Just Back and the Disney Magic is Still There! (long)

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the great report. We also just returned this Friday and had another great trip. It was our 25th anniversary and it was really special. The cm's were really great. We tried some new restaurants that we really liked and loved walking around the new Disney Springs areas.

 

[disneylove16]

Thank you for sharing! Sounds like you had a great time!

 

[Aunt Dani]

Sounds awesome...we'll be at the Boardwalk in 2 weeks...can't wait!

Also FWIW, the Ample Hills Creamery (where Seashore Sweets used to be I believe) should be completed and open within the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

And really hoping for this to be ready!!

 

[kerry34]

Thanks for sharing! Our trip ended yesterday and overall every aspect of the trip went very well. Mostly good cast member interactions with the exception of one very cranky individual but nothing that wrecked our trip. I also paid attention to the rest rooms and the majority of them were fine, except one bathroom in epcot that needed attention but otherwise it was fine. I also feel like the magic is still there and it made me happy and relieved that things still feel like that.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I am so excited to stay at Boardwalk and we don't go until November 2017!! Lol

Glad you had a great time

 

[Davey Jones II]

Were the wait times any worse than your previous trips?

 

[momtotaryn]

So happy to hear great comments! Thank you for everyone who shared their positive experiences!

 

[mindeola]

Thanks for all the positive reviews! Even though I was just there last June, all the negativity lately has been making me a little worried for our upcoming trip. I am pretty easy going and positive so I know one or two bad experiences/interaction would not ruin it for me, but hubby and daughter both are going this time and they do not love WDW vacations to begin with . Hoping for niceness and pixie dust for their trip!

 

[erinscreen]

I will echo the OP. I just returned from a week, stayed at POFQ. Every single CM we encountered was fantastic--particularly the wait staff and servers at the restaurants. I have heard some sketchy stories lately about cranky restaurant staff, but everyone we encountered was fantastic. Our server at San Angel Inn even got down on her hands and knees to fix our wobbly table. It was definitely a sigh of relief that we had nothing but positives.

 

[MommaOfTwoMice]

We were also there last week (4/16-4/23) and stayed at POFQ. It was a great week! It was our first stay at POFQ and we loved it. We had a great time at each of the 4 parks. Yes, crowds were high, but we enjoyed people watching and we hit all our favorite attractions, some multiple times. This was our first experience with the regular dining plan, we have previously done the Quick Service Plan only. We ate at Coral Reef (excellent), Sanaa (our favorite, hands down!), Hollywood & Vine (gross), T-Rex (good food, kids loved the atmosphere), La Hacienda (food was delicious, our waiter was rude), and Ohana (great food, great service).

OP you are right, the magic is still there!!! We can't wait to return..... thinking Christmas 2017.

 

[Moms]

Were the wait times any worse than your previous trips?

We are rope drop people and generally schedule our FP's later in the morning ... wait times early in the day were predictable ... Test Track was about 40 minutes within 15-20 minutes of park opening ... same for the other "biggies" like Toy Story Mania, 7 Dwarfs etc. We went directly to Toy Story at opening and waited about 40 minutes with a 50 minute posted wait time. Times went up as the day went on but did notice that some dropped around dinner time.

 

[thelittlemermaid2]

Glad you had a great trip! I love reading about those who still find the magic in Disney, I know I still do!

 

[Moms]

Also FWIW, the Ample Hills Creamery (where Seashore Sweets used to be I believe) should be completed and open within the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

Can't wait for this one ... love a great ice cream source and it will be nice to have one close to "home" on the Boardwalk! But why is it that every time I see Ample Hills it looks a lot like "Ample Hips" ?

 

[MissKIA]

I was very confused, I thought you were talking about the ship.

happy to hear you had a great trip though!

 

[Davey Jones II]

We are rope drop people and generally schedule our FP's later in the morning ... wait times early in the day were predictable ... Test Track was about 40 minutes within 15-20 minutes of park opening ... same for the other "biggies" like Toy Story Mania, 7 Dwarfs etc. We went directly to Toy Story at opening and waited about 40 minutes with a 50 minute posted wait time. Times went up as the day went on but did notice that some dropped around dinner time.

Toy Story Mania hadn't opened its third track yet?

Another follow-up question (and I'm not looking for negativity, here, just an honest response): did you see any signs of the recent cutbacks? For example, attractions running at half capacity, only open on weekends, or mysteriously closed despite no refurb scheduled for it? Or opening hours trimmed, so that parks are closing earlier than at this same time last year? How about less CMs at attractions, or less turnstiles open at the front gate? All the above was reported by fans at Disneyland Resort.

 

[need2travel]

Thanks! Now I'm REALLY excited for our BWI stay in July, can't wait!

 

[tj6285]

Great report! My daughter rolled her eyes when I added Figment to our trip plan. It's my trip too so I get to see some things I want. She doesn't know Figment but I'm sure she will love him after the ride.

 

[FantasiaMagic]

This makes me so happy to read. Glad you and your family had a wonderful trip! And being the family of the day at the Boardwalk sounds like so much fun!

 

[Moms]

Toy Story Mania hadn't opened its third track yet?

Another follow-up question (and I'm not looking for negativity, here, just an honest response): did you see any signs of the recent cutbacks? For example, attractions running at half capacity, only open on weekends, or mysteriously closed despite no refurb scheduled for it? Or opening hours trimmed, so that parks are closing earlier than at this same time last year? How about less CMs at attractions, or less turnstiles open at the front gate? All the above was reported by fans at Disneyland Resort.

I really can't say I saw any obvious evidence of recent cutbacks. All attractions seemed to be open and running at full capacity the entire time we were there. What I did notice, although I don't know that it is related to cutbacks or a simple scheduling phenomena but we noticed that (for example) the fact that Epcot was open at 9:00 did not mean that everything opened at 9:00. A lot of the refreshment kiosks were shut down until later in the day ... the same thing happened at MK ... we were looking for a snack at about 9:30 one morning and found that there were few quick food options open and ready for customers.

The third track is not operating yet at TSM ... a local news story described it as a "planned addition coming soon".

 

[Davey Jones II]

Okay, thanks for the report. Sounds encouraging.