Just returned my observations

[Bilierka]

The weather was very hot and humid, and more more rain then ant of my previous six July trips,that being said we still had a great time.

I thought all the parks were very clean for the amount of people, each day was an 8 or 9 for crowds. By the way, every restroom I went in and I went in to a lot of them were spotless. I was very impressed by that.

The cm,s were all very pleasant and helpful and I saw no outrageous behavior by anyone.

Magic bands-a huge thumbs up on this. Worked first time every time, so nice to just slap on the bracelet in the morning, and you were good to go, no more who has the room key, do I have money, what did I put the fast pass, this was so easy.

Fast pass plus, another thumbs up, we were able to do all the rides we wanted except for test track, and yes, on three occasions we were able to get a decent fourth fast pass.... Fast pass does require advanced planning but the results are worth it.

There were still rediculousl waits for Anna/Elsa and the mine train, waits of well over an hour within a short period of park opening.


South American tour groups were out in force but I have to say they were all very well behaved. No crazy chanting, no taking up the entire street,no pushing and shoving, frankly I was amazed by that. Don't know if disney finally laid down the law to the tour operators or the operators finally saw the light , but the marked improvement in behavior was very welcome!!!!


Frozen fireworks were very well done, very good show.

Oh and if I had a Dollor for every princess Anna/Elsa I saw or a buck for every vera bradley handbag I saw I could finance my next trip!!!!

 

[over50visits]

South American tour groups were out in force but I have to say they were all very well behaved. No crazy chanting, no taking up the entire street,no pushing and shoving, frankly I was amazed by that. Don't know if disney finally laid down the law to the tour operators or the operators finally saw the light , but the marked improvement in behavior was very welcome!!!!
!

We've found the same in our recent visits. Those groups seem to have a poor reputation with some people, but we've always found them to be, well, kids having a good time just like everyone else. I hate to get behind a big group of them going into a ride, but it's not fair to be upset with them because of that! Glad to see you had the same experience.

Sound like you had a great time!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

The weather was very hot and humid, and more more rain then ant of my previous six July trips,that being said we still had a great time.

I thought all the parks were very clean for the amount of people, each day was an 8 or 9 for crowds. By the way, every restroom I went in and I went in to a lot of them were spotless. I was very impressed by that.

The cm,s were all very pleasant and helpful and I saw no outrageous behavior by anyone.

Magic bands-a huge thumbs up on this. Worked first time every time, so nice to just slap on the bracelet in the morning, and you were good to go, no more who has the room key, do I have money, what did I put the fast pass, this was so easy.

Fast pass plus, another thumbs up, we were able to do all the rides we wanted except for test track, and yes, on three occasions we were able to get a decent fourth fast pass.... Fast pass does require advanced planning but the results are worth it.

There were still rediculousl waits for Anna/Elsa and the mine train, waits of well over an hour within a short period of park opening.


South American tour groups were out in force but I have to say they were all very well behaved. No crazy chanting, no taking up the entire street,no pushing and shoving, frankly I was amazed by that. Don't know if disney finally laid down the law to the tour operators or the operators finally saw the light , but the marked improvement in behavior was very welcome!!!!


Frozen fireworks were very well done, very good show.

Oh and if I had a Dollor for every princess Anna/Elsa I saw or a buck for every vera bradley handbag I saw I could finance my next trip!!!!

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.

 

[bellefan7757]

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!

 

[beedee12]

Glad you had a nice trip! It's so refreshing to hear positive experiences with FP+ and magic bands!

 

[AladdinRapunzelTink]

Oh and if I had a buck for every vera bradley handbag I saw I could finance my next trip!!!!

This. Just got in today and before we even left MCO we'd already made a game of spotting them.

 

[maxiesmom]

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.

 

[Granny square]

So glad your trip was great. When things work the way they are supposed to it makes a huge difference! lol. Same for people behaving the way they should!

 

[CanadianPaco]

Oh and if I had a Dollor for every princess Anna/Elsa I saw or a buck for every vera bradley handbag I saw I could finance my next trip!!!!

Oh I laughed out loud when I read this!!! Too funny! So glad you had a great trip!

 

[momof2n2]

and if I had a Dollor for every princess Anna/Elsa I saw or a buck for every vera bradley handbag I saw I could finance my next trip!!!!

LOL. Love this.
Then again... I feel that way just about anywhere these days.

 

[alicat8]

Good news! Glad you had a great trip!!

 

[JimmyV]

It's a shame how much bandwidth on this site gets wasted arguing and debating about line cutting, poor guest/customer behavior, poor CM behavior and large tour groups of certain ethnicity when in fact the vast majority of trips are just like Bilieken's. Glad to hear that you had a fun and successful Summer trip.

 

[gtpoohbear]

This. Just got in today and before we even left MCO we'd already made a game of spotting them.

Haha, you'd have a field day in my closet!! It's the only thing other than Disney that I have a true obsession with. The fact that there are now Disney VB's does not help AT ALL, lol!

OP, glad to hear such a positive report. Making me very anxious for our next trip!!

 

[Aurora0427]

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.

Schedule them for after 10:30 if you do rope drop. You'll be able to walk on to rides the first 90 minutes. Our strategy that we used in February was walk on from RD- 11am, have lunch, and then do our FP after lunch. Then a break at the hotel and back in the evening! Worked beautifully!

 

[maxiesmom]

Schedule them for after 10:30 if you do rope drop. You'll be able to walk on to rides the first 90 minutes. Our strategy that we used in February was walk on from RD- 11am, have lunch, and then do our FP after lunch. Then a break at the hotel and back in the evening! Worked beautifully!

Thank you! That is exactly what I will do!

 

[highlander]

I have to agree with all the comments.

I was really impressed by the tour groups this year. No issues at all with them and was glad to see them enjoying themselves.

FP+ worked flawlessly and the CMs that helped make changes were really good. I find that if you work with them and approach them with a smile, you get more honey. It's the people that go after the FP+ CMs with fire in their eyes that have a horrible time.

Crowds were crazy in the afternoons. We were there from the 6th thru the 10th. The best day was the 6th in HS. After that, it got progressively more crowded making rides without FP a challenge.

I have one question. The queue for Arial was stifling hot. We went on a hot day after a shower so the standby time was only 20 minutes. Many people left because of the heat. Is there supposed to be some type of air flow? Disney may want to consider it if there isn't any. We won't be standing in that line again.

If you haven't seen Gaston for his autograph, I highly suggest it. He was in character and made waiting in line worthwhile for everyone. He also stopped the line and see a special needs child in a wheelchair instead of waiting in the hot sun. That was the right thing to do. His interaction with the child was priceless and should be recognized for excellence.

The Frozen fireworks at HS were the best. Not to be missed.

 

[boltfan]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm very excited about using the Magic Bands in November! Sounds like it makes life much easier at the parks, hotel and restaurants.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Crowds were crazy in the afternoons. We were there from the 6th thru the 10th.

The Frozen fireworks at HS were the best. Not to be missed.

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?

 

[Crl1817]

Glad you had a great trip! Thanks for the report.

 

[kshattuck]

Thank you for such a positive report! We've been to WDW many times and I always let the DIS boards psych me out before every trip

This is our first trip with MagicBands and FP+ and I am so bummed reading all of the negative posts. Even had a dream I forgot to book FP+

You've made me feel even more excited about the upcoming trip! I love planning and the FP+ have me nervous, but this post has reassured me.

Thank you!