DanielNYC
The wand always chooses the wizard!
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2017
- Messages
- 225
Just back (sort of) from a terrific and jam packed visit to WDW. I really appreciate all the help that I received from this community.
General Notes
For the second year in a row, we visited during the week that Florida (and other states) kids went back to school. Crowds seemed light. On almost every attraction we visited I noticed that there was extra queue space that was not being utilized. Also, we were in the parks all day from rope drop until closing on most days and it never felt unbearably crowded nor were any of the quick service places hard to find seating in. FWIW, the bartender at the pool bar at the Poly also said that the crowd was light, and added that if I wanted to come during a REALLY low crowd time that I should return next year during Labor Day week. He claimed that the Poly is at 50% occupancy during that week.
So I discovered that I detest ponchos. Obviously a personal preference thing, but I’d rather be wet than wrap myself in plastic on a hot and humid day. Threw mine in the trash as soon as I got off Kali River Rapids. Fortunately we were blessed with minimal rain during our trip.
My kids and I are very susceptible to motion sickness, so the three of us took an all-day less drowsy Dramamine with breakfast every day and we rode everything without issues.
Cast members seemed to be generally on their game and VERY friendly. We were pixie dusted all over the place and can’t recall anyone being genuinely rude or even unhelpful.
Sunday August 20 – Polynesian Pool Day – Disney Springs
Our theme park view room was ready when we got there and just as requested it was on the top floor with a balcony and away from the elevators. My kids loved the pool area and must have gone down that volcano slide at least 20 times. That night we had dinner at Homecomin’. Big thumbs up from all of us on the food and super friendly staff. Glad we had the opportunity to walk a bit around Disney Springs just to see what it’s like, but at the end of the day it’s just a nice mall and doesn’t really register as an essential part of a Disney vacation for me. Ended the day watching fireworks from our balcony at the Poly.
Monday August 21 – Animal Kingdom – 8:00AM EMH
Got there at 7:00AM. We were the third family in our line. Cleared back check at 7:30 and tapped our bands at 7:35. We were taken through the Flight of Passage FP line so only got to see the floating avatar through a window as we walked by. Looked down at my watch when we got off FoP and were in the gift shop at 8:22. Bought our banshees (no issues buying two - many colors were available) without a long wait at all. We would ride Na’vi River Journey on a FP later in the day. Enjoyed it very much and didn’t find it too short or “meaningless”. The food at Satu’li Canteen was excellent as others have reported (my daughter swooned over the blue dessert). Pandora overall is beautifully designed and it was a pleasure to stroll around and take in the new land. BTW, the Africa path out of Pandora was closed after we got off FoP so we had to go back to the main entrance to head to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Minimal wait at the safari (10 minutes?) and every animal imaginable was out and about first thing in the morning. Lots of FP availability during the day including sporadic FoP slots.
Tuesday August 22 – Magic Kingdom – 7:45 EMM entry (9:00AM Regular Opening)
Started with Early Morning Magic park entry at 7:45. Headed for 7DMT which we rode three times. Did Winnie the Pooh once then headed over to Peter Pan only to discover that it was down. CM told us we’d have FP for it until noon (we eventually rode it). They had Small World open instead so we rode that. FYI, the carousel was open as well. Went into the buffet and grabbed coffee and a pastry to go. Went back for one more 7DMT ride before heading down to hit Big Thunder and Splash were a temporary shutdown caused us to be 10 minutes late for our 10:00 cutoff for the EMM breakfast buffet. The CMs were VERY nice to let us in regardless (we returned the favor by eating quickly). Late lunch was at Pecos Bill where we did the not-so-secret Nacho Challenge. The check-in for that was a little clunky, but once everything got started it was a lot of fun and totally worth it. There was excellent FP availability throughout the day except for 7DMT which didn’t affect us since we were done with it. Dinner was at Be Our Guest where we celebrated my niece’s birthday. Much nicer experience than what I was expecting. They brought out a grey stuff dessert with a candle and birthday card signed by Belle and the Beast. I even found their pricing on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot that we enjoyed to be fair.
Wednesday August 23 – Universal Parks
For the Universal board.
Thursday August 24 – Epcot - 8:00AM EMH
At this point we were no longer resort guests and had no EMH privileges. Test Track was already showing a 60 minute wait at 8:50AM so we hoofed it to Soarin’ which was listed at 20 minutes. Then we did our 9:00AM Spaceship Earth FP. Coming off of that I noticed that TT had down ticked to 40 minutes so we headed over there. Unfortunately the ride broke down and what was supposed to be a 40 minute wait ended up being 90 minutes which made us late for our 10:00AM Mission Space FP. The CM at TT called over to MS to let them know that we’d be late and all was well. We did the new Mission Green and found it to be quite tame motion-wise. Lunch was at the quick service Japanese restaurant Katsura Grill. Even though it was hot we enjoyed sitting outside in the garden since the trees provided plenty of shade. Dinner was at Restaurant Marrakesh. Loved it, and the kids had fun with the belly dancer who encourages all the kids to come dance with her. FP availability was decent during the day except for Frozen, however I noticed that standby wait times for that ride have come down in general.
Friday August 25 – Hollywood Studios - 9:00AM Regular Opening
Arrived at 8:00AM and were among the first people there. Once in (at around 8:35-8:45?) we headed straight for the Jedi Training sign up. I was surprised to see a long line when we walked up but realized that these must be ADR breakfast folks who got in ahead of us. Regardless, we still got the 11:10AM spot we wanted (BTW, Jedi training was HOT - don’t know how the kids survived with those robes on). After the sign up we headed to the Rock n' Roller coaster which we did not have a FP for but essentially walked onto. Lunch was at the Brown Derby which was very pleasant and delicious but almost eerily devoid of people. Perhaps the highlight of this day was when we had to be evacuated from Toy Story Midway Mania. We actually found this to be fun since we’d already experienced the ride normally earlier in the day.
That’s about it. Left a lot out to keep it short and sweet so happy to answer any questions.
General Notes
For the second year in a row, we visited during the week that Florida (and other states) kids went back to school. Crowds seemed light. On almost every attraction we visited I noticed that there was extra queue space that was not being utilized. Also, we were in the parks all day from rope drop until closing on most days and it never felt unbearably crowded nor were any of the quick service places hard to find seating in. FWIW, the bartender at the pool bar at the Poly also said that the crowd was light, and added that if I wanted to come during a REALLY low crowd time that I should return next year during Labor Day week. He claimed that the Poly is at 50% occupancy during that week.
So I discovered that I detest ponchos. Obviously a personal preference thing, but I’d rather be wet than wrap myself in plastic on a hot and humid day. Threw mine in the trash as soon as I got off Kali River Rapids. Fortunately we were blessed with minimal rain during our trip.
My kids and I are very susceptible to motion sickness, so the three of us took an all-day less drowsy Dramamine with breakfast every day and we rode everything without issues.
Cast members seemed to be generally on their game and VERY friendly. We were pixie dusted all over the place and can’t recall anyone being genuinely rude or even unhelpful.
Sunday August 20 – Polynesian Pool Day – Disney Springs
Our theme park view room was ready when we got there and just as requested it was on the top floor with a balcony and away from the elevators. My kids loved the pool area and must have gone down that volcano slide at least 20 times. That night we had dinner at Homecomin’. Big thumbs up from all of us on the food and super friendly staff. Glad we had the opportunity to walk a bit around Disney Springs just to see what it’s like, but at the end of the day it’s just a nice mall and doesn’t really register as an essential part of a Disney vacation for me. Ended the day watching fireworks from our balcony at the Poly.
Monday August 21 – Animal Kingdom – 8:00AM EMH
Got there at 7:00AM. We were the third family in our line. Cleared back check at 7:30 and tapped our bands at 7:35. We were taken through the Flight of Passage FP line so only got to see the floating avatar through a window as we walked by. Looked down at my watch when we got off FoP and were in the gift shop at 8:22. Bought our banshees (no issues buying two - many colors were available) without a long wait at all. We would ride Na’vi River Journey on a FP later in the day. Enjoyed it very much and didn’t find it too short or “meaningless”. The food at Satu’li Canteen was excellent as others have reported (my daughter swooned over the blue dessert). Pandora overall is beautifully designed and it was a pleasure to stroll around and take in the new land. BTW, the Africa path out of Pandora was closed after we got off FoP so we had to go back to the main entrance to head to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Minimal wait at the safari (10 minutes?) and every animal imaginable was out and about first thing in the morning. Lots of FP availability during the day including sporadic FoP slots.
Tuesday August 22 – Magic Kingdom – 7:45 EMM entry (9:00AM Regular Opening)
Started with Early Morning Magic park entry at 7:45. Headed for 7DMT which we rode three times. Did Winnie the Pooh once then headed over to Peter Pan only to discover that it was down. CM told us we’d have FP for it until noon (we eventually rode it). They had Small World open instead so we rode that. FYI, the carousel was open as well. Went into the buffet and grabbed coffee and a pastry to go. Went back for one more 7DMT ride before heading down to hit Big Thunder and Splash were a temporary shutdown caused us to be 10 minutes late for our 10:00 cutoff for the EMM breakfast buffet. The CMs were VERY nice to let us in regardless (we returned the favor by eating quickly). Late lunch was at Pecos Bill where we did the not-so-secret Nacho Challenge. The check-in for that was a little clunky, but once everything got started it was a lot of fun and totally worth it. There was excellent FP availability throughout the day except for 7DMT which didn’t affect us since we were done with it. Dinner was at Be Our Guest where we celebrated my niece’s birthday. Much nicer experience than what I was expecting. They brought out a grey stuff dessert with a candle and birthday card signed by Belle and the Beast. I even found their pricing on a bottle of Veuve Clicquot that we enjoyed to be fair.
Wednesday August 23 – Universal Parks
For the Universal board.
Thursday August 24 – Epcot - 8:00AM EMH
At this point we were no longer resort guests and had no EMH privileges. Test Track was already showing a 60 minute wait at 8:50AM so we hoofed it to Soarin’ which was listed at 20 minutes. Then we did our 9:00AM Spaceship Earth FP. Coming off of that I noticed that TT had down ticked to 40 minutes so we headed over there. Unfortunately the ride broke down and what was supposed to be a 40 minute wait ended up being 90 minutes which made us late for our 10:00AM Mission Space FP. The CM at TT called over to MS to let them know that we’d be late and all was well. We did the new Mission Green and found it to be quite tame motion-wise. Lunch was at the quick service Japanese restaurant Katsura Grill. Even though it was hot we enjoyed sitting outside in the garden since the trees provided plenty of shade. Dinner was at Restaurant Marrakesh. Loved it, and the kids had fun with the belly dancer who encourages all the kids to come dance with her. FP availability was decent during the day except for Frozen, however I noticed that standby wait times for that ride have come down in general.
Friday August 25 – Hollywood Studios - 9:00AM Regular Opening
Arrived at 8:00AM and were among the first people there. Once in (at around 8:35-8:45?) we headed straight for the Jedi Training sign up. I was surprised to see a long line when we walked up but realized that these must be ADR breakfast folks who got in ahead of us. Regardless, we still got the 11:10AM spot we wanted (BTW, Jedi training was HOT - don’t know how the kids survived with those robes on). After the sign up we headed to the Rock n' Roller coaster which we did not have a FP for but essentially walked onto. Lunch was at the Brown Derby which was very pleasant and delicious but almost eerily devoid of people. Perhaps the highlight of this day was when we had to be evacuated from Toy Story Midway Mania. We actually found this to be fun since we’d already experienced the ride normally earlier in the day.
That’s about it. Left a lot out to keep it short and sweet so happy to answer any questions.
