I was back and forth on whether to post about our recent weekend in Disney. I had time today and figured what the heck:
The trip was me, my wife and 2 kids (19 yr old college sophomore and 14 yr old home schooled 9th grader). The trip was planned for my 50th birthday, yes I am officially old. We purchased Florida resident 2 days passes prior to heading out and was told we would need to visit a window to get our cards to enter.
Saturday 9/26 - Heading into the Magic Kingdom. We thought we were able to head over to the customer service window in front of the park, we were wrong. We were instructed to wait in the lines before boarding the monorail or ferry. This may have been the slowest moving lines we have experienced in all of our trips to Disney. After about 75 minutes of waiting were had our tickets and were on our way to the ferry to take over.
I grew up going to Disney every summer with my parents. We were annual passholders for about 10-12 years as my kids grew. Disney was always a place that felt different. Let you escape reality and just have fun. The first steps into the park was always my favorite time. The sounds and smells of Disney are never forgotten. That has changed. Walking down Main Street this time was definitely different. No music playing and it just seems like the cast members are going through the motions. My daughter looked at me and said "this is dreadful".
It was hot so we figured we would head to Splash Mountain. The queue for the ride was long but moved at a consistent pace. Again, no music and just seemed un-Disney. We were able to do the 3 mountains. We had 1 or 2 $4 cokes and called it day. As we were leaving, my son looked at me said "talk about the most depressing place on earth".
9/27 - We headed into Hollywood Studios. We thought about being there for opening but knowing there were 2 chances to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance, we decided to ease into the day. We got the park around noon. Right off the bat, the park felt different and like Disney of old. It made for a much better day. We hit everything we wanted to hit:
Rock n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror right off the bat. Both had waits but the lines moved consistently. We hit Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog later in the day. At 2pm, we were hopeful for boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance. We were put into a a backup boarding group (#80). Unsure if we would get on, we went about the day. At about 5:30, we were just about to board Smugglers Run and our boarding group was called. So within 20 minutes we were able to ride both new rides. I can say Rise of the Resistance may be the best ride I have been on in Disney. It's not a quick on and off and worth the wait. I'm kinds of mixed on Smugglers run, there is a lot going on and I think you miss a lot but overall I would do it again.
The weekend was good and it's always great to spend time with my family away from work. Now with my daughter off at college, we don't get to see her as often and we needed this time.
The trip was me, my wife and 2 kids (19 yr old college sophomore and 14 yr old home schooled 9th grader). The trip was planned for my 50th birthday, yes I am officially old. We purchased Florida resident 2 days passes prior to heading out and was told we would need to visit a window to get our cards to enter.
Saturday 9/26 - Heading into the Magic Kingdom. We thought we were able to head over to the customer service window in front of the park, we were wrong. We were instructed to wait in the lines before boarding the monorail or ferry. This may have been the slowest moving lines we have experienced in all of our trips to Disney. After about 75 minutes of waiting were had our tickets and were on our way to the ferry to take over.
I grew up going to Disney every summer with my parents. We were annual passholders for about 10-12 years as my kids grew. Disney was always a place that felt different. Let you escape reality and just have fun. The first steps into the park was always my favorite time. The sounds and smells of Disney are never forgotten. That has changed. Walking down Main Street this time was definitely different. No music playing and it just seems like the cast members are going through the motions. My daughter looked at me and said "this is dreadful".
It was hot so we figured we would head to Splash Mountain. The queue for the ride was long but moved at a consistent pace. Again, no music and just seemed un-Disney. We were able to do the 3 mountains. We had 1 or 2 $4 cokes and called it day. As we were leaving, my son looked at me said "talk about the most depressing place on earth".
9/27 - We headed into Hollywood Studios. We thought about being there for opening but knowing there were 2 chances to get boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance, we decided to ease into the day. We got the park around noon. Right off the bat, the park felt different and like Disney of old. It made for a much better day. We hit everything we wanted to hit:
Rock n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror right off the bat. Both had waits but the lines moved consistently. We hit Toy Story Mania and Slinky Dog later in the day. At 2pm, we were hopeful for boarding passes for Rise of the Resistance. We were put into a a backup boarding group (#80). Unsure if we would get on, we went about the day. At about 5:30, we were just about to board Smugglers Run and our boarding group was called. So within 20 minutes we were able to ride both new rides. I can say Rise of the Resistance may be the best ride I have been on in Disney. It's not a quick on and off and worth the wait. I'm kinds of mixed on Smugglers run, there is a lot going on and I think you miss a lot but overall I would do it again.
The weekend was good and it's always great to spend time with my family away from work. Now with my daughter off at college, we don't get to see her as often and we needed this time.
