Gina
Remembers the Great DIS Board Crash of '99
- Joined
- Aug 16, 1999
- Messages
- 4,648
Just wanted to give a mini-report of our trip! DS and I were there the 11th - 19th, stayed at Pop, and were on the QSDP.
I'll start with the few negatives and get those out of the way:
1.) We saw lots of groups of cheerleaders, but staying at Pop meant we didn't have to deal with them on an extended basis. In the parks, we saw them, but they didn't cause any sort of backlog or anything and were very polite. Can't say the same about the South Americans, unfortunately. The groups were mostly gone, there were just lots of families -- and nearly all of them we encountered were just rude. Would shove people out of the way, cut in front of you in line, basically act like they were the only ones in the parks. It was ugly, and it made me sad. I get cultural differences, but courtesy should be a pretty universal thing.
2.) The STROLLERS. Dear God, the strollers. They have always been annoying, but they have gotten out of control. I don't even know what else to say about that, except that it's really out of control, and I say that as a mom.
3.) One thing that took us both by surprise was how many things kept breaking down, over and over again. And again! I can't remember a trip when so many rides kept going down. One morning at DHS, all three of the biggies were down. There were a LOT of pissed-off people there. We waited until about 10:30, then ended up giving our TSM fastpasses to two people entering the park. Space Mountain, Splash, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, all kept having repeated problems. And as has sadly become seemingly the norm as of late, the monorail broke down a couple of times. One lady told me they had to be towed off one night after being stuck for about 40 minutes. Not sure what's going with all the break-downs. 
Those were the only semi-negatives, and none of it caused us to have anything less than a magical time.
The weather was absolutely stunning -- cool enough for a light jacket, but still bright sun the entire time and clear blue skies. Just gorgeous. LOVE going this time of year. But I know it's subjective, especially weather-wise. I was thrilled at the temperatures, just absolutely loved the chilly evenings sipping hot chocolate at Pop, but I know plenty of people who yearn for the sweaty heat of warmer times at WDW. I question the sanity of those people, but we're all different.
Crowds were wonderful -- but DS and I try to zig when people zag. I knew what parks to avoid when, and being on the QS dining plan meant we weren't tied down to ADR's. Love that. Hoppers meant that we could go to a morning EMH, then jump to someplace else when that park started getting more crowded. We also were at rope drop almost every morning, and we were able to literally walk straight onto all our favorites. Nothing like riding Splash three times in a row! There was literally no one in line. But by the afternoon, waits were 30-45 minutes +.
We found magic and joy everywhere -- I even got to make a happy fool out of myself dancing with the Mayor and the Fire Chief on Main Street.
We didn't encounter one rude CM, and even my DS commented on how extra super friendly all the CM's seemed this time. He had his birthday button on the whole week and every CM would call out "Happy Birthday Tyler Dean!" He was embarrassed and loved it all at the same time.
There was one really great and funny CM at Pop who we saw every morning and every night when I would be hanging out in the smoking area. Every time he saw my DS coming he would yell "HEY EVERYONE, THAT'S TYLER DEAN AND IT'S HIS 15TH BIRTHDAY!" Then everyone would cheer and clap and my son would turn bright red, lol.
And once at Cosmic Ray's, a CM had the entire giant place singing Happy Birthday to him. It was awesome. I had my new sparkly, jeweled, pink-veiled ears on and at 44 years old it was still awfully nice to have CM's keep calling me "princess." 
Transportation was great -- but DS and I just seem to be very lucky in that aspect. We'd walk up, and here would come a bus/boat/monorail. The longest wait was the one night we stayed in MK until park closing so I could see MSEP one more time... And I remembered at that point why we never, ever do that. Lol. But other than that, transport was great.
Pop is our home-sweet-home, and we just love it there so, so much. Just a great energy there, gorgeous surroundings with the lake and the landscaping and flowers, and super-fun, super-nice CM's. I had checked in online, and received my requests -- 70's building, closest to Classic Hall. We were in 6411. The mousekeepers even made DS a birthday cake out of towels -- it was so cute!
As always, we loved having the QS dining plan!! We snacked our way from one end of the World to the other. And the new Karamel-Kuche in Germany?? OMG... I have one precious slab of dark chocolate-covered caramel at home, and I hope to make it last. Just incredible. All our CS meals were good, and DS and I both really loved the new BBQ Angus burger at Pop!
Our one sit-down dinner at 'Ohana was YUM. Loved it all, everything was hot and delicious, and I think I ate my weight in both potstickers and bread pudding.
We left at the very best time -- we spent our last morning at MK as always, and the President's Week crowds had started pouring in. By mid-day the lines had jumped WAY up, and we were glad to be leaving when we did!
Got to see all of our favorite entertainment -- The Dapper Dans, the saxophone quartet, the Mayor and the Fire Chief, Off Kilter, Mo'Rockin, Matsuriza (the taiko drummers), and Miyuki the candy lady. Was really happy to catch Mo'Rockin as I always seem to miss them.
It was just a great, wonderful, magical time. If anyone wants further details on anything, please just ask!
-gina-
I'll start with the few negatives and get those out of the way:
1.) We saw lots of groups of cheerleaders, but staying at Pop meant we didn't have to deal with them on an extended basis. In the parks, we saw them, but they didn't cause any sort of backlog or anything and were very polite. Can't say the same about the South Americans, unfortunately. The groups were mostly gone, there were just lots of families -- and nearly all of them we encountered were just rude. Would shove people out of the way, cut in front of you in line, basically act like they were the only ones in the parks. It was ugly, and it made me sad. I get cultural differences, but courtesy should be a pretty universal thing.
2.) The STROLLERS. Dear God, the strollers. They have always been annoying, but they have gotten out of control. I don't even know what else to say about that, except that it's really out of control, and I say that as a mom.
3.) One thing that took us both by surprise was how many things kept breaking down, over and over again. And again! I can't remember a trip when so many rides kept going down. One morning at DHS, all three of the biggies were down. There were a LOT of pissed-off people there. We waited until about 10:30, then ended up giving our TSM fastpasses to two people entering the park.
Space Mountain, Splash, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, all kept having repeated problems. And as has sadly become seemingly the norm as of late, the monorail broke down a couple of times. One lady told me they had to be towed off one night after being stuck for about 40 minutes. Not sure what's going with all the break-downs. Those were the only semi-negatives, and none of it caused us to have anything less than a magical time.
The weather was absolutely stunning -- cool enough for a light jacket, but still bright sun the entire time and clear blue skies. Just gorgeous. LOVE going this time of year. But I know it's subjective, especially weather-wise. I was thrilled at the temperatures, just absolutely loved the chilly evenings sipping hot chocolate at Pop, but I know plenty of people who yearn for the sweaty heat of warmer times at WDW. I question the sanity of those people, but we're all different.
Crowds were wonderful -- but DS and I try to zig when people zag. I knew what parks to avoid when, and being on the QS dining plan meant we weren't tied down to ADR's. Love that. Hoppers meant that we could go to a morning EMH, then jump to someplace else when that park started getting more crowded. We also were at rope drop almost every morning, and we were able to literally walk straight onto all our favorites. Nothing like riding Splash three times in a row! There was literally no one in line. But by the afternoon, waits were 30-45 minutes +.
We found magic and joy everywhere -- I even got to make a happy fool out of myself dancing with the Mayor and the Fire Chief on Main Street.
We didn't encounter one rude CM, and even my DS commented on how extra super friendly all the CM's seemed this time. He had his birthday button on the whole week and every CM would call out "Happy Birthday Tyler Dean!" He was embarrassed and loved it all at the same time. There was one really great and funny CM at Pop who we saw every morning and every night when I would be hanging out in the smoking area. Every time he saw my DS coming he would yell "HEY EVERYONE, THAT'S TYLER DEAN AND IT'S HIS 15TH BIRTHDAY!" Then everyone would cheer and clap and my son would turn bright red, lol.
And once at Cosmic Ray's, a CM had the entire giant place singing Happy Birthday to him. It was awesome. I had my new sparkly, jeweled, pink-veiled ears on and at 44 years old it was still awfully nice to have CM's keep calling me "princess." Transportation was great -- but DS and I just seem to be very lucky in that aspect. We'd walk up, and here would come a bus/boat/monorail. The longest wait was the one night we stayed in MK until park closing so I could see MSEP one more time... And I remembered at that point why we never, ever do that. Lol. But other than that, transport was great.
Pop is our home-sweet-home, and we just love it there so, so much. Just a great energy there, gorgeous surroundings with the lake and the landscaping and flowers, and super-fun, super-nice CM's. I had checked in online, and received my requests -- 70's building, closest to Classic Hall. We were in 6411. The mousekeepers even made DS a birthday cake out of towels -- it was so cute!
As always, we loved having the QS dining plan!! We snacked our way from one end of the World to the other. And the new Karamel-Kuche in Germany?? OMG... I have one precious slab of dark chocolate-covered caramel at home, and I hope to make it last. Just incredible. All our CS meals were good, and DS and I both really loved the new BBQ Angus burger at Pop!
Our one sit-down dinner at 'Ohana was YUM. Loved it all, everything was hot and delicious, and I think I ate my weight in both potstickers and bread pudding.
We left at the very best time -- we spent our last morning at MK as always, and the President's Week crowds had started pouring in. By mid-day the lines had jumped WAY up, and we were glad to be leaving when we did!
Got to see all of our favorite entertainment -- The Dapper Dans, the saxophone quartet, the Mayor and the Fire Chief, Off Kilter, Mo'Rockin, Matsuriza (the taiko drummers), and Miyuki the candy lady. Was really happy to catch Mo'Rockin as I always seem to miss them.
It was just a great, wonderful, magical time. If anyone wants further details on anything, please just ask!
-gina-
