2Tiggies
Near to Tigger's House
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2009
- Messages
- 19,911
It's taken me a while to get down to this, despite my best intentions. We got back a week ago and I went straight back to work. I really need to plan these things better.
This was the most incredible trip we've had. We spent three weeks at Disney World, onsite and stayed at POFQ and BLT.
Highs
Spending time with my two favorite people, DD and William. We had so much fun, we laughed a lot, ate a lot and really soaked up everything Disney has to offer. There really are no words to describe how I feel 
and I didn't want to steer this off topic since I have a dedicated thread further down the page. I even cheated there and used William's announcement because he tells it so much better than I do. I'm in a very happy place. Now we just need to bridge the gap across the Atlantic so we can enjoy our time together permanently.
The Wild Africa Trek was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I was on the fence about doing this when we left, mainly due to the cost, however it was worth every penny and we intend doing it again.
Crowds: Crowd levels were well below my expectations. It wasn't any different to our October trips, but with the benefit of additional shows and parades and longer operating hours.
Cast Members: I often read posts on other parts of the forum where it some feel that CM's are not spreading the magic they used to. I haven't had their experience, so I can't argue with those reports, however our interactions with Cast Members was amazing throughout our trip, without exception.
Independence Day: We went to MK on the 3rd to watch the fireworks. I was not braving taking a tripod and big camera in with me that night so we got to enjoy the show from Main Street, right up near the castle. The atmosphere was electric, the show was breathtaking and I would love to experience it again.
On July 4th itself, we escaped the madness of the theme parks and spent the afternoon and evening in one of the lounges at the Contemporary with friends. We watched the fireworks from the 12th Floor balcony, before strolling to MK around 10 pm as a group of 9 (a new experience for us, and what a blast!) to enjoy the park as the mass exodus continued.
Crowd Control (Tour Groups): We knew that going at this time of the year we would have to suck it up and deal with them. Yes, they are loud and it can be annoying, but we never had any issues with them at all and found them to be very polite, on the whole. It really came down to a noise nuisance and nothing more. I was quite impressed with how Disney has put systems in place to shield the regular guests from being inconvenienced by these large groups. FP stations and CS restaurants had dedicated zones for them and the rest of us were able to continue as usual. Kudos to Disney for the effort. It was very noticeable to me, compared with previous trips.
Weather: It was perfect! We saw very little rain and what we did get was a short sharp shower with a thunderstorm and it was usually over with, in 20 minutes.
Lows
British Airways! I can't even go through the details, lest my blood should boil. Appalling doesn't come close! If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask, but I can't even think about this airline without getting irritated.
FP+ We didn't like it. We had to work a lot harder to do what we used to do easily. We burned a lot of very early mornings and late nights back to back to ensure that we could do what we wanted to for the day without wasting time in lines. It has, as intended, changed the patterns of the crowds. Attractions which historically had little to no wait, now had constant 30 minutes and up posted outside the entrances. It was very restrictive. We felt tied to times, tied to our phones, the app struggled and was sluggish and constant error messages meant having a note or print out of the times for the day was essential. Trying to adjust times on the fly did not work. Just as expected for the busier season. There were a few days when we wanted to go out with friends and change our park of choice. Simply put, we were left with the option of sticking with what we had and forgetting about being sociable, or losing our headliner attractions to exchange for ones that you could probably just wait 20 minutes in line for. I will post a more detailed review on the Theme Parks board, when I have time, but to sum it up, we hated it.
For anyone going soon or just curious, please feel free to ask questions. I think I have covered most of the key points, but I'm sure there is plenty I've missed out so you're welcome to prompt me.
I was going to post photos onto the forum but it's probably easier if I just link you to my Flickr account. The album is public so you should be able to see it without logging in or being on my contact list. I have thousands of photos and haven't even looked through them all, so I will be adding to the album steadily.
Here's one to get you going. For more, you can click on the link at the bottom of this post.
Wishes by MisfitLee, on Flickr
DISNEY PHOTOS 2014
This was the most incredible trip we've had. We spent three weeks at Disney World, onsite and stayed at POFQ and BLT.
Highs
Spending time with my two favorite people, DD and William. We had so much fun, we laughed a lot, ate a lot and really soaked up everything Disney has to offer. There really are no words to describe how I feel and I didn't want to steer this off topic since I have a dedicated thread further down the page. I even cheated there and used William's announcement because he tells it so much better than I do. I'm in a very happy place. Now we just need to bridge the gap across the Atlantic so we can enjoy our time together permanently. The Wild Africa Trek was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I was on the fence about doing this when we left, mainly due to the cost, however it was worth every penny and we intend doing it again. Crowds: Crowd levels were well below my expectations. It wasn't any different to our October trips, but with the benefit of additional shows and parades and longer operating hours.
Cast Members: I often read posts on other parts of the forum where it some feel that CM's are not spreading the magic they used to. I haven't had their experience, so I can't argue with those reports, however our interactions with Cast Members was amazing throughout our trip, without exception.
Independence Day: We went to MK on the 3rd to watch the fireworks. I was not braving taking a tripod and big camera in with me that night so we got to enjoy the show from Main Street, right up near the castle. The atmosphere was electric, the show was breathtaking and I would love to experience it again. On July 4th itself, we escaped the madness of the theme parks and spent the afternoon and evening in one of the lounges at the Contemporary with friends. We watched the fireworks from the 12th Floor balcony, before strolling to MK around 10 pm as a group of 9 (a new experience for us, and what a blast!) to enjoy the park as the mass exodus continued.
Crowd Control (Tour Groups): We knew that going at this time of the year we would have to suck it up and deal with them. Yes, they are loud and it can be annoying, but we never had any issues with them at all and found them to be very polite, on the whole. It really came down to a noise nuisance and nothing more. I was quite impressed with how Disney has put systems in place to shield the regular guests from being inconvenienced by these large groups. FP stations and CS restaurants had dedicated zones for them and the rest of us were able to continue as usual. Kudos to Disney for the effort. It was very noticeable to me, compared with previous trips. Weather: It was perfect! We saw very little rain and what we did get was a short sharp shower with a thunderstorm and it was usually over with, in 20 minutes. Lows
British Airways! I can't even go through the details, lest my blood should boil. Appalling doesn't come close! If anyone has specific questions, feel free to ask, but I can't even think about this airline without getting irritated. FP+ We didn't like it. We had to work a lot harder to do what we used to do easily. We burned a lot of very early mornings and late nights back to back to ensure that we could do what we wanted to for the day without wasting time in lines. It has, as intended, changed the patterns of the crowds. Attractions which historically had little to no wait, now had constant 30 minutes and up posted outside the entrances. It was very restrictive. We felt tied to times, tied to our phones, the app struggled and was sluggish and constant error messages meant having a note or print out of the times for the day was essential. Trying to adjust times on the fly did not work. Just as expected for the busier season. There were a few days when we wanted to go out with friends and change our park of choice. Simply put, we were left with the option of sticking with what we had and forgetting about being sociable, or losing our headliner attractions to exchange for ones that you could probably just wait 20 minutes in line for. I will post a more detailed review on the Theme Parks board, when I have time, but to sum it up, we hated it. For anyone going soon or just curious, please feel free to ask questions. I think I have covered most of the key points, but I'm sure there is plenty I've missed out so you're welcome to prompt me.
I was going to post photos onto the forum but it's probably easier if I just link you to my Flickr account. The album is public so you should be able to see it without logging in or being on my contact list. I have thousands of photos and haven't even looked through them all, so I will be adding to the album steadily.
Here's one to get you going. For more, you can click on the link at the bottom of this post.
Wishes by MisfitLee, on FlickrDISNEY PHOTOS 2014
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