FatCow's Photos and overall trip report

[FatCow]

Hiya guys, just arrived less than 12 hours ago, you can see the piccies here .

My overall take on this trip?

1. ASMu sucks: no shampoo at all on my first day, a shoe-print on my pillowcase on the first day, adjoining door left opened by Mousekeeping on one of the days, time-wasting misinformations regarding room-charge and transportation (total wasted time: 2 hours)

2. Pirates of the Carribean: The ride broke down for 20 minutes just before we got on, and broke down again for more than 10 minutes when we're in the middle of the ride. We missed a parade due to that.

3. Big Mountain Thunder Railroad: The ride stopped for about 10 minutes during the second up-hill lift.

4. People Mover: The ride stopped for 40 minutes and we missed another parade because of that

5. Haunted Mansion: We rode this ride 4 times. The first time the ride stopped twice for more than 5 minutes each within seconds of each other. The second time the ride stopped for another 5 minutes. The fourth, we were so rushed they didn't even close the door to the stretching room before the sequence started. Before the sequence ended (even before the pictures were fully stretched), they already opened the door to the Doombuggies loading area.

6. Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The ride was out-of-sync with the effects. Extremely disappointing.

7. It's A Small World: Not enough water power? We got stuck in the middle until we got bumped by the boat behind us before we started moving again. Also we got stuck in the line-up to before getting off the boat (the last scene on the ride) for more than 10 minutes.

8. Country Bear Jamboree: The sound was crackly and distorted throughout the show.

9. Hollywood and Vine: Nobody attend our table for the first 20 minutes of our meal.

10. Splash Mountain: They could not find our photo, took them about 15 minutes to find the picture (our picture didn't show up on the preview monitors at all).

11. Being a producer, I brought an SPL meter and the loudness level at Disney parks (and especially the rides) are at dangerously high level. This is even more damaging to little kids.
90 dB average, 98 dB at the wait-area of most rides, up to 114 dB peaks on the rides/shows.

(more to come later...)

However, I find quite a few things to my liking, but they are all related to daughter's enjoyment and excitement. I'm not saying that there aren't anything that I like, but seeing my daughter being happy makes them pale in comparison.

Rides/shows that my daughter and I like:

BTMRR: rode it about 7 times (thanks FastPass for that)
Splash Mountain: rode it 4 times
Mission: Space: rode it 3 times
Star Tours
Wishes: watched it three times
Spectromagic: watched it twice. Once we get to watch it from the special guests area (there were only about 15 people with us and we all got actual seats)
Buzz Lightyear: rode it twice

Rides/shows that only my daughter likes:
Test Track: rode it twice
Journey into the Imagination
It's a Small World: rode it twice
Peter Pan's Flight: rode it twice

But most importantly, the ride that all three of us find boring:
Dinosaur.

I should've bought the picture because from the entire car, only the 3 of us who wasn't surprised about the ride at all. We looked like we're in comatose in the picture. We had a great laugh looking at the picture on the display.

We had a magical moment nevertheless. We view WDW as a 'pathway' to our experience, not as the 'destination'.

 

[johnsonet]

Are you serious?

 

[Scratch42]

I guess the cold is affecting everything!

Sorry that you had some "unmagical" moments!

Scratch

 

[FatCow]

List added.

We had a magical moment nevertheless. We view WDW as a 'pathway' to our experience, not as the 'destination'.

 

[Mickey4Me]

"Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?????"

Sure hope you were able to salvage your vacation!

 

[Minniespal]

Interesting!!!!

 

[DISNEYBIGGDOGG]

VERY INTERESTING?@#$%^

 

[anniet]

Originally posted by FatCow
List added.

We had a magical moment nevertheless. We view WDW as a 'pathway' to our experience, not as the 'destination'.

I'm not sure I understand......Is Disney supposed to $u*k so you appreciate everything else?

 

[FatCow]

No, if Disney does not suck, I'll love it even better.

However, we only see Disney as our "tool" to spend-time together away from our daily lives therefore the suckiness of Disney doesn't suck the happiness away from us.

 

[Mouseteacher]

more than before!

 

[anne60]

I think I see what fatcow is saying....we drove to Disney last Thanksgiving. On the ride home we got stuck in New Jersey...it was truly a ride from hell... we had to go to the bathroom and stopped at the ONE rest area that had nothing but port-a-potties (it was 20 degrees out at most). We finally got off the turnpike and took back roads...saw a sign for a McDonalds...followed it (went about a mile at least out of the way), got there only to see a McDonald's sign with the words "closed for renovation" standing in front of an empty lot! Nonetheless, we had a blast, laughed so much (especially when we got to the empty lot)...we still refer to my husband as "Mr. Griswold". The point is that the drive itself wan't so great, but the time we spent together on that adventure was a lot of fun.
By the way, the time in Disney was terrific!

 

[FatCow]

Yup! What she said.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Very nice photos!

Sorry you had a bad experience,
I don't think I have EVER heard of
someone having such bad luck with rides-
the hotel experience was careless and inexcusable.



I hope your next disney experience
erases all the bad from this one.

 

[jmkst58]

you sound like you have my luck. sorry to hear...glad you made the best of it!!!

 

[FatCow]

The pictures will soon be updated. Right now I'm trying to dwindle the pictures from close to 300 to 100.

Why 100? Because that's the number of picture that will fit in the Disney photo album we bought at MGM.

 

[dvcfamily41801]

Very neat pictures!! Love some of the angles you take

 

[poohtown]

surprisingly bad luck with rides, but great luck with pictures. Really like the family in front of the castle all lit up instead of the normal daytime one everyone (including me) seems to have. Also like the closeup ones. What are the yellow and green closeups off on page 7? I tried to make it larger, but it wouldn't let me.

 

[FatCow]

For the night time pictures I use a slower shutter speed (about half a second) with a tripod. It's the only way to take night-time picture with you in it.

The green and yellow stuff are Lego (if you click the thumbnail, it should open up a larger picture). I took them to create a unique wallpaper for my computer.

 

[disneyaddictwannabe]

No offence, but as I sit here tonight reading through trip reports mourning our trip that just ended a couple of weeks ago and looking to be cheered up I stumble across your post. Boo hoo for me... it was so depressing, negative and cynical that I had to respond. I know you are entitled to your own opinion and can post what you wish but I personally come to this forum to feel the"Disney magic"I have recently become a part of and for that reason I will not read another trip report of yours. I'm afraid I tend to be a person that looks at the glass half full and I get the feeling you see it as very very empty!! But on a positive note your pictures were gorgeous!! They cheered me up after your dreadful post! Thanks, I think...

 

[FatCow]

huh?

If stating the fact is considered "being negative", I guess I just don't understand the English language.

And which part of my statement "but we had a magical moment nevertheless" than can be construed of me being negative?

Last but not least, this board is called "Trip Report", not "Positive-Only Trip Report"

I'm not being sarcastic here, I truly don't understand what you're getting at.

Thanks for the compliments for the pictures, though.