Just got back last night

[No11's Mom]

We made it back home last night. We spent one night in Fort Walton Beach, one night at Holiday Inn Family Suites and 4 nights at Hard Rock. We spent 1 afternoon and the next morning at the beach, then 3-1/2 days at US/IOA with 1 day divided between Animal Kingdom and MGM Studios. The parks were VERY HOT and VERY CROWDED. I was expecting the crowds in the first week of June to be on par with what we experienced during spring break two years ago - but the parks were much more crowded. Thank goodness for FOTL!

I have a ton of laundry and yard work to catch up on, so I will post trip reports later this week, but if anyone has any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

How long did you wait with FOTL even with crowds?

15 minutes or less?

Welcome back!

 

[No11's Mom]

FOTL is the BEST! I don't think we ever waited more than 10 minutes, and usually less, except for ROTM...twice when we were in that line they had to shut it down due to technical difficulties. We waited a while and then bailed, since we knew we could come back later. I felt sorry for those people who only had one day at the park and that was going to be their only chance to ride it. On Thurs it broke down when we were in line, we came back two hours later and it was still down and people were still waiting in line outside, with no guarantee that it would come back up that day. It is a great ride, but no attraction is worth standing in the hot sun for two hours. Other than those two times, we probably rode ROTM 5 or 6 times total with wait times of 0-10 minutes.

The longest lines we saw in the parks were for Shrek (60-90 minutes), Spiderman (30-90 minutes) and Hulk (15-45 minutes).

I can just not emphasize enough how great FOTL is. We could do everything we wanted to do in the parks and still have time to relax at the pool in the afternoon. The day we spent at AK and MGM, all we talked about was getting back to US/IOA, where we wouldn't have to wait in line with the "commoners" (no offense to anyone). I'm never going back to WDW parks in peak season...no way could I fight those crowds and heat. I'm much too spoiled now.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

I totally agree! Great! Thanks for sharing. Now......when is the next trip?

 

[RescueRanger]

Originally posted by No11's Mom
FOTL is the BEST! I don't think we ever waited more than 10 minutes, and usually less, except for ROTM...twice when we were in that line they had to shut it down due to technical difficulties. We waited a while and then bailed, since we knew we could come back later. I felt sorry for those people who only had one day at the park and that was going to be their only chance to ride it. On Thurs it broke down when we were in line....

We were on it when it broke down that day. We were in the room with the flesh eating scarabs. After sitting in total darkness for a while they turned on the lights. We waited about 40 minutes before technicians finally came and let us out. They took us out a back exit which went behind the NY Library front. The Ghostbuster guys were out suntanning between shows ( Not really!!! I was just giving Flyfly something to drool over ). Anyway, they led us back to the front and gave us a pass for any ride in either park. I told them that after waiting so long in a dark room with my DD 9 and her friend who was also 9 maybe we could get some more passes. The CM gave me 2 more passes. This was our last day and we did not have FOTL like we had the first 4 so these came in handy. FOTL is the BEST!!! I too will post a trip report later on when I have more time but feel free to ask any questions of me as well.

 

[RescueRanger]

ooops...double post....sorry

 

[PeachGrits]

I agree FOTL was awesome. On Spiderman, we even had the ride attendant ask if we had waited over 15 minutes (no - only about 7 or 8). He said that he had to make sure FOTL folks never waited more than 15 minutes.

 

[AaronX]

I've never used the FOTL access and this summer will be the first time - I hope that staying on-site is worth the money to get the FOTL, we'll see...

 

[No11's Mom]

Staying onsite is definitely worth the money. Besides the FOTL, which is invaluable, the resorts are very nice. It is so convenient to be able to walk from your room to the parks or CityWalk in just a few minutes. Makes it very easy to come back and enjoy some pool time in the afternoon before going back to the parks. Makes for a much more relaxing vacation. I'm sure you will have a wonderful time.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

RescueRanger-Sorry to hear that you experienced that, but at least it worked out for you. Thanks for posting!