Doofenschmirz Evil
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2012
- Messages
- 72
1) I saw a few other threads on the HS parking, but let me echo the idea that you need to plan extra time to get to HS with the Osborne Lights finale.
We flew down for the weekend with the plan to do the Osborne lights on Saturday night and the MVMCP on Sunday night. We had no idea we needed to worry about the HS parking lot filling up. We left the Wilderness Lodge at 4:45 and got to HS at 5pm, but the parking lot was full and they were directing people to park at Animal Kingdom. That seemed crazy so we drove back to Wilderness Lodge and went to the bus stop for HS. We were back at the bus stop by 5:15. There were no HS buses until 5:45. We saw 3 Epcot buses and 3 Disney Springs buses in that time.
Eventually the bus came and it was full. It was a Contemporary/Wilderness Lodge bus. They eventually asked a bunch of people to get off the bus so they could load a scooter. Then the Contemporary people wanted to get back on, but there were a bunch of Wilderness Lodge people and it was crazy. Keep in mind there is no roped off line section at Wilderness Lodge. Eventually most people crowded on, but a few of the Contemporary people just decided to get off and take the boat the rest of the way. I'm used to dealing with long lines and crowded buses when I stay at the All-Stars or Pop, but it is very irritating to pay serious $$ for the Wilderness Lodge and to still basically be in a mass of un-organized people to get on a bus where you have to stand the whole time. Then it was off to Contemporary, where a large group got off and a large group got on.
By 6:20 the bus was getting close to HS. But the bus couldn't turn right into HS because of the cones blocking the parking. So we turned left towards the Swan and Dolphin instead (to do a circle and drive straight into HS.) Except that the drive by the Yacht and Beach Club was completely backed up. Cars were backed up going into the Beach Club and with the one lane road, the bus had to wait. Finally, at 6:45 we got to Hollywood Studios, a full 2 hours after we started.
2) We walked over to the new Dance Party thing off of Aerosmith coaster. Inside we saw Max Goof, Goofy's son. That's a character we've never seen before and it was cool to see him. I think they are using him because they wanted shorter characters to Dance with the kids.
3) Walking through Launch Bay was a little depressing because we were such fans of the Drawing Class and the animation academy. It was clear they just re-used the same building and swapped out the props. That's how they got things done so fast. But it was eerie walking through room-by-room and remembering what was there before. That's where Baymax used to greet people. That's where the Drawing class used to be. That's where they used to have art from Disney films. This was the old Art shop. Very eerie.
Do we really need that room with Video games instead of a drawing class room? I hope they find a spot for the drawing class somewhere.
4) We spent Monday afternoon at Epcot and listened to the Storytellers. If you haven't done the one in Norway, you really should. The gnome is very amusing.
We came down during this exact weekend last year and it was a lot more pleasant. But obviously we weren't the only ones that wanted to see the Osborne lights one last time at HS. The warm weather was amazing though and we really did enjoy all the Holiday stuff. But it is amazing how closing attractions can change the traffic so much from one year to the next.
We flew down for the weekend with the plan to do the Osborne lights on Saturday night and the MVMCP on Sunday night. We had no idea we needed to worry about the HS parking lot filling up. We left the Wilderness Lodge at 4:45 and got to HS at 5pm, but the parking lot was full and they were directing people to park at Animal Kingdom. That seemed crazy so we drove back to Wilderness Lodge and went to the bus stop for HS. We were back at the bus stop by 5:15. There were no HS buses until 5:45. We saw 3 Epcot buses and 3 Disney Springs buses in that time.
Eventually the bus came and it was full. It was a Contemporary/Wilderness Lodge bus. They eventually asked a bunch of people to get off the bus so they could load a scooter. Then the Contemporary people wanted to get back on, but there were a bunch of Wilderness Lodge people and it was crazy. Keep in mind there is no roped off line section at Wilderness Lodge. Eventually most people crowded on, but a few of the Contemporary people just decided to get off and take the boat the rest of the way. I'm used to dealing with long lines and crowded buses when I stay at the All-Stars or Pop, but it is very irritating to pay serious $$ for the Wilderness Lodge and to still basically be in a mass of un-organized people to get on a bus where you have to stand the whole time. Then it was off to Contemporary, where a large group got off and a large group got on.
By 6:20 the bus was getting close to HS. But the bus couldn't turn right into HS because of the cones blocking the parking. So we turned left towards the Swan and Dolphin instead (to do a circle and drive straight into HS.) Except that the drive by the Yacht and Beach Club was completely backed up. Cars were backed up going into the Beach Club and with the one lane road, the bus had to wait. Finally, at 6:45 we got to Hollywood Studios, a full 2 hours after we started.
2) We walked over to the new Dance Party thing off of Aerosmith coaster. Inside we saw Max Goof, Goofy's son. That's a character we've never seen before and it was cool to see him. I think they are using him because they wanted shorter characters to Dance with the kids.
3) Walking through Launch Bay was a little depressing because we were such fans of the Drawing Class and the animation academy. It was clear they just re-used the same building and swapped out the props. That's how they got things done so fast. But it was eerie walking through room-by-room and remembering what was there before. That's where Baymax used to greet people. That's where the Drawing class used to be. That's where they used to have art from Disney films. This was the old Art shop. Very eerie.
Do we really need that room with Video games instead of a drawing class room? I hope they find a spot for the drawing class somewhere.
4) We spent Monday afternoon at Epcot and listened to the Storytellers. If you haven't done the one in Norway, you really should. The gnome is very amusing.
We came down during this exact weekend last year and it was a lot more pleasant. But obviously we weren't the only ones that wanted to see the Osborne lights one last time at HS. The warm weather was amazing though and we really did enjoy all the Holiday stuff. But it is amazing how closing attractions can change the traffic so much from one year to the next.
