One consistent theme I'm hearing from those 'just returning' right now is how busy it was.
I'm not terribly surprised to be hearing these comments. The
Free Dining offer which was in effect for many guests thru the end of September is exactly the sort of thing which takes a relatively slow period and turns it absolutely insane.
And I'm going to be perfectly honest, I just do not enjoy Disney when resorts are at or even near capacity. That usually means parks are at or near capacity and that just makes it too much like a guerilla mission to visit the parks. And the resort, which should be a haven from the insanity of the parks are frequently understaffed during these 'peak periods' and as many can attest, the Disney principles suffer in those circumstances.
It's hard to know when certain offers are going to be at their peak but Free Dining is one that for the past few years has typically sold out the entire allotment of rooms made available to it.
I wonder if this year they increased the number of rooms on that promotion? Be interesting if anyone can shed light on that aspect... altho I suspect that its one of those situations where those who know - can't say.
K
I'm not so sure it was FD or F&W, but having just returned myself, I can tell you it was every bit as busy in the parks as it is in June and July. If you get up early and are there at rope drop it is pretty much walk on everything until around 11:00 a.m.
At 11:00 a.m., regardless of the park, it is as if the floodgates have opened. This was the case in May when we were there as well.
In June/July, you can be there at rope drop and get in a few rides before the throngs catch up, but it isn't the "walk-on" or minimal wait for the first few hours that we had in May and September.
Last week WS opened early most mornings and the booths were operating before 11:00 a.m. WS was really crowded all day from 9/30 until we left on 10/4, but we didn't find FW to be bad until the witching hour of 11:00 a.m.
We only had a couple of ADRs, but walk-ups were being taken at 50s for lunch. Le Cellier was booked, but when we were dining (1:10 p.m.) there were many open tables that remained so the entire time we were there.
The F&W booths had very long waits. We were quite pleased that we had pretty much taste tested everything early to mid-week--by Friday/Saturday evening WS was as packed as I have ever seen it.
All of that said, we were at BC and it was not full and neither was YC.
Just to keep this post somewhat on topic, we also made our way up to Polynesian a couple of days to visit. One evening the quiet pool was closed for cleaning, but otherwise the resort itself looked great. We had nice interactions with the CMs and enjoyed a Lava Flow from the Barefoot Bar. The Polynesian did not appear to be full up on the two separate occasions we were there, but then again we were only there for short periods of time each day.
I am really sorry that you had such a negative experience Trishtack. I agree, it was hot this year, but my husband and I were hoping for those 90s and NO RAIN after the rainfest and chilly weather we suffered through in May.
As I have said many times before, everyone has their own favorite resort and the only way to find it is to keep trying them all. We really enjoyed our BC stay--in fact, we've enjoyed our stays at most of the resorts, some more than others, but the Polynesian is definitely our favorite. I hope you find your "home" at Disney and I'm glad your DD had a great trip despite the glitches for you and your husband.
