Just Back - 11/26 to 12/3 - Random Thoughts and Observations

[housemartin]

Just back from 7 days at the World with the family (me, wife, 6 year old twin boys and 3 year old son). Stayed at the Grand Floridian.

In no particular order:

Crowds - I think the secret is out. Week after Thanksgiving is no longer a dead period. While we didn't see heavy crowds during the week, the parks were not dead by any stretch of the imagination. Mid-week (Weds/Thurs) were the lightest as we saw 10 min waits at 4 p.m. at both Splash and BTMRR (as well as the fact that no FPs were being offered at most rides). Mon/Tues were busy at Magic Kingdom and Epcot as well.

Weekends were very crowded at Magic Kingdom - everything had a 30 minute wait. Epcot was not so bad, except for Soarin. Went to AK on Friday and that was not bad (about a 30 min wait for Everest at peak period).

In comparison, we were last at WDW in Sept 2003 after Labor Day, and the crowds were easily 1/4 what they were this time around.

Parks:

Finding Nemo show is excellent - only 3 shows open to public during the day, so lines start to form 30 mins before showtime, but at the 1245 show, we saw people finding seats 5 mins before the show started.

Everest is not as crowded as I thought it would be - we saw relatively short stand-by lines and FP availability throughout the day.

Nemo ride at Epcot has a very short wait - never saw it go beyond 5 minutes.

Turtle Talk is fun, but I think that your child has to sit in the front row of the floor section or in the first row of seats to be chosen. I suspect it has something to do with the sightlines of the CM that is voicing Crush. We walked right into this in the late afternoon after riding Nemo. Lines in the morning appeared to be much, much longer.

Soarin is, by far, the most popular ride at Epcot. We saw peak sustained waits of 45 mins or more every day we were there (thankfully we used a combination of FPs and Rider Switch passes to avoid the standby line 6 times). 1/2 hour after park opens, Soarin is a 30 min. wait. If you aren't there by then, I would suggest FP.

Rider Switch Passes - if anyone is interested, we got Rider Switch passes at Soarin, Test Track, Splash and BTMRR. Splash and BTMRR have no expiration date. Test Track is good for the calendar month. Soarin is listed as only being good for the day of issue, although we were able to use one on a later day. We would get these whenever we could, since there is no limit on how many you can hold (or get) within a time period and it's good for up to three riders.

FPs - The only ride we saw that ran out of FPs was Soarin. All other rides had plenty to give, usually no more than 2 hours from the time you pick it up. You are still able to use FPs outside of the stated time window (even on Soarin) as long as the window has already passed. FP lines move quickly - the longest wait we experienced was at Splash Mountain and BTMRR - about 5 minutes - because at both rides, they were the Stand-by and FP lines quite a distance from the loading area.

Early Morning Hour at Epcot - I don't think this is worth the trouble. Only 5 rides are open, of which only two are rides people really go to (TT and Soarin). Plus, on the day we went, it was drizzling, so TT was down. All it meant was horrendously long lines at Soarin.

Early Morning Hour at MK - I thought this was worth it - big crowd initially, but it didn't grow appreciably until late morning. So while you had a 5 minute line for Dumbo at 8 a.m., at 1030 a.m. the line for Peter Pan was still only 10 mins (and not 30).

Dining:

We ate at Marrakesh, Tempura Kiku, Teppanyaki, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, CA Grille and Flying Fish (all dinner)

CS: Cosmic Ray's; Pecos Bill; Seasons, Tangerine Cafe and Yakitori House

If anyone is interested I can give a quick synopsis later of what we ate. We thought most of the food was decent with pleasant suprises at Seasons and Tangerine Cafe. Flying Fish was excellent.

We did the Dining Plan - ended up eating about $1300 worth of food (we used every single credit), although since Disney food is about 10-20% overpriced, it probably comes out to about $1000 worth of food. Once you factor in the higher hotel cost you incur staying on-site, it all evens out for Disney in the end (which is the point, I suppose).

We were able to share as well as pay OOP for some people at a TS while using credits for others. Most places seem to have a pretty good handle on what is allowed on the dining plan. We didn't encounter the dreaded kids' meal at any of the TSs but it was at many of the CS places.

Credits are still not differentiated. I'll just leave it at that. Do with this knowledge what you want.


If anyone has any specific questions, let me know.

 

[Blaynexox]

thanks for sharing! That was really informative

 

[cvrapclark]

I agree about the crowds. We just got back last night and I was surprised at how busy it was. I know it can be a lot, lot busier, but we took the kids out of school hoping to have less crowds. Now, the waits for the rides didn't seem too bad for us. We all get motion sickness and avoid most of the big rides except Soarin, which we love. What seemed so crowded to me was just walking around. It was really hard to maneuver a stroller.

Make those ADR's and keep them. I had a rough time getting a dinner reservation one night because we had to cancel 1900 PF dinner b/c we didn't want to leave Epcot and we didn't think we'd be hungry at 7:20 (had a later lunch). We ended up getting a 10:00 pm dinner at Japan walking up and asking. I couldn't get anything by calling dining ressies line. I had started calling earlier in the day.

Anyway, we had a great time!!! I was just surprised at the crowds. We didn't get to see the Osborne lights b/c at 6:00 there was a huge line almost all the way back to the Hat area. We were so tired from the four days at the parks that we didn't think we could make it after Fantasmic, so we headed on back to PC. I really hate that we missed that.

 

[S.Poppins]

What are Rider Switch Passes?

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

How was the weather and what type of clothing did you wear / pack? Did you use the pools at all. We leave early Thurs morning. Could the crowds have something to do with the filming of the parade and the cheerleaders?

 

[housemartin]

Rider switch pass is a way to avoid waiting in line twice if one member of your party can't ride because they have to watch a child that is not able to ride due to height restrictions (I don't believe you can get one simply because an eligible rider does not wish to ride). Since our youngest didn't meet the height requirement for the big thrill rides, we would ask for a rider switch pass at the entrace to each of the four rides (usually at the FP line because that is what we were using). Most times, the attendant would ask to see my wife and the youngest to verify that they in fact existed before giving us the pass. The pass allows up to three riders (including, theoretically, the one parent who isn't riding b/c they have to sit with the too-short child) to enter the FP line. In practice they do not enforce at all that each parent ride, so my wife and I wouldn't always alternate. What was nice is that my twins basically got two FP rides out of every FP.

BTW, at the Indy Speedway, we would take two cars (one party of 3 and and one party of 2). If you tell the attendant that you want to switch drivers, they will let you do so without having to wait in line again. The extra bonus is that the party of 2 can also take another lap around the track. You can do this without any pass whatsoever, you just have to mention it to the attendant who is directing you to the cars.

Weather was actually pretty nice - we've been in September, which was brutally hot. It was in the mid 70s most days with a day or two in the 80s at the end. My understanding from the hotel employees is that it was unseasonably warm. We saw people swimming every day we were there, although we only swam once near the end. Kids were swimming in the pool at the GF at 10 p.m. when it wasn't all that warm out (and the pools are pretty cold these days as well). We wore mostly t-shirts with either jeans or shorts and it was comfortable either way. We brought light-weight fleece pullovers for the early mornings and evenings as well. A bit of rain, but nothing that deterred anyone from touring (or from swimming for that matter).

 

[housemartin]

oh - on the crowds - I don't think it had much to do with the parade (although I heard anecdotally that Sat was an absolute zoo at MK) or the cheerleaders. Personally, I think weekends are especially crowded now with FL residents visiting the parks for the holidays and then the Mon/Tues after Thanksgiving being busier because people are extending their vacations.

I know that the GF was expecting 375 check-ins on Sunday, which they seemed to think was unusual for this time of year.

Bear in mind that I thought it was crowded in relation to our September 2003 trip, where my twins got to ride Dumbo three times in a row without getting off. I'm sure it was much less crowded than the peak times during the year. After all, the longest standby wait I saw the whole trip at any park was 45 mins at Soarin. Even TOT and Everest had about 20-30 min waits in the middle of the afternoon on the days I visited. In the scheme of things, that's probably not too bad. In short, it's still a good time to go, but not as good as it may have been in the past.

BTW - the Osborne Lights are way cool - I actually liked it better than Fantasmic. We went after the Fantasmic show - it wasn't hard to walk over and we spent about 20 mins there watching the show - it wasn't that crowded after Fantasmic, whereas I saw people lining the streets by 5 p.m. waiting for them to turn the lights on.

 

[Katy]

Did you enjoy the Grand Floridian? We've stayed at most of the resorts and I'm starting to get a hankering to try the GF!

 

[NeverBeen2DW]

Did your little ones ride Everast? I am going with my 4 yr old son. It is just he and I. I would really like to ride this one.

 

[sabres]

We just returned 11/24-12/3. i didnt think it was crowded at all except for the friday and saturday(12/1 and 12/2). Even then it wasnt bad. I did think there were more people there this year than last year. We never has to wait for anything. I rode thunder mountain and splash mountain 13 times each one day. Not in a row but througout the day. We went on everything at each park and saw every show and still had time to swim and play on the beach at the poly.
Captain cooks at the poly is real nice. The poly as a whole is wonderful. My 3 year old cried when we had to leave and said this is the best hotel ever.
We actually won dream fast passes 2 days in a row. First we won at the magic kingdom at the haunted house and the next day we won them at MGM at Star Tours. We were so excited to win them. There was only one problem. There was never a line to wait in so we could never use them. I would walk up to tower of terror hoping to use them because the kids were so excited to get them and wanted to use them and they would say this ride is a walk on, save it for later. The problem is it never got busy. We did get to use the magic kingdom dream fast pass on saturday, even though it was only good on wed. No one ever questioned us. We also won dream lanyards and pins and my sons got a personal meet and greet with buzz and woody and got to bring them out of als toy barn for the rest of the kids to see.
All in all we had an excellent trip. Cant wait to return

 

[housemartin]

We like staying at the GF - this was our second visit. I think it is very convenient and the rooms are a decent size for a family of five. We also like that it has a beach entry pool (good for the little one). We also found the location to be very convenient since it's only one monorail stop to the MK and you can take the boat back. The service is a little subpar compared to some non-Disney hotels that we've stayed at that are in the same price range, but I did find that when we voiced our concerns that they made a honest effort to fix things, which is all you can ask.

We did some resort hopping (CR, Poly, Boardwalk) and I think the next time we go (probably in another three years), we might try one of the Epcot resorts. We like the nighttime atmosphere of the Boardwalk - it would be nice, I think, to have somewhere to go that didn't involve getting in a car, bus or monorail.

We took the twins on Everest. One of them got to sit in the front row with my wife on his very first ride. They both enjoyed it, but I think they like BTMRR better since it wasn't as intense. They did both go on it twice, though. Our 3 year old was too short, but he did enjoy Goofy's Barnstormer quite a bit.

Back on the crowds, I actually found that Splash and BTMRR did not have the longest lines at MK. Maybe I'm alone in this, but I found that some of the more popular Fantasyland rides had longer wait times. Perhaps because they appeal to the widest cross-section of the Disney audience. Nevertheless, the crowd level was low enough that multiple rides on popular attractions was certainly possible, but to me, I measure how crowded Disney is simply by looking at the line for Dumbo, since it loads so slowly (and my kids still love it). The lines for Dumbo on this trip were significantly longer (and established themselves significantly earlier) than in Sept 2003.

 

[redheaded mama]

We just returned 11/22 - 12/3. We also stayed at GF. !2/2 and 12/3 were an absolute zoo at Magic Kingdom. We left early MK on 12/2 and went to Animal Kingdom where all the EE fast passes were sold out by 1:00. We did Animal Kingdom on Thanksgiving day. The fast passes were sold out by 9:30. We were lucky to get a set and we loved the ride. Other than that the park wasn't very crowded on Thanksgiving and we rode all the other rides as much as we wanted.

We used Tour guide Mike for the early part of the trip, and it made a huge difference. We met up with friends for the second half of our trip and all my planning went out the window and we regretted it because we were stuck in huge crowds. We had a great trip.

Thanks for posting your observations.

 

[gbrogers]

We also just returned. We stayed at the FW Cabins. For the most part we really enjoyed the trip.

Compared to our previous trip also in Sept 2003, the parks were very crowded. MK and Epcot crowds built up throughout the day probably do to the MVMCP, Wishes, and Illuminations. The crowds at MGM and AK were manageable. It really seemed to us that a lot of people that went Thanksgiving stayed over for much of the next week.

On the days that we got to the parks early, lines were quite short - walk-on to 20 minute waits. By early to mid-afternoon, I saw the following ride waits - Peter Pan 50 minutes, Pooh 40 minutes, Splash 45 minutes, BTMRR 45 minutes, Soarin 70 minutes, TT 60 minutes.

We were able to walk into the Candlelight Processional and Fantasmic without too much difficulty. I also found the lines for characters to be really long.

At this point, I am really curious to see what the crowd levels are for this week and next week.