Just back 5/12-5/17

MickeyWaffles

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 28, 2010
Just had a great trip from Saturday until today (despite the rain!)

Some thoughts ...

-CMs: Our interactions with CMs were awesome this trip. One example: My 3yo DD has wanted to go on HM since our last visit in Sept. but completely freaked today in the FP line. The CM in the stretching room talked to her and really made her feel better. She settled down, went on, and loved it. I was ready to take her out of the line and this CM worked her magic.

-The only CM thing that was a little weird is that DD was never measured by a CM for SDMT on the day she rode it. She is about 38.5 inches. Head clearly hits the bar (we measured her with a CM at the ride the day before our FP to be sure she was tall enough - she was.) But the day we had the FP no one checked her! The CM at the front let her through and the loading CM didn’t pull her aside either. I was going to get a ceremonial photo :) I was very surprised she wasn’t pulled aside since they are usually pretty aggressive about it.

-Rain: Obviously the forecast for this week was pretty grim. Once I saw the words tropical depression thrown around I got a little nervous - this wasn’t going to be typical WDW summer afternoon rain. We prepared for the worst. We ended up experiencing much less rain than expected which was a nice surprise - saw way more sun than we expected. One note: someone stole our rain cover for our double stroller at Epcot one day. We moved on and tying ponchos over it worked just fine. Lesson learned - no more stroller rain cover! Too easy for an opportunist to take.

Crowds: The parks did not feel crowded on walkways/in open areas/etc. Lines were manageable. Rain did cause indoor attractions to be overloaded as you would expect but also cleared out the parks at certain times.

Overall a great trip ... can’t wait to go back! :)
 
So given the weather, would you choose that same time period in another year, or would you pick a different time of year for better weather?
 
High 5 for your daughter!!

I still look at the floor in the stretch room on HM and the TV room on ToT

I just use the time to saddle up to the hidden door to the next queue
 
One note: someone stole our rain cover for our double stroller at Epcot one day. We moved on and tying ponchos over it worked just fine. Lesson learned - no more stroller rain cover! Too easy for an opportunist to take.

That's really awful that someone who obviously has a young child would even think to do that to someone else's child. We always purchase a cheap clear shower curtain and bring large plastic clips/clamps (from dollar store) and it works great. Glad you had a great trip!
 


So given the weather, would you choose that same time period in another year, or would you pick a different time of year for better weather?

Yes we would go at this time again. We have been in later May before and this type of rain is not typical for this time of year. Local family members still think it’s a great time to go despite this year’s experience.

We won’t go in peak hurricane season anymore since our trip got derailed due to Irma last year. I still have confidence in May! :)
 
So given the weather, would you choose that same time period in another year, or would you pick a different time of year for better weather?

I’ve gone early/mid May a few times, very little rain. It was just a fluke. On the other hand, one time I went early December and we had 24 hours straight of hard rain twice during the week. Same situation as this week where a front stalled, not typical.
 
-The only CM thing that was a little weird is that DD was never measured by a CM for SDMT on the day she rode it. She is about 38.5 inches. Head clearly hits the bar (we measured her with a CM at the ride the day before our FP to be sure she was tall enough - she was.) But the day we had the FP no one checked her! The CM at the front let her through and the loading CM didn’t pull her aside either. I was going to get a ceremonial photo :) I was very surprised she wasn’t pulled aside since they are usually pretty aggressive about it.
It's probably because they see so many kids that height, they already know she was tall enough. When I worked at Soarin with a 40 inch height requirement, it got super easy to just eyeball tall enough kids vs. ones who weren't.
 


Just had a great trip from Saturday until today (despite the rain!)

Some thoughts ...

-CMs: Our interactions with CMs were awesome this trip. One example: My 3yo DD has wanted to go on HM since our last visit in Sept. but completely freaked today in the FP line. The CM in the stretching room talked to her and really made her feel better. She settled down, went on, and loved it. I was ready to take her out of the line and this CM worked her magic.

-The only CM thing that was a little weird is that DD was never measured by a CM for SDMT on the day she rode it. She is about 38.5 inches. Head clearly hits the bar (we measured her with a CM at the ride the day before our FP to be sure she was tall enough - she was.) But the day we had the FP no one checked her! The CM at the front let her through and the loading CM didn’t pull her aside either. I was going to get a ceremonial photo :) I was very surprised she wasn’t pulled aside since they are usually pretty aggressive about it.

-Rain: Obviously the forecast for this week was pretty grim. Once I saw the words tropical depression thrown around I got a little nervous - this wasn’t going to be typical WDW summer afternoon rain. We prepared for the worst. We ended up experiencing much less rain than expected which was a nice surprise - saw way more sun than we expected. One note: someone stole our rain cover for our double stroller at Epcot one day. We moved on and tying ponchos over it worked just fine. Lesson learned - no more stroller rain cover! Too easy for an opportunist to take.

Crowds: The parks did not feel crowded on walkways/in open areas/etc. Lines were manageable. Rain did cause indoor attractions to be overloaded as you would expect but also cleared out the parks at certain times.

Overall a great trip ... can’t wait to go back! :)
 
We had the opposite experience. We were at HM yesterday (5/18). The CM in the stretching room kept the door open almost thru the entire stretching experience while screaming at everyone to move across the room even though we were already packed like sardines on the opposite side. Having the door left open & her continual screaming ruined the magical experience!
 
We were here last year at this time and it was no where near as crowded as it has been this past week . We just made this best of it. It’s still magical
 
We had the opposite experience. We were at HM yesterday (5/18). The CM in the stretching room kept the door open almost thru the entire stretching experience while screaming at everyone to move across the room even though we were already packed like sardines on the opposite side. Having the door left open & her continual screaming ruined the magical experience!

Oh no! That is a total bummer.
 
We were here last year at this time and it was no where near as crowded as it has been this past week . We just made this best of it. It’s still magical

Interesting! We found the crowds to be very manageable on the days we were there. Our last visit was Labor Day just before Irma which was very slow. We knew this trip would be busier than that but crowds were about what I expected they’d be. We sometimes go during very busy times (spring break, NYE, holiday weekends etc.) so this seemed very light to us. All perspective, I guess!
 
On 7DMT I think they have some way to measure kids without stopping them (some sort of guide that blends into the theming). Several times, I’ve been carrying my son in line, and right at the end before we were assigned our cars, they asked me to put him down. After looking at him for a few seconds, they wave him through to loading.
 
Interesting! We found the crowds to be very manageable on the days we were there. Our last visit was Labor Day just before Irma which was very slow. We knew this trip would be busier than that but crowds were about what I expected they’d be. We sometimes go during very busy times (spring break, NYE, holiday weekends etc.) so this seemed very light to us. All perspective, I guess!
Agreed! I was there last week as well and found crowds to be pretty light everywhere I went. I was only there for 2 days and got so much done at every park. I probably did more each day than I did during my 5 day trip in January combined.
 
On 7DMT I think they have some way to measure kids without stopping them (some sort of guide that blends into the theming). Several times, I’ve been carrying my son in line, and right at the end before we were assigned our cars, they asked me to put him down. After looking at him for a few seconds, they wave him through to loading.

Same thing happened to us - they asked us to put him down at the end of the line, we did, and they said okay. I was impressed with their ability to eyeball it, but maybe there is something hidden there that matches up with the height requirement.
 
I'm glad you had a great trip despite the rain. I saw pictures that Disney posted on FB of the Magic Kingdom with several inches of water. I'm glad it didn't stop you!
 
Lesson learned - no more stroller rain cover! Too easy for an opportunist to take.

Crowds: The parks did not feel crowded on walkways/in open areas/etc. Lines were manageable. Rain did cause indoor attractions to be overloaded as you would expect but also cleared out the parks at certain times.

Overall a great trip ... can’t wait to go back! :)
WTH is wrong with people? Aside from the fact that stealing is wrong, what parent is okay doing this to a child? The child who sits in a wet seat is the real victim. Glad you had a great trip anyway.
 

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