KateDrake
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2011
- Messages
- 808
Just got back from 5 fabulous days in the parks, and thought I'd share a few thoughts since I don't know when I'll have time for a full TR.
We arrived in the early afternoon on 10/9 and used Gay Days tickets, which were great! We had no trouble whatsoever, just took them to the turnstile and were given 5-day hoppers. A big thank you to Gay Days for making the tickets available to everyone, that is so kind of you! It saved our family a ton of money, and I totally hope to do it again next year.
Carthay Circle is absolutely not to be missed! We did the WOC dinner package, and were blown away by how great the food was. The steak in my DD3's kids meal was seriously one of the best steaks I've ever tasted, and everything we had was just to die for.
The WOC viewing worked out great for us. We showed up around 7:50 for the 8:15 show, and were able to get a spot right along the railing with an unobstructed view. I'm not sure if the CC and WCT space was the same, as the lower levels were full by the time we arrived, but we were totally pleased with our spot, since the whole point for us was to avoid camping out for 2 hours prior to the show.
Crowds were heavier than I've seen at this time of year in the past, but totally manageable. Wait times were really quite short most of the time, except for Cars Land. The big exception to this was Friday night during the Halloween party, when DCA was slammed. It was kind of a lost cause that night, and we only ended up getting on two rides (Ariel's and Matter's) with about a 40 minute wait each. We did spend a bit of time at Mad Tea Party though, which was fun. Next time I would be sure to hit DCA earlier in the day and load up on FPs to use in the evening.
Cars Land was very well done, but I don't think I'll be trying for RSR again until the crowds die down significantly. We tried the wide right technique Thursday morning, and it totally worked, but the ride was down until around 2 p.m. that day. It was also closed all morning for a couple of other days during our trip. Luckily we got FPs and did single rider one time, but we just didn't feel the lines were worth it to try again. It is a cool ride, don't get me wrong, but DH and I both felt it wasn't good enough to warrant wait times of 2 hours or more. It was like we appreciate it for a feat of amazing Imagineering, but the ride itself is just so-so.
The only damper on our trip was that DD3 and DH both got a stomach bug and each spent a miserable night. I know it wasn't anything they ate because they were sick two days apart, it was just a virus or something. So that was a bummer, but I was amazed at how much fun we were still able to have. Here are our favorite experiences:
DD3 - Musical Chairs with Alice and Mad Hatter at Coke Corner (she won!)
DH - Taking DD3 on Star Tours for the first time
Me - Dinner at Carthay Circle and WOC (I can't get enough of that show!)
Those are the big things I noticed this trip, I'll have to write up a full TR some other time. I'm happy to answer questions if anyone is heading out soon! A big thank you to everyone who helped me plan this trip!
We arrived in the early afternoon on 10/9 and used Gay Days tickets, which were great! We had no trouble whatsoever, just took them to the turnstile and were given 5-day hoppers. A big thank you to Gay Days for making the tickets available to everyone, that is so kind of you! It saved our family a ton of money, and I totally hope to do it again next year.
Carthay Circle is absolutely not to be missed! We did the WOC dinner package, and were blown away by how great the food was. The steak in my DD3's kids meal was seriously one of the best steaks I've ever tasted, and everything we had was just to die for.
The WOC viewing worked out great for us. We showed up around 7:50 for the 8:15 show, and were able to get a spot right along the railing with an unobstructed view. I'm not sure if the CC and WCT space was the same, as the lower levels were full by the time we arrived, but we were totally pleased with our spot, since the whole point for us was to avoid camping out for 2 hours prior to the show.
Crowds were heavier than I've seen at this time of year in the past, but totally manageable. Wait times were really quite short most of the time, except for Cars Land. The big exception to this was Friday night during the Halloween party, when DCA was slammed. It was kind of a lost cause that night, and we only ended up getting on two rides (Ariel's and Matter's) with about a 40 minute wait each. We did spend a bit of time at Mad Tea Party though, which was fun. Next time I would be sure to hit DCA earlier in the day and load up on FPs to use in the evening.
Cars Land was very well done, but I don't think I'll be trying for RSR again until the crowds die down significantly. We tried the wide right technique Thursday morning, and it totally worked, but the ride was down until around 2 p.m. that day. It was also closed all morning for a couple of other days during our trip. Luckily we got FPs and did single rider one time, but we just didn't feel the lines were worth it to try again. It is a cool ride, don't get me wrong, but DH and I both felt it wasn't good enough to warrant wait times of 2 hours or more. It was like we appreciate it for a feat of amazing Imagineering, but the ride itself is just so-so.
The only damper on our trip was that DD3 and DH both got a stomach bug and each spent a miserable night. I know it wasn't anything they ate because they were sick two days apart, it was just a virus or something. So that was a bummer, but I was amazed at how much fun we were still able to have. Here are our favorite experiences:
DD3 - Musical Chairs with Alice and Mad Hatter at Coke Corner (she won!)
DH - Taking DD3 on Star Tours for the first time
Me - Dinner at Carthay Circle and WOC (I can't get enough of that show!)
Those are the big things I noticed this trip, I'll have to write up a full TR some other time. I'm happy to answer questions if anyone is heading out soon! A big thank you to everyone who helped me plan this trip!
