How did you feel about your 2014 WDW Vacation?

[Cupcakesmum]

This was my first trip in 15+ years and first with kids. We took our 4 kids aged 6 and under and the trip by far exceeded expectations. It was truly magical.

 

[DisneyBum303]

I voted not as good as previous trips.

We went in April, when it was just three FP+; no extras available after you used those. We were masters of the old FP system and the ultimate park hoppers. Towards the end of our vacation, we could hit all four parks in a day, revisiting one last time our favorite rides using FPs. Not possible on this last trip, at least not without waiting in long lines. It was the first time we ever saw long lines in PoC and IASW. We never felt before that we were 'running across the parks' to get a FP. This time, we seemed to have a lot more down time, either waiting for our FP+ window or waiting in a longer line. Spent a lot more time in the smoking section and did more rope drops, which we never did before. We also did both Universals this time, which we had not done before and had not planned on doing this time.

We are also not planners. We used to just go to the bus stop and decide which bus to get on. Having to plan months in advance isn't nearly as fun, at least not for us. I felt a lack of spontaneity for the first time.

This is usually the time of year we begin planning the next vacation, but we just aren't as excited as we usually are. Just not sure if we want to do it again.

p.s. A plus to the vacation was that I happened to be reading the Dis when WDW had that glitch in the system that allowed you to schedule more than one tier one ride on the same day. We were able to score TT and Soarin' on the same day for three of our vacation days (Epcot is our favorite park). If it weren't for the crack investigative team here at the Dis, I wouldn't have known that was possible. --Edited to add that at the time, we didn't know it was a glitch; everyone thought they had listened to all the complaints and changed the system. Later that day, we discovered it was indeed a glitch that they fixed.

 

[DawnM]

I really dislike the advanced reservations of FP. We like being a little spontaneous and can't with pre-planned days.

It won't make me not visit Disney though.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Our trip was just as good as previous years. I was all set to hate the FP+ system (and I truly disliked setting everything up) but I never had to make any changes and I never had to go for a fourth FP because the SB wait times were overinflated, if anything. We did everything we wanted to, multiple times. The one thing I will say is I doubt the whole park hopper aspect is something I will pay for again. This works far better doing one park a day.

 

[ariane37]

We took 2 trips this year so I voted twice: our Feb. trip was "as good as previous trips" and our Aug. trip was "not as good as previous trips".

Before going in Feb. (our first with FP+) I was afraid it would really put a damper on the trip - mainly by not allowing us to ride the big rides multiple times. This isn't a big deal to some, but for us it is. I was pleasantly surprised that by doing RD we could still manage multiple rides, as well as staying until park close or near park close. At that time we were still limited to 3 FP/day, too. Crowds were low and it was pretty cold which probably helped. We did see some crazy lines for rides that never had lines before but luckily we hit those when there wasn't a wait. We had 10 days too so weren't in a rush. Overall I came home not a fan of FP+ but not totally hating it. I did feel like we ran around the parks more which I never felt with legacy. Also felt we waited around more for FP times. Found app rarely worked in park to change a FP when we found we didn't need one we had scheduled, but again, since we lucked out with short lines whenever we wanted to do a ride it only screwed things up once or twice. Only a few times did we go to a ride, see the wait and say "no way" (and we don't wait over 20 minutes generally).

Aug. unfortunately I ended up disliking FP+ quite a bit more. App was HORRIBLE for changing things, never worked in the park. It was the end of Aug./beginning of Sept. so crowds were lower than Feb. but lines were longer for some reason. Much fewer multiple rides for us. Of course it's harder standing on a 20 minute line when its 120 degrees out than when it's 50 lol! Even getting to a park at RD, we would only get 1 SB ride before the lines got ridiculous which was the opposite of what happened in Feb. and also of what happened with legacy. So overall we got less done in Aug. I know part of it was the heat and the fact that we only had 6 days this time, but the other part was longer waits in general but with lower crowds. Also, when we did try for a 4th FP no good rides available even in mid-afternoon for rides that did have FP available under legacy.

My next trip is in March, DH and I are going sans kids for our anniversary I don't expect FP+ will have a negative effect on that trip! But the kids are not anxious to go back as they felt the difference between the 2 systems and didn't like it, either.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We also did both Universals this time, which we had not done before and had not planned on doing this time.

What are your thoughts on the two Universal parks?

 

[DisneyFan2013]

This is my extremely unscientific way of figuring out if WDW vacations are really starting to suck for everyone Please vote only if you have taken a trip in 2014. I'm allowing multiple votes incase you went more than once this year.

I've been to Disney the past three years in a row, and this year I did my very first solo trip. It was great! Couldn't have been much better.

 

[kathy884]

My parents started taking me to WDW in 1971 when I was 10. I burned out on longer trips years ago. DH doesn't like Florida or theme parks either (so it's definitely not the place we go for our main vacation trip each year). But DS 19 loves the parks (SeaWorld in #1, then the Disney parks, and then Universal, but he really likes them all, and I'm a total sucker for enthusiasm and have so much fun going there with him). So actually for the last seven years I've been annually doing a little mini trip, and they are just sooo much fun. Usually it's just one theme park day at a WDW park and one theme park day somewhere else, but sometimes two, and with just doing that, at least me, -- I don't get burned out on them and appreciate them (plus there are enough to mix it up a bit). Each trip seems to be even better than the last. I just go with DS 19, and we usually meet up with other Florida / theme park loving relatives who are great fun to be with. (e.g. in December (the week before Christmas week because of when DS is done with finals) we are using frequent flyer miles, having relatives pick us up at the airport, bunking up with relatives at the Cypress Point condo resort, probably getting into both SeaWorld and the MK for free if my nephew has the time off, as he will be at the time of our trip working at each (have the budget, though, and am planning on paying for admissions and doing these two parks with or without freebie admissions), and will do a one day park to park ticket at Universal, mostly to see the new HP stuff. We will also see the Titanic attraction on I-drive (DS is into Titanic history and a member of the Titanic Historical Society, so has to hit this on every Orlando trip) on our one resort day that will include tennis and swimming at the condo resort. I'll just have four full days down there (number of unallocated vacation days available for this as I want to take Dec. 26th off too, as my sister-in-law will be visiting us in St. Louis for Christmas). DS will have six days.

If you manage to go at a non peak time, do rope drop, have a touring plan, and just want to with the exception of maybe one ride do attractions once (That's us), the new FP+ is really not much of a factor. Our projected wait times are pretty minimal in December for our Disney day. The only thing we might not do is that second ride on Space Mountain. We'll see if we can get a FP+ for the late afternoon to ride, but if not we'll just do the one morning ride with a relatively short wait. Afternoon line projections are 45 minutes, so without a FP I won't bother with a second time. We can definitely live without that. All our waits otherwise are projected to be 25 minutes or under with most almost walk on. // We just eat quick service and won't be making any FP+ advanced reservations. // Don't see the need for it, and don't want to buy tickets in advance either due to fact that if my darling nephew is off he'll go with us and save us a $100 per person on admission too.

Tough not to have a great mini trip down to the area!

 

[Mad4Dizne]

While we usually travel to WDW during a traditionally "slower" time than we did this year, this year was our first (and probably last,for a long while) experience with FP+. Why don't they expand the parks/more rides/doubles of really busy ones?? We literally only got on the 3 rides we had FP+ for as we did not want to wait in crazy long lines in the heat. We arrived at Soarin at exactly the same time as everyone else in Epcot for our FP+, I swear that had to be a computer glitch, so that day we did our 2 FP+ and World Showcase. Things did work the best at DS, but then again, not too many rides there. We don't do AK, not for the past 2 or 3 trips (and trust me Avatarland will not be bringing us back). Luckily we have alot of park time when things were not as crazy, I feel bad for people who this is their one and only trip and they don't get to go on the rides they want (TSM), it is too bad. We did more resort/pool time which was fine with me. We explored DTD, which my kids have said is all they want to do as well as Universal when we go back. May be planning a Disney Cruise in our near future.

 

[DebbieB]

We were there in late May. I voted better because we got to experience the 24 hour day. We got to ride 7DMT at park opening at 6:00am and again in the middle of the night (soft opening). Fun time!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

We were there in late May. I voted better because we got to experience the 24 hour day. We got to ride 7DMT at park opening at 6:00am and again in the middle of the night (soft opening). Fun time!

DebbieB...how is 7DMT at night? Does it really enhance the experience?

 

[dkrauss]

This years trip was far and away better than 4 of the 5 WDW trips I took previously.....only bested by the trip with my children (for obvious reasons ).
First off we stayed at WL.........what a beautiful resort. Second, I didn't get sick like our trip in 2013.......... 3rd, FP+ was amazing for us............got 2 7DMT runs using it..........also used it on a FOF parade. The FOF was great because we had prime spot in front of castle (see video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo2DZJcKKDE ) Look just after the Dragon for our interaction with the dwarves!!!
4th and most important I was with my sweetie and we always have fun!!!

Doug

 

[NuJoy]

Better. The last handful of trips, I had gained 40 lbs., responsible for excruciating and debilitating arch pain from sandals I had worn perfectly well a year prior. The first of those trips, I think I blacked out for most of it because I only remember standing on a fully loaded boat back to BWV from HS with tears streaming down my face and shopping at the BWV for replacement croc sandals, which subsequently blistered my feet to a pulp. It took me over a year to fully recover from foot pain. In the meantime, I dropped that weight and this year was arch pain and blister free.

WDW is most magical when just me and my husband go alone. Our kids like Disney; and we take them so we can go to parent heaven when we die; but it doesn't hold the same joy for them as it does for me and DH. Three of our children are in college and beyond, leaving just our youngest to accompany us now. This year she turned 12 and quite independent. An odd party size of three makes some ride seating arrangements less than ideal, forcing one parent out or sitting with a stranger instead. This year she wanted to ride single in these situations, which allowed DH and I to ride together like a couple again. Only on RNR did we have the single rider situation. All others she got to ride in front of us by herself.

She also wanted to walk way ahead of us back to the room at BWV from Epcot one evening so we allowed her to with the condition she text us to let us know she got in the room ok. That gave us just enough freedom to leisurely stroll the boardwalk and slip into a couple shops by ourselves while she got to experience a little alone time as well. After that incident, she informed us she doesn't really like going to Epcot that much except for riding test track, which now has me and DH thinking of planning some date night Epcot dining during next year's trip.

In addition, we got the best Boardwalk view room we've ever had. We would keep our curtains wide open while we were gone for the day and return every evening to a view of an illuminated Epcot ball perfectly centered through the balcony door windows as we entered the room, like an Epcot night light upon entrance. We enjoyed Illuminations fireworks from our balcony several evenings.

The down side this trip was that it rained every single day; and being wet followed by entering air-conditioned buildings over and over caused me and DD to get a nasty cold, which I retained a good 10 days beyond our return home. I began to resent that I could not cancel some dining reservations without penalty when I didn't want to get out in the rain anymore to get to them or was feeling puny and tired a few nights; but I just pushed through and made the best of it. We plan to take a mid-day break each day next year.

FP+? Whatever. We do September slow time, touring plans, EMH, and rope drop crowd avoidance strategies standard anyway and many of our afternoon/evening FP+ reservations got cancelled due to so much rain this time.

New and magical- DH and I both loved the special frozen fireworks and the new Frozen sing-along shows at HS; and I fell in love with Olaf and Sven.

 

[Conan the Librarian]

We went in May 2014. It was full of Disney Magic.

We got upgraded to a 1 room villa, got around with not a lot of crowds (specially after the school trips went home), got to (finally) eat at Be Our Guest and many other events that were just too good.

 

[Nhebron]

Our trip was in February, the same week as our trip the previous year (right around valentine's day). Stayed at Poly this year and AK the previous year.

No negative impact from FP+ and just an overall good time.

 

[zaxonork]

It was better then previous trips because I was able to eat at 'Ohana, Be our Guest and Cinderella’s Happily Ever After Dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

Great options not always easy to get a reservation

 

[EPCOTatNight]

Went in Feb/March and August. Had 2 great trips. Will be going back in December and plan on having another great trip.

 

[Dallas_Lady]

Thanks to so many people for voting! It does look like there are a good number of people feeling disappointed in WDW for various reasons. Definitely not the majority, but a large enough number that it's significant.

I especially feel bad for 1st timers who come back disappointed

 

[stinkpickle]

We went (along with a first time family) back in late January / early February and it was great. The weather stayed cold and rainy much longer than expected, but it really kept the crowds down. I don't remember seeing any waits over 15 minutes during evening EMH at MK. Later in the trip, the crowds picked up when the sun finally out. FP+ didn't hurt things, because we need it half the time, anyway.

 

[KBoopaloo]

I voted for as good as past trips. We took a trip in late June/early July with a party of 13. I was very worried about managing FP+ and Magic Bands for that many people but everything worked out great for us. We took a trip with most of the same people in 2011 and they actually enjoyed this year's trip more and loved the Magic Bands.