2nd Disney trip....DONE!

SweetMissy

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Just got back last night! Had fun but glad to be home!

Left Thursday night (the 30th)...drove from NY to GA, stayed over night. Finished the trip the next morning and got to our resort (Movies) about lunchtime. Check-in was a disaster!! We had requested adjoining rooms when we booked back in Sept. as we were travelling with my brother and sister. So once we finally got to the counter we asked about it and the lady said she had to ask her supervisor. She left and was over in the corner talking with her for a good 15-20 mins. Other then that the resort was great. Our double stroller from magic strollers was there and was awesome! The food court was a bit of a zoo at times but the food was decent, no complaints there. After lunch, we went to DTD..........seriously crowded! It was like shoulder to shoulder at times! We then headed to Epcot for dinner and Illuminations. We missed this show last time, glad we seen it this time! It was great!







Next day, we went to DHS. Very crowded! Lines were ridiculous! Stunt show was cool (we missed it last time). Osborne lights were pretty cool! Osborne lights and the honey I shrunk the kids play area were the only reasons we went to DHS on the 1st day (missed the play area last time)....since both were ending on the 3rd, so I was very disappointed when we finally found the play area, got the kids out of the stroller and they were closing it up! My kids would've loved it...oh well.








Next day was MK, that morning we did the Ohana breakfast. It was so cute. It was our 1st character meal. We enjoyed the food (that juice is YUMMY!) and the kids loved the little parade they do at the end. Anyway MK was very crowded! OMG! Lines were crazy..gotta love fastpasses! Since we did the breakfast, we were at MK right before it opened and did toy story, stitch, monsters inc all within the first 45 mins....no lines, no waiting! My son loved space mountain, well not at the time because he was scared, lol....but loved it afterwards. My extreme complaint is the fact that the castle was suppose to be lit up in icicles....and it wasn't! I read in a few places that they're suppose to be on until the 3rd and sometimes longer. We went on the 3rd! We were pretty disappointed. The lights were still on the castle, just not turned on....very sad. But the fireworks were just as great as I remember, very nice show....the kids faces were great.







Next day was Epcot, again pretty crowded. Kids loved soarin! The test track IMO was a waste of time...definitely not what I expected. Paid $12 for a disgusting margarita, lol. The storm simulator was pretty cool.







Last day was Animal Kingdom. I love it...but again VERY crowded! We went to AK the last day because it was open until 8pm instead of 5pm....so after the Lion King show, we walked out and herds were walking one way towards the exit. So we were confused because there was quite a few things we didn't do yet because we thought they were open until 8pm. My husband walked into a shop and asked about closing time and the cashier said 5pm! So we stopped in the gift shop while my sister and brother took off for a bus. We were all pretty ticked! Well on the way out....already out the gate, we were seeing some people just walking in and going through where they check your bags. I decided to ask one of the security folks and he said if you're staying at a resort, it's open until 8pm! Thanks for having that on the times guide and thanks to the cashier that forgot to mention that! So we head back in! My poor brother and sister were already on their way back to the hotel! Well we go back in and discover that now that it's starting to get dark, they close rafiki planet, so the kids missed out on the animal petting/feeding. And the one nature walk was now closed as well. We went to the dino dig up area, the kids had fun there! Me and my son rode Everest again....he kinda liked it, lol. We ended up leaving at 7pm. That night after the kids went to bed, hubby and I went to DTD by ourselves....it was much less crowded! Nice and relaxing!






Oh, we had the free dining and OMG was that a lot of food!!! 2 QS and 2 snacks/day....it was crazy! Way too much food, we got 90% of the snacks and bought them home, lol. But I will say this, we'll never go to Disney without the free dining, it really saved us a lot of money and I would never pay for it. The refillable mug is somewhat of a waste if you don't drink soda. When we stayed at POP the 1st trip, they had juice in the morning for breakfast....well Movies doesn't, so you have to buy it. We rarely drink soda, and that's all they had out. Actually they had hot chocolate which was like chocolate water and some sort of cranberry cocktail juice, which we only drink 100%. So if you're an oj drinker for breakfast, it'll do you no good. The buses were very good....had to wait a little here and there but we have no complaints there.







We discovered our daughter is a daredevil! She LOVED tower of terror and haunted mansion...wanted to go again while her brother was practically crying, lol. Funny girl! Another surprise was the crowds! Not only did we pick this week for the free dining but we figured kids will be back in school, so the crowds would be limited....we were waaaaaaay wrong! I HATE crowds BUT normally don't complain because it's expected at places like Disney, but I will say it was crazy! However, the cast members did a good job moving people along on the rides and in food lines. Oh and the riders swap is a joke! Last time, we didn't know about this...so we thought we'd try it this time. Luckily our son was big enough to go on almost everything but there was a few our daughter couldn't. Like space mountain....we planned on me riding with my son while hubby stays with our daughter. We go through the line and the lady tells my husband to go stay with our daughter where we get let off the ride. Ok...he did that but still had to wait in line for the same amount of time after we got off. Same with Everest....she couldn't ride, so there was no standing near where they get on and off to switch....I was told to wait in the gift shop, then had to wait in line just like everyone else. So needless to say, I don't get the whole riders swap thing. So anyway....overall it was a great trip! Kids were a bit bratty at times but it was somewhat expected. Ok, night all! Oh and I miss the 70 degree weather!! I'm in the process of talking hubby into moving, this 16 degree weather sucks, I'm sick of pretending to be an eskimo.
 
Just a bit of helpful advice...maybe if you broke your writing into paragraphs, we'd all have an easier time reading it...
 
Gosh....I didn't know reading was that hard. Do you really think paragraphs would help you? :confused3
 
We were there the same week. We also did HS on the 2nd, MK on the 3rd and Epcot on the 4th.

I thought HS on the 2nd was insane! This was our first trip so I have nothing to compare it to but was hoping it wasn't the low crowds everyone was talking about because I would hate to see what crowded is like!

MK was also crazy starting in the afternoon and by the MSEP, we were shoulder to shoulder!

We had a good experience at epcot on the 4th and the rest of the week was nice!

The weather was perfect!!!!

I can't wait to go back :)
 

We were there the same week. We also did HS on the 2nd, MK on the 3rd and Epcot on the 4th.

I thought HS on the 2nd was insane! This was our first trip so I have nothing to compare it to but was hoping it wasn't the low crowds everyone was talking about because I would hate to see what crowded is like!

MK was also crazy starting in the afternoon and by the MSEP, we were shoulder to shoulder!

We had a good experience at epcot on the 4th and the rest of the week was nice!

The weather was perfect!!!!

I can't wait to go back :)

Yeah I didn't expect HS to be so bad! I really wasn't expecting the crowds to be as bad as they were because like I said it was the week kids were back in school. Oh well....we still had a great time, even though we had to fight our way through everything, lol. This was our 2nd time and I don't remember it being that crowded. I think people are just taking advantage of the free dining. And yes the weather was awesome! :woohoo:
 
Gosh....I didn't know reading was that hard. Do you really think paragraphs would help you? :confused3

Honestly, that was quite rude. Your original post was quite long and really does need breaking points. It really is hard to read and if you lose your place it is even harder to find it again. Sorry if this upsets you but the other poster did try to give you some helpful advice.
 
Honestly, that was quite rude. Your original post was quite long and really does need breaking points. It really is hard to read and if you lose your place it is even harder to find it again. Sorry if this upsets you but the other poster did try to give you some helpful advice.

No, I think she was rude but thanks for your advice too.
 
It was only meant to be constructive criticism...nothing personal was meant. It's just easier to read if it's broken up into paragraphs.

And to be honest, that's the first time on here anyone's called me rude. Just for the record and stuff.
 
I read your post yesterday without the paragraphs as well. I had to just back out of it because I found it very difficult to read. The poster that asked for you to break it up was being far from rude IMO. But whatever. :confused3

A few things that bothered you on your trip could've been avoided with getting a times guide upon entering the park. The playground at DHS has the hours listed. As well as the confusion on closing time at AK....I've never been there when the correct hours aren't listed on the times guide for that day.

Also...not sure what happened with the parent swap. We've been doing the parent swap for years. You get an actual swap pass that admits 3 people in. You go through the Fastpass line with it. I just walk right up to the standby or fastpass CM...ask for a parent swap while the others in my party are in line and they hand it to me. Then I ride with my girls when my dh gets back out.

Sounds like you had a good trip overall though despite the crowds. Many schools were on break til the 5th since Christmas was on a Sat. this year. So that probably explains the big crowds through then.
 
It was only meant to be constructive criticism...nothing personal was meant. It's just easier to read if it's broken up into paragraphs.

And to be honest, that's the first time on here anyone's called me rude. Just for the record and stuff.

The reason why I found your post rude was because of all things you could've commented on, you only commented on the fact that you had trouble reading it. I didn't realize it was so hard....but thanks to your criticism, I've since fixed it. Hope it helps you.
 
I read your post yesterday without the paragraphs as well. I had to just back out of it because I found it very difficult to read. The poster that asked for you to break it up was being far from rude IMO. But whatever. :confused3

A few things that bothered you on your trip could've been avoided with getting a times guide upon entering the park. The playground at DHS has the hours listed. As well as the confusion on closing time at AK....I've never been there when the correct hours aren't listed on the times guide for that day.

Also...not sure what happened with the parent swap. We've been doing the parent swap for years. You get an actual swap pass that admits 3 people in. You go through the Fastpass line with it. I just walk right up to the standby or fastpass CM...ask for a parent swap while the others in my party are in line and they hand it to me. Then I ride with my girls when my dh gets back out.

Sounds like you had a good trip overall though despite the crowds. Many schools were on break til the 5th since Christmas was on a Sat. this year. So that probably explains the big crowds through then.

We got the times guide upon entering each park and I assure you the magic hours weren't listed on the AK one. The resort had given us all of them and we knew that AK was suppose to be open until 8pm....but for some reason it was wrong on the one we got from the park, it said 5pm. Oh well... And at HS, nothing was on the times guide about the play area. We're not idiots, we know how to read. Heck even the cashier at AK said they close at 5pm. About the riders swap....I have no idea what happened. We got the pass for everest but they still made me wait in the gift shop and go through the same line as everyone else. :confused3
 
We got the times guide upon entering each park and I assure you the magic hours weren't listed on the AK one. The resort had given us all of them and we knew that AK was suppose to be open until 8pm....but for some reason it was wrong on the one we got from the park, it said 5pm. Oh well... And at HS, nothing was on the times guide about the play area. We're not idiots, we know how to read. Heck even the cashier at AK said they close at 5pm. About the riders swap....I have no idea what happened. We got the pass for everest but they still made me wait in the gift shop and go through the same line as everyone else. :confused3

I don't think they are listed on the regular times guide either. I think the EMH are only listed on the one guide at the resorts.

Thank you for fixing the original as I was better able to keep my place when reading (sometimes hard when the phones rings or a kid comes in or whatnot) it with the breaks.

I'm glad y'all had a good trip for the most part and sorry about the crowds. I want to one day see the lights but not with the crowds.
 
I don't think they are listed on the regular times guide either. I think the EMH are only listed on the one guide at the resorts.

I don't think that's right because when we saw everyone walking towards the exit, we thought something must've happened and they were closing early. If we had not of stopped and asked as we were nearly heading for the buses, we would've never known. Oh well....

Thank you for fixing the original as I was better able to keep my place when reading (sometimes hard when the phones rings or a kid comes in or whatnot) it with the breaks.

No problem! I guess I can understand now why it's harder to read and keep track of, just wish posters were a little nicer about it.

I'm glad y'all had a good trip for the most part and sorry about the crowds. I want to one day see the lights but not with the crowds.

May be worth it for some but not for me ever again, lol.

....
 


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