Back from a 8 day trip and it was magical

[Rivergirl2005]

Hey everyone!

I plan on posting a full report but I though I'd share some small things!

First off it was very magical!!! Planning is the key!!!

Frozen Ever After was fantastic! We rode it twice, one FP+ (at 7:00, waited 10 mins) and the other after an ADR at Akerhus (I think I spelled it wrong) We were first to arrive, first to be seated and first to see the princesses. We finished at 8:45 and was sixth in line for the ride. A couple families wanted nothing to do with the princesses so they were ahead of us. However we did not rush and felt it was definitely worth it!

SOARIN was fantastic! I never saw the first but it was amazing! Love Patrick! I found you definitely want the old theaters. You can smell in there but the new one we were not able to smell anything... We rode it 4 times due to FP and we received some extra ones at CBR

JB Magic was very enjoyable. We went in with low expectations and we really liked it! The dancing was fantastic and the singers were definitely the highlight!

You must ride EE at night! Its 10x better and no one is in line. It was all walk ons from 8 to close. We rode at least 9 times over 2 nights and never waited more than 5 minutes. Worth it!!!

Crowds were not bad at all. We were there June 20-28, we rope dropped every morning and left by 11 or noon. Took a break and returned by 3. The most we waited for was Belle in Epcot with 25 minutes. Everything else was 20 minutes or lower. We mostly did FP in the evening since we park hopped every day but the last. On our last we were at MK, did FP from 1-3 then played "what can we get next" game. We were able to get FP for 9 other rides no problem! Worth it again!

CBR was great! No problems with the buses! Everyone was very kind even with the beaches closed. They reopened half way through the trip but we saw a lot of security! Loved our room and the experience there! Highly recommend it!

If you have time travel to AoA and take the animation classes. We did 2 of them and had a blast! We did stitch and minnie. We were also lucky enough to take home the animators drawings!

Lastly, do as many photographers as you can. They were so much fun and we got a lot of magic shots, make sure you ask for those!! We stopped every time and well worth the quality!

Overall everything went our way! We had no rain except the last day for an hr. It was really hot but we took lots of breaks and stayed out of the sun! We met 54 characters, thanks @kennythepirate ! We used the disboards and easywdw for planning! I plan to have more in a report coming soon! We had a great time!!!

I have attached the link below on my TR. If you would like to follow along and see what other magical things occurred on this fun vacation

http://disboards.com/threads/summer-awakens-16-june-20-28-a-magical-bff-trip.3524652/

 

[OurLaughingPlace]

Loved your positive review Glad you enjoyed yourselves. I totally agree ... planning is a must! Make a plan and be ready to change if necessary! Thanks for your review. We are going to WDW in August and are looking forward to the new Soarin' and FEA.

 

[GoofyGirl1717]

Great review!! I'm so glad you had a wonderful trip!!!!

 

[disny_luvr]

Thanks for the report. It sounds like you had an excellent trip! We were there at the same time (June 18-26) and had a magical time, too.

We rode both FEA and Soarin', too, and loved them both. For both of our Soarin' rides we were in the new theater and could definitely smell all the scents. I'm not sure why you couldn't. We didn't get to ride EE at night, but we rode 7DMT at night for the first time and LOVED it. It's a totally different experience than the daytime.

 

[smallworld101]

Your trip sounds a bit like mine in August! I have Akershus ADR and plan to hit FEA right after, I've never seen SOARIN either and look forward to it! We've got JB Magic lined up too (low expectations). I'm def. going to do EE at night as you suggested! And we are also staying at the CBR! Thanks for the update and positive review! 54 characters!!!! I need to research this a bit more on how to best tackle - I've got the kenny app, I best put it to use!

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Thanks for the report. It sounds like you had an excellent trip! We were there at the same time (June 18-26) and had a magical time, too.

We rode both FEA and Soarin', too, and loved them both. For both of our Soarin' rides we were in the new theater and could definitely smell all the scents. I'm not sure why you couldn't. We didn't get to ride EE at night, but we rode 7DMT at night for the first time and LOVED it. It's a totally different experience than the daytime.

Hmmm I wonder if ours wasn't working that night? I don't know... we did the new theater first and had a fp so we tried a different theater. We noticed the seats weren't as new and def noticed the smells in Africa, India, and the ocean scene. Weird... but I am glad to hear it works....

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Your trip sounds a bit like mine in August! I have Akershus ADR and plan to hit FEA right after, I've never seen SOARIN either and look forward to it! We've got JB Magic lined up too (low expectations). I'm def. going to do EE at night as you suggested! And we are also staying at the CBR! Thanks for the update and positive review! 54 characters!!!! I need to research this a bit more on how to best tackle - I've got the kenny app, I best put it to use!

Kennys App was awesome! It really helped us achieve so much with characters. We hit everyone except for Aladdin wasn't out with Jasmine, Bolt was missing that day, we missed Characterpalooza and we didn't get around to talking Mickey. However I always say, there's always next year

 

[mommycrawford]

Thank you for posting! I am hopeful for our upcoming trip thanks to your feedback!...Can you tell me a bit more about the animation classes at AoA? One of the the things I miss most about DHS is the anmation building!

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Thank you for posting! I am hopeful for our upcoming trip thanks to your feedback!...Can you tell me a bit more about the animation classes at AoA? One of the the things I miss most about DHS is the anmation building!

I loved the classes at HS. So sad to see it go. AoA has 3 classes a day, we decided to do one during our "break". Its free to anyone and they change the characters they draw quite frequently. We left Epcot, took a bus to AoA and had lunch around 11:30. The class was at 2 so we had time to walk around and check out the place. In the lobby, where check in is, there is a small gathering space with a big tv on the far left side. If you can't find it a cm can help. Head over there and at 2 an animator shows up with everything you need. It was a lot like the old class at HS just smaller. We only had maybe 7-12 people in the class. I think many people do not know about it. It last 25 minutes, so we were able to talk to the animator before we left for our next park. It was a fun activity for resting and I love our keepsakes!

 

[mommycrawford]

I loved the classes at HS. So sad to see it go. AoA has 3 classes a day, we decided to do one during our "break". Its free to anyone and they change the characters they draw quite frequently. We left Epcot, took a bus to AoA and had lunch around 11:30. The class was at 2 so we had time to walk around and check out the place. In the lobby, where check in is, there is a small gathering space with a big tv on the far left side. If you can't find it a cm can help. Head over there and at 2 an animator shows up with everything you need. It was a lot like the old class at HS just smaller. We only had maybe 7-12 people in the class. I think many people do not know about it. It last 25 minutes, so we were able to talk to the animator before we left for our next park. It was a fun activity for resting and I love our keepsakes!

Thanks for all the good info!

 

[RLGNC]

Wow...sounds amazing! I hope we're as fortunate when we go in August!

 

[LoverDisney]

Wow 54 characters, that's awesome! Looking forward to riding EE at night. We have the JB dining package so it's great that you enjoyed it. Thanks for the report.

 

[smallworld101]

Wow, that sounds amazing. What a treasure! I am going to make note of this now and maybe work it into one of our days. Thanks!

 

[VeeHam]

Thanks for the great info. That art class sounds amazing.

 

[mshanson3121]

Hey everyone!

I plan on posting a full report but I though I'd share some small things!

First off it was very magical!!! Planning is the key!!!

Frozen Ever After was fantastic! We rode it twice, one FP+ (at 7:00, waited 10 mins) and the other after an ADR at Akerhus (I think I spelled it wrong) We were first to arrive, first to be seated and first to see the princesses. We finished at 8:45 and was sixth in line for the ride. A couple families wanted nothing to do with the princesses so they were ahead of us. However we did not rush and felt it was definitely worth it!

SOARIN was fantastic! I never saw the first but it was amazing! Love Patrick! I found you definitely want the old theaters. You can smell in there but the new one we were not able to smell anything... We rode it 4 times due to FP and we received some extra ones at CBR

JB Magic was very enjoyable. We went in with low expectations and we really liked it! The dancing was fantastic and the singers were definitely the highlight!

You must ride EE at night! Its 10x better and no one is in line. It was all walk ons from 8 to close. We rode at least 9 times over 2 nights and never waited more than 5 minutes. Worth it!!!

Crowds were not bad at all. We were there June 20-28, we rope dropped every morning and left by 11 or noon. Took a break and returned by 3. The most we waited for was Belle in Epcot with 25 minutes. Everything else was 20 minutes or lower. We mostly did FP in the evening since we park hopped every day but the last. On our last we were at MK, did FP from 1-3 then played "what can we get next" game. We were able to get FP for 9 other rides no problem! Worth it again!

CBR was great! No problems with the buses! Everyone was very kind even with the beaches closed. They reopened half way through the trip but we saw a lot of security! Loved our room and the experience there! Highly recommend it!

If you have time travel to AoA and take the animation classes. We did 2 of them and had a blast! We did stitch and minnie. We were also lucky enough to take home the animators drawings!

Lastly, do as many photographers as you can. They were so much fun and we got a lot of magic shots, make sure you ask for those!! We stopped every time and well worth the quality!

Overall everything went our way! We had no rain except the last day for an hr. It was really hot but we took lots of breaks and stayed out of the sun! We met 54 characters, thanks @kennythepirate ! We used the disboards and easywdw for planning! I plan to have more in a report coming soon! We had a great time!!!

Is there a link where you can find out information on where/when the art classes are?

 

[Rivergirl2005]

http://www.themouseforless.com/tripplanning/resorts/wdw/pdf/AoACalendar.pdf

 

[dzaharchuk]

I had read that the drawing class is no longer held at Aoa (in addition to the ones at hs and did). I'd love to do it if it is still in existence, this was a favorite of ours at hs, we were so dad to see it go. Our trip is in August, I am hoping that this thread is current!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Can you tell us more about your trip I honestly love reading a positive review

 

[Rivergirl2005]

I had read that the drawing class is no longer held at Aoa (in addition to the ones at hs and did). I'd love to do it if it is still in existence, this was a favorite of ours at hs, we were so dad to see it go. Our trip is in August, I am hoping that this thread is current!

Yes this is current lol we just came back this past week...the classes were amazing!!! They are held everyday I think at 11 2 and 5! Very small, which was perfect when asking questions!!!

 

[Rivergirl2005]

Can you tell us more about your trip I honestly love reading a positive review

Awww thanks!!! I plan on writing up my first report starting sometime this week Still downloading pictures, it takes a while lol I can post the link here when I start