pigby
<font color=66CC33>This one might be a little more
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2000
- Messages
- 3,410
Hello again
Got back to Manchester airport 6.40am ish today and just got up! Still extremely tired - very hectic 2 weeks.
Weather - quite a bit of rain first few days but then it was the usual thunderstorm in the afternoon which cleared up a couple of hours later, in the main.
Crowds - first week seemed quieter - thought it would be the other way round, with the week closest to 4th July being busier. Saw waits of 120 minutes for attractions such as RNRC but the longest we waited was 30 minutes for anything (and that was WITH a fastpass - for Test Track) Used fastpass as much as we could. Can't understand why people wait 2 hours for ANYTHING. MK near Spectro time- absolutle manic. MGM - mixed - see below. Epcot - Most manageable. AK - not bad at all - especially afternoon thunderstorm - walked on everything late in day - but did hear from someone else that they had waited an hour and half for Kali (an EE day)
Early entry - always been at quieter times of year before and this came as a bit of a shock really. For example on our first full day, a Saturday, we went to MGM - got there before 8am and rode RNRC twice, Tot - then at 9am rode Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Millionaire, Star Tours (5 minutes wait at 11.30am - couldn't believe it), had lunch at Backlot and left park just after midday to go back to hotel. Thought that was pretty good going for anytime of year - never mind July. Different scenario just over a week later - Early entry on a Tuesday - same park. Waited ages for a bus and only got in MGM at 8.35am - ToT already had 45 minute waits. All we did in that EE time was to get a fastpass. Thought we'd go over to Great Movie Ride to be first on - not so - already a big queue at 8.45am!- opened at 9.00am and we rode about 15 mins after - not too bad. Queues from then on were enormous and we left park after an early lunch. The two MK EE's we did weren't as bad -crowds more dispersed. I suppose what I'm saying is in July it's better to go for a park on a non EE day - - I had a few meals booked around EE, otherwise I may have done things differently.
Meals - mostly excellent - we did 5 character meals plus quite a few other 'sit downs'
Best Food - Cape May Cafe (closely followed by 'Ohanas)
Best Character Interaction - definitely Chef Mickey
Best Service - also Chef Mickey - big thumbs up to Bob - quiet kinda guy but very courteous and attentive without being OTT.
Worst Service/Biggest disappointment - Mama Melrose (nuff said)
The One that we missed - Donalds Breakfastosauras - booked for an EE day - sorry Donald, we just couldn't get out of our pits - got up at about 11.00am that day.
Most consistent - Liberty Tree - eaten here before and it was really good again - on all categories - service, food and character interaction - so deserves a special mention.
Surprises - how fab the Carousel of Progess is (and how addictive the music) - DD(9) loved it - always been off season and never done before - went on it 3 times. Test Track - didn't care for it much last time - it's grown on me now. How tame Space Mountain is (after the one at Disneyland Paris)
Other disappointments - the vast deterioration in the bus service at AS Movies - have been twice before - but this time - long waits were to be had - just not enough buses for the amount of people - might be a time of the year thing again. CM at check in said at peak times buses ran every 10/15 minutes and 20 minutes outside peak times. Neither was true - endured 40 minutes wait for a bus to AK and heard of an hour wait to MK (this time there were buses but the bus was shared by the other 2 All Stars and was almost full by the time it got to Movies - this happened quite a lot) travelled to other resorts a few times for meals and never encountered any probs with their transportation - would think twice about All Stars next time, solely for this reason.
Also disappointed that we never got to see the parade at AK - it's at 4pm - peak thunderstorm time. Went twice to AK at this time just to see the parade and it was cancelled both times.
Went to FW for the campfire programme - it was a lovely day - not a cloud in the sky when we caught the boat from MK. As we walked (and it IS a walk) from the dock to the campground, could see the clouds building. Bought our marshmallows and had started to roast them, when a CM announced that the singalong and movie had to be cancelled due to a storm approaching. Oh well.
Despite a few moans - had a great holiday!
If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I'll try to start a full trip report in a day or so.
Sue
Got back to Manchester airport 6.40am ish today and just got up! Still extremely tired - very hectic 2 weeks.
Weather - quite a bit of rain first few days but then it was the usual thunderstorm in the afternoon which cleared up a couple of hours later, in the main.
Crowds - first week seemed quieter - thought it would be the other way round, with the week closest to 4th July being busier. Saw waits of 120 minutes for attractions such as RNRC but the longest we waited was 30 minutes for anything (and that was WITH a fastpass - for Test Track) Used fastpass as much as we could. Can't understand why people wait 2 hours for ANYTHING. MK near Spectro time- absolutle manic. MGM - mixed - see below. Epcot - Most manageable. AK - not bad at all - especially afternoon thunderstorm - walked on everything late in day - but did hear from someone else that they had waited an hour and half for Kali (an EE day)
Early entry - always been at quieter times of year before and this came as a bit of a shock really. For example on our first full day, a Saturday, we went to MGM - got there before 8am and rode RNRC twice, Tot - then at 9am rode Great Movie Ride, Little Mermaid, Millionaire, Star Tours (5 minutes wait at 11.30am - couldn't believe it), had lunch at Backlot and left park just after midday to go back to hotel. Thought that was pretty good going for anytime of year - never mind July. Different scenario just over a week later - Early entry on a Tuesday - same park. Waited ages for a bus and only got in MGM at 8.35am - ToT already had 45 minute waits. All we did in that EE time was to get a fastpass. Thought we'd go over to Great Movie Ride to be first on - not so - already a big queue at 8.45am!- opened at 9.00am and we rode about 15 mins after - not too bad. Queues from then on were enormous and we left park after an early lunch. The two MK EE's we did weren't as bad -crowds more dispersed. I suppose what I'm saying is in July it's better to go for a park on a non EE day - - I had a few meals booked around EE, otherwise I may have done things differently.
Meals - mostly excellent - we did 5 character meals plus quite a few other 'sit downs'
Best Food - Cape May Cafe (closely followed by 'Ohanas)
Best Character Interaction - definitely Chef Mickey
Best Service - also Chef Mickey - big thumbs up to Bob - quiet kinda guy but very courteous and attentive without being OTT.
Worst Service/Biggest disappointment - Mama Melrose (nuff said)
The One that we missed - Donalds Breakfastosauras - booked for an EE day - sorry Donald, we just couldn't get out of our pits - got up at about 11.00am that day.
Most consistent - Liberty Tree - eaten here before and it was really good again - on all categories - service, food and character interaction - so deserves a special mention.
Surprises - how fab the Carousel of Progess is (and how addictive the music) - DD(9) loved it - always been off season and never done before - went on it 3 times. Test Track - didn't care for it much last time - it's grown on me now. How tame Space Mountain is (after the one at Disneyland Paris)
Other disappointments - the vast deterioration in the bus service at AS Movies - have been twice before - but this time - long waits were to be had - just not enough buses for the amount of people - might be a time of the year thing again. CM at check in said at peak times buses ran every 10/15 minutes and 20 minutes outside peak times. Neither was true - endured 40 minutes wait for a bus to AK and heard of an hour wait to MK (this time there were buses but the bus was shared by the other 2 All Stars and was almost full by the time it got to Movies - this happened quite a lot) travelled to other resorts a few times for meals and never encountered any probs with their transportation - would think twice about All Stars next time, solely for this reason.
Also disappointed that we never got to see the parade at AK - it's at 4pm - peak thunderstorm time. Went twice to AK at this time just to see the parade and it was cancelled both times.
Went to FW for the campfire programme - it was a lovely day - not a cloud in the sky when we caught the boat from MK. As we walked (and it IS a walk) from the dock to the campground, could see the clouds building. Bought our marshmallows and had started to roast them, when a CM announced that the singalong and movie had to be cancelled due to a storm approaching. Oh well.
Despite a few moans - had a great holiday!
If anyone has any questions, please let me know. I'll try to start a full trip report in a day or so.
Sue
I love that one.
