Here now! Just checked in!!

[pampam]

Thanks so much for your reports.

I have a question about the monorail schedule since you are at the parks now. I just read last night that as of June 22 they are on a new schedule starting at 830 each morning. I am needing to know how early the buses and ferry are going to start running from TTC to MK? I have an 815am ADR at CP and staying offsite. I was originally planning to use resort monorail to get from TTC to MK since it started around 715. Now I am wondering how those of us staying offsite with early ADRs can get to MK??? I will have own car so don't want to take taxi.

Is there anyway you could find out how early the buses and ferry from TTC will start running during the monorail schedule change? Thanks so much!!!

Not to hijack a great thread, but you might get your answers quicker if you post your question on the transportation board.

 

[lisatx04]

Thanks everyone for following along. I am trying to give some insight to help those with upcoming trips.

We spent the last two days at Universal. We stayed at one of their resorts so we could get their express pass. Quite different than FP+. Since this is a WDW forum, I will not comment on the last two days.

We checked back in to OKW and are staying in the Millers Road area. Nice and quiet. No Disney parks today but we did spend time at the pool and then had dinner at Olivia's, here at OKW. I have to say that in all my years of coming to OKW, tonight's dinner service was the worst ever! It was bad enough that I had a manager come to our table, which I never do, ever! We will not be eating there again this trip.

Tomorrow we head to DAK.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

Here is my view on FP+: I hate that I cannot schedule a 4th FP and on from my phone! Those kiosks are ridiculous! You don't use your finger pad, but your finger nail. You have to hunt for a kiosk station and if you aren't near one' you need to go find one and stand in line to find if there is even anything available. I guess no different from legacy FP in that when they were gone, they were gone. Bring the ability to use our phones to schedule and I think many guests will be happy. They are all glued to their phones anyway.

I do love the ability to preschedule certain rides and know that I don't have to be running all over the park. .

We are also here, staying at OKW and also ate at Olivia's last night. Small world!

We totally agree with your assessment on FP+!

The initial three are great but the kiosk situation with high crowds is not good. The system is best for people without younger kids. I can see teens really getting the most out of it. My kids are like, not back to the kiosk again to wait in line! Lol. Also, we were never allowed to select our choices on our own. The CM's are managing it to speed up the process but it also limits your selections. We really came into this trip with no fears about the new system because we don't mind change and come frequently so we don't care if we don't get to do everything. But with summer crowds, we are not loving the new system. Also, most of the headliners are going out early in the day. There is still a lot of tweaking that needs to occur. Just my two cents.

 

[lisatx04]

DAK. Where do I begin?
Our FP+ were Safari 9-10, Everest 11-12 and Kali 12:30-1:30.

We got to the bus stop in plenty of time but the bus never came! By the time we got to DAK, it was 9:45. We got to the safari at 10, where the CM told me a) that as long as we were on the line by 10, we would be allowed to ride and b) he suggested that we ride SB and then use our FP. SB was 20 minutes. We opted to just use our FP and go on with our day.

DS had lunch at Pizzafari, because he can't go without food for more than an hour!, Teenage boys!! We then headed to Everest, where the girls rode using their FP then came and for our FP and rode again. SB said 30 minutes although the line looked a lot longer. The end of the FP line was past the exit of the ride, by the rocks! They had a CM standing there with a sign that said FP entrance. It was ridiculous!

We then went to Dinosaur and rode SB. I do not know what the wait time was but the kids were off I would say within 30 minutes. Then it was time for Kali. We got soaked!

It was hot and the kids were dragging so we left. We were on the way back to OKW on the bus at 1:18.

Observations:
I have decided DAK is my least favorite park. Just my opinion. There is no air flow and it is just too crowded.
Kids were having meltdowns and parents were as well. At that point, you know it's time to take a break. I know this is an expensive trip, but are the meltdowns worth it? My DD, 17, was getting an attitude. That is when I packed it in for today. I left them in the room and. I went to the pool.

It is raining now and we have ADR at Raglan Road. Of course, DD does not want to go since she will get wet. Oh well. I will go and enjoy my dinner!!

I do not know what tomorrow will bring as we have no plans. We will see how this works out!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Where you staying at OKW and how's the resort looking? We love OKW!!! Great rooms, great pool, and always so much to do there. We always use the bus transportation and have found it to be excellant. How's the buses running these days?

Thanks!!!

Those are the things I was wondering about also. LOVE OKW!

 

[lisatx04]

Simba's Mom- OKW is great! Looks wonderful and the updates to the bar and snack bar area look great!

Buses have not been an issue at all until today when we were trying to get to DAK. Those buses were definitely few and far between!

Lots of activities at the main pool on a daily basis. Movies every night outside under the stars on the big screen.

Lots to love at OKW!!

 

[Quasialamodo]

Monday brought us to Epcot. My FP+ were for SE 11:15-12;15, TT 12:35-1:35 and Soarin 1:55-2:55. We had a dinnerADR at Chefs de France at 6:10.

We arrived at SE at 12:05, and standby was 40 minutes. I have to say it was a zoo at theFP entrance! People were everywhere! Very unorganized. We finally found our way to the line, scanned our MB and were on our way.

TT was next. We arrived at 12:35. SB was 40 minutes. After riding TT, we wandered over to The Land Pavilion and got some lunch. It was then 1:55, and time for our Soarin FP. Standby was 60 minutes.

After Soarin, the girls went back to the resort, so DS and I went to get a 4th FP. Nothing to our liking was available. Maelstrom, Character Spot and a few minor things but nothing that I had to do. So now what? We went back to TT, where SB was 50 minutes. We rode single rider and entered at 2:40. We got on the ride in 20 minutes.

DS was kind of bored at this point and the rain was coming. We went on over to the Odyssey to see what that was all about, since they are showing the World Cup. Just so happens Brazil was playing so the crowd was quite enthusiastic.

We have been using the Disney photographers quite a lot. Still have not looked at any pictures. The kids wNt to wait until we get home.

Observations for today:
4th FP not readily available for major attractions in the afternoon.
If you want to ride TT, use single rider. Less of a wait than SB.
Starbucks, although open since October, is very unorganized. Does not seem to be able to handle crowds.

Tuesday will bring us to MK. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

This is one of the most informative trip reports I've actually ever read. You've brought up two good points thus far: It's far too easy to spend on the MB (brought up to you by one of your kids, no less! There's no way I would have trusted myself with that kind of power at that age...) and which Starbucks is disorganized.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Simba's Mom- OKW is great! Looks wonderful and the updates to the bar and snack bar area look great!

Buses have not been an issue at all until today when we were trying to get to DAK. Those buses were definitely few and far between!

Lots of activities at the main pool on a daily basis. Movies every night outside under the stars on the big screen.

Lots to love at OKW!!

lisatx04...just wondering...was Olivia's busy when you had that awful dinner service? What was so bad about it? Does OKW seem fairly booked up or does it feel like there are a lot of vacancies?

 

[lisatx04]

OnSpaceshipEarth-OKW does not seem that crowded but because of the size of the resort, I just can't tell. This morning, Saturday, I was up before the kids. I went up to Good's to Go to get something to eat. The amount of people going to the pool was crazy and this was before 10 am! There were people everywhere, checking in and out. Buses this last week have not been packed with people at all.

As for the dinner, ADR was for 8pm. Olivia's was busy and if you did not have and ADR, you were turned away. We were seated by 8:25. Took forever for our waiter to come get our drink order. We ordered an appetizer, which arrived around 9 pm. We had already placed our order for dinner, which consisted of 4 entrees. 2 came out totally wrong and had to be sent back! Drink refills took forever. Our waiter only had a few tables as I was watching but for whatever reason, he forgot about us. I called for the manager once the entree's came out wrong. She gave us free dessert and took DD meal off the ticket. It was one of the meals that was wrong and it took another 20 minutes to get. Our waiter was taking dessert orders and DD was still eating! We left Olivia's after 10pm.

Like I said, I never complain when in a restaurant, but I had enough.

 

[omurice]

So we went to Chef Mickey for dinner. I drove the car and as I pulled up to the gate, the gentleman at the gate scanned my MB and told me to have a good night! No explanation needed as to why I was trying to enter the parking lot!!
...

THIS - one of the few great things about MB, you can get to dinner reservations a little faster at the resorts which are sometimes difficult to park without playing 20 questions and taking a lie detector test (Contemporary, Poly, Boardwalk, Beach Club). Still got the 3rd degree at Grand Flo but that is fully consistent with the past.


PS - Can't wait to see what Four Seasons gatekeepers are like, guessing something akin to Secret Service. MB will have no benefit there when I drive up in a bright red compact rental car to sample their dining options (versus rolling up in the back of a black town car which I'm sure they would treat just a little differently).

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

As for the dinner, ADR was for 8pm. Olivia's was busy and if you did not have and ADR, you were turned away. We were seated by 8:25. Took forever for our waiter to come get our drink order. We ordered an appetizer, which arrived around 9 pm. We had already placed our order for dinner, which consisted of 4 entrees. 2 came out totally wrong and had to be sent back! Drink refills took forever. Our waiter only had a few tables as I was watching but for whatever reason, he forgot about us. I called for the manager once the entree's came out wrong. She gave us free dessert and took DD meal off the ticket. It was one of the meals that was wrong and it took another 20 minutes to get. Our waiter was taking dessert orders and DD was still eating! We left Olivia's after 10pm.

Like I said, I never complain when in a restaurant, but I had enough.

We were also there at the same time and it also was a two hour meal. My hubby thinks they were understaffed due to the rainstorm that occurred earlier. They were not prepared for the influx of people leaving the parks and flooding the restaurant. We actually went back Friday night and it was a totally different experience, well staffed and quick.

 

[lisatx04]

Saturday morning the kids slept in. We went to DHS to use their paper FP they received earlier in the week when RnRC went down while they were on it. They rode it and we left.

We tried to find a bus to Downtown Disney, but we could not find one so we ended up getting on the OKW bus then heading to Downtown Disney. I did have a car but parking is impossible downtown, so it was just easier to use the bus. My DD had her heart set on eating at Rainforest Cafe for a late lunch. I have no idea why but she wanted to eat there so she went up to the podium and put her name on the list. 35 minute wait at 1:55.

After lunch, we shopped. It was crowded and hot! Everyone in the group bought what they needed. The girls got a drink at Starbucks and DS and I stopped in to Ghirardelli. I did not know they opened a Starbucks in DD. It's a pretty good size.

After the dinner mess the other night at Olivia's, the kids did not want to eat there so we ended up picking up some food at Good's to Go and ate on the picnic tables they have.

Then it was back to the room to pack as we left this afternoon.

Overall, we had a great time! We had no issues with our MB or any of our FP+ That we had pre-scheduled. I was very nervous going into the trip, but for us, it worked out. I kept my phone handy and logged into the MDE website to check my FP times along with ADR times. The weather forecast was looking pretty bad before we left, but the weather turned out to be great!

 

[mercydisney]

I really enjoyed reading your trip report. I am going to miss reading them. I am glad you had a great time. Thank you for all the information, I am sure it will help me when we go in Sept.