Just back and some thoughts

[Jhondy210]

We'll be back next January too....still like it
We will also be there in March and November.

We won't be back next Jan. but that is because my husband had originally promised me only every other year for Disney and now we are thinking 3-4 years from now till we are back but it will likely be in Jan or early February. I'm hoping to do an early Sept. or October trip this year and compare crowds to that. However, that trip will likely be me, my mom, and sister.

 

[Jhondy210]

Wow .. the crowd reports from last week of January is crazy. I went this exact time of year 6 years ago .. and it was so empty, it was amazing. I think Disney is just THAT popular now . and so crowded OTHER times that people are desperately trying to find a time that was traditionally less crowded to come (which makes those times even more crowded).

I think a lot of frequent visitors MAY wait the 3+ years for "everything" to be done before going back because of the crowds and the new stuff "coming soon". (Pandora, Toy Story, Star Wars).

I agree which is why I cringe thinking our next trip will be 3+ years from now. I'd almost rather go right before toy story/star wars opens in the hopes that people push their trips off till those sections open.

 

[Jhondy210]

I started laughing when I read your comment about people stopping in the middle and also the family that has to walk side by side and take up the whole walk area. Those are 2 of my standard gripes when we are there. I think the slow periods do not exist anymore at WDW, but we still have a great and relaxing time. We have 30+ trips and I can honestly say that we are very happy with WDW buses and the % of times we were disappointed is verrrry low.

Yeah, by the end of the trip I had to keep calming my husband down from saying inappropriate comments because he was so frustrated with how people walk in the parks. He wants WDW to have a quiz before you enter the park about what do you do if you need to stop for any reason in the park and if people don't say move to the side out of others way then they don't get to come in the park.

 

[DatFan]

I thought Wishes Dessert Party had assigned tables? Do I need to arrive early to 'claim a good table' or do all the tables offer good views?

 

[Jhondy210]

I thought Wishes Dessert Party had assigned tables? Do I need to arrive early to 'claim a good table' or do all the tables offer good views?

The tables were not assigned this time like they had previously been assigned.

It appeared all the tables had a good view but I am not sure as I only sat in my table by the railing and didn't try what one of the farther back views had. As I said, if you are a party of 4+ you don't have much of a choice but a 2nd or 3rd row. It seemed most tables of four were against the railing.

 

[Davey Jones II]

I agree which is why I cringe thinking our next trip will be 3+ years from now. I'd almost rather go right before toy story/star wars opens in the hopes that people push their trips off till those sections open.

Or you can FP+ the new stuff, do rope drop, then go straight to the older sections of the parks. They'll be nearly deserted for the first hours in the morning, while the herd heads for Star Wars, Pandora, etc.

 

[Dug720]

I find how people walk in the parks annoying.

Welcome to my everyday life in NYC...


If you need to stop or meet up with your group do it off to the side and not in the middle of the walkway!

Agreed. See my comment above.

Along with that, people walking in all directions was annoying too. Like if most the people on the left side are going one way and most the people on the right are going the opposite way, why are you going the opposite way then the majority.

I will give a little leeway here because not everyone KNOWS they need to go the other way until they get to the dividing point. Granted it would be nice if people looked before they changed direction, but it's not going to happen.

Lastly, if you have 5+ people in your party, you probably shouldn't walk side by side blocking the entire pathway.

OR if you have a stroller OR are in the "OMG WE MUST TOUCH EACH OTHER AT ALL TIMES!!!!!!" phase of your relationship, there is no need for you to constantly walk side by side - especially when in a narrow area and ESPECIALLY where there is two-way traffic. I will give one parent, one kid some leeway here but let's be honest, that is NOT the majority. IT will NOT kill you to walk one behind the other for a few steps. I promise.

My responses in pink.

 

[AngiTN]

I actually am a rope drop person, my husband is not and I chose to make sure the vacation was relaxing for him. The lines were not terrible it was more the shear number of people in the parks that was crazy. It was hard just to walk around.

All the cast members were polite but they were how I expect all customer service employees to act. Maybe if we had kids it would have been different. I want to emphasize that I had no bad experiences with cast members and I don't think they were doing anything wrong, they just didn't add anything special to the vacation.

I agree with you on the tours. I had never taken one and heard such good praise about them so I decided to give it a try. There was some neat facts but I bet I could have found those on the internet and seeing behind the scenes of haunted mansion was neat but not worth the 3 hour tour during prime park touring time.

I also may not be very picky about busses. I've been going to WDW for quite some time now and I can only remember one bad bus experience…which was at GF. So, either I'm generally pretty lucky with busses or I'm just not that picky.

We rode 7 Dwarves mine train twice, once during the day and once at night. My husband really liked it because he isn't a big fan of roller coasters but I thought the ride was too short. However, at night, I did really like 7 dwarves mine train. It just felt like the car swung more and the car moved faster.

On your 2 rides, did you sit in different places on the train? Front swings less than the back. Speed feels different too. Though I may have that backwards, it may be the front that swings more. One does for sure. Makes for 2 very different rides if you can sit in front on 1 ride and back on another.

We had a table right up against the railing and we could see fine. I didn't hear any complaints from the table behind us. Also, the smallest tables are now for 4 so if you are a party smaller than that you still sit at a table for 4. All the tables for 4 were up against the railing and the tables for 4+ were behind the tables for 4.

I'm not sure which way I like better for the party. We lined up 30 minutes early and were about the middle of the line they also let people in 15 minutes early. In a way, it was nice getting to sit and watch the fireworks but I didn't like feeling like I had to line up 30+ minutes early to make sure that I got the seat that I wanted. However, on the flip side we had booked the dessert party late so I figured we wouldn't have that great of a seat and it turned out we were able to pick a pretty good seat.

I guess if everyone is sitting, everyone can see.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I liked the assigned seats because you didn't feel like you had to line up early. I'm really surprised they went back on that, seems like more line management for them. But it is nice if you get there early enough to get the front row and be able to sit the whole time.

Thanks for the info!

What I wonder about is the awning. Has that been removed? In the past some tables would have had their view of the fireworks blocked by the awning. Maybe by moving the tables forward they have placed them so they are all cleared of it now?

 

[Davey Jones II]

Everyone says that the back swings more. I'll take their word for it, we didn't ride in back. But it makes sense; usually the back of a ride has the most movement. For example, that's why the back of a roller coaster is usually rougher than the front or middle. Even on a motion simulator like Star Tours, I noticed a clear difference in back; the motion was more pronounced.

 

[Shanti]

All the cast members were polite but they were how I expect all customer service employees to act. Maybe if we had kids it would have been different. I want to emphasize that I had no bad experiences with cast members and I don't think they were doing anything wrong, they just didn't add anything special to the vacation.

I know what you mean about the WDW cast members being less special now. Still good, with no problems, but little Disney magic left (smiles, good wishes, the extra mile, etc.) I also don't blame them, for the same reasons another poster mentioned: "underpaid, overworked, stressed". I'd also add "abuse by guests" to your list, as it seems likely that between the high crowds & high prices, CM's probably bear the brunt of a lot of guest frustration & have to hear a lot of venting. It seems to me like talking with Disney people on the phone is now more magical than with the ones at the parks & resorts- maybe because they're under less stress.

I took my first adult trip to the World in '09, and afterwards gushed to people about the great customer service. I wouldn't likely be gushing now, though the service is still solid & I respect the CM's for the work they do.

 

[Jhondy210]

On your 2 rides, did you sit in different places on the train? Front swings less than the back. Speed feels different too. Though I may have that backwards, it may be the front that swings more. One does for sure. Makes for 2 very different rides if you can sit in front on 1 ride and back on another.





What I wonder about is the awning. Has that been removed? In the past some tables would have had their view of the fireworks blocked by the awning. Maybe by moving the tables forward they have placed them so they are all cleared of it now?

No the awning is still there cause we had some minor blocking of our fireworks but it was really minor that I had actually forgot about it until you said something about it.

 

[AngiTN]

No the awning is still there cause we had some minor blocking of our fireworks but it was really minor that I had actually forgot about it until you said something about it.

Interesting. You were against the rail and had slight blockage. I wonder how the further away tables felt?

 

[Lothlórien]

I am glad you had great bus service. I will NEVER stay at SSR again because their bus service was wretched on my last visit!!