We had a looooong adoption journey, as most do. To me, making it to Orlando, and visiting with Anna and Elsa was a BIG deal. Frozen came out about the time I had decided I could adopt a little girl, and we had started the mountains of paperwork. I said I would never watch Frozen until I had a little girl, and didn't think I ever would. Then they started their meet and greet, and I so badly wanted to meet them with a little girl.
Then we were unbelievably blessed with our little Princess. Other family/personal issues made us put off a trip, but I finally just said "we're going". So, off we went to meet Anna and Elsa.
We stayed at Cabana Bay, which is amazing for the price. Perfectly retro themed, and the BIG difference is that not only is it cheaper, but the prices are too. Parking is 12 instead of 20. Drink cups are cheaper. Of course you don't get Express, but since my wife has a disability pass, that doesn't matter. And we got an AMAZING upgrade. We paid for a basic room, and I wanted it close to the lobby. We arrived around 2 am, and were given the room pretty much furthest away from the lobby possible. I complained, but was told that was all that was available, and that I could maybe change the next day.
Getting to the tower was a hassle too, as there were no luggage carts, and no drop off area. Luckily it was 2 am, so I just double parked, and lucked out finding a cart. Then we got to our room, and saw the view...
So, we decided to stay. Although the drum beats in the morning did get a bit obnoxious, but I got to be able to sleep through them.
The next day was a relax day, touring the resort, going out shopping a bit. The Character Warehouse had some really good deals this year, and I was surprised to see some current stuff sold there at a discount.
Monday was the big day. First up EPCOT! I was obsessed with getting to Norway. We got Frozen Ever After on our disability pass (which is still INFINITELY better than FP+, and essentially an old FP, but they never run out) and got in line to meet Anna and Elsa. I really thought I would lose it. But, I did keep my composure fairly well, not embarrassing myself, at least. My wife let me have my moment with my Princess as we met Anna and Elsa. My first ever Princess meet and greet, as my son was never big on them obviously.
One of the best moments ever.
We had a little bit of time still, so I took a Looooong walk to France to buy my wife some Ratatouille stuff. They essentially had the stuff I saw in Paris a few years ago, only in English obviously. I also got some beef and potatoes in the Netherlands.
Then off to the ride, which was good, but really had a LOT of dark sections, and a LOT of screens everyone hates Universal for. Overall, it was a solid D ticket, only because of the Olaf animatrons. Without them, it would have been C ticket all the way.
We then headed to MK. I asked how long the Monorails go for, and was told 1 hour after MK closes, which I later found was a lie (the first of many times a CM would give me pretty big misinformation). So we made a big mistake by taking the monorail to MK.
We had some FP+ at MK, plus my wife's pass, so we rode tons of stuff my Princess could ride. Mermaid, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pooh, Pirates, even Mansion, although she was passed out on my should for that one. She seemed to love them all. We forgot to buy a Mickey ice cream bar for her on the whole trip. It seemed they weren't quite a ubiquitous as in the past, especially at MNSSHP where I noted lots of things.
Crowds were pretty bad for first week in October, in my opinion. But that's why Disney is spending billions of dollars, because the Magic Kingdom is way beyond its capacity, even on a medium crowd day. Although they REALLY need another big family ride to make a true difference. When Pirates has a 40 minute wait, when for decades it was a walkon all the time, something has gone seriously wrong. Even the Fastpass line was 20 minutes. Longer than standby ever was except for Spring Break and Summer.
Ate at Columbia Harbor House as usual. Still decent portion sizes for the large platter.
I really wanted to see the new castle show, but didn't want to devote a few hours to it. We watched the fireworks from Big Thunder, which my daughter loved (fireworks, not BTMR). A fantastic end to her first day at Disney.
But then, as we approached the TTC, we heard the monorail to Epcot was closed, and had to ride a very full bus, which had to take our sleeping daughter out of her stroller for, a big reason we chose the monorail earlier. We were told the Monorail closes at 10, MUCH different than what I was told earlier in the day at Epcot, by someone dressed as a fairly high up person. This ended up in a long bus ride, and loooong walk from the crazy remote bus stops at Epcot back to our car. Not what we wanted at that point, and not what used to happen. This seemed to be a recurring theme of how Disney has really scaled back on "customer satisfaction" things.
Still a great day, but overall, the Disney World experience of just a few years ago is pretty much dead.
Jason
Then we were unbelievably blessed with our little Princess. Other family/personal issues made us put off a trip, but I finally just said "we're going". So, off we went to meet Anna and Elsa.
We stayed at Cabana Bay, which is amazing for the price. Perfectly retro themed, and the BIG difference is that not only is it cheaper, but the prices are too. Parking is 12 instead of 20. Drink cups are cheaper. Of course you don't get Express, but since my wife has a disability pass, that doesn't matter. And we got an AMAZING upgrade. We paid for a basic room, and I wanted it close to the lobby. We arrived around 2 am, and were given the room pretty much furthest away from the lobby possible. I complained, but was told that was all that was available, and that I could maybe change the next day.
Getting to the tower was a hassle too, as there were no luggage carts, and no drop off area. Luckily it was 2 am, so I just double parked, and lucked out finding a cart. Then we got to our room, and saw the view...
So, we decided to stay. Although the drum beats in the morning did get a bit obnoxious, but I got to be able to sleep through them.
The next day was a relax day, touring the resort, going out shopping a bit. The Character Warehouse had some really good deals this year, and I was surprised to see some current stuff sold there at a discount.
Monday was the big day. First up EPCOT! I was obsessed with getting to Norway. We got Frozen Ever After on our disability pass (which is still INFINITELY better than FP+, and essentially an old FP, but they never run out) and got in line to meet Anna and Elsa. I really thought I would lose it. But, I did keep my composure fairly well, not embarrassing myself, at least. My wife let me have my moment with my Princess as we met Anna and Elsa. My first ever Princess meet and greet, as my son was never big on them obviously.
One of the best moments ever.
We had a little bit of time still, so I took a Looooong walk to France to buy my wife some Ratatouille stuff. They essentially had the stuff I saw in Paris a few years ago, only in English obviously. I also got some beef and potatoes in the Netherlands.
Then off to the ride, which was good, but really had a LOT of dark sections, and a LOT of screens everyone hates Universal for. Overall, it was a solid D ticket, only because of the Olaf animatrons. Without them, it would have been C ticket all the way.
We then headed to MK. I asked how long the Monorails go for, and was told 1 hour after MK closes, which I later found was a lie (the first of many times a CM would give me pretty big misinformation). So we made a big mistake by taking the monorail to MK.
We had some FP+ at MK, plus my wife's pass, so we rode tons of stuff my Princess could ride. Mermaid, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pooh, Pirates, even Mansion, although she was passed out on my should for that one. She seemed to love them all. We forgot to buy a Mickey ice cream bar for her on the whole trip. It seemed they weren't quite a ubiquitous as in the past, especially at MNSSHP where I noted lots of things.
Crowds were pretty bad for first week in October, in my opinion. But that's why Disney is spending billions of dollars, because the Magic Kingdom is way beyond its capacity, even on a medium crowd day. Although they REALLY need another big family ride to make a true difference. When Pirates has a 40 minute wait, when for decades it was a walkon all the time, something has gone seriously wrong. Even the Fastpass line was 20 minutes. Longer than standby ever was except for Spring Break and Summer.
Ate at Columbia Harbor House as usual. Still decent portion sizes for the large platter.
I really wanted to see the new castle show, but didn't want to devote a few hours to it. We watched the fireworks from Big Thunder, which my daughter loved (fireworks, not BTMR). A fantastic end to her first day at Disney.
But then, as we approached the TTC, we heard the monorail to Epcot was closed, and had to ride a very full bus, which had to take our sleeping daughter out of her stroller for, a big reason we chose the monorail earlier. We were told the Monorail closes at 10, MUCH different than what I was told earlier in the day at Epcot, by someone dressed as a fairly high up person. This ended up in a long bus ride, and loooong walk from the crazy remote bus stops at Epcot back to our car. Not what we wanted at that point, and not what used to happen. This seemed to be a recurring theme of how Disney has really scaled back on "customer satisfaction" things.
Still a great day, but overall, the Disney World experience of just a few years ago is pretty much dead.
Jason
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