AllTheWorldsAStage
Just Can't Wait To Be King
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2003
- Messages
- 33
Welcome to Part II The Bad. The first 4 paragraphs are the same as Part I (for the benefit of those who didnt read Part I). Please remain seated and keep your arms and legs inside this post at all times. Have a safe trip, and enjoy your read
This trip report is written by a virtual first timer. Why virtual? I havent been to Disney in 19 years, so I felt as if I was experiencing the World for the first time all over again. My wife hasnt been there in 12 years, so she had a lot of new to look forward to as well. It was also the first trip for my 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son.
We stayed for 7 nights in August (Wednesday to Wednesday) at the Wilderness Lodge with park tickets for 7 days (park hopper but no plus options), and we were on the dining plan.
My targeted audience for this trip report is other first timers (and virtual first timers) with small children. Of course, anyone can read it, but you will notice that I am purposely avoiding all of the abbreviations that are found everywhere on this message board. I now know about 95% of those abbreviations, but I remember when I first started reading these postings, I was extremely annoyed trying to figure out crazy sentences like We got a 7:15 ADR for HDD so we would have time to get back to ASMo after visiting TL in the afternoon so DW and DD could shower in time to board a 5:45 bus to the TTC so we could catch the express monorail to MK and transfer to a boat to FW and sign in with the CM at HDD, then catch a boat afterwards to CR to watch Wishes from the beach before hopping on the resort monorail to the TTC and transfer monorails to Epcot for EMH before taking the bus back to ASMo. You either read that with no problem, or you are fairly new to these message boards. For you new people this report is for you!
Without further ado, I bring you three postings about our trip: first is the good, second is the bad, and third is the ugly as well as closing thoughts and advice. I know there are a few Disney apologists out there that can never find anything bad with Disney, so you probably shouldnt read the bad and ugly parts. This is just one mans honest opinion, and I dont think any of your sugar coating will change it.
PART II THE BAD
Disney Transportation In particular, service between the Wilderness Lodge and the Magic Kingdom. Oh sure, it is close. So close you can see it. Oh yeah, and plenty of options are available (direct boat, boat to Contemporary then walk or monorail, bus) but the service can be very unpredictable. We decided the theme to our week was just missed. In other words, the boat was always leaving the dock when we got there, the busses were always leaving when we arrived at the bus stop, the express monorail came 3 times before the resort monorail came once, our monorail was the one that needed to wait 15 minutes for a safety check, etc. We never, ever walked up to a boat dock, monorail station, or a bus stop with the transportation either sitting there or showing up within 5 minutes. I know that is just extreme bad luck, but it is especially bad when the heat index is 110 and you have to continually talk 2 kids overheated, cranky kids off the cliff while they wait. Unfortunately, driving to the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge is even worse. You can see the hotel between the trees from the parking lot of the Transportation and Ticket Center (which is where you park for the Magic Kingdom), but it will take a good 15 minutes or so to drive back to the Wilderness Lodge. As easy as it is to drive from the Wilderness Lodge to the Transportation and Ticket Center, you cant take the same road back. They force you all the way to the opposite side of the parking lot, and then you pretty much have to drive to the Epcot exit before they allow you to turn around and head back towards the Magic Kingdom area resorts. My guess is that they planned it that way to force guests at the Magic Kingdom area resorts to use Disney transportation. I suppose if I was in a group with older kids and adults only, I wouldnt mind the waiting so much. But when you are dealing with crabby toddlers, 10 or 15 minutes can be an excruciatingly long time. Also, I noticed that the next bus or the next boat can mean waiting anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes. Your guess is as good as any. It is truly a random event, not a schedule.
Orlando weather in the summer I knew to expect hot and humid. I just didnt realize that it is hot and humid 24 hours a day. It doesnt matter how early in the day you start, or how late at night you stay out. Your shirt will be stuck to your skin within 10 minutes. You can practically chew the air. Your bathing suit will not air dry overnight. You will need a complete change of clothes at some point during the day. You can not pretend that the heat is not bothering you. I tried for the first two days, but I was lying every time my wife asked me if I thought the heat was bad. Granted, it was not very crowded in mid-to-late August, so at least there werent any lines longer than 30 minutes for anything. I guess we traded comfort for short lines. I suppose if we went in March, it would have been just the opposite.
Temperature of the pool water I dont know if Disney can do anything about it, but the pool water had to be over 90 degrees. With the constant, blistering heat, I doubt they can do much. The kiddy pool was literally a hot tub for toddlers. There was nothing refreshing about swimming in the big pool either. After the first couple of days, we did all of our swimming after dark. The water was still hot, but at least you didnt have to deal with the sun beating on you (or sun burn!)
Security bag checks before you enter the parks Hey, we are living in the post 9/11 world. I understand the need for increased security. However, they never seemed to have enough people checking bags at the beginning of the day. The line just to have your bags checked was one of the longest lines we waited in all week. There is NO relief from the sun in that line either. If they had a few more security guards working at the beginning of the day, it would have made things much easier for all of the park guests with bags.
Entrance to the theme parks This is a very slow process. Insert your cart, stick two fingers in the hole wait wait wait wait green light comes one. Walk through the turnstile and retrieve your ticket. Hand the other 3 tickets to the cast member. Watch the cast member enter the first kid ticket into the machine. Hit a bunch of buttons to manually override the need to enter fingers. Manually push the turnstile. Retrieve the ticket. Repeat all steps with child ticket number 2. Repeat all steps with the other adult (except the adult has to put their fingers in the hole and wait wait wait wait for the green light. Allow the Cast Member to manually turn the turnstile one last time, the move to the side while they open the gate so you can push the stroller through and hand the 3 tickets back to the adult. Then, you get pounced on by another cast member asking for your zip code so they can enter it into their computer for marketing purposes. Sound exhausting? Just imagine what it is like when there are 10 families ahead of you and this entire process is repeated time and time again. UGH!!!
Design of the Magic Kingdom Just hold those tomatoes and hear me out. The Magic Kingdom is indeed magical. It is THE first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the words Disney World. I know it opened in 1971, and they did the best with what information they had back then. Today, it is a major cluster ugh, Ill keep this rated PG. Why does everybody have enter and leave the park in that 20 foot wide space known as Main Street USA? Sure, that area is charming. But when all you want to do is get through it, you have to wait for every person with a camera to spread their party out across the entire street so they can get a group shot with Cinderellas Castle in the background. Weve all done it, so I dont blame anyone. All I ask is for an alternative route to get out!!! I dont want to spend 15 minutes trying to walk 200 yards to the park exit. Also, the walkways themselves are by far the narrowest of all 4 parks. Again, it was probably standard in the amusement park industry back in 1971. However, they need to come up a solution for this. I think Main Street USA is the worst bottleneck of pedestrian traffic in any amusement park I have ever been too. And I have been to many!
Parking lots at the Disney hotels My wife and I are convinced that the parking lots are designed to be so far away from the actual hotels as a way to force people to use Disney transportation. The handicap and valet spots are the only spots remotely close. Everything other spot is a bit of a hike, and there always seems to be some sort of winding path to the resort lobby entrance. We drove to a few other resorts to eat, so it wasnt just a Wilderness Lodge problem. It was also bad at the Beach Club, the Animal Kingdom Lodge and especially bad at the Grand Floridian.
Small lizards everywhere The kids and I didnt mind them, but they freaked my wife out. We saw those little lizards pretty much wherever we went. They are all smaller than 4 inches in length, and generally you dont see them until they move. My wife made a habit of looking straight ahead at all times (instead of looking at the ground) so she wouldnt have to see them. They really werent a nuisance, but if you dont like them, you wont be able to escape them.
McDonalds at Downtown Disney We went there when we visited Downtown Disney (my kids love it, so we thought they would think it was a treat to eat there). The brochure they gave us listing all the places that accept the dining plan clearly had this location marked as a restaurant that accepts the dining plan. When we were told we could not, we asked the manager in charge. She said they never accepted the plan and didnt even know they were listed in the Disney Dining Plan brochure (we showed her the brochure at that time). I find it hard to believe that we were the first people to ever attempt to order on the dining plan there, but she said we were. I believe her about as far as I could throw her. And let me tell you, I wouldnt be able to throw her very far (if at all).
Thats about it for The Bad. Part III will feature The Ugly and some advice. You will notice that I am copying the first 4 paragraphs to start Part III as well. That is for the benefit of any readers who read my posts out of order.
This trip report is written by a virtual first timer. Why virtual? I havent been to Disney in 19 years, so I felt as if I was experiencing the World for the first time all over again. My wife hasnt been there in 12 years, so she had a lot of new to look forward to as well. It was also the first trip for my 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son.
We stayed for 7 nights in August (Wednesday to Wednesday) at the Wilderness Lodge with park tickets for 7 days (park hopper but no plus options), and we were on the dining plan.
My targeted audience for this trip report is other first timers (and virtual first timers) with small children. Of course, anyone can read it, but you will notice that I am purposely avoiding all of the abbreviations that are found everywhere on this message board. I now know about 95% of those abbreviations, but I remember when I first started reading these postings, I was extremely annoyed trying to figure out crazy sentences like We got a 7:15 ADR for HDD so we would have time to get back to ASMo after visiting TL in the afternoon so DW and DD could shower in time to board a 5:45 bus to the TTC so we could catch the express monorail to MK and transfer to a boat to FW and sign in with the CM at HDD, then catch a boat afterwards to CR to watch Wishes from the beach before hopping on the resort monorail to the TTC and transfer monorails to Epcot for EMH before taking the bus back to ASMo. You either read that with no problem, or you are fairly new to these message boards. For you new people this report is for you!
Without further ado, I bring you three postings about our trip: first is the good, second is the bad, and third is the ugly as well as closing thoughts and advice. I know there are a few Disney apologists out there that can never find anything bad with Disney, so you probably shouldnt read the bad and ugly parts. This is just one mans honest opinion, and I dont think any of your sugar coating will change it.
PART II THE BAD
Disney Transportation In particular, service between the Wilderness Lodge and the Magic Kingdom. Oh sure, it is close. So close you can see it. Oh yeah, and plenty of options are available (direct boat, boat to Contemporary then walk or monorail, bus) but the service can be very unpredictable. We decided the theme to our week was just missed. In other words, the boat was always leaving the dock when we got there, the busses were always leaving when we arrived at the bus stop, the express monorail came 3 times before the resort monorail came once, our monorail was the one that needed to wait 15 minutes for a safety check, etc. We never, ever walked up to a boat dock, monorail station, or a bus stop with the transportation either sitting there or showing up within 5 minutes. I know that is just extreme bad luck, but it is especially bad when the heat index is 110 and you have to continually talk 2 kids overheated, cranky kids off the cliff while they wait. Unfortunately, driving to the Magic Kingdom from the Wilderness Lodge is even worse. You can see the hotel between the trees from the parking lot of the Transportation and Ticket Center (which is where you park for the Magic Kingdom), but it will take a good 15 minutes or so to drive back to the Wilderness Lodge. As easy as it is to drive from the Wilderness Lodge to the Transportation and Ticket Center, you cant take the same road back. They force you all the way to the opposite side of the parking lot, and then you pretty much have to drive to the Epcot exit before they allow you to turn around and head back towards the Magic Kingdom area resorts. My guess is that they planned it that way to force guests at the Magic Kingdom area resorts to use Disney transportation. I suppose if I was in a group with older kids and adults only, I wouldnt mind the waiting so much. But when you are dealing with crabby toddlers, 10 or 15 minutes can be an excruciatingly long time. Also, I noticed that the next bus or the next boat can mean waiting anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes. Your guess is as good as any. It is truly a random event, not a schedule.
Orlando weather in the summer I knew to expect hot and humid. I just didnt realize that it is hot and humid 24 hours a day. It doesnt matter how early in the day you start, or how late at night you stay out. Your shirt will be stuck to your skin within 10 minutes. You can practically chew the air. Your bathing suit will not air dry overnight. You will need a complete change of clothes at some point during the day. You can not pretend that the heat is not bothering you. I tried for the first two days, but I was lying every time my wife asked me if I thought the heat was bad. Granted, it was not very crowded in mid-to-late August, so at least there werent any lines longer than 30 minutes for anything. I guess we traded comfort for short lines. I suppose if we went in March, it would have been just the opposite.
Temperature of the pool water I dont know if Disney can do anything about it, but the pool water had to be over 90 degrees. With the constant, blistering heat, I doubt they can do much. The kiddy pool was literally a hot tub for toddlers. There was nothing refreshing about swimming in the big pool either. After the first couple of days, we did all of our swimming after dark. The water was still hot, but at least you didnt have to deal with the sun beating on you (or sun burn!)
Security bag checks before you enter the parks Hey, we are living in the post 9/11 world. I understand the need for increased security. However, they never seemed to have enough people checking bags at the beginning of the day. The line just to have your bags checked was one of the longest lines we waited in all week. There is NO relief from the sun in that line either. If they had a few more security guards working at the beginning of the day, it would have made things much easier for all of the park guests with bags.
Entrance to the theme parks This is a very slow process. Insert your cart, stick two fingers in the hole wait wait wait wait green light comes one. Walk through the turnstile and retrieve your ticket. Hand the other 3 tickets to the cast member. Watch the cast member enter the first kid ticket into the machine. Hit a bunch of buttons to manually override the need to enter fingers. Manually push the turnstile. Retrieve the ticket. Repeat all steps with child ticket number 2. Repeat all steps with the other adult (except the adult has to put their fingers in the hole and wait wait wait wait for the green light. Allow the Cast Member to manually turn the turnstile one last time, the move to the side while they open the gate so you can push the stroller through and hand the 3 tickets back to the adult. Then, you get pounced on by another cast member asking for your zip code so they can enter it into their computer for marketing purposes. Sound exhausting? Just imagine what it is like when there are 10 families ahead of you and this entire process is repeated time and time again. UGH!!!
Design of the Magic Kingdom Just hold those tomatoes and hear me out. The Magic Kingdom is indeed magical. It is THE first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions the words Disney World. I know it opened in 1971, and they did the best with what information they had back then. Today, it is a major cluster ugh, Ill keep this rated PG. Why does everybody have enter and leave the park in that 20 foot wide space known as Main Street USA? Sure, that area is charming. But when all you want to do is get through it, you have to wait for every person with a camera to spread their party out across the entire street so they can get a group shot with Cinderellas Castle in the background. Weve all done it, so I dont blame anyone. All I ask is for an alternative route to get out!!! I dont want to spend 15 minutes trying to walk 200 yards to the park exit. Also, the walkways themselves are by far the narrowest of all 4 parks. Again, it was probably standard in the amusement park industry back in 1971. However, they need to come up a solution for this. I think Main Street USA is the worst bottleneck of pedestrian traffic in any amusement park I have ever been too. And I have been to many!
Parking lots at the Disney hotels My wife and I are convinced that the parking lots are designed to be so far away from the actual hotels as a way to force people to use Disney transportation. The handicap and valet spots are the only spots remotely close. Everything other spot is a bit of a hike, and there always seems to be some sort of winding path to the resort lobby entrance. We drove to a few other resorts to eat, so it wasnt just a Wilderness Lodge problem. It was also bad at the Beach Club, the Animal Kingdom Lodge and especially bad at the Grand Floridian.
Small lizards everywhere The kids and I didnt mind them, but they freaked my wife out. We saw those little lizards pretty much wherever we went. They are all smaller than 4 inches in length, and generally you dont see them until they move. My wife made a habit of looking straight ahead at all times (instead of looking at the ground) so she wouldnt have to see them. They really werent a nuisance, but if you dont like them, you wont be able to escape them.
McDonalds at Downtown Disney We went there when we visited Downtown Disney (my kids love it, so we thought they would think it was a treat to eat there). The brochure they gave us listing all the places that accept the dining plan clearly had this location marked as a restaurant that accepts the dining plan. When we were told we could not, we asked the manager in charge. She said they never accepted the plan and didnt even know they were listed in the Disney Dining Plan brochure (we showed her the brochure at that time). I find it hard to believe that we were the first people to ever attempt to order on the dining plan there, but she said we were. I believe her about as far as I could throw her. And let me tell you, I wouldnt be able to throw her very far (if at all).
Thats about it for The Bad. Part III will feature The Ugly and some advice. You will notice that I am copying the first 4 paragraphs to start Part III as well. That is for the benefit of any readers who read my posts out of order.
That is my MAIN pet peeve with this site! In posts, it would be great if the attraction or whatever is spelled out first, THEN use the abbreviations. Posts that use abbreviations exclusively I totally skip. So thanx again!
