10 days in the parks, some observations

[robl45]

Sadly, many times we found fastpass to be a joke. Waiting for 30 minutes plus is not fast. Waiting for near an hour with fastpass for a ride that you already waited a half hour for, and had it break down as you were boarding, there aren't words for how disappointing that is. Way too much time wasted on one ride.

yup, we've had that too, not to mention too many rides join the fast pass and regular lines far too early. Makes no sense to have fast pass and then jam everyone together so far before the ride. Look at TOT or aerosmith. You can easily wait 15 plus minutes on a busy day in the lines after the preshows. Get a little backup before the preshows and it can easily be 30 minutes.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

It should probably be obvious to me, but what is IP?

Intellectual Property - Frozen, Star Wars, that kind of stuff.

 

[Dumbo7]

I couldn't agree more about the bus from the grand to epcot we have stayed at the grand many times but this upcoming trip we are not decided to stay at the Wl you would think at the grand the monorail can not be beat but it was down more so than working the boat is tiny nothing more frustrating than being able to see your resort at the mk but not being able to get to it. They should def run a bus to epcot from the grand for sure ESP for what they charge per night there. This time staying at the Wl copper creek and renting a car taking cabs for the difference in price I'm curious to see how it goes

I was surprised this trip. At closing and we never leave at closing there was a bigger boat to take us to GF.

 

[erin1715]

I think it's a shame that HEA has to be seen from the front of the castle. We saw the show for the first time at our trip earlier this month and it didn't move me like Wishes used to. I could watch Wishes multiple times each trip, but HEA I was fine with once. We also saw HEA on a night when it had rained most of the day so I think crowds were lower and it was a pleasant experience for us, but I can definitely see how higher crowds could make it unbearable. I refuse to pay for a dessert party to get a good view of a show that is already included with my park admission.

Having said all of that, I miss Wishes and I "wish" they created a show that could be seen from other areas of the park. Actually, I enjoy the music and fireworks so for the heck of it I might just watch it from a different section of the park next time.

 

[Tomh]

Fuel Rods. The last battery backup I bought died after my first trip with it, and I never got around to replacing it. After hearing some chatter about the Fuel Rods from members of the DIS crew, I decided to give it a try. I wasn't really optimistic about such a small battery being able to recharge my Samsung Galaxy Note 4, which is a big smart phone, with a big battery, but I tried it anyway. It turns out that the tiny little Fuel Rod is capable of bringing the monster battery in my Note 4 from about 35% up to full, which is an impressive feat. The Note 4 battery is 3220 Mah, not a small battery by any means.

However, the best feature of the Fuel Rod isn't it's capacity, it is the ability to swap it out for a fully charged replacement battery, for free, any time at the park. This is the feature that inspired me to buy the Fuel Rod to begin with, and it is all that I thought it would be.

I purchased the Fuel Rod in Magic Kingdom, and immediately put it to use charging my phone, then went looking for a kiosk to swap it. There is one in the Theater building in Town Square, just inside the doors to the right, another at Pecos bill, one at the gift shop outside Space Mountain, and a fourth one at Petes Silly Sideshow. That last one, at Pete's, is the only one we didn't visit during our trip. The remainder of the kiosks in MK we used at least once each. That first day, the battery recharged my phone, then we swapped it and charged my sons phone, then another swap, and a recharge for my daughter, and one more swap before topping my phone off again.

In EPCOT, a similar pattern. Kiosks are in the camera shop just inside the park, in the gift shop to the left at the entrance to World Showcase, and at the International Gateway. We used all 3 of those locations, and charged multiple phones during our time in the park. We also swapped for a fresh Fuel Rod once at the Polynesian resort.

Now then, IF . . the Fuel Rod had to be judged solely by it's capacity, it would be a dud. There are tons of battery packs out there that could put a full charge on my phone 2 or even 3 times before needing to be recharged. The Fuel Rod can't do much more than 65% before needing a recharge. However, it does not need to be judged by it's capacity, because as long as you can swap it for a new device, it essentially has unlimited capacity, and this makes it an amazing investment.

I do have some question as to the long term stability of this business model. Eventually these batteries will start to age, and need to be replaced, and with all of the owners being able to simply swap for new ones at any kiosk, the cost of replacing the aged, and useless batteries will fall upon the Fuel Rod company. I fear that this means essentially, that their business model is like a pyramid scheme, and once those replacement costs creep up on them, the Fuel Rod company might simply vanish, leaving us all stuck with useless Fuel Rods. However, for $30, just getting through one vacation with it, I feel as though I've gotten my money's worth. If they are around long enough for me to use it for a second vacation, even better. I paid more than $30 for the last battery bank I had, and that only made it through one trip, so even if this company does ultimately go out of business, this was still no less a value than buying a bigger battery bank elsewhere.

All things considered, I would have to say that this is a great product, very useful, and I hope they are around for many vacations to come!

 

[Exagie]

I took an impromptu trip to Disney World with my boyfriend this past weekend, and I noticed a lot of the same things. While I didn't have an issue with Mousekeeping, I did notice a lot of the attractions and general decor need touch ups. The poor newspaper robot by the Peoplemover has chipped paint and looks horribly outdated. There's a lot of these little details around the park that need more attention, and this is something I hope they take care of sooner rather than later.

-Exi

 

[mkh531]

We had the most amazing and magical experience last week when we came out of dinner at Be Our Guest right as the HEA show started and fireworks lit up the sky. We stayed behind the Castle the whole time and saw all the fireworks from there. My kids were jumping up and down and screaming with delight, and we had all the space we wanted. cast members walked by and gave them stickers. We could even see tinker bell. The only thing we couldn't see were the Projections but I was the only one who knew we were missing them. We rode two more rides after that and didn't have to deal with crowds while leaving. It's just a totally different experience from what people on Main Street had.

 

[Monykalyn]

Leaving MK is now a nightmare since Happily Ever After Started and I don't know why. It wasn't like that when we were there in March.

I remember a time, not that long ago, when the park was open until 12:00, with 3 hours of EMH after that, and crowds were manageable enough to wander into the hub 20 minutes before wishes, and sit to watch it.

No parade, most nights only one show, and much much shorter summer hours lead to the massive crowding exodus. Has been discussed on other boards alot and you'd think Disney would have done something by now to make it better. BUT unless every guest takes the time to give feedback...
I did get 3 or 4 surveys right after we got back on various things. One was on the mobile ordering experience. Best at Satuli canteen, CHH was OK but people were camped in the mobile pickup line waiting on food to be ready. Had to almost physically shove a guy out of my way as he wasn't budging AT ALL even though I and others seeing me trying to get through with full tray of food. His wasn't ready but by golly he was going to be sure he got his food first! Disney really needs to do better at having signage or CM explain no need to come to line until text is ready. I usually had to ask for item too-almost always was the drink with a kids meal. Otherwise I loved it-hoping the update to MDE means AP discount and other payment methods can be used at some point soon.

However, the best feature of the Fuel Rod isn't it's capacity, it is the ability to swap it out for a fully charged replacement battery, for free, any time at the park. This is the feature that inspired me to buy the Fuel Rod to begin with, and it is all that I thought it would be.

I bought a fuel rod right away too! LOVE it! The only complaint I had was locations are NOT marked well (took me forever to find where in Pecos Bills-odd spot by a food station!) I use it at home too-will charge it and toss in my purse. Very small and lightweight. Gives enough of a boost to my iphone to bring it up from 20% to 65% or more-which if I am out with friends is all I really need-boost to keep phone from dying.

I noticed wear and tear in Pandora already, but I didn't see any issues with bathrooms on our trip-lucky I guess? Most CM's seemed pretty good to us as well. Only had one instance of a group trying to slide through line to get in front claiming their "family" was there-was handled by many in line offering for the people to trying to slide through to have their party up ahead just wait for them to catch up. Problem solved LOL! Seemed most weren't buying the "meet my party and cut through line with 20 people" anymore.

August is hot! Hope you had a great time!

 

[Tomh]

Disney Springs . . is amazing now. I think they have done a fantastic job with the area. D-Luxe burger was one of the best quick service meals we had the whole time we were there. The parking garages are convenient, easy to use, and make for a shorter walk to the shops. Surprisingly, one of our least expensive table service meals was at Rainforest Cafe', which despite the sometimes horrid reviews, I actually like. The food isn't spectacular, but it isn't bad either, certainly better than Tony's Town Square. The World of Coke is a great addition. We found some very reasonably priced Disney shirts in UniqLo. Sprinkles has a wonderful assortment of cupcakes, including a sugar free red velvet cupcake
.
I was a little disappointed to find that the belt / leather stand was gone, however, by dumb luck, I found the owner of that stand now has a shop at Old Town.

Overall, we very much enjoyed our time at Disney Springs, so much that we visited three different times over the course of our vacation. In addition to the meals we ate there, and the aforementioned shops, we also visited the Marketplace Co Op, Mickey's Pantry, Goofy's Candy Company and the World of Disney. We also went to see La Nouba since it is closing. Interestingly enough, I got a survey from Disney about La Nouba. It makes me wonder a bit, why they would go to the trouble of running surveys about a show that is ending.

 

[Tomh]

No parade, most nights only one show, and much much shorter summer hours lead to the massive crowding exodus. Has been discussed on other boards alot and you'd think Disney would have done something by now to make it better. BUT unless every guest takes the time to give feedback...
I did get 3 or 4 surveys right after we got back on various things. One was on the mobile ordering experience. Best at Satuli canteen, CHH was OK but people were camped in the mobile pickup line waiting on food to be ready. Had to almost physically shove a guy out of my way as he wasn't budging AT ALL even though I and others seeing me trying to get through with full tray of food. His wasn't ready but by golly he was going to be sure he got his food first! Disney really needs to do better at having signage or CM explain no need to come to line until text is ready. I usually had to ask for item too-almost always was the drink with a kids meal. Otherwise I loved it-hoping the update to MDE means AP discount and other payment methods can be used at some point soon.


I bought a fuel rod right away too! LOVE it! The only complaint I had was locations are NOT marked well (took me forever to find where in Pecos Bills-odd spot by a food station!) I use it at home too-will charge it and toss in my purse. Very small and lightweight. Gives enough of a boost to my iphone to bring it up from 20% to 65% or more-which if I am out with friends is all I really need-boost to keep phone from dying.

I noticed wear and tear in Pandora already, but I didn't see any issues with bathrooms on our trip-lucky I guess? Most CM's seemed pretty good to us as well. Only had one instance of a group trying to slide through line to get in front claiming their "family" was there-was handled by many in line offering for the people to trying to slide through to have their party up ahead just wait for them to catch up. Problem solved LOL! Seemed most weren't buying the "meet my party and cut through line with 20 people" anymore.

August is hot! Hope you had a great time!

Most CM's were indeed great. I did have an odd experience on our way into EMM, where a CM on the walkway around the castle asked how many were in our party. At the time, my wife, son, and I were together, and my daughter and mother were following along well behind at their own pace. The CM insisted that we needed to wait for my mother and daughter, as we wouldn't be allowed in up ahead unless our entire party was together. So, I waited with my son and wife, while others streamed in, and got to the rides. My mother and daughter eventually caught up, then we walked painstakingly slowly the rest of the way up the ramp, to Fantasyland where . .. no one was checking anything. We could have just walked in as separate groups, no questions asked, and ridden right away, instead of standing there and waiting for the rest of our party. Now, really, it wasn't that big a deal, but it did take away probably 10 minutes of the EMM time that we paid for, and it was kind of frustrating.

Indeed, August is hot, however our first couple of days were actually cool by Florida standards, with it only hitting perhaps the upper 80's or right around 90, and the crowds were pretty reasonable those first couple of days as well. We had an amazing time!