Just back!

[FromVatoDisney]

We returned at 2 a.m. today (not intentional -- big delays in Atlanta) from one of the best weeks of my life! Our family had a truly magical time. I think we had pixie dust dumped on us, by the gallon.

I'm happy to answer any questions, but just briefly, I'll say this:

1. Tour guide Mike was a big help.
2. If you go early and use Fastpass at every opportunity, as we did, you have NOTHING to worry about. We walked on to many many rides. If you go at noon, well, God help you. (In peak season, that is, but that's all I know.)
3. We never encountered a sour CM, and most of them were beyond delightful. Particularly loved the young British CMs in England.
4. Many, many Brazilian tour groups and I will say we witnessed not an ounce of bad behavior. The adults with them really seemed to have it under control.
5. Can't wait to get back there!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bballmom56]

Sounds like you had a great time! Welcome back! Your last 4 statements were our same experience from 2 weeks ago. (Sorry, didn't use TGM ) Fast Pass was great, the CM's in the UK were so friendly and sweet, saw many tour groups, but no problems, can't wait to go back, and yes, we had delays getting home, too. We had to stay over an additional night at MCO (would have rather stayed at WDW!).

 

[llij]

Great to hear that you had such a magical vacation! Welcome back!

 

[Cinderella822]

Glad you had such a great trip. It gives me a lot of hope for a wonderful trip when I go next week. Can't wait! Welcome back.

 

[snackpackgu]

First time posting here. I had read this board before my family went and thought I was prepared. Just returned today.

Sorry everyone, but we really didn't like Disneyworld. I have two teenagers, 14 year old boy, 13 year old girl. The few rides we could get on were OK, a few rollercoasters, etc, but not enough. Too many young children's rides. My kids were terribly bored. Whether we went early or late, the lines were horribly, horribly long. A 75 minute wait for Soarin, come-on. We did fast pass, but big deal......you can only use it once every few hours.

On the plus side, we took our 35 foot 5th wheel and stayed at the Wilderness Campground. That is, without a doubt, the most beautiful campground I have ever stayed at.

 

[Disneymaddness]

We just returned from 10 great days in the world and I agree that going early and fastpass are a must! We always were there when the parks opened and also walked on some rides, by noon we wre done and headed for the pool. One question though, what happened to the music for Wishes on July 17th? We were so disappointed. The fireworks were still beautiful but without sound it was sort of wierd. Our trip was still wonderful and we tried Dole Whips for the first time, yummy !! Can't wait to go back!

 

[FromVatoDisney]

First time posting here. I had read this board before my family went and thought I was prepared. Just returned today.

Sorry everyone, but we really didn't like Disneyworld. I have two teenagers, 14 year old boy, 13 year old girl. The few rides we could get on were OK, a few rollercoasters, etc, but not enough. Too many young children's rides. My kids were terribly bored. Whether we went early or late, the lines were horribly, horribly long. A 75 minute wait for Soarin, come-on. We did fast pass, but big deal......you can only use it once every few hours.

On the plus side, we took our 35 foot 5th wheel and stayed at the Wilderness Campground. That is, without a doubt, the most beautiful campground I have ever stayed at.

If you went early and you could only get on a few rides, then you and I were not at the same place, that's for sure. Sorry your kids were so bored. I saw hundreds of teens at Disney and they all looked happy to me. In fact, that was one of my favorite things *about* Disney... I loved seeing the teenagers shed their "I have to be cool" facades. At Disney, they were so happy to be little kids again.

 

[FromVatoDisney]

Glad you had such a great trip. It gives me a lot of hope for a wonderful trip when I go next week. Can't wait! Welcome back.

Cinderella, you're going to have a fabulous time. And we also stayed at the WL. We were so happy there. I felt like I was on two vacations -- one at Disney and one at a beautiful, quiet lodge on a lake. I loved taking all the ferryboats at WL and we often were coming back at night during the Electrical Water Pageant or while Wishes was lighting up the sky above us. I wish these magical things for your family too.

 

[FromVatoDisney]

Great to hear that you had such a magical vacation! Welcome back!

Thanks Jill from a fellow Northern Virginian I hope your stay at the WL is as wonderful as ours was.

 

[jbwolffiv]

Glad you had a great trip! We went in July back in 2000 and witnessed a lot of Brazillian tour groups too. No bad behavior, just an insane amount of clapping!

 

[momofpunkinboo]

Thanks for the advice. I am so "disneyed" up! I can't wait. Disneyworld will probably be praying for me to remove myself from it's "butt" by the time I leave! Anyway, thanks again from a fellow virginian.

 

[helenk]

One question though, what happened to the music for Wishes on July 17th? We were so disappointed. The fireworks were still beautiful but without sound it was sort of wierd

I was there on the 17th as well, the narration cut off right after Aladian wished for Genie's freedom. The fireworks were great, but Wishes loses alot without the narration. I went back on the 20th to see them again and this time everything worked fine.

 

[snackpackgu]

If you went early and you could only get on a few rides, then you and I were not at the same place, that's for sure. Sorry your kids were so bored. I saw hundreds of teens at Disney and they all looked happy to me. In fact, that was one of my favorite things *about* Disney... I loved seeing the teenagers shed their "I have to be cool" facades. At Disney, they were so happy to be little kids again.

We went early to MK on Tuesday and Friday. Not at "rope drop" but within 20 minutes of the park opening. Sorry, but the lines were just as described. Epcot was the same (we just went there one day and arrived at 10:00). My oldest son was able to ride mission space twice in one day so I guess that should have been enough. The line for soarin was 85 minutes, fast pass had a return time of between 7:30 and 8:30 pm!! We came back for the fireworks and stayed for the extra hours that they happened to be open that evening. Most of the younger kids had left and we did see teenagers. They all headed to mission space and soarin. The line for soarin was 75 minutes.

We went to MGM one evening, the kids thought it was "cool" except that the rock and roll rollercoaster ride was closed as was the stunt show. Why do they close early when the park is still open?

As to your comment regarding teenagers shedding their cool facades, I'm tempted to think you don't have older children. The reason teenagers don't think Micky Mouse or the other "characters" are not interesting has nothing at all with being "cool". It has to do with maturity and interest levels.

I actually spoke with many employees at these parks regarding the lack of interesting rides for this age group and they all agreed that it was a problem and that Disney was trying to overcome this by introducing more stimulating rides for teenagers, such as Mission Space and Soarin.

Of course, I don't regret the experience. As I stated before, we loved the campgroud. My spouse and I are both educators in the public school system, so summer is our time to travel. The campground covers 700 acres and is breathtaking. We enjoyed our stay there, but if anyone ever asks my advice for DW, I would have to be honest. It's meant for younger children.

 

[bballmom56]

As to your comment regarding teenagers shedding their cool facades, I'm tempted to think you don't have older children.

We enjoyed our stay there, but if anyone ever asks my advice for DW, I would have to be honest. It's meant for younger children.

Wow, we went the last 2 years and my kids are older - DD21 and DS16 now. The greatest thrill was watching DS lose the "cool factor". It took a while last year, but he made it. This year he didn't even care which of his clothes were packed!

There is so much for teens to do - he (surprisingly) enjoyed World Showcase, especially Germany since he has completed 2 years of HS German and is taking year #3. One of our favorite stops is the Comedy Warehouse in DTD - a lot of fun! And while we're at DTD, we have to mention the Lego store with their awesome creations. This year we rented Sea Raycer boats over at Ft. Wilderness - great for a teenage boy. I think his favorite thing to do is visit the Living Seas in Epcot - we could spend an entire afternoon there. Animal Kingdom is also fascinating for kids of any age. He enjoyed Lights, Motors, Action at MGM so much that we went to see it a second time. We always do a round of miniature golf on our first night.

Tired may have been one of his complaints, but not bored. WDW has something to appeal to people of any age. You just have to do your research to know what is available.

 

[luv2nascar]

sounds awesome. Glad you had a magical trip sorry your back.

 

[snackpackgu]

Wow, we went the last 2 years and my kids are older - DD21 and DS16 now. The greatest thrill was watching DS lose the "cool factor". It took a while last year, but he made it. This year he didn't even care which of his clothes were packed!

There is so much for teens to do - he (surprisingly) enjoyed World Showcase, especially Germany since he has completed 2 years of HS German and is taking year #3. One of our favorite stops is the Comedy Warehouse in DTD - a lot of fun! And while we're at DTD, we have to mention the Lego store with their awesome creations. This year we rented Sea Raycer boats over at Ft. Wilderness - great for a teenage boy. I think his favorite thing to do is visit the Living Seas in Epcot - we could spend an entire afternoon there. Animal Kingdom is also fascinating for kids of any age. He enjoyed Lights, Motors, Action at MGM so much that we went to see it a second time. We always do a round of miniature golf on our first night.

Tired may have been one of his complaints, but not bored. WDW has something to appeal to people of any age. You just have to do your research to know what is available.

We didn't visit Downtown Disney, perhaps that was a mistake. When the children were younger we used to miniature golf, but both are now avid golfers and prefer not to. We considered golfing on one of the many courses we saw around DW, (we could have rented clubs I'm sure) but the heat was a deterrent.

So happy to hear that your children were entertained. Mine were not.

 

[Miss Kelly]

I would have to be honest. It's [Disney World] meant for younger children.

I find this comment hilarious since so many adults enjoy Disney World as much as or more than children. Heck, I'm 22, almost 23, and I LOVE DISNEY WORLD! It's not all about rides to me. Perhaps, that is why your teenagers didn't enjoy themselves; they just wanted to go to an amusement park to ride rides. Disney is far more than an amusement park. It is an experience. To truly have a magical experience, you must be open to the possibilities.

 

[helenk]

I was in Disney last week, from Saturday to Wednesday and yes the parks were crowded, wait times in the afternoon for Splash Mountain was 115 minutes, Stitch was 80 minutes Thunder Moutain was 75 minutes, I saw wait time for Soarin at 115 minutes Test Track was over 75 minutes....etc etc. But I got to the parks early, I did not do any of the EMH, except for Epcot in the AM. I was able to ride all the rides by having a plan and using fast pass.
During my trip I rode TOT 3 times, and Haunted Mansion, Mickey' Philharmagic, Test Track and Soarin I rode each twice. The longest I waited in line was 35 minutes for the Great Movie Ride, the wait time posted was 20 minutes, but I think there was some technical difficulties because for a while the line did not move at all. Other than that if a wait time was more than 20 minutes I passed it by and came back, or I got a fast pass.
I was able to do a lot in the morning and each day I took a break in the afternoon, usually by 2:00 went back to the resort, and then between 4 and 5 went back to the parks.
As far as Disney just being for young children, well I'm just over 50 and I love it. My son is 23 and my daughter is 18, and I never had the "I'm too cool for Disney " attitude from them. We actually had more of an attitude from my 11 year old niece than I ever had with my children when they were teenagers.

 

[disgal1]

I guess I have to jump in here also,

We have gone with our kids so many times, just got back from another July 4 trip.
My boys are 20 and 17, and have never been bored yet....We let them go off by themselves, navigate and do their own thing, although they end up back with us due to my master planning ability

We never waited in line more than 15 min due to the plan. The only real wait they had was at Blizzard Beach. They forgot their tix, had to go back to the Swan, had forgotten the room key, had to find the tix, so by the time they got back to BB it was 1100. the waits then were long at Summit Plummet.
They learned a valuable lesson.

We went to universal again also, and they really enjoyed the thrill rides there, but they both said they loved being at Disney. In fact , I had planned 2 full days at U. , but we were finished by the morning of day 2, and they were in a hurry to get to WDW. They had ridden all the coasters at U and IOA, and as they put it, they were great, now lets go on our vacation!

They both have been going to WDW since they were infants., which may be a big part of it. It is just so familiar, I can't explain it. WDW is so much more than Rides. that is the least of it.

I have talked to many people who go for the first time with teens, and are disappointed. I think you really have to do the research and find things for them , make it an experience.

We always have a Get ready for the world night, before we go. I have a Disney photo album with a few shots of each trip. It starts in 1973 with pix of my grad nite, and with them as infants till now. Brings back so many memories. They get a kick out of that,

The mini golf is very good, it isn't a putt putt type course, my boys love it, and they play golf.

This time, my older son did the Scuba dive quest in the Living Seas, and he said it was an experience he will never forget. I'll never forget him waving at us from in the tank, and the look on his face when he met up with us!!

They loved Epcot, spent nearly 2 days there . They loved going through the countries. They did mission space 4 times, test track twice, and soarin 3 times, all with almost no wait, There is nothing I would wait over 30 min. for , My family would have a fit!!

I would hope that maybe you could get them to go again, after doing a little more research into what is truly available in the whole of WDW. Also, you could throw in a side trip to Universal, or busch gardens. I hate to think of anyone not having a good trip to Disney!

 

[Dalpal]

We were there7/10-7/17....and we did not have a wait problem...at all.....got there early, was able to walk on two or three rides(soarin, MS)...then fast pass the rest of the morning.....No trouble.....

I dont think we waited more the 15 mins. to get on any thing at any park.....we mostly left the parks around noon to eat and nap.....went back in the evening.....

We had a 14 YO, a 12YO,a 10 YO and two 5YOs..everyone had a blast....My 14 YO GD even wore her mikey ears....

I think you have to plan it out and know what your doing befor you get there......
Sorry you did not like it

We did soarin..three times...... got to see turtle talk..with just a small wait (awsome by the way)...Splash Mt three times.... HM a couple times......Buzz, three times....Space Mt. twice.....
Even with MK being the most crowded I have ever seen it(and I have been six times)..we didnt have to many waits at all......
I did have a problem with stroller gridlock at MK though! ...Next year its just going to be me and DH ...sooo NO stroller