MUCH more crowded last wk than sept08

[girlsmom]

we had to wait almost an HOUR for our bfast at Ohana (with an ADR), and for at least 20 mins everywhere else too....but in 07 and 08 I think the LONGEST that we waited was 15 mins and were often taken right in. (darn advertising for the free dining on tv!).

the parks (ESP MK) were also FAR more crowded than the last 2 yrs (same wk)...and it was also much hotter this yr too. ugh.
we still had a fabulous vacation and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

we LOVED the Wave...which ironically was the one TS I was least excited about ,...and only booked it b/c I coiuldnt get 1900 PF for dinner after DD3 and DD5's makeovers. DH and I both got the tenderloin w/ "white bean mash" (which had me worried, since we are NOT adventurous eaters!) but was super delicious.

we also really enjoyed bfast at Cape May w/ Minnie (DD3's current fav)

Whispering Canyon dinner was fun and food was good, can't believe we hadnt done that one before!

then our old standby's :
Boma (always awesome)
1900 PF bfast (YUMMMM-O strawberry soup and crazy Mad Hatter)
Clam Bake at Cape May Cafe (was this the first yr they had the little choc cheesecakes? ...or had we just missed them last couple yrs b/c of the heavenly oreo desserts?)
Ohana (fun and the family style is always preferable over buffet when dining w/ little ones)
Akershus bfast (slam dunk on the fav princesses and delicious potato casserole

we didnt make it back to our fav from 07 and 08: crystal palace, since we did Cape May w/ Minnie instead....made me kinda sad though every time we walked by (we ate there TWICE in 08)

I was sad that we couldnt use Snack Credits on the make your own treats at Goofys in DTD anymore or on french toast loafs at Main St bakery.
But pleasantly surprised that Main St Bakery and Sleey Hollow's ice cream cookie sandwhiches are still Snack Credits (crossing fingers that doesnt change for 2010!!)

We learned why Wolfgang Puck Express is so popular; we went there TWICE! (brownie and creme brulee were VEZRY good, the pizza and foccacia pockets were better than our pasta and salad)

strawberry banana smoothies at Auntie Gravities at MK are the best flavor, and our fav slushees were the twist ones at sleepy hollow.

hmm, I think those are all my thoughts on dining/food....

 

[Brook1099]

Sounds Great! Glad to hear you still had a great vacation. The free dining has me quite worried for our Nov. trip as well. But it's Disney we all grin and bear it.

 

[Donna3271]

Gosh! People seem to have different experiences in Goofy's. You stated you could not use a sc for make your own. Was that for everything (marshmallow, graham cracker...etc).

Thanks!

 

[girlsmom]

Yes, we did make your own krispie treats...and both in 07 and 08 they were snack credits and i thought I had read on disboards that people were using the SC's on them this yr too...
so i asked for a manager and the mngr at goofys said they "just" changed it and that they were planning to make more changess next wk too (taking more things OFF "snack credits")
bummer!

 

[natalielongstaff]

thats not good news about the crowds

 

[thebeesknees]

Yup, just got back and crowds were terrible for dining. We waited over an hour at Crystal Palace the first night for our dinner reservation, and then we had a dinner at 1900 PF reserved later in the week. Got there 15 minutes early to check in and were told it would be a 5 minute wait. An hour later, we were STILL waiting, and had checked back a couple times to see what was up. They kept saying it would be just another minute or two. My husband got so fed up he finally just cancelled the reservation and we left because after asking a third time what the hold up was, they said no one was leaving and admitted that they had no idea how much longer it would be. My daughter was absolutely devastated, but we were all starving and the baby was having a meltdown. We had an early breakfast with the princesses the next morning that went off without a hitch. In retrospect, the evening character dinners were running horribly late, but our early breakfast reservations were fine, and so was the one dinner without characters. Next time, I will only book character meals for early breakfasts so we can get in and out on time. The crowds in the park were much heavier than I expected, as well. We did OK on rides using our fast-passes, but I saw waits at Splash Mountain of 2 hours.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

We went 16 thru 20 & were greatly surprised by the size of the crowds. Usually this time is so quiet & no wait times. The only place that we had a long wait for seating was Teppan Edo. I think that may have been due to the bus incident. But so many children were having meltdowns during dinner.

 

[girlsmom]

what was he "bus incident"?!?!?!

 

[luvmy3jewels]

We were there last week and were a little disappointed in how crowded the parks were (and the long waits at the restaurants). Food was great overall. The worst wait and food was dinner at the CP, so you didn't miss too much.

 

[williamson_ja]

We were there at the same time and didn't really wait for any of our meals except Teppan Edo which was about a 15 min. wait. Everything else got us in almost exactly at our reservation time. We ate right at busy times too. Most of our reservations were for 6:45-7:30 p.m. Weird. I did think that the parks were a lot more busy this year than the same time last year. We hit rope drop every morning and did okay, but I didn't like the congestion in the afternoons.

 

[Nohal]

We were there 9/17 to 9/26 for our 7th Sept visit. It gets more and more crowded every year since they started free dining. We also hit rope drop every day and were able to do the main things (thanks to fast pass) more than once. By noon the crowds were unbelievable. We didn't have any wait for any of our ADR's. It was just DH and me and our dinner reservations were for 5 - 5:30 when the restaurants opened.

 

[clc053103]

I feel like I was on a different vacation than everyone else!!! The 19th and 20th got a bit crowded, but the 14th-18th we didn't have more than a 5 minute wait on any ride!!! Anything longer than that, we did fastpass and again, were through in 5 minutes!

But I agree some of the restaurants were a mess- Whispering Canyon (totally not worth it) was over 30 minute wait for our ADR- Le Cellier was 1 hour!!!! But otherwise, seated in 15 minutes or less- including when we showed up way early- for reservations in prime time of 6:30-7:30.