NOT the best trip:( And I HATE the busses. Never again.

[Flamingomo]

Sadly, this trip was not too good for us. It bums me out because we don't get to go on vacation to often and this trip was only a short trip with a budget and it wasn't good at all. Now my kids will tell you they had fun, but they are kids and in Disney so its hard not to have fun. I am not a bus person. We wasted more time waiting for busses than necessary. Also had some rude drivers. Here is the rundown:

*Sunday, 12/5...I was told I could check into my hotel anytime. We got there at 11:30am. What they didn't tell me is that my room may not be ready. I'm sorry, but to me "check in" means go to my room. So we had just gotten off the plane and we had lunch reservations at T-Rex. We wanted to freshen up and change. Well, we couldn't. My boys ended up changing in the bathroom and they took our luggage and held it for us while we went to lunch. She told us the room would not be ready for a couple of hours. As soon as we got off the bus for DTD, they called and said our room was ready. Not even 30 minutes later. I was livid.

*That night after getting settled in our room and changing for the Christmas Party, we were on our way to MK and my middle son got sick. Spiked a fever and we missed the party that night. Luckily Disney was wonderful about it and exchanged the tix for tuesday night, no charge.

*Monday, Epcot day. My DS still was tired and not feeling 100% but he wanted to go to the park, so we did. Waited 30 minutes for a bus at the hotel. Ridiculous. WORST Mickey at the Visa meet and greet. He backed away from all my kids and was very standoffish. They rushed us through there too. Thankfully we had a great one at the Epcot character spot. They were all great there. We had a good day there and after he ate and got some fresh (freezing) air he was fine. Not a bad day. Hopped onver to DHS to catch the Osborne lights that night and they were awesome.

*Tuesday...DHS day. Waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for a bus at the hotel. No lie. There was a guy there with a raido and he told us there was one bus down and that was what was causing the delay. Funny, at least six or seven busses came for all the other parks and even DTD while we waited. So we missed any chance of getting on TSM since we didn't even get tot the park until almost 11. Had lunch at Sci Fi. My DH and I were not super hungry so he had a sandwich and I had an appetizer. The kids had fun on RnR and ToT a few times and then about mid afternoon, DH got sick. he had to go back to the hotel and I ended up taking my two older boys to the party without him. We did have fun, but we missed him and the baby not being there. It was too cold for the baby anyway. My Dh was up all night vomitting...horrible.

*Wednesday, our last day... My DH is a saint. he got up and we all went to MK for the day. He somehow managed to get through a character breakfast. He trudged through the parks with us all day. We ahd no wait for any of the rides, but Dumbo was a 60 minute wait! We did not wait for that. Nothing else had lines like that. not even Space Mountain or Buzz. Craziness. We were leaving aroun dinnertime and saw Santa. He was AMAZING!!! Then that night on the way to Chef Mickey's, my baby projectile vomitted all over the bus. Luckily, this bus driver was awesome and really helped us out. I wanted to go back to the hotel, but was outvoted. The baby threw up again, but he is such a happy guy, he never fusses. Dinner was not so good. My oldest started to not feel well and barely ate. My middle son ate some mac and cheese and my DH some soup and salad. our bill was $152! That is insane. I was furious at the prices. Not to mention our waiter was rude, and the characters were awful.

Photopass not very present and none would take a magic shot. Also some only took one or two shots and they are not that great. Some of them were really rude too.

Got home thursday after an 90 minute ME ride to the airport because our driver was confused and circled the parking lot at ASMu for 20 minutes. We almost missed our flight. Got there 15 minutes before it took off.

I got sick when we got home.

So glad its over.

 

[TheDisneyGirl02]

Sadly, this trip was not too good for us. It bums me out because we don't get to go on vacation to often and this trip was only a short trip with a budget and it wasn't good at all. Now my kids will tell you they had fun, but they are kids and in Disney so its hard not to have fun. I am not a bus person. We wasted more time waiting for busses than necessary. Also had some rude drivers. Here is the rundown:

*Sunday, 12/5...I was told I could check into my hotel anytime. We got there at 11:30am. What they didn't tell me is that my room may not be ready. I'm sorry, but to me "check in" means go to my room. So we had just gotten off the plane and we had lunch reservations at T-Rex. We wanted to freshen up and change. Well, we couldn't. My boys ended up changing in the bathroom and they took our luggage and held it for us while we went to lunch. She told us the room would not be ready for a couple of hours. As soon as we got off the bus for DTD, they called and said our room was ready. Not even 30 minutes later. I was livid.

*That night after getting settled in our room and changing for the Christmas Party, we were on our way to MK and my middle son got sick. Spiked a fever and we missed the party that night. Luckily Disney was wonderful about it and exchanged the tix for tuesday night, no charge.

*Monday, Epcot day. My DS still was tired and not feeling 100% but he wanted to go to the park, so we did. Waited 30 minutes for a bus at the hotel. Ridiculous. WORST Mickey at the Visa meet and greet. He backed away from all my kids and was very standoffish. They rushed us through there too. Thankfully we had a great one at the Epcot character spot. They were all great there. We had a good day there and after he ate and got some fresh (freezing) air he was fine. Not a bad day. Hopped onver to DHS to catch the Osborne lights that night and they were awesome.

*Tuesday...DHS day. Waited 1 hour and 15 minutes for a bus at the hotel. No lie. There was a guy there with a raido and he told us there was one bus down and that was what was causing the delay. Funny, at least six or seven busses came for all the other parks and even DTD while we waited. So we missed any chance of getting on TSM since we didn't even get tot the park until almost 11. Had lunch at Sci Fi. My DH and I were not super hungry so he had a sandwich and I had an appetizer. The kids had fun on RnR and ToT a few times and then about mid afternoon, DH got sick. he had to go back to the hotel and I ended up taking my two older boys to the party without him. We did have fun, but we missed him and the baby not being there. It was too cold for the baby anyway. My Dh was up all night vomitting...horrible.

*Wednesday, our last day... My DH is a saint. he got up and we all went to MK for the day. He somehow managed to get through a character breakfast. He trudged through the parks with us all day. We ahd no wait for any of the rides, but Dumbo was a 60 minute wait! We did not wait for that. Nothing else had lines like that. not even Space Mountain or Buzz. Craziness. We were leaving aroun dinnertime and saw Santa. He was AMAZING!!! Then that night on the way to Chef Mickey's, my baby projectile vomitted all over the bus. Luckily, this bus driver was awesome and really helped us out. I wanted to go back to the hotel, but was outvoted. The baby threw up again, but he is such a happy guy, he never fusses. Dinner was not so good. My oldest started to not feel well and barely ate. My middle son ate some mac and cheese and my DH some soup and salad. our bill was $152! That is insane. I was furious at the prices. Not to mention our waiter was rude, and the characters were awful.

Photopass not very present and none would take a magic shot. Also some only took one or two shots and they are not that great. Some of them were really rude too.

Got home thursday after an 90 minute ME ride to the airport because our driver was confused and circled the parking lot at ASMu for 20 minutes. We almost missed our flight. Got there 15 minutes before it took off.

I got sick when we got home.

So glad its over.

Sorry so many of your family members got sick...that really stinks. Which resort were you staying at?

 

[JMD]

Now my kids will tell you they had fun

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy your trip. Look on the bright side, sounds like your kids had fun.

 

[Satchmo128]

Sounds like you ran into a LOT of bad luck on this trip...especially with so many family members getting sick. That is no fun!

I'm really saddened, actually to hear about all of the negative CM interactions you had. We have a very good friend who works at DAK and it makes me sad to ever think about less-than-awesome CM's...

At least you were able to point out a few good parts of the trip, though. And your kids had a good time!

 

[ilovejsparrow]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your trip, but I thought it was common knowledge that your room might not be ready if you arrive at your hotel early in the day. We got to BC at around 11 on 12/12, checked in, and went and got some lunch, fully expecting to have to wait for our room. We got a text around 12:30 when it was ready. I do understand your frustration with the buses however, it's no fun waiting for a bus while time is ticking away.

 

[WUVmyDISNEY]

I am soooo sorry that your trip was less than what you expected! We look so forward to these trips that when someone gets sick and then you have a lot of other delays and time gets wasted, it just ruins so much.

I do hope that you are all feeling much better now and that if you do get back to Disney in the future, you will have the magical trip you are expecting!

Sorry your DH missed the party too. Those tickets are so expensive! This was our first holiday trip that we did not do the party because last year, for us, it was just way too packed and not very enjoyable.

 

[catne]

sounds like you got bad information about the check-in procedure...Disney always allows people to check-in so they can get the room card with park tickets/meal plan, and all resorts will hold your luggage for you so that you can go to the parks as soon as you've checked in. But it's always been that the rooms are not available until 4:00 PM (unless you're very lucky.) At this time of year I would not expect the room to be ready. Who told you that your room would be ready at early check-in time?

We don't love that bus system either...I always joke I'm the kiss-of-death on a bus wait line, because if I'm in the wait line for a bus, it automatically goes to a 60 minute wait. We gave up on the busses several trip ago and always drive now.

Not surprising you didn't enjoy the restaurants if the whole family was taking turns with the stomach flu.

 

[lovealatte]

So sorry to hear about the sickness! But I have to agree with everyone about check-in.
I'm also curious to hear where you stayed.

 

[DaParkers]

It appears that, from reading this thread...http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2606513 , you took the bug that your family had with you. I'll bet that if someone wasn't always sick, that the other issues would have been easier to deal with. Anyway, sorry to hear about your trip not going the way you wanted. My trip is 12 days away. Time to get the family to drink more O.J. and load up on Vitamin C.

 

[twoplustwins]

sorry to learn you had a bad trip. I hope everyone is well now.

 

[Satchmo128]

It appears that, from reading this thread...http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2606513 , you took the bug that your family had with you. I'll bet that if someone wasn't always sick, that the other issues would have been easier to deal with. Anyway, sorry to hear about your trip not going the way you wanted. My trip is 12 days away. Time to get the family to drink more O.J. and load up on Vitamin C.

Hmmm....interesting!

I also agree with the others about the hotel check-in. I would never think that it would be possible to check in before mid-afternoon. It sounds like your hotel did their best to give you a semi-early check-ing (only 30 minutes after you arrived).

 

[JDUCKY]

Sounds like a mix of bad luck, perhaps some high expectations (?) and not informed enough (Chef Mickey's is a buffet...doesn't matter if you only eat a cracker) And they offer early "check-in" in order to get your room key so that you could enjoy, say, an EMH morning.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

sorry to hear your bad trip. We were there Dec 3 -11 and midway the trip we all had stomach virus but made the best as possible. We thought this trip was the best bus system we had during any of our Disney trip. We never waited more than 10 mins for any buses...ususally we waited just 5 mins when we are leaving from our hotel. The longest was 10 mins coming back from HS when we watched the Osburne lights. We had alot of bad luck in the trip (being sick and the cold weather)...b/c we all got really sick we could go to the MVMCP party (we had 2 night tickets) but we had great luck too (b/c we were in a hotel room being sick...the concierge at CSR sent an amazing get well gift to our son). Check-in at any hotel is not until 3. We were happy to check in at 8am and have our package ready.
We never met any photopass photographer that was rude during our entire stay and I had 606 pictures (that's without adding borders)...all were very friendly. Characters interaction was good especially the fairies (we were visiting for 15 mins with 3 fairies) and when we met Mickey and Minnie at Judge tent...they took their time.
My problem with our trip was being ill and not having room service during the day and the room service was not part of our dinning plan (but we really didn't a big deal about). We stayed in for a day or 2 in our room and took it really easy this trip since we were not ourselves but we still had a great time and made the most and looked at the bright side of the whole trip.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm sorry you had such bad luck on your trip.

I ran into a couple of rude photopass folks too but I didn't have near as much go wrong as you so it was easier for me to shrug it off.

I hope everyone is starting to feel better now!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Didn't you check out the prices of the buffet before you booked Chef Mickey's?


Sorry you all got sick. That sucks.

 

[eliza61]

Echoing every one else.

Some times you just have those trips that nothing seems to go right. I think every body getting sick definitely did not help. Just seemed when one of my kids got sick, nothing else seem to go right.

I agree with the buses but I'm not a bus person we did it the very first trip and I said "never again"!! I budget in a car rental every trip. it's simply one of the things we must have when we go to the world

 

[bear_mom]

We were there the same time and got the stomach bug also, actually two dds got it. I got it after we got home. We lost a park day and the next day neither dd wanted to do any rides so we spent the majority of the day at Epcot. We went to 50's Prime Time that night and paid for older dds meal where she ate two bites (luckily the CM let her order off the kids menu even though she is 11).

We had the opposite experience with the buses, with the exception of one night leaving MK, we waited 30 minutes for a bus. The rest of the time, a bus pulled up shortly after we got in line. Dh kept commenting that our luck would change by the end of the trip.

I have read from several other posters who stayed at the same resort as us during the same week, how horrible the buses were and how long they waited for buses. I think buses come down to luck really - get there at the right time and everything it great, show up 5 minutes later right after the bus leaves and the opposite happens.

Sorry you didn't have great character interactions.

Emily

 

[maxiesmom]

I'm sorry you had a less than magical trip, but I think you learned the hard way that if someone in your family is sick, as much as it stinks, you need to stay home. Hard to have a fun trip if you are passing a nasty stomach bug around. And understandably that would make even the most patient person a bit grumpy.

Though I'm not sure why you were "livid" when you got the phone call that they had your room ready early for you. Sounds like they tried to do something nice for you, and you didn't appreciate it.

The busses can be a bit of a hit or miss kind of thing. Some trips I love them, and they seem to come by all of the time! Other trips it feels like I am waiting forever for the "right" one. I have started keeping an extra $20 on me just for taxi money. That way if I am afraid of being late for an ADR, or just feeling impatient, I can grab a taxi and be on my way.

 

[sazzifrazz]

We were there 12/10-12/17 and also didn't have a very magical trip. No one got sick though thank God! The busses, for us, were awful!! We have never experienced such bad bussing on any other Disney trip. We wasted so much time waiting for them...one day over an hour. Not cool! BTW, we were at POR where were you guys?

 

[Hopefully]

It appears that, from reading this thread...http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2606513 , you took the bug that your family had with you. I'll bet that if someone wasn't always sick, that the other issues would have been easier to deal with. Anyway, sorry to hear about your trip not going the way you wanted. My trip is 12 days away. Time to get the family to drink more O.J. and load up on Vitamin C.

Interesting that this thread does not detail the history the prior thread did!!!OP, I am sorry you did not have a good trip. Seems like it was in the cards before you even left. In addition to your family being ill, it feels like you may have had heightened expectations.
Sorry you did not understand that: 1) Checking In Early means that you get your keys and any package elements, but not necessarily your room early. That is well known here on the DIS. 2) Chef Mickey's is an All You Care to Eat buffet and you will be charged whether you are able to eat, or how much you eat, or not. That is well known here on the DIS. Your only option at that point was to cancel your ADR and you wouldn't have incurred the cost. 3) Bus wait times are variable, sometimes, in a busy time, you will wait longer than you would like.

I hope your next trip is better for you.