I will preface this with the fact I have never been in the summer and I have always been a major planner! With that being said, for those thinking of going in the summer, do it and for those worried about going without tons of plans...do it!
WL Deluxe Villas: As noted, we planned this trip in 30 days! Nice girls week and the Villas were the only thing available for our size party. WL is a beautiful resort. Would stay here again, but I would probably not book if AKL is available. I enjoyed the theming and the Villas are very close to the bus stops. Loved that. However, we spent a lot of time doing MK in the evenings and the littles in the group loved the boat ride, which was a further walk. Honestly, its not miles away but the heat was such that sometimes that extra 5 minutes felt like forever and waiting on the dock in the heat was a bit hard to take.
Parks: I know that it was crowded, but honestly we used our FP and then did some of the shows. We could not get Mine Train FP and even late in the evening the lines were up to 95 minutes sometimes. It will be there again and something to look forward too in November when dh and I head back. Overall, crowded or not, it was quite enjoyable. My grandd and my friend's niece did everything they wanted to multiple times. Oddly enough they loved Maelstrom, which was an easy ride multiple times!
FP+ and Magic Bands: After having so many issues in December, I was pleased that everything worked perfectly for us this time. Even the app worked! We did have issues changing fp but I still believe that the servers during busy times are the issue. The app is certainly designed to do things like change times and fp but it is slow to load, especially in AK. I spoke to a few other guests and found that they were having the same issues.
Overall, a wonderful trip that has totally changed my mind about both impromptu trips as well as summertime touring. I did find that part of my less than wonderful view of WL came from CM interaction. I won't go into detail because none of the issues were horrible, just less than fun and magical. Since we were new to the lodge we asked questions at Roaring Forks and the CM had quite the rude attitude. I am sure interacting with 'dumb' guests all day had something to do with that. But, there were several times we had CM's walk by or did not even acknowledge our presence when it was just them and us. Not something I was used to. Just felt lacking in that regard. It was hot and it was very busy so I would not hold it against them forever, but a little more happiness would have gone a long way to making me feel like a Disney resort. I would say also, Rosie, our maid...was the bomb. Loved her and she made up for all the shortcomings we ran into elsewhere. Rude guests? Saw a few but nothing crazy. I am still a little peeved at the guest who took my clothes out of the dryer so they could use it and then left them on the floor. Not very Disney like but I am hoping they had a flight to catch and were in a hurry!
All in all...a trip to WDW at anytime of the year is quite enjoyable! If you have any questions let me know!
Kelly
WL Deluxe Villas: As noted, we planned this trip in 30 days! Nice girls week and the Villas were the only thing available for our size party. WL is a beautiful resort. Would stay here again, but I would probably not book if AKL is available. I enjoyed the theming and the Villas are very close to the bus stops. Loved that. However, we spent a lot of time doing MK in the evenings and the littles in the group loved the boat ride, which was a further walk. Honestly, its not miles away but the heat was such that sometimes that extra 5 minutes felt like forever and waiting on the dock in the heat was a bit hard to take.
Parks: I know that it was crowded, but honestly we used our FP and then did some of the shows. We could not get Mine Train FP and even late in the evening the lines were up to 95 minutes sometimes. It will be there again and something to look forward too in November when dh and I head back. Overall, crowded or not, it was quite enjoyable. My grandd and my friend's niece did everything they wanted to multiple times. Oddly enough they loved Maelstrom, which was an easy ride multiple times!
FP+ and Magic Bands: After having so many issues in December, I was pleased that everything worked perfectly for us this time. Even the app worked! We did have issues changing fp but I still believe that the servers during busy times are the issue. The app is certainly designed to do things like change times and fp but it is slow to load, especially in AK. I spoke to a few other guests and found that they were having the same issues.
Overall, a wonderful trip that has totally changed my mind about both impromptu trips as well as summertime touring. I did find that part of my less than wonderful view of WL came from CM interaction. I won't go into detail because none of the issues were horrible, just less than fun and magical. Since we were new to the lodge we asked questions at Roaring Forks and the CM had quite the rude attitude. I am sure interacting with 'dumb' guests all day had something to do with that. But, there were several times we had CM's walk by or did not even acknowledge our presence when it was just them and us. Not something I was used to. Just felt lacking in that regard. It was hot and it was very busy so I would not hold it against them forever, but a little more happiness would have gone a long way to making me feel like a Disney resort. I would say also, Rosie, our maid...was the bomb. Loved her and she made up for all the shortcomings we ran into elsewhere. Rude guests? Saw a few but nothing crazy. I am still a little peeved at the guest who took my clothes out of the dryer so they could use it and then left them on the floor. Not very Disney like but I am hoping they had a flight to catch and were in a hurry!
All in all...a trip to WDW at anytime of the year is quite enjoyable! If you have any questions let me know!
Kelly
