toothboy2k1
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 24, 2005
- Messages
- 30
Having read so many trip reports in anticipation of my own journey to the world of Disney, I hope you dont mind if I diverge from the blow-by-blow first-person accounts that seem to be so popular. Quite frankly I can't see how anyone would be interested in what my 11-year-old son and I did from the moment we touched down at the Orlando International Airport we walked quickly to the tram hoping to beat the dozens of Disney-bound travelers who shared our flight, a mentality that apparently dominates so many people venturing to the land where time is marked not by watches, but by the magical numbers on the Stand-By Entrance lines to the second we boarded the eerily quiet motorcoach back to the airport eight days later, a ride unencumbered with the smiles and peppy introduction video who watched on the way in.
Instead I will break this trip report into the essentials, peppering a few facts in with many opinions of what I considered to be the essentials. No doubt I will offend many of the Disneyphiles who populate this site (youll see), but I hope it will inform and even entertain all, even those who strongly disagree.
So let us begin at the beginning of our June 21-28 trip, and that would be:
THE MAGICAL EXPRESS: You know what would be more magical? Signs pointing the way, the ones promised in the literature sent to us three weeks prior to departure. We saw the baggage claim signs, and followed those instead. Fortunately we had familiarized ourselves with the map and knew where we generally had to be. And that is when we discovered our very first Disney line. No, we couldnt board the bus right away, the cast member told us. We had to go over to the Magical Express desk across the way where a long line awaited. Not so sure it was as much to check in (getting our voucher stamped) as it was to indoctrinate us in the Way of the Line. Ah, the magic of it all. Though it was a pleasant trip and our bags arrived as promised.
PLAY NICE: Lets say Disney was actually unprepared, service-wise, for the arrival of the Magical Express at, for purposes of argument, the Beach Club Resort. Lets say there were 15 people in line at the check-in desk, and only one clerk checking people in. And lets say that, even though there wasnt a sign, it turned out the Stand-By Entrance time was 25 minutes. To check in. To a hotel allegedly expecting you. But when you are second in line, three cast members suddenly arrive at the desk, and thus you are called to the desk by a woman who may or may not have just started her shift. Do you whine and complain? Of course not. You will do enough of that with your spouse and children later. No, you talk about how good you feel to be here, sharing some laughs. Then perhaps you too will be magically upgraded to a water view room that is just steps from the main lobby, a location that would pay dividends throughout the stay. Great view, short walk to Epcot (7 minutes from room to entrance), a huge boon each and every day. And speaking of that:
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Though we will likely never return to Disney World (very far away from home in Arizona, too many places to see and things to do elsewhere on the planet), if we were to return, we would assuredly book an Epcot area resort. Rooms were nice at the Beach Club, great view of the Boardwalk (which, by the way, was nowhere near as lively as Disney literature suggested, but still was a pleasant little diversion and nice to have near if you keep it in perspective), but best of all was ability to walk to Epcot and Disney Studios (we will dispense with the abbreviations used by so many insiders who assume all are as learned in all things Disney). Epcot was minutes away, the studios about a 15-to-20-minute pleasant walk. Or you could take one of the fleet of Friendships plying the lake and canals, though walking to Epcot was much faster, and only once did the boat beat us to Disney Studios. The fact that two parks were so close spared us much aggravation, for two reasons, those being CROWDS and the Disney version of MASS TRANSIT.
CROWDS: Busy busy busy. We are Disneyland veterans and are accustomed to the masses, but we learned our lessons very quickly. We got to the parks early (at least 45 minutes before opening), ate lunch early (by 11:30 a.m.), had dinner early on nights we did not have reservations (by 5 p.m.), and took a break from parks by 1 or 2 p.m. Later we would return to one of the parks close by so as not to trapped by the Disney version of
MASS TRANSIT: Sure, you could use the monorail to get around, and we did a few times in mid-afternoon. But most people take the bus. And they jam onto them at park opening and closing as if learning the fine art of packing them like sardines from subway riders in Tokyo. Off-hours travel was fine (10 a.m.-4 p.m., roughly). But if you were unfortunate enough to be caught in rush hour, well, lets just say this was the most unpopular ride at the parks (other than Stitchs Great Escape, but more on that later). On the morning that Animal Kingdom had early admission, we watched (from the safety of the Magic Kingdom bus lane at the Beach Club) as people crowded onto the bus. At one point the driver was forced to come out and ask people to wait for the next one, which was just five minutes away. Still, a family of five with stroller squeezed on as the driver watched. And upon leaving the studios at 8 oclock one evening, there were about 200 people waiting to board the bus to the All-Star Resort. Thank goodness we were walking back. And speaking of the All Star Resort:
DONT CHEAP IT OUT: We understand there are many people who really cant afford to visit Disney World at the better hotels, and will happily accept the budget hotels thinking they are a bargain. Those who do will pay for it with time and aggravation. You will ride the bus everywhere, you will stay far longer at the parks than your children can tolerate because you really dont want to spend 45 minutes to an hour on a crowded bus to get back to your unenviable location, you and your family will grow weary very quickly, and when you finally leave the Happiest Place on Earth, you will wonder why all your incredibly high expectations werent met (yet convincing yourself it was the Best vacation ever! for no other reason than you went to Disney World, because to think anything less would be blasphemous and cause you to question all the money and time you put into the thing). Yes, Disney World is expensive even at the budget hotels. Yes, you can have a great time staying at them if your temperament is such that you have a very high threshold of waits, lines and crowds. But if you save another year or two (as we did), it will most certainly pay off in the best vacation ever. Speaking of money, lets address:
THE DINING PLAN: Disney does many things right, and this is one of them. We wish the real world would let us buy a plan in which all we need to do is present our card to the server to pay for appetizer, entrée, dessert, tax and gratuity (do not underestimate the value of the inclusion of gratuity, its huge). We ate far better than we would have otherwise, ordering steak, ribs and seafood without thought to price. In fact, the more expensive the better because it was already paid for. The more you spend, the more you save. Awesome and highly recommended. Just make sure you plan accordingly. Make those reservations. We saw dozens of people turned away from Sci-Fi Dine Inn at Disney Studios because it was not taking walkups. Yet we waited no more than 15 minutes for our table and had a wonderful time. Food was so-so, but experience was priceless (probably a MasterCard commercial in there somewhere, too bad Disney works with Visa). And about food quality:
THOUGHTS FROM A NON-CRITIC ON FOOD: The fast-food joints were pretty much all the same, offering decent fare at inflated prices (remember the Dining Plan, folks). As far as sit-down restaurants go, high marks to the Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club Resort) and the Rose and Crown (England in Epcot). The Rose also served beer in half-yards, a nice touch even if the half-yard was plastic (though you get to keep it). We will stay far away from the brewpub on the Boardwalk (Big River Canyon Grille or somesuch). Had reservations at 6 p.m. and yet waited 40 minutes for a table as well as a meal that featured a very tough ribeye (how do you mess up a medium-rare ribeye?) and, even worse, a mediocre pale ale (the red ale was very good). The rest pretty much blends together.
WEATHER: If you are afraid of a little water, by all means buy a poncho. Almost everyone was wearing them shortly after the afternoon thunderstorms started. You will not look silly. However, we are of the mind that friends dont let friends wear ponchos. Yes, we got wet, at times soaked. But you know what? At some point we dried out and, unlike the Wicked Witch of the West, didnt melt. Go figure. Do not let the rain stop you from enjoying the parks. Well, except for Test Track at Epcot, which shut down during thunderstorms and was offline for hours at a time (perhaps a reflection a real world where GM shuts down testing in bad weather, which would certainly explain Pontiacs). Let the weak and the families with small children huddle in alcoves. Take advantage of the rain and enjoy the one time you can walk around and not be jostled stroller-pushing moms and dads more concerned with the park maps they are studying than the traffic ahead. Speaking of parks, lets take them one at a time.
ANIMAL KINGDOM: The most unfortunate thing about Disney World is the way it stashed its best ride in the worst, most difficult to navigate park. OK, so Imagineers wanted to boost attendance at Disney Worlds weak sister of a theme park. While investing millions in Expedition Everest (worth every cent, by the way), why didnt someone at some point say, Hey, lets spend a few thousand bucks here and there to widen the walkways. Everyone who arrives before Animal Kingdom opens is here for one reason, to ride the best attraction in the World (we will rank rides later). After a superfluous opening show with Minnie and Mickey, guests are led by two cast members holding a rope between them. These cast members walk very slowly. The people behind them want to take off as if chased by the bull of Pamplona. And at those rare times the walkway widens to accommodate more than 10 people across, anyone who does not mind sacrificing civility and decent human behavior to save a few minutes (that was almost everyone) sprints up the sides to cut into line a little farther up. Yet no one crosses the rope, which gave us this idea. Have cast members with ropes man the northern and southern US borders. Illegal immigration would come to a stunning halt. Sorry, were not opening for another 10 or 15 years. Oh, OK, sorry, well try back then. That would be great, have a wonderful Disney day. Best ride: Yup, Everest. By far. Amazing. You really have to ride it. Get there early, then as you wait 45 minutes for the first ride, get a FastPass because they will be gone by noon. If you ride it twice, it was a successful day. Runner-up: Dinosaur. Darn fun. You can ride it 3-4 times before the Expedition Everest people find it later. Worthless: That train to Rafikis conservation station or whatever. You do not want to get stuck on that thing. Overrated ride: Kilamanjaro Safari. You ride a truck through the zoo. You may or may not see tigers and lions. You will see giraffes and antelope. Throw in some ridiculous story line about chasing a poacher (not even the littlest kids buy this ride as an action adventure) and you have an experience hardly worth the 40-minute wait in a queue that is wider than most walkways and, as a result, very slow moving.
DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS: As this is written, there is a report that a young boy died on Rockin Rollercoaster. Very sad. The first three seconds of that ride was far more intense (in our opinion) than anything in Mission: Space. It took our breath away, and in the resulting photo flashed as the coaster went from 0 to 60 in those 3 seconds, our eyes are closed and mouths open in a very embarrassing way. We did not buy the photo and did not go on a second ride. Still, it was an incredible ride. Make up your own mind. The studios are pretty small and can get packed early, but early in the morning and 30 minutes before closing, you can pretty much have your way. Best ride: Tower of Terror. Far better than the one at Disneyland. Wait was just 10 minutes at 9:30 p.m., when it had been up to 50 minutes most of the day. Runner-up: The stunt car show. Noisy, brash, and some very cool stunts. And you get to sit and relax for a while. Worthless: The Backlot Tour. Anyone who has been on the tour at Universal Studios-Hollywood will think Disneys 20-minute version to be dismal. Overrated ride: Thatd be the tour again. Go see Muppetvision 3D instead. Really.
EPCOT: By far our favorite, perhaps because it was 7 minutes away. Visited there almost every day. Lots of space to roam around, particularly in the World Showcase. At 9 p.m. each night, the blasts from the Illumination fireworks show boomed across the entire Epcot area and could easily be heard at Disney Studios. Its more relaxed than other parks. Nothing beats sitting along the lake at the Rose and Crown Pub sipping a half-yard of Bass or Harp while you laugh at all the parents of kids far too young to appreciate, or even remember, all that Disney World has to offer. Best ride: Test Track. Hitting 65mph on the home stretch is a blast. Hold onto your hat. Runner-up: (Adult version) Riding a stool at the Rose and Crown. (Kid version). Doing the orange (spinning) side of Mission: Space. Worthless: The Journey into Imagination with Figment is the weakest attraction, but still not all that bad. Overrated ride: Not so much the ride itself, but the hype that you will get sick or die on Mission: Space. The green (non-spinning) side is fine for little kids and those prone to motion sickness, but dont let Disney psyche you out with all the warnings about the orange side. We get seasick easily, but had no trouble with Space, and even rode it 5 times.
MAGIC KINGDOM: Second-best park at Disney World, but weve been to Disneyland about 50 times or so. The World versions of these rides are better: Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain. The Disneyland versions of these rides (and attraction) are better: Toontown, Jungle Boat, Astro Blasters, Space Mountain (way way way better), and, due to default, Matterhorn and Indiana Jones. Disneyland overall is better than Magic Kingdom, but there is more to the World than Magic Kingdom. Best ride: Splash Mountain. Nice balance between looks and thrills. Worthless: Stitch's Great Escape. We have no idea how this attraction was when it was about aliens, but the PeopleMover was thrilling and chilling compared to this waste of 15 minutes we'll never get back. We won't give the ride away, but imagine how "scary" it is to have someone tap you on the shoulder and whisper in your ear. That is the gist of this pathetic diversion. And we'll never get how Stitch became so popular in the first place. Overrated: Space Mountain. And that ride is way overrated, the most overrated ride in the whole World. The Disneyland version eats its launch.
TOP 5 RIDES OF DISNEY WORLD: 5. Dinosaur. 4. Mission: Space. 3. Test Track. 2. Tower of Terror. 1. Expedition Everest.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
If you are cheaping it by staying at a budget hotel, do yourself a huge favor and rent a car. You will get everywhere much faster and save yourself a lot of headaches.
Disney service still rules. We were always greeted with a smile, everyone was so pleasant. Eerie.
Plan, but dont overplan. Dinner reservations are a must, as well as knowing where you want to go each day. But we took time to do spontaneous things like play miniature golf or ride a rental bike around the Boardwalk. We even rented a small speedboat to cruise around the waterways between Boardwalk and Disney Studios. Favorite memory: Playing catch with a mini leather football purchased at the ESPN Club on the vast expanse of ground in front of the Beach Club.
Those extra magic hours may seem like a great deal, but after experiencing one at Disney Studios, and then seeing the wait for a bus to get in early at Animal Kingdom, we avoided them. That worked out very well. Our strategy was to be early, and it paid off well. We did everything we wanted to do and more, to the point we took a day off from the parks.
Give serious thought to the water parks. We spend a half-day at Blizzard Beach and had a great time. We got there at 8, rode all the best slides 2-3 times, and left at noon when the wait for those same rides was now 30 minutes and longer.
Actually heard a woman tell her tearful 3-4-year-old daughter, You cant be having a bad time, we didnt bring you all this way and spend all this money for you to be crying. Think about that.
Disneys PhotoPass was well worth it. We flagged down a photographer in every park, then got home and chose the ones we wanted to send to friends. Yes, we even bought one, but price was worth it considering 99 percent of our photos (we took more than 500) were of son or landscape. Dad was hardly ever seen.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL PROBABLY GET US FLAMED: Strollers and scooters. Why does it have to be strollers and scooters?
There are reasons to take little kids to Disney World, but they are not usually good reasons. Maybe they have older siblings who are a better age to spend so much time at a theme park and, well, you feel its just not far to them that little Suzy is just 2. But we saw so many parents who had 2 or 3 kids, the oldest not more than 4 or 5. Most were in the 2-3-year-old area, sacked out by 2 p.m. or so. If a child is so young that they cant stay awake an entire day, or cant walk around on their own for more than 20 minutes, what are they doing at Disney World? What can they possibly be getting out of such a fantastic park that could not wait another 2 or 3 years, when they will be able to enjoy and appreciate such a marvel to the child in all of us? I suspect because the parents are the ones who really want to be here, using the kids as an excuse. And so every theme park is choked with strollers, leaving the rest of us with age-appropriate kids to dodge and hurtle and weave among the army of strollers. If you are wasting half the day in line for Dumbo or for character meet-and-greets, your kids are probably spending most of the day in a double-wide stroller tank just so you can switch off with a spouse at Test Track or Tower of Terror. Wait a few years. Disney World will still be there. Save up and do it really nice.
Having attended amusement parks more than 40 years now, cant remember a time seeing so many people in those motorized scooters, which are like wheelchairs only with handlebars, electric motors and beeping sounds for when they back up. And most of the people riding scooters were morbidly obese. Now, we want to remain sensitive to those with genetic conditions, but when exactly did being way too fat qualify as a disability? The scooter people drove like maniacs, expecting people to get out of their way as they approached (and people did, no one wants to get hit by a fat guy on a scooter). We also saw many scooter people waiting at the front of the line in the area for (legitimately) disabled folks. When their turn came, they rose from their scooters and walked just fine without need of walker or even a cane, easing themselves into the seat. When the ride was over they plopped themselves back into their scooters and were off, while the rest of us waited like able-bodied suckers.
Let the flaming attacks commence, assuming anyone got this far in the trip report.
Instead I will break this trip report into the essentials, peppering a few facts in with many opinions of what I considered to be the essentials. No doubt I will offend many of the Disneyphiles who populate this site (youll see), but I hope it will inform and even entertain all, even those who strongly disagree.
So let us begin at the beginning of our June 21-28 trip, and that would be:
THE MAGICAL EXPRESS: You know what would be more magical? Signs pointing the way, the ones promised in the literature sent to us three weeks prior to departure. We saw the baggage claim signs, and followed those instead. Fortunately we had familiarized ourselves with the map and knew where we generally had to be. And that is when we discovered our very first Disney line. No, we couldnt board the bus right away, the cast member told us. We had to go over to the Magical Express desk across the way where a long line awaited. Not so sure it was as much to check in (getting our voucher stamped) as it was to indoctrinate us in the Way of the Line. Ah, the magic of it all. Though it was a pleasant trip and our bags arrived as promised.
PLAY NICE: Lets say Disney was actually unprepared, service-wise, for the arrival of the Magical Express at, for purposes of argument, the Beach Club Resort. Lets say there were 15 people in line at the check-in desk, and only one clerk checking people in. And lets say that, even though there wasnt a sign, it turned out the Stand-By Entrance time was 25 minutes. To check in. To a hotel allegedly expecting you. But when you are second in line, three cast members suddenly arrive at the desk, and thus you are called to the desk by a woman who may or may not have just started her shift. Do you whine and complain? Of course not. You will do enough of that with your spouse and children later. No, you talk about how good you feel to be here, sharing some laughs. Then perhaps you too will be magically upgraded to a water view room that is just steps from the main lobby, a location that would pay dividends throughout the stay. Great view, short walk to Epcot (7 minutes from room to entrance), a huge boon each and every day. And speaking of that:
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION: Though we will likely never return to Disney World (very far away from home in Arizona, too many places to see and things to do elsewhere on the planet), if we were to return, we would assuredly book an Epcot area resort. Rooms were nice at the Beach Club, great view of the Boardwalk (which, by the way, was nowhere near as lively as Disney literature suggested, but still was a pleasant little diversion and nice to have near if you keep it in perspective), but best of all was ability to walk to Epcot and Disney Studios (we will dispense with the abbreviations used by so many insiders who assume all are as learned in all things Disney). Epcot was minutes away, the studios about a 15-to-20-minute pleasant walk. Or you could take one of the fleet of Friendships plying the lake and canals, though walking to Epcot was much faster, and only once did the boat beat us to Disney Studios. The fact that two parks were so close spared us much aggravation, for two reasons, those being CROWDS and the Disney version of MASS TRANSIT.
CROWDS: Busy busy busy. We are Disneyland veterans and are accustomed to the masses, but we learned our lessons very quickly. We got to the parks early (at least 45 minutes before opening), ate lunch early (by 11:30 a.m.), had dinner early on nights we did not have reservations (by 5 p.m.), and took a break from parks by 1 or 2 p.m. Later we would return to one of the parks close by so as not to trapped by the Disney version of
MASS TRANSIT: Sure, you could use the monorail to get around, and we did a few times in mid-afternoon. But most people take the bus. And they jam onto them at park opening and closing as if learning the fine art of packing them like sardines from subway riders in Tokyo. Off-hours travel was fine (10 a.m.-4 p.m., roughly). But if you were unfortunate enough to be caught in rush hour, well, lets just say this was the most unpopular ride at the parks (other than Stitchs Great Escape, but more on that later). On the morning that Animal Kingdom had early admission, we watched (from the safety of the Magic Kingdom bus lane at the Beach Club) as people crowded onto the bus. At one point the driver was forced to come out and ask people to wait for the next one, which was just five minutes away. Still, a family of five with stroller squeezed on as the driver watched. And upon leaving the studios at 8 oclock one evening, there were about 200 people waiting to board the bus to the All-Star Resort. Thank goodness we were walking back. And speaking of the All Star Resort:
DONT CHEAP IT OUT: We understand there are many people who really cant afford to visit Disney World at the better hotels, and will happily accept the budget hotels thinking they are a bargain. Those who do will pay for it with time and aggravation. You will ride the bus everywhere, you will stay far longer at the parks than your children can tolerate because you really dont want to spend 45 minutes to an hour on a crowded bus to get back to your unenviable location, you and your family will grow weary very quickly, and when you finally leave the Happiest Place on Earth, you will wonder why all your incredibly high expectations werent met (yet convincing yourself it was the Best vacation ever! for no other reason than you went to Disney World, because to think anything less would be blasphemous and cause you to question all the money and time you put into the thing). Yes, Disney World is expensive even at the budget hotels. Yes, you can have a great time staying at them if your temperament is such that you have a very high threshold of waits, lines and crowds. But if you save another year or two (as we did), it will most certainly pay off in the best vacation ever. Speaking of money, lets address:
THE DINING PLAN: Disney does many things right, and this is one of them. We wish the real world would let us buy a plan in which all we need to do is present our card to the server to pay for appetizer, entrée, dessert, tax and gratuity (do not underestimate the value of the inclusion of gratuity, its huge). We ate far better than we would have otherwise, ordering steak, ribs and seafood without thought to price. In fact, the more expensive the better because it was already paid for. The more you spend, the more you save. Awesome and highly recommended. Just make sure you plan accordingly. Make those reservations. We saw dozens of people turned away from Sci-Fi Dine Inn at Disney Studios because it was not taking walkups. Yet we waited no more than 15 minutes for our table and had a wonderful time. Food was so-so, but experience was priceless (probably a MasterCard commercial in there somewhere, too bad Disney works with Visa). And about food quality:
THOUGHTS FROM A NON-CRITIC ON FOOD: The fast-food joints were pretty much all the same, offering decent fare at inflated prices (remember the Dining Plan, folks). As far as sit-down restaurants go, high marks to the Yachtsman Steakhouse (Yacht Club Resort) and the Rose and Crown (England in Epcot). The Rose also served beer in half-yards, a nice touch even if the half-yard was plastic (though you get to keep it). We will stay far away from the brewpub on the Boardwalk (Big River Canyon Grille or somesuch). Had reservations at 6 p.m. and yet waited 40 minutes for a table as well as a meal that featured a very tough ribeye (how do you mess up a medium-rare ribeye?) and, even worse, a mediocre pale ale (the red ale was very good). The rest pretty much blends together.
WEATHER: If you are afraid of a little water, by all means buy a poncho. Almost everyone was wearing them shortly after the afternoon thunderstorms started. You will not look silly. However, we are of the mind that friends dont let friends wear ponchos. Yes, we got wet, at times soaked. But you know what? At some point we dried out and, unlike the Wicked Witch of the West, didnt melt. Go figure. Do not let the rain stop you from enjoying the parks. Well, except for Test Track at Epcot, which shut down during thunderstorms and was offline for hours at a time (perhaps a reflection a real world where GM shuts down testing in bad weather, which would certainly explain Pontiacs). Let the weak and the families with small children huddle in alcoves. Take advantage of the rain and enjoy the one time you can walk around and not be jostled stroller-pushing moms and dads more concerned with the park maps they are studying than the traffic ahead. Speaking of parks, lets take them one at a time.
ANIMAL KINGDOM: The most unfortunate thing about Disney World is the way it stashed its best ride in the worst, most difficult to navigate park. OK, so Imagineers wanted to boost attendance at Disney Worlds weak sister of a theme park. While investing millions in Expedition Everest (worth every cent, by the way), why didnt someone at some point say, Hey, lets spend a few thousand bucks here and there to widen the walkways. Everyone who arrives before Animal Kingdom opens is here for one reason, to ride the best attraction in the World (we will rank rides later). After a superfluous opening show with Minnie and Mickey, guests are led by two cast members holding a rope between them. These cast members walk very slowly. The people behind them want to take off as if chased by the bull of Pamplona. And at those rare times the walkway widens to accommodate more than 10 people across, anyone who does not mind sacrificing civility and decent human behavior to save a few minutes (that was almost everyone) sprints up the sides to cut into line a little farther up. Yet no one crosses the rope, which gave us this idea. Have cast members with ropes man the northern and southern US borders. Illegal immigration would come to a stunning halt. Sorry, were not opening for another 10 or 15 years. Oh, OK, sorry, well try back then. That would be great, have a wonderful Disney day. Best ride: Yup, Everest. By far. Amazing. You really have to ride it. Get there early, then as you wait 45 minutes for the first ride, get a FastPass because they will be gone by noon. If you ride it twice, it was a successful day. Runner-up: Dinosaur. Darn fun. You can ride it 3-4 times before the Expedition Everest people find it later. Worthless: That train to Rafikis conservation station or whatever. You do not want to get stuck on that thing. Overrated ride: Kilamanjaro Safari. You ride a truck through the zoo. You may or may not see tigers and lions. You will see giraffes and antelope. Throw in some ridiculous story line about chasing a poacher (not even the littlest kids buy this ride as an action adventure) and you have an experience hardly worth the 40-minute wait in a queue that is wider than most walkways and, as a result, very slow moving.
DISNEY-MGM STUDIOS: As this is written, there is a report that a young boy died on Rockin Rollercoaster. Very sad. The first three seconds of that ride was far more intense (in our opinion) than anything in Mission: Space. It took our breath away, and in the resulting photo flashed as the coaster went from 0 to 60 in those 3 seconds, our eyes are closed and mouths open in a very embarrassing way. We did not buy the photo and did not go on a second ride. Still, it was an incredible ride. Make up your own mind. The studios are pretty small and can get packed early, but early in the morning and 30 minutes before closing, you can pretty much have your way. Best ride: Tower of Terror. Far better than the one at Disneyland. Wait was just 10 minutes at 9:30 p.m., when it had been up to 50 minutes most of the day. Runner-up: The stunt car show. Noisy, brash, and some very cool stunts. And you get to sit and relax for a while. Worthless: The Backlot Tour. Anyone who has been on the tour at Universal Studios-Hollywood will think Disneys 20-minute version to be dismal. Overrated ride: Thatd be the tour again. Go see Muppetvision 3D instead. Really.
EPCOT: By far our favorite, perhaps because it was 7 minutes away. Visited there almost every day. Lots of space to roam around, particularly in the World Showcase. At 9 p.m. each night, the blasts from the Illumination fireworks show boomed across the entire Epcot area and could easily be heard at Disney Studios. Its more relaxed than other parks. Nothing beats sitting along the lake at the Rose and Crown Pub sipping a half-yard of Bass or Harp while you laugh at all the parents of kids far too young to appreciate, or even remember, all that Disney World has to offer. Best ride: Test Track. Hitting 65mph on the home stretch is a blast. Hold onto your hat. Runner-up: (Adult version) Riding a stool at the Rose and Crown. (Kid version). Doing the orange (spinning) side of Mission: Space. Worthless: The Journey into Imagination with Figment is the weakest attraction, but still not all that bad. Overrated ride: Not so much the ride itself, but the hype that you will get sick or die on Mission: Space. The green (non-spinning) side is fine for little kids and those prone to motion sickness, but dont let Disney psyche you out with all the warnings about the orange side. We get seasick easily, but had no trouble with Space, and even rode it 5 times.
MAGIC KINGDOM: Second-best park at Disney World, but weve been to Disneyland about 50 times or so. The World versions of these rides are better: Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain. The Disneyland versions of these rides (and attraction) are better: Toontown, Jungle Boat, Astro Blasters, Space Mountain (way way way better), and, due to default, Matterhorn and Indiana Jones. Disneyland overall is better than Magic Kingdom, but there is more to the World than Magic Kingdom. Best ride: Splash Mountain. Nice balance between looks and thrills. Worthless: Stitch's Great Escape. We have no idea how this attraction was when it was about aliens, but the PeopleMover was thrilling and chilling compared to this waste of 15 minutes we'll never get back. We won't give the ride away, but imagine how "scary" it is to have someone tap you on the shoulder and whisper in your ear. That is the gist of this pathetic diversion. And we'll never get how Stitch became so popular in the first place. Overrated: Space Mountain. And that ride is way overrated, the most overrated ride in the whole World. The Disneyland version eats its launch.
TOP 5 RIDES OF DISNEY WORLD: 5. Dinosaur. 4. Mission: Space. 3. Test Track. 2. Tower of Terror. 1. Expedition Everest.
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
If you are cheaping it by staying at a budget hotel, do yourself a huge favor and rent a car. You will get everywhere much faster and save yourself a lot of headaches.
Disney service still rules. We were always greeted with a smile, everyone was so pleasant. Eerie.
Plan, but dont overplan. Dinner reservations are a must, as well as knowing where you want to go each day. But we took time to do spontaneous things like play miniature golf or ride a rental bike around the Boardwalk. We even rented a small speedboat to cruise around the waterways between Boardwalk and Disney Studios. Favorite memory: Playing catch with a mini leather football purchased at the ESPN Club on the vast expanse of ground in front of the Beach Club.
Those extra magic hours may seem like a great deal, but after experiencing one at Disney Studios, and then seeing the wait for a bus to get in early at Animal Kingdom, we avoided them. That worked out very well. Our strategy was to be early, and it paid off well. We did everything we wanted to do and more, to the point we took a day off from the parks.
Give serious thought to the water parks. We spend a half-day at Blizzard Beach and had a great time. We got there at 8, rode all the best slides 2-3 times, and left at noon when the wait for those same rides was now 30 minutes and longer.
Actually heard a woman tell her tearful 3-4-year-old daughter, You cant be having a bad time, we didnt bring you all this way and spend all this money for you to be crying. Think about that.
Disneys PhotoPass was well worth it. We flagged down a photographer in every park, then got home and chose the ones we wanted to send to friends. Yes, we even bought one, but price was worth it considering 99 percent of our photos (we took more than 500) were of son or landscape. Dad was hardly ever seen.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING THAT WILL PROBABLY GET US FLAMED: Strollers and scooters. Why does it have to be strollers and scooters?
There are reasons to take little kids to Disney World, but they are not usually good reasons. Maybe they have older siblings who are a better age to spend so much time at a theme park and, well, you feel its just not far to them that little Suzy is just 2. But we saw so many parents who had 2 or 3 kids, the oldest not more than 4 or 5. Most were in the 2-3-year-old area, sacked out by 2 p.m. or so. If a child is so young that they cant stay awake an entire day, or cant walk around on their own for more than 20 minutes, what are they doing at Disney World? What can they possibly be getting out of such a fantastic park that could not wait another 2 or 3 years, when they will be able to enjoy and appreciate such a marvel to the child in all of us? I suspect because the parents are the ones who really want to be here, using the kids as an excuse. And so every theme park is choked with strollers, leaving the rest of us with age-appropriate kids to dodge and hurtle and weave among the army of strollers. If you are wasting half the day in line for Dumbo or for character meet-and-greets, your kids are probably spending most of the day in a double-wide stroller tank just so you can switch off with a spouse at Test Track or Tower of Terror. Wait a few years. Disney World will still be there. Save up and do it really nice.
Having attended amusement parks more than 40 years now, cant remember a time seeing so many people in those motorized scooters, which are like wheelchairs only with handlebars, electric motors and beeping sounds for when they back up. And most of the people riding scooters were morbidly obese. Now, we want to remain sensitive to those with genetic conditions, but when exactly did being way too fat qualify as a disability? The scooter people drove like maniacs, expecting people to get out of their way as they approached (and people did, no one wants to get hit by a fat guy on a scooter). We also saw many scooter people waiting at the front of the line in the area for (legitimately) disabled folks. When their turn came, they rose from their scooters and walked just fine without need of walker or even a cane, easing themselves into the seat. When the ride was over they plopped themselves back into their scooters and were off, while the rest of us waited like able-bodied suckers.
Let the flaming attacks commence, assuming anyone got this far in the trip report.
I think I'll give this thread 5 pages...Any other guesses?
around Disney HAPPILY!
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