Just returned my observations

[kgytt]

DH and I were in WDW July 4 - 8. I would echo all of your observations. So many recent posts have mentioned the poor behavior of other guests and we just didn't see it. Parents were conscious of their children, most everyone waited for their turn, picked up after themselves, etc. I would add that we saw an unusual amount of construction/refurbishment. (We'll get to see the results on our next trip! )

The one thing that even my husband commented about, and he is typically less than observant, was the behavior of many of the CMs. While no one was rude in any way, many seemed to be less "into" their jobs than we have experienced previously. Truly cheerful, attentive CMs, who seemed to be in character were the exception rather than the rule. Some examples - at Small World the CM at the entrance was reading/looking at a park map instead of greeting, or even looking at, guests. Several times, two would be standing together, having a personal conversation rather than interacting with guests. As we checked into our resort, our feeling from the CM was that she was just doing her job. No feeling of welcome at all. Most were polite enough - just not that friendly. I don't want to sound like a complainer or imply that anyone was unpleasant, just stating a difference that we noticed. The outrageously wonderful interactions we had on our first couple of trips was one of the reasons we fell in love with the place and have returned so often. Of course, we'll be back!

We were there the 9th - 15th and I totally agree about the CM's! No one was rude, but we saw a lot of "people just doing there jobs" rather than looking like they LOVED their jobs. Still absolutely love it there, but as you stated, it was a difference that we noticed.

 

[kgytt]

And we loved the magic bands and fast pass +! We never even had a need for the 4th fastpass. We booked our top 3 each day and then used MDE to check wait times for other attractions. We are not early risers, so knowing that we could get fastpasses without having to do rope drop made our vacation so much more magical!

 

[texasbelle12]

Even had a dream I forgot to book FP+

LOL, I'm glad I'm not alone in that happening to!

 

[Bilierka]

Bilierka...thanks for the report!

You thought all four parks were busy the whole time you were there? Was there a big crowd for the Frozen fireworks at Hollywood Studios? Did you stay on property? And lastly, how many days were you there?

Sorry if I'm overloading you with questions.

,,,,,,,,yesi thought all parks were busy,especially mk, yes, frozen wireworms had a decent crowd, no bad views for that,we stayed at POP and loved it and were there for six days.

 

[Bilierka]

It sounds like you had an awesome trip!

I want to ask, did you schedule your FPs for right when the parks opened, or for later on in the day? I'm wondering which works out better.

,,,,,,,earlier, that way you have a better chance of getting fourth or fifth past passes, especially for more popular attractions.

 

[highlander]

I'm hearing so many good things about the Frozen fireworks! I hope they still have them next summer when we are going on our next trip.

Highlander...was there a big crowd for the Frozen fireworks? Epcot and AK were crowded during your visit?

Sorry, took a few days off from the board. There was a crowd, but I was there on the 2nd day that they had the fireworks so I wouldn't say it was overly crowded. I can't vouch for how it might be today. We were able to get in the section in front of the stage, but at the very back of the section. Views were good but I mostly looked at the large display on the stage. You have some of the fireworks blocked by the tall palm trees, but I think that will be the case most places you stand in the area. Not an issue overall.

Epcot and AK were moderate crowds in my estimation. We did Test Track as soon as we got to the part (opening) and had FP for Soarin and others. BTW, Soarin is not what it used to be. Disney really needs to clean the film. There were bits of dirt floating around the screen the entire ride. I am not sure we'll ride Soarin again until they either change the movie or someone tells us that it's clean with no distractions.

MK was a different story. Crowded. Really crowded. And hot. But it is Florida in the summer so you have to expect that. I'm just not sure how Disney will be able to pack more people in and expect everyone to enjoy themselves if they can't get on rides or enjoy the attractions due to the number of people. There's only so much shopping and ice cream eating that one can do when everything else is unavailable.

 

[puffkin]

When we were there in mid June, I thought the tour groups were especially bad with the chanting and such. Found out upon returning home that there were actually a lot of issues with some rivalries between the Argentinian and Brazilian groups and that is why they chant so much. I guess it was just at a fever pitch with the World Cup mania going on at that time. I wonder if Disney really cracked down on it with the tour group operators? There were tons of green shirted CM's in the park who seemed to be there soley to help out the tour groups.

We had similar experiences elsewhere though. We did most of our FP's 11-1 frame and did rope drops. We got tons done in the mornings...way more than in prior trips. I loved it. When we returned at night after our break, we didn't really need FP for anything we wanted to do in any of the parks except for MK. We got lots of immediate FP for Tier 2 attractions so I would just save those for your 4th and beyond FP. We honestly got so much more done with the FP+ system, I really liked it.

 

[jsbowl16]

We just finished our trip on the 20th and had a great time as well. A few things that I noticed:

1. The buses were horrendous. They were much slower and much more full than I had experienced on previous trips in July. I am not sure if they are running fewer buses or if there is another issue but it was so bad that we actually started driving to some of the parks due to it wasting a lot of our time.

2. The tour groups were not that bad other than with some of the fast passes. I had a fast pass for Soarin and waited in line for 45 minutes behind a tour group. I am not sure of there is much that Disney can do to fix this but it is very annoying waiting that long in a fast pass line.

3. The food was worse than the last time we were there. I wouldn't say that it was bad but I am very underwhelmed by some of the signature restaurants we ate at.

4. In eight days, we met 35 different characters and some of them like Mickey, Goofy, etc, multiple times in different outfits. I do not remember there being this many out previously but my 2 year old had an amazing time meeting that many characters.

5. Downtown Disney is a complete mess right now. There were sections where there was maybe a ten foot wide walking path and then there were people standing in it waiting for their reservations at different restaurants. Usually we enjoy spending a night there but it was more of a hassle than an enjoyable time.

All in all, it was another amazing Disney vacation but the next time we will likely drive more often instead of using Disney transportation and we will likely use the regular dining plan instead of the deluxe.

 

[mlittig]

Glad you had a magical trip