Just back - newbie's impressions

[SuzaBanana]

After a 19 year hiatus, I just got back from a week-long trip with DH, DD7 and DD4 (none of whom have ever been) and I wanted to give a HUGE and for all of the expert advice and guidance I've received during my planning process! Without this board we would have been totally lost!

Generally, my impressions are:

1. Parks are crowded! We were there 4/18-21 which were labeled as level 5 on the crowd calendars. I can't imagine what a level 10 is!
2. Food was better than expected at: the Wave, Sanaa, Tusker House and Kona Cafe (we are definitely foodies). Food was mediocre to poor at: 1900 Park Fare, Garden Grill, La Hacienda de San Angel, Columbia Harbor House, Flame Tree and BOG. We paid OOP and prices were slightly above what we would pay in Boston but not by much.
3. PPO ADR is worth it's weight in gold! Soooo glad I learned about that here! Our kids are early risers so it made the choice an easy one to book ahead and get an early start on the lines.
4. Staying off-site was a no-brainer. There's no way I would be able to justify staying on-site unless it were free.
5. Dining plan would never be worth it for us. We eat too little. Even then, I ate more than I should have!
6. Loved our non-park days as much as - if not more so - our park days.
7. FP was new for me (used to the 90s and just waiting...) and easy to use, but we never bothered for a 4th on any day in the parks.
8. AK was our favorite park, favorite food and we needed WAY more than 1 day there. Could have easily spent 3 days there!
9. Posted wait times in MK were generally inflated by 10-15 mins both mornings we were there. We had FP for the afternoon, so I can't comment there.
10. Character interaction was cute, but far faster and more scripted than I remember as a kid. My kids loved it, but I was a little let down.

Happy to post a full trip report if others are interested, but didn't want to bore everyone

As someone who has been a dozen times as a kid and never as an adult, it was one-and-done for us. Not much to bring us back any time soon unless we happen to be in Orlando already and have time to kill. Even then, I'd probably just explore all the different resorts that have popped up in the last 20 years rather than go to the parks.

 

[a742246]

Glad you had a great time! I agree with you on non-park days can be great fun!

 

[Sevey13]

Glad you had fun! Question about #4. Did you stay on-site or off-site? If you haven't tried both, how did you come to that conclusion?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Glad you had a good trip! Where did you stay offsite? Sounds like you enjoyed it.

 

[lovethattink]

Glad you had a great time! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

 

[SuzaBanana]

Glad you had fun! Question about #4. Did you stay on-site or off-site? If you haven't tried both, how did you come to that conclusion?

We stayed off-site at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club Tuscany Village. We also spent 1 night at Fort Wilderness because my kids best friends were staying there and they wanted to do a non-park day with them. The Hilton was through an RCI exchange, which was basically free. Even so, comparing the rack-rate of the Hilton versus Fort Wilderness (for our preferences) gave us the same answer. We had no interest in late-night EMH, already had a car, had no interest in waiting for buses etc, and needed a 3 bedroom place to stay with a full kitchen.

Prior to this visit, I have stayed both on-site and off-site as a kid. Always preferred off-site EXCEPT when I was a teen (because I could get around without my parents and get away with things they wouldn't have approved of!). To be clear, I'm not a huge Disney person. Disney-themed stuff is actually a turn-off for me. I much prefer a calm, relaxing place to stay than all-Disney all the time.

 

[DizDaD7]

Looking at her visits, it appears she stayed offsite.....

Unfortunately a lot of the magic gets lost when you stay offsite IMHO.....True You save some money, but as long as you score pins or lurk for different deals, staying onsite really isn't that bad. ( considering all the perks you get ). Offsite shuttles don't run nearly as often as WDW resort buses. You don't get EMH. You don't get early FP+ choices. You can't get DME.. Plus Just that extra Pixie dust when staying at a resort... ( Can't put a price on that)

O.P. Before you write WDW off, I'd try again but staying at a resort onsite if possible, to better guage the feeling you'll have....Now Those days at the Disney Resorts are very rewarding IMHO...

Either route , Hope you'll have fun the next time.

 

[DizDaD7]

Glad you had a great time! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

I'm Thinking She really didn't.....Have a great time that is... Maybe I'm missing something...LoL

 

[lovethattink]

I'm Thinking She really didn't.....Have a great time that is... Maybe I'm missing something...LoL

She said she isn't a Disney person. Looks like a great time to me for someone who isn't excited about the mouse. Wait times were shorter than posted. That's a plus. She enjoyed the dining. That's a plus. The parks are crowded, that's a fact. PPO ADR worked out well, that's a plus. FP+ was easy to use, didn't need a 4th, that's a plus. Loved AK, that's a plus. The only bummer I see was that character interactions weren't up to her expectations.

 

[nancygirl1]

Sounds like a good trip! We have been to Disney many times and really enjoy staying off-site. We like to do other things besides just Disney. We have never had the desire to stay "in the Disney bubble". So I can understand what you're saying. We've loved our Disney time and had some great "non-Disney" times as well.

 

[2Gma]

Character interaction was cute, but far faster and more scripted than I remember as a kid. My kids loved it, but I was a little let down.

As someone who has been a dozen times as a kid and never as an adult, it was one-and-done for us. Not much to bring us back any time soon unless we happen to be in Orlando already and have time to kill. Even then, I'd probably just explore all the different resorts that have popped up in the last 20 years rather than go to the parks.

I agree with a lot of what your impressions/points you made after your first family trip. I, too, felt the character interactions felt a little forced/fake at times. While my kids enjoyed them I kept getting the feeling that we should say hello, snap a pic and move on. Not quite the unique and special experience I thought it would be. But as our kids grew they started interacting more with characters which has made it more fun to participate in.

Don't write off Disney yet! We are more outdoors type people and *thought* we'd be a "one and done" visit as well. Ya know, "did it for the kids." Well not even 2 years later we decided to plan another trip. Then 18 months later another. Our 4th trip is in the planning stages.