coopersmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2010
- Messages
- 839
We just got back from nine nights in Disney World, my son's second trip. Since I scoured the Dis Boards daily for over a year to plan this trip (and our previous one), thought I'd share a few of my general impressions, particularly on some of the "extra" new stuff we tried, just in case they might help anyone else. (If you're interested in reading about my impressions of the Grand Floridian Royal Palm Court you can read my thoughts in the official Grand Floridian thread here and here.
- TIMING
First off, September was a great time to go. Low crowds, hot, but not sweltering, weather and we really lucked out with rain. Only one storm of any size. Of course it was the ONE DAY I didn't put the ponchos in the park bag but, hey, whatcha gonna do? (I also left my camera AT HOME. Yes. A year-plus of planning the ultimate Disney trip, down to the tiniest detail, including an incredibly anal retentive color-coded schedule and I forget the freaking camera. Doh <head slap>!)
The day we arrived, September 11, we headed to Epcot and the place (for Disney) felt empty. Less than 15 minute wait at character greeting spot and we had Nemo and Journey Into Imagination completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) to ourselves. Very nice. Even Dumbo was a near walk-on the several times we rode it.
Walked into Fantastmic 15 minutes before show time and got third row, just off-center, seats, no problem. Rode Soarin' one morning about 40 minutes after park opening with ZERO wait. Wandered into the Magic Kingdom one afternoon AT 3:00 PM and found a wide open, empty curb side spot for the parade. Did Star Tours--best ride in the parks, in my opinion--five times in two days and never waited more than about 5 minutes, even without Fastpasses, which we barely used anywhere because of the low crowds. Even the notoriously slow Jungle Cruise was a 10 minute wait most every time we went by.
We did wait 45 minutes one morning (during EMH at Studios) for Toy Story Midway Mania only have the ride shut down when we were (literally) next to get on. (Kinda' sucked; but not end of the world.) They gave everyone Fastpasses as they cleared the building, I walked out and got another one from the machine, and we came back later in the day and rode twice in a row with less than 10 minutes wait each time. And wandered aimlessly over (hours after park opening) and saw Jedi Training registration, popped in and signed him up for 4:00 PM show with no problem.
My son has become a total line snob. Any wait longer than, say, 5 minutes was "too long" for him after the first couple of days.
Crowds picked up as time went on, though. My husband (there for only part of our trip) didn't get to ride Soarin' because, by our final day, Fastpasses were gone by the time we go to Epcot at 10 AM (very different than our earlier days there) and waits at Hollywood Studios on our departure day (September 20) had become quite significant. Indiana Jones Stunt Show was over capacity at first show (never filled the other days we were there), as was Disney Junior show. Character lines were double what they had been. Star Tours was at about 20 minutes (never more than 10 posted on earlier visit). And Toy Story Fastpasses at 9:30 AM (when we got back there) were already for beyond 7:00 PM, long after we had to be at airport. Even heading straight there after park opening Jedi training was already on last show of day by the time we got in line. (My son had liked it so much, we wanted to try and do it again, but no dice.)
-Which brings me to my next point ... If you've got a boy even vaguely aware of Star Wars, sign him up for the JEDI TRAINING ACADEMY. F-U-N and, wait for it, FREE. Hard to believe at Disney, I know. My son LOVED it. It was his favorite thing the whole week and we also did Pirates League. What could be cooler than fighting Darth Vadar? Now, after the show, you are (if your kid is anything like mine) almost obligated to buy him a light saber from the gift shop, so maybe not totally "free," but definitely cool.
-PIRATES LEAGUE
This was good (though not Jedi good; see above) and he had a great time watching the Jack Sparrow sword tutorial (try and schedule your appointment close to that), even though he didn't get picked to participate. Pirates League kids do get front row seats, though.
The make-up is kind of annoying, especially in the heat. As soon as it started to itch him and he started to rub at it, it was back to the room for a bubble bath ... And it still didn't totally come off for a few days, even with dedicated cold cream application and daily dunks in the pool. Oh and, despite what Disney says, the black does NOT come out of clothes. Be aware.
We brought our own costume, which was good, because he wore it about 5 minutes after the show. (Again: hot.) Sadly, Pirates ride was down after we were done so we couldn't do that in pirates gear.
Our pirate makeover artist was perfectly nice, but less than enthused about her job/character, which probably dimmed the magic a tad. Overall, I'm not sorry we tried it, but this isn't something I'd do again. My son would have had more fun wearing a pirate t-shirt and trying harder to get picked for the sword fighting thing, as that was the part he liked best, not the make-up. Though I will add that he does really enjoy looking at the photos of himself all dressed up. He just didn't enjoy the process, or aftermath, very much.
My friend's daughter did the Bippity Boppity Boutique the same week and the attention they give the girls--Photopass photographer in the room at all times, everyone makes a fuss all the time, etc.--is ten times what this "boy's" activity gets. Just sayin' ... Boys do sometimes seem like second-class citizens at Disney.
-PIRATES AND PALS FIREWORKS CRUISE
We did this the same day as Pirates League and I had foolishly thought my son would want to wear his make-up and costume. Umm, no. But no big deal. The hardest part was GETTING to the thing with the monorail unexpectedly down while we were staying at the Grand. We waited 20+ minutes for a bus that never came and then tried to get our car from valet, but didn't have the ticket, so they wouldn't give it to us, even with name and room number (and key card ID). If I'd gone back to room to get it (which in hindsight I should have done right away without waiting for bus), I was afraid we'd be too late, so we took a taxi. $20 round trip isn't a HUGE deal, but still annoying when you're paying monorail resort rates.
Hmm, now what was I saying again? Oh right, Pirates and Pals cruise. Really, SOOOO much fun. The Captain Hook and Smee interaction and snacks were lackluster and I was worried the trip would be too, but we were in "Captain Smee's" boat (characters don't come with, just the name), and our host was "Patches," the funny, chunky pirate with lots of ex-wife jokes. He was awesome!
My son had so much fun interacting with him.
The electric water pageant and the fireworks were wonderful, as was the silly trivia, introductions (filled with jokes), etc. This is one that really hinges on the host. The other guy might have been just as good, but I know "Patches" really made our trip. (He was the same guy--but not the same pirate--that worked the Jack Sparrow tutorial earlier, which is why he urged me not to announce that when I brought it up.)
This one was definitely worth it.
-CINDERELLLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST
Did this for the girls in our group, but my son was also dying to go into the castle and this fulfilled that whim. It was good in that respect. The space is decked out and kind of special. The Princess interaction? Not so much.
We had much, MUCH better Princess experiences at Epcot (every Princess appears in a country there, for the most part). Here it was much more move 'em through, pose for one second pic, rinse and repeat.
Getting in the park extra-early, though, was super awesome. My son RAN down a completely empty Main Street and we got some great photos. (TIP: Photopass people are there at that time. Really cool.) After breakfast we were the first, and I mean very first, people on Winnie the Pooh. We rode it three times in a row with zero wait and could have gone two or three more times before the line started to grow at all.
This was our only character breakfast on the trip and I don't think we'll be doing any more. (Last year we did three.) The food stinks. The characters are rushed. The prices are exorbinant. If you're still interested, I'd advise anyone to pick one they like, preferably at Magic Kingdom before the park opens, do it once (or no more than once a trip), and that's about it.
-KIDS' PIRATE CRUISE FROM THE GRAND FLORIDIAN ... This was what my son did the morning of our last full day and he had a blast. We saw them once from our room balcony, charging onto the Grand's beach and then heading back onto the boat, and it looked like they were having a blast. A feeling confirmed by my son when he got back.
My husband and I probably didn't really use the "alone" time to our advantage but 9:00 to 11:00 AM is kind of an odd time to try and do something together anyway.
-NEVERLAND CLUB ... Though he wasn't quite as stoked as last year, when it was his hands-down most-favorite thing about Disney World as a whole, my son enjoyed the two nights he spent at the kids' club here and one of the counselors was one of the pirate crew members on the cruise the next morning. He definitely wanted to go back again on night two (which I was little worried about) and said both times he had a lot of fun.
-VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S ... We went to this restaurant for the first time last year and really enjoyed the main dining room. This time I got to eat there twice: once with my friend in the main dining room for her birthday and once at the Chef's Table with my husband. Both experiences were exquisite and the food sublime. I'm not sure the Chef's Table was THAT much better than the main dining room (more courses), but other than price (ouch!) there is nothing at all to complain about when it comes to Victoria and Albert's. Just a big, WOW.
-OTHER DISNEY DINING ... Honestly, after being wildly underwhelmed, even with low expectations, last time out, we did as little Disney dining as possible. (Caveat to these impressions: I am a food snob for sure.)
We had lunch one day in Downtown Disney at Fulton's. It was virtually empty and perfectly servicable. Actually, all in all, quite a pleasant lunch with my friend and my son thanks to a pre-meal purchase from the Lego store. Food wasn't anything to rave about, but all perfectly good and, for Disney, reasonably priced.
Another day we had lunch at Chefs de France which was actually really not very good at all--both food and service were lacking. Just disappointing, as I'd heard this was one of the better Disney dining options.
And then on our long Hollywood Studios day we had lunch at Sci Fi, just my son and I. Now, I wasn't expecting anything from the food here, and that expectation was met. (The "milk shake" was powdered soft serve mix and nothing more.) It was sub-par all the way BUT I was even more impressed with the atmosphere than I expected. The cars, the stars, the movie previews on the big screen. All just too cute and my four-year-old adored it. Worth the modest cost for that alone.
-NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY (September 13)
My take on this one was, 'Eh.' Definitely not worth the money, in my opinion. We tried to focus on the "special" aspects of the party, instead of rides. Character lines were relatively long until after fireworks and we didn't even try for the Seven Dwarves which had an hour wait even before the party began--and only stayed that way or got worse throughout the night.
The trick or treating, which the little kids were excited about doing, was pretty sparse, and the lines for the few treat stations we saw were always long. Would have been much better off buying them $20 worth of candy and watching a movie in the hotel.
Haunted Mansion and the characters outside of it were really cool. Worth taking the time to explore and even worth waiting for.
Hallowishes was also pretty impressive. We had a seat in front of the castle and the show was pretty dang spectacular. It was a little frustrating in that we got there early to do that and, closer in, they closed the street too and everyone sat down there ... Meaning, latecomers way in front of us, but don't think it effected anything other than trying to move after the show stopped (which took a LONG time).
I will say that I tried to get a drink before fireworks began (we got seats about 30-45 minutes early) and there was NOWHERE to get even a water or soda that didn't have a mile long line. I had to go all the way into Adventureland and even then the drink stand was packed. Many of the regular stands for beverages were closed, but you couldn't go two feet without running into a cart selling light-up toys. Is the profit on those greater than even sodas? Who knew.
The dance parties are big fun for little kids. My son LOVED getting one-on-one with Bullseye, Woody and Jessie in Frontierland. We literally couldn't drag him out of that place, even for the parade.
Luckily, the parade was so long we actually were able to zoom ahead and get to the very end of the route (literally right before they go backstage) and see a good bit of it from there before heading home. This is a very long, very elaborate parade. I'm sorry we missed a good part of it, but glad the kids had so much fun dancing. Wish we'd done that earlier, but doing it during the parade meant our kids were one of only about six kids in there and they got a LOT of character time.
-RIDES
Lines were short, but I've never in my life (or ever even once before, that I can recall) been stuck on so many Disney rides. Both times we went on Small World it got stuck. Ditto with Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Spaceship Earth, Peter Pan and Pirates also all got stuck once while we were on them and the Toy Story Mania shutdown I mentioned earlier left lots of passengers stranded. Test Track even had a small stop.
We also ran into rides more than once (off the top of my head: Pirates and Soarin, but I think there were at least one or two others as well) that were closed when we wanted to go on them. (Rides that should have been open, not attractions closed for refurb or longer maintenance.) Don't think that's ever happened before (previous visits) either, that I can recall.
Has Disney become lax with ride upkeep? What's going on?
-TRANSPORTATION
Generally dismal when not driving on our own. We were there 10 days total and for at least 4 of them the monorail was shutdown, unexpectedly, when we wanted to us it. And even when working there seemed to be fewer trains than normal: long, long lines every time and waits of 15-20 minutes for each train was the norm.
It took us over an hour to get from Grand Floridian to Epcot one day, even without any particular issues--just waiting for trains and the ride itself. Kind of ridiculous when we could have driven and parked and walked to park in less than 20 minutes. How is that convenience again?
And it was even worse when the monorail was shutdown early. On two Extra Magic Hour nights and once during the Halloween party we found getting back to the Grand Floridian from Magic Kingdom or Epcot a real pain.
We waited more than 40 minutes for a boat--along with about 200 other people--on an Extra Magic Hour night and when the boat finally arrived it could carry, no kidding, 30 people. Lots of fun, let me tell you.
After that experience, when we decided to take a bus instead, we waited over 30 minutes for one to even come for the Polynesian, Contemporary and Grand--Disney's most expensive hotels--and when we did it was standing room only AND still not big enough to take everyone in line. Now, I don't think I'm "better" than anyone else because we paid Disney more for our room (I really, REALLY don't), but when we counted SEVEN buses for the All-Star resorts come and go during that same amount of time (without even one for us), it gets more than a touch frustrating. And, by the way, if I'd been in the All Star line and seen seven buses come and go for the Grand before we even got one, I would have felt the exact same way.
In the end, we were happier when we drove to anywhere but Magic Kingdom (since you have to take monorail or ferry anyway).
And, seriously, what is that smell on the monorail? Do they stable the elephants from Animal Kingdom on there at night? Is that why they have to close down early now?
-TOURING PLANS
We used the Touring Plans website to pick our park days and the Lines iPhone app while in the park. The latter we found quite handy and fairly accurate.
I certainly wouldn't say the website served us poorly, because I don't think it did, but I did think it was interesting to note that the day we had such a great experience with wait times at Hollywood Studios it was a "2" day overall on their crowd calendar and Hollywood Studios was listed as a "4.3" and "park to avoid."
The day we saw much higher crowds and longer lines it was a "best" park on a "1" overall resort day and the Studios was rated as a "3.7."
-MEMORIES BY BETSY
We used this gift basket service (discovered here on the Dis) and found everything to be exactly as she described/pictured. I think it's really cool that she sends a photo of the baskets along with the invoice and she was very, very easy to work with and extremely communicative. (Unlike my trying to do something with Disney Florist.) The baskets were delivered exactly as she said they would be, in perfect shape.
My only small quibble is that the prices she quoted me for items were frequently different than what I saw in the parks for the same items (always higher, of course), though I sort of wrote that off as 'part of the service'.
-NAME SHIRTS
I know this is going to be controversial, because some people consider them a safety risk, but if you don't, go ahead and let your younger kids wear shirts with their names on them. (I got some super-cute ones on Etsy from "MadeCuteJust4U": http://www.etsy.com/shop/madecutejust4u) My son would totally forget and be amazed when Cast Member's greeted him by name, which happened a lot. And after one told him "Mickey told me you'd be coming" when he asked how they knew his name, he went with that explanation all week. Very cute and sweet.
Oh and, my personal theory about the name shirt is that any in my general vicinity probably knows my son's name already, written on his shirt or not, as I'm constantly telling him to sit still, stop doing this or leave that alone. But that's just my feeling, please do whatever you think is best for your kids.
-DISNEY MAGIC
We had several very nice Disney magic moments and lots of great interaction with Cast Members, including one nice worker on the big ferry from the TTC to Magic Kingdom. We were one of only two people on the ferry due to an early closing at MK--sick of waiting for the resort monorail I saw the ferry and decided to take it to MK and then boat back to the Grand Floridian rather than keep waiting; of course as soon as we sat down on ferry the resort monorail pulled into the station we'd waited at for 30 min.--and my son was sad due to a few unfortunate events earlier at Epcot. A crew member came over and gave him a whole bunch of Mickey stickers and two boat transportation cards and told him that Mickey Mouse didn't like any little kids to be sad in his parks. She talked to him for quite a while and he was just THRILLED with his card and stickers. He was trying to spot the boats depicted on the cards and wanted to tell his story, and share his stickers, with every kid he saw. He wore one of those stickers on his shirt every single day after that because "Mickey wants me to be happy."
So kind and thoughtful it actually made me teary.
-AND LESS MAGICAL MOMENTS
When my son took a bad fall and hit his head (he dropped about four feet and landed on the back of his head) at Animal Kingdom no one, and I mean NO ONE, tried or even wanted to help us.
While he was screaming hysterical in the immediate aftermath (and clearly screaming in pain, not annoyance) none of the nearby employees even checked to see if he was OK or if we needed assistance. When we went to them they were all confused and helpless, without even a suggestion of what to do other than, "I don't know what you'd do other than ride the train back to the First Aid station." We finally used our own bag, dumping some things out (they had none), put some ice on it (which we had to beg--they claimed they had none anywhere even though they sold drinks right there--and then, finally, pay for), calmed him down and took him back to First Aid ourselves. All without a single employee's help and quite a bit of obstruction from them.
I've had more people concerned about my kid's well being at the mall. (By the way, we got really lucky and, except for a bump and a little headache, he was fine.)
- LENGTH OF STAY ... Ten days, including the travel days was just a little too much Disney World for me. On about day seven I was thinking how nice it was not to have to rush and always knowing you could come back to a park if something was too crowded, or closed, or whatever. By day ten I just wanted to be home. Now.
- TIMING
First off, September was a great time to go. Low crowds, hot, but not sweltering, weather and we really lucked out with rain. Only one storm of any size. Of course it was the ONE DAY I didn't put the ponchos in the park bag but, hey, whatcha gonna do? (I also left my camera AT HOME. Yes. A year-plus of planning the ultimate Disney trip, down to the tiniest detail, including an incredibly anal retentive color-coded schedule and I forget the freaking camera. Doh <head slap>!)
The day we arrived, September 11, we headed to Epcot and the place (for Disney) felt empty. Less than 15 minute wait at character greeting spot and we had Nemo and Journey Into Imagination completely (and I mean COMPLETELY) to ourselves. Very nice. Even Dumbo was a near walk-on the several times we rode it.
Walked into Fantastmic 15 minutes before show time and got third row, just off-center, seats, no problem. Rode Soarin' one morning about 40 minutes after park opening with ZERO wait. Wandered into the Magic Kingdom one afternoon AT 3:00 PM and found a wide open, empty curb side spot for the parade. Did Star Tours--best ride in the parks, in my opinion--five times in two days and never waited more than about 5 minutes, even without Fastpasses, which we barely used anywhere because of the low crowds. Even the notoriously slow Jungle Cruise was a 10 minute wait most every time we went by.
We did wait 45 minutes one morning (during EMH at Studios) for Toy Story Midway Mania only have the ride shut down when we were (literally) next to get on. (Kinda' sucked; but not end of the world.) They gave everyone Fastpasses as they cleared the building, I walked out and got another one from the machine, and we came back later in the day and rode twice in a row with less than 10 minutes wait each time. And wandered aimlessly over (hours after park opening) and saw Jedi Training registration, popped in and signed him up for 4:00 PM show with no problem.
My son has become a total line snob. Any wait longer than, say, 5 minutes was "too long" for him after the first couple of days.
Crowds picked up as time went on, though. My husband (there for only part of our trip) didn't get to ride Soarin' because, by our final day, Fastpasses were gone by the time we go to Epcot at 10 AM (very different than our earlier days there) and waits at Hollywood Studios on our departure day (September 20) had become quite significant. Indiana Jones Stunt Show was over capacity at first show (never filled the other days we were there), as was Disney Junior show. Character lines were double what they had been. Star Tours was at about 20 minutes (never more than 10 posted on earlier visit). And Toy Story Fastpasses at 9:30 AM (when we got back there) were already for beyond 7:00 PM, long after we had to be at airport. Even heading straight there after park opening Jedi training was already on last show of day by the time we got in line. (My son had liked it so much, we wanted to try and do it again, but no dice.)
-Which brings me to my next point ... If you've got a boy even vaguely aware of Star Wars, sign him up for the JEDI TRAINING ACADEMY. F-U-N and, wait for it, FREE. Hard to believe at Disney, I know. My son LOVED it. It was his favorite thing the whole week and we also did Pirates League. What could be cooler than fighting Darth Vadar? Now, after the show, you are (if your kid is anything like mine) almost obligated to buy him a light saber from the gift shop, so maybe not totally "free," but definitely cool.
-PIRATES LEAGUE
This was good (though not Jedi good; see above) and he had a great time watching the Jack Sparrow sword tutorial (try and schedule your appointment close to that), even though he didn't get picked to participate. Pirates League kids do get front row seats, though.
The make-up is kind of annoying, especially in the heat. As soon as it started to itch him and he started to rub at it, it was back to the room for a bubble bath ... And it still didn't totally come off for a few days, even with dedicated cold cream application and daily dunks in the pool. Oh and, despite what Disney says, the black does NOT come out of clothes. Be aware.
We brought our own costume, which was good, because he wore it about 5 minutes after the show. (Again: hot.) Sadly, Pirates ride was down after we were done so we couldn't do that in pirates gear.
Our pirate makeover artist was perfectly nice, but less than enthused about her job/character, which probably dimmed the magic a tad. Overall, I'm not sorry we tried it, but this isn't something I'd do again. My son would have had more fun wearing a pirate t-shirt and trying harder to get picked for the sword fighting thing, as that was the part he liked best, not the make-up. Though I will add that he does really enjoy looking at the photos of himself all dressed up. He just didn't enjoy the process, or aftermath, very much.
My friend's daughter did the Bippity Boppity Boutique the same week and the attention they give the girls--Photopass photographer in the room at all times, everyone makes a fuss all the time, etc.--is ten times what this "boy's" activity gets. Just sayin' ... Boys do sometimes seem like second-class citizens at Disney.
-PIRATES AND PALS FIREWORKS CRUISE
We did this the same day as Pirates League and I had foolishly thought my son would want to wear his make-up and costume. Umm, no. But no big deal. The hardest part was GETTING to the thing with the monorail unexpectedly down while we were staying at the Grand. We waited 20+ minutes for a bus that never came and then tried to get our car from valet, but didn't have the ticket, so they wouldn't give it to us, even with name and room number (and key card ID). If I'd gone back to room to get it (which in hindsight I should have done right away without waiting for bus), I was afraid we'd be too late, so we took a taxi. $20 round trip isn't a HUGE deal, but still annoying when you're paying monorail resort rates.
Hmm, now what was I saying again? Oh right, Pirates and Pals cruise. Really, SOOOO much fun. The Captain Hook and Smee interaction and snacks were lackluster and I was worried the trip would be too, but we were in "Captain Smee's" boat (characters don't come with, just the name), and our host was "Patches," the funny, chunky pirate with lots of ex-wife jokes. He was awesome!
My son had so much fun interacting with him.
The electric water pageant and the fireworks were wonderful, as was the silly trivia, introductions (filled with jokes), etc. This is one that really hinges on the host. The other guy might have been just as good, but I know "Patches" really made our trip. (He was the same guy--but not the same pirate--that worked the Jack Sparrow tutorial earlier, which is why he urged me not to announce that when I brought it up.)
This one was definitely worth it.
-CINDERELLLA'S ROYAL TABLE BREAKFAST
Did this for the girls in our group, but my son was also dying to go into the castle and this fulfilled that whim. It was good in that respect. The space is decked out and kind of special. The Princess interaction? Not so much.
We had much, MUCH better Princess experiences at Epcot (every Princess appears in a country there, for the most part). Here it was much more move 'em through, pose for one second pic, rinse and repeat.
Getting in the park extra-early, though, was super awesome. My son RAN down a completely empty Main Street and we got some great photos. (TIP: Photopass people are there at that time. Really cool.) After breakfast we were the first, and I mean very first, people on Winnie the Pooh. We rode it three times in a row with zero wait and could have gone two or three more times before the line started to grow at all.
This was our only character breakfast on the trip and I don't think we'll be doing any more. (Last year we did three.) The food stinks. The characters are rushed. The prices are exorbinant. If you're still interested, I'd advise anyone to pick one they like, preferably at Magic Kingdom before the park opens, do it once (or no more than once a trip), and that's about it.
-KIDS' PIRATE CRUISE FROM THE GRAND FLORIDIAN ... This was what my son did the morning of our last full day and he had a blast. We saw them once from our room balcony, charging onto the Grand's beach and then heading back onto the boat, and it looked like they were having a blast. A feeling confirmed by my son when he got back.
My husband and I probably didn't really use the "alone" time to our advantage but 9:00 to 11:00 AM is kind of an odd time to try and do something together anyway.
-NEVERLAND CLUB ... Though he wasn't quite as stoked as last year, when it was his hands-down most-favorite thing about Disney World as a whole, my son enjoyed the two nights he spent at the kids' club here and one of the counselors was one of the pirate crew members on the cruise the next morning. He definitely wanted to go back again on night two (which I was little worried about) and said both times he had a lot of fun.
-VICTORIA AND ALBERT'S ... We went to this restaurant for the first time last year and really enjoyed the main dining room. This time I got to eat there twice: once with my friend in the main dining room for her birthday and once at the Chef's Table with my husband. Both experiences were exquisite and the food sublime. I'm not sure the Chef's Table was THAT much better than the main dining room (more courses), but other than price (ouch!) there is nothing at all to complain about when it comes to Victoria and Albert's. Just a big, WOW.
-OTHER DISNEY DINING ... Honestly, after being wildly underwhelmed, even with low expectations, last time out, we did as little Disney dining as possible. (Caveat to these impressions: I am a food snob for sure.)
We had lunch one day in Downtown Disney at Fulton's. It was virtually empty and perfectly servicable. Actually, all in all, quite a pleasant lunch with my friend and my son thanks to a pre-meal purchase from the Lego store. Food wasn't anything to rave about, but all perfectly good and, for Disney, reasonably priced.
Another day we had lunch at Chefs de France which was actually really not very good at all--both food and service were lacking. Just disappointing, as I'd heard this was one of the better Disney dining options.
And then on our long Hollywood Studios day we had lunch at Sci Fi, just my son and I. Now, I wasn't expecting anything from the food here, and that expectation was met. (The "milk shake" was powdered soft serve mix and nothing more.) It was sub-par all the way BUT I was even more impressed with the atmosphere than I expected. The cars, the stars, the movie previews on the big screen. All just too cute and my four-year-old adored it. Worth the modest cost for that alone.
-NOT SO SCARY HALLOWEEN PARTY (September 13)
My take on this one was, 'Eh.' Definitely not worth the money, in my opinion. We tried to focus on the "special" aspects of the party, instead of rides. Character lines were relatively long until after fireworks and we didn't even try for the Seven Dwarves which had an hour wait even before the party began--and only stayed that way or got worse throughout the night.
The trick or treating, which the little kids were excited about doing, was pretty sparse, and the lines for the few treat stations we saw were always long. Would have been much better off buying them $20 worth of candy and watching a movie in the hotel.
Haunted Mansion and the characters outside of it were really cool. Worth taking the time to explore and even worth waiting for.
Hallowishes was also pretty impressive. We had a seat in front of the castle and the show was pretty dang spectacular. It was a little frustrating in that we got there early to do that and, closer in, they closed the street too and everyone sat down there ... Meaning, latecomers way in front of us, but don't think it effected anything other than trying to move after the show stopped (which took a LONG time).
I will say that I tried to get a drink before fireworks began (we got seats about 30-45 minutes early) and there was NOWHERE to get even a water or soda that didn't have a mile long line. I had to go all the way into Adventureland and even then the drink stand was packed. Many of the regular stands for beverages were closed, but you couldn't go two feet without running into a cart selling light-up toys. Is the profit on those greater than even sodas? Who knew.
The dance parties are big fun for little kids. My son LOVED getting one-on-one with Bullseye, Woody and Jessie in Frontierland. We literally couldn't drag him out of that place, even for the parade.
Luckily, the parade was so long we actually were able to zoom ahead and get to the very end of the route (literally right before they go backstage) and see a good bit of it from there before heading home. This is a very long, very elaborate parade. I'm sorry we missed a good part of it, but glad the kids had so much fun dancing. Wish we'd done that earlier, but doing it during the parade meant our kids were one of only about six kids in there and they got a LOT of character time.
-RIDES
Lines were short, but I've never in my life (or ever even once before, that I can recall) been stuck on so many Disney rides. Both times we went on Small World it got stuck. Ditto with Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. Spaceship Earth, Peter Pan and Pirates also all got stuck once while we were on them and the Toy Story Mania shutdown I mentioned earlier left lots of passengers stranded. Test Track even had a small stop.
We also ran into rides more than once (off the top of my head: Pirates and Soarin, but I think there were at least one or two others as well) that were closed when we wanted to go on them. (Rides that should have been open, not attractions closed for refurb or longer maintenance.) Don't think that's ever happened before (previous visits) either, that I can recall.
Has Disney become lax with ride upkeep? What's going on?
-TRANSPORTATION
Generally dismal when not driving on our own. We were there 10 days total and for at least 4 of them the monorail was shutdown, unexpectedly, when we wanted to us it. And even when working there seemed to be fewer trains than normal: long, long lines every time and waits of 15-20 minutes for each train was the norm.
It took us over an hour to get from Grand Floridian to Epcot one day, even without any particular issues--just waiting for trains and the ride itself. Kind of ridiculous when we could have driven and parked and walked to park in less than 20 minutes. How is that convenience again?
And it was even worse when the monorail was shutdown early. On two Extra Magic Hour nights and once during the Halloween party we found getting back to the Grand Floridian from Magic Kingdom or Epcot a real pain.
We waited more than 40 minutes for a boat--along with about 200 other people--on an Extra Magic Hour night and when the boat finally arrived it could carry, no kidding, 30 people. Lots of fun, let me tell you.
After that experience, when we decided to take a bus instead, we waited over 30 minutes for one to even come for the Polynesian, Contemporary and Grand--Disney's most expensive hotels--and when we did it was standing room only AND still not big enough to take everyone in line. Now, I don't think I'm "better" than anyone else because we paid Disney more for our room (I really, REALLY don't), but when we counted SEVEN buses for the All-Star resorts come and go during that same amount of time (without even one for us), it gets more than a touch frustrating. And, by the way, if I'd been in the All Star line and seen seven buses come and go for the Grand before we even got one, I would have felt the exact same way.
In the end, we were happier when we drove to anywhere but Magic Kingdom (since you have to take monorail or ferry anyway).
And, seriously, what is that smell on the monorail? Do they stable the elephants from Animal Kingdom on there at night? Is that why they have to close down early now?
-TOURING PLANS
We used the Touring Plans website to pick our park days and the Lines iPhone app while in the park. The latter we found quite handy and fairly accurate.
I certainly wouldn't say the website served us poorly, because I don't think it did, but I did think it was interesting to note that the day we had such a great experience with wait times at Hollywood Studios it was a "2" day overall on their crowd calendar and Hollywood Studios was listed as a "4.3" and "park to avoid."
The day we saw much higher crowds and longer lines it was a "best" park on a "1" overall resort day and the Studios was rated as a "3.7."
-MEMORIES BY BETSY
We used this gift basket service (discovered here on the Dis) and found everything to be exactly as she described/pictured. I think it's really cool that she sends a photo of the baskets along with the invoice and she was very, very easy to work with and extremely communicative. (Unlike my trying to do something with Disney Florist.) The baskets were delivered exactly as she said they would be, in perfect shape.
My only small quibble is that the prices she quoted me for items were frequently different than what I saw in the parks for the same items (always higher, of course), though I sort of wrote that off as 'part of the service'.
-NAME SHIRTS
I know this is going to be controversial, because some people consider them a safety risk, but if you don't, go ahead and let your younger kids wear shirts with their names on them. (I got some super-cute ones on Etsy from "MadeCuteJust4U": http://www.etsy.com/shop/madecutejust4u) My son would totally forget and be amazed when Cast Member's greeted him by name, which happened a lot. And after one told him "Mickey told me you'd be coming" when he asked how they knew his name, he went with that explanation all week. Very cute and sweet.
Oh and, my personal theory about the name shirt is that any in my general vicinity probably knows my son's name already, written on his shirt or not, as I'm constantly telling him to sit still, stop doing this or leave that alone. But that's just my feeling, please do whatever you think is best for your kids.
-DISNEY MAGIC
We had several very nice Disney magic moments and lots of great interaction with Cast Members, including one nice worker on the big ferry from the TTC to Magic Kingdom. We were one of only two people on the ferry due to an early closing at MK--sick of waiting for the resort monorail I saw the ferry and decided to take it to MK and then boat back to the Grand Floridian rather than keep waiting; of course as soon as we sat down on ferry the resort monorail pulled into the station we'd waited at for 30 min.--and my son was sad due to a few unfortunate events earlier at Epcot. A crew member came over and gave him a whole bunch of Mickey stickers and two boat transportation cards and told him that Mickey Mouse didn't like any little kids to be sad in his parks. She talked to him for quite a while and he was just THRILLED with his card and stickers. He was trying to spot the boats depicted on the cards and wanted to tell his story, and share his stickers, with every kid he saw. He wore one of those stickers on his shirt every single day after that because "Mickey wants me to be happy."
So kind and thoughtful it actually made me teary.
-AND LESS MAGICAL MOMENTS
When my son took a bad fall and hit his head (he dropped about four feet and landed on the back of his head) at Animal Kingdom no one, and I mean NO ONE, tried or even wanted to help us.
While he was screaming hysterical in the immediate aftermath (and clearly screaming in pain, not annoyance) none of the nearby employees even checked to see if he was OK or if we needed assistance. When we went to them they were all confused and helpless, without even a suggestion of what to do other than, "I don't know what you'd do other than ride the train back to the First Aid station." We finally used our own bag, dumping some things out (they had none), put some ice on it (which we had to beg--they claimed they had none anywhere even though they sold drinks right there--and then, finally, pay for), calmed him down and took him back to First Aid ourselves. All without a single employee's help and quite a bit of obstruction from them.
I've had more people concerned about my kid's well being at the mall. (By the way, we got really lucky and, except for a bump and a little headache, he was fine.)
- LENGTH OF STAY ... Ten days, including the travel days was just a little too much Disney World for me. On about day seven I was thinking how nice it was not to have to rush and always knowing you could come back to a park if something was too crowded, or closed, or whatever. By day ten I just wanted to be home. Now.
