We just got back from a magical trip! We arrived 7-6 and of course were worried that the tropical storm was going to wash out our vacation...but I think we got less rain on this trip than any other I have ever been on. We typically go the week of Labor Day, and we're used to huge afternoon rainstorms that sometimes last all evening long. The passing storm kept temps down and we only had one "big" rain on our MK day (Thursday, 7-8) which decided to come right as we were starting our lunch at Crystal Palace. It had lessened to barely a drizzle by the time we were walking out, so we couldn't have timed that more perfectly!
We had two little first timers with us so everything was new and exciting to them. Because of that, we didn't feel the pressure to hit the big stuff first or do things in any particular order...we just did what we wanted when we wanted. It was perfect! We never waited in line more than 35 minutes for anything. (We consistently saw 50 minute wait times for the rides we wanted, but it never took that long.) Several rides were walk ons. Maybe we just got lucky!
We waited in line for about 20 minutes for SDD when our youngest decided that he was too scared to ride. We debated splitting up, but ultimately decided to hop out of line as it was a 105 minute wait. Well...this really upset our 6 year old daughter who was super excited to ride. A cast member saw what happened and approached us. He let my husband and daughter go through the FastPass line and they were in and out in 20 minutes - awesome!!
We stayed at All Star Movies Resort, our first time staying at a Value. (We usually stay at Caribbean Beach.) The rooms were nicely refurbished, the beds were comfy, and I appreciated all of the under-the-bed storage! Because of this we didn't feel like the room was particularly more cramped than we were used to. I liked the bathroom more at Movies than CBR, but we did miss that zero-entry pool! We drove ourselves this time so not having direct access to the Skyliner was not as big of a deal as it would have been had we been relying on Disney transportation.
This trip felt much more like "normal" compared to when DH and I visited in September. I feel like they are in full swing preparing to bump up capacity again. (We overheard two conversations in restaurants we dined in between cast members and those who looked more executive discussing the adding of more tables soon and how they were going to prepare for more guests.) I had to laugh at one conversation between two cast members at Crystal Palace who seemed new. "Were you here last week?" "Yeah." "Were there THIS many tables in here??" Haha.
I will agree with others that Epcot is a maze right now, and that was a little crazy. I feel like we didn't get quite as much done there as usual. But I was SO thankful for fireworks back at MK and Epcot! We got awesome spots for both and could not have asked for a better way to end our days!
