Millies Daddy
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2007
- Messages
- 132
We have just returned from a week long stay off-site so I thought I would put our highs and lows.
Highs
Annual Pass – We took the plunge and bough Annual Passes. For me I have the Dream Pass so that we can take advantage of the additional benefits. We also go Fantasy Passes for DW, DD and DS. A slight low would be the process to obtain the pass. Could be so much smoother and a run down of the available perks by the cast member or a print out in English would have been beneficial.
Frozen Show – We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time to attend a preview show on Friday afternoon. Great show. It is going to be a massive hit. Anna was a little difficult to understand due to her thick accent (Icelandic or Dutch I am guessing) but the show was very entertaining.
Dreams – Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. A great end to the day. Disney entertainment at its best.
Ratatouille – Another triumph by Disney. The whole area is well modelled on Paris and the ride is brilliant. We queued as a family for 50 minutes and it was well worth it. A good tip is to go as a single rider. We were on the ride within 10 minutes each time!
Wait times – Careful planning (Apart from Ratatouille meant that the longest we queued was for about 20 minutes.
Swing into Spring – The decorations for Swing into Spring make Town Square, Main Street and Central Plaza look refreshed. Very pleasing on the eye.
999,999 on Buzz Lightyear - As we were leaving on Friday night there was some security incident that prevented us getting to the car park so we went back into the park. This gave me one last chance to get the maximum high score and I did it!! No happy though. The photo loaded onto the Photopass does not show the correct score!
Lows
Au Chalet de la Marionette Restaurant – We opted to eat here on Thursday night because Bella Notre was closed. For me, if you plan to close restaurants early surely there should be a plan to ensure those that are till open are able to cater for the shortfall. It took about 30 minutes to get served due to lack of tills being open. We ordered our food and then…no chicken. It would take a further 20 minutes until it would be ready. We opted to downsize our order to the Bavarian Hot Dog with a side of Chicken Nuggets to make up for the price difference. It was a thoroughly poor performance with no leadership to make a decision. We are quite easy going but a number of people around me were getting quite irate.
Star Tours – Looking incredibly dated. I have read that they are updating Star Tours and making it a 3D experience in time for the 25th celebrations not before time.
Studio Tours – What is the point? It has hardly changed since it opened. Dinotopia and Pearl Harbour are older than my 13 year old daughter. The props are so dated that they hold very little interest at all. The Catastrophe Canyon scene and the London Reign of Fire scene are entertaining enough but the rest needs a massive update. I understand it may be getting a revamp. I hope so. The accompanying video with Jeremy Irons in it still has a piece about the Costume Department from the days when the tour stopped outside the costume department. That is just lazy!
Studio Closing early – With attendances up for the Studios and queues for Crush, TOT etc reaching ridiculous lengths at times surely the early closure (1800 during our week) should be extended to compensate? Closing at 1800 at the same time as the Main Parade in the Park is kicking out is plain stupid. The flow of people from both parks into the Village at 1800 is short-sighted to say the least.
Overall, we had a great time. The weather was great. The Parks were great (except for the unsightly closures - necessary I know). Already planning for the next visit during the Halloween season.
Highs
Annual Pass – We took the plunge and bough Annual Passes. For me I have the Dream Pass so that we can take advantage of the additional benefits. We also go Fantasy Passes for DW, DD and DS. A slight low would be the process to obtain the pass. Could be so much smoother and a run down of the available perks by the cast member or a print out in English would have been beneficial.
Frozen Show – We were lucky to be in the right place at the right time to attend a preview show on Friday afternoon. Great show. It is going to be a massive hit. Anna was a little difficult to understand due to her thick accent (Icelandic or Dutch I am guessing) but the show was very entertaining.
Dreams – Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic. A great end to the day. Disney entertainment at its best.
Ratatouille – Another triumph by Disney. The whole area is well modelled on Paris and the ride is brilliant. We queued as a family for 50 minutes and it was well worth it. A good tip is to go as a single rider. We were on the ride within 10 minutes each time!
Wait times – Careful planning (Apart from Ratatouille meant that the longest we queued was for about 20 minutes.
Swing into Spring – The decorations for Swing into Spring make Town Square, Main Street and Central Plaza look refreshed. Very pleasing on the eye.
999,999 on Buzz Lightyear - As we were leaving on Friday night there was some security incident that prevented us getting to the car park so we went back into the park. This gave me one last chance to get the maximum high score and I did it!! No happy though. The photo loaded onto the Photopass does not show the correct score!
Lows
Au Chalet de la Marionette Restaurant – We opted to eat here on Thursday night because Bella Notre was closed. For me, if you plan to close restaurants early surely there should be a plan to ensure those that are till open are able to cater for the shortfall. It took about 30 minutes to get served due to lack of tills being open. We ordered our food and then…no chicken. It would take a further 20 minutes until it would be ready. We opted to downsize our order to the Bavarian Hot Dog with a side of Chicken Nuggets to make up for the price difference. It was a thoroughly poor performance with no leadership to make a decision. We are quite easy going but a number of people around me were getting quite irate.
Star Tours – Looking incredibly dated. I have read that they are updating Star Tours and making it a 3D experience in time for the 25th celebrations not before time.
Studio Tours – What is the point? It has hardly changed since it opened. Dinotopia and Pearl Harbour are older than my 13 year old daughter. The props are so dated that they hold very little interest at all. The Catastrophe Canyon scene and the London Reign of Fire scene are entertaining enough but the rest needs a massive update. I understand it may be getting a revamp. I hope so. The accompanying video with Jeremy Irons in it still has a piece about the Costume Department from the days when the tour stopped outside the costume department. That is just lazy!
Studio Closing early – With attendances up for the Studios and queues for Crush, TOT etc reaching ridiculous lengths at times surely the early closure (1800 during our week) should be extended to compensate? Closing at 1800 at the same time as the Main Parade in the Park is kicking out is plain stupid. The flow of people from both parks into the Village at 1800 is short-sighted to say the least.
Overall, we had a great time. The weather was great. The Parks were great (except for the unsightly closures - necessary I know). Already planning for the next visit during the Halloween season.
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I agree with you concerning Tram tour, needs totally revamping
