Just returned from 11 days of FP+....

[ciera321]

We just returned last night from DW and had a wonderful time! Our group was my DH of 34 years, our 2 sons and me. We had 2 rooms, 10 day PH with water parks and more, and we paid out-of-pocket for our meals. I was one of those people who was not at all happy about all the changes with FP, as I am a creature of habit, but after experiencing it, I have to say that I really was happily surprised. We are RD people, who arrive at least 45 - 60 minutes before the park opens, and were able to be at the front of a line 8 out of 11 park days. We went directly to the headliners, sometimes riding twice, then used our FP+ starting around 11am. We timed them back-to-back, so that we could go from the first one right to the second, eat lunch and then head to the 3rd one. (Example: 10:30 - 11:30, 11:30 - 12:30 and 12:30 - 1:30). We'd go on the first one around 11:25, then move on to the second right after. We never tried to get a 4th FP because most things we wanted to do weren't available after about 1pm. Unfortunately, the addition of FP+ absolutely makes those rides you used to be able to only wait a few minutes for, have much longer lines of 45 minutes at times.

The MagicBands were great. We didn't have one issue with them, and they were so convenient! We charged all our meals to our room without any issues. This was an exceptionally good idea from Disney. I really hated taking it off last night!

Coronado Springs was our resort, making this our 5th stay. We just love the beauty of this resort. The location makes it perfect for short travel to any park. Bus service was wonderful, as usual, and we got all our requests for both of the rooms we had. All the CMs at CS were extremely pleasant and helpful, with the exception of one. We'll just assume she was having a bad day, which everyone is entitled to now and then. My DH and I shared a room and we got one for our 2 boys, which made for a harmonious vacation!!!!

Unfortunately, I did notice a bit of slack in the cleanliness of the parks. I saw a few trash cans that were in need of emptying, and some trash laying around here and there, but nothing too drastic. HOWEVER, I do believe that some of this is partially due to guests. I was amazed at what people will just leave laying on the ground or on a table when they're done using an area. No one is too good to clean up after themselves! The CMs work hard, and you're not entitled to have someone clean up your mess. If you were one of several families that we saw just get up and leave all your empty cups, food wrappers, etc. on the ground or table for someone else to pick up, shame on you! Rant over.....

We found that most all of the CMs we came in contact with were happy to be doing to what they were doing, with a smile on their face and a good attitude. No one was anywhere near rude or unpleasant to us. We did see a person being rather abrupt with a CM, and the CM handled it with a smile and courteous manner.

The food is still pretty good for the most part. We had reservations at Narcoossee's, California Grill, Via Napoli, House Of Blues, Sanaa and Chefs de France. All were good, but the standouts for us were our favorites Narcoossee's, Sanaa and California Grill which were perfect, plus House of Blues was very good! The CS restaurants were no different from what we've experienced in the past....good, but nothing fabulous. However, our favorite CS is WPE, and the food there was great!

Overall, our favorite place is still our favorite place, and we can't wait to go back in September for our first trip for 2!

One more thing.........I hereby apologize for disliking the FP+ system before trying it. I feel better now!

 

[stamot]

Coronado Springs was our resort, making this our 5th stay. We just love the beauty of this resort. The location makes it perfect for short travel to any park. Bus service was wonderful, as usual, and we got all our requests for both of the rooms we had. All the CMs at CS were extremely pleasant and helpful, with the exception of one. We'll just assume she was having a bad day, which everyone is entitled to now and then. My DH and I shared a room and we got one for our 2 boys, which made for a harmonious vacation!!!!

Unfortunately, I did notice a bit of slack in the cleanliness of the parks. I saw a few trash cans that were in need of emptying, and some trash laying around here and there, but nothing too drastic. HOWEVER, I do believe that some of this is partially due to guests. I was amazed at what people will just leave laying on the ground or on a table when they're done using an area. No one is too good to clean up after themselves! The CMs work hard, and you're not entitled to have someone clean up your mess. If you were one of several families that we saw just get up and leave all your empty cups, food wrappers, etc. on the ground or table for someone else to pick up, shame on you! Rant over.....

We found that most all of the CMs we came in contact with were happy to be doing to what they were doing, with a smile on their face and a good attitude. No one was anywhere near rude or unpleasant to us. We did see a person being rather abrupt with a CM, and the CM handled it with a smile and courteous manner.

The food is still pretty good for the most part. We had reservations at Narcoossee's, California Grill, Via Napoli, House Of Blues, Sanaa and Chefs de France. All were good, but the standouts for us were our favorites Narcoossee's, Sanaa and California Grill which were perfect, plus House of Blues was very good! The CS restaurants were no different from what we've experienced in the past....good, but nothing fabulous. However, our favorite CS is WPE, and the food there was great!

Overall, our favorite place is still our favorite place, and we can't wait to go back in September for our first trip for 2!

One more thing.........I hereby apologize for disliking the FP+ system before trying it. I feel better now!

I'm so happy to hear a good FP+ review for a change. We will be staying at Coronado for the first time on Christmas and I'm a little nervous because it will be our first time at this hotel.

I love California Grill. We havent been there since the renovation. Did it changed a lot??

 

[brennicksmom]

In glad you had a great experience. We are on our 2nd park day. We have 10 day PH with water park. Staying 15 nights. I also am really enjoying the Magic Bands so far. But I am far from sold on the FP+ system. We have always been rope droppers arriving about an hour before park opening. We would use about 10 FP per day before in MK and probably 7+ other parks. We already are very disappointed in the FP+. Attractions that used to be walk ons now are FP+ and the waits are approaching 35-45 minutes on average. I think they broke what worked. They should have added the magic bands, but kept the FP the way they always had been...for everyone to get them FP in the parks as they arrive, get another as they use them and repeat. That could still be done with the MB. That way everyone has a fair shot. I am staying on property and chose mine 60 days out. I just haven't come around to this new method . Just my opinion

 

[dprincessmom]

For what it is worth - we experienced inflated posted wait times. If it said 70 minutes, it was around 45. If it was stated as 45, it was typically 20 minutes.

If you glance at one of the stations (Soarin' is the one my daughter looked at) posted was 80 minutes, we had FP+, said actual stand by was 57 minutes. Not certain why they are inflating the times, but it seemed to be standard.

 

[ciera321]

I'm so happy to hear a good FP+ review for a change. We will be staying at Coronado for the first time on Christmas and I'm a little nervous because it will be our first time at this hotel.

I love California Grill. We havent been there since the renovation. Did it changed a lot??

It's beautiful, has more seating, but hasn't totally changed. The menu is different, but still has my oak-fired fillet. The best dessert, the chocolate lava cake, is gone... The food was really good, but our favorite is still Narcoossee's, just amazing, especially the seafood!

 

[ciera321]

For what it is worth - we experienced inflated posted wait times. If it said 70 minutes, it was around 45. If it was stated as 45, it was typically 20 minutes.

If you glance at one of the stations (Soarin' is the one my daughter looked at) posted was 80 minutes, we had FP+, said actual stand by was 57 minutes. Not certain why they are inflating the times, but it seemed to be standard.

We did also. For example, we saw a stand-by time of 20 minutes for Tower of Terror, which is about as long as we're willing to stand in line, and we walked all the way thru the que and into the room for the pre-show. This happened several times on different rides. Rock n Roller Coaster had a 15 minute stand-by time and we, again, walked right into the pre-show room, then right onto the ride. Maybe this varies by day, but we always follow Josh's suggested park days, and as usual, he was spot on!

 

[Mambo Junkie]

I'm with you on people picking up after themselves! The last time we were at Fantasmic, we finished the show and gathered all our trash and headed up the steps to the exit. At the top was a row of park workers waiting for everyone to clear out so they could clean up. One of them looked at the trash in our hands and said, "Wow! Clean people!"

 

[ciera321]

I'm with you on people picking up after themselves! The last time we were at Fantasmic, we finished the show and gathered all our trash and headed up the steps to the exit. At the top was a row of park workers waiting for everyone to clear out so they could clean up. One of them looked at the trash in our hands and said, "Wow! Clean people!"

I know! Seems like that's a pretty basic concept that many don't grasp...

 

[disneymom1229]

We did also. For example, we saw a stand-by time of 20 minutes for Tower of Terror, which is about as long as we're willing to stand in line, and we walked all the way thru the que and into the room for the pre-show. This happened several times on different rides. Rock n Roller Coaster had a 15 minute stand-by time and we, again, walked right into the pre-show room, then right onto the ride. Maybe this varies by day, but we always follow Josh's suggested park days, and as usual, he was spot on!

Did you book you FP's 60 days out? If so, could you follow Josh's suggested days that far out? Sorry if this is a seems like a silly question. I have never looked at his suggestions. I use touring plans for best park days, but have been reading what good luck people have using Josh's days and think maybe I will look into changing my strategy...

 

[Just_Trish]

So glad you and your family had a good trip!

I don't know when society turned into such careless pigs. It is sickening.

Last week I saw a group of 20somethings at Pecos Bills toward the back of the room. It was relatively quiet in there as my DD and I ate and the 20somethings got up and left a table full of mess - not even on a tray - just a mess, wrappers, turkey legs, etc.

The young CM cleaning tables saw the mess and looked deflated. He then turned and walked away from the table. I thought to myself he was going to leave it, probably for another CM to find, but then several minutes later he came back wearing gloves to clean up the nastiness. These folks work hard to keep the park clean and deserve a thanks once in a while! It's easy for us to notice the park might not be as clean as it once was, but in all honesty, I think that is because society is becoming more and more piggier, not that the CMs are really falling down on the job! I think it's just hard to keep up!

 

[ciera321]

Did you book you FP's 60 days out? If so, could you follow Josh's suggested days that far out? Sorry if this is a seems like a silly question. I have never looked at his suggestions. I use touring plans for best park days, but have been reading what good luck people have using Josh's days and think maybe I will look into changing my strategy...

Yes, I made all our FP+ reservations at the 60 day mark. I did tweak them here and there without any problems. Josh usually has his recommendations up around 6 months in advance. I take his most recommended day and build my plans around them. He's never steered us wrong! We used to do the EMH every day they were offered, but not any more.

 

[ciera321]

[/FONT]

So glad you and your family had a good trip!

I don't know when society turned into such careless pigs. It is sickening.

Last week I saw a group of 20somethings at Pecos Bills toward the back of the room. It was relatively quiet in there as my DD and I ate and the 20somethings got up and left a table full of mess - not even on a tray - just a mess, wrappers, turkey legs, etc.

The young CM cleaning tables saw the mess and looked deflated. He then turned and walked away from the table. I thought to myself he was going to leave it, probably for another CM to find, but then several minutes later he came back wearing gloves to clean up the nastiness. These folks work hard to keep the park clean and deserve a thanks once in a while! It's easy for us to notice the park might not be as clean as it once was, but in all honesty, I think that is because society is becoming more and more piggier, not that the CMs are really falling down on the job! I think it's just hard to keep up!

Absolutely! There is a young man at Starring Roles who worked all 3 mornings we ate breakfast there. He was working so hard to quickly clean up as soon as someone vacated a table. He was so pleasant and friendly, and did a super job! We thanked him for cleaning off a table for us to use, and got a huge smile! Sometimes simple manners go a long way!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Yes, I made all our FP+ reservations at the 60 day mark. I did tweet them here and there without any problems. Josh usually has his recommendations up around 6 months in advance. I take his most recommended day and build my plans around them. He's never steered us wrong! We used to do the EMH every day they were offered, but not any more.

ciera321...overall did the parks seem crowded? Did there seem to be a lot of guests staying at CSR? And finally...did the TS restaurants seem to be full(in general)?

 

[ciera321]

ciera321...overall did the parks seem crowded? Did there seem to be a lot of guests staying at CSR? And finally...did the TS restaurants seem to be full(in general)?

This is the normal time of year that we go to DW, and it seemed like what we usually see. It was not overly crowded and we accomplished everything we wanted to do. We rode our favorites at least twice a day, once at RP and once with FP+. Our sons would go in the single rider lines and get thru quickly.

CSR did not seem full, but was booked pretty solid. There were conventions going on, but I've never really noticed conventioneers running around anyplace except Cafe Rix in the early morning. The good part about CSR being a convention resort is that most of the people attending, will not be on the buses going to the parks or using the pool. They do use the DTD buses in the evening, but they're rarely standing room only.

The TS restaurants did seem to be fairly full, but we were able to move our times around twice when we needed to.

 

[ajwolfe]

So glad you and your family had a good trip!

I don't know when society turned into such careless pigs. It is sickening.

Last week I saw a group of 20somethings at Pecos Bills toward the back of the room. It was relatively quiet in there as my DD and I ate and the 20somethings got up and left a table full of mess - not even on a tray - just a mess, wrappers, turkey legs, etc.

The young CM cleaning tables saw the mess and looked deflated. He then turned and walked away from the table. I thought to myself he was going to leave it, probably for another CM to find, but then several minutes later he came back wearing gloves to clean up the nastiness. These folks work hard to keep the park clean and deserve a thanks once in a while! It's easy for us to notice the park might not be as clean as it once was, but in all honesty, I think that is because society is becoming more and more piggier, not that the CMs are really falling down on the job! I think it's just hard to keep up!

I don't know if we were there the same day or not but we witnessed the exact same thing in Peco's Bills. My dh was in shock that people would just walk off and leave an entire table of trash for someone to clean up...Not to mention sometimes tables are hard to come by in there and it was hogging up a table.

 

[PrincessNelly]

I'm glad you had a great time. I too love Coronado! We tried POR in the beginning of May and I was longing for my beloved CSR!

But here's a tip for your next trip. With fp+ you can ride 5 minutes early and move up your fastpasses (as long as there is availability) after using one:

For example, if you have a 10:45 - 11:45 Haunted Mansion slot followed by 11:50 - 12:50 Pirates slot, you could ride HM at 10:40 and exit at 11:00, then using the app changed your Pirates FP to 11:05- 12:05 and go ride!
We used this many times and found it a great way to get the initial 3 fp+ out the way for the rotating 4th. We manage to get BTMRR, Soarin, Space, and Maelstrom all as 4th fp+ on EMH days at that!