Just back this morning

[pigby]

Hello again

Got back to Manchester airport 6.40am ish today and just got up! Still extremely tired - very hectic 2 weeks.

Weather - quite a bit of rain first few days but then it was the usual thunderstorm in the afternoon which cleared up a couple of hours later, in the main.

Crowds - first week seemed quieter - thought it would be the other way round, with the week closest to 4th July being busier. Saw waits of 120 minutes for attractions such as RNRC but the longest we waited was 30 minutes for anything (and that was WITH a fastpass - for Test Track) Used fastpass as much as we could. Can't understand why people wait 2 hours for ANYTHING. MK near Spectro time- absolutle manic. MGM - mixed - see below. Epcot - Most manageable. AK - not bad at all - especially afternoon thunderstorm - walked on everything late in day - but did hear from someone else that they had waited an hour and half for Kali (an EE day)

Early entry - always been at quieter times of year before and this came as a bit of a shock really. For example on our first full day, a Saturday, we went to MGM - got there before 8am and rode RNRC twice, Tot - then at 9am rode Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Millionaire, Star Tours (5 minutes wait at 11.30am - couldn't believe it), had lunch at Backlot and left park just after midday to go back to hotel. Thought that was pretty good going for anytime of year - never mind July. Different scenario just over a week later - Early entry on a Tuesday - same park. Waited ages for a bus and only got in MGM at 8.35am - ToT already had 45 minute waits. All we did in that EE time was to get a fastpass. Thought we'd go over to Great Movie Ride to be first on - not so - already a big queue at 8.45am!- opened at 9.00am and we rode about 15 mins after - not too bad. Queues from then on were enormous and we left park after an early lunch. The two MK EE's we did weren't as bad -crowds more dispersed. I suppose what I'm saying is in July it's better to go for a park on a non EE day - - I had a few meals booked around EE, otherwise I may have done things differently.

Meals - mostly excellent - we did 5 character meals plus quite a few other 'sit downs'

Best Food - Cape May Cafe (closely followed by 'Ohanas)

Best Character Interaction - definitely Chef Mickey

Best Service - also Chef Mickey - big thumbs up to Bob - quiet kinda guy but very courteous and attentive without being OTT.

Worst Service/Biggest disappointment - Mama Melrose (nuff said)

The One that we missed - Donalds Breakfastosauras - booked for an EE day - sorry Donald, we just couldn't get out of our pits - got up at about 11.00am that day.

Most consistent - Liberty Tree - eaten here before and it was really good again - on all categories - service, food and character interaction - so deserves a special mention.

Surprises - how fab the Carousel of Progess is (and how addictive the music) - DD(9) loved it - always been off season and never done before - went on it 3 times. Test Track - didn't care for it much last time - it's grown on me now. How tame Space Mountain is (after the one at Disneyland Paris)

Other disappointments - the vast deterioration in the bus service at AS Movies - have been twice before - but this time - long waits were to be had - just not enough buses for the amount of people - might be a time of the year thing again. CM at check in said at peak times buses ran every 10/15 minutes and 20 minutes outside peak times. Neither was true - endured 40 minutes wait for a bus to AK and heard of an hour wait to MK (this time there were buses but the bus was shared by the other 2 All Stars and was almost full by the time it got to Movies - this happened quite a lot) travelled to other resorts a few times for meals and never encountered any probs with their transportation - would think twice about All Stars next time, solely for this reason.

Also disappointed that we never got to see the parade at AK - it's at 4pm - peak thunderstorm time. Went twice to AK at this time just to see the parade and it was cancelled both times.

Went to FW for the campfire programme - it was a lovely day - not a cloud in the sky when we caught the boat from MK. As we walked (and it IS a walk) from the dock to the campground, could see the clouds building. Bought our marshmallows and had started to roast them, when a CM announced that the singalong and movie had to be cancelled due to a storm approaching. Oh well.

Despite a few moans - had a great holiday!

If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I'll try to start a full trip report in a day or so.

 

[mmiller711]

The busses are the reason ASSp is our fav. out of the 3 AS. It is the first stop!! I suppose when DGS is a little older we will buck up and do Movies but at 19 months he dosen't care yet. Thanks for the info. Glad to hear you had a good time.

 

[BarbaraMB]

We recently returned and found it very crowded and extremely hot. I missed much because of the lack of time (long story - family members not in agreement).

 

[eeyoreforever]

When you are waiting for the bus at All Stars, do people pretty much stay in line so that the first ones there are the first on the bus or is it a free for all where the pushy people get on first and maybe someone who had been waiting the longest doesn't get on at all? I'll be there Monday and have been wondering about this. Thanks.

 

[grinningghost]

Originally posted by eeyoreforever
When you are waiting for the bus at All Stars, do people pretty much stay in line so that the first ones there are the first on the bus or is it a free for all where the pushy people get on first and maybe someone who had been waiting the longest doesn't get on at all? I'll be there Monday and have been wondering about this. Thanks.

I can give you my 2 cents on this. There are all kinds. There are the nice, respectful folks that allow the people that were there ahead of them on first. Then there are the pushy ones that will do whatever they have to just to get on that bus NOW. I recall it being that way no matter where we were waiting to board a bus. Good and bad everywhere.

 

[BarbaraMB]

I didn't come across many rude people and it was crowded. There was some bumping but I don't think it was intentional.

 

[pigby]

Most people were respectful and the lines were pretty organised. There were a few instances where one person stood in line and then when the bus came, their 'large' families would come to join them.

Once at MGM, there were several people who rushed to get on the bus in front of everyone. This was because it had just started to rain very heavily. The bus driver couldn't cope and sent for back up!

 

[ZachnElli]

We just got back on Wed night (very late) and we found it very hot and very crowded. MK EMH is worth it, it's the only one we did, but it was definitely worth it. I was hoping to do more, we rode 3 rides in that hour, but some mornings we only did 4 rides in 3 hours, so EMH worked out pretty good. I'm not planning on going back in July. We'll try another month! LOL!

 

[Beanie]

Thanks for the review, sounds like you had a good time!!

Can I ask what was wrong at Mama Melrose? I am just curious because I have never been there but have heard some good things about it...Thanks!

 

[Muffy]

Welcome back! Thanks for the detailed info on the parks/crowds/weather. Sounds like you had a great time!

 

[pigby]

Beanie

At Mama Melrose we were impressed first of all by the general attractiveness of the restaurant and by the speed by which we were seated. Our server, unfortunately was the most miserable we had ever encountered - he didn't smile once and didn't offer any refills.

The meal itself started off OK with salad and cheese flatbread (my DD shared this with us and did enjoy it). My DH then had a creamy chicken pasta dish which he said was OK but was similar to a frozen tray meal. I had the Fra Diavolo which I had been looking forward to, but didn't like it at all - it had a burnt taste - I expected something spicy. DD had burger (plain of course) and fries followed by vanilla ice cream. We were offered tiramasu which had ice crystals inside it, as though it had been thawed then refrozen - not nice at all. We paid more than at most of the other restaurants (about $85 or so for the three of us) and didn't think it was worth the money and would definitely not return.

We did get a Fantasmic pass - the seats are loctaed on the far right of the auditorium, which we knew anyway, because we have done the package before(at H&V) - the view was fine and the best thing was that you are one of the first out of there at the end - you are ahead of the crowds in the bus line.

 

[crazymomof4]

Originally posted by pigby
Surprises - how fab the Carousel of Progess is (and how addictive the music) - DD(9) loved it - always been off season and never done before - went on it 3 times. .

Oh, I'm so jealous! I love that attraction. It used to be open yr. 'round. We are going in Sept/Oct and I've heard it will close before then.

Sounds like you had a great trip. Thanks for the report.

 

[pigby]

Does anyone know if there is a download of COP on the internet - I would love to have this - can't get that tune out of my head. Sorry to disappoint you Crazymom, but you are right - COP is only due to run until August 15th.

Also had to ring ASMo today - realised that we left our Splash Mountain photo in the room - don't know how we managed this - it's the largest one you can buy! Perhaps it fell down the back of the drawer unit.

Spoke to a nice CM at Lost and Found who confirmed that they had the photo - I tried to pay them to send it through but the CM wouldn't accept any payment and said she would post it to me, which I thought was jolly decent of her.

 

[Beanie]

Thanks, Pigby. That doesn't sound like a very good meal at all! How disappointing!

Thanks for all your reviews, I loved reading them!