Just back (8/15-8/21)

[ls1222]

Hi, we returned last night from our 6 night stay at POR. We normally go in Sept so I was not used to the heavier crowds. We had a great time (with the exception of me getting sick).

We visited all four parks and participated in MB on Wed and Fri. We used the EMH (night) at MK on Sunday, it was crowded but to be expected.

Animal Kingdom was a nightmare last Thursday, even arriving before park opening and knowing what to do and when it was just packed and so hot. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[intrep93]

We are planning on going to all the parks on EMH days the 1st 2 weeks after labor day and am a little worried about crowds. We want the extra hours because we are doing a lot of TS and those can eat up so much time! AK we are going on a day when they have evening EMH and plan to be there well before rope drop. How bad were the lines for Everest 1st thing in the am? Also, our original plan was to hit grab a FP for EE, then ride it using the standby line and then go do the Safari before our ADR at breakfastosaurus at 10:30. But looking at park maps, this looks like a LOT of walking back and forth just to get the Safari in early and I'm not sure it's worth it. I know they say the animals are more active when it's cooler, but what do you think? Should we save Safari for later in the afternoon so we are in that 1/2 of the park at parade time and concentrate our first couple of hours on EE and Dinoland so we are closer to breakfast? Also, how many hours did you spend there and was it enough? Thanks for any info!!

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Welcome back! May your happy memories help overcome any post-trip blues

I have questions about AK too. What were the EE FP return times by mid-morning? Did you do a half day or full day in the park? If doing half, which notable attractions did you skip?

 

[MassMom94]

I'm going tomorrow so don't have any recent info, but on other threads people have said that EE is crazy first thing in the morning - one reported 80 minute standby 10 minutes after park opening, line to get FP 20 min, all FPs gone by 11 AM, etc.

 

[dixiedizfan]

What does the "MB" stand for, when you say you participated in it?

 

[mariettadisney71]

I just came back from WDW last week and this is what we found out.

I agree that out of all of the parks AK was mobbed. The walkways are much more narrower than the other parks. We only wanted to do a couple of rides, EE, river rapids, dinasour, TTBAB and the saffari. We got to the park around 9:30 and the EE FP return was already at 4:00 and the line for the FP was almost as long as the standby line. The standby was a 75 minute wait and we chose to do the standby. To our luck the 75 min wait was only 30min. However the river rapids also had late afternoon FP return and the standby wait was 60 min. We tried our luck again with the standby but we did end up waiting over an hour for that one.

The saffari was about a 40 min wait and dinasour was only 20min. We came back to the park on the evening hours and did dinosaur again about 20 min wait, primawhirl was about 30 min and then we walked in to TTBAB, no wait.

It was hot, crowded and was glad to finish it in 1 day.

 

[mariettadisney71]

We didn't use the FP much at all. We chose just to wait the standby lines 20-45 waits. We didn't want to bounce back and forth around the park to come back for FP. We only used FP on splash mountain and stayed away from the parks that had the extra hours.

 

[ls1222]

MB stands for magical beginnings (a program designed for preschoolers in which they open magic kingdom an hour early 3 x's a week for resort guests - Fantasyland only).

The fast pass returns were for much later in the day from very early on. I can not comment on EE as we did not make it over that way (I know, how terrible). But, the crowds and heat were terrible that day and I had come down with a nasty sore throat which just made everything seem worse. We did the safari ride, Prim whirl, Dinosaur a show and we were out of there at 11:50 am - it took 20 min just to get through the park because of the mass crowds and we were following the touring plans. I was just so glad to get out of there, it was hard to enjoy AK this time.

 

[BlindTyldak]

How were the busses from POR with the high crowds? did you still share all the time with POFQ, or did they split them? Mind saying what stop you were at and how easy it was to get on a bus?

 

[tinkerbell60]

We just returned also (8/15-8/22) DD and DH did EE on Friday morning, they got up early and were there at park opening, they were on the first train of the day. We ended up not doing AK (other than their EE trip) so I can't comment on the crowds there.

I will say the crowds were thinning out by Sunday and Monday. We left at crack of dawn this morning. Epcot was practically empty early Monday.

 

[ls1222]

The bus system was "pretty good" not as effeffecient as our last trip though. We usually shared with FQ. We were at the "south depot" which was very convenient from our bldg 18. Then we went on to stop at the 3 other POR bus stops. We did have long waits for MGM busses, we waited 20 min one morning and 25 minutes one evening.

 

[4shinystars]

We also were at AK on the 17th. We ate at Donald's Breakfastosaurus at 8am, and at 9 we were on the first train of EE that day-way cool! Grabbed a FP for Kali, went to the Safari(10-15 min. wait), did the forest trail and took our time, had a drink, talked to some CMs in depth about conservation, had lunch at Tusker house and then back to Kali all before 1pm. It was crowded, but we did everything we wanted to do early. After lunch we did the tiger trail, conservation station and more. We didn't do Dinoland or ITTBAB, so I don't know how crowded it was there.
If I can stress one thing it is if you can get an 8am ADR for Donald's DO IT! The food is ok, and you do feel rushed, but getting to go on EE first without waiting is worth it, especially if you're on the DDP. By the time we were off EE, the line was almost to Kali, and there was a mob around the FP machines.

 

[lovehoney]

How was the MB at MK? Do they have an opening ceremony on MB days? Did Fantasy land seem more crowded than usual (eg approx wait for Dumbo)? Do you need a child under 5 to actually participate in the MB? I have a 2 and 5 y/o so no worries. Just wondering.