January 2009. . . Calling all Snowbirds ~ Part V

[trixiequilts]

I'm back and having a hard time readjusting. Life at Disney is so much easier than life at home. Cold weather stinks! When DD7 saw the snow on the ground as we were landing, she asked if we could ask the pilot to turn the plane around!

I, too, was very surprised by the crowd levels...way more people than I ever expected during a "slow" time.

We had our share of sickness during our vacation. Both girls had a little bit of a cold, I got horribly sick (walking around World Showcase with a fever is no fun, by the way), and now DH is horribly sick. I feel loads better, but I'm sure I have a sinus infection now.

How many people want to move to Florida now???

 

[laurainsem]

How many people want to move to Florida now???

LOL, my sister kept saying that the whole last day! It was so hard to leave Florida, knowing I was heading back to non-Disney reality and the cold.

We found the crowds manageable and with TGM we walked on to almost every ride! The only times we felt overwhelmed were when we did Spectro, Wishes, and Fantasmic.

The trip was wonderful and sadly I was hit hard with reality hours after I got off the plane. I was told it was only snowing in my neck of the woods and that freezing rain wasn't supposed to hit till early the next morning.

A couple miles from my exit on the turnpike I started noticing freezing rain starting. Five minutes later, I hit ice, did two 360's and ran headfirst into the barrier. My car landed perpendicular, blocking the entire left lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming at that moment and I was only going around 40 miles an hour. I'm fine but incredibly sore and dizzy; i'm waiting to hear from my doctor about an appointment for tomorrow. My car is missing the front bumper, headlights, and who knows what else. It was smoking when I got out and I heard a belt or two was found on the road along with other pieces of my car. I'm waiting to hear back if the car is salvageable or not.

Even with all that, i'm so thankful for all the wonderful memories we made on this trip. I'm thankful i'm okay and no one else was hurt. It may also be a real blessing as i've been thinking about getting a new car anyways. I really don't have the money but the car was having troubles even before the accident!

Lesson learned: always check the weather back home before leaving Florida!

 

[trixiequilts]

Oh my! I'm so glad you're okay! But how scary and traumatic for you. A very rude awakening to the real world indeed. Yikes.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

We are back as well. We actually crawled into our beds at 1:00am on the 28th. It was nice meeting Shelly at DHS briefly. I would have talked more, however, we were there for the opening and I knew we wanted to get to Toy Story as fast as possible. Sorry Shelly that I didn't chat.

This is my 2nd January visit and I will say is was definitely more crowded than 2007. Plus the weather was much colder ...actually only a few 10 degrees different than what I left in Wisconsin. But so glad that I packed mini-gloves and headbands! Disney made money on the 8.95 pair of mittens and hats!

This was not the best trip for my family. My DH was not excited about the trip from the get-go and his 1st day certainly proved it. Then the 3rd day he got ill. So ill that he probably should have went to a clinic but didn't. So he spread his germs to me.... By the last day, we were both shot and spent the last 5 hours of our vacation on a pool chair at Pop Century in 85 degree weather wrapped up in towels. We could not get home fast enough. We went to the doctor yesterday. We both have sinus infections and I have a terrible ear infection. (I actually had one before I left, but this is in the other ear) My girls said they had a great time, but I think this is the last trip to Florida for a while.

I was in DHS on the 22nd. We waited 1 1/2 hours for Fantasmic. We were in the stadium and got great seats in the middle on the end of a row so we would have to "slide all of the way to the left". I will send the annoying Tour Groups! Very rude the entire week.
I am going to go back to bed for now. More later when my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode.

I'm so glad you saw me at DHS and said something! We were one of the many running to TSM too! Good thing we did because that was the only time we got to ride it.

Sorry you didn't have a better time and you were sick.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

A couple miles from my exit on the turnpike I started noticing freezing rain starting. Five minutes later, I hit ice, did two 360's and ran headfirst into the barrier. My car landed perpendicular, blocking the entire left lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming at that moment and I was only going around 40 miles an hour. I'm fine but incredibly sore and dizzy; i'm waiting to hear from my doctor about an appointment for tomorrow. My car is missing the front bumper, headlights, and who knows what else. It was smoking when I got out and I heard a belt or two was found on the road along with other pieces of my car. I'm waiting to hear back if the car is salvageable or not.

Oh my I'm glad you are okay. What a way to end your vacation.

Glad you had a nice trip!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I'm back and having a hard time readjusting. Life at Disney is so much easier than life at home. Cold weather stinks! When DD7 saw the snow on the ground as we were landing, she asked if we could ask the pilot to turn the plane around!

I, too, was very surprised by the crowd levels...way more people than I ever expected during a "slow" time.

We had our share of sickness during our vacation. Both girls had a little bit of a cold, I got horribly sick (walking around World Showcase with a fever is no fun, by the way), and now DH is horribly sick. I feel loads better, but I'm sure I have a sinus infection now.

How many people want to move to Florida now???

Welcome back Trixie! Glad you had a great trip. I wish the crowds would have been lower for your first trip to WDW.

We had such a nice time with you and your family!

 

[snykymom]

We are back as well. We actually crawled into our beds at 1:00am on the 28th. It was nice meeting Shelly at DHS briefly. I would have talked more, however, we were there for the opening and I knew we wanted to get to Toy Story as fast as possible. Sorry Shelly that I didn't chat.

This is my 2nd January visit and I will say is was definitely more crowded than 2007. Plus the weather was much colder ...actually only a few 10 degrees different than what I left in Wisconsin. But so glad that I packed mini-gloves and headbands! Disney made money on the 8.95 pair of mittens and hats!

This was not the best trip for my family. My DH was not excited about the trip from the get-go and his 1st day certainly proved it. Then the 3rd day he got ill. So ill that he probably should have went to a clinic but didn't. So he spread his germs to me.... By the last day, we were both shot and spent the last 5 hours of our vacation on a pool chair at Pop Century in 85 degree weather wrapped up in towels. We could not get home fast enough. We went to the doctor yesterday. We both have sinus infections and I have a terrible ear infection. (I actually had one before I left, but this is in the other ear) My girls said they had a great time, but I think this is the last trip to Florida for a while.

I was in DHS on the 22nd. We waited 1 1/2 hours for Fantasmic. We were in the stadium and got great seats in the middle on the end of a row so we would have to "slide all of the way to the left". I will send the annoying Tour Groups! Very rude the entire week.
I am going to go back to bed for now. More later when my head doesn't feel like it's going to explode.

I'm back and having a hard time readjusting. Life at Disney is so much easier than life at home. Cold weather stinks! When DD7 saw the snow on the ground as we were landing, she asked if we could ask the pilot to turn the plane around!

I, too, was very surprised by the crowd levels...way more people than I ever expected during a "slow" time.

We had our share of sickness during our vacation. Both girls had a little bit of a cold, I got horribly sick (walking around World Showcase with a fever is no fun, by the way), and now DH is horribly sick. I feel loads better, but I'm sure I have a sinus infection now.

How many people want to move to Florida now???

Sending good wishes to all of you who are sick. It's so hard to be sick during or just after vacation!

LOL, my sister kept saying that the whole last day! It was so hard to leave Florida, knowing I was heading back to non-Disney reality and the cold.

We found the crowds manageable and with TGM we walked on to almost every ride! The only times we felt overwhelmed were when we did Spectro, Wishes, and Fantasmic.

The trip was wonderful and sadly I was hit hard with reality hours after I got off the plane. I was told it was only snowing in my neck of the woods and that freezing rain wasn't supposed to hit till early the next morning.

A couple miles from my exit on the turnpike I started noticing freezing rain starting. Five minutes later, I hit ice, did two 360's and ran headfirst into the barrier. My car landed perpendicular, blocking the entire left lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming at that moment and I was only going around 40 miles an hour. I'm fine but incredibly sore and dizzy; i'm waiting to hear from my doctor about an appointment for tomorrow. My car is missing the front bumper, headlights, and who knows what else. It was smoking when I got out and I heard a belt or two was found on the road along with other pieces of my car. I'm waiting to hear back if the car is salvageable or not.

Even with all that, i'm so thankful for all the wonderful memories we made on this trip. I'm thankful i'm okay and no one else was hurt. It may also be a real blessing as i've been thinking about getting a new car anyways. I really don't have the money but the car was having troubles even before the accident!

Lesson learned: always check the weather back home before leaving Florida!

Oh, my! Thank G-d that you're OK. You can get another , but there's only one you!

 

[Dancegrl624]

Hey again everyone!!! We did DHS today and it wasn't really crowded at all. Jan is WAY less crowded than the summer, so this trip has been awesome. We didn't stay for Fantasmic because it rained this afternoon/evening and just wouldn't let up. So, we left sometime after 5pm. We did TSMM right when the park opened. I grabbed fastpasses first (return time of 10-11am) and we waited about 20 min. This ride rocks!!!!! When we passed through Pixar Place around 12:30/1pm all the fastpasses for the day were gone. Glad we rode it twice in the am!!! We bumped into Sheree and her family again and took a picture with each other and our girls! Yea! Well, off to bed. We're not doing any parks tomorrow (our last day) but we're heading over to DTD to do some shopping.

P.S. We met Kim (NorthernDisneyGirl) and her family yesterday at CP. So, I met 3 other Snowbirds on this trip.

 

[pamouselover]

EVERYDAY DH AND I TALKED ABOUT MOVING TO FLORDIA.
It use to be just I who talked about it. It comes up in everything we say now.

WELCOME HOME SNOWBIRDS! Who has those tissues!

 

[mana_liz]

We were disappointed in the crowds too. Never expected that for January. Honestly our May trips have been less crowded.

We arrived on Tues the 20th. We went to MK around 3:15 or so. It was packed. We got on one ride before our 5:30 dinner. After dinner we went back to MK for Wishes. Wall to wall people.

Wed the 21st - the only day we experienced low crowds. We were at MK from open until we left for dinner around 5:00. Got a lot done, some lines were still long, but nothing like we saw the night before.

Thur the 22nd - DHS WOW!! If they continue to only show Fantasmic 2 nights a week we will definitely skip it and go to DHS another day. Everybody was at DHS Thursday. We were there from open to close and did not get to do everything. Luckily we ran to TSM at opening because that was the only time we got to ride it. The lines just to get fastpasses were humongous! Most waits were over an hour for the big attractions. We even waited 30 minutes for Star Tours. That ride is always a walk on.

Fri the 23rd - We got to AK just after opening. The lines weren't too bad. We only do a few things at this park, so we were done by 1:00. I could see the lines and crowds were really picking up by then.

Sat the 24th - We went to MK for an early dinner at 4:30. I planned it that way so when we were done we could grab a spot on Main Street for Spectro. Well when we got out of the Plaza it was 5:45 and the streets were lined and packed already. Luckily I spotted a small spot and we grabbed it. We sat there and watched the crowds walking up and down Main Street for the next hour and 15 minutes. It was shoulder to shoulder.

Sun the 25th - We spent the day at the resort/DTD/Boardwalk. After dinner we walked over to Epcot around 5:45. It was packed!! We thought maybe we could do a couple of rides. Soarin said 60 minutes. TT said 30. We got in line for TT and waited over an hour. After that we just left.

Mon the 26th - We got to Epcot just after opening. It wasn't too bad at opening, it got more crowded as the day went on. We did get a lot done that day though.


Well there you have it - my crowd report. Wasn't really what we were expecting. I'm wondering if there is ever a slow time at WDW??? We did really enjoy the January weather though! It was nice to not be sweating the whole time we were there!!

Weather report -

Tues 20th - 55 and sunny. We froze that evening at Wishes!
Wed 21st - 51 and sunny. We froze that morning at MK, but it did make for lower crowds!
Thur 22nd - 64 and sunny. Chilly morning, nice afternoon.
Fri 23rd - 74 and sunny. Went swimming!
Sat 24th - 76 and sunny. Perfect!
Sun 25th - 78 and sunny. Perfect!
Mon 26th - 82 and sunny. Perfect!
Tues 27th - it was warm and partly cloudy when we got on the ME bus at 10:00am.

Wow, can't believe your waits...the longest line we waited in was for Tinkerbell's autograph - 60 minutes. Then I waited 30 minutes for Thunder Mountain Railroad and a 50 minute wait for Rock 'n Rollercoaster Thursday morning. Sunday night I had a complete boat to myself at Pirates. Also had no problems finding spots for fireworks and the parades.

 

[mana_liz]

We did HS Monday also...we accomplished alot during the 2 Fantasmic shows...got the ride TSM 2x, TofT 3 times, RnC 3x. With the show and late night we did a lot...we saw the show Thursday night.

 

[Kazooie01]

Wow, can't believe your waits...the longest line we waited in was for Tinkerbell's autograph - 60 minutes. Then I waited 30 minutes for Thunder Mountain Railroad and a 50 minute wait for Rock 'n Rollercoaster Thursday morning. Sunday night I had a complete boat to myself at Pirates. Also had no problems finding spots for fireworks and the parades.

That's pretty similar to our time at WDW as well. Although it seems like there were two different experiences for everyone.

We had no wait over 10 minutes the whole trip (with the strategic use of Fast Passes). Rode Toy Story 3 times, did the popular rides early in the day or later at night, caught a few shows during the busy part of the day, found EMH as a great time to hit rides multiple times, and lucked out with very manageable crowds each day at the parks. It was absolutely the slowest January we had been at in the last three years.

On the other hand, there seems to be a bunch of Snow Birds that found it very crowded with long wait times and unfortunately they also ran in to very rude tour groups as well. Thats a major bummer!

I don't know.

But hey, at least we were all at Disney!!!!

 

[debbieandroo]

LOL, my sister kept saying that the whole last day! It was so hard to leave Florida, knowing I was heading back to non-Disney reality and the cold.

We found the crowds manageable and with TGM we walked on to almost every ride! The only times we felt overwhelmed were when we did Spectro, Wishes, and Fantasmic.

The trip was wonderful and sadly I was hit hard with reality hours after I got off the plane. I was told it was only snowing in my neck of the woods and that freezing rain wasn't supposed to hit till early the next morning.

A couple miles from my exit on the turnpike I started noticing freezing rain starting. Five minutes later, I hit ice, did two 360's and ran headfirst into the barrier. My car landed perpendicular, blocking the entire left lane. Thankfully, no cars were coming at that moment and I was only going around 40 miles an hour. I'm fine but incredibly sore and dizzy; i'm waiting to hear from my doctor about an appointment for tomorrow. My car is missing the front bumper, headlights, and who knows what else. It was smoking when I got out and I heard a belt or two was found on the road along with other pieces of my car. I'm waiting to hear back if the car is salvageable or not.

Even with all that, i'm so thankful for all the wonderful memories we made on this trip. I'm thankful i'm okay and no one else was hurt. It may also be a real blessing as i've been thinking about getting a new car anyways. I really don't have the money but the car was having troubles even before the accident!

Lesson learned: always check the weather back home before leaving Florida!

I'm so glad you're okay! Reality shouldn't be that harsh, should it???

That's pretty similar to our time at WDW as well. Although it seems like there were two different experiences for everyone.

We had no wait over 10 minutes the whole trip (with the strategic use of Fast Passes). Rode Toy Story 3 times, did the popular rides early in the day or later at night, caught a few shows during the busy part of the day, found EMH as a great time to hit rides multiple times, and lucked out with very manageable crowds each day at the parks. It was absolutely the slowest January we had been at in the last three years.

On the other hand, there seems to be a bunch of Snow Birds that found it very crowded with long wait times and unfortunately they also ran in to very rude tour groups as well. Thats a major bummer!

I don't know.

But hey, at least we were all at Disney!!!!

Again, I did think it was pretty crowded, especially Friday and Saturday. That being said, our longest wait was roughly 30 min for Soarin' - it was at the end of an evening EMH and no fastpasses were left. While we got FPs as often as possible, we only used them for Space Mountain on Sunday night. [We wound up giving some away - we just didn't have time to ride anything more than once].

Has anyone else had Disney dreams since coming back? Last night I dreamed about Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion [can't remember the details but I think I was trying to scale Big Thunder???]. Thankfully, I woke up just before I injured my klutzy self. The past two nights I've had Disney dreams. Mama Snowbird, what does this mean? That I need to go back???

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Has anyone else had Disney dreams since coming back? Last night I dreamed about Big Thunder and Haunted Mansion [can't remember the details but I think I was trying to scale Big Thunder???]. Thankfully, I woke up just before I injured my klutzy self. The past two nights I've had Disney dreams. Mama Snowbird, what does this mean? That I need to go back???

Yes, absolutely you at least need to start planning your next trip!

 

[crzyred]

Morning everyone.

Wow, all this talk of crowds is amazing. When I was there, the only time it was "busy" was during marathon weekend. But even then it wasn't really that busy.

Our whole trip we never had a wait that was more than 30 minutes .

Well I'm off to face this cold day...

 

[jenjolt]

I think it was hit and miss for a lot of us!! Some days I had no waits...other days it just seemed crowded and then it was time for me to hop somewhere else!!

Either way I had a great time...and now I have some trips in the works that I'm planning and having a great time with LOL

 

[MelXThree]

Hi everybody! I am back and finally have time to post! My boys got sick the day we got back so - busy, busy!

Sorry Shelly I didn't make it to the CBR meet but I dropped my gift card in the laundry room that night and this lady picked it up (right in front of me) and kept it...so I had to go to Downtown Disney to cancel it I just wanted to cancel it before she got to use it! I didn't get back to the hotel until 12:30am

As for crowds...I thought it was super busy as well...but we didn't wait more than 15mins for a ride. We used fastpass, baby swap, and early mornings to get stuff done! We also missed a ton - but that's what happens when you have small kids too!

I am glad that everyone had good trips!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Hi everybody! I am back and finally have time to post! My boys got sick the day we got back so - busy, busy!

Sorry Shelly I didn't make it to the CBR meet but I dropped my gift card in the laundry room that night and this lady picked it up (right in front of me) and kept it...so I had to go to Downtown Disney to cancel it I just wanted to cancel it before she got to use it! I didn't get back to the hotel until 12:30am

As for crowds...I thought it was super busy as well...but we didn't wait more than 15mins for a ride. We used fastpass, baby swap, and early mornings to get stuff done! We also missed a ton - but that's what happens when you have small kids too!

I am glad that everyone had good trips!!

Welcome back!

I can't believe someone stole your gift card right in front of you.

How did you like CBR? Where was your room?

I am doing a report on it here ~ http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2074555

Hope the kids are feeling better!

 

[sarbah77]

Even with all that, i'm so thankful for all the wonderful memories we made on this trip. I'm thankful i'm okay and no one else was hurt. It may also be a real blessing as i've been thinking about getting a new car anyways. I really don't have the money but the car was having troubles even before the accident!

Lesson learned: always check the weather back home before leaving Florida!

I'm glad that you seem okay. Perhaps not perfect, but okay! And I'm glad you had a great trip!!

Morning everyone.

Wow, all this talk of crowds is amazing. When I was there, the only time it was "busy" was during marathon weekend. But even then it wasn't really that busy.

Our whole trip we never had a wait that was more than 30 minutes .

Well I'm off to face this cold day...

See, in 2005, we went the same week. Place was much MUCH busier (with the exception of restaurants!) the whole week, no matter where we were. However, in 2005, we never waited for anything. There were also no tour groups. If a wait said 20, you could expect 10 minutes, not 60+

I'm mostly disappointed in how poorly managed the advertised waits were! Otherwise, I've been there when it's more crowded and worse weather!

 

[distherapy]

Hey all - So sorry about the sicknesses and car accident. Yowza... Laura - so glad you're okay!!!

We're getting settled back at home - just started my trip report - would love if someone would share how to make the hyperlink for the trip report in my siggie...

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2075477