shm_helene
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2010
- Messages
- 491
I always love these so...here it goes:
Transportation
(1) Used Lyft (and one time Minnie Van) instead of renting a car. It was mostly a positive experience. One driver fought me on where Animal Kingdom was (his map was going elsewhere and he was adamant to follow the map - but did concede to me fortunately). One time the wrong type of car came (I could confirm that I selected a regular Lyft was an XL came, so it was more). Once someone accepted but never showed up. Overall it was pretty easy. Minnie Van can't accommodate luggage if you have more than 4 people. No problems with the boats or monorail while we were there.
(2) MCO is a hot mess. It took us over an hour to get through security and we ended up missing our flight. While we should have been at the airport earlier, we got there at the time we usually do which has in the past even allowed us to sit down and eat, this time not so much. They were also pulling all food and inspecting it separately (this was the problem as I didn't see them pull that bag and with all the people in our group I didn't realize that bag was missing until later and had to go back to get it). I did have the bag separate. This was a problem all day, according to the desk people at AA, and several people missed their flight (the 3 people directly in front of us and the 2 people directly behind us). Because we had a stroller when they opened another line they wouldn't let us through the shorter line, just in case you're thinking of bringing vs. renting.
MK / MNSSHP
(1) MK was relatively empty on the day we went (Tuesday, 10/3). We got there for BOG. Got in line for SDMT at 8:43 but they didn't start moving until 8:54 and as we had a FP later for that we went to PP. Regardless on that day we did: PP, Pooh, Tea Party, SDMT (FP), met all 4 princesses (FP), Under the Sea, met Ariel, Barnstormer, Dumbo (including 20 minutes of playing), Laugh Floor, Speedway, Liberty Belle, played on Tom Sawyer Island for 20 mins, watched a portion of FoF from afar, Big Thunder Mountain 3x, Jungle Cruise (FP), Buzz (FP), ate lunch at Pinocchio Haus, and stood in two longer lines for pictures (we wanted one in front of the Halloween stuff as we missed it earlier and that was a pretty long wait) plus a couple other not long wait MM lines. We were out by 445.
(2) Went to MK on a party day (just for about 1h45). In that time we got pics at two spots, did Barnstormer with FP (took 20 mins) and Buzz with FP (took over 40 mins). Definitely a different number of people on the party day. We couldn't even get into Philharmagic, the line was wrapping through the queue in the hallway, which I've never seen.
(3) MNSSHP - I'm not sure what the attendance was like at this party but it didn't seem to full to me. We got a ton of candy! I would do a park day at MK first (on a different day) then to MNSSHP, as the day we did MNSSHP was our first day at MK this time, it was a little overwhelming and my girls weren't settled into this park yet.
Epcot
(1) Enjoyed food and wine! The filet at Canada was so good. It was mobbed on Saturday afternoon. On Friday night there was a really bad rain storm and that shortened the lines. We were also there on Tues PM and it was very full then as well (though not as bad as Sat). The lines on Sat had to be 30 mins long. Only saw one super drunk person - but I've never seen as many alcohol related shirts as I did on this trip!
(2) Did Remy and Agent P. Holy cow those Agent P activities have a ton of video. It ate my data and my battery. Also, I really didn't enjoy how much video there was, I felt like we were standing and watching my phone more than anything else. We were done after 2 (my daughter would have loved to do more). Remy was good, though my daughters aren't the most observant so that was frustrating
(3) We did Soarin' standby (words I never thought I would say). It was about 25 mins on Saturday evening, probably around 830. We had done Living with the Land at about 650 and then Nemo (we always do Nemo late, there is no one on, we rode three straight times) and Crush/Seas (again, noone is there at that time).
(4) We met AE with 0 wait, it was at 9:50 at night, but still, no wait!
HS
(1) Still not one of my more favorite parks, just not a ton there for us, but we were only there for 2.5 hours. The Frozen show is still funny (they did make a 13 Reasons reference which I thought was interesting!).
(2) ToT line was ridic long for FP.
(3) Riding TSMM at night is one of the best tips I got here, we rode it 3 times we very little wait (like 5-8 mins)
AK
(1) We didn't get to see Pandora at night, though I wanted to, my girls just needed to go back to the room. It was cool during the day!
(2) We went on 10/4 and they let us STAY on Kali 3 times in a row, then rode EE which was basically walk on 2x. It was not an EMH, I guess everyone was at Pandora. Things really filled in later.
(3) There is some great entertainment there! Get involved, don't just stand by though!
(4) Na'vi was OK, I really wanted to be able to say more. It was visually very impressive but there was something missing - not sure what it was. In FEA at least there is the drop and the backwards part. Even still, something was missing from this ride.
(5) Tumble Monkeys were all there
FOOD
(1) Satu'li was very good! And when we went there was 0 wait. This was not the same day as the Kali, it was an EMH morning. We were there around 530 PM.
(2) I liked Trattoria for the character meal (I'm not too into them, but my MIL wanted to take the girls). Character interaction was good and you got a ton of food (you can take the food with you if you have microwave/fridge - we were staying at Boardwalk so it worked for us).
(3) Mobile ordering is awesome! So much less stressful than standing in line.
(4) We did O'hana bfast - too much food - and nothing that different than what I can do at home, but we did it for my MIL. FYI, Stitch doesn't come to the tables (I didn't know that), he just meets outside in a 20 minute line. Also, if your kid does the parade and misses a character they don't come back (at Hollywood and Vine they did come back). I'm sure I could have tracked them down but I didn't.
(5) BOG for a PPO is still great for me, we got two kids meals and one adult and split it between the four of us. We did NOT like the crepe. It tasted papery, like really paper. We also got lots of OJ which was nice.
(6) Beaches n Cream - it was good but I don't think I would go out of my way to eat here unless doing the Kitchen Sink.
(7) The hotdogs at the food stand outside at Boardwalk were really good
(8) Disney is still really hard on my stomach - I wish I had brought a probiotic.
(9) Used Instacart - worked pretty well although they did kind of mess up my order. They were also about 30 minutes later than their scheduled delivery. They dropped the food at Bell Services, though I was waiting outside for them.
(10) Refillable popcorn was a good deal! There is a cute lotus flower one at AK, though we had the Mickey pumpkin one.
OTHER
(1) My kids are 5 and 7 and I was very glad we had a stroller. It served us well in terms of being able to move faster as well as store things like water bottles and ponchos and our food. My 7 yo is an avid swimmer and runner and even with that she was glad to have a stroller break. We will rent one on our next trip when they are 6 and 8. My 7 yo said she was 7 and didn't need a stroller anymore before we left...
(2) MM was better this trip than last, last time I had several blurry photos.
(3) Not a ton of Pixie dust this trip - the step sisters did walk up and surprise my girls and my daughter got a free cupcake because "a mean lady knocked her over and didn't say sorry" (I didn't see it and I feel a strong possibility that isn't what happened.
(4) CM's were all really good - except some of the ones manning the lines - particularly at the princesses.
(5) To end the debate - I would take a clear dome umbrella and add a poncho The poncho kept blowing off my head and I couldn't see because of the rain on my glasses.
(6) Not too much bad behavior in the parks.
(7) FP lines were LONG on the not major rides (it was short for SDMT, Na'vi, and FOP) but ToT took 25 mins with a posted and TP time of 30 mins. The line actually went almost down to the tapstile. Buzz was 40 mins - there were some stoppages on Buzz, Barnstormer was 20 mins, etc. To do Town Square Mickey and Tink took an 1h20. I know how it works, this was our 14th trip - but it seems like the waits are getting longer and longer on the FP stuff. We stood and waited a lot - not even moving.
(8) It rained every day, sometimes a lot, sometimes not a lot. I say this because people always say "Don't listen to the forecast", well, it was true for us.
(9) We did Lilo's Playhouse (3rd time), kids were 5 and 7. They LOVE it there and it's a good value, especially if the kids stay until like 10.
HOTELS
(1) Did DVC rental and LOVED it! Microwave and toaster were a nice addition. We did Boardwalk and Poly (we have stayed at Poly last 3 trips but Boardwalk was new)
(2) Location of Boardwalk is great, but we still prefer the vibe at Poly.
We had a great time and already thinking about the next trip!
Transportation
(1) Used Lyft (and one time Minnie Van) instead of renting a car. It was mostly a positive experience. One driver fought me on where Animal Kingdom was (his map was going elsewhere and he was adamant to follow the map - but did concede to me fortunately). One time the wrong type of car came (I could confirm that I selected a regular Lyft was an XL came, so it was more). Once someone accepted but never showed up. Overall it was pretty easy. Minnie Van can't accommodate luggage if you have more than 4 people. No problems with the boats or monorail while we were there.
(2) MCO is a hot mess. It took us over an hour to get through security and we ended up missing our flight. While we should have been at the airport earlier, we got there at the time we usually do which has in the past even allowed us to sit down and eat, this time not so much. They were also pulling all food and inspecting it separately (this was the problem as I didn't see them pull that bag and with all the people in our group I didn't realize that bag was missing until later and had to go back to get it). I did have the bag separate. This was a problem all day, according to the desk people at AA, and several people missed their flight (the 3 people directly in front of us and the 2 people directly behind us). Because we had a stroller when they opened another line they wouldn't let us through the shorter line, just in case you're thinking of bringing vs. renting.
MK / MNSSHP
(1) MK was relatively empty on the day we went (Tuesday, 10/3). We got there for BOG. Got in line for SDMT at 8:43 but they didn't start moving until 8:54 and as we had a FP later for that we went to PP. Regardless on that day we did: PP, Pooh, Tea Party, SDMT (FP), met all 4 princesses (FP), Under the Sea, met Ariel, Barnstormer, Dumbo (including 20 minutes of playing), Laugh Floor, Speedway, Liberty Belle, played on Tom Sawyer Island for 20 mins, watched a portion of FoF from afar, Big Thunder Mountain 3x, Jungle Cruise (FP), Buzz (FP), ate lunch at Pinocchio Haus, and stood in two longer lines for pictures (we wanted one in front of the Halloween stuff as we missed it earlier and that was a pretty long wait) plus a couple other not long wait MM lines. We were out by 445.
(2) Went to MK on a party day (just for about 1h45). In that time we got pics at two spots, did Barnstormer with FP (took 20 mins) and Buzz with FP (took over 40 mins). Definitely a different number of people on the party day. We couldn't even get into Philharmagic, the line was wrapping through the queue in the hallway, which I've never seen.
(3) MNSSHP - I'm not sure what the attendance was like at this party but it didn't seem to full to me. We got a ton of candy! I would do a park day at MK first (on a different day) then to MNSSHP, as the day we did MNSSHP was our first day at MK this time, it was a little overwhelming and my girls weren't settled into this park yet.
Epcot
(1) Enjoyed food and wine! The filet at Canada was so good. It was mobbed on Saturday afternoon. On Friday night there was a really bad rain storm and that shortened the lines. We were also there on Tues PM and it was very full then as well (though not as bad as Sat). The lines on Sat had to be 30 mins long. Only saw one super drunk person - but I've never seen as many alcohol related shirts as I did on this trip!
(2) Did Remy and Agent P. Holy cow those Agent P activities have a ton of video. It ate my data and my battery. Also, I really didn't enjoy how much video there was, I felt like we were standing and watching my phone more than anything else. We were done after 2 (my daughter would have loved to do more). Remy was good, though my daughters aren't the most observant so that was frustrating
(3) We did Soarin' standby (words I never thought I would say). It was about 25 mins on Saturday evening, probably around 830. We had done Living with the Land at about 650 and then Nemo (we always do Nemo late, there is no one on, we rode three straight times) and Crush/Seas (again, noone is there at that time).
(4) We met AE with 0 wait, it was at 9:50 at night, but still, no wait!
HS
(1) Still not one of my more favorite parks, just not a ton there for us, but we were only there for 2.5 hours. The Frozen show is still funny (they did make a 13 Reasons reference which I thought was interesting!).
(2) ToT line was ridic long for FP.
(3) Riding TSMM at night is one of the best tips I got here, we rode it 3 times we very little wait (like 5-8 mins)
AK
(1) We didn't get to see Pandora at night, though I wanted to, my girls just needed to go back to the room. It was cool during the day!
(2) We went on 10/4 and they let us STAY on Kali 3 times in a row, then rode EE which was basically walk on 2x. It was not an EMH, I guess everyone was at Pandora. Things really filled in later.
(3) There is some great entertainment there! Get involved, don't just stand by though!
(4) Na'vi was OK, I really wanted to be able to say more. It was visually very impressive but there was something missing - not sure what it was. In FEA at least there is the drop and the backwards part. Even still, something was missing from this ride.
(5) Tumble Monkeys were all there
FOOD
(1) Satu'li was very good! And when we went there was 0 wait. This was not the same day as the Kali, it was an EMH morning. We were there around 530 PM.
(2) I liked Trattoria for the character meal (I'm not too into them, but my MIL wanted to take the girls). Character interaction was good and you got a ton of food (you can take the food with you if you have microwave/fridge - we were staying at Boardwalk so it worked for us).
(3) Mobile ordering is awesome! So much less stressful than standing in line.
(4) We did O'hana bfast - too much food - and nothing that different than what I can do at home, but we did it for my MIL. FYI, Stitch doesn't come to the tables (I didn't know that), he just meets outside in a 20 minute line. Also, if your kid does the parade and misses a character they don't come back (at Hollywood and Vine they did come back). I'm sure I could have tracked them down but I didn't.
(5) BOG for a PPO is still great for me, we got two kids meals and one adult and split it between the four of us. We did NOT like the crepe. It tasted papery, like really paper. We also got lots of OJ which was nice.
(6) Beaches n Cream - it was good but I don't think I would go out of my way to eat here unless doing the Kitchen Sink.
(7) The hotdogs at the food stand outside at Boardwalk were really good
(8) Disney is still really hard on my stomach - I wish I had brought a probiotic.
(9) Used Instacart - worked pretty well although they did kind of mess up my order. They were also about 30 minutes later than their scheduled delivery. They dropped the food at Bell Services, though I was waiting outside for them.
(10) Refillable popcorn was a good deal! There is a cute lotus flower one at AK, though we had the Mickey pumpkin one.
OTHER
(1) My kids are 5 and 7 and I was very glad we had a stroller. It served us well in terms of being able to move faster as well as store things like water bottles and ponchos and our food. My 7 yo is an avid swimmer and runner and even with that she was glad to have a stroller break. We will rent one on our next trip when they are 6 and 8. My 7 yo said she was 7 and didn't need a stroller anymore before we left...
(2) MM was better this trip than last, last time I had several blurry photos.
(3) Not a ton of Pixie dust this trip - the step sisters did walk up and surprise my girls and my daughter got a free cupcake because "a mean lady knocked her over and didn't say sorry" (I didn't see it and I feel a strong possibility that isn't what happened.
(4) CM's were all really good - except some of the ones manning the lines - particularly at the princesses.
(5) To end the debate - I would take a clear dome umbrella and add a poncho
The poncho kept blowing off my head and I couldn't see because of the rain on my glasses.(6) Not too much bad behavior in the parks.
(7) FP lines were LONG on the not major rides (it was short for SDMT, Na'vi, and FOP) but ToT took 25 mins with a posted and TP time of 30 mins. The line actually went almost down to the tapstile. Buzz was 40 mins - there were some stoppages on Buzz, Barnstormer was 20 mins, etc. To do Town Square Mickey and Tink took an 1h20. I know how it works, this was our 14th trip - but it seems like the waits are getting longer and longer on the FP stuff. We stood and waited a lot - not even moving.
(8) It rained every day, sometimes a lot, sometimes not a lot. I say this because people always say "Don't listen to the forecast", well, it was true for us.
(9) We did Lilo's Playhouse (3rd time), kids were 5 and 7. They LOVE it there and it's a good value, especially if the kids stay until like 10.
HOTELS
(1) Did DVC rental and LOVED it! Microwave and toaster were a nice addition. We did Boardwalk and Poly (we have stayed at Poly last 3 trips but Boardwalk was new)
(2) Location of Boardwalk is great, but we still prefer the vibe at Poly.
We had a great time and already thinking about the next trip!
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