princesscharming
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 28, 2010
- Messages
- 328
Ok, I'm not organized enough for a real trip report, so I'll just make this quick and dirty. I think I'll do something similar on the dining board.
What went well....
1. Pipe cleaners. Can you believe it? I don't who suggested it on here, but I love it. Thank you. My kids really took to them waiting for shows. Waiting in ride lines, not needed. Either the wait was short or the queue was interesting enough.
2. Hand sanitizer. Huh? Well all I can say is after plane rides and touching all kinds of railings and lap bars etc. No one got sick. I was a bit OCD, but getting sick on vacation isn't fun. Bring on the germ blaster!
3. Illuminations. Ok with regard to all the shows, we loved them all. But Illuminations was slightly more relaxing, not as much fighting with the crowds.
4. Fantasmic! We saw this twice. The first time, I kid you not, we got into the 9pm show at 8:50pm. We sat on the very far side, but that was good enough for 8:50pm.
5. Pick a Pearl. This was a special experience with my daughter. We both picked our pearls and got matching pendants. We went around 12:30pm and there was no line.
6. Rapunzel. Actually, I didn't know which column to put this in. The M&G was nice, but the wait??? We were there at rope drop. Well about half way back in the pack. We were last for the second show. (Was it 10:30?) Wow. I wouldn't have stayed, except a nice gal held my space in line. Thank you nice lady!!!
7. Crowds not too bad. Honestly, at times, it seemed crowded, but the "evidence" wasn't there. I mean, we didn't have long waits on the rides. (We did go at RD and used FPs.) Also, boats and buses not too crowded. Only had to stand once. And again, getting into F! 10 min. before the show. Good deal.
8. Liberty Square was a nice place to see the parade. The first time, we had a terrible spot. It was more of a view for Wishes than the parade. But by Liberty Square, you can catch a seat pretty close to show time, in a pinch.
9. Souvies. OK I managed to convince DD5 to forgo the balloon for another souvie. She picked a Minnie doll, and has been sleeping with it, every night. My boys wanted Mickey ears. How can you deny that? (Although I thought they might get better mileage out of an actual toy.) Well we got these patriotic ears in Liberty Square...adorable. OMG, they are so cute on the boys.
10. Photopass. Honestly, I was skeptical. I thought I could take good enough pics. But I preordered the CD, knowing I could cancel if I needed to. It came in so handy. At times DH and I split up. He usually had the camera. With photopass, I didn't sweat it. DD and I just went ahead to meet the characters and had pics taken with the photographers. Also, the borders you can add are really cute. And it was easier to get all of us in the pics, not having to ask a stranger to take our pic. I also found that people respected the photopass photographer's space, better than random guests' space taking pics. If you are planning to do a lot of M&Gs, I'd definitely do it.( But I do have one issue, see below.)
11. Akershus. It was really a nice experience with the princesses. We had Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, and Cindy. It saves so much time too. You don't have to wait in lines or try to track down the princesses for autographs.
12. We stumbled upon Wishes behind the castle. It was really neat. The fireworks were right there. It was a different perspective, and not too crowded. It was louder there. So beware if you have little ones who hate loud sounds.
13. RD worked super well at MK. The other parks, getting there early helped, but it didn't seem to flow quite as easily as MK. And HS, if it wasn't for TSM and JTA, I wouldn't find RD to be necessary.
14. HISTK. I've heard a lot of people dread this. Maybe they feel it's a waste of time. Actually, I kind of feel that way. But my kids loved it. And it was a great way to keep them going. They recharged and got a second wind. Thank you HISTK. You were an oasis for sweaty, tired, huddled masses of children.
15 DD5 and DS9 loved BTM.
What didn't work...
1. We had a hard time getting what we wanted to accomplish in our week. There were only a couple of minor things we didn't get to, but honestly, I think I pushed the kids too much.
2. I underestimated how difficult it was to take breaks. Piggybacking on my first point. I would schedule a TS lunch and prepare for pool time for breaks. But sometimes it was like, we are so close to "XYZ ride". We should just do it while we're here.
3. The crowd level, and what you can accomplish varies with the cast of characters in your party. When just DH and I went, we could zippity zoom through the crowds, no problem. With three children, it was much harder to navigate through the crowds.
4. Meet and Greets. Ahh. DD5 really got into the spirit of these. At times, I did too, truth be told. But for the most part, thought it ate up too much time.
5. One time I was running late for an ADR, at which DH and boys were already waiting. DD and I were going to be the next in line for Aladdin and Jasmin, when a CM said another group was going ahead of me. (No clue what the circumstances were.) What!! I was already sweating it. The CM didn't speak good English and said we'd be the next group/ in the next group...something like that. I wasn't sure what he meant. But typically two people aren't considered a group. So I thought he might have meant first in line for the next show.
He might have meant next in line for this show. But even that made me nervous as the line was going slowly and I was already late. I probably wouldn't have been upset if I wasn't in a hurry. But it didn't feel good to be waiting all that time for an autograph and be trumped. If it was a ride, not a big deal. They're always moving. But for a M&G, that could cost me another couple of minutes. Why didn't they just arrange for the character to greet them just before or at the end of their sessions? I guess I don't know that answer. It just didn't feel like a good experience.
6. ADRs lost...twice. We had 9 ADRs, so not too bad. The first lost ressie was La Hacienda. Of course I forgot my confirmations back at the room, and he asked if I had them. (Sigh.) But he was nice and fit us in anyway. the second time was at Biergarten. That time I was prepared with the confirmation. But this time, the host said basically he couldn't work with confirmation #, that it "didn't mean anything". (Not that he said it in a mean way. Just that it wasn't useful/helpful.) Luckily, they weren't too crowded.
7. Photopass debacle. The last day of our trip I lost our photopass card. I thought since anything at WDW can be replaced, I didn't sweat it. But for peace of mind, I wanted to check with guest relations at the front of MK. The Cm I ran into (before reaching the window) told me there was nothing they could do. If you lose it, it's too bad. He suggested trying lost and found. But that was that. The little box on the card they use to scan is what you need to retrieve it on the computer. Boy was I a bear for the next few minutes...until I started thinking, how can I scan that box on my computer? It didn't add up. But I was still pretty nervous that I might have lost a lot of pics we didn't have back ups of on our camera. When I got back to Beach Club, the Photopass rep there took care of everything. I had my original code on other paperwork Disney sent me. So it was even easier. PLEASE, IF YOU LOSE YOUR PHOTOPASS CARD, IT CAN BE REPLACED. I was really just mad to be given such bad info from the first CM. It really had me upset for a while.
What went well....
1. Pipe cleaners. Can you believe it? I don't who suggested it on here, but I love it. Thank you. My kids really took to them waiting for shows. Waiting in ride lines, not needed. Either the wait was short or the queue was interesting enough.
2. Hand sanitizer. Huh? Well all I can say is after plane rides and touching all kinds of railings and lap bars etc. No one got sick. I was a bit OCD, but getting sick on vacation isn't fun. Bring on the germ blaster!
3. Illuminations. Ok with regard to all the shows, we loved them all. But Illuminations was slightly more relaxing, not as much fighting with the crowds.
4. Fantasmic! We saw this twice. The first time, I kid you not, we got into the 9pm show at 8:50pm. We sat on the very far side, but that was good enough for 8:50pm.
5. Pick a Pearl. This was a special experience with my daughter. We both picked our pearls and got matching pendants. We went around 12:30pm and there was no line.
6. Rapunzel. Actually, I didn't know which column to put this in. The M&G was nice, but the wait??? We were there at rope drop. Well about half way back in the pack. We were last for the second show. (Was it 10:30?) Wow. I wouldn't have stayed, except a nice gal held my space in line. Thank you nice lady!!!
7. Crowds not too bad. Honestly, at times, it seemed crowded, but the "evidence" wasn't there. I mean, we didn't have long waits on the rides. (We did go at RD and used FPs.) Also, boats and buses not too crowded. Only had to stand once. And again, getting into F! 10 min. before the show. Good deal.
8. Liberty Square was a nice place to see the parade. The first time, we had a terrible spot. It was more of a view for Wishes than the parade. But by Liberty Square, you can catch a seat pretty close to show time, in a pinch.
9. Souvies. OK I managed to convince DD5 to forgo the balloon for another souvie. She picked a Minnie doll, and has been sleeping with it, every night. My boys wanted Mickey ears. How can you deny that? (Although I thought they might get better mileage out of an actual toy.) Well we got these patriotic ears in Liberty Square...adorable. OMG, they are so cute on the boys.
10. Photopass. Honestly, I was skeptical. I thought I could take good enough pics. But I preordered the CD, knowing I could cancel if I needed to. It came in so handy. At times DH and I split up. He usually had the camera. With photopass, I didn't sweat it. DD and I just went ahead to meet the characters and had pics taken with the photographers. Also, the borders you can add are really cute. And it was easier to get all of us in the pics, not having to ask a stranger to take our pic. I also found that people respected the photopass photographer's space, better than random guests' space taking pics. If you are planning to do a lot of M&Gs, I'd definitely do it.( But I do have one issue, see below.)
11. Akershus. It was really a nice experience with the princesses. We had Belle, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, and Cindy. It saves so much time too. You don't have to wait in lines or try to track down the princesses for autographs.
12. We stumbled upon Wishes behind the castle. It was really neat. The fireworks were right there. It was a different perspective, and not too crowded. It was louder there. So beware if you have little ones who hate loud sounds.
13. RD worked super well at MK. The other parks, getting there early helped, but it didn't seem to flow quite as easily as MK. And HS, if it wasn't for TSM and JTA, I wouldn't find RD to be necessary.
14. HISTK. I've heard a lot of people dread this. Maybe they feel it's a waste of time. Actually, I kind of feel that way. But my kids loved it. And it was a great way to keep them going. They recharged and got a second wind. Thank you HISTK. You were an oasis for sweaty, tired, huddled masses of children.
15 DD5 and DS9 loved BTM.
What didn't work...
1. We had a hard time getting what we wanted to accomplish in our week. There were only a couple of minor things we didn't get to, but honestly, I think I pushed the kids too much.
2. I underestimated how difficult it was to take breaks. Piggybacking on my first point. I would schedule a TS lunch and prepare for pool time for breaks. But sometimes it was like, we are so close to "XYZ ride". We should just do it while we're here.
3. The crowd level, and what you can accomplish varies with the cast of characters in your party. When just DH and I went, we could zippity zoom through the crowds, no problem. With three children, it was much harder to navigate through the crowds.
4. Meet and Greets. Ahh. DD5 really got into the spirit of these. At times, I did too, truth be told. But for the most part, thought it ate up too much time.
5. One time I was running late for an ADR, at which DH and boys were already waiting. DD and I were going to be the next in line for Aladdin and Jasmin, when a CM said another group was going ahead of me. (No clue what the circumstances were.) What!! I was already sweating it. The CM didn't speak good English and said we'd be the next group/ in the next group...something like that. I wasn't sure what he meant. But typically two people aren't considered a group. So I thought he might have meant first in line for the next show.
He might have meant next in line for this show. But even that made me nervous as the line was going slowly and I was already late. I probably wouldn't have been upset if I wasn't in a hurry. But it didn't feel good to be waiting all that time for an autograph and be trumped. If it was a ride, not a big deal. They're always moving. But for a M&G, that could cost me another couple of minutes. Why didn't they just arrange for the character to greet them just before or at the end of their sessions? I guess I don't know that answer. It just didn't feel like a good experience.6. ADRs lost...twice. We had 9 ADRs, so not too bad. The first lost ressie was La Hacienda. Of course I forgot my confirmations back at the room, and he asked if I had them. (Sigh.) But he was nice and fit us in anyway. the second time was at Biergarten. That time I was prepared with the confirmation. But this time, the host said basically he couldn't work with confirmation #, that it "didn't mean anything". (Not that he said it in a mean way. Just that it wasn't useful/helpful.) Luckily, they weren't too crowded.
7. Photopass debacle. The last day of our trip I lost our photopass card. I thought since anything at WDW can be replaced, I didn't sweat it. But for peace of mind, I wanted to check with guest relations at the front of MK. The Cm I ran into (before reaching the window) told me there was nothing they could do. If you lose it, it's too bad. He suggested trying lost and found. But that was that. The little box on the card they use to scan is what you need to retrieve it on the computer. Boy was I a bear for the next few minutes...until I started thinking, how can I scan that box on my computer? It didn't add up. But I was still pretty nervous that I might have lost a lot of pics we didn't have back ups of on our camera. When I got back to Beach Club, the Photopass rep there took care of everything. I had my original code on other paperwork Disney sent me. So it was even easier. PLEASE, IF YOU LOSE YOUR PHOTOPASS CARD, IT CAN BE REPLACED. I was really just mad to be given such bad info from the first CM. It really had me upset for a while.
, with us.
DITTO 
