We (DD11, DD13 and DH - DW stayed home) just returned from a 7 night WDW and 4 night Universal trip. We had a really great trip overall. Some observations/ complaints:
1) We did the EMH morning hours for five of the seven days. We were never asked to show our resort cards to prove we were staying onsite (DDs had Undercover Tourist tickets and I had an AP so our tickets were not attached to our room cards).
2) EMH mornings worked great at MK since so many rides are open. At the other parks, the crowds were somewhat smaller than a normal rope drop, but the small number of rides open makes EMH morning somewhat less advantageous.
3) It seems to me that WDW has turned down the air conditioning at all stores and on all rides. Especially in August (when we typically go), we loved the icy cold blast when entering a store or ride. This year it wasn't the same (Universal has not done this).
4) Overall, I think food quality has gone down. I have always been a big fan of the TS restaurants at WDW, but this year the food (with a few exceptions) was simply not as good. Prices are much higher than at Universal (even with the TIW card). CS meals were generally pretty bad (and I have never really had any complaints previously). Mickey Premium bars are still great!
5) Crowds were pretty large but manageable. Guests seemed well behaved with the notable exception of numerous groups of foreign teens who were frequently obnoxious (pushing, shoving, being loud on rides or in shows).
6) DD13 celebrated her birthday (8/1) in WDW. She did wear a birthday pin for a few days and we received a few free desserts and were chosen to be the first to ride Nemo (also received, as part of this, 2 family FPs, a special tour of the Living Seas pavilion and special seating for Illuminations). I was pleasantly surprised by this.
7) The nightly Fantasmic shows really helped with the crowds. We actually saw the show at 9:00 and got decent seats about 20 minutes before show time. Last year (2010), we never saw the show because I was not going to wait the 90 minutes or so needed to get a seat at the few shows offered during our stay.
8) I reguarly use FPs and this generally worked well. Never had any issues with using our FPs after the time period stated on the ticket. I must say that the crowds standing by the FP entrances seem to be worse. I got sick of pushing through crowds waiting the 3,4 or 5 minutes for the FP window to open.
9) We rented a car and drove to all the parks. AK has a new policy where they do not want drivers to walk from their car to the park entrance. This is really annoying for those (like us) who get to the park very early to be the first in line at the turnstyle. We simply ignored the CMs and made the (apparently very dangerous) short walk to the park entrance (a walk we have done repeatedly in the past).
Happy to answer any questions.
1) We did the EMH morning hours for five of the seven days. We were never asked to show our resort cards to prove we were staying onsite (DDs had Undercover Tourist tickets and I had an AP so our tickets were not attached to our room cards).
2) EMH mornings worked great at MK since so many rides are open. At the other parks, the crowds were somewhat smaller than a normal rope drop, but the small number of rides open makes EMH morning somewhat less advantageous.
3) It seems to me that WDW has turned down the air conditioning at all stores and on all rides. Especially in August (when we typically go), we loved the icy cold blast when entering a store or ride. This year it wasn't the same (Universal has not done this).
4) Overall, I think food quality has gone down. I have always been a big fan of the TS restaurants at WDW, but this year the food (with a few exceptions) was simply not as good. Prices are much higher than at Universal (even with the TIW card). CS meals were generally pretty bad (and I have never really had any complaints previously). Mickey Premium bars are still great!
5) Crowds were pretty large but manageable. Guests seemed well behaved with the notable exception of numerous groups of foreign teens who were frequently obnoxious (pushing, shoving, being loud on rides or in shows).
6) DD13 celebrated her birthday (8/1) in WDW. She did wear a birthday pin for a few days and we received a few free desserts and were chosen to be the first to ride Nemo (also received, as part of this, 2 family FPs, a special tour of the Living Seas pavilion and special seating for Illuminations). I was pleasantly surprised by this.
7) The nightly Fantasmic shows really helped with the crowds. We actually saw the show at 9:00 and got decent seats about 20 minutes before show time. Last year (2010), we never saw the show because I was not going to wait the 90 minutes or so needed to get a seat at the few shows offered during our stay.
8) I reguarly use FPs and this generally worked well. Never had any issues with using our FPs after the time period stated on the ticket. I must say that the crowds standing by the FP entrances seem to be worse. I got sick of pushing through crowds waiting the 3,4 or 5 minutes for the FP window to open.
9) We rented a car and drove to all the parks. AK has a new policy where they do not want drivers to walk from their car to the park entrance. This is really annoying for those (like us) who get to the park very early to be the first in line at the turnstyle. We simply ignored the CMs and made the (apparently very dangerous) short walk to the park entrance (a walk we have done repeatedly in the past).
Happy to answer any questions.
I love the extra pixie dust Disney provides doing things like this.
