I am here now with DS5. We arrived Thursday afternoon and headed straight to MK after checking in at the GF. DH will join us today. We are here until next Sunday. First, GF is nice and really convenient to the parks. We have never stayed here before, but are here with a "Magical Deal". We are in Boca Chica on the fourth floor with a view of the pool. It is very quiet and relaxing. This resort may be my favorite. We have stayed at WL, POFQ AND CBR. I loved all except CBR.
MK seemed surprisingly very dirty when we got here Thursday afternoon. Of course, we arrived at the park around 2:30, so maybe that was why. I have just never seen it dirty like that. I mean, trash and food all over the ground, really surprising. We went to MK again Friday morning, and, of course, it was clean first thing in the morning, but I have noticed a general decline in cleanliness Around the parks in general and also a decline in Cast Member service/attitude. We have run into some very friendly cast members and some really great wait staff. Our server at Sci-Fi yesterday was just delightful!
We went to Jedi Training yesterday. I had booked a PPO breakfast to get in early, but ended up cancelling. We got to HS about 8:20. They let us in about 8:45, we headed straight to sign-ups and we're done by 9:00. We got the 11:10show, which was the earliest they had left. The show was good, but I preferred the old one. I hate to seem like such a downer! We really liked the Storm Troopers at the old show. Also, there seems to be a little too much dialogue, in my opinion, in this new show, considering the kids get antsy pretty easily! My hint here is to look for the PPO Breakfast line. You can tell which one it is because there is a server there with an IPad letting people in. She was to the farthest left when we were there. We got in the line right next to that line, and as soon as the rope dropped, they opened that line up, and we were able to hop over and were second or third in line to get in.
We did the Star Wars dessert party. The viewing Location for the fireworks was great, the food was okay and the adult drinks were pretty good. I probably would not do it again, but it was a good one-time experience. The fireworks show was really good.
Transportation from the Grand Floridian is great so far. I had read that buses are shared. Yesterday we went straight to HS, no sharing. On the way back we did share but just with the Polynesian. Monorail has been great.
There was a little rain yesterday and the day before. We were able to just duck in to see a show or get something to eat and didn't even need to use ponchos or umbrellas. Weather otherwise has been nice, not as hot as I expected. I'm from South Texas though where it has been over 100 most days this last month, so low 90s is nice to me. The rain has brought cooler weather in the late afternoons.
Crowd levels have been good. We did extra magic hours in MK, and that was great. Then we hopped to Epcot where we had our FPs. Love the new Soarin! Posted wait times are much inflated, at least the last two days. There was a posted 30 min. Wait at Toy Story in HS . . . Was actually more like ten to 15. Same with Star Tours. Posted 20, more like 5. None of the shows have been packed to capacity. We didn't even need FP for any of them at HS yesterday.
Food prices have gone way up, or at least it seems that way, and quality has gone down somewhat. A lot of small changes that to me make a difference, but may not to others.
We are having a really good trip, but I think we may skip next year. We are usually annual DW travelers. Quality has just gone down and prices up to the point where I personally don't feel I can justify the expense every year anymore. Don't get me wrong. We still love DW, but that impeccable service and quality that made us return year after year just isn't here like it used to be.
I'm happy to answer any questions or check something out if I can and if anyone would like me to!
MK seemed surprisingly very dirty when we got here Thursday afternoon. Of course, we arrived at the park around 2:30, so maybe that was why. I have just never seen it dirty like that. I mean, trash and food all over the ground, really surprising. We went to MK again Friday morning, and, of course, it was clean first thing in the morning, but I have noticed a general decline in cleanliness Around the parks in general and also a decline in Cast Member service/attitude. We have run into some very friendly cast members and some really great wait staff. Our server at Sci-Fi yesterday was just delightful!
We went to Jedi Training yesterday. I had booked a PPO breakfast to get in early, but ended up cancelling. We got to HS about 8:20. They let us in about 8:45, we headed straight to sign-ups and we're done by 9:00. We got the 11:10show, which was the earliest they had left. The show was good, but I preferred the old one. I hate to seem like such a downer! We really liked the Storm Troopers at the old show. Also, there seems to be a little too much dialogue, in my opinion, in this new show, considering the kids get antsy pretty easily! My hint here is to look for the PPO Breakfast line. You can tell which one it is because there is a server there with an IPad letting people in. She was to the farthest left when we were there. We got in the line right next to that line, and as soon as the rope dropped, they opened that line up, and we were able to hop over and were second or third in line to get in.
We did the Star Wars dessert party. The viewing Location for the fireworks was great, the food was okay and the adult drinks were pretty good. I probably would not do it again, but it was a good one-time experience. The fireworks show was really good.
Transportation from the Grand Floridian is great so far. I had read that buses are shared. Yesterday we went straight to HS, no sharing. On the way back we did share but just with the Polynesian. Monorail has been great.
There was a little rain yesterday and the day before. We were able to just duck in to see a show or get something to eat and didn't even need to use ponchos or umbrellas. Weather otherwise has been nice, not as hot as I expected. I'm from South Texas though where it has been over 100 most days this last month, so low 90s is nice to me. The rain has brought cooler weather in the late afternoons.
Crowd levels have been good. We did extra magic hours in MK, and that was great. Then we hopped to Epcot where we had our FPs. Love the new Soarin! Posted wait times are much inflated, at least the last two days. There was a posted 30 min. Wait at Toy Story in HS . . . Was actually more like ten to 15. Same with Star Tours. Posted 20, more like 5. None of the shows have been packed to capacity. We didn't even need FP for any of them at HS yesterday.
Food prices have gone way up, or at least it seems that way, and quality has gone down somewhat. A lot of small changes that to me make a difference, but may not to others.
We are having a really good trip, but I think we may skip next year. We are usually annual DW travelers. Quality has just gone down and prices up to the point where I personally don't feel I can justify the expense every year anymore. Don't get me wrong. We still love DW, but that impeccable service and quality that made us return year after year just isn't here like it used to be.
I'm happy to answer any questions or check something out if I can and if anyone would like me to!
