I survived a last minute July weekend trip!

[jayfo]

I very recently had to move to Florida from Chicago for work and of course the first big thing I wanted to do after settling in was to treat myself to a trip to Disney World.

Ever since I was told about this board 2 weeks ago, I have been reading and soaking up as much new info as I could, as my last big all-out Disney vacation with the kids was 15 years ago. The most recent trip was the DH and I being crazy enough to take our 16 month old niece on her first plane ride last year to visit our daughter playing in a SB tournament in Orlando. Heck, why not throw in a day or two at Disney while we were there anyway? Completely nutty of us but it all worked out beautifully and we had a blast.

This latest Disney attempt was a last minute, weekend only trip since this new job has not afforded me much vacation time yet. I wondered what the heck had gotten into me to attempt a July weekend. But I felt the draw and the more I read from all you guys, the more I either thought I had lost my mind or I was going to love it. I decided to go for it. What you will read is strictly my own opinion and I know just as the earth is round there will be those that disagree with what is said and that’s OK. Life moves on. I’ll try to break this up into 3 clumps, so bear with me as I’m new here.

Here are all the topics I kept reading about on here and how I handled it:

1. Staying off site for very little out of pocket cost (using up our hotel points) vs. on site- DH convinced me to stay on site as our only other Disney stay was at the Poly and we needed to try some cheaper alternatives if we want to come back more often. Clear winner was on site! The hotels we were considering were all close enough to walk to DTD but that whole area was a MESS with construction and traffic no matter what time of day. Loved the seamless do-it-all magic band. I also struggled with POP vs. CBR and after reading about the chanting teen tour groups (more on that in a bit), I went with CBR—especially after seeing it was only $7 a night more than POP. Sold! Booked a standard room 4 days before leaving, requested Jamaica 2nd floor and was granted both. Beautiful grounds, quiet and relaxing stay. Watched Epcot and DHS fireworks from the pool bar/outdoor patio and it was so nice being in a less frantic/crowded environment to see them. Would definitely go again. You do get what you pay for here with bus service—the walk back to the bus stop when leaving the park was much further for the value resorts vs mods vs deluxe. Not horrible, but you have to factor in all you can tolerate.

2. Tickets- discovered the AP with FL discount and took advantage of that. We are a 2 hour car ride away and I figured if we could go only for weekend getaways, it would take the pressure off to “do or die” with a daily park admission and drive the reluctant DH away from ever tagging along with me again. I would factor in naps and rest breaks as if I were bringing a toddler. My plan worked. He had a relaxing weekend too and would not hesitate to go again. We could not believe DHS costs almost as much as MK since it was a sad little park. The lack of many headliner activities and closures is evident. Half day park for sure. We tackled this one after checking out of the hotel and it was a good way to end the trip before heading back to reality.

More to come.....

 

[jayfo]

3. FP+…. I could not reserve FP as my new AP I bought just a few days before leaving were to be activated once I got there and I reserved a hotel only package. Maybe there was another way around this, but I was running out of time to research this further. I was really worried that I was doomed to spend hours in the standby line in the blazing heat because I was not even close to the 60 day window. It all worked out great! Have no fear people! Listened to someone on this board talk about the app and it was a trip saver. I kept checking the few days before to see what the biggest wait times were for some of the attractions. I would target those and wing it for the rest. Reserved Peter Pan (WHY does this ride have such crazy wait times? Maybe it is nostalgia for a lot of folks but we were severely disappointed), Space Mountain and the Mickey greet at Town Theater as a space filler. Hubby said, “REALLY????” (insert sarcastic tone here) when I told him of the 3rd FP but he was blown away at the experience. Said that was the neatest thing he’s ever seen. It was a complete surprise to me too—I thought it was just a way to get a hug and photo. WTG Disney to still bring the magic. I figured we would tackle Splash Mountain and BTMRR first thing in the morning and we barely waited for both. My favorite part of the FP besides walking right on the rides was the scanning of FP again once you got up to the ride itself. Love the keeping of order when the potential for rudeness is present. (Were there lots of line jumpers before this?) Saw one teen jump the rail when he saw how fast the other line was moving besides his and he got turned away at the front. LOL!

4. Food in the park- Went in expecting to have to take out a mortgage to eat horrible food and we had no advance reservations but with the app I was able to see if times were available and the menus. Found we could still go to some full service places throughout the area if we stayed flexible. Not planning specific times afforded us the luxury of eating when we were actually hungry or ready to get in the shade. If we ever come back for another big trip with the niece, then yes I will have a few must do’s reserved for her and wing it for the rest. We could always find something to eat and honestly the prices were not that bad. Yes you are a captive audience and there is a premium for convenience. We could save a few bucks by driving off site since we had a car, but no thanks. The hassle would have outweighed the savings.

 

[jayfo]

5. Chanting teen tour groups- Not gonna lie—I was nervous about having to be caught up in the middle of all this (even to the point of pursuing alternatives to staying at one of the value resorts) and I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome. I’ve had 3 teenagers at the same time myself and having barely lived through that experience left me a little scared at the possibility of encountering 20+ of them together. Yes, there were tons of these groups. I only saw one of the groups chanting loudly and taking up most of a walkable area and that was at Universal CityWalk on Friday night. We just simply let them pass and did not sweat it. Lots and lots of them in MK and DHS and not one of these groups took over any area or were out of control. They were just like everyone else in the park—happy to be there. Got really nervous when they all got right in front of us in the FP lane of Space Mountain but they all filed in like everyone else and a CM had them all go one way to wait for their ride while the rest of us FP riders went another. They were, for the most part, moving as a group about 2-3 across to where there was plenty of space to pass them if you wanted to. The only resort bus lines I ever saw them in was for the value resorts so if you are completely trying to avoid them as much as possible, look into staying somewhere else or go along with them. We did not experience any rudeness from them, but had plenty of rudeness from adults which brings me to #6

6. Fellow guests – It wasn’t the packs of out of control teens or every kid out of school that made us question our sanity at attempting a summer weekend at Disney. It was the adults. The DH and I were ready to start a drinking game for every Disney braggart we experienced waiting in line for anything. How many times they’ve been there. How much this vacation costs. How they only stay at such and such resort because it’s superior to all others. Rushing ahead of people at bus stops. It goes on and on. One lady behind me in line kept inching closer and closer (and encouraging her precious child try to go in front of everyone) attempting to be first in line at DHS. People trying to push their way to be that much closer to the front of a ride. Even at such massive loading places like Haunted Mansion. Helloooo….we are all going in as a group anyway. Sheesh. Even the dad at the pool bar sitting next to my hubby while his kid was off swimming. The bartender told him a few times about being down there at the pool with him (and about the recent tragic 3 year old event) but he said there’s a lifeguard working and he has a life vest on. Plus it would be too boring to just sit there and watch him swim, so why not just sit at the bar? It was his vacation too after all. Lots of parents were there in the water with the kiddos but more often than not they were reading or on the phones. Our best defense against all these types of people was to ignore them and move along. I speculate that during some slower times (are there really slow times at Disney anymore??) these types of folks will be more watered down and I won’t run into them as much.

All in all, it was very cute to see the little kids being happy and excited everywhere. That’s the kind of stuff that is helping to keep the Disney engine running, for sure. The great thing about a Disney vacation is that it is not one size fits all and there is something for everyone. Just depends on what you want to tolerate and/or fork out the funds for. I can’t wait to keep reading what other tips you folks have on these boards. We have a Disney cruise coming up and I’m sure that will be an entirely different animal. Thanks everyone for all your helpful tips I’ve read in the past 2 weeks. I did learn a lot and I’m sure there’s more to come.

 

[ejdmomma]

Enjoyed reading about your recent experience.

It's our experience too that the parents are usually worse behaved than their children

 

[thiabelle]

Really enjoyed reading! I think my mantra for my upcoming trip will be "move along".