Just Back...quick summary

[hezzie]

HI!

We (DH, DD & DS) just returned from a 12 day trip. The crowds were heavier than we encountered last year at this time. We arrived on Mon 9/15 and found the MK to be very crowded. Lines for Dumbo were 25-30 min. During the week most rides were walk on or very little wait. We went to the MK on Sat for Spectro and FITS and found it to be very crowded, but we expected it to be, given Monday's crowds. It rained for 15-20 min in the afternoon, which we hoped would thin out the crowds (no luck!) Crowds did thin out after FITS, so were were able to get a few rides in before heading out before the 2nd Spectro show.

We also got to see Mickey's Philharmagic as AP holders and we loved it. I wish we had gone back in, but the kids wanted to do some more rides. They have some fun effects that differ from the other 3D movies.

Overall, the weather was great! We only had a couple days with showers in the afternoon. It seemed crowded, but most wait times were not too bad. We did do fast pass for test track twice and the wait for Arial's grotto was 40 min (we tried this one several time and each time the wait was 40 min!)

Last year we were there for the return of EE and an increase in characters. Needless to say, we saw characters at every turn. This year we did not find as many characters out and about as last year. However, on our last day we were walking thru EPCOT and on our search for a bathroom came across a number of characters in an area with very few kids around. The CM told us they use this spot as backup for the bus of characters when the weather is questionable. This was a great find and we had most of the characters to ourselves!! A nice little send off for us!

I'll be posting a trip report soon.

 

[staylor]

Sounds great. I cannot wait until we go. I do have a question for you. What time was the second spectro? We are going in Nov. and our dates only list one spectro.
Staci

 

[danny1649]

To your trip report sounds like you had a great trip.Read your post on where you ate so I know you had some great meals.

 

[hezzie]

Hi,

The 2nd Spectro show was at 10pm and was added to the schedule the week before we left. They also added FITS on Wed evenings. Originally, they were only scheduled for Monday and Sat nights.

 

[kilee]

Personally I seem to find MK crowded no more what time of year or day of the week. We have been to WDW when everything seems practically desserted, but MK will be booming still.

We found more characters on our 2/03 trip as opposed to our 2002 trip. I mean like 20 times more characters. We will be taking 9 newbies w/ us in October and I was hoping to still see a lot of them out.

 

[Muffy]

Sounds like you had a great time! welcome back!

 

[KathyFP]

Sounds like it was a wonderful trip. I can't wait! We have a little over a month to go.

 

[slp87]

In what area did you see the characters at Epcot?

 

[CindyAnn]

Glad to hear you had a good trip, hezzie. I share slp87's question. Where is the back-up area in Epcot for characters when the weather is questionable?

 

[dreaminofdisney]

I am also wondering about this back up area.

Please share.

 

[hezzie]

The area is in the west side of Innoventions where the bathrooms are located. I'm not sure what the area is for, but there are tables and chairs, but I did not see a restaurant.

We were headed toward the Land and went in to use the facilities when we came upon them. My DH asked the CM if they are usually there and the CM told him that they use the area when the weather is quetionable instead of the bus in showcase plaza. It was not raining at the time we were there, but the skies were very gray.

It was nice b/c there were only a handful of people and about a dozen characters, so we had plenty of time with each character.

 

[kbuck]

Im glad you had a great trip. I have a question about fastpass. Someone told me today that they heard you had to pay extra to use fastpass. I told them I had not heard this. Do you know or did you use fastpass?

 

[Alice28]

You do NOT have to pay extra to use fastpass at Disney parks. You insert your park pass into the machines and it will give you a return time. I do believe at other theme parks, you have to pay extra, or be staying at their hotels to use their version of fastpass, but not at Disney.