Just Back, 9/16 - 9/23!

[VAtink]

Just got back from a fantastic week long trip and wanted to do a quick review before starting a full trip report! Overall it was a great trip, and somehow we had yet another trip, I believe this is our 4th in a row now, where it only rained at night or while we were in transit!

Crowds weren’t bad most days, the only crowd we thought was ridiculous was at the Halloween party on the 18th. It was PACKED! There were a few times during the party the walkways were so crowded you could hardly move. Most rides had 15-20 minutes waits well into the evening past 8:30, which was actually longer than the waits earlier in the afternoon before the party! Definitely different than our experiences at the parties over the past few years. Still had a good time, just had to modify our plans and didn’t get nearly as much done as normal.

We did a bunch of add ons this year. Our favorites were the EMM at Toy Story Land and DAH on the 20th. Both exceeded expectations! I would do either of those again in a heartbeat, hope they keep these around for next year! We managed to ride Slinky Dog 10 times during the EMM event as well as met Buzz, rode TSM and Alien Spinning Saucers (HA, was going to use the acronym for that and realized that probably wouldn’t be allowed!) Breakfast at the EMM was fantastic, the egg bowl was SO good!

DAH was also great, we got so much done, I have a bunch of pictures around the park with only one or two people in it. My mom and I agreed next year if we had to chose between this and the Halloween party, we would 100% pick DAH.

Managed to eat/drink at every food booth this year, it was tough but I was determined! We went in on Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to not only find the food booths open at 10:30, but also the crowds were very light. It wasn’t until about 1:00 that the crowds started to pick up, and at that point we were on our way out of the park.

Also did the Party for the Senses this year, and it was significantly better than last year! We opted for the complimentary Minnie Van transfer from the hotel to the event that is offered to those in the WVL and it was the best decision we made. They take you backstage where you go through security with zero wait, and they drop you off behind World Showplace so you don’t have to deal with trying to get through the Saturday evening F&W crowds. It was SO much better than last year’s experience! I’ll post more about this event over in the F&W thread eventually.

That’s about it for the highlights, gotta get started on this trip report now to get into the nitty gritty of the trip! If you have any questions feel free to ask!

 

[FastPasser.]

We opted for the complimentary Minnie Van transfer from the hotel to the event that is offered to those in the WVL and it was the best decision we made. They take you backstage where you go through security with zero wait, and they drop you off behind World Showplace so you don’t have to deal with trying to get through the Saturday evening F&W crowds. It was SO much better than last year’s experience! !

I know that last year and this year, transportation from the Epcot main entrance to the WSP was provided for WVL Guests, but I didn't know that they provided it all the way from the resorts to the WSP.

 

[VAtink]

I know that last year and this year, transportation from the Epcot main entrance to the WSP was provided for WVL Guests, but I didn't know that they provided it all the way from the resorts to the WSP.

Yup, the email we received noted it was new for this year. We loved this addition, last year it took over 30 minutes to get through security and into the park over at IG, so the backstage security was welcome!

 

[*I'msoooBelle*]

What an awesome and unforgettable trip! Thanks for sharing the highlights, there are so many!!!

 

[famsen]

We were at that party too. I posted the same thing on the MNSSHP thread about the gridlocked crowds. We were stuck in a massive shoulder to shoulder crowd that had nowhere to go for about 15 minutes at one point with no cast members to help direct. It was actually a bit scary. Definitely the most crowded party I have attended.

Crowds weren’t bad most days, the only crowd we thought was ridiculous was at the Halloween party on the 18th. It was PACKED! There were a few times during the party the walkways were so crowded you could hardly move. Most rides had 15-20 minutes waits well into the evening past 8:30, which was actually longer than the waits earlier in the afternoon before the party! Definitely different than our experiences at the parties over the past few years. Still had a good time, just had to modify our plans and didn’t get nearly as much done as normal.

 

[Shanti]

Crowds weren’t bad most days, the only crowd we thought was ridiculous was at the Halloween party on the 18th. It was PACKED! There were a few times during the party the walkways were so crowded you could hardly move. Most rides had 15-20 minutes waits well into the evening past 8:30, which was actually longer than the waits earlier in the afternoon before the party! Definitely different than our experiences at the parties over the past few years. Still had a good time, just had to modify our plans and didn’t get nearly as much done as normal.

Thanks for sharing your info about the Tuesday, Sept. 18th MNSSHP party. We had the same experience at the 2nd party on August 24th, and when I posted about the crowds, I was disbelieved & hit with every excuse in the book: "it's still one of the first parties", "it's August, so kids are still out of school", "Friday parties are always a lot worse than Tuesday parties", "you don't know what crowded means", etc.

I'm sorry the party was also crowded for you, but at least I don't have to feel crazy for having had the same experience. They're obviously overselling the parties now.

 

[Shanti]

DAH was also great, we got to do so much done, I have a bunch of pictures around the park with only one or two people in it. My mom and I agreed next year if we had to chose between this and the Halloween party, we would 100% pick DAH.

Sounds great! We'll have to try this someday.

 

[VAtink]

We were at that party too. I posted the same thing on the MNSSHP thread about the gridlocked crowds. We were stuck in a massive shoulder to shoulder crowd that had nowhere to go for about 15 minutes at one point with no cast members to help direct. It was actually a bit scary. Definitely the most crowded party I have attended.

Yeah there were a few times it got really bad at that party. My mom is claustrophobic, but usually she's ok, even in fireworks crowds, but there was a point that night when we were near HM that the crowds were so bad she started to have a full on panic attack. Not sure where all the people were coming from, it was too early for a show or parade to have just ended, it was just a mass of people all in the same place at once not moving!

 

[VAtink]

Thanks for sharing your info about the Tuesday, Sept. 18th MNSSHP party. We had the same experience at the 2nd party on August 24th, and when I posted about the crowds, I was disbelieved & hit with every excuse in the book: "it's still one of the first parties", "it's August, so kids are still out of school", "Friday parties are always a lot worse than Tuesday parties", "you don't know what crowded means", etc.

I'm sorry the party was also crowded for you, but at least I don't have to feel crazy for having had the same experience. They're obviously overselling the parties now.

Of course! Yeah, I saw all the earlier party posts about the crowds being bad, but we held out hope that it wouldn't be too bad for our party, but it turns out it was still really crowded. We were shocked how the lines at rides earlier in the afternoon were mostly walk on, but after about 7 the waits increased to 15-20 minutes! Definitely not what we've experienced in past parties. We usually do the parties for the special magic shots, the parade and to ride the rides with no wait, and were disappointed this year in how little we got to do. The lines for photopass were crazy all night so we didn't do many, we got to ride some rides, but there were consistently lines, and frankly we missed the past few years of just staying on the ride vehicle to go again rather than to get off and have to walk through the queue again. The parade was great as always, so no complaints there. It was just a very different experience than the past few years. If this had been my first party I probably wouldn't have as negative thoughts about it, but after experiencing it over the past few years with much lower crowds, this was definitely not worth the money this year for us!

 

[kimmyg26]

We were there the 18-23rd and were at a lot of the same things. We did DAH on the 20th, Halloween party on the 21st and Epcot on the 22nd.
I agree with you with Epcot on the 22nd. We got on Frozen in less than 10 minutes which was fabulous. We started hitting up the booths as soon as they opened. We left around 130pm and walked back to YC. It was so hot and getting very crowded.

 

[chelseabun76]

This is making me have second thoughts about our Christmas Party tickets! My poor mom, she hasn't been to DW since 2007 and she has no idea how much things have changed since then. lol

 

[nkereina]

I've seen a lot of good reviews for EMM at Toy Story Land. But do you think its worth the expense? My SIL has been debating purchasing this, but its over $300 for her family of four. And they have the dining plan, so they don't really need the breakfast anyway. Seems like a lot for 3 rides and 90 minutes.