We just returned last night from our 8 night stay at BLT. Here's a short overview:
Crowds: As usual very low crowds during this time of the year which was wonderful. We went to DTD on Sunday (9/2/12) at night and honestly it was pretty darn busy, like unpleasant to be there crowded, but that was basically the end of any crowds we saw. Overall, people in general, seemed more polite than usual, so that was also nice.
It was hot, but nice and dry our first 3 or 4 days. We got rained on a lot on Friday at Epcot and it rained all morning Sunday, but then it was clear the rest of the day/night.
We had a very nice surprise on Friday during Epcot EMH's, as we left a little before midnight and... the monorail was running
I can't tell you how happy this made me. It was so much nicer to just roll our stroller on the monorail as oppose to dealing with the buses. I knew from the previous year that the resort and MK monorail line was running through NOJ, however I thought it was a long shot that the Epcot line would be running, but it was and I was very happy.
We were also able to exchange QS meals for 3 snacks with no problems at the Contempo. Cafe, all week. We've always done this in the past, however there were some reports on the dis that they weren't allowing it anymore. I was happily reassured by the Contempo. Cafe CM's that we were able to do this with no problem.
New Fastpass situation: Ugh...is all I can really say about it. We always used f/p's whenever it was convenient for us in the past, and it was so nice that Disney used to allow you to use them anytime after your window opened. Honestly, it was pretty annoying trying to run across the park multiple times to get f/p's for this or that, and then try to plan to be back there during that 1 hour window. We ended up just not getting or using nearly as many f/p's as we used to, and in turn just didn't ride things nearly as much as we used to. It wasn't horrible, as this time of year is slow so the lines aren't horrible to begin with, but I would never want to have to try to deal with it during a busy season.
New Belle Area: They had a soft-opening of the new Belle area on our last day, and we were able to go in to look around and experience the new Belle story-time thing. My 5 year old dd really liked it, as the kids are able to play a role and perform with Belle in the story and the area looked very beautiful.
Ride Break-downs: Before we left I read a lot about ride break-downs. I didn't think it was too bad. The rides probably did stop about 25% of the time, but it was only for 30 seconds or so, so not a big deal for us. The rabbit in Splash was not working at all during our stay, and the pop-up ghost things on Haunted Mansion in the graveyard scene weren't there this time at all either. Those were the only 2 things I noticed (besides no Yeti) that weren't working, however I'm sure there were others, just not noticeable to me.
Dining:
We at at RFC, T-Rex, Plaza, Chef Mickey's, O'hana for breakfast and dinner, Liberty Tree Tavern and San Angel Inn.
We've eaten at most before and enjoyed them as usual. O'hana was new, and while I enjoyed the breakfast, I wasn't crazy about the dinner. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste. It also seemed to take a long time.
Liberty Tree Tavern was also new, and we enjoyed it, and LOVED our waiter. Honestly I wanted to kidnap him and take him with me, he was great! His name is Ernso, and he was very friendly, attentive, very prompt and quick to get and give us anything we asked for. He was probably the best waiter I've ever encountered and hope to have him next year.
San Angel Inn was also new for us, and I knew going in I probably wasn't going to be crazy about the food, but we went more for the atmosphere. The restaurant itself was fine, our waiter on the other hand was horrendous. He was very short and not very polite to begin with, but when we asked a few questions and made a special request (my mom does not like spicy foods, and asked for everything in her meal on the side) he became completely rude. The service took forever, and it took him 30 minutes
to get me the bill once I asked for it. I wish I would have gotten his name, but either way we won't be returning, and thankfully he was by far the worse person we encountered while we were on vacation.
Overall we had a great trip, and are sad to be back, but excited to go through all the pictures and videos. I"ll be happy to answer any questions you have!
Crowds: As usual very low crowds during this time of the year which was wonderful. We went to DTD on Sunday (9/2/12) at night and honestly it was pretty darn busy, like unpleasant to be there crowded, but that was basically the end of any crowds we saw. Overall, people in general, seemed more polite than usual, so that was also nice.
It was hot, but nice and dry our first 3 or 4 days. We got rained on a lot on Friday at Epcot and it rained all morning Sunday, but then it was clear the rest of the day/night.
We had a very nice surprise on Friday during Epcot EMH's, as we left a little before midnight and... the monorail was running
I can't tell you how happy this made me. It was so much nicer to just roll our stroller on the monorail as oppose to dealing with the buses. I knew from the previous year that the resort and MK monorail line was running through NOJ, however I thought it was a long shot that the Epcot line would be running, but it was and I was very happy.We were also able to exchange QS meals for 3 snacks with no problems at the Contempo. Cafe, all week. We've always done this in the past, however there were some reports on the dis that they weren't allowing it anymore. I was happily reassured by the Contempo. Cafe CM's that we were able to do this with no problem.
New Fastpass situation: Ugh...is all I can really say about it. We always used f/p's whenever it was convenient for us in the past, and it was so nice that Disney used to allow you to use them anytime after your window opened. Honestly, it was pretty annoying trying to run across the park multiple times to get f/p's for this or that, and then try to plan to be back there during that 1 hour window. We ended up just not getting or using nearly as many f/p's as we used to, and in turn just didn't ride things nearly as much as we used to. It wasn't horrible, as this time of year is slow so the lines aren't horrible to begin with, but I would never want to have to try to deal with it during a busy season.
New Belle Area: They had a soft-opening of the new Belle area on our last day, and we were able to go in to look around and experience the new Belle story-time thing. My 5 year old dd really liked it, as the kids are able to play a role and perform with Belle in the story and the area looked very beautiful.
Ride Break-downs: Before we left I read a lot about ride break-downs. I didn't think it was too bad. The rides probably did stop about 25% of the time, but it was only for 30 seconds or so, so not a big deal for us. The rabbit in Splash was not working at all during our stay, and the pop-up ghost things on Haunted Mansion in the graveyard scene weren't there this time at all either. Those were the only 2 things I noticed (besides no Yeti) that weren't working, however I'm sure there were others, just not noticeable to me.
Dining:
We at at RFC, T-Rex, Plaza, Chef Mickey's, O'hana for breakfast and dinner, Liberty Tree Tavern and San Angel Inn.
We've eaten at most before and enjoyed them as usual. O'hana was new, and while I enjoyed the breakfast, I wasn't crazy about the dinner. Nothing wrong with it, just not my taste. It also seemed to take a long time.
Liberty Tree Tavern was also new, and we enjoyed it, and LOVED our waiter. Honestly I wanted to kidnap him and take him with me, he was great! His name is Ernso, and he was very friendly, attentive, very prompt and quick to get and give us anything we asked for. He was probably the best waiter I've ever encountered and hope to have him next year.
San Angel Inn was also new for us, and I knew going in I probably wasn't going to be crazy about the food, but we went more for the atmosphere. The restaurant itself was fine, our waiter on the other hand was horrendous. He was very short and not very polite to begin with, but when we asked a few questions and made a special request (my mom does not like spicy foods, and asked for everything in her meal on the side) he became completely rude. The service took forever, and it took him 30 minutes
to get me the bill once I asked for it. I wish I would have gotten his name, but either way we won't be returning, and thankfully he was by far the worse person we encountered while we were on vacation. Overall we had a great trip, and are sad to be back, but excited to go through all the pictures and videos. I"ll be happy to answer any questions you have!
