We had such a great trip and I am currently attempting to become ok with the thought that our wonderful trip is over and I have to go to work tomorrow. We brought my cousin and his family along this time (1st timers) and I believe they had a blast as well. Several random thoughts from our trip......
-I was concerned about crowds with varying predictions and the pro bowl. We have been to Disney many different times of the year and felt the crowds were quite manageable on this trip. We utilized rope drop and fast pass and rode everything we wanted without waiting more than 15 minutes. My newbie cousin and family seems to think it was much more crowded than i did. It is true that there seem to be millions of people at any given time walking around WDW which can make it quite aggravating at times to get from point a to point b but not waiting on attractions is golden. I suspect that this may contribute to the variability in opinion we see on crowd opinions each day.
-most members of my cousins family are gluten intolerant and his wife suffers full blown celiac disease. Happily, no one became ill on the quick service dining plan. They did usually have to wait a little longer for their food but the special diet requirements did not create a problem otherwise.
-we arrived at Disney early 1/22 and decided to take advantage of the free mineature golf tickets provided with our package while waiting for our room to become ready. We chose fantasia gardens. This experience would be just fine in any normal local destination but the poor fantasia gardens mini golf course has been poorly neglected! I was glad I wasn't a new guest getting a sub-par (pun intended) impression on Disney. The course was probably great in its day but it badly needs some tlc. The bathrooms were non-functional near the courses and even the little makeshift merchandise stand only had a few sad looking mickeys and a lot of bare shelf space.
-we enjoyed a lovely princess dinner at akershus until the check appeared. I realized quickly that I had not done enough research as this experience was WAY more expensive (and without a provided princess photo) than I had remembered 2 years ago when we did it on our last trip. I was really embarrassed that my cousins tab was soooo high after I had provided wrong expectations of the meal being "just" expensive. The dinner was great but I will no longer be doing princess dinners as the cost has way exceeded my comfort level.....even for a splurge.
-Jedi training was awesome!!!! We drove to the park and made it through security 1 hour before park opening. We became concerned that all of the people getting in early for breakfast would foil our plan as many families seemed to have breakfast reservations. Luckily for us, they began letting us in about 25 minutes early and we were able to briskly walk directly to the Jedi sign-up place. All of our kids were in the first group and it was priceless!
-the CM's were generally great as usual although there did appear to be a higher frequency than normal of stressed or annoyed CM's. In several instances, it appeared as though there were fewer than normal cm's working certain positions creating a more stressful job for them.
-busses were awesome!!!! Our waits were much less than in the past! If only you didn't have to carry your sleeping children and a folded up stroller onto a packed bus with standing room only after fireworks!
I'll try to check back tomorrow night to see if anyone has any questions!
-I was concerned about crowds with varying predictions and the pro bowl. We have been to Disney many different times of the year and felt the crowds were quite manageable on this trip. We utilized rope drop and fast pass and rode everything we wanted without waiting more than 15 minutes. My newbie cousin and family seems to think it was much more crowded than i did. It is true that there seem to be millions of people at any given time walking around WDW which can make it quite aggravating at times to get from point a to point b but not waiting on attractions is golden. I suspect that this may contribute to the variability in opinion we see on crowd opinions each day.
-most members of my cousins family are gluten intolerant and his wife suffers full blown celiac disease. Happily, no one became ill on the quick service dining plan. They did usually have to wait a little longer for their food but the special diet requirements did not create a problem otherwise.
-we arrived at Disney early 1/22 and decided to take advantage of the free mineature golf tickets provided with our package while waiting for our room to become ready. We chose fantasia gardens. This experience would be just fine in any normal local destination but the poor fantasia gardens mini golf course has been poorly neglected! I was glad I wasn't a new guest getting a sub-par (pun intended) impression on Disney. The course was probably great in its day but it badly needs some tlc. The bathrooms were non-functional near the courses and even the little makeshift merchandise stand only had a few sad looking mickeys and a lot of bare shelf space.
-we enjoyed a lovely princess dinner at akershus until the check appeared. I realized quickly that I had not done enough research as this experience was WAY more expensive (and without a provided princess photo) than I had remembered 2 years ago when we did it on our last trip. I was really embarrassed that my cousins tab was soooo high after I had provided wrong expectations of the meal being "just" expensive. The dinner was great but I will no longer be doing princess dinners as the cost has way exceeded my comfort level.....even for a splurge.
-Jedi training was awesome!!!! We drove to the park and made it through security 1 hour before park opening. We became concerned that all of the people getting in early for breakfast would foil our plan as many families seemed to have breakfast reservations. Luckily for us, they began letting us in about 25 minutes early and we were able to briskly walk directly to the Jedi sign-up place. All of our kids were in the first group and it was priceless!
-the CM's were generally great as usual although there did appear to be a higher frequency than normal of stressed or annoyed CM's. In several instances, it appeared as though there were fewer than normal cm's working certain positions creating a more stressful job for them.
-busses were awesome!!!! Our waits were much less than in the past! If only you didn't have to carry your sleeping children and a folded up stroller onto a packed bus with standing room only after fireworks!
I'll try to check back tomorrow night to see if anyone has any questions!
