Well, we got the lawn mowed and all the yard work done so I can sit down and jot down some of the pros/cons we saw while enjoying another wonderful trip to WDW. As a disclaimer, if you're looking for complaints, you won't find many. We found WDW to be clean, friendly, and no less "magical" than the first trip made a decade ago.
Here is our list of thumbs up's and thumbs down's: (DH-45; DS-16, DD-14, and me)
: Line jumpers while waiting for the bus in the pouring rain from MGM to ASmo. Very rude to take advantage of a wheelchair being loaded to bypass those of us observing the que line. We did place a call to transportation that same night giving them the facts and they were displeased as well.
Mickey's Philharmagic. I know I'll take some hits here, but we just didn't find it as polished as the other established 3D attractions. Maybe I had expected too much.....
Hercules at MGM. I know I'm getting nit-picky, but the hairdo and the guy wearing it were just plain ugly! I noticed on our last trip too. Don't know what happens with Hercules, but he's no Aladdin!!!
No Alien. No Stitch. OK, we knew this would be under construction, but we were still disappointed. It was cute though, as you walk past, you can hear "Stitch" talking behind the walls. Can't wait until it is done.
Large groups of teen tourists. We had a terrible encounter at Star Tours one day with a south american group numbered about 50, who chose to "wait" for each other at the curves of the lines and then instead of having 10 in front of you, you suddenly had all 50! Another 2 families and I had a discussion with their leader and he finally "understood" us when we said we'd be bringing this up to the staff once we hit the entrance. They were very rude and acted like they couldn't understand what we were saying until the rubber hit the road.
And finally. the worst thumbs down is for those families (regardless of race, religion, or origin) who chose to hold full-blown arguments in front of everyone. My DS and DD were shocked by how vehement some of the fights were, especially parents belittling their toddlers or just being mean. One lady was SO nasty to her kids while waiting for a parade, that I had all I could do to not intervene and tell her to shut-up. kids in tears, kids screaming hysterically after being yelled at for a full 5 minutes. Jeez, just stay home.
: OHana's Family Feast. we began and ended our 11 day trip with this one.
Pecos Bill's Fixins Bar at MK now included grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms....mmmmmmmmmmm
Thunder Mountain Railroad. did it get smoother?
Splash Mountain. a family fave
Hollywood and Vines' Dinner Buffet. the sliced sirloin in a merlot reduction; seafood pasta; pecan diamonds and the chocolate mousse in dark chocolate cups......mmmmmmmm double mmmmmmm
NO HASSLE at any time in using our resort mugs from past years. My DH did get asked by a family sitting next to us what those were and he responded "we've been coming here for many years....." and that settled that.
Character Availability at an alltime high at MK, MGM, and AK. Sitings few and far between in EPCOT
The British Invasion show at UK in EPCOT. Man, those guys were awesome! and the setting is lovely.
WISHES. be sure and see this via main street so you get the entire audio. another night we watched it from Fantasyland and without the audio, it was nowhere near as special.
More clothing choices for those of us "non Tshirt Lovers". my DD got some neat Roxie clothes that you just can't find in northern Illinois
Toy Story's salad at MGM. what a wonderful alternative for me when the kids want pizza. feta cheese, kalamari olives. spinach. take the bleu cheese dressing instead of the vinigrette (ick) it comes with
Mission: Space. this is awesome. I had no side effects at all and I'm usually not good with heights.
Fast Passes. we love them. no problem filling in the time with shows and other attractions. Our family's secret weapon.
Here is our list of thumbs up's and thumbs down's: (DH-45; DS-16, DD-14, and me)
: Line jumpers while waiting for the bus in the pouring rain from MGM to ASmo. Very rude to take advantage of a wheelchair being loaded to bypass those of us observing the que line. We did place a call to transportation that same night giving them the facts and they were displeased as well.Mickey's Philharmagic. I know I'll take some hits here, but we just didn't find it as polished as the other established 3D attractions. Maybe I had expected too much.....
Hercules at MGM. I know I'm getting nit-picky, but the hairdo and the guy wearing it were just plain ugly! I noticed on our last trip too. Don't know what happens with Hercules, but he's no Aladdin!!!
No Alien. No Stitch. OK, we knew this would be under construction, but we were still disappointed. It was cute though, as you walk past, you can hear "Stitch" talking behind the walls. Can't wait until it is done.
Large groups of teen tourists. We had a terrible encounter at Star Tours one day with a south american group numbered about 50, who chose to "wait" for each other at the curves of the lines and then instead of having 10 in front of you, you suddenly had all 50! Another 2 families and I had a discussion with their leader and he finally "understood" us when we said we'd be bringing this up to the staff once we hit the entrance. They were very rude and acted like they couldn't understand what we were saying until the rubber hit the road.
And finally. the worst thumbs down is for those families (regardless of race, religion, or origin) who chose to hold full-blown arguments in front of everyone. My DS and DD were shocked by how vehement some of the fights were, especially parents belittling their toddlers or just being mean. One lady was SO nasty to her kids while waiting for a parade, that I had all I could do to not intervene and tell her to shut-up. kids in tears, kids screaming hysterically after being yelled at for a full 5 minutes. Jeez, just stay home.
: OHana's Family Feast. we began and ended our 11 day trip with this one.Pecos Bill's Fixins Bar at MK now included grilled onions and sauteed mushrooms....mmmmmmmmmmm
Thunder Mountain Railroad. did it get smoother?
Splash Mountain. a family fave
Hollywood and Vines' Dinner Buffet. the sliced sirloin in a merlot reduction; seafood pasta; pecan diamonds and the chocolate mousse in dark chocolate cups......mmmmmmmm double mmmmmmm
NO HASSLE at any time in using our resort mugs from past years. My DH did get asked by a family sitting next to us what those were and he responded "we've been coming here for many years....." and that settled that.
Character Availability at an alltime high at MK, MGM, and AK. Sitings few and far between in EPCOT
The British Invasion show at UK in EPCOT. Man, those guys were awesome! and the setting is lovely.
WISHES. be sure and see this via main street so you get the entire audio. another night we watched it from Fantasyland and without the audio, it was nowhere near as special.
More clothing choices for those of us "non Tshirt Lovers". my DD got some neat Roxie clothes that you just can't find in northern Illinois
Toy Story's salad at MGM. what a wonderful alternative for me when the kids want pizza. feta cheese, kalamari olives. spinach. take the bleu cheese dressing instead of the vinigrette (ick) it comes with
Mission: Space. this is awesome. I had no side effects at all and I'm usually not good with heights.
Fast Passes. we love them. no problem filling in the time with shows and other attractions. Our family's secret weapon.
