Ninja Mom
Attention People of Earth, I come in Peace...
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2012
- Messages
- 2,171
Hello my friends! Welcome to the start of my trip report. I've been thinking about how to organize it and I've decided to go the chronological route with a little hotel info mixed in with a little trip info.
I'll start with our arrival at the hotel. By that I mean Pop and not the BC! We chose to spend the night at Pop Century on the day of our arrival down in Florida. I wanted to have an "off" day where we could recover from the early morning Airport shuffle and a long flight. It was great having 2 rooms so there was plenty of space for the luggage and 5 bodies. It was also great not being compelled to start running around like crazy people the moment we set foot in Orlando.
We decided to go to AK for a couple of hours at night just to walk around and get something to eat. I have to say the park was beautiful at night and we ate at Yak and Yeti where I had the privilege to pay 18 dollars for a quart of chicken lo mein.
The next morning we called bell services and had them whisk the bags to the BC while we went to our first park. It was at this point that I learned that the bags do not even leave the hotel you just checked out of until AFTER 12 noon because technically your next hotel room is not available until 4pm. I've never seen that reported for hotel luggage transfers between resorts so keep that in mind. Bell services did say that the bags would probably be at the next hotel by about 2 pm and that you could access your bags if your room was still not ready during the day of check in. Still, it was easier just to take what you needed from your bags (like bathing suits or medication) and put it in one separate bag, either to carry with you to the park, OR fetch from Bell services when you got to your next hotel, but you room was still not ready. Bell services at POP and the BC was VERY ACCOMMODATING as far as helping you access the luggage they were storing for you. This goes for either pre-check in luggage storage or post check out storage. We had valuables (computer's Ipad's and Ipods) that we felt safe leaving with Bell services. We just let them know that we had valuables and they said that they would take special care of them.
We threw the bathing suits in a back pack and took the bus to Hollywood Studios for rope drop and Toy Story Mania. Since we were part of the early morning pack we were able to get Fast Passes for a second ride but we soon discovered through out our entire trip that the new fast pass system does not work for us!
What we found was, that for the rides that you really needed fast passes for, (Example: Soarin, Test track, TSM) you could only get them in the morning if you were at that parks in the first two hours. If you came later than that, then the FP times were ridiculously late and were out of the question. Keep in mind that this was during a period of low crowds in the parks. People that are going during busier times are really going to have to depend on that new advanced, Fast Pass reservation system that Disney is moving towards if they hope to get a chance at the busier rides and they aren't at the parks right at rope drop.
The other thing that we discovered was that when we did pull FP's in the morning we never made it back in time to use them since we had to keep touring through the park and we would be moving further away from the FP ride. We would get sucked into committing to something else that blocked our ability to get back at precisely the time the FP called for. This was knowing full well that we could not use a FP early and we had a 15 minute grace period after the FP expired.
It occurred to me that Disney is obviously trying to kill the "Tour by FP" system where you gather them in the morning and go back again at your convenience. To me, the choices are: you hit the high demand attractions right at rope drop or you wait in a long line for the rest of the day for the popular attractions. Remember, you can pull a FP for the popular ride after that early morning park opening, say the first two hours, but the return time will be mid to late afternoon or even late in the evening, which means you have to plan to be there right in that FP time window. This whole situation really put a crimp in our touring plans and I'd bet big money that the percentage of fast passes actually being used has gone way down, which means a lot of people are walking around with FP's in their pockets that they aren't actually going to be able to use. Way to go Disney Managers!
I was wondering if the decrease in useable FP's would impact the standby lines, making them faster but I couldn't really see a difference. I had the chance to ask some ride CM's if they were seeing faster standby line times because of the strict FP time returns but the ones I talked to were non committal or had no idea what I was getting at, so I wasn't able to get a good read on my suspicions. I even spoke with what I was pretty sure was a ride manager and he was not giving up any information like that so we shall see. As they say, your (ride) mileage may vary, but that's what I was experiencing.
After a morning at DHS we decided to take that beautiful boat ride from the Park to the BC. I don't think I will ever forget the anticipation I experienced on the boat as we cruised closer and closer to the resort. Yeah sure, the Magical Express is a nice way to arrive at your resort. But there is something special in floating around a corner and having the Yacht and Beach club being revealed in all it's glory from the beautiful water side.
That's it for this installment of my BC trip report. Next up I'll write about what happened at check in and I'll continue in various installments about all the things I learned and experienced at this WONDERFUL resort!
I know I'm keeping you hanging but that's all a part of the fun!!!
~NM
I'll start with our arrival at the hotel. By that I mean Pop and not the BC! We chose to spend the night at Pop Century on the day of our arrival down in Florida. I wanted to have an "off" day where we could recover from the early morning Airport shuffle and a long flight. It was great having 2 rooms so there was plenty of space for the luggage and 5 bodies. It was also great not being compelled to start running around like crazy people the moment we set foot in Orlando.
We decided to go to AK for a couple of hours at night just to walk around and get something to eat. I have to say the park was beautiful at night and we ate at Yak and Yeti where I had the privilege to pay 18 dollars for a quart of chicken lo mein.
The next morning we called bell services and had them whisk the bags to the BC while we went to our first park. It was at this point that I learned that the bags do not even leave the hotel you just checked out of until AFTER 12 noon because technically your next hotel room is not available until 4pm. I've never seen that reported for hotel luggage transfers between resorts so keep that in mind. Bell services did say that the bags would probably be at the next hotel by about 2 pm and that you could access your bags if your room was still not ready during the day of check in. Still, it was easier just to take what you needed from your bags (like bathing suits or medication) and put it in one separate bag, either to carry with you to the park, OR fetch from Bell services when you got to your next hotel, but you room was still not ready. Bell services at POP and the BC was VERY ACCOMMODATING as far as helping you access the luggage they were storing for you. This goes for either pre-check in luggage storage or post check out storage. We had valuables (computer's Ipad's and Ipods) that we felt safe leaving with Bell services. We just let them know that we had valuables and they said that they would take special care of them.
We threw the bathing suits in a back pack and took the bus to Hollywood Studios for rope drop and Toy Story Mania. Since we were part of the early morning pack we were able to get Fast Passes for a second ride but we soon discovered through out our entire trip that the new fast pass system does not work for us!
What we found was, that for the rides that you really needed fast passes for, (Example: Soarin, Test track, TSM) you could only get them in the morning if you were at that parks in the first two hours. If you came later than that, then the FP times were ridiculously late and were out of the question. Keep in mind that this was during a period of low crowds in the parks. People that are going during busier times are really going to have to depend on that new advanced, Fast Pass reservation system that Disney is moving towards if they hope to get a chance at the busier rides and they aren't at the parks right at rope drop.
The other thing that we discovered was that when we did pull FP's in the morning we never made it back in time to use them since we had to keep touring through the park and we would be moving further away from the FP ride. We would get sucked into committing to something else that blocked our ability to get back at precisely the time the FP called for. This was knowing full well that we could not use a FP early and we had a 15 minute grace period after the FP expired.
It occurred to me that Disney is obviously trying to kill the "Tour by FP" system where you gather them in the morning and go back again at your convenience. To me, the choices are: you hit the high demand attractions right at rope drop or you wait in a long line for the rest of the day for the popular attractions. Remember, you can pull a FP for the popular ride after that early morning park opening, say the first two hours, but the return time will be mid to late afternoon or even late in the evening, which means you have to plan to be there right in that FP time window. This whole situation really put a crimp in our touring plans and I'd bet big money that the percentage of fast passes actually being used has gone way down, which means a lot of people are walking around with FP's in their pockets that they aren't actually going to be able to use. Way to go Disney Managers!
I was wondering if the decrease in useable FP's would impact the standby lines, making them faster but I couldn't really see a difference. I had the chance to ask some ride CM's if they were seeing faster standby line times because of the strict FP time returns but the ones I talked to were non committal or had no idea what I was getting at, so I wasn't able to get a good read on my suspicions. I even spoke with what I was pretty sure was a ride manager and he was not giving up any information like that so we shall see. As they say, your (ride) mileage may vary, but that's what I was experiencing.
After a morning at DHS we decided to take that beautiful boat ride from the Park to the BC. I don't think I will ever forget the anticipation I experienced on the boat as we cruised closer and closer to the resort. Yeah sure, the Magical Express is a nice way to arrive at your resort. But there is something special in floating around a corner and having the Yacht and Beach club being revealed in all it's glory from the beautiful water side.
That's it for this installment of my BC trip report. Next up I'll write about what happened at check in and I'll continue in various installments about all the things I learned and experienced at this WONDERFUL resort!
I know I'm keeping you hanging but that's all a part of the fun!!!
~NM
dana! 
I shooed them away and as soon as I entered the building I quickly realized what they were after. Hiding behind the gingerbread carousel was Teena, frantically pin trading in an effort to keep from getting near that door. Recognizing her from her pictures I told my family I wanted to go over and introduce myself before the dogs got to her. The further you walked into the lobby the more cloying that heavy gingerbread scent became. 
