rebeccalancaster
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
- Messages
- 84
I was stressing about the bands, the FP issue, etc prior to our trip last week. I LOVE disney and this was our 5th trip in the past 11 years. And by far, I think one of our favorite.
The bands were wonderful!!
1. Being able to get into the room with hands full - either with bags, or sleeping kids, or just too tired to dig around for a key was great! Just scan your wrist.
2. The convenience of paying for food, merchandise, etc was great - no digging for your wallet at the bottom of your bag, (there were a couple disadvantages - even though my disney visa was linked to my band - I forgot to mention it to get the 10% discount - out of sight of of mind I guess - and its easier to get off budget - little purchases add up. The only people not taking the bands were the street vendors - i.e. balloons, light up toys, etc. )
3. the kids kept up with their own tickets - i didn't have to dig out everyone's tickets, or accidentally leave one in the room or lose one (i have done both before) - one day anthony's band didnt work to get in - there was someone right there with a Ipad like device - they scanned the band, and he was in - took literally less than a minute.
FP+ worked for us.
I made our reservations on the 23rd of January. we checked in on the 26th. I had my bands and package booked for a while, just never really got around to getting that done. I had no problems getting the things we wanted. My son is 10 and my daughter is 17 so we didn't have the conflict as far as booking for the princesses, etc. However, with that being said - we still got in the standby lines and saw all the characters - with the exception of Tiana and Tinkerbell - just because my kids didn't really want to. the only day it didn't work in our favor was the last day - we usually park hop to hit our favorite rides before we leave. We couldn't reserve fast passes for the other parks. BUT the crowds were low enough that we got Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Test Trac and Soaring all done on Saturday. We packed up the room and car and were at the rope drop for Hollywood studios, then rode buses to different resorts to grab the next park bus, etc. and we were out of the parks on the way home at 5 p.m.
Tour Groups - These were definitely more numerous!!! I was speaking with a tour guide with one of the groups and mentioned that there was little regard for personal space - i.e. some of the kids literally walk all over you and stay right in my little bubble. apparently in Brazil they don't recognize that concept and don't realize how it can be offensive. I just walked in a different direction than the groups so i didnt really run into the crowding of the lines.
The more i stay at Pop the more I love it. The bus situation is by far the best for me!! We resort hopped from some of the parks to get a bus to downtown disney and most of the resorts have multiple bus stops. at Pop there is one - I love that.
this is just my opinion, but things seemed to work fine for us.
The bands were wonderful!!
1. Being able to get into the room with hands full - either with bags, or sleeping kids, or just too tired to dig around for a key was great! Just scan your wrist.
2. The convenience of paying for food, merchandise, etc was great - no digging for your wallet at the bottom of your bag, (there were a couple disadvantages - even though my disney visa was linked to my band - I forgot to mention it to get the 10% discount - out of sight of of mind I guess - and its easier to get off budget - little purchases add up. The only people not taking the bands were the street vendors - i.e. balloons, light up toys, etc. )
3. the kids kept up with their own tickets - i didn't have to dig out everyone's tickets, or accidentally leave one in the room or lose one (i have done both before) - one day anthony's band didnt work to get in - there was someone right there with a Ipad like device - they scanned the band, and he was in - took literally less than a minute.
FP+ worked for us.
I made our reservations on the 23rd of January. we checked in on the 26th. I had my bands and package booked for a while, just never really got around to getting that done. I had no problems getting the things we wanted. My son is 10 and my daughter is 17 so we didn't have the conflict as far as booking for the princesses, etc. However, with that being said - we still got in the standby lines and saw all the characters - with the exception of Tiana and Tinkerbell - just because my kids didn't really want to. the only day it didn't work in our favor was the last day - we usually park hop to hit our favorite rides before we leave. We couldn't reserve fast passes for the other parks. BUT the crowds were low enough that we got Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Test Trac and Soaring all done on Saturday. We packed up the room and car and were at the rope drop for Hollywood studios, then rode buses to different resorts to grab the next park bus, etc. and we were out of the parks on the way home at 5 p.m.
Tour Groups - These were definitely more numerous!!! I was speaking with a tour guide with one of the groups and mentioned that there was little regard for personal space - i.e. some of the kids literally walk all over you and stay right in my little bubble. apparently in Brazil they don't recognize that concept and don't realize how it can be offensive. I just walked in a different direction than the groups so i didnt really run into the crowding of the lines.
The more i stay at Pop the more I love it. The bus situation is by far the best for me!! We resort hopped from some of the parks to get a bus to downtown disney and most of the resorts have multiple bus stops. at Pop there is one - I love that.
this is just my opinion, but things seemed to work fine for us.