DisMike
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2010
- Messages
- 193
My DW and I try to take a Caribbean cruise each year late Jan or early Feb. Multiple reasons for this but the two most important are they are less expensive and much more enjoyable getting out of the cold.
We decided that this year we would suck up the cost and try a DCL cruise in spite of the extra cost (it was way worth it BTW). Since we were going to fly into Orlando anyway we figured we'd do three days at WDW and do the whole Disney Monty. We booked a room at the Port Orleans - Riverside. My oldest daughter called soon after and asked if our room had two beds or one. I said that it had two. She asked if she and her DH could come and stay with us at the hotel. We said "sure" so our WDW adventure for two grew to four.
Fortunately for me I have a friend at work that is a Disney fanatic and gave me tips for planning at WDW vacation. I made a reservation to eat at Be Our Guest for my DD's 30th birthday. Was surprised that even though I booked at exactly the time reservations opened 180 days in advance, we still couldn't get a table for 4 before 7pm. Made the FP+ reservations the minute they came available and waited.
Impressions:
Love, love, love Magical Express. Checked our bags at the airport when we boarded. Didn't see them again until we got to our room. LOVE IT!
Loved the immersion of the entire resort. Something you don't get at DLR as much.
Had heard that the bus transportation within the parks is hit or miss and time consuming. Didn't find that to be the case. We used it extensively and never felt that it was that big a deal. Is it as quick or convenient as walking around DLR? No. But not the nightmare I was expecting.
Was both happy with and dissatisfied with FP+. I had everything planned out so the rides we had FP+'s for we basically walked right on. If it weren't my first trip I would've felt a bit constrained about having to plan my days 2 months in advance. The thing I didn't like about it was that the CMs would allow all the FP+ people on immediately and not mix in others waiting in stand by. This appeared to make the stand by lines artificially slower than they should be. We didn't have any issues about going on other rides and waiting. Used single rider a couple of times and others just waited. My biggest issue was that if you didn't have a FP+ for the real popular rides, you have virtually zero chance of getting one in the park. A nasty surprise for the unprepared.
Was blown away with the amount of walking we did. We walk a lot at DLR but WDW is orders of degree beyond that. Didn't bring good enough shoes and I paid. After the first day my feet were killing me. After the second they were screaming. After the third they filed for separate maintenance. Won't make that mistake again.
Really enjoyed Disney Springs. We took the ferry from Port Orleans and enjoyed the relaxing ride to and from.
Didn't like the Fantasyland layout in WDW as much as at DLR. The DLR one seems more thematic. The one at WDW seemed more like a carnival or the Jersey shore.
Was very underwhelmed by the 7 Dwarfs ride. It was way too short. The theming was great. The ride itself was enjoyable but it felt like it was over in 10 seconds. AND it has ridiculous stand by wait times. Don't get that one.
Was really surprised by the lack things to do at AK. There's a lot of space but not much there (at least for me). However, it is the home of some of the best rides in the resort.
Rock & Roller Coaster was the absolute best roller coaster I've ever been on! Doesn't beat the crap out of you physically (went on Titan at Six Flags Over Texas and had a headache the entire day after pulling 4 g's). Just plain fun. Didn't care a ton for the Aerosmith theming but, whatever. The ride was good.
Really impressed with the Castle. Now when I look at Snow White's Castle at DLR it seems puny.
Was seriously disappointed with Space Mountain. Love the sound in the headrest and the music at the DLR version. That made the WDW version lesser in my experience. Also like the queue better at DLR.
Bottom line, we are taking another DCL cruise in Jan 2021. We'll be doing WDW again. Really enjoyed the many good things about WDW and appreciated the differences. Still enjoyed the things at WDW that weren't as good as at DLR.
We decided that this year we would suck up the cost and try a DCL cruise in spite of the extra cost (it was way worth it BTW). Since we were going to fly into Orlando anyway we figured we'd do three days at WDW and do the whole Disney Monty. We booked a room at the Port Orleans - Riverside. My oldest daughter called soon after and asked if our room had two beds or one. I said that it had two. She asked if she and her DH could come and stay with us at the hotel. We said "sure" so our WDW adventure for two grew to four.
Fortunately for me I have a friend at work that is a Disney fanatic and gave me tips for planning at WDW vacation. I made a reservation to eat at Be Our Guest for my DD's 30th birthday. Was surprised that even though I booked at exactly the time reservations opened 180 days in advance, we still couldn't get a table for 4 before 7pm. Made the FP+ reservations the minute they came available and waited.
Impressions:
Love, love, love Magical Express. Checked our bags at the airport when we boarded. Didn't see them again until we got to our room. LOVE IT!
Loved the immersion of the entire resort. Something you don't get at DLR as much.
Had heard that the bus transportation within the parks is hit or miss and time consuming. Didn't find that to be the case. We used it extensively and never felt that it was that big a deal. Is it as quick or convenient as walking around DLR? No. But not the nightmare I was expecting.
Was both happy with and dissatisfied with FP+. I had everything planned out so the rides we had FP+'s for we basically walked right on. If it weren't my first trip I would've felt a bit constrained about having to plan my days 2 months in advance. The thing I didn't like about it was that the CMs would allow all the FP+ people on immediately and not mix in others waiting in stand by. This appeared to make the stand by lines artificially slower than they should be. We didn't have any issues about going on other rides and waiting. Used single rider a couple of times and others just waited. My biggest issue was that if you didn't have a FP+ for the real popular rides, you have virtually zero chance of getting one in the park. A nasty surprise for the unprepared.
Was blown away with the amount of walking we did. We walk a lot at DLR but WDW is orders of degree beyond that. Didn't bring good enough shoes and I paid. After the first day my feet were killing me. After the second they were screaming. After the third they filed for separate maintenance. Won't make that mistake again.
Really enjoyed Disney Springs. We took the ferry from Port Orleans and enjoyed the relaxing ride to and from.
Didn't like the Fantasyland layout in WDW as much as at DLR. The DLR one seems more thematic. The one at WDW seemed more like a carnival or the Jersey shore.
Was very underwhelmed by the 7 Dwarfs ride. It was way too short. The theming was great. The ride itself was enjoyable but it felt like it was over in 10 seconds. AND it has ridiculous stand by wait times. Don't get that one.
Was really surprised by the lack things to do at AK. There's a lot of space but not much there (at least for me). However, it is the home of some of the best rides in the resort.
Rock & Roller Coaster was the absolute best roller coaster I've ever been on! Doesn't beat the crap out of you physically (went on Titan at Six Flags Over Texas and had a headache the entire day after pulling 4 g's). Just plain fun. Didn't care a ton for the Aerosmith theming but, whatever. The ride was good.
Really impressed with the Castle. Now when I look at Snow White's Castle at DLR it seems puny.
Was seriously disappointed with Space Mountain. Love the sound in the headrest and the music at the DLR version. That made the WDW version lesser in my experience. Also like the queue better at DLR.
Bottom line, we are taking another DCL cruise in Jan 2021. We'll be doing WDW again. Really enjoyed the many good things about WDW and appreciated the differences. Still enjoyed the things at WDW that weren't as good as at DLR.
Last edited:
