jeanico2000
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 18, 2010
- Messages
- 544
- Who? My DD and I, to celebrate my DD's 30th birthday on June 23rd.
- Where we stayed: Park view concierge level at the PPH. We were supposed to be in a regular view concierge room, but were upgraded to a park view because we needed 2 beds in the room and had originally been assigned a room with a king bed. The CMs at the front desk and those working the concierge lounge were all wonderful. The room was large and lovely, and the beds super comfortable!
- Unfortunately: Even though I was cleared to travel by my doctor, I fell sick a few days before leaving home and the remnants of some sort of flu bug made me unable to enjoy full days in the parks; in hind site, renting a wheelchair so not to over-exert myself would have been a really good idea.
- Breakdowns: There were a LOT of ride breakdowns every day we were there, including the Matterhorn on both DL EMH days (we ended up doing single rider, a walk-on, when the ride was back-up), and Radiator Springs Racers in CA on that park's EMH day (we ended up getting lucky there too, and virtually walking onto the ride as soon as it started working again as we were sitting just outside Flo's V8 Cafe when the crowd stared to surge and we realized what was happening. When we exited, the wait was already up to 90 minutes!).
- Fireworks and PTN parade: I'm sorry to report that, for us, this was an absolute fail. Granted, I wasn't feeling my best, but to see the barrage of blankets, full size bed covers (!), towels, clothes and empty prams lined up hours before the actual start of events really frustrated us. What a turn-off! Why is this practice even allowed? You certainly don't see such things in WDW in Florida, where the parade route is actually longer! By the time the first PTN parade happened, the masses were literally squished together everywhere we looked. We were caught unawares by just how bad it was and tried to leave the park before the fireworks, but the monorail was closed down and Main Street was jammed to the gills. Parents were upset because some restrooms were closed in the IASW area, and the CMs were starting to have short fuses (understandable, I'm sure). We ended up leaving through a back passage, but you know what? The parade (although colorful and creative) and fireworks are, in our humble opinion, simply not worth that level of hassle and discomfort. If, God forbid, something should happen one day to suddenly panic the crowds, people will get trampled under foot. To us, the crowd level was dangerous, and summer is not even in full swing yet!
- The shows were very good, and we really enjoyed Mickey's Magical Map and Frozen at The Royal Theatre in Fantasyland, and Aladdin over in California Adventure. We watched WOC in the comfort of our hotel room, with the soundtrack synchronized on the television.
- Fastpass and Single rider options are a blessing and HUGE time savers!
Thought I'd share our experiences with you, as these boards are wonderful sources of information!
- Where we stayed: Park view concierge level at the PPH. We were supposed to be in a regular view concierge room, but were upgraded to a park view because we needed 2 beds in the room and had originally been assigned a room with a king bed. The CMs at the front desk and those working the concierge lounge were all wonderful. The room was large and lovely, and the beds super comfortable!
- Unfortunately: Even though I was cleared to travel by my doctor, I fell sick a few days before leaving home and the remnants of some sort of flu bug made me unable to enjoy full days in the parks; in hind site, renting a wheelchair so not to over-exert myself would have been a really good idea.
- Breakdowns: There were a LOT of ride breakdowns every day we were there, including the Matterhorn on both DL EMH days (we ended up doing single rider, a walk-on, when the ride was back-up), and Radiator Springs Racers in CA on that park's EMH day (we ended up getting lucky there too, and virtually walking onto the ride as soon as it started working again as we were sitting just outside Flo's V8 Cafe when the crowd stared to surge and we realized what was happening. When we exited, the wait was already up to 90 minutes!).
- Fireworks and PTN parade: I'm sorry to report that, for us, this was an absolute fail. Granted, I wasn't feeling my best, but to see the barrage of blankets, full size bed covers (!), towels, clothes and empty prams lined up hours before the actual start of events really frustrated us. What a turn-off! Why is this practice even allowed? You certainly don't see such things in WDW in Florida, where the parade route is actually longer! By the time the first PTN parade happened, the masses were literally squished together everywhere we looked. We were caught unawares by just how bad it was and tried to leave the park before the fireworks, but the monorail was closed down and Main Street was jammed to the gills. Parents were upset because some restrooms were closed in the IASW area, and the CMs were starting to have short fuses (understandable, I'm sure). We ended up leaving through a back passage, but you know what? The parade (although colorful and creative) and fireworks are, in our humble opinion, simply not worth that level of hassle and discomfort. If, God forbid, something should happen one day to suddenly panic the crowds, people will get trampled under foot. To us, the crowd level was dangerous, and summer is not even in full swing yet!
- The shows were very good, and we really enjoyed Mickey's Magical Map and Frozen at The Royal Theatre in Fantasyland, and Aladdin over in California Adventure. We watched WOC in the comfort of our hotel room, with the soundtrack synchronized on the television.
- Fastpass and Single rider options are a blessing and HUGE time savers!
Thought I'd share our experiences with you, as these boards are wonderful sources of information!
