UnOfficial March 2012 Trip Planners Tread-DIS Meet 3/8 Info Pg 1

[hsmamainva]

Checking out of BWV in the morning. Had a great room but the crowds killed us. Been here since 3/2. We're exhausted, hubby took tons of pics for his dining review, kids wanted to swim instead of being in the parks. First Disney trip we ever had where we can't wait to go home. Hope everyone has a great time!

We had large crowds during both of our visits to the Magic Kingdom. Wall to wall people walking back from the fireworks to the gate.

Crowds were "medium" at our visits to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

Didn't find many crowds at all at Epcot until evening when everyone showed up for the fireworks! But we still found a great seat and had a terrific view.

Weather was perfect! But don't think I'll go during my oldest daughter's college Spring Break again! I thought the crowds would be lighter.

Now thinking of trying early January (she has a long winter break and doesn't have to be back at school until the 3rd week of the month). But I'm sure it won't be as warm in Florida as it was last week!

 

[sjs314]

We had large crowds during both of our visits to the Magic Kingdom. Wall to wall people walking back from the fireworks to the gate.

Crowds were "medium" at our visits to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.

Didn't find many crowds at all at Epcot until evening when everyone showed up for the fireworks! But we still found a great seat and had a terrific view.

Weather was perfect! But don't think I'll go during my oldest daughter's college Spring Break again! I thought the crowds would be lighter.

Now thinking of trying early January (she has a long winter break and doesn't have to be back at school until the 3rd week of the month). But I'm sure it won't be as warm in Florida as it was last week!

I went the end of January one year and expected lighter crowds but much to my dismay we had the tour groups from Brazil. I honestly do not recall it being too cold when we went in January.

The day we went to MK it did start to get busier as it neared time for the fireworks in fact since we had to bus it back to our resort and were so tired after having our dinner at Tony's we decided to just skip the Dessert Party so as not to have to fight the crowds, I told DH the park was open until 10 and we could just hang around for a while but he reminded me how busy the stores get so we left. Next time if I book the Dessert Party, I will do something else during the day and just head over to MK in the evening. Hordes of people were entering as we were leaveing around 6 pm.

We ended up watching Wishes from our balcony at BWI, no music but no fighting the crowds afterwards either.

 

[kt_mom]

Just two more sleeps! We went out today to run a couple errands. I had to get some product from the hair salon and my hairdresser almost blew the surprise. I guess she forgot it was a surprise and said something about going to Disney soon. At least she was across the room and DD didn't hear her quite right and I when she asked what my hairdresser had said I told her that she said she was going to Disney soon. And was excited and telling me because I had given her some tips. DD bought it. I think anyways.

We're mostly packed. I just have a few last minute things to stick in tomorrow and then load up the car. I've just been snuggling with DS for most of the day and playing with him. I'm nervous about leaving him. He'll be fine with DSil and probably not miss me too much. But I'm sure going to miss him. And I already miss DH since he's been gone since Wednesday. He gets back Monday night but we'll already be in Orlando.

But we'll be in Disney and I'm sure that will be enough of a distraction!

 

[Beiji]

We're back home, and I'm having Disney withdrawal pains. We had a good trip, but DH had a stomach bug for part of it. I liked POP which has much better food than the All Stars. I got my requests of 70s and lake view, but, honestly, it really didn't matter because I was hardly ever in the room. Had very nice vegan meals at Tusker House and at Whispering Canyon. Enjoyed pin trading for the first time and got several comments on my Year of a Million Dreams lanyard. Rode Snow White for the last time. And met another DISer on the bus from POP to MK! Hi, Melissa!

The crowds seemed larger than in January, which I expected. Toward the end of the week it got noticeably busier. Started seeing cheerleaders on Thursday.

I will probably go back next January. I actually prefer the cooler temps, and the tourist groups have never bothered me.

 

[bigjrfan88]

You must have misread my post, I did not think the crowds were bad at all,we arrived on Sunday also........ not compared to when I went later in March in 2009 when it was wall to wall people everywhere. Many rides were walk ons and no long waits at restaurants, we even did a few CS places this trip which in 2009 was a total nightmare between the lines and trying to find a seat ..........we are hopeing to return in 2013 this same time again.

The weather was beautiful just like in 2009, I love the no humidity factor

I love March and the BWI!!!

I'm sorry! I didn't mean to quote your post. I'm glad you also had an awesome trip. The only rides we missed were Spaceship Earth and Tommorowland Speedway. Other than that we rode every ride in WDW. Some things even got multiple rides.

 

[Luvmepluto]

You must have misread my post, I did not think the crowds were bad at all,we arrived on Sunday also........ not compared to when I went later in March in 2009 when it was wall to wall people everywhere. Many rides were walk ons and no long waits at restaurants, we even did a few CS places this trip which in 2009 was a total nightmare between the lines and trying to find a seat ..........we are hopeing to return in 2013 this same time again.

The weather was beautiful just like in 2009, I love the no humidity factor

I love March and the BWI!!!

I just got back today! I thought the crowd levels were pretty heavy. We were pretty shocked to say the least. But it was still a great time! We had a very unhappy experience with a cast member in Fantasyland and the most awesome waiter at the Garden Grille. I will be sending Disney a letter in regards to both. I am already planning me return trip for either September or October. I am glad that you had a good time and you were given a water view.

 

[sjs314]

I just got back today! I thought the crowd levels were pretty heavy. We were pretty shocked to say the least. But it was still a great time! We had a very unhappy experience with a cast member in Fantasyland and the most awesome waiter at the Garden Grille. I will be sending Disney a letter in regards to both. I am already planning me return trip for either September or October. I am glad that you had a good time and you were given a water view.

Sorry to hear you had a bad expierence with a CM in MK. I have to say all the servers and CM's we dealt with were wonderful. The crowds this trip were about half what we encountered in 2009 but then we traveled at the height of spring break that year from March 24 to the 31st.

I wish we could go back this year I so wanted to book a BB offer but we decided to hold off until 2013

 

[Luvmepluto]

Sorry to hear you had a bad expierence with a CM in MK. I have to say all the servers and CM's we dealt with were wonderful. The crowds this trip were about half what we encountered in 2009 but then we traveled at the height of spring break that year from March 24 to the 31st.

I wish we could go back this year I so wanted to book a BB offer but we decided to hold off until 2013

I can see why you think the crowds were not bad....Spring Break would be a nightmare. We are use to going during the off times that this past week shocked us, but the weather was so nice.

We are going to do a quick 4night/5day trip for the MNSSHP. I just need to figure out whether we want to book under FD in September or go ahead and book our stay in October. 2013 will be here before you know it!!!!

 

[Toni1019]

We survived our first trip! Had a few things go wrong, but still had a great time.

I agree, crowds were thick at times, I hate to see what Spring break crowds bring. So happy we went the week we did!

 

[sjs314]

I can see why you think the crowds were not bad....Spring Break would be a nightmare. We are use to going during the off times that this past week shocked us, but the weather was so nice.

We are going to do a quick 4night/5day trip for the MNSSHP. I just need to figure out whether we want to book under FD in September or go ahead and book our stay in October. 2013 will be here before you know it!!!!

Over the years most of our trips have been during the busier times, we went I think 4 x during Easter Week, Memorial Day Week etc in fact as we were walking about Fantasyland we were talking about how small the lines were compared to the ones we have waited in. We both agreed we love March for the weather so I do think that might be what we aim for in 2013.

We had trips planned for the Fall twice and had to postpone them, I would love to go for F & W and MNSSHP & MVMCP but I guess not this year

 

[bigjrfan88]

M-Th were absolutely glorious. Light crowds, nothing more than a 15 min wait. The posted time might have been for 20-25 min, but it was surely not more than 10-15min for anything. The only time I had to wait was when we went to ride Rockin Rollercoaster on Thursday. We messed around and all the fastpasses were gone. I decided to wait in the 30 min posted time standby line so we could do rideswap with my youngest, and then let my wife ride it with her again afterward. 90 minutes later I emerged from the ride. I think everyone was trying to use their fastpasses before F!, bcause I kept seeing hoards of people go to the FP line.

 

[tinkmagic07]

After a few days rest, ready to report back on our full-blown, all out Princess trip!

We were there 4th - 8th and I thought the crowds were pretty heavy, considering we thought we were going pre-Spring Break according to the crowd calendars I looked at. We stayed at CBR, which we were told was at 100% capacity by a CM.

For anyone planning Princess dining, here's how ours went:

1900 Park Faire (dinner) - characters were good - Cinderella and Prince Charming were... charming. Stepmother and stepsisters played their parts well, and did their best to not intimidate my DD3 when I told them she was "shy." They seemed a little rushed at the tables. Food was less than mediocre. Buffet's are usually ok in my book, but the food here was off. Ate more desserts than anything. I can see why past reviews said that parents were raiding the kid food. Oh, and add a 30 minute wait PAST our reservation time of 7:05. Not planning on going back.

Akerhaus (lunch) - great experience! Photo with Belle (yellow dress) at entrance was great. Circulating Princesses (Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White) were kind, talkative, interacted well with all the kids. (These ladies sure do work hard, saw them get knocked into, stepped on, fallen over - held their composure well!) Appetizer buffet was nice - cheeses, seafood, salad, not too many "kid" choices though. Entree I had the open beef sandwich, mom had the traditional meatballs. Both were very good! The dessert sampler was delicious. Great experience, and they took us 45 minutes early!! Would definitely do this one again.

Royal Table (dinner) - as always, great overall experience. Cinderella was wonderful, circulating Princesses (Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, Belle in blue dress) were great as well. A little more rushed than Akerhaus, but still talkative with each table. Food was good. And despite the fireworks holding anyone with a res time around 8, 8:30 back and all of us bum-rushing the check-in station at the same time, we were called for our table right on time at 8:35. Can't beat the setting, so if DD wants to "go in the castle" again, I certainly will.

(sorry, but to my DD3, dress colors are VERY important, lol)

MK Park Princesses:
Rapunzel was a long wait no matter when you went unless you got to her 3 seconds after the park opened. 45 minutes for us at 10 am. Tiana we tried first thing on another morning - got there at 9:15 and she was out by 9:35, third in line. Tink ranged from 45-65 minutes both times we went (afternoon), and Terence was her friend both times. Was hoping for one of the ladies at least once - someone said they had Rosetta the day before - my DD would have been over the moon to have met her! Town Square Princesses we had to Fast-Pass which worked out. Times posted most times we walked past were about 40 minutes. Jasmine was 15 minutes by the flying carpet ride.

EPCOT Park Princesses:
Caught Belle (blue dress) by chance when we got off the boat we took to get closer to Japan. About 15 minute wait. Snow White we were second in line after her break. Had an impromptu photo-shoot of my DD at Snow White's wishing well while she was on her break. I know the shots were great. Sadly, they didn't transfer to my photo pass. Wish there was another was to retrieve them.

So, if you have a DD like mine that needed to hunt down and hug every Princess possible, more than once, there you have it. We did it and she was the happiest little girl in the world. When DS8 comes on the next trip, we'll be split again, but I'm glad we were able to do this and all went well. There's nothing quite like seeing them in person, and it brought back memories of my DS "meeting" Lightning McQueen when he was 4.

Lessons learned: not going in March again. No complaints about the weather, but the "crowds" got to me, and I know we weren't yet into the heavy spring break crowds. November seems to be my month and I'll be ok with pulling DS out of school. Try a new hotel. While I love the setting at CBR and the kid splash playground was a HUGE plus for my DD, need to find something quieter. If DH was on this trip, he'd be unhappy. Maybe PO or FQ next time. DH wants Poly, he's the dreamer. DH is also a foodie, so no 1900 PF either, lol.

Anyone heading out soon... have a wonderful trip!!! Make the most of every minute of Disney Magic. Can't wait to go back in 2013!

 

[sjs314]

After a few days rest, ready to report back on our full-blown, all out Princess trip!

We were there 4th - 8th and I thought the crowds were pretty heavy, considering we thought we were going pre-Spring Break according to the crowd calendars I looked at. We stayed at CBR, which we were told was at 100% capacity by a CM.

For anyone planning Princess dining, here's how ours went:

1900 Park Faire (dinner) - characters were good - Cinderella and Prince Charming were... charming. Stepmother and stepsisters played their parts well, and did their best to not intimidate my DD3 when I told them she was "shy." They seemed a little rushed at the tables. Food was less than mediocre. Buffet's are usually ok in my book, but the food here was off. Ate more desserts than anything. I can see why past reviews said that parents were raiding the kid food. Oh, and add a 30 minute wait PAST our reservation time of 7:05. Not planning on going back.

Akerhaus (lunch) - great experience! Photo with Belle (yellow dress) at entrance was great. Circulating Princesses (Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, Snow White) were kind, talkative, interacted well with all the kids. (These ladies sure do work hard, saw them get knocked into, stepped on, fallen over - held their composure well!) Appetizer buffet was nice - cheeses, seafood, salad, not too many "kid" choices though. Entree I had the open beef sandwich, mom had the traditional meatballs. Both were very good! The dessert sampler was delicious. Great experience, and they took us 45 minutes early!! Would definitely do this one again.

Royal Table (dinner) - as always, great overall experience. Cinderella was wonderful, circulating Princesses (Aurora, Snow White, Ariel, Belle in blue dress) were great as well. A little more rushed than Akerhaus, but still talkative with each table. Food was good. And despite the fireworks holding anyone with a res time around 8, 8:30 back and all of us bum-rushing the check-in station at the same time, we were called for our table right on time at 8:35. Can't beat the setting, so if DD wants to "go in the castle" again, I certainly will.

(sorry, but to my DD3, dress colors are VERY important, lol)

MK Park Princesses:
Rapunzel was a long wait no matter when you went unless you got to her 3 seconds after the park opened. 45 minutes for us at 10 am. Tiana we tried first thing on another morning - got there at 9:15 and she was out by 9:35, third in line. Tink ranged from 45-65 minutes both times we went (afternoon), and Terence was her friend both times. Was hoping for one of the ladies at least once - someone said they had Rosetta the day before - my DD would have been over the moon to have met her! Town Square Princesses we had to Fast-Pass which worked out. Times posted most times we walked past were about 40 minutes. Jasmine was 15 minutes by the flying carpet ride.

EPCOT Park Princesses:
Caught Belle (blue dress) by chance when we got off the boat we took to get closer to Japan. About 15 minute wait. Snow White we were second in line after her break. Had an impromptu photo-shoot of my DD at Snow White's wishing well while she was on her break. I know the shots were great. Sadly, they didn't transfer to my photo pass. Wish there was another was to retrieve them.

So, if you have a DD like mine that needed to hunt down and hug every Princess possible, more than once, there you have it. We did it and she was the happiest little girl in the world. When DS8 comes on the next trip, we'll be split again, but I'm glad we were able to do this and all went well. There's nothing quite like seeing them in person, and it brought back memories of my DS "meeting" Lightning McQueen when he was 4.

Lessons learned: not going in March again. No complaints about the weather, but the "crowds" got to me, and I know we weren't yet into the heavy spring break crowds. November seems to be my month and I'll be ok with pulling DS out of school. Try a new hotel. While I love the setting at CBR and the kid splash playground was a HUGE plus for my DD, need to find something quieter. If DH was on this trip, he'd be unhappy. Maybe PO or FQ next time. DH wants Poly, he's the dreamer. DH is also a foodie, so no 1900 PF either, lol.

Anyone heading out soon... have a wonderful trip!!! Make the most of every minute of Disney Magic. Can't wait to go back in 2013!

Thanks for shareing your expierences. While I have no small children I did run into very short lines for Rapunzel and her Prince twice and Mary Poppins twice on the walkway near the Disney Traders Store which is located before the Intn'l Gateway for anyone who might be seeking them out. I was able to get good pictures from afar, DH kept telling me to go take a picture with them but not me I am too shy

 

[bigjrfan88]

Wow...we really must have zigged when everyone else was zagging. I saw crowds but lines were very short. Especially at AK. That park looked crowded, but everyone just seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. We rode Kali River Rapids 3 times in a row with no wait. In fact the 3rd time they didnt even make us get out of the boat. Even EE was a short wait. I think we were on the ride in less than 15 mins. The posted wait time was 40 mins though. On Friday night when F! was rained out we rode TSMM 3 times and only waited 40 mins the first time. After that we just kept getting in line and heading straight for the stairs. By Saturday the crowds were significantly heavier, so we got in the car and started for home.

 

[tinkmagic07]

Wow...we really must have zigged when everyone else was zagging. I saw crowds but lines were very short. Especially at AK. That park looked crowded, but everyone just seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. We rode Kali River Rapids 3 times in a row with no wait. In fact the 3rd time they didnt even make us get out of the boat. Even EE was a short wait. I think we were on the ride in less than 15 mins. The posted wait time was 40 mins though. On Friday night when F! was rained out we rode TSMM 3 times and only waited 40 mins the first time. After that we just kept getting in line and heading straight for the stairs. By Saturday the crowds were significantly heavier, so we got in the car and started for home.

lol - I was thinking the same thing! that we must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, because posted wait times at the beginning of the week were longer than I thought they would be. We were at MK Monday, which I know was the least recommended park that day, but I didn't bother with hoppers this trip and dining reservations were hard to come by, so MK it was by default because of our dinner plans. Wed MK seemed much better until later in the day (line for Small World was outside the building). I headed to Space Mtn and the posted wait was 55 min. so I skipped it. EPCOT on Tues fast passes for Test Track and Soarin were all distributed before 10 am, so I didn't bother with those either. My DD got on the carousel and Small World more than once, that all that really mattered on this trip. Next time we'll go in the fall.

 

[Lidian]

Tinkmagic, when did you dine at 1900? We had a simliar and different experience. We at there on March 5th. I refuse to go back to the GF for ANY circumstance. I stood at the check-in counter for nearly 15 minutes waiting for one of the FOUR girls standing there to acknowledge my presence. And when the rude mom came over, pushed me away and said she was there to check in but she didn't have an ADR, and they gave her a pager and said 45 minutes ... I was livid and began tapping my fingers on the counter. I was ready to find a manager and tell them that we were leaving and it will be a cold day in ____ before I'd allow them to charge the fee to my CC since they refused to provide me with SERVICE and I was there.

When one of the girls did acknowledge me (no apologies or anything), we waited for well over 40 minutes (Mrs. No-ADR was already seated in the dining room when we walked through). Our server was almost non-existant. I got tired of the plates, DD never got a full sized beverage, none of us got refills.

However, we enjoyed the characters and we loved the food. It wasn't amazing food, but I went back to the buffet a few times to get seconds and thirds on select items (and yes, I sound like a pig, but I take small servings -- samples -- of items). I loved the Strawberry Soup and had a whole bowl. The desserts were okay. The food or characters weren't good enough to ever draw us back, but we filled up on food. So wondering if maybe the food you were served was old or not prepared well? We thought the quality and taste was good (not great or amazing, but good). It was above standards compared to our local buffets.

Oh ... and out of all the chefs who took care of DD's allergy ... the one at 1900 PF was absolutely AMAZING! He was the only one who acknowledged that it was possible for cross-contamination at a buffet and served her food (his own creations) all night long. All the other chefs walked us through the buffet and said she could or couldn't have each item (some just told us what to avoid from our table instead of pointing out each item). All of them brought desserts for her, except one place, where we were lucky to pay to leave (and kept having to flag down other servers).

Wow...we really must have zigged when everyone else was zagging. I saw crowds but lines were very short. Especially at AK. That park looked crowded, but everyone just seemed to be wandering around aimlessly. We rode Kali River Rapids 3 times in a row with no wait. In fact the 3rd time they didnt even make us get out of the boat. Even EE was a short wait. I think we were on the ride in less than 15 mins. The posted wait time was 40 mins though. On Friday night when F! was rained out we rode TSMM 3 times and only waited 40 mins the first time. After that we just kept getting in line and heading straight for the stairs. By Saturday the crowds were significantly heavier, so we got in the car and started for home.

You must have ... because we never saw ToT or RnRC below a 90 minute wait after checking all day (FPs were gone by the time I was ready to allow DD to get one) and they closed the Single Rider down several times because it was as long, or longer, than standby. Even Great Movie ride kept a 40 minute wait throughout the day (but was able to snag a time when it was 10 minutes, making this the first, out of 4 years, we waited for GMR).

Indy was SRO each time we checked, and finally dealt with it at one showing since it was a Must Do. As far as the other parks ... Never saw KS without a long line down Africa (outside of the queue). Kali was the only ride with a reasonable wait, but it was still kind of cool. MK: Never saw PotC below 25 minutes (so we waited 25 minutes), but usually higher, even CoP was pretty full when we saw it. I didn't see Maelstrom drop below a 30 minute wait all day, so we're sad we missed it. The boat ride in Mexico had a slight wait, it was tolerable (10 minutes maybe?), but we had always done that and walked right on.

If a ride had a FP, then we used it (so we did ride ST 4 or 5 times, but used FPs each time). The wait for ST stayed between 20-50 minutes ... but even with FPs, our wait was around 15 minutes before placement at a gate.

There were a lot of things across the parks that we missed out on because we weren't going to wait in the lines. I've gone when parks were 6-8s and have had better luck than these 1-3s. We will never do March again (weather too unpredictable and crowds are much higher than previous visits). I'm used to 15 minute or less waits. I was very disappointed with the waits.

Oh, and several times, I encountered grid-locks while at MK (which was supposed to be a 1.4. Perhaps we took poor advice from a website that I always felt was reliable. Who knows. But we thought it was bad.

 

[bigjrfan88]

Tinkmagic, when did you dine at 1900? We had a simliar and different experience. We at there on March 5th. I refuse to go back to the GF for ANY circumstance. I stood at the check-in counter for nearly 15 minutes waiting for one of the FOUR girls standing there to acknowledge my presence. And when the rude mom came over, pushed me away and said she was there to check in but she didn't have an ADR, and they gave her a pager and said 45 minutes ... I was livid and began tapping my fingers on the counter. I was ready to find a manager and tell them that we were leaving and it will be a cold day in ____ before I'd allow them to charge the fee to my CC since they refused to provide me with SERVICE and I was there.

When one of the girls did acknowledge me (no apologies or anything), we waited for well over 40 minutes (Mrs. No-ADR was already seated in the dining room when we walked through). Our server was almost non-existant. I got tired of the plates, DD never got a full sized beverage, none of us got refills.

However, we enjoyed the characters and we loved the food. It wasn't amazing food, but I went back to the buffet a few times to get seconds and thirds on select items (and yes, I sound like a pig, but I take small servings -- samples -- of items). I loved the Strawberry Soup and had a whole bowl. The desserts were okay. The food or characters weren't good enough to ever draw us back, but we filled up on food. So wondering if maybe the food you were served was old or not prepared well? We thought the quality and taste was good (not great or amazing, but good). It was above standards compared to our local buffets.

Oh ... and out of all the chefs who took care of DD's allergy ... the one at 1900 PF was absolutely AMAZING! He was the only one who acknowledged that it was possible for cross-contamination at a buffet and served her food (his own creations) all night long. All the other chefs walked us through the buffet and said she could or couldn't have each item (some just told us what to avoid from our table instead of pointing out each item). All of them brought desserts for her, except one place, where we were lucky to pay to leave (and kept having to flag down other servers).



You must have ... because we never saw ToT or RnRC below a 90 minute wait after checking all day (FPs were gone by the time I was ready to allow DD to get one) and they closed the Single Rider down several times because it was as long, or longer, than standby. Even Great Movie ride kept a 40 minute wait throughout the day (but was able to snag a time when it was 10 minutes, making this the first, out of 4 years, we waited for GMR).

Indy was SRO each time we checked, and finally dealt with it at one showing since it was a Must Do. As far as the other parks ... Never saw KS without a long line down Africa (outside of the queue). Kali was the only ride with a reasonable wait, but it was still kind of cool. MK: Never saw PotC below 25 minutes (so we waited 25 minutes), but usually higher, even CoP was pretty full when we saw it. I didn't see Maelstrom drop below a 30 minute wait all day, so we're sad we missed it. The boat ride in Mexico had a slight wait, it was tolerable (10 minutes maybe?), but we had always done that and walked right on.

If a ride had a FP, then we used it (so we did ride ST 4 or 5 times, but used FPs each time). The wait for ST stayed between 20-50 minutes ... but even with FPs, our wait was around 15 minutes before placement at a gate.

There were a lot of things across the parks that we missed out on because we weren't going to wait in the lines. I've gone when parks were 6-8s and have had better luck than these 1-3s. We will never do March again (weather too unpredictable and crowds are much higher than previous visits). I'm used to 15 minute or less waits. I was very disappointed with the waits.

Oh, and several times, I encountered grid-locks while at MK (which was supposed to be a 1.4. Perhaps we took poor advice from a website that I always felt was reliable. Who knows. But we thought it was bad.

Wow! I'd like to know which parks you were at on which days. Here is our experience with last week.

Sunday the 4th: Arrived at resort around 1pm, and room ready by 2. Cleaned up and headed for MK. Arrived just as the 3pm parade was starting on Main Street. We watched a few moments of the parade and then took the train to Frontierland. As soon as we got off the train we hit Splash with a 15 min posted wait. We were on Splash in less than 5 minutes. We had similar waits for all other rides that evening in Adventureland, and ended the night in Tomorrowland for the desset party.

Monday the 5th: Started the day in Epcot with Akershus Princess breakfast pre RD. This is our first experience with Akershus, and I have to say it was a very pleasant experience. We headed for Test Track right after park opening, and rode it in less than 20 mins. We did everything in Epcot except for Soaring which isnt a big deal for us. We just dont see the draw for Soaring. We even experienced short waits for the major characters in WS. we opened and closed Epcot. We had a wonderful dinner at La Hacienda for Illuminations.

Tueday the 6th: We arrived at AK just as the park was opening. I have to say that we were a little nervous because it looked very crowded when we arrived. Like I said previously everyone just seemed to be wandering aimlessly. We rode Dinosaur 2 times, Kali 3 times, EE 2 times, and the safari 1 time. We also managed to get through the trails and saw many animals we had never experienced before. Now we skipped Nemo and the Lion King show since we had seen them many times, so that might have helped us avoid some of the crowds. We had done everything in AK by 4pm and hit the bus and headed for DTD for dinner at Portabello. I managed to get that reservation while standing in line for EE. I was surprised to get an early dinner reservation so late in the game.

Wenesday the 7th: Had early Bfast at Chef Mickey, and then took Monorail to MK. Again we were scared because we saw 2 large tour groups entering at the same time we did, but we headed to Fantasyland, and we never saw them again. we hit all te headliners by 10 am, and then sat in the long line for Rapunzel. This was a must do for my daughter so we braved the line. This was our longest wait all day long. I have tell you all about this othe experience too. Jesse from Toy Story is my youngest's favorite character. We saw her with Woody, and as we were leaving I jokingly said to Jesse that we were on our way to see Buzz and wondered if she had anything to tell him. She took 10 mins writing a love letter to Buzz that we had to carry across the park and give to Buzz. Highlight of the day. My kids felt so special. Again, no real wait all day other than Rapunzel.

Thursday the 8th: Hit HS right after the park openend. We thought it was going to be nuts because we had to wait on 2 busses at our resort to load before we could get on the 3rd one. We got there headed for TSMM with everyone else and got our FP for later. Hit the Star Wars ride, rode it 3 times with less than a 5 minute wait each time. Basically the walk through the store back up to the front to watch the pre ride video. We did several others with a very minimal wait time as well. While waiting in line for Dis Juniour show I made a reservation for 50's Prime Time Cafe. I was again super surprised we were able to get reservations so late in the game. I have to say that this lunch was the highlight of our trip. Our waiter Cousin Cooper was awesome and played his part very well. My daughters wanted to have him come hang out with us the rest of the day. After that we hit the Indy show about 10 mins before it started and had no problems getting seats right up front just slightly to the right. Oh, and before lunch we did Lights Motor Action. We had never seen it before so it was a must do. The only negative all day was I jumped in line for Rockin Roller coaster late in the evening. It had a 40 min posted wait time and the FP were all gone. We wanted to do ride swap so I had to do standby. That 40 min wait time was waaaay off. I think many people were trying to use their FP before F! started, and I eneded up waiting about double that. We did not do F!, and hit the bus before the hoards arrived.

Friday the 9th: Had another early Bfast at Ohana's and then headed to DTD for a bit. My wife picked up some XMAS stuff and then we headed back to the resort. We rested a bit and headed back to HS. I had called while we were at DTD and got a F! dinning package for that night. Again, I was so surprised to get a reservation so late in the game. We could tell a significant difference at HS on this day. The cheerleading conference was in full swing and there were teenagers everywhere. We rode the Star Wars ride again, did the Little Mermaid show, and caught the Pixar parade. We had our dinning reservations timed just right. Just as we were seated it started raining pretty hard. After eating we headed to TOT so my youngest could ride it again. It had a posted 40 min wait, but we headed straight for the preshow room. We only waited approx 10 mins. The only negative is that just as F! started on Friday, it started raining really hard again, and the show was cancelled. We headed straight for TSMM as others just left the park. We managed to ride it 3 times in a row. I later heard that the later F! was also cancelled due to technical difficulties.

Saturday the 10th: Packed, checked out, hit Epcot so kids could ride Test Track again, and then hit the road. It was considerablly more crowded than our previous day and I couldnt stand the rude people that were arriving.

We followed Easywdw's recommendations and it was all in all a great trip. We went with no expectations and no real plans. Just kind of went with the flow.

 

[momtoccc]

We were there last week also and I thought it was more crowded than I expected. MK was really busy on Friday - I think the wait for Space Mtn was 2 hours at one point! We could still get a FP but it interferred with our break/dinner plans and of course by the time we came back they were all gone. We did go during WIshes when posted time was 50 minutes but it really only took us 20 minutes.

I saw lots of high school groups (Senior trips?) and the cheerleaders. We were able to do most of what we wanted by getting to parks at RD. Rain on Sunday washed out Epcot (did go in the a.m. and rode Soarin' twice and did a few other things before calling it quits)

I'll also think twice about going back during Spring Break season.

 

[Lidian]

Wow! I'd like to know which parks you were at on which days. Here is our experience with last week.

Sunday the 4th: Arrived at resort around 1pm, and room ready by 2. Cleaned up and headed for MK. Arrived just as the 3pm parade was starting on Main Street. We watched a few moments of the parade and then took the train to Frontierland. As soon as we got off the train we hit Splash with a 15 min posted wait. We were on Splash in less than 5 minutes. We had similar waits for all other rides that evening in Adventureland, and ended the night in Tomorrowland for the desset party.

Monday the 5th: Started the day in Epcot with Akershus Princess breakfast pre RD. This is our first experience with Akershus, and I have to say it was a very pleasant experience. We headed for Test Track right after park opening, and rode it in less than 20 mins. We did everything in Epcot except for Soaring which isnt a big deal for us. We just dont see the draw for Soaring. We even experienced short waits for the major characters in WS. we opened and closed Epcot. We had a wonderful dinner at La Hacienda for Illuminations.

Tueday the 6th: We arrived at AK just as the park was opening. I have to say that we were a little nervous because it looked very crowded when we arrived. Like I said previously everyone just seemed to be wandering aimlessly. We rode Dinosaur 2 times, Kali 3 times, EE 2 times, and the safari 1 time. We also managed to get through the trails and saw many animals we had never experienced before. Now we skipped Nemo and the Lion King show since we had seen them many times, so that might have helped us avoid some of the crowds. We had done everything in AK by 4pm and hit the bus and headed for DTD for dinner at Portabello. I managed to get that reservation while standing in line for EE. I was surprised to get an early dinner reservation so late in the game.

Wenesday the 7th: Had early Bfast at Chef Mickey, and then took Monorail to MK. Again we were scared because we saw 2 large tour groups entering at the same time we did, but we headed to Fantasyland, and we never saw them again. we hit all te headliners by 10 am, and then sat in the long line for Rapunzel. This was a must do for my daughter so we braved the line. This was our longest wait all day long. I have tell you all about this othe experience too. Jesse from Toy Story is my youngest's favorite character. We saw her with Woody, and as we were leaving I jokingly said to Jesse that we were on our way to see Buzz and wondered if she had anything to tell him. She took 10 mins writing a love letter to Buzz that we had to carry across the park and give to Buzz. Highlight of the day. My kids felt so special. Again, no real wait all day other than Rapunzel.

Thursday the 8th: Hit HS right after the park openend. We thought it was going to be nuts because we had to wait on 2 busses at our resort to load before we could get on the 3rd one. We got there headed for TSMM with everyone else and got our FP for later. Hit the Star Wars ride, rode it 3 times with less than a 5 minute wait each time. Basically the walk through the store back up to the front to watch the pre ride video. We did several others with a very minimal wait time as well. While waiting in line for Dis Juniour show I made a reservation for 50's Prime Time Cafe. I was again super surprised we were able to get reservations so late in the game. I have to say that this lunch was the highlight of our trip. Our waiter Cousin Cooper was awesome and played his part very well. My daughters wanted to have him come hang out with us the rest of the day. After that we hit the Indy show about 10 mins before it started and had no problems getting seats right up front just slightly to the right. Oh, and before lunch we did Lights Motor Action. We had never seen it before so it was a must do. The only negative all day was I jumped in line for Rockin Roller coaster late in the evening. It had a 40 min posted wait time and the FP were all gone. We wanted to do ride swap so I had to do standby. That 40 min wait time was waaaay off. I think many people were trying to use their FP before F! started, and I eneded up waiting about double that. We did not do F!, and hit the bus before the hoards arrived.

Friday the 9th: Had another early Bfast at Ohana's and then headed to DTD for a bit. My wife picked up some XMAS stuff and then we headed back to the resort. We rested a bit and headed back to HS. I had called while we were at DTD and got a F! dinning package for that night. Again, I was so surprised to get a reservation so late in the game. We could tell a significant difference at HS on this day. The cheerleading conference was in full swing and there were teenagers everywhere. We rode the Star Wars ride again, did the Little Mermaid show, and caught the Pixar parade. We had our dinning reservations timed just right. Just as we were seated it started raining pretty hard. After eating we headed to TOT so my youngest could ride it again. It had a posted 40 min wait, but we headed straight for the preshow room. We only waited approx 10 mins. The only negative is that just as F! started on Friday, it started raining really hard again, and the show was cancelled. We headed straight for TSMM as others just left the park. We managed to ride it 3 times in a row. I later heard that the later F! was also cancelled due to technical difficulties.

Saturday the 10th: Packed, checked out, hit Epcot so kids could ride Test Track again, and then hit the road. It was considerablly more crowded than our previous day and I couldnt stand the rude people that were arriving.

We followed Easywdw's recommendations and it was all in all a great trip. We went with no expectations and no real plans. Just kind of went with the flow.

We didn't pass each other at any point it seems.

We followed TP's recommendations (mostly):
Sunday: IoA (which was so not crowded at all!!!)
Monday: AK (but I had spent the night in the ER, so we didn't stay too long -- I was napping by around 1pm, and we did arrive late -- and I expected crowds here, since they had AM EMH)
Tuesday: MK
Wednesday: DHS
Thursday: Epcot

Epcot wasn't horrible ... but I really hated that we couldn't get on Maelstrom (since we never saw it below 25 min wait, but usually higher). I had issues checking into Akershus because of the Maelstrom line.

I honestly didn't check waits at AK (we only did the safari, DD did EE, and DD and the boys rode Kali -- which was minimal wait since it was still kind of cool out). I do know that everytime we saw Safari though, the line was backed down the street. And it was hard to walk through the people. Waits everywhere else during the week were not what I expected. We had a great time, and we did MOST of the things we wanted ... so no complaints on that. I just really had better experiences with "larger crowds" than these "minimal crowds".

 

[kt_mom]

We are home and had an awesome trip! DD was so surprised. She was on the phone with DH as we were walking towards to DME and I guess was oblivious to the signs so we had to just about spell it out for her before she got the surprise. But she was thrilled once she got it.

It was crowded but not as bad as I had feared. I guess I was picturing the worst in my head having not been at a busy time before. The weather was absolutely great all week and we got in lots of time at the pool.

We enjoyed staying at AKV but I don't know that I would go back there again. Its just too far to get to the other parks. But it was a beautiful resort. We were in a value studio and when I checked in I requested a savannah view and we got one. We saw lots of zebras the first day and the rest of the week we saw giraffes. It was really neat.

We arrived and checked in about 9:30 on Monday evening. THe CM gave DD a birthday button right away. DD wanted to hit DHS that night so once we checked out our room we headed over there. First stop was was guest services to upgrade to AP's and get our TIW card. We got there just in time becuase a long line formed behind us quickly. The CM that helped us was very nice and it didn't take long to get everything done. He saw it was DD's birthday and gave us 6 fastpasses for ToT. I guess he heard us discussing heading there first and also a certificate for a stuffed animal up to $25! It was an awesome way to start to our trip. Of course DD had to use that right away and picked a large Minnie Mouse that we meaning me, had to carry around the rest of the night. But it was okay because she was so happy.

We got to the fastpass line for ToT and at first they told us we couldn't use FP during EMH but then we all saw that it said EMH fastpass at the top and they let us on through. Our second time through the CM told us to just hand on to our FP and so we ended up getting to ride 4 times that night. After that we headed back to the resort to try to get some rest before an early morning at MK the next day.

The rest of the week went well. We hit the parks early and were able to ride SM about 10 times over the course of the week, ToT about 10 times, RnRC 4 times, Everest 5 times and everything else we wanted to ride at least once if not twice. Lines were long but with getting there early and using FP we rode what we wanted with little wait. We did wait standby for TSM with a posted 60 minute wait that ended up being almost two hours. That caused us to miss our FP time for ToT by about 20 mintues I think, but the CM allowed us in when we got there. We also rode Everst standby because we didn't get to AK until about 4:00 and the FP were all gone. The first wait was about 45 or 50 minutes but each time after that got shorter and shorter. We also Dinosaur, saw Nemo and played the games in Dinoland between 4:00 and 8:00.

All in all it was a great week but by the end I was really missing DS and was ready to get home and see him.