We just got back a few hours ago, and thought I would post my thoughts while it is fresh in my head...
1. I will probably never stay at a value resort again. 1st, at least at this time of year tourist groups were all over the All Star Resort we stayed at. They were often out sitting with their entire group in our courtyard at all hours. Many times I woke up to noise from them. 2nd, the walk from our room to the main lobby was entirely too long. Did not help that our building was at the very back of the resort. I did like the Resort Bar, and mostly the Food Court, Store, and Game Room. Pools were like bath water and were often full of bugs so we didn't get in them more than a couple of times. I also didn't like that the pools didn't have a waterslide like the mid-levels I have stayed at. The rooms were very small but adequate. However, I did not like that my room had no hair dryer (what hotel room doesn't?), the refrigerator was always warm, and that the temperature on the thermostat would go no lower than 68 degrees. We like the values, but we are mostly only in the room to sleep. I think the walk from the Broadway building at ASMu is manageable- much shorter than the back of the 50s building at POP, for example- and we like being able to park in lots that are close to our room. I've found that most of the resort pools, value or not, are like bathtubs by noon in the summer; it's too hot, and there are too many people in the pool, for it to stay relatively cool and refreshing. We've always had a hair dryer, and the fridge has always worked- and I'm SO grateful that the values have refrigerators now! Regarding the thermostat, 68 is too warm in general for my family. We live in northern Maine, and even in winter the highest we set the thermostat is 58 degrees. Granted, that's to conserve oil, but there is no way I could tolerate sleeping in a room that was 68 degrees.
2. I highly recommended snacking your way around the world, and posting to social media as you do it with ratings. Our entire network of family and friends felt like they were with us as we chose snack, tried them, and rated them at each country. As we were in each country we posted to Facebook, with family and friends posting their recommendations and adoration of the pictures we posted! It elevated they experience greatly! I am glad you have friends that like your food porn, but it'd make me crazy. I am NOT a fan of constant phone usage; having someone at my table constantly taking pictures, making comments on the food, and receiving texts during a meal would make me crazy. Fortunately my family also doesn't condone phone use at the table; otherwise, I'd be sitting at a table for one!
3. Do become part of the show. In China at Epcot, my teenage daughter and niece picked up little puppet animals, and became street performers with them in France. They gathered a small crowd several times, and again it heightened the entire experience. I'm surprised the CMs let this happen. Puppet shows by guests is usually not part of the Disney experience in the France pavilion.
4. Do take an afternoon break during the hot months! We did this recommendation and it was amazing. We would tour in morning and then break in afternoon, then go back out till closing! Didn't you lose a lot of park time, going back and forth to the resort? We aren't rope-drop people; it's not vacation for us if we have to get up as early, or even earlier, than we do for work! We usually hit the park by 10:30 and stay until closing.
5. Sometimes #4 didn't work with a group as large as our 12 people. Rope drop became harder the further into our trip we went. By day 4, I learned to go with the flow and make changes on the fly to keep happiness and peace, along with fresh feet, and less-exhausted people. A few days we skipped rope drop, moved fast passes, and had even better experiences because we were able to sleep in. Sleeping in works best for us.
6. Following the recommendation to have only a 3-4 sit down meals for everyone across the entire trip proved excellent. The 3 we actually did were exhausting to gather 12 people in the same place at the same time. They were great meals, but just bringing everyone together after being on the go, sometimes split, sometimes together was just tough. I wouldn't trade it for the world as some of our best experiences and pictures came from those meals. Sit-down meals are our "break" for the day, a chance to get out of the heat and enjoy a tall, cold iced tea in the a/c. However, I cannot imagine trying to coordinate 12 people for an ADR, especially when you were touring in small groups. Kudos to pulling this off!!
7. Some board recommendations and how they worked out: Frogg Togg Cooling Towels proved virtually useless in the fight against the humidity. They stayed wet for a good amount of time, but with the humidity it was more like a sticky warm wetness that was neither refreshing or cooling. Mister fans proved tough to carry around. We didn't like the added weight to our carry pack. We usually take frozen wash cloths to the parks. I have an insulated lunch bag (about big enough for a sandwich or two) that I use. At night, I soak washcloths and fold them into quarters, then put them into baggies and pop them into the freezer for overnight. I put these into the lunch bag and stick it in my park backpack. They stay very cold until about mid-afternoon, and are very refreshing.
Umbrella is probably the one item I used in the hot month of July the most. It provided me a good shade from the sun when it was beating down on me. Many people were using them. A DayPack with a Water Belly worked well in theory but it became a leaking mess when ice was added to it. I am not sure what went wrong, we had to remove it from the day pack. This is something new. The last time I was at Disney in August (2010?), the CMs weren't letting people use umbrellas as they tend to poke others when being used in a crowd. I often wished we'd had our own portable shade, especially while waiting for parades!
Moleskin was not helpful for us either. However, I may have applied this wrong. I applied it to my shoes and slipped all around on them. I think I may have needed to apply it to my feet directly? On that subject, Keens Whisper Shoes provided the most excellent choice for park touring. I wore them for a month or so before we went to break them in, and they were great. Only had an issue with feet the last two days, but we had walked so much no shoes were going to help. Moleskin? I cut a small piece of tissue or toilet paper to cover just the blister, then slap a larger piece of moleskin, adhesive side on my skin, over this. TP/tissue keeps the moleskin from sticking to the blister.
Chafe Stick was great for between legs and also on feet at rub spots. I highly recommend. Also carrying deodorant in park bag was a must especially during the heat months. Many smelly people out there...
8. I love the fact that they employ so many special needs employees. Virtually everywhere we turned we encountered cast members that were special needs. They made the park more magical with the pure joy many of them exuded by just being there. Although, most cast members we encountered were like that. There were only a few who didn't seem to care for their job and showed it. I'm not sure I've ever seen a special needs CM. I agree- those who don't enjoy their job (or cannot fake it for the day) really can put a damper on everyone's experience.
9. Waits for the buses were often longer than expected. Also, they packed the buses like sardines. I often was very uncomfortable with the number of people on the bus. I hate the Disney buses, especially at park closing. We always have a rental car if at all possible, and I stalk the rental car codes/coupons section of mousesavers and carrentalsavers.com to get a better price, rebooking and canceling, until the day we leave for Florida!
10. My daughter has Asperger's. The moving walkways on many rides now throughout Disney made it not possible for her to ride. Unfortunately, I did not realize until close to the end of the trip that she could use the wheelchair access for most of them. I mentioned the issue to several cast members, and nobody even noted the wheel chair access to consider. Partially blame on me for it not to dawn on me. It was not something we had experienced before, and the last time we were at Disney 5 years ago, I don't recall having so many rides like that, or maybe we just went on a different set of rides. They just asked her if she would like to ride or not, and then directed us to the exit. I will know now for the future, but I wish they didn't have those moving walkways in general. Sorry the walkways were such a challenge; hopefully next time you'll ask a CM for help. My sister has cerebral palsy and when she's using her crutches cannot handle these walkways at all; they destroy her balance.
11. Kali River Rapids was the biggest let down for many of us. I don't recall it being so bland on our last trip. Or maybe being from a Six Flags area, we have seen better. Sigh… I agree. It used to be better, but it really needs to be longer, with more "wet" opportunities instead of one "soaking" opportunity for only a few riders.
12. Enchanted Tiki Lounge.... highly recommend you pretend it is the greatest thing ever, and encourage new visitors in your party to see the show. Attend with them to see their reactions. When Disney gets something right, they nail it (IE. Festival of the Lion King - LOVED!), when they get it wrong, it is really wrong! We love going to the Tiki Lounge- great a/c and nap time. We are not such big fans of the actual show, LOL!
13. App Wait Times on the Disney App were more often not accurate. I think a lot of that stemmed from all the tour groups. Several times our wait times jumped significantly when a tour group walked into the fast pass line all together 30-40 strong.
14. We prefer Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard Beach. The wave pool at Blizzard Beach is constant small rocking waves that made me nauseous, but Typhoon Lagoon's was great with one giant wave every several minutes that people actually rode. We left Blizzard Beach after a couple of hours because after only an hour open, it was wall to wall people.
15. We were disappointed in this trip bringing a bunch of first timers with us to formerly one of our favorite restaurants - Teppan Edo. We found the food to be just okay this time, and my promises of a great show didn't happen. The only thing the chef did was the volcano, that was all. The rest of the time he just cooked the food. The chef that did the table next to ours, did several tricks and that table had a fantastic experience. Probably will not bother again with this one. We don't love Teppan Edo. The chef should be the show, but if he's not into it, there's no show. We have a hibachi restaurant here in the wilds of northern Maine where the food is just as good, and salad and soup are included in the price. Sorry you were so disappointed.
Okay, there was a lot more but those are the big thoughts I had. It was a fantastic trip, and we had a lot of fun bringing our extended family on their first Disney trip. We were able to hit every park, get a lot of touring in, and avoided long waits by proper planning. We will go back to mid-levels next trip, probably rent a car, and avoid the summer months.
Sorry it didn't work for you. But just also bought body glide and used it today in our heat while wearing a dress without tights/hose. Not bad.
