Just got back from Floridian with minor incidents....ask away!!!

[momcateer]

We spent the last 5 days at the Floridian in some hot steamy weather. Trick or treating with Mickey is a must do if you can. Some problems this trip with Monorail breaking down, and many rides at Magic Kingdom acting up. I've learned a few new things, and some tips to share. Went with 3 children..9, 7 and 22 months.

 

[all4fun]

We also just got back on Saturday the 2nd after a 2-week stay with our 17-mos old ds. The last couple of days we also had incidents with the Monorail. It wasn't broken down - they had to restart it. One of the Monorail drivers referred to it "like re-booting your computer". This happened a couple of times one day. I wonder what the deal is with that?

Anyway, we had a wonderful time, despite hurricane Jeanne disrupting one day of our vacation (I really feel for the poor souls who live in the south - these 'canes have wreaked havoc in their lives). Not a whole lot of damage was seen at WDW the next day - just some signs missing and we saw a few fallen trees. Some trees had broken limbs. Jungle Cruise was closed for a couple of days as well as a few other attractions throughout the parks. They were pretty quick with the clean up. We also saw them putting light fixtures back in place they took down before the storm. I was pretty impressed.

The last day of our stay was the start of the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. We enjoyed walking around the world trying all the different cuisines. Definitely wet our appetite for another trip during the festival so we can spend a few days trying everything. We'll have to bring the grandparents along for that one so we'll have "built-in babysitters"!

Anyway, welcome back! Glad to hear you also had a good time.

 

[momcateer]

Thanks for the email. We did have our share of monorail stuff going on too. Especially the one day I decided to give my 22mos. old a real nap finally in the hotel instead of the stroller. She fell asleep at the Magic Kindgdom just as I was heading towards the rail. And as you probably know, I was psyched in thinking I'd be back at the hotel in a matter of minutes, transfer her, and catch a little shut eye myself while my husband and my 2 boys were still with Mickey. As luck would have it, we were stopped between MKand the Contemporary for 45 minutes!!!! Needless to say, by the time I reached the Floridian, she had already woken up, and nap time was blown!!! The rest of the day was not much fun with Miss Crankypants!!
We had 2 other probs. with the rail. After the night of Mickey's not so scary on 9/30...it wasn't up and running at all the time we choose to leave....the lines for the boat were ridiculous, my husband, son and baby stayed in line while my other son and I stayed in the park till midnight.(awesome time with no lines).
Then the last night, 10/3 we tried to go over to Epcot around 4pm, and yet again....rail trouble. We waited over 40 minutes, to then be told it may be another 40 minutes till it would arrive, and the hassle of trying to get there any other way wasn't worth the stress, so we blew it off entirely. I was somewhat dissappointed for my boys, but we ended up swimming at the hotel, and making it an early night.
We too had some ride issues. I was really fed up by the end of the trip, so I went into guest relations to complain(it's so silly to complain when in Disney, I know) Anyway, they took care of us completely with "No strings passes" and VIP seating for a parade.

How did your 17 mos old do with the heat? How was he with the characters?

I see you are counting down already till the next visit. I can't wait either. We go on average every 2-3 years. Last time at the Poly taking Nanny(the best thing ever!!!!).
You'll enjoy having the grandparents along. The memories alone are priceless!!!! Not to mention the extra hands, eyes and smiles!!!!

I hate coming home from vacation....it's back to reality, and it's back to the cold!!!!(Disney was too hot this trip, and NH is too cold to come home too!!!)

Nora

 

[poohkie]

What rides were actting up and and what was wrong with them? If you don't mind me asking.

 

[momcateer]

Mostly in MK. Buzz Lightyear broke down for about 20 minutes while we were on it with my 2 boys 7 & 9, and my 22 mos. old.
The Haunted Mansion broke down on 4 seperate occassions on the same ride for a total of 25 minutes. Problem here was we got caught under the speakers where the screams continued pelting our ears and was really upsetting to my younger one especially. Thunder Mountain turned us away on a fast pass for issues they were having. And the Pooh ride we wanted to take the baby on, wasn't even up and running for the 3 days we spent at MK.
Let me just say, that after a visit to guest relations, Disney did make up our time missed on broken rides by giving us some special passes to go to the front of the lines. My boys were pleased in the end of not waiting in any lines whatsoever.

Things are bound to happen from time to time....it just seemed like everything was happening on our trip. All n all, still a wonderful time even with the inconveniences.

 

[tjmw2727]

Forgive my ignorance but when the Monorail breaks down do they substitute a bus?

TJ

 

[momcateer]

One would logically think a bus would be the next mode if the rail isn't working, however, one of the conveniences of staying so close to the parks (ie... Floridian) is the quick service on the monorail, thus I was told there were no buses provided. It's either the rail or the boat. And since the rail was down, the boat was a nightmare to try and get on since it picks up guests at both the Flo. and Poly. Believe you me, I was just as surprised to find no other alternative. We were also told that by the time we tried other means, it would be just as long as waiting for a proper working rail to come along. Lots of Mickey ears were drooping slightly over the inconvenience. But a troublesome day in Disney is still an excellent day. This thread was just an fyi for some of the things that were happening down there.

 

[all4fun]

Originally posted by momcateer

How did your 17 mos old do with the heat? How was he with the characters?

I thought he handled the heat ok for the most part. We tend to keep him under the stroller canopy and make sure he wore a hat, and of course sunscreen is a must. We also had a little hand-held fan we used occasionally. The lines weren't too bad most of the time and so we were indoors in the A/C a lot as well. I actually think the heat affected me more than him! He also napped almost every day in his stroller for about 2hrs. We draped a cover over the stroller hood and he slept really well there most days from around noon to about 2pm, which is really the hottest part of the day, so I think that helped some. He did have one day when he woke up after 1/2 an hour though, and wouldn't go back down, so I understand what you mean by "crankypants" lol.

He loved the characters! His favorite was definitely Mickey Mouse. We were really lucky to go into the tent in Toontown and there was only one guest ahead of us in the room that had Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and special guest Piglet. After those guests left, we had them all to ourselves and was able to get a group photo with ds and all the characters. At first he was beside himself because he would run from one to the next - he couldn't decide which one he wanted to see first. One time we were waiting in line and were the next up, he was kicking and pushing on me because he wanted to go meet Tigger. When I finally put him down he would just run over to him. It was really just too cute. I was so happy that he had this reaction to them because I though at this age he might be scared of them. Boy was I wrong!

Glad you had a good time despite all the rides and monorail problems. Disney certainly knows how to do customer svc right, don't they? (Although I'm surprised they didn't at least run some extra boats when the Monorail was down.)

An interesting comparison: I have a coworker that went to FLA last Jan. and spent a day at Busch Gardens in Tampa. He and his family were having a terrible time (I don't remember the details) so he went to cust. svc to complain and wanted a refund. All they would do was offer him another free day there, which he could have cared less about since he already wanted to leave. He ended up disputing the charge (which he told them he would do) with Amex and the charges were reversed. It's just nice that you can bring legit complaints to them (Disney) and they will actually try to do something to make it right so you can enjoy the rest of your stay.

Cheryl