MK! What a rip-off! You have to transfer to the TTC with the plebs! Quelle horror! Also the monorail trip to EPCOT is also a pain in the butt. One day there was a bomb scare with one of the busses and the system came to a griding halt, no big deal, kudos to Disney for handling the situation to keep guests safe. We didn't mess with the busses during that mess, we just took a cab. We were extremely proud of our decision to cab it after hearing about the nightmare bus waits. I love being soooo saavy!

Food. We did 1900 PF for breakfast and dinner, food was great (the best coq au vin ever) and characters were perf! We did Brown Derby for lunch and had the best entree and dessert of the trip (pan seared duck yum and Banana Toffee Tower double yum!), I don't know why that place is always empty, the food is amazing! We also did California Grill, delish as always, and Crystal Palace for lunch (love the salads there). On Friday we walked up to T-Rex at 11:00 with no reservations and were seated right away, we love that place! Counter service mainly consisted of Cosmic Rays (I have no idea how many times we ate there lol) the food is good and there is a good variety, we also ate at Columbia Harbor House, yum as usual and Contempo Grab and Go at the CR, great food there.

They switched the counter service times for many MK counter service, closed Pecos Bills and Columbia Harbor house early and opened Pirates del Patico (whatever that adventureland place is called) and Friar's Nook in Fantasyland (no seating there, not sure where you are supposed to eat your food).

This next section is a rant please forgive me buuuuuttttt......... THEY CHANGED THE MENU AT MY FAV CANTINA SAN ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE H E DOUBLE L??????? NO MORE COMBINATION PLATTER!!!! THE FOOD WAS DISGUSTING, WE THREW IT AWAY! I AM STILL VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS...FORGIVE ME AS I WEEP.

Wishes Dessert Party. This was fun and would do it again. The desserts were delish, however they did not replace the desserts and started picking up 30 min into the hour long party, so it felt rushed. There was plenty to eat, but we did not get thirds on the best dessert there, the pistacio creme brulee. The Mango Shooter was vile, not sure what was going on with that one, it tasted like warm orange yogurt, as you sucked it through a ginormous straw, yeah it sounds really gross, it tasted even worse than it sounds. We could not see Wishes from our table, we had to stand at the railing, even there the view is not as good as Main Street. Still it was a fun little extra. If you are looking for a fantastic fireworks spot, skip this party, but if you are looking for fun diversion, give it a whirl.

Crowds. Crowd levels were low, many rides had little to no waits, we walked on to most rides even TOT, Rock n Roller, TSM (the fast pass line was longer than the standby line), Test Track, Splash, Thunder Mountain, and Soarin. However at times the wait for TSM did reach 60 min. Many of the wait times that were posted were highly exaggerated, TOT was posted as 20 min and it was walk on and ou elevator was half empty! There were some lines but the most lines were for character meet and greets! This is a fab time to visit! We did catch the second F! on Sunday night and the theater wasn't close to full.

Weather. Hot and humid little to no rain.


Any hoo! It was a great trip! We had a fab time!

Teacups:




1900 PF



Feel free to ask any questions!

[TiggerCL]

Thanks for posting! We go in 9 days...I'm counting down!

[PAcpl]

Thanks for the trip report. Sounds like you had a blast!

[Jennasis]

We love CR too! Glad you had a good time.

[DisTwix]

Originally Posted by Sleeping Becca

Holy Guacomole!!!!!!! Wowsers! What an amazing trip!

Saw several DISers! Yay!!!!!

MNNSHP!! Definite Yay!!!!!! We did it twice this trip on Tues and Fri both nights were not crowded, we were able to get all of the villians from the Mix and Mingle (we saw 6 shows to do it). We dressed up on Tues, I was Cruella, mom was Malificent, and DD was the Evil Queen, it was a hoot, our costumes were a big hit! It was sweltering though, so for the Friday party we wore Halloween T-shirts. The candy was a dissapointment, we got one piece of chocolate on Tues, but got more on Fri, nothing like last year though. Lines for rides were minimal. Lines for characters were long (except for Adventureland, those were really short) The Headless Horseman did not ride for the first parade Tues. night it was too wet, but we saw him Friday. The parade and fireworks were amazing, so was the Villains show. Tues night the audio was not working properly and the Halloween music was not playing throughout the park. Still this party is a must do, the atmosphere is just fun!

Contemporary Resort. We could not have been more pleased. I struggled with staying here, I almost switched to the GF several times, but DD had her heart set on the MK view. I am sooo glad we stayed! The view was unbelieveable! We requested an odd numbered room (thanks CR Resort Fan for Life) and we could lie in our bed at night and watch the fireworks! Everything about this hotel is super convienient! It took less than 5 min to refill our mugs, or go to the bar to pick up a drink, go to the gift shops, or fill our ice bucket. We never had to wait more than a few seconds for an elevator. The walk to MK was a breeze. The opening of BLT had no affect on the busy-ness of the CR Tower or monorail. Our room was lovely. What the CR lacks in atmosphere it makes up with convienence.

Disney Transportation. Blech..... I have never been a fan, we usually rent a car, or we drive our own. DD had her heart set on ME, so we did not rent a car (I could have rented one from the Car Care Center but didn't), never again. Our busses made waaaaay too many stops, it took forever to get anywhere. At DHS there is not direct transportation to MK! What a rip-off! You have to transfer to the TTC with the plebs! Quelle horror! Also the monorail trip to EPCOT is also a pain in the butt. One day there was a bomb scare with one of the busses and the system came to a griding halt, no big deal, kudos to Disney for handling the situation to keep guests safe. We didn't mess with the busses during that mess, we just took a cab. We were extremely proud of our decision to cab it after hearing about the nightmare bus waits. I love being soooo saavy!

Food. We did 1900 PF for breakfast and dinner, food was great (the best coq au vin ever) and characters were perf! We did Brown Derby for lunch and had the best entree and dessert of the trip (pan seared duck yum and Banana Toffee Tower double yum!), I don't know why that place is always empty, the food is amazing! We also did California Grill, delish as always, and Crystal Palace for lunch (love the salads there). Counter service mainly consisted of Cosmic Rays (I have no idea how many times we ate there lol) the food is good and there is a good variety, we also ate at Columbia Harbor House, yum as usual and Contempo Grab and Go at the CR, great food there.

They switched the counter service times for many MK counter service, closed Pecos Bills and Columbia Harbor house early and opened Pirates del Patico (whatever that adventureland place is called) and Friar's Nook in Fantasyland (no seating there, not sure where you are supposed to eat your food).

This next section is a rant please forgive me buuuuuttttt......... THEY CHANGED THE MENU AT MY FAV CANTINA SAN ANGEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE H E DOUBLE L??????? NO MORE COMBINATION PLATTER!!!! THE FOOD WAS DISGUSTING, WE THREW IT AWAY! I AM STILL VERY EMOTIONAL ABOUT THIS...FORGIVE ME AS I WEEP.

Crowds. Crowd levels were low, many rides had little to no waits, we walked on to most rides even TOT, Rock n Roller, TSM (the fast pass line was longer than the standby line), Test Track, Splash, Thunder Mountain, and Soarin. However at times the wait for TSM did reach 60 min. Many of the wait times that were posted were highly exaggerated, TOT was posted as 20 min and it was walk on and ou elevator was half empty! There were some lines but the most lines were for character meet and greets! This is a fab time to visit! We did catch the second F! on Sunday night and the theater wasn't close to full.

Weather. Hot and humid little to no rain.


Any hoo! It was a great trip! We had a fab time!

Feel free to ask any questions!

Thanks for the fantastic update! We leave (all adults!) on Friday.. and will attend MNSSHP on Tuesday and I. Can. Not. WAIT. We'll be the Flinstones... and since I'm the odd one, I get to be Pebbles! YAY!

Also. I could NOT AGREE MORE about the menu @ San Angel. We were there in Feb, and it was so disappointing. Everything seemed to be NOT Mexican cuisine, but some weird, overly fancy business, portions were TINY and it was just not great. I feel about that the way I feel about the loss of the Taco Salad outside POTC. Oh, the heartache.

Anywho - sounds like y'all had a blast! Thanks again!

[logan&tylersmama]

thanks for the update - i will be there in less then 20 hours!!!!
Jennifer

[VegasMike21]

Nice trip report, looking foward to our vacation just a matter of days away! I was looking at the crowd levels and most are 5's and even a few 4's. And checked on the weather forecast from accuweather and it looks like there's a little cool down even. Good stuff!

[luvdumbo]

Thanks for the information! We leave on Friday for the world! Its good to hear this is a good time to visit!

Glad you enjoyed your trip!

[Sleeping Becca]

One more thing......

We ordered a cake for DD's birthday from the cake hotline, which is not really a hotline, because we ended up having to call the GF bakery directly, I digress.

Anyhoo! The cake was fabulous! It was perfect! They did an amazing job and it cost less than what I expected! It was a Malificent cake, 6in, white cake, buttercream frosting, and it cost $50 which was added to our meal ticket! Kudos to the GF bakery, they made DD's birthday perfect!

The Cake:





Oh and I almost forgot!!!!!!

I maxed out the score on Buzz Lightyear!!! Yay!!! Couldn't have done it without the DIS! Thank you!

[scuba]

Sleeping Becca, were you the family that was witness to a man with a female tweener on his shoulders that walked right into a low hanging iron edging at one of the covered shelters at the castle loop during the Villians show? I seem to recall asking a woman with a green face dressed as Malificant if the girl was alright thinking the young girl was with them. I spent a little extra time looking at the girl thinking her Globe(eye) might had been ruptured, and I was standing by to see if I could render any assistance, this would have been Tuesday. 15 years in Emergency medicine and I was convinced she was significantly hurt.

I would agree with the crowds for not so scary, during the fireworks, Jessie and bullseye was begging for folks in frontierland. I turned around to check the kids and they were just standing there watching the show......good stuff and I hope the young girl was ok. and great costumes if that was you....I was dressed as Prince Charming after a few male golf outings, several all nighters at the bars with Prince Valiant, Eric , Aladdin, and Phillip. We are all college buddies you know

[Sleeping Becca]

Yes! That was my mom in the Malificent costume, I was watching the villians show with DD so I did not see the accident.

It was a bad accident and do think the girl was injured significantly, but she was embarrased and did not want treatment. I hope she is OK.

You guys are too funny, sounds like you had a great time!

[Overthemoon]

Sounds like a great trip!

Can't wit to go

[cattrix]

I couldn't agree more about the incorrect wait times, we were there same time as you and at one point TSM was a walk on but the wait time was listed as 40 minutes, same thing happened on Test Track, we walked right through and got on but were hesitant because the wait time was posted at 30 minutes. The only real wait we had to stand through was Soarin.

EMH were crazy, thinking about not doing them next year!!

[BayouMickey]

Originally Posted by DisTwix

I feel about that the way I feel about the loss of the Taco Salad outside POTC. Oh, the heartache.

Anywho - sounds like y'all had a blast! Thanks again!

Not sure if you knew this, and if it's any consolation, the taco salads are back!

[let'sgo]

Awww man, that's bad news on Cantina de San Angel. Guess we'll have to go somewhere else. Thanks for the heads up!