Just returned home this morning after an 8 day trip to WDW... it was in the mid-70's this morning when we left Orlando (around 7am) and it was in the upper 30's when we returned to Nashville... yikes!
a little bit about our family - we are seasoned Disney visitors, making yearly trips since 1998. We've stayed onsite and off, at a variety of resorts. We don't usually eat many sit down meals, we'd rather spend our time and money on other things
here's a couple of notes about our October 5-13 trip:
crowds: the crowds were interesting. there were definitely lots of people around, resorts and parks were busy... but we didn't encounter many long waits. Our shortest waits were on October 5 & 6 (Thursday and Friday). We went to Epcot on October 5 (in the evening) and the Magic Kingdom on Friday morning and did the evening EMH at the Animal Kingdom.
Crowds were BIG at Epcot on Saturday - from what we experienced and what cast members told us. We had a 10:30am breakfast with Sleeping Beauty and got the heck out of there, LOL....
After the Columbus Day weekend, things leveled off to a moderate level. As I mentioned, there were plenty of people around, but the waits weren't awful, considering.
weather: beautiful, fantastic, spectacular. There was a huge thunderstorm north of WDW Saturday night, with amazing lightning... and it sprinkled yesterday, but other than that? perfection.
MNSSHP (October 10, Tuesday): This was our fifth Not So Scary Halloween Party.... I was up-to-date on all the concerns about crowd control before we left. I saw 2 families in the park right after 7pm without wristbands, and they were politely and firmly asked to leave. Our wristbands were in plain sight, so we weren't really asked to show them throughout the night. We got a LOT of candy, the cast members were especially generous when they saw my youngest DD sound asleep in the stroller, LOL. Loved the parade and the fireworks.
I have to say that we were disappointed in the 7:00pm start time, right after the park closing. Not because the day guests were leaving.... that was handled well, I think. But it seemed to us that there might not have been as many decorations (no luminaries around the flag pole, for example) and the anticipation of the party starting wasn't quite as high. When it was 7:00, the party just started. Having said that, there might have been some announcement on Main Street and we didn't hear it... we were in Toontown at 7:00pm for face painting.
As far as I know, the party was not sold out. The crowds were moderate... seemed to be the worst from 8-11. The first and last hour were much lighter. Toontown was a mess most of the night, as was the lines to see Pooh & friends and Cinderella's carriage.
Transportation: fantastic. buses everywhere this week.
we rented a car, and for those that track what's available on National's Emerald Aisle? We arrived at MCO around 4:00 on October 5, there were NO intermediate or full-size cars on the Aisle. none. zilch. we were given a premium car to drive instead
other guests: going to Disney World is a fantastic sociology experiment.... we witnessed some of the kindest and rudest people I've ever seen this week. People never cease to amaze me on both ends of the spectrum.
the year of a million dreams: we didn't win any prizes, but saw many people with pin lanyards, dream fastpasses, and mouse ears. I "think" someone might have won something kind of big yesterday at the Magic Kingdom, we saw a group approached by the Dream Squad, accompanied by a fim crew. Not sure what that was about at all... could have been a commercial? I don't know. While talking to a couple of cast members, I learned that people are already stalking the Dream Squad in the parks and complaining about not winning prizes
Enthusiasm seems to be high among much of the cast for this promotion, which is nice. My middle son and daughter were each awarded a Magical Moments certificate on 2 separate occasions and the cast members were awesome
That's about all - I'll be happy to answer any questions!
a little bit about our family - we are seasoned Disney visitors, making yearly trips since 1998. We've stayed onsite and off, at a variety of resorts. We don't usually eat many sit down meals, we'd rather spend our time and money on other things
here's a couple of notes about our October 5-13 trip:
crowds: the crowds were interesting. there were definitely lots of people around, resorts and parks were busy... but we didn't encounter many long waits. Our shortest waits were on October 5 & 6 (Thursday and Friday). We went to Epcot on October 5 (in the evening) and the Magic Kingdom on Friday morning and did the evening EMH at the Animal Kingdom.
Crowds were BIG at Epcot on Saturday - from what we experienced and what cast members told us. We had a 10:30am breakfast with Sleeping Beauty and got the heck out of there, LOL....
After the Columbus Day weekend, things leveled off to a moderate level. As I mentioned, there were plenty of people around, but the waits weren't awful, considering.
weather: beautiful, fantastic, spectacular. There was a huge thunderstorm north of WDW Saturday night, with amazing lightning... and it sprinkled yesterday, but other than that? perfection.
MNSSHP (October 10, Tuesday): This was our fifth Not So Scary Halloween Party.... I was up-to-date on all the concerns about crowd control before we left. I saw 2 families in the park right after 7pm without wristbands, and they were politely and firmly asked to leave. Our wristbands were in plain sight, so we weren't really asked to show them throughout the night. We got a LOT of candy, the cast members were especially generous when they saw my youngest DD sound asleep in the stroller, LOL. Loved the parade and the fireworks.
I have to say that we were disappointed in the 7:00pm start time, right after the park closing. Not because the day guests were leaving.... that was handled well, I think. But it seemed to us that there might not have been as many decorations (no luminaries around the flag pole, for example) and the anticipation of the party starting wasn't quite as high. When it was 7:00, the party just started. Having said that, there might have been some announcement on Main Street and we didn't hear it... we were in Toontown at 7:00pm for face painting.
As far as I know, the party was not sold out. The crowds were moderate... seemed to be the worst from 8-11. The first and last hour were much lighter. Toontown was a mess most of the night, as was the lines to see Pooh & friends and Cinderella's carriage.
Transportation: fantastic. buses everywhere this week.
we rented a car, and for those that track what's available on National's Emerald Aisle? We arrived at MCO around 4:00 on October 5, there were NO intermediate or full-size cars on the Aisle. none. zilch. we were given a premium car to drive instead
other guests: going to Disney World is a fantastic sociology experiment.... we witnessed some of the kindest and rudest people I've ever seen this week. People never cease to amaze me on both ends of the spectrum.
the year of a million dreams: we didn't win any prizes, but saw many people with pin lanyards, dream fastpasses, and mouse ears. I "think" someone might have won something kind of big yesterday at the Magic Kingdom, we saw a group approached by the Dream Squad, accompanied by a fim crew. Not sure what that was about at all... could have been a commercial? I don't know. While talking to a couple of cast members, I learned that people are already stalking the Dream Squad in the parks and complaining about not winning prizes
Enthusiasm seems to be high among much of the cast for this promotion, which is nice. My middle son and daughter were each awarded a Magical Moments certificate on 2 separate occasions and the cast members were awesome That's about all - I'll be happy to answer any questions!
happen naturally!
