Just returned...some observations and thoughts

[iron shemp]

Just got back from a week long stay. This was our first trip since January 1999. My wife and I went to celebrate our 25th anniversary (this was our 4th trip togther...the last two with our son but this time alone).
Some random comments about the trip....maybe for some newbies about what thay may see or expect. In no particular order....
-we will NOT go again in the summer. Waaaaay too hot and humid!!!! The MK wasn't too bad as any stores/attractions with AC are relatively close together so it's not a long walk to find some relief from the heat. Epcot in comparison, has just a lot of concrete between the attractions and we just found the heat and humidity much more draining there. We did stay for the fireworks which were awesome!! AK had a lot of shade but not as many AC buildings to go in to escape the heat.
-we expected there would be a LOT of crabby out-of-control hyper bratty kids and adults there. And there were......
-I was AMAZED at what parents let their kids eat for breakfast. We saw kids loading up on Coke and desserts at 8:30 for breakfast. No wonder these kids and/or parents were overweight.... (also see above observation).
- the Crocs we bought were GREAT!!!!!! I wore my New Balance running shoes twice and had very sore, achy feet by the end of the day. Still saw ladies wearing heels at the parks though (even at Typoon Lagoon a woman was trying to walk through the sand wearing 3" heels).
-I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience. I just did the 'ride-along'. It was pretty cool but over with much too quick. For $100+ they should do more than 3 laps. It was good but over-priced for what you actually get.
-We stayed at the Pop Century. It was just OK. Our room was actually quite noisy. We could hear people talking in the ajoining room (on our first night, the guests next door to us were having an arguement!!). We could ALWAYS hear the plumbing being used. Even though our room was a no-smoking room, we certainly could smell smoke. We thought it was from the sheets but we determined it probably came from the vent in the bathroom.
-We saw a family waiting in a bus line-up with a stroller AND a wagon!!!!! We had already boarded our bus (I think this was an Epcot or MGM bus) when we saw them in line but I'm not sure the driver would even allow a wagon on as you can not fold it up like a stroller. I think it would just block the aisle for everyone else (the wagon was loaded with several cooler bags of stuff).
-We saw lots of fat people at the water parks (well actually we saw fat people everywhere). Unless you are an Olympic swimmer, DO NOT even THINK about wearing a Speedo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My eyes will never be the same after seeing some fat guys wearing those things last week. AMAZING!!!!!!
-The Dining Plan was excellent!! Eating at WDW seems to be the most expensive part of the trip. On past trips, we had never made dinner reservations before as we felt that we wanted to have a totally open itenerary and not plan too much. We found out very quick that we could not do that as the crowds were so large. So we phoned the reservations desk on the second day to make our dining reservations for the rest of the week.
-Cell phones......... we saw a LOT of people on their phones. Two days in a row we had boarded our bus with the same family going to one of the parks. BOTH times, the guy was on the phone constantly the whole trip working!! While waiting one morning I heard another guy on the phone saying "Well, just e-mail it to me and I'll head back to the room this afternoon to work on it". People, this is a V A C A T I O N with your family!!! Does your family really appreciated you leaving them while you head back to the room to work for an afternoon????????????? Leave the work alone for the week!!! I left all instructions with my co-workers. I will deal with any situations at work when I return but until then, I'm on vacation!!!!
-I know this will be a touchy subject on these boards, but do infants and babies really get anything out of a trip to WDW?????????????? I wonder just how much work is involved in looking after an infant or caring for a hot, cranky and tired toddler???? Our son was 7 the first time we took him to WDW. He truly had fun, did not need any looking after and appreciated and understood what was involved with such a trip. An out-of-control 2 or 3 year old honestly has no idea what the trip is about and how their tantrums or screaming/crying can ruin the experience for the parents and others around them. A parent cannot force their kid to have fun if they are hot, tired, hyped up from sugar or in such a mood that they just don't see straight anymore. I saw several mutual meltdowns with babies and toddlers with their parents. Is this really fun and healthy for them and other patrons around them???? No it isn't. Some parents just give up and let their kids go wild and don't say anything cause it's easier than trying to control them.

It was a great trip overall but too hot, humid and crowded. Next time will be a spring or fall trip.

Just my two cents, now flame away if you must. I'm ready for them.....

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

Interesting observations on your recent trip.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[chigirl]

Iron shemp,
I 100% agree with everything you posted!
I was SHOCKED at the amount of seriously overweight children & adults at the parks/resorts on my trip last Sept. Especially the ones riding the electric chair scooter things whose only "handicap" was being morbidly obese. Don't get me wrong, I am a size 12. I am 5'8 and 175 pounds, but my cholesterol is great and my resting heart rate is like 58, I am in shape, but solid and my DH is a bigger guy, but these huge people shocked me, especially how poorly they allowed their obese kids to eat. Plus, I know I will get flamed, but I was pretty ticked at the extra load times for the busses for the electric chair people who were obese...I know they paid their money just as I did and have rights, but come on, get up and get some exercise! Plus, don't tell me about hormones & thyroids. I once weighed 128 pounds and was a size 3....I am the size I am because I eat more and exercise less, period.

Also agree 100% with the babies/small toddlers at WDW. Maybe all these people have tons of money to blow $3-5k on a trip that kids will never, ever remember? Seems a waste and stress, stress, stress filled! Glad we were forced to wait until our kids were older, we got a lot out of the trip.

The heat when we went last Sept was in the high 90's and like 80% humidity with a 66 dew point or something, hot and humid like Chicago. We drank a ton of water and had sprat bottles filled, but we were so happy to be on our first trip, we were just thrilled!

Also, I observed a lot of blue state vs. red state stuff between guests. My DH had an Old Navy t-shirt on that had a "Waynes Beer Delivery Waco, Texas" logo on it and I hear a family from NY call us "Hick Texans". We chuckled because we are from Chicago!!! Also the heckling from Red Staters at Clinton and from blue staters at Bush in Hall of Presidents. There are some serious wounds out there among our fellow US citizens...tons more examples like that, but who wants to go into that?

Overall, though, we ran into way more amazing CM's and guests that made our trip magical.

I know I am a sarcastic, cynical Chicagoan, but we still had an awesome time filled with pixie dust and look forward to it again this year!!!

 

[keliblue]

Personally, I think you spent way to much time observing others rather then enjoying your own vacation ...why ?. Also, Large people can enjoy their vaction too.. and shouldn't have to worry about others making remarks as to what they are wearing, eating or doing. I do believe that there are alot of thin parents with over weight children also.

 

[Mara]

Yes, I most definately agree about fat people and speedos do NOT go together. Or, for that matter, fat people in bikinis. =/

Anyway, about toddlers in Disney... last trip I went on with my family, my youngest brother was about 2 years old (2 and 3/4, to be more precise). It was NOT wasted on him. He loved it, and he remembers it (he's 4 now). He was even couragous enough to go on many of the rides, and enjoyed them. (He wanted to go on the Barnstormer, but calmly decided not to when given the chance)

(note, I didn't mean any offense. I am not bothered by overweight people usually, 'tis just... wearing almost nothing is bad enough on average folks, but... nyeh.)

 

[waltfan1957]

Plus, I know I will get flamed, but I was pretty ticked at the extra load times for the busses for the electric chair people who were obese...

you forgot to mention you are a medical profesional and can tell at a glance what is wrong with people . its a pity these people held you up for minutes and ruined your stay, I bet they would have liked to be staring at you being loaded in a wheelchair
l

 

[mozzman]

i to am not sure why people go in july august most reports i see say too hot too humid its got to be for people who can't go at any other time due to holidays and work commitments,i dont want to mention weight as i might be rather large myself after the food and beer i plan to devour,if anyone see's me after the first 10 days go easy on me

 

[gonemousin']

I too returned this morning from our 9 day stay at Pop. I can't say I observed the same things as you. In my opinion, the heat and humidity was not nearly as bad as we anticipated. In fact, the first two nights of our stay were announced by the news as record lows for the state - and yesterday afternoon, at 4pm, was 73 degrees. My DH is not a warm weather kind of guy and even he was pleasantly pleased. There were a few tough days in the middle of the week, but other than that, I thought the weather was about 10 degrees cooler than a typical August visit.

As for the toddlers - I can certainly appreciate your frustration with cranky toddlers, but please understand that unruly toddlers are typically linked directly to their unruly parents. I'm proud to say that my almost 3 year old did not have ONE single melt down on our vacation. We maintained her normal sleep/nap schedule and she thoroughly enjoyed every moment of our trip. If you happened to be on any of the same buses we were on, you would have recognized her as the little, blonde, pony-tailed girl singing on the way to the parks AND on the way back from the parks...smiling, giggling, and trying to capture your attention in an effort to make you join in on her fun. I could never explain in one short sentence why I think bringing a 2-3 year old to WDW is so incredibly worthwhile in my opinion, but I will say that I enjoy every moment I spend with my DD's. Whether my youngest DD remembers her trip for the rest of her life is not important to my DH and I. What I want her to remember for the rest of her life is that she lives in a happy, loving, stable household where we treasure our time with each other as a family. Many people have very specific feelings on when to take a child to WDW for the first time. I think you should do what works for you and not judge others. I'm grateful that my DH and I have been fortunate enough to share family vacations with our two girls.

No flaming - just another opinion.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

my two year did not have many melt down but does have a tendency to scream and screach loudly as he has a speech issue
when he would do it i would get his focus and get hm back on track
there were time people were staring at us and i thought it was rude

i try not to judge others

 

[pixiechick]

We were with friends who have a 10 year old, an 8 year old and 2 year old. Should they leave they two year old at home? Does she not deserve to vacation with the rest of the family? Or should the other two not vacation until she's older?

We have an only child who started travelling extensively at age 5. We are very fortunate that vacationing is so easy. I was in awe of the extra work our friends had to go through to take their entire family on a great vacation. More power to those who can do so.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Iron shemp,
I 100% agree with everything you posted!
I was SHOCKED at the amount of seriously overweight children & adults at the parks/resorts on my trip last Sept. Especially the ones riding the electric chair scooter things whose only "handicap" was being morbidly obese. Don't get me wrong, I am a size 12. I am 5'8 and 175 pounds, but my cholesterol is great and my resting heart rate is like 58, I am in shape, but solid and my DH is a bigger guy, but these huge people shocked me, especially how poorly they allowed their obese kids to eat. Plus, I know I will get flamed, but I was pretty ticked at the extra load times for the busses for the electric chair people who were obese...I know they paid their money just as I did and have rights, but come on, get up and get some exercise! Plus, don't tell me about hormones & thyroids. I once weighed 128 pounds and was a size 3....I am the size I am because I eat more and exercise less, period.

Also agree 100% with the babies/small toddlers at WDW. Maybe all these people have tons of money to blow $3-5k on a trip that kids will never, ever remember? Seems a waste and stress, stress, stress filled! Glad we were forced to wait until our kids were older, we got a lot out of the trip.

The heat when we went last Sept was in the high 90's and like 80% humidity with a 66 dew point or something, hot and humid like Chicago. We drank a ton of water and had sprat bottles filled, but we were so happy to be on our first trip, we were just thrilled!

Also, I observed a lot of blue state vs. red state stuff between guests. My DH had an Old Navy t-shirt on that had a "Waynes Beer Delivery Waco, Texas" logo on it and I hear a family from NY call us "Hick Texans". We chuckled because we are from Chicago!!! Also the heckling from Red Staters at Clinton and from blue staters at Bush in Hall of Presidents. There are some serious wounds out there among our fellow US citizens...tons more examples like that, but who wants to go into that?

Overall, though, we ran into way more amazing CM's and guests that made our trip magical.

I know I am a sarcastic, cynical Chicagoan, but we still had an awesome time filled with pixie dust and look forward to it again this year!!!

 

[TigerLaw]

As an overweight person my whole life, let me tell you I am SHOCKED to see the comments on this thread. Do I support overweight persons wearing speedos - of course not! But w/o giving you 2 hours of all the things I missed out on in life due to my size (and folks, trust me, if it was as simple as not eating don't you think everyone would be skinny) WDW is the one place where I DON'T feel like I'm an outcast - that everyone is welcome.

I'm truly sorry all of us fat people appearantly ruined your trip, but given what you wrote, if you were grossed out or made to wait even a second more than necessary, I couldn't be happier, as it really must be nice for you to be so perfect!

 

[sorul82?]

Ok, OP, here come the flames!

1. MIL was one of those in a scooter...yes, I think she is lazy, but she also has a host of other problems. I would certainly have enjoyed my vacation more if we didn't have to wait for that darn thing to be loaded and unloaded all of the time. I have a new appreciation for my working legs and being able to go where I want.

2. Grandma also was in a wheel chair, but she is 78. She's not lazy, far from it, she's obviously worn out from her hard years on the farm.

3. You were probably smelling BIL smoke. Believe me, he received enough grief from the rest of us, and he is quitting.

4. My hubby was on the phone several times with his business partner....as in the OTHER employee of their two person business. Oh how nice it must be to be in corporate America where you can just leave work when you want. I think he "worked" a total of two hours on our trip. But, no worky, no paychecky!

 

[iron shemp]

Ok...I should clarify what I wrote earlier today.
We truly enjoyed our trip and are looking forward to heading back. The attractions have always been first rate (except maybe 'Sounds Dangerous with Drew Carey' at MGM...basically sitting in the dark with headphones for 10 minutes listening to Drew chase down some bad guys....the only clunker we've experienced at WDW). We still loved to see Muppet Vision 3D, Tower of Terror, Pirates of the Caribbean (my wife loved the new Jack Sparrow figures), The Adventurers Club is still a hoot, Thunder Mountain Railroad, the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon, etc etc... All of those are wonderful!! The meals we had were terrific. The Disney cast members were always polite and helpful.
I just wanted to pass on some observations. WDW is a great place to people watch. You'll see and hear just about everything.
The whole weight thing is not just a WDW occurance. It's just a reflection of what our western society is moving towards. Our kids spend more time on their backsides on the computer or Playstations than ever before. They just are not getting the physical activity they should have. It would not surprise me to find out that their trips to the water parks are the most exercise they get all year. At Pop Century, the food court has many fruit cups, fresh fruit and juices to start your day with and it was sad to see so many kids head straight for the desserts and sodas. They'll be eating enough of that during the day, how about at least starting them off with something healthy??
Also, I never said anything about needing to wait while the buses load guests with disabilities or on scooters. WDW is exceptionally accomodating when it comes to people with disabilities. I honestly don't think anyone minds waiting while a driver assists someone boarding the bus first. We spend all day waiting in lines so what is a couple of minutes extra??
Our vacation was not ruined in the least (actually it was comical watching a woman with 3" heels trying to walk through the sand at Typhoon Lagoon). As I said above, we live in a heavy society (I need to lose 25 pounds myself). I was just making observations of what I saw. I was not being judgmental or critical (well trying not to be anyways).
People watching is great at WDW. Sit at a bench for a while and watch and listen to the world pass by. It's interesting. I'm sure any cast members who read these boards can tell dozens of stories of what they encounter daily while working there.

 

[makinorlando]

Personally, I think you spent way to much time observing others rather then enjoying your own vacation ...why ?. Also, Large people can enjoy their vaction too.. and shouldn't have to worry about others making remarks as to what they are wearing, eating or doing. I do believe that there are alot of thin parents with over weight children also.

What you said! I never get why folks have to worry about what other people are wearing, or what they look like. Why most people judge others due to the way they look or what they wear. If you were to make comments like this about any ethnic group in general, whether they be green, purple, yellow, etc. people would be appalled, but it's okay to comment on the size of people.

I normally don't bother even replying to these types of posts, but I have seen SOOOO many lately that I had to add my two cents - just once.

 

[noseybuddy]

I have to agree about the scooter use. I have no problem when DISABLED people use the scooters. But i do think there are people who take advantage of using these scooters when they really don't need them. I am not one to really WATCH people when I go to WDW. I just got back also and I have to say that I did notice very many overweight people, especially whole families. Also, the toddler issue. I took my kids to WDW when they were 5 and 3. I never had a problem with mine having melt downs. Just lucky I guess. But I did see a lot of this there and the funny thing is the parents were having the melt down with them. Not really funny, kinda sad actually. With the heat and everyone being tired it is bound to happen.

 

[UtahMama]

I am SOOO glad you explained yourself!
I noticed you are new here. I asume you "lurked" a while?
I need to lose 30 pounds myself, but this isnt the Weight Watchers web site. You offended ALOT of people with the Fat cracks alone! People of size have the right to go on vacation too, believe it or not. Fat people have the right to wear a Speedo or Bikini even if it offends your eyes. I choose not to wear a bikini (You're Welcome!) but if I did, I would hope no one would be judging me and posting it on the DIS.
Another thing that ruffled my feathers a little was you judging people's parenting style. I am the best mother ever (ok, that's just my opinion, of course!) but my last child is a little pill (to be nice) but I am not going to stay home because she might offend someone. I properly "deal" with her and have a wonderful vacation! There's SO much enrichment for babies and toddlers at Walt Disney World! (Plus she's free!!!! ) But that's my opinion. Your opinion works for YOUR family. And that's fine.
All flaming aside, I am glad you guys had a nice vacation! Maybe go for X-mas one year to avoid the heat a little? Also, a moderate or deluxe resort should be alot quieter.

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I just wanted to comment on your views of bringing small toddlers/babies to WDW. I struggled with this myself, being a mother of a DD4 and DS2. Why should I spend 4-5K on a vacation they won't even remember? My father told me this: "You aren't taking the children for a vacation they'll remember.. you're taking them on a vacation YOU'LL remember. They will love WDW, they love all things Disney. They will live in the moment and love every moment they are there and YOU will remember this vacation for the rest of your life and remembering every expression and every moment of joy."
Let me tell you, that sold me. I book our vacation that day. So, if I chose to spend my money on my kids, that my business.
Now, unruly, cranky kids.... this is not the kids fault. This is the parents poor timing and the Dumbo or Die attitude. If more people had the "We will not see and do everything on this trip, then they wouldn't have to deal with cranky toddlers!
Also your comments about "fat" people, weren't nice and just for that if I want to wear a LIME green bikini to TL, I can! But I wouldn't.
Anyway, hope you had a great trip and

 

[teentoddlermom]

I took my 18 month old on vacation in 1992, not because he would enjoy it, but because I needed to be in WDW, and he was my responsibility now that I was a parent! He came, acted like a 2 year old, and dosen't remember it. But I remember that trip fondly, and being happy makes me a better parent! Case closed!