We just got back (Nov 16-22) and spent 5 days in the parks. We had a fabulous time. Here are some observations:
Crowd size: The crowds were extremely light, especially at the beginning of the week. The longest we waited for any attraction was 20 minutes--the Backlot Tour at the Studios.
Attractions: Mission: Space is mindboggling. It definitely is not the "screaming" type of attraction which Disney depicts in their promotion material. I never heard anyone scream. You sit through the ride with a sense of quiet awe because it seems so real. When you leave, you might be a little bit disoriented and wobbly, especially the first few times of riding. However, if any of you read Jennifer Watson's (of Passporter) review of this ride a couple of months ago in her newsletter, that was exactly my experience. I detected the spinning immediately. The best way for me to describe how I felt is that my eyeballs felt like they were spinning in my head. The screen in front of me blurred, and the first time on the ride, my eyes began tearing. I didn't think I was going to make it. A friend who rode this with me didn't feel the spinning at all--just the G-forces. The good news was that I only felt this way during the opening launch (where you are spinning the fastest, I'm sure.) I'm not sure if this matters, but the first time I was the Engineer, who sits on the outside. The second time, I was the Pilot, who sits second from the inside. I seemed to feel it more when I sat further over to the right. That being said, it's an incredible attraction, which I would definitely brave again.
We saw every major attraction at Epcot, our favorite park. Reflections of China was not as good in our opinion as the first movie, Wonders of China. It used to be my DW's favorite attraction. She still enjoys the new one, but not as much. They shortened it, and now pay more attention to the cities than to the spectacular countryside. We understood that they made the new film to feature the cities of Macao and Hong Kong; this is understandable. One last caveat: they use the same Chinese poet as the first movie used (recycling old footage) but with a new voice. Therefore, if you are very familiar with the first movie, you can see the original actor's lips do not always match the new voice being used.
Journey into Imagination with Figment is so much better than the last version, but still not up to par with the original. We miss Dreamfinder!! Who cares if the ride and the movie don't exactly match up? I give the original JII an 8 (1-10). The second version was about a 1.5. The new version is about a 6. But it was sure nice to be humming "One Little Spark" again!
Mickey's Philharmagic was fantastic. It's a 3-D masterpiece that will really go over big with children. There are no scary effects. We loved the big screen. Actually, as good as this movie is, I would still rate it last of the 4 3-D movies simply because we love the "scary" effects. But it is a must-see.
As usual, ToT and RRC were mind-blowing. The Backlot tour seemed quite a bit shorter because of all the construction going on to get ready for the new stunt show.
Animal Kingdom is our second favorite park after Epcot. We had a blast there as well on this trip. One thing we wouldn't do again: Rafiki's Planet Watch. I can see why this would be great with kids. But I wish Conservation Station had been built closer to the rest of the park without the train. Don't get me wrong, I love the train. It was very detailed. But we waited about 15 minutes to get on the train and another 15 minutes to get back. Altogether, we used almost an hour of an already short touring day at AK to see this mediocre attraction. Safari was great (both times). Didn't ride Kali because it was very cool the day we were there. We rode Dinosaur for the first time. It was OK, but not my favorite thrill attraction.
Overall impressions: It's hard to have a bad time at WDW. Epcot still remains our favorite park. Lately, our favorite memories seem to be the live entertainment in that park. In my opinion, visitors who breeze past these talented CMs are really missing a major part of the Epcot experience: the Japanese drummers, Mariachi Cobre (in Mexico), Off-Kilter (whose sounds we could hear clear over at Japan (before the drummers started banging), British Invasion, the Living Statues, the French mimes (yeah, yeah...I know what they say about mimes, but these guys are FUNNY). This vacation is over...now we've just got to figure out when we're going again...
Crowd size: The crowds were extremely light, especially at the beginning of the week. The longest we waited for any attraction was 20 minutes--the Backlot Tour at the Studios.
Attractions: Mission: Space is mindboggling. It definitely is not the "screaming" type of attraction which Disney depicts in their promotion material. I never heard anyone scream. You sit through the ride with a sense of quiet awe because it seems so real. When you leave, you might be a little bit disoriented and wobbly, especially the first few times of riding. However, if any of you read Jennifer Watson's (of Passporter) review of this ride a couple of months ago in her newsletter, that was exactly my experience. I detected the spinning immediately. The best way for me to describe how I felt is that my eyeballs felt like they were spinning in my head. The screen in front of me blurred, and the first time on the ride, my eyes began tearing. I didn't think I was going to make it. A friend who rode this with me didn't feel the spinning at all--just the G-forces. The good news was that I only felt this way during the opening launch (where you are spinning the fastest, I'm sure.) I'm not sure if this matters, but the first time I was the Engineer, who sits on the outside. The second time, I was the Pilot, who sits second from the inside. I seemed to feel it more when I sat further over to the right. That being said, it's an incredible attraction, which I would definitely brave again.
We saw every major attraction at Epcot, our favorite park. Reflections of China was not as good in our opinion as the first movie, Wonders of China. It used to be my DW's favorite attraction. She still enjoys the new one, but not as much. They shortened it, and now pay more attention to the cities than to the spectacular countryside. We understood that they made the new film to feature the cities of Macao and Hong Kong; this is understandable. One last caveat: they use the same Chinese poet as the first movie used (recycling old footage) but with a new voice. Therefore, if you are very familiar with the first movie, you can see the original actor's lips do not always match the new voice being used.
Journey into Imagination with Figment is so much better than the last version, but still not up to par with the original. We miss Dreamfinder!! Who cares if the ride and the movie don't exactly match up? I give the original JII an 8 (1-10). The second version was about a 1.5. The new version is about a 6. But it was sure nice to be humming "One Little Spark" again!
Mickey's Philharmagic was fantastic. It's a 3-D masterpiece that will really go over big with children. There are no scary effects. We loved the big screen. Actually, as good as this movie is, I would still rate it last of the 4 3-D movies simply because we love the "scary" effects. But it is a must-see.
As usual, ToT and RRC were mind-blowing. The Backlot tour seemed quite a bit shorter because of all the construction going on to get ready for the new stunt show.
Animal Kingdom is our second favorite park after Epcot. We had a blast there as well on this trip. One thing we wouldn't do again: Rafiki's Planet Watch. I can see why this would be great with kids. But I wish Conservation Station had been built closer to the rest of the park without the train. Don't get me wrong, I love the train. It was very detailed. But we waited about 15 minutes to get on the train and another 15 minutes to get back. Altogether, we used almost an hour of an already short touring day at AK to see this mediocre attraction. Safari was great (both times). Didn't ride Kali because it was very cool the day we were there. We rode Dinosaur for the first time. It was OK, but not my favorite thrill attraction.
Overall impressions: It's hard to have a bad time at WDW. Epcot still remains our favorite park. Lately, our favorite memories seem to be the live entertainment in that park. In my opinion, visitors who breeze past these talented CMs are really missing a major part of the Epcot experience: the Japanese drummers, Mariachi Cobre (in Mexico), Off-Kilter (whose sounds we could hear clear over at Japan (before the drummers started banging), British Invasion, the Living Statues, the French mimes (yeah, yeah...I know what they say about mimes, but these guys are FUNNY). This vacation is over...now we've just got to figure out when we're going again...
