AllTheWorldsAStage
Just Can't Wait To Be King
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2003
- Messages
- 33
Welcome to Part III The Ugly. I also have some final comment and advice at the end. The first 4 paragraphs are the same as Parts I and II (for the benefit of those who didnt read Part I or Part II yet). Flash photography is not permitted during the reading of Part III, as it disrupts the writer of this post. (Now, repeat the last sentence in Spanish). Have a magical 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 III THE UGLY (Things that were worse than The Bad in Part II)
Our server at the Whispering Canyon Café Everyone in this restaurant was having fun- except for our section. We were there for breakfast. Our server was some guy who really didnt want to be there. He rattled off a few lame jokes in a very soft tone, and then got down to business. He kept aggravating our kids, even though they made it clear they werent interested in whatever he was saying. The worst part was that my wife ordered an orange juice (you get a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage with every meal on the dining plan) at the beginning, but asked for a Diet Coke later instead of the complimentary refill of orange juice that he offered. He never stated when she ordered the Diet Coke that it would be charged as an extra. Imagine my surprise when I was handed a second bill for almost $3 (including the automatic 18% gratuity and tax) to cover that Diet Coke. He said we only get one choice of non-alcoholic beverage. I argued that we did them a favor by requesting a soft drink instead of juice as a refill, since juice is MUCH more expensive (and the fact that he should have told us when we ordered the Diet Coke). He wasnt budging. As I stated in Part I, these servers will do anything to pad the total bill. Youve already paid for the meal with the dining plan, so it doesnt cost you more unless you order something outside of what the plan covers! Every other server we encountered made sure we knew exactly what was included, and what was extra. There was none of the sneakiness that this guy pulled on us. I know I am making a big deal about $3, but I am mad that I was tricked into spending it in a very unethical manner.
Stroller Derby after the Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom This goes back to the poor design of the Magic Kingdom that I discussed in Part II. Obviously, when you have the entire park heading towards the only exit in the park all at the same time, it is going to take a while. That fact I understand and can accept. What made me absolutely nuts were the people who were literally pushing there way through the crowd (some with strollers, some without) as if there was a fire. My kids were very frightened by the scene. What made it worse is when a group of people decide in unison to stop right in the middle of the path and discuss something. It causes a 20 foot wide space to be cut almost in half immediately. They dont realize that THEY are the reason it is taking forever to get out, and yet they stand there not moving at all and complain about the crowd of people. Cmon. Use a little common sense folks! Whatever unimportant crapola you think you need to work out at that moment can wait until you are out of the park. Trust me. You are at Disney World. There is NOTHING you could possible need to discuss that cant wait another 5 or 10 minutes. KEEP MOVING!!!
Rude People I could not believe the amount of people there that acted as if Disney World belonged to them and them alone! This included people from all parts of the U.S. as well as other countries. It included wealthy people, middle income people and lower income people. It wasnt just these people or those people. It was a few people from the pool of people. From cutting in ride lines, to holding up the food lines staring at the menu for 5 minutes, to complaining about their bags being searched, to taking all the towels at the pool, to standing in front of the coffee pot to stir their cream and sugar (instead of stepping aside to the wide open counter 2 feet away), to the line of people 4 across all holding maps in front of their faces while walking a snails pace (if moving at all), to people standing next to you holding their empty cups next to yours while filling your drink, to people spitting in the water fountains the list goes on. You get the picture. These are people you try to ignore, but it is impossible. Then it bothers you and you cant stop thinking about how inconsiderate some people are. I know you cant do anything about it, but it is not what you think about when you prepare a trip to the so-called Happiest Place on Earth.
The Contemporary Man, what an ugly building. Those trees are ugly. The elevators are ugly. The Grand Concourse is ugly. Chef Mickeys is ugly. Hey, I know it is a landmark. Im not suggesting they get rid of it. Even I would be angry if they replaced it. Im just saying it is really, really ugly.
No Nickelodeon in the hotel rooms I know that Nickelodeon is a Disney competitor. Im just complaining on behalf of my kids who had to go without Dora, Little Bill, Blues Clues, Lazy Town and the Backyardigans for a week. It was an ugly situation when I had to tell them that Disney World folks didnt want them to watch some of their favorite shows!
Thats about it for the ugly. Now comes (drum roll, please)
FINAL THOUGHTS AND ADVICE
Disney is NOT a relaxing vacation with small children If you are expecting to relax while at Disney, and you have small children, forget about it. Unless you have some family members or friends to dump them off on for a few hours here or there, you will find yourself working as hard as you do at home. Or, you can pay the astronomical rates that Disney charges for babysitting services. Perhaps if you have kids that are very docile and will just sit and do nothing all day, you can relax. My kids are high energy all day long. They wont just sit quietly for anything. Trying to get them to wind down in the afternoon or at the end of the day was a real chore when all you have is 340 square feet of space for the whole family (even less if you are in a Moderate or Value resort). We pretty much had to pull the curtains shut, turn off all the lights and TV, and turn on the radio between stations (for static) to provide white noise in order to drown out all the sounds around us. Only after ignoring them for about 15 minutes did they finally give up and fall asleep.
Think about space issues before you book As noted above, we discovered that all of us living in 340 square feet of space for an entire week was not easy. We didnt realize how nice it was to have a couple of rooms to escape each other from time-to-time like we do at home. If you think it will be a problem, I would look at either booking two connecting rooms, book at a home away from home resort, or stay in a condo or house off site.
Which can you handle more easily: heat or large crowds & expense If you are not willing to pull your kids out of school to go on vacation (like us), you obviously have to go during Christmas break, Spring break, or during the summer. (Please note, I dont want to open the debate about whether or not you should pull your kids out of school for vacation. I think every parent has the right to make their own decision on the matter, and we all need to respect each others opinions, whether or not we agree.) If you go during Christmas break or Spring break, the weather will be tolerable, but they are THE most crowded times to be at Disney World and the most expensive. If you go in mid-August (like we did), the lines are shorter, it is easy to get dinner reservations, and travel costs are much lower. But the weather is almost unbearable. You need to decide which is the lesser of two evils: the heat or large crowds/large cost?
Thats it (finally). Thanks for caring enough to read my lengthy posts. This trip was truly an experience for our family both good and bad. We learned a lot about our limitations as a young family. Well go back to Disney World again in 4 or 5 years.
Until then, one of you can have our hotel and restaurant reservations as well as our spot in all the lines until we return. Next vacation, we are heading to the beach so we dont need to be anywhere or do anything at any given time! To me, that is the definition of a relaxing vacation
and boy do I need a relaxing vacation. 
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 III THE UGLY (Things that were worse than The Bad in Part II)
Our server at the Whispering Canyon Café Everyone in this restaurant was having fun- except for our section. We were there for breakfast. Our server was some guy who really didnt want to be there. He rattled off a few lame jokes in a very soft tone, and then got down to business. He kept aggravating our kids, even though they made it clear they werent interested in whatever he was saying. The worst part was that my wife ordered an orange juice (you get a complimentary non-alcoholic beverage with every meal on the dining plan) at the beginning, but asked for a Diet Coke later instead of the complimentary refill of orange juice that he offered. He never stated when she ordered the Diet Coke that it would be charged as an extra. Imagine my surprise when I was handed a second bill for almost $3 (including the automatic 18% gratuity and tax) to cover that Diet Coke. He said we only get one choice of non-alcoholic beverage. I argued that we did them a favor by requesting a soft drink instead of juice as a refill, since juice is MUCH more expensive (and the fact that he should have told us when we ordered the Diet Coke). He wasnt budging. As I stated in Part I, these servers will do anything to pad the total bill. Youve already paid for the meal with the dining plan, so it doesnt cost you more unless you order something outside of what the plan covers! Every other server we encountered made sure we knew exactly what was included, and what was extra. There was none of the sneakiness that this guy pulled on us. I know I am making a big deal about $3, but I am mad that I was tricked into spending it in a very unethical manner.
Stroller Derby after the Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom This goes back to the poor design of the Magic Kingdom that I discussed in Part II. Obviously, when you have the entire park heading towards the only exit in the park all at the same time, it is going to take a while. That fact I understand and can accept. What made me absolutely nuts were the people who were literally pushing there way through the crowd (some with strollers, some without) as if there was a fire. My kids were very frightened by the scene. What made it worse is when a group of people decide in unison to stop right in the middle of the path and discuss something. It causes a 20 foot wide space to be cut almost in half immediately. They dont realize that THEY are the reason it is taking forever to get out, and yet they stand there not moving at all and complain about the crowd of people. Cmon. Use a little common sense folks! Whatever unimportant crapola you think you need to work out at that moment can wait until you are out of the park. Trust me. You are at Disney World. There is NOTHING you could possible need to discuss that cant wait another 5 or 10 minutes. KEEP MOVING!!!
Rude People I could not believe the amount of people there that acted as if Disney World belonged to them and them alone! This included people from all parts of the U.S. as well as other countries. It included wealthy people, middle income people and lower income people. It wasnt just these people or those people. It was a few people from the pool of people. From cutting in ride lines, to holding up the food lines staring at the menu for 5 minutes, to complaining about their bags being searched, to taking all the towels at the pool, to standing in front of the coffee pot to stir their cream and sugar (instead of stepping aside to the wide open counter 2 feet away), to the line of people 4 across all holding maps in front of their faces while walking a snails pace (if moving at all), to people standing next to you holding their empty cups next to yours while filling your drink, to people spitting in the water fountains the list goes on. You get the picture. These are people you try to ignore, but it is impossible. Then it bothers you and you cant stop thinking about how inconsiderate some people are. I know you cant do anything about it, but it is not what you think about when you prepare a trip to the so-called Happiest Place on Earth.
The Contemporary Man, what an ugly building. Those trees are ugly. The elevators are ugly. The Grand Concourse is ugly. Chef Mickeys is ugly. Hey, I know it is a landmark. Im not suggesting they get rid of it. Even I would be angry if they replaced it. Im just saying it is really, really ugly.
No Nickelodeon in the hotel rooms I know that Nickelodeon is a Disney competitor. Im just complaining on behalf of my kids who had to go without Dora, Little Bill, Blues Clues, Lazy Town and the Backyardigans for a week. It was an ugly situation when I had to tell them that Disney World folks didnt want them to watch some of their favorite shows!
Thats about it for the ugly. Now comes (drum roll, please)
FINAL THOUGHTS AND ADVICE
Disney is NOT a relaxing vacation with small children If you are expecting to relax while at Disney, and you have small children, forget about it. Unless you have some family members or friends to dump them off on for a few hours here or there, you will find yourself working as hard as you do at home. Or, you can pay the astronomical rates that Disney charges for babysitting services. Perhaps if you have kids that are very docile and will just sit and do nothing all day, you can relax. My kids are high energy all day long. They wont just sit quietly for anything. Trying to get them to wind down in the afternoon or at the end of the day was a real chore when all you have is 340 square feet of space for the whole family (even less if you are in a Moderate or Value resort). We pretty much had to pull the curtains shut, turn off all the lights and TV, and turn on the radio between stations (for static) to provide white noise in order to drown out all the sounds around us. Only after ignoring them for about 15 minutes did they finally give up and fall asleep.
Think about space issues before you book As noted above, we discovered that all of us living in 340 square feet of space for an entire week was not easy. We didnt realize how nice it was to have a couple of rooms to escape each other from time-to-time like we do at home. If you think it will be a problem, I would look at either booking two connecting rooms, book at a home away from home resort, or stay in a condo or house off site.
Which can you handle more easily: heat or large crowds & expense If you are not willing to pull your kids out of school to go on vacation (like us), you obviously have to go during Christmas break, Spring break, or during the summer. (Please note, I dont want to open the debate about whether or not you should pull your kids out of school for vacation. I think every parent has the right to make their own decision on the matter, and we all need to respect each others opinions, whether or not we agree.) If you go during Christmas break or Spring break, the weather will be tolerable, but they are THE most crowded times to be at Disney World and the most expensive. If you go in mid-August (like we did), the lines are shorter, it is easy to get dinner reservations, and travel costs are much lower. But the weather is almost unbearable. You need to decide which is the lesser of two evils: the heat or large crowds/large cost?
Thats it (finally). Thanks for caring enough to read my lengthy posts. This trip was truly an experience for our family both good and bad. We learned a lot about our limitations as a young family. Well go back to Disney World again in 4 or 5 years.
Until then, one of you can have our hotel and restaurant reservations as well as our spot in all the lines until we return. Next vacation, we are heading to the beach so we dont need to be anywhere or do anything at any given time! To me, that is the definition of a relaxing vacation
and boy do I need a relaxing vacation. 
) until our youngest was 5. And then we stayed in a suite....I need elbow room!
, so crowded they wouldn't let us re-enter the magic kingdom parking lot. Last 2 trips were much better (after learning above 2 lessons, and kids getting older) We did take the kids out of school for 2 days (combined the days with inservice, and teacher conference days) and it was a blast! The 2 older kids are teens and the youngest 9 so it was relaxing for the adults too! So I know in a few years when your kids are a little older Mom and Dad can have some vacation on their vacation!
) so I took both the kids on my own for the afternoon to give her a chance to recover.
