Just back - many new experiences!

[SnackyStacky]

Got back last night from a wonderful 10 night stay.

First 5 nights at the Beach Club, last 5 nights at the Polynesian. I'll post my opinions of those on the resorts board. I'll stick to Theme Park and recreation stuff on this post.

September 13 - 18: (Beach Club)

Weather: GORGEOUS. Typical Florida showers, and heat, but I expected that when I booked. If I hadn't been having a showdown with the Weather Channel watching Ivan, I'd have never known a hurricane was on the horizon.

Crowds: Low. Nobody. Deader than dead. Everyone must have rescheduled because of Ivan, because from the 13th to the 18th, NOBODY was there. We'll get to the 18th and onward a bit later. We saw SpectroMagic on the 14th, and had GREAT seats in Frontierland.

September 18 - 23: (Polynesian)

Weather: See above. It was pretty much the same. Not a drop of rain on either Saturday or Sunday.

Crowds: EVERYONE who had re-scheduled because of Charley and Frances (and Ivan for that matter) must have come down starting on the 18th, because the crowds picked up considerably. Nothing was a walk-on, but nothing was a ridiculous wait either. The Fantasyland rides had, as always, lengthy lines, but with Fastpass, we did everything we wanted without waiting at all.

Stuff that's been around that WE did for the first time:

Keys to the Kingdom: LOVED it! 5 hours of walking seemed to just fly by. We got to ride Pirates and Mansion. We skipped the few people that were waiting for Mansion, but there was NO line for Pirates, so we just waited for that one. If you want more details, I can give them, but I really don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Illuminations Cruise: We had initially cancelled because of Ivan, but the Yacht & Beach Club recreation department called me and told me they were expecting beautiful weather, and they reinstated my reservation. Let this be a lesson to ALL of you that if you want an Illuminations Cruise, call the night before! You never know what's going to happen. There was a LOT of confusion between 407-WDW-PLAY, the Yacht & Beach Club Recreation Department, and my Dreams agent. As it turned out, there was a spot besides mine that was still available.

We also tried Disney Resorts, and Disney restaurants for the first time, but I'll post about those on the appropriate forums.

Walt: One Man's Dream: What a neat exhibit! I LOVED all of the recreations and especially his office! The film was a little blah for me - just cause it pretty much was the same thing that's on the Walt biography DVD. And I didn't like the crowd control. I don't know why they exited the film back INTO the exhibit. But really fascinating nonetheless!

Stuff that's relatively new:

Mission Space: What's with the hype? Nausea issues aside (which I'll get to in a minute), it really felt like just another simulator to me. Yes - there were some G Forces, but it really felt like just another simulator to me. Nausea? None for me! I had to stop spinning the tea cups cause I can't handle that feeling, but I didn't walk off feeling even a LITTLE woozy. Lisa, my wife, on the other hand - a slight dizziness. No, she didn't feel like she would throw up, it just took her a moment to regain some balance. We both agreed that once was probably enough.

Wishes: WOW! I love it. We each wrote our vows for one another, and didn't tell each other. So when Lisa said "Like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through," although I just smiled, and didn't get emotional at the wedding, whenever I hear those words, it gets me all misty. So Wishes is now very special to me - just because of that ending.

 

[mrsmom]

Great report!
Thank you.
Kim

 

[ugadog99]

Welcome Back! Great report. I'll be looking for your other reviews on the other boards.

 

[CamColt]

Thanks for all the details, Dan! Sounds like a wonderful time.
You have me all misty eyed with Lisas vows. Wow! She did good.

One thing I had to laugh about was that you were let back into the exhibit at OMD. When we did it, after the film we were sent outside. We hadnt finished looking through the exhibit so we went back in again. I wonder if they had lots of people doing this and changed the procedure?

I look forward to your Restaurant & Resort reviews too.

 

[disneysteve]

Originally posted by SnackyStacky
Mission Space: What's with the hype? it really felt like just another simulator to me. Yes - there were some G Forces, but it really felt like just another simulator to me. Nausea? None for me! We both agreed that once was probably enough.

Thank you for posting. I've been saying exactly the same thing since last year. I think this ride is terribly over-hyped. It is no big deal. I think Star Tours is a much better simulator and gives the rider a much greater feeling of moving. They give so many warnings that they scare off people who would really enjoy the ride.

 

[bjakmom]

Sounds like you got sprinkled with lots of pixie dust, Dan! - I loved reading about it. One of the (many!) things I love about WDW is that there is always something 'new' to experience - along with doing our old favorites, it really keeps the magic and excitement alive for us ! - watching for your reviews.

 

[Kaycee]

Thanks for the great report - it sounds like you had a fantastic time! I'm looking forward to reading your reviews on the other boards too.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for the review. We saw WISHS for the first time last December and it was awesome. We can't wait till this December to see them again.

 

[ncbyrne]

I'm on my way down again in Nov. What is Wishes?

 

[RoLaren]

One thing I had to laugh about was that you were let back into the exhibit at OMD. When we did it, after the film we were sent outside. We hadnt finished looking through the exhibit so we went back in again. I wonder if they had lots of people doing this and changed the procedure?

That happened to us too! We wanted to look at more of the models and somehow it turned out we never made it back in around the front again. They must have changed that since last year!