Just back and wanted to report how our trip went with everyone. The resorts were beautiful and the service was perfect (stayed at Grand Floridian and Yacht Club) for 7 nights total. Friendly and fast check in and nice CM's all around.
But, on to the parks, magic bands, fast pass+....
We were there from 11/30-12/7 and I was under the impression that it was a slower time of year to go - well, it wasn't crazy busy, but certainly not slow. I am under the impression now that there is no slow time of year anymore.
We did two MVMCP's - one for characters and another for the parade, fireworks and rides. Well, both parties were sold out and it took a long time to meet the characters we wanted to see. On 11/30 we met Sandy Claws, Scrooge Mcduck, Minnie Mouse, and Santa Goofy. Then line for Jack was surprisingly not bad - we waited about 20 minutes but meeting all of the characters I listed took a while and a huge chunk out of the night. No time for the princesses with their princes or the Dwarfs. We saw the parade once this night but that was it. No fireworks/castle lighting. The park seemed very busy in general. We did another party on 12/4 which was also busy but we got in line for the Dwarfs at 5:50 and they came out at 7. We were 5th in line though so that worked out well. the only other characters we met this night were Aurora and Prince Phillip (my favorite Disney couple - I was so excited!). I told them they were my favorite and they held each other real close and said they'd been together for many years
. Aurora said I was probably a great dragon slayer and and they were just so fun to talk to - it was short but magical. I also met Snow White and her prince as it was basically the same line. I was still so excited about Aurora and Phillip that I don't remember much about Snow White and her prince. No time to see the castle lighting show though but we did get a decent spot to watch the first parade. The floats that went by this night didn't have the great smells that they did the first party night and the ice skaters were missing. Looking back at both parties we hardly had time for any rides but the wait times were minimal. There's just no way to do all of the holiday activities in one night if you are planning on leaving Main Street and going on rides/meeting characters. We had two nights and couldn't go more than a handful of rides between both nights.
We followed our fast pass plus reservations but ended up skipping some. At times I almost forgot about some of them because if I wasn't looking at my schedule/phone constantly. You assume the big rides will have waits but if they don't you basically end up wasting a fast pass and then the rides that happen to be busy that day have LONG waits - you can't judge it for yourself the day you are there like before. It is true that rides that used to be walk on / or almost walk on have longer lines. I also noticed that the wait times were quite inaccurate - 30-45 minutes could mean 15-20.
I know there have been some complaints about poor CM's in the parks but luckily we didn't encounter any that were bad. Most were friendly, enthusiastic, smiling and waving constantly and I was quite pleased with the experience. I love when ride operators wave when you take off (or sprinkle pixie dust on you while getting on Peter Pan's flight) - just extra magic. I always make sure to say thank you to the bus drivers/boat drivers and smile as well and it seems that they really appreciate the gesture.
Most of our food was OK but Be Our guest was over the top magical! Excellent service, food, the inside was decorated for Christmas, our waiter was awesome and the hostess who showed us to our seats greeted us with Lumiere in hand and welcomed us to the castle. Our interaction with the beast was excellent and he spend quite a bit of time with me as I had a Beast pin on my shirt.
Memory Maker - Totally worth it! Lots of excellent photos from the photographers and the videos are fun (but they are more special effects than video from the actual ride (TOT and SDMT).
I was able to meet Hiro and Baymax - Baymax is AMAZING in person. Just watching him walk to his meet and greet spot was worth the wait!
There was lots of stuff that I didn't get to do though - some rides I never made it on and there were some stores that I never was able to stop in. We were there for a long time but I think it all had to do with Fast Pass + and the extra Christmas sights going on that kept us from some of our favorites. There's always next time though.
A couple of glitches with our magic bands - a couple of times I couldn't use it to buy an item (computer would say guest has no charging abilities) - Took care of it at the front desk though and they said it was turned off by accident. We were able to pick up our package tickets a day early though - we waited in line at MK guest services for about 30 minutes to do it though.
Magical Express was efficient and no problems at all.
I definitely still think there's magic in Disney World and I was pleased with the experience. A few things could have been better - but that boils down to crowds and I just don't think you can predict how bad they are going to be. We went from December 19th-26 a couple of years ago and did everything though, more than once...that makes me wonder what happened!
But, on to the parks, magic bands, fast pass+....
We were there from 11/30-12/7 and I was under the impression that it was a slower time of year to go - well, it wasn't crazy busy, but certainly not slow. I am under the impression now that there is no slow time of year anymore.
We did two MVMCP's - one for characters and another for the parade, fireworks and rides. Well, both parties were sold out and it took a long time to meet the characters we wanted to see. On 11/30 we met Sandy Claws, Scrooge Mcduck, Minnie Mouse, and Santa Goofy. Then line for Jack was surprisingly not bad - we waited about 20 minutes but meeting all of the characters I listed took a while and a huge chunk out of the night. No time for the princesses with their princes or the Dwarfs. We saw the parade once this night but that was it. No fireworks/castle lighting. The park seemed very busy in general. We did another party on 12/4 which was also busy but we got in line for the Dwarfs at 5:50 and they came out at 7. We were 5th in line though so that worked out well. the only other characters we met this night were Aurora and Prince Phillip (my favorite Disney couple - I was so excited!). I told them they were my favorite and they held each other real close and said they'd been together for many years
. Aurora said I was probably a great dragon slayer and and they were just so fun to talk to - it was short but magical. I also met Snow White and her prince as it was basically the same line. I was still so excited about Aurora and Phillip that I don't remember much about Snow White and her prince. No time to see the castle lighting show though but we did get a decent spot to watch the first parade. The floats that went by this night didn't have the great smells that they did the first party night and the ice skaters were missing. Looking back at both parties we hardly had time for any rides but the wait times were minimal. There's just no way to do all of the holiday activities in one night if you are planning on leaving Main Street and going on rides/meeting characters. We had two nights and couldn't go more than a handful of rides between both nights. We followed our fast pass plus reservations but ended up skipping some. At times I almost forgot about some of them because if I wasn't looking at my schedule/phone constantly. You assume the big rides will have waits but if they don't you basically end up wasting a fast pass and then the rides that happen to be busy that day have LONG waits - you can't judge it for yourself the day you are there like before. It is true that rides that used to be walk on / or almost walk on have longer lines. I also noticed that the wait times were quite inaccurate - 30-45 minutes could mean 15-20.
I know there have been some complaints about poor CM's in the parks but luckily we didn't encounter any that were bad. Most were friendly, enthusiastic, smiling and waving constantly and I was quite pleased with the experience. I love when ride operators wave when you take off (or sprinkle pixie dust on you while getting on Peter Pan's flight) - just extra magic. I always make sure to say thank you to the bus drivers/boat drivers and smile as well and it seems that they really appreciate the gesture.
Most of our food was OK but Be Our guest was over the top magical! Excellent service, food, the inside was decorated for Christmas, our waiter was awesome and the hostess who showed us to our seats greeted us with Lumiere in hand and welcomed us to the castle. Our interaction with the beast was excellent and he spend quite a bit of time with me as I had a Beast pin on my shirt.
Memory Maker - Totally worth it! Lots of excellent photos from the photographers and the videos are fun (but they are more special effects than video from the actual ride (TOT and SDMT).
I was able to meet Hiro and Baymax - Baymax is AMAZING in person. Just watching him walk to his meet and greet spot was worth the wait!
There was lots of stuff that I didn't get to do though - some rides I never made it on and there were some stores that I never was able to stop in. We were there for a long time but I think it all had to do with Fast Pass + and the extra Christmas sights going on that kept us from some of our favorites. There's always next time though.
A couple of glitches with our magic bands - a couple of times I couldn't use it to buy an item (computer would say guest has no charging abilities) - Took care of it at the front desk though and they said it was turned off by accident. We were able to pick up our package tickets a day early though - we waited in line at MK guest services for about 30 minutes to do it though.
Magical Express was efficient and no problems at all.
I definitely still think there's magic in Disney World and I was pleased with the experience. A few things could have been better - but that boils down to crowds and I just don't think you can predict how bad they are going to be. We went from December 19th-26 a couple of years ago and did everything though, more than once...that makes me wonder what happened!
