back.... highs/lows....

[scampbunny]

guess i have to face reality that im back

so.... here we go....

lows
rs transports....... left us at airport for well over and hr - we were off the plane at 9:15am and waiting, and they didnt turn up til 10:40!! no contact from them - i had to phone and ask where they were!! also, no child seats, even tho i had requested them..... not sure id recommend them or use them again. were on time to pick us up tho (of course!!)

the public! lol omg i have certainly noticed a decrease in ppl attitudes since 4 yrs ago - now ppl really do not care, and they will happily shove children out of the way to get what they want!!

and linked to public - losing the boys for what felt like eternity, but prob was only 5 minutes! was with a cms mum, as she met goofy (who she knew) and goofy took her along to the train (as they were going) and motioned for me & boys to follow.... so obviously we did (or so i thought).... got to train and goofy did pics with the mum, and then motioned for the kids - i turned round and nothing!!!!!!! i shouted out for them, but heard nothing, and had a woman on a scooter ramming me tellin me to move so she cud get to goofy - i told her no way - my kids were missing and she just aimed at me and said move!!!! friends mum and goofy realised what happened, and called cms from the train over and friends mum went into crowd whilst i stayed still and shouted..... finally found (luckily they were dressed as princes so easy to spot) but omg i was so shook up - dont know what id have done without others around and i did cry.... both boys were shook up....

hotel cheyenne - not a big low lol but the side light in our room blew my speaker on my iphone dock

ds2 struggling with rides - he really didnt cope well on rides, and we think sum is down to sensitivity developing in his hearing.... something we might need to get checked out.....

highs

where do i start....
boys got a private meet with belle & tiana, as they had spotted them in their princes costumes and sent a cm over to us and brought the boys to them - had lovely pics and they danced together!!!!!

all the cms & characters - not a bad word for any of them!! i admire them all for the stress & grief they get from guests!!!

ds2 had his own private meet and greet with the lightning mcqueen stunt car from moteurs action!!! oh, and we all have vip seats for the show!!!

dreams watched it twice and loved it (and cried lol) both times...... so much easier with a disabled area to view it! had a lovely cm saturday night who told the boys a few facts about the castle and showed where some of the projectors were!!

1st ppl on main street, in the rain at 8am monday haha only the english eh? seriously there was only us and another couple for ages - so we got a few good shots of empty park!!!


so - think that is all - tbh the whole time was great, yes there was rain, but we coped!! it was hard with just me and the boys - ds2 was struggling, ds1 wanted to go on rides, but ds2 cudnt cope with alot which was a shame, and of course with ds2 not liking getting wet, we did have a few meltdowns, but most i was able to deal with....

oh, and met a lovely family on sunday at stitch live with an autistic lad, and tbh watchin him and my 2 run about together, u cud see the similarities.... but i mentioned to them about the dis - so hoping they might come and join in and get some more points and hints

anyhow - onto a few insider bits..... the reason there arent many characters walking about is down to the public im afraid..... too many characters were getting mobbed and were not feeling safe - princesses were having men/dads jumping over kids to get to them, and just the general mobbing has now prevented the amount of characters out... very sad to hear.... (aparently a 3 yr old was taken to hosp last week after being trampled by adults trying to get to a character in studios....)

and another bit - the americans are wanting to put the hub back in central plaza!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as early as next yr!!!

so - think thats it...... need to go thru my 8gb card full of pics now lol and no doubt cry sum more.........

ok - remembered more highs lol
we did pizza planet & hakuna matata - both excellent and good food - now hooked on churros lol
and 2 firsts - casey junior and storybook ride - amazing lol

 

[tennisfan]

Welcome back, pleased you found your boys safe & sound

 

[jothp]

So glad you found your boys, I know the feeling all too well. I can believe what you say about the characters being mobbed it is awful to see. You just have to look at the way some people behave when the characters get off the train. Glad you managed to try Casey too. We didn't get there after the dismeet. We went to pinocchio on the way and ended up stuck on the ride for nearly 20 minutes. We did make it to Casey on Saturday though instead.

 

[Bexx]

Your highs sound wonderful

But that women on the scooter...! Glad you found your boys quickly, despite her "help".

 

[Mum to Belle]

Welcome back Nikki!!

Sounds like a great trip - how amazing were your VIP moments?!!!

Can't wait to see your photos & read your tr - no pressure!!

Must have been awful losing the boys but really glad you found them safely! (Grrrr to the woman on the scooter!!!)

I am not surprised about the little one in Studios tbh, we left a scrum there after DD was hit in the head by a woman pushing last year, no need!

8am in the rain - lol!!

 

[Ms Poppins]

Welcome back, you've got some fantastic highs there

Love the sound of your lo's dressed as princes

Thanks for the insider info.....a huge NO to the castle stage returning though! Wish they would utilise the stages they already have - beside the castle, Videopolis etc.

Look forward to your trip report when you get sorted

 

[scampbunny]

a taster....

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150866109896822.392999.636916821&type=1

no idea how long for the report - i swear i cant remember what we did lol

oh - did i say we did buzz 5 times in a row on last morning?? i wasnt happy with my score and wudnt go til i got a decent one the cms thought it was brill and kept lettin us thru and i got high fives when i finally got a score i was happy with!!! c - loads of highs lol

and agree re the stages..... loads cud b done there, BUT they dont have the capacity for the high crowds - thats the prob!

 

[Sarah28]

welcome back - thanks for posting your highs and lows, I always love to read them :good vibes

Really shocked at the lady with the scooter! I encountered a very rude lady in WDW last year and it always shocks me how even in what's supposed to be the happiest place on earth, people can be so rude

Glad you found your boys ok, must've been awful for you. Glad you had a good trip overall though

 

[scampbunny]

thanks sarah...
tbh - that was only one of a few circumstances..... and i got called a witch and a ******* ***** by one woman!! i reckons sum ppl leave their sanity at home when they get to disney

 

[Mummy Minnie]

thanks sarah...
tbh - that was only one of a few circumstances..... and i got called a witch and a ******* ***** by one woman!! i reckons sum ppl leave their sanity at home when they get to disney

OMG some people. Havent encountered people like this when we go but my dh does say I walk around with my eyes closed!

 

[HappyPanda]

Loving all of your highs! Esp. your VIP treatment!

Did you get your room near the hotel facilities in the end?

Sorry to hear about the rudeness of some people, that sort of behaviour is just not acceptable at any time, but even less acceptable in a place like DLP!

 

[scampbunny]

Loving all of your highs! Esp. your VIP treatment!

Did you get your room near the hotel facilities in the end?

Sorry to hear about the rudeness of some people, that sort of behaviour is just not acceptable at any time, but even less acceptable in a place like DLP!

yes we did!! i got confused with annie oakley with is 16, not 18... so we got the best room really - as u get off the bus, down the unofficial path to the middle door, up the stairs n we were there, on the back so no noise from.... well, anything!!

and as for the rudeness.... maybe we get more as ds2 has special pass, but looks 'normal' (well, to others) and i guess that makes it harder.....

 

[cherrymarzipan]

Welcome back!

Great highs but what an awful experience losing your boys. That panicky feeling and then the relief... and how can some people be so unpleasant especially in such a magical place. Glad it ended happily. As for those costumes - fantastic! I've never seen any like that before - no wonder the princesses were smitten!

Agree with Ms Poppins about no to reinstating the castle stage, it's great as it is and as said, other stages are underused.

for Casey Junior and Storybook ride being open this time!

 

[markpsych]

Thanks for the insider info.....a huge NO to the castle stage returning though! Wish they would utilise the stages they already have - beside the castle, Videopolis etc.

 

[DLPDreams]

Welcome back Nikki - I am so sorry I forgot about the meet on the Friday . We had some issues at the DLH with our reservation and checking out etc so I think my mind just went off the meet! I had said to DH at breakfast that he needed to remind me and then we both forgot! Next thing it was 1.15 pm .

I am glad you had a great trip overall. Sorry to hear about you losing your DSs. We did reasonably well this time with DD2 - think it was partly down to the fact she was either on a ride or in the pushchair (she doesn't need an excuse to get in a pushchair even at 4 !). We lost her for about 15 mins in Legoland Windsor last year and honestly I've never felt so hopeless and desolate. Shame on that woman with her scooter! Honestly, I too had my eyes opened on this trip - I can't believe some people, so rude!

What lovely character interaction your DSs got - how nice. We didn't have anything like that this time although we've always been lucky in the past with pixie dust meets...

I was one of the people who noticed the distinct lack of characters walking around the park. As did my 7 year old daughter unfortunately. We were fortunate however that we did 4 character meals and stayed in the DLH where characters are fairly easy to access although to be fair, the characters were nearly always the same! (not everyone can afford to go to those lengths and I feel very sorry for those people if this is the way Disney are going). They need to sort out the issue asap - fine if they are going to go with more organised/queued meets but they need way more of them both in number and in the time of them. On the June programme in the main park, the meets were not spaced out sufficiently so overlapped and were all finished by mid afternoon mostly - for a park that closes at 11 pm it's not a good show, in addition this meant that the queues were just silly most of the time! I completely understand that people want to feel safe in their jobs (I'd hate to be a character putting up with that), so this is a good way to do things, but Disney need to sort it in a better way asap. In my opinion, they have seriously underestimated the impact this will have if they do not. I do think this will impact repeat business badly. I overheard another family discussing this in the DLH bar area and we chatted to another family at breakfast who also felt the same (they were both repeat visitors) .

I really hope we find it has improved in November when we go back, or I guess we won't be visiting next year!

Coincidentally, I have a friend in the US who is a Disney fanatic. When I told her what happened she told me that WDW is going the same way. Way less characters out and about unless in a queued area with proper aircon and breaks etc. Apparently a CM told her it is down to the mobbing issues (like Paris) - so it sounds like it happens there too .

So, when is your next visit?

 

[lilacgems23]

Where was the disabled viewing for Dreams and was it available every night?

 

[FHT]

Some people are truly awful, but it sounds like it didn't spoil your holiday too much.

We saw your boys on Saturday just before we left to come home, couldn't mistake them as they looked so smart. They just had their picture taken with Rafiki round by Hakuna Matata, we were next in line & saw Baloo

 

[scampbunny]

Some people are truly awful, but it sounds like it didn't spoil your holiday too much.

We saw your boys on Saturday just before we left to come home, couldn't mistake them as they looked so smart. They just had their picture taken with Rafiki round by Hakuna Matata, we were next in line & saw Baloo

oh such a shame we didnt know u then!! thank u for the compliments... rafiki was fab with them, got a couple of very good pics.... we managed to see baloo yesterday, and then followed up with rafiki & timon together!! omg they were brill - got them to limbo under rafikis staff - i got it on video!!!

we then went to hakuna matata to eat - and oh the food very so yummy in there....... altho ds1 didnt enjoy the sausages too much (and then got choc on his outfit )

 

[scampbunny]

Where was the disabled viewing for Dreams and was it available every night?

oops - forgot to answer this.... the area is to the left of the plaza, on the actual plaza.... it was the 2 nights we were there..... think there r benches in there? but u needed to b there a good 2 hrs to get a seat .... we sat or stood in the middle but as has been mentioned, if u have a gap in front of u, u will get a good view....

hope that helps

 

[lilacgems23]

oh such a shame we didnt know u then!! thank u for the compliments... rafiki was fab with them, got a couple of very good pics.... we managed to see baloo yesterday, and then followed up with rafiki & timon together!! omg they were brill - got them to limbo under rafikis staff - i got it on video!!!

we then went to hakuna matata to eat - and oh the food very so yummy in there....... altho ds1 didnt enjoy the sausages too much (and then got choc on his outfit )

What sort of food do they do?