Just got back and wanted to first thank the board for all their great help. This is a terrific resource and even after many trips to WDW it is still very usefull.
The Magic Express worked great for us! There were 7 in our party so it meant not having to rent 1 or even 2 cars. Thanks to this board, we wore our park cloths on the plane and headed straight for Epcot. Our bags were in the room when we got back that evening, what more could you ask for. The bus got us to the resort at least as quickly as we could have rented a car and not to have to deal with the bags comming or going was fantastic.
We got to Epcot about 3:30 and Soarin was already FPed out for the day. Due to the recommendations on this board, we ate at Canada "LeCellier" and it was the best we had all week, we even went back. We were happy that the crowds weren't bad at Epcot.
The next day was MGM because it had the late night extra hours. We slept in because we were planning on staying the extra hours as on previous trips "e-nights"(I think they were called) were fantastic. That is not the case anymore! MGM was very crowded and while the wait for Rockin Roller Coaster was an hour during the day, it was an hour and a half during the extended hours, it's ashamed, it was so great before. I don't know what has caused the difference except that when we did it before it cost $10-15 and now it is free. Guess you don't get what you don't pay for. We ended up leaving the park early as we refigured our plans to not use the extended hours and avoid the parks that were offering them. It worked much better.
The next day we did the MK and it was the most crowded we saw all week. No surprise, it's the MK, thank goodness for FastPasses, we let the kids use ours so they could ride twice as much and it worked well. We had made PS reservations for all the days we were there and would not have been able to eat at the restaurants we wanted to if we had not. Please consider making some before you leave, when it's crowded, it might be the only chance you'll have.
The next couple of days were spent at Epcot and MGM and the crowds weren't bad at all(no extra hours). We did Soarin twice and it was fantastic... leave it to Disney to come up with a great new attraction. We went back over to the MK one afternoon but it was so crowded we didn't stay long.
Overall, we had another great trip to WDW. I would be remiss however if I didn't point out the fact that the happiest place on Earth was understaffed. It was most evident when trying to purchase food and drinks from the counter service vendors. I realize waiting an hour for one of the attractions is part of the deal, but you shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes to get a coke. Having only one cast member at Aloha Isle is ridiculous. It has 3 windows and I've seen 4 workers there before. If it wasn't the only place in the world you can get a Dole Whip, I wouldn't have waited 40 minutes! At the Cool Stop at Epcot, 1 cast member again, my dear wife asked if she usually worked there alone, she said "I don't usually work here at all". One evening at the restaurant at our hotel, I gave up on my meal after 45 minutes and went back to the room. The rest of the family stuck it out, but they weren't happy. We saw a news story on the local channel that said Disney was desperately trying to immediatley hire over 1000 full and part time employees. Said they doing things they had never done before, like advertising on billboards and offering bonuses to employees that could bring in new employess. Guess the economy in Florida must be great, always thought that when school was out they would have plenty of applicants.
Understand that Disney on a bad day is better than most amusement parks on a good day. Don't want to scare any first timers, just want the regulars to know what is going on. I'm sure they'll take care of this.
The Magic Express worked great for us! There were 7 in our party so it meant not having to rent 1 or even 2 cars. Thanks to this board, we wore our park cloths on the plane and headed straight for Epcot. Our bags were in the room when we got back that evening, what more could you ask for. The bus got us to the resort at least as quickly as we could have rented a car and not to have to deal with the bags comming or going was fantastic.
We got to Epcot about 3:30 and Soarin was already FPed out for the day. Due to the recommendations on this board, we ate at Canada "LeCellier" and it was the best we had all week, we even went back. We were happy that the crowds weren't bad at Epcot.
The next day was MGM because it had the late night extra hours. We slept in because we were planning on staying the extra hours as on previous trips "e-nights"(I think they were called) were fantastic. That is not the case anymore! MGM was very crowded and while the wait for Rockin Roller Coaster was an hour during the day, it was an hour and a half during the extended hours, it's ashamed, it was so great before. I don't know what has caused the difference except that when we did it before it cost $10-15 and now it is free. Guess you don't get what you don't pay for. We ended up leaving the park early as we refigured our plans to not use the extended hours and avoid the parks that were offering them. It worked much better.
The next day we did the MK and it was the most crowded we saw all week. No surprise, it's the MK, thank goodness for FastPasses, we let the kids use ours so they could ride twice as much and it worked well. We had made PS reservations for all the days we were there and would not have been able to eat at the restaurants we wanted to if we had not. Please consider making some before you leave, when it's crowded, it might be the only chance you'll have.
The next couple of days were spent at Epcot and MGM and the crowds weren't bad at all(no extra hours). We did Soarin twice and it was fantastic... leave it to Disney to come up with a great new attraction. We went back over to the MK one afternoon but it was so crowded we didn't stay long.
Overall, we had another great trip to WDW. I would be remiss however if I didn't point out the fact that the happiest place on Earth was understaffed. It was most evident when trying to purchase food and drinks from the counter service vendors. I realize waiting an hour for one of the attractions is part of the deal, but you shouldn't have to wait 30 minutes to get a coke. Having only one cast member at Aloha Isle is ridiculous. It has 3 windows and I've seen 4 workers there before. If it wasn't the only place in the world you can get a Dole Whip, I wouldn't have waited 40 minutes! At the Cool Stop at Epcot, 1 cast member again, my dear wife asked if she usually worked there alone, she said "I don't usually work here at all". One evening at the restaurant at our hotel, I gave up on my meal after 45 minutes and went back to the room. The rest of the family stuck it out, but they weren't happy. We saw a news story on the local channel that said Disney was desperately trying to immediatley hire over 1000 full and part time employees. Said they doing things they had never done before, like advertising on billboards and offering bonuses to employees that could bring in new employess. Guess the economy in Florida must be great, always thought that when school was out they would have plenty of applicants.
Understand that Disney on a bad day is better than most amusement parks on a good day. Don't want to scare any first timers, just want the regulars to know what is going on. I'm sure they'll take care of this.
