I just wanted to speak briefly about my brief trip to DW with my wife and her sister’s family (mom, dad, 3 kids: 14, 14, 4).
Wife and I arrived Thursday night after about a 10 hour drive. We went to DD to do some quick shopping. We wanted to pick up a monorail but EVERY store was out. No one had one in stock. We couldn’t believe it!
We then went and checked into the A-S-Movie-Resort at 9pm and called it a night shortly after.
Friday, 11/20:
We got up at 8pm and went to MK. We couldn’t believe how short the lines were. Longest wait time was 10 minutes. We got to ride Space Mountain a day before the ‘official’ opening. It was OK. Pretty much the same. The interactive games weren’t working.
We met my wife’s sister/family once they arrived at around 2pm and went on about our way with them. We hit BTMRR first with the 4 year old who cried the whole time. After that my wife and I took her nephews with us alone for the rest of the trip. Being around a 4 year old brat who whines to get his way ruins things for you and we didn’t want to be around him, nor did his brothers. We wound up having a great trip together. The younger guys had a blast and helped my wife and I enjoy our trip a bit more. Here’s a picture of us 4.
We rode a few more rides, and then jumped over to HS for a few hours. Waits were minimal. HTH was only 13 minutes at 5pm in the afternoon. RNR was about 10 minutes. Toy Story Mania was extremely cool. Probably one of my favorite rides.
Called it a night around 10pm.
Saturday, 11/21:
Crowds weren’t bad. Probably a bit heavier than the day before, and maybe 6/10 on the crowd level.
We went to Epcot and AK that day.
Waits for Test Track were 35 minutes when we got in line. Waits for Soarin were about an hour so we decided to skip it. Mission Space was 15 minutes for ‘orange’ and 5 for ‘green’. Spaceship Earth was a walk on (keep this in mind) at 3:30 pm.
LOW at Epcot is gone. Sucks!
At least the tree was still there, though.
We jumped over to AK at about 4pm: they closed at 5pm. We rode EE about 5 times in a row without a wait. Couldn’t believe it.
We went back to MK that night for Spectromagic and Fireworks. Crowd wasn’t too bad.
Castle looked AWESOME with the lights hanging from it.
Sunday, 11/22:
The difference a day makes!...
Crowd levels were quite a bit heavier this day. Probably a solid 8/10. Waits were pretty dang long. We only rode rides we had FP for.
MK had EMH that night from 12pm to 3pm and it was NUTS how many people were there. We were still waiting nearly an hour for Buzz’s Spin. SM wait was 150 minutes. BTMRR had started to clear out by 2am, but still was a 30 minute wait!!!
What was really cool, though, was that there was a street cleaner who was making drawings with a brook and his trash collector (filled with water). Picture is below. Was a really neat thing to see.
Monday, 11/23:
Our last full day and it was a complete bust. Crowd levels were horrible.
We went back to Epcot that day to ride Soarin, but by 11am the FP were from 7:15-8:15, and the wait was 130 minutes. Skipped that.
SE was an 80 minute wait!
We went over to HS again and HTH was a 150 minute wait!!! Just 2 days earlier it was a 13 minute wait at the same time of day.
We wound up resort hopping and hit up the Boardwalk, GF, etc to see Christmas Décor. The teenagers thought the Boardwalk was really cool.
Went back to HS to see Osbourne Lights. Was really cool to see.
Tuesday, 11/24:
We left this day. Decided to go back to DD to make sure they didn’t have any Monorails, as EVERY store we looked in did not have one and didn’t know when they’d get any in. One lady said DD might have gotten some new stock in. Sure enough, the toy store at DD had about 30 monorails they had just set out an hour before we got there. So, we managed to get our monorail! WOOT!
Moral of the story?
Thanksgiving week is a no go. From now on, if we go back in November, we will be gone by Sunday of Thanksgiving week. The crowds are just crazy. I couldn’t believe the difference a single day made (Saturday to Sunday).
Some pictures of our vacation:
HS Tree:
AK Tree:
Wife and I arrived Thursday night after about a 10 hour drive. We went to DD to do some quick shopping. We wanted to pick up a monorail but EVERY store was out. No one had one in stock. We couldn’t believe it!
We then went and checked into the A-S-Movie-Resort at 9pm and called it a night shortly after.
Friday, 11/20:
We got up at 8pm and went to MK. We couldn’t believe how short the lines were. Longest wait time was 10 minutes. We got to ride Space Mountain a day before the ‘official’ opening. It was OK. Pretty much the same. The interactive games weren’t working.
We met my wife’s sister/family once they arrived at around 2pm and went on about our way with them. We hit BTMRR first with the 4 year old who cried the whole time. After that my wife and I took her nephews with us alone for the rest of the trip. Being around a 4 year old brat who whines to get his way ruins things for you and we didn’t want to be around him, nor did his brothers. We wound up having a great trip together. The younger guys had a blast and helped my wife and I enjoy our trip a bit more. Here’s a picture of us 4.
We rode a few more rides, and then jumped over to HS for a few hours. Waits were minimal. HTH was only 13 minutes at 5pm in the afternoon. RNR was about 10 minutes. Toy Story Mania was extremely cool. Probably one of my favorite rides.
Called it a night around 10pm.
Saturday, 11/21:
Crowds weren’t bad. Probably a bit heavier than the day before, and maybe 6/10 on the crowd level.
We went to Epcot and AK that day.
Waits for Test Track were 35 minutes when we got in line. Waits for Soarin were about an hour so we decided to skip it. Mission Space was 15 minutes for ‘orange’ and 5 for ‘green’. Spaceship Earth was a walk on (keep this in mind) at 3:30 pm.
LOW at Epcot is gone. Sucks!
At least the tree was still there, though.
We jumped over to AK at about 4pm: they closed at 5pm. We rode EE about 5 times in a row without a wait. Couldn’t believe it.
We went back to MK that night for Spectromagic and Fireworks. Crowd wasn’t too bad.
Castle looked AWESOME with the lights hanging from it.
Sunday, 11/22:
The difference a day makes!...
Crowd levels were quite a bit heavier this day. Probably a solid 8/10. Waits were pretty dang long. We only rode rides we had FP for.
MK had EMH that night from 12pm to 3pm and it was NUTS how many people were there. We were still waiting nearly an hour for Buzz’s Spin. SM wait was 150 minutes. BTMRR had started to clear out by 2am, but still was a 30 minute wait!!!
What was really cool, though, was that there was a street cleaner who was making drawings with a brook and his trash collector (filled with water). Picture is below. Was a really neat thing to see.
Monday, 11/23:
Our last full day and it was a complete bust. Crowd levels were horrible.
We went back to Epcot that day to ride Soarin, but by 11am the FP were from 7:15-8:15, and the wait was 130 minutes. Skipped that.
SE was an 80 minute wait!
We went over to HS again and HTH was a 150 minute wait!!! Just 2 days earlier it was a 13 minute wait at the same time of day.
We wound up resort hopping and hit up the Boardwalk, GF, etc to see Christmas Décor. The teenagers thought the Boardwalk was really cool.
Went back to HS to see Osbourne Lights. Was really cool to see.
Tuesday, 11/24:
We left this day. Decided to go back to DD to make sure they didn’t have any Monorails, as EVERY store we looked in did not have one and didn’t know when they’d get any in. One lady said DD might have gotten some new stock in. Sure enough, the toy store at DD had about 30 monorails they had just set out an hour before we got there. So, we managed to get our monorail! WOOT!
Moral of the story?
Thanksgiving week is a no go. From now on, if we go back in November, we will be gone by Sunday of Thanksgiving week. The crowds are just crazy. I couldn’t believe the difference a single day made (Saturday to Sunday).
Some pictures of our vacation:
HS Tree:
AK Tree:
, guess it was in a galaxy far far away
. Great pictures too.
