Tara8595
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2002
- Messages
- 729
Okay - it was GREAT!!!! Crowds were really inconsistent - MK was pretty empty on Wednesday but MGM was PACKED on Thursday. Still... judicious use of fastpasses seems to get you through any crowds or bottlenecks.
Sorry if this has been posted - but WOW - MK has this cool new opening thing - get there before 9am and don't enter the turnstyles, just hang out in front of the big "100 Years" logo so that you can see the upper platform of the train station - Main Street cast members do a big song and dance number and then all the characters arrive on the train!!! It's so cool! I'd estimate around 20 characters including Mickey who does a countdown to opening. It's so fun!!! Definitely get there early to see it, but like I said, wait before entering the turnstyles so you'll get a good view.
As all of you have been reporting, the characters are truly everywhere. It really makes the parks festive - but especially at the Magic Kingdom.
The alligator is still in the Frontierland river. He's so cute and little. I hope they let him hang out a while longer. He really just hangs out and doesn't bother anyone.
Cool new stuff from this trip:
- ate at Liberty Tree tavern for lunch - great meal, reasonable prices. So nice to sit down midday at MK and relax. Everything was really good.
- rode Goofy's Barnstormer and Indy raceway - fun!!! Found out that Toontown is open during the Halloween party, even though I've seen it reported that it is closed. Lots of trick-or-treat stations there too.
- rode Jungle Cruise at night - very cool - if you're going to be at MK in the dark, save Jungle Cruise for that time of day, because it's much spookier then.
-ate at Cantina at Mexico in Epcot - yummy.
-Watched Illuminations from 'secret park' behind Rose & Crown and also watched from Future World in the 'sit-down' section - both were cool. It's neat to watch from different places - I usually watch from Italy, but now, I think I'll move around more - you get to see different things when the Earth spins if you watch from new locations. I thoroughly recommend it.
-NEVER TRUST THE WEATHERMEN!!! They don't know. Truly. They said it would be a clear and beautiful night on Friday - but at the MNSSHP, it POURED!!!! And lots of people with no umbrellas or ponchos. We went as mouseketeers and our shirts were ruined - the ink all ran. We were a pitiful soggy mess. Thank goodness it didn't start until the 2nd parade was ending, but still, it was only 11pm. We ran to HM and rode, and then one last ride on Peter Pan, just trying to stay dry. But it was a long wet run from the castle to Casey's. Other than that, the party was great - they were giving everyone wristbands when I arrived at 7:10. We got lots of candy too - yum. Fun to trick-or-treat when you're an adult.
-Did House of the future and the surround sound presentation in Innoventions - both were really neat, I'd recommend it to anyone who needs something new and different to see in Future World.
-Spent an evening on the Boardwalk and watched all the street performers. Rented a surrey bike. Ate Boardwalk Pizza - I know a lot of you guys don't like it but I think that pizza is awesome - spicy sauce - yum. Toured the art gallery at the BWI. What a fun night.
-Pass ran out on Saturday so spent Sunday playing minigolf. Played all the courses - favorite was the kiddie course at Fantasia gardens - it's easy, but really fun and you get to listen to classical music from Fantasia while you play. Grass course is hard!! Lucky if you get a 4. Challenging but fun in a whole different way.
-Ate lunch at All-Star-Cafe at Wide World of Sports complex on Sunday. Fun!!!! Cheered on the Atlanta Falcons.
Not so cool stuff:
-Gina checked us in at the Yacht club. Grumpy grumpy grumpy. If you see her name as you check in, say - 'Nevermind' and play it off like you forgot something - hopefully you'll get a "Happy" dwarf instead when you try again. If you are a mid-day naptaker and are checking into a hotel that is renovating, request to be away from the renovation area. We couldn't nap on our off-day because they were literally hammering right over our heads. Plus, we were right next to the ice machine, so it was noisy. Unfortunately, we were all unpacked and had been there for 2 days before we took an off-day, and by that time, decided to just stay, because we didn't want to re-pack.
-Stormalong Bay - okay, but I can't see where it's that much cooler than the other resort pools. It looks neat, but still, it's just water, and they charge you to rent a tube! Sorry - I just never imagined you'd be paying $200/night and then they wouldn't have tubes just available for you at the pool to use in the 'lazy river' thing. I thought that was particularly bad.
-Unfinished stairwells. This is my newest pet-peeve. Here we're at this beautiful hotel, newly refurbished with a room on the first floor. We follow signs to the exit and quiet pool, and have to shuffle through a dirty paint-chipping non-themed nasty stairwell hallway to get outside. If they are going to direct guests through these areas, they should finish them off.
-Had to call maintenance to clean the grounds around our patio. We only saw a couple, but when the man came back inside, he had like 9 or 10 empty Smirnoff mini-bottles that he'd gathered from the shrubbery. Nice.
-It's such a shame really, because I usually love the Yacht club, but this experience kind of stunned me. Definitely not what I've come to expect. HOWEVER.... The new rooms are really pretty. Mickey yacht-club lamps and hidden mickeys on the bedspreads and mirrors and hall carpets. Pretty and fun and still really elegant with all the rich blues and golds.
OH - I got to be in the Backlot pre-show. I was the mechanic. With 8000 gallons of water dumped on me. Fortunately I knew what was coming so I cinched my hood real tight. It was fun and I stayed dry.
FANTASMIC tip - 10 minutes before the show, if there are seats left, they open up the right section (where the dinner-package people sit). So, if you're in standing-room section, or otherwise don't like your seat or don't want to blow an hour of park time waiting, just hang around at the theater entrance and wait for cast members to direct traffic that way to fill in the seats, jump on over there and you'll be set. The only thing you don't have a good view of from there is John Smith during the love-song in the Pocahontas part.
I guess that's it - I'm sure that's enough - are you still reading??? LOL. Happy to answer any questions...
-Tara
Sorry if this has been posted - but WOW - MK has this cool new opening thing - get there before 9am and don't enter the turnstyles, just hang out in front of the big "100 Years" logo so that you can see the upper platform of the train station - Main Street cast members do a big song and dance number and then all the characters arrive on the train!!! It's so cool! I'd estimate around 20 characters including Mickey who does a countdown to opening. It's so fun!!! Definitely get there early to see it, but like I said, wait before entering the turnstyles so you'll get a good view.
As all of you have been reporting, the characters are truly everywhere. It really makes the parks festive - but especially at the Magic Kingdom.
The alligator is still in the Frontierland river. He's so cute and little. I hope they let him hang out a while longer. He really just hangs out and doesn't bother anyone.
Cool new stuff from this trip:
- ate at Liberty Tree tavern for lunch - great meal, reasonable prices. So nice to sit down midday at MK and relax. Everything was really good.
- rode Goofy's Barnstormer and Indy raceway - fun!!! Found out that Toontown is open during the Halloween party, even though I've seen it reported that it is closed. Lots of trick-or-treat stations there too.
- rode Jungle Cruise at night - very cool - if you're going to be at MK in the dark, save Jungle Cruise for that time of day, because it's much spookier then.
-ate at Cantina at Mexico in Epcot - yummy.
-Watched Illuminations from 'secret park' behind Rose & Crown and also watched from Future World in the 'sit-down' section - both were cool. It's neat to watch from different places - I usually watch from Italy, but now, I think I'll move around more - you get to see different things when the Earth spins if you watch from new locations. I thoroughly recommend it.
-NEVER TRUST THE WEATHERMEN!!! They don't know. Truly. They said it would be a clear and beautiful night on Friday - but at the MNSSHP, it POURED!!!! And lots of people with no umbrellas or ponchos. We went as mouseketeers and our shirts were ruined - the ink all ran. We were a pitiful soggy mess. Thank goodness it didn't start until the 2nd parade was ending, but still, it was only 11pm. We ran to HM and rode, and then one last ride on Peter Pan, just trying to stay dry. But it was a long wet run from the castle to Casey's. Other than that, the party was great - they were giving everyone wristbands when I arrived at 7:10. We got lots of candy too - yum. Fun to trick-or-treat when you're an adult.
-Did House of the future and the surround sound presentation in Innoventions - both were really neat, I'd recommend it to anyone who needs something new and different to see in Future World.
-Spent an evening on the Boardwalk and watched all the street performers. Rented a surrey bike. Ate Boardwalk Pizza - I know a lot of you guys don't like it but I think that pizza is awesome - spicy sauce - yum. Toured the art gallery at the BWI. What a fun night.
-Pass ran out on Saturday so spent Sunday playing minigolf. Played all the courses - favorite was the kiddie course at Fantasia gardens - it's easy, but really fun and you get to listen to classical music from Fantasia while you play. Grass course is hard!! Lucky if you get a 4. Challenging but fun in a whole different way.
-Ate lunch at All-Star-Cafe at Wide World of Sports complex on Sunday. Fun!!!! Cheered on the Atlanta Falcons.
Not so cool stuff:
-Gina checked us in at the Yacht club. Grumpy grumpy grumpy. If you see her name as you check in, say - 'Nevermind' and play it off like you forgot something - hopefully you'll get a "Happy" dwarf instead when you try again. If you are a mid-day naptaker and are checking into a hotel that is renovating, request to be away from the renovation area. We couldn't nap on our off-day because they were literally hammering right over our heads. Plus, we were right next to the ice machine, so it was noisy. Unfortunately, we were all unpacked and had been there for 2 days before we took an off-day, and by that time, decided to just stay, because we didn't want to re-pack.
-Stormalong Bay - okay, but I can't see where it's that much cooler than the other resort pools. It looks neat, but still, it's just water, and they charge you to rent a tube! Sorry - I just never imagined you'd be paying $200/night and then they wouldn't have tubes just available for you at the pool to use in the 'lazy river' thing. I thought that was particularly bad.
-Unfinished stairwells. This is my newest pet-peeve. Here we're at this beautiful hotel, newly refurbished with a room on the first floor. We follow signs to the exit and quiet pool, and have to shuffle through a dirty paint-chipping non-themed nasty stairwell hallway to get outside. If they are going to direct guests through these areas, they should finish them off.
-Had to call maintenance to clean the grounds around our patio. We only saw a couple, but when the man came back inside, he had like 9 or 10 empty Smirnoff mini-bottles that he'd gathered from the shrubbery. Nice.
-It's such a shame really, because I usually love the Yacht club, but this experience kind of stunned me. Definitely not what I've come to expect. HOWEVER.... The new rooms are really pretty. Mickey yacht-club lamps and hidden mickeys on the bedspreads and mirrors and hall carpets. Pretty and fun and still really elegant with all the rich blues and golds.
OH - I got to be in the Backlot pre-show. I was the mechanic. With 8000 gallons of water dumped on me. Fortunately I knew what was coming so I cinched my hood real tight. It was fun and I stayed dry.
FANTASMIC tip - 10 minutes before the show, if there are seats left, they open up the right section (where the dinner-package people sit). So, if you're in standing-room section, or otherwise don't like your seat or don't want to blow an hour of park time waiting, just hang around at the theater entrance and wait for cast members to direct traffic that way to fill in the seats, jump on over there and you'll be set. The only thing you don't have a good view of from there is John Smith during the love-song in the Pocahontas part.
I guess that's it - I'm sure that's enough - are you still reading??? LOL. Happy to answer any questions...
-Tara
