DizzneyDi
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2005
- Messages
- 253
My DS32 and I had scheduled a holiday trip long before Dec 6 was announced as the opening day of FLE, the new TT and the Jack Sparrow walkthrough attraction at HS, and we were apprehensive that the crowds might be overwhelming. For the most part, though, the park crowds were manageable and we were able to see and do most everything we wanted. We had made a last minute trip by trading our timeshare for a week at Old Key West in September when the parks were all empty, so it was mainly the new attractions and the holiday stuff that were our priorities this time. Some observations follow:
First, the new stuff. I was slightly underwhelmed by the FLE. The area felt small and congested, though a lot of that may be because of the walls circling the mine train construction area. It was very pretty to look at, though, especially the BatB area. We were able to have breakfast at Gaston's (the cinnamon rolls just aren't as good served cold) and a late lunch at Be Our Guest (so gorgeous, and we liked the food very much!). We never made it to Belle's Storytime, sadly--the wait time ranged between 50-70 minutes whenever we passed through, and I just won't wait that long for any attraction. I was disappointed with the VotLM ride the first time but liked it better the second time, I guess because I no longer was expecting something extraordinary. The little crab game was very cute, but the ride is short and it felt very rushed to me. The "under the sea" effect works well, though, and, again, it was pretty to look at. We're long past the character greeting stage so didn't investigate Ariel's Grotto, and we'd seen the Circus area in September so we didn't go back.
We both thought the Jack Sparrow attraction was cleverly done and impressive technologically. I honestly didn't realize that Jack was a projection! As for TT, we used a fastpass so didn't get to design our own car, and the ride itself was the same, as others have noted. We planned to ride a second time on our last day, but the fastpass line was an estimated half hour wait and we were afraid to chance missing our ME pickup so we gave our fastpasses to a father and daughter and headed for the hotel.
We stayed at A of A in the Little Mermaid section, and although the room decor is whimsical and charming and we were glad we chose to stay there, I doubt we'll go back unless it's in one of the suites, for the simple reason that the LM rooms are such a long distance from Animation Hall and the bus stops. I do have a tip to share--if you're leaving a park for the night and the bus stop for A of A is jammed as it was for us at MK during evening EMH, consider taking a Pop Century bus instead. The walk through POP and across the bridge to A of A isn't bad at all.
We had no problem at all with the bus system. More often than not we found buses waiting when we needed them, and our average wait time was below 10 minutes. We did a lot of park hopping and returned to our room nearly every afternoon, so we rode a lot of buses! We actually were the only people on the bus twice, something which happened to us in September but we didn't expect this time. We also managed to snag rides on plain white buses which were more like the ME buses several times. The plush seats were a nice change from those hard plastic and metal ones... We felt very special, of course!
One thing we commented on just about every day is how obvious it is that many, many people just don't bother to do their homework before their trip. It baffles me to listen to folks talking and realize that they have no idea what they are in line for, what time the parks close, when the parades or fireworks begin, or even how many parks there are. We were heading back to the hotel to relax for an hour or so before evening EMH at Epcot and heard a group wondering what they'd do for the evening. They thought the park was closing at 7:30. Apparently they didn't even look through the folder everyone gets when they check in! Considering how much a WDW trip costs, doesn't it make sense that you'd want to maximize your time by planning ahead and taking advantage of things like EMH? (I know, preaching to the choir here...)
All in all it was a great trip. The weather was mild and dry other than on our EMH night at MK, when it rained for several hours. I was prepared for it to be colder than it was, and was very glad that at the last minute I tossed several extra pairs of shorts in my suitcase. I wore them nearly every day.
Any questions?
First, the new stuff. I was slightly underwhelmed by the FLE. The area felt small and congested, though a lot of that may be because of the walls circling the mine train construction area. It was very pretty to look at, though, especially the BatB area. We were able to have breakfast at Gaston's (the cinnamon rolls just aren't as good served cold) and a late lunch at Be Our Guest (so gorgeous, and we liked the food very much!). We never made it to Belle's Storytime, sadly--the wait time ranged between 50-70 minutes whenever we passed through, and I just won't wait that long for any attraction. I was disappointed with the VotLM ride the first time but liked it better the second time, I guess because I no longer was expecting something extraordinary. The little crab game was very cute, but the ride is short and it felt very rushed to me. The "under the sea" effect works well, though, and, again, it was pretty to look at. We're long past the character greeting stage so didn't investigate Ariel's Grotto, and we'd seen the Circus area in September so we didn't go back.
We both thought the Jack Sparrow attraction was cleverly done and impressive technologically. I honestly didn't realize that Jack was a projection! As for TT, we used a fastpass so didn't get to design our own car, and the ride itself was the same, as others have noted. We planned to ride a second time on our last day, but the fastpass line was an estimated half hour wait and we were afraid to chance missing our ME pickup so we gave our fastpasses to a father and daughter and headed for the hotel.
We stayed at A of A in the Little Mermaid section, and although the room decor is whimsical and charming and we were glad we chose to stay there, I doubt we'll go back unless it's in one of the suites, for the simple reason that the LM rooms are such a long distance from Animation Hall and the bus stops. I do have a tip to share--if you're leaving a park for the night and the bus stop for A of A is jammed as it was for us at MK during evening EMH, consider taking a Pop Century bus instead. The walk through POP and across the bridge to A of A isn't bad at all.
We had no problem at all with the bus system. More often than not we found buses waiting when we needed them, and our average wait time was below 10 minutes. We did a lot of park hopping and returned to our room nearly every afternoon, so we rode a lot of buses! We actually were the only people on the bus twice, something which happened to us in September but we didn't expect this time. We also managed to snag rides on plain white buses which were more like the ME buses several times. The plush seats were a nice change from those hard plastic and metal ones... We felt very special, of course!
One thing we commented on just about every day is how obvious it is that many, many people just don't bother to do their homework before their trip. It baffles me to listen to folks talking and realize that they have no idea what they are in line for, what time the parks close, when the parades or fireworks begin, or even how many parks there are. We were heading back to the hotel to relax for an hour or so before evening EMH at Epcot and heard a group wondering what they'd do for the evening. They thought the park was closing at 7:30. Apparently they didn't even look through the folder everyone gets when they check in! Considering how much a WDW trip costs, doesn't it make sense that you'd want to maximize your time by planning ahead and taking advantage of things like EMH? (I know, preaching to the choir here...)
All in all it was a great trip. The weather was mild and dry other than on our EMH night at MK, when it rained for several hours. I was prepared for it to be colder than it was, and was very glad that at the last minute I tossed several extra pairs of shorts in my suitcase. I wore them nearly every day.
Any questions?
I think he bought 6 of them while we were there!!
