cbvacation
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2002
- Messages
- 29
This trip was me and my DD (19), staying just 4 nights at POFQ with Dining Plan. Quick recap:
MDE: Worked perfectly both ways.
Crowds: We typically go over Spring Break, and usually the week leading up to Easter. We were hopeful the crowds would be a little less than our typical week, but it was every bit as crowded (as covered in other threads) at the parks, at the resort, and at Disney Springs.
Bus Transport: We elected not to partake in Express Transportation this time, as we didn’t anticipate much park hopping (used it in December and it was great!). Busses were generally what we expected at about a 14-20 minute wait. We did have one very long wait (30 minutes) for a bus from AK to DS.
FP+: Lines were the longest I’ve encountered for FP queues, however they moved quickly.
Had a lovely afternoon/evening in AK on 3/13. The weather was cool and drizzling rain, which I think contributed to one of the best Safaris we’ve ever experienced. Enjoyed lunch at FlameTree, Dinosaur, and Everest before heading to Disney Springs for dinner at Homecoming.
Had a magical day at MK on 4/14. Arrived around noon to a completely packed bag check and entrance gate area. It appeared that they weren’t really scanning for finger prints, just moving people through the gate. We enjoyed a Citrus Swirl and Nachos while watching the parade from Pecos Bills. We rode BTM, 7DMT, and saw the Tiki Birds before heading to the Contemporary for dinner at The Wave. Resort Monorail transportation was extremely slow, and the Express Monorail was completely down. Returned to MK for the Wishes Dessert Party (awesome!). Did some more rides, and entered the queue for our last ride at 10:59, and were then surprised to see guests still entering when we got off the ride. We learned that park hours were extended until midnight. Had a blast that final unexpected hour, riding BTM 3 times, PP (and finally seeing the new queue), and 7DMT.
We chose to cancel our rope drop and breakfast plans on Wednesday to catch up on sleep, arriving at Epcot around 11:30. Rode SE and The Seas, then took a tour around the world. Enjoyed the entertainment in Britain, Italy, and the USA. Had a wonderful dinner at Chefs de France, and finished the night back at Soarin as Illuminations was beginning.
Thursday found us at rope drop at HS for just a few planned rides. We took a couple of rides on TSMM, both on the new track. Saw the Frozen show and rode Star Tours. It seemed very crowded and hard to navigate the park. We ended up going back to the hotel for a quick nap before going to AK for our ROL dinner package at Tiffins. Wonderful dinner, beautiful show. Added bonus – I had packed gloves in our Disney bag for a December trip that we didn’t need, as the weather was so warm then. Thankfully they were still in the bag and we used them!
Friday we were back at MK for our final day. We had lunch at BOG, which was a low light of the week. The line to check in was probably 80 parties deep when we arrived. Thankfully we had preordered and could skip the second, even longer, line. However, they delivered the wrong sandwich to our table, and it took over 30 minutes for the correct lunch to arrive. We did get to our next fast pass and make it within the grace period, so we finished up our day with Pirates, BTM, and 7DMT. We weren’t able to ride anything stand by due to the length of the waits. The crowds were definitely there! We elected to go back to the resort and have a drink by the pool while waiting for MDE to pick us up for our trip home!
All in all a good week. I don’t generally post about our trips, but wanted to give a view of our trip, since there has been so much discussion about last week with the crowds and the weather. I do believe it is all about expectations. There was a time in my Disney life that the trip I described above might have driven me crazy with the crowds and lower number of attractions. However, it was a great trip! We got to do most everything we wanted to do, had a number of great meals, and had beautiful blue and sunny skies for 4 of our 5 days there!
MDE: Worked perfectly both ways.
Crowds: We typically go over Spring Break, and usually the week leading up to Easter. We were hopeful the crowds would be a little less than our typical week, but it was every bit as crowded (as covered in other threads) at the parks, at the resort, and at Disney Springs.
Bus Transport: We elected not to partake in Express Transportation this time, as we didn’t anticipate much park hopping (used it in December and it was great!). Busses were generally what we expected at about a 14-20 minute wait. We did have one very long wait (30 minutes) for a bus from AK to DS.
FP+: Lines were the longest I’ve encountered for FP queues, however they moved quickly.
Had a lovely afternoon/evening in AK on 3/13. The weather was cool and drizzling rain, which I think contributed to one of the best Safaris we’ve ever experienced. Enjoyed lunch at FlameTree, Dinosaur, and Everest before heading to Disney Springs for dinner at Homecoming.
Had a magical day at MK on 4/14. Arrived around noon to a completely packed bag check and entrance gate area. It appeared that they weren’t really scanning for finger prints, just moving people through the gate. We enjoyed a Citrus Swirl and Nachos while watching the parade from Pecos Bills. We rode BTM, 7DMT, and saw the Tiki Birds before heading to the Contemporary for dinner at The Wave. Resort Monorail transportation was extremely slow, and the Express Monorail was completely down. Returned to MK for the Wishes Dessert Party (awesome!). Did some more rides, and entered the queue for our last ride at 10:59, and were then surprised to see guests still entering when we got off the ride. We learned that park hours were extended until midnight. Had a blast that final unexpected hour, riding BTM 3 times, PP (and finally seeing the new queue), and 7DMT.
We chose to cancel our rope drop and breakfast plans on Wednesday to catch up on sleep, arriving at Epcot around 11:30. Rode SE and The Seas, then took a tour around the world. Enjoyed the entertainment in Britain, Italy, and the USA. Had a wonderful dinner at Chefs de France, and finished the night back at Soarin as Illuminations was beginning.
Thursday found us at rope drop at HS for just a few planned rides. We took a couple of rides on TSMM, both on the new track. Saw the Frozen show and rode Star Tours. It seemed very crowded and hard to navigate the park. We ended up going back to the hotel for a quick nap before going to AK for our ROL dinner package at Tiffins. Wonderful dinner, beautiful show. Added bonus – I had packed gloves in our Disney bag for a December trip that we didn’t need, as the weather was so warm then. Thankfully they were still in the bag and we used them!
Friday we were back at MK for our final day. We had lunch at BOG, which was a low light of the week. The line to check in was probably 80 parties deep when we arrived. Thankfully we had preordered and could skip the second, even longer, line. However, they delivered the wrong sandwich to our table, and it took over 30 minutes for the correct lunch to arrive. We did get to our next fast pass and make it within the grace period, so we finished up our day with Pirates, BTM, and 7DMT. We weren’t able to ride anything stand by due to the length of the waits. The crowds were definitely there! We elected to go back to the resort and have a drink by the pool while waiting for MDE to pick us up for our trip home!
All in all a good week. I don’t generally post about our trips, but wanted to give a view of our trip, since there has been so much discussion about last week with the crowds and the weather. I do believe it is all about expectations. There was a time in my Disney life that the trip I described above might have driven me crazy with the crowds and lower number of attractions. However, it was a great trip! We got to do most everything we wanted to do, had a number of great meals, and had beautiful blue and sunny skies for 4 of our 5 days there!
