TropicalRobot
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2001
- Messages
- 22
Arrived today for an 8 day trip--just some random thoughts from a great 1st day.
Just a note to those worried about crowds...I'm a 100% confirmed crowd-hater and I generally refuse to wait more than 20 minutes for anything. I come once or twice a year, usually in Oct or May, and it certainly seems busier now than it does in those months, but not overwhelmingly so. Today was a 7 I think on the crowd-predicition scale, and though it seems pretty busy it is MORE than manageable with FPs and a little smart planning. So to those stressing about crowds, based on my experience today all I can say is DON'T WORRY and just enjoy being here. Of course the MK tomorrow will tell the REAL tale about just how busy it is right now. That park always pushes my crowd tolerance to its breaking point.
--Myself (34) and my mom (59) checked in to Swan at noon, no line, room was ready (always a nice start to any trip)...great 7th floor view of Tower of Terror. First time staying here, the location is just fantastic. Unlimited high speed internet included in $10 resort fee. Don't let the $7 a day parking put you off...yes it's kinda high, but the convenience of walking to Epcot and the studios quickly takes the edge off that cost.
--Weather today was insanely great...warm enough (about 77 I think) but a cool breeze during the day, even a little chilly this evening.
--Walked to Epcot around 12:30 and went to the Land to score FPs for Soarin'. Standby was 45 minutes...got FP's for a 5:20-6:20 timeframe. Boat ride was at about 30 min wait so we went and did a quick ride on Spaceship Earth. About a 5 min wait there...it does seem a lot smoother, not nearly as many jerks and bumps. Still don't get the warning about the car rotating backwards. Why would anyone feel compelled to stand up at that point?!
--Garden Grill at the Land is open, to my surprise...most info I've seen had it closed til June. Doing brisk business already of course. Seasons food court looks like it should be open in a matter of days...saw some CM's training behind some of the counters. In general the makeover of The Land looks nice, but I wish they had kept the fountain.
--Walked back to Fish and Chips stand for lunch....looong line. They really need 4 windows here for busier times. About a 20-minute wait, F&C was good, but smaller pieces of fish than usual and it's been better in the past. Still not bad at all.
--Walked to O Canada and got in right as it started. One of the bigger crowds I've seen in a circlevision movie in the past few years. Some Canadians in the crowd did a complete rendition of "O Canada" at the request of the enthusistic CM host before the show. I still love the circlevision films. I think I noticed this last time but some of the narration has changed to be more "modern" I guess. Don't think there is any new footage though.
--Then over to Mexico for El Rio Del Tiempo, which was walkon as usual. If there's ever a long line here I know we're in big trouble. Not much to it but I still enjoy it as a nostalgic cross between If You Had Wings and It's A Small World. Over to Norway, Maelstrom was 20 min, so we passed on it for now.
--Over to Fountainview for a wonderful-as-usual slice of chocolate truffle cake. Mom had the white chocolate strwaberry cake and liked it a lot as well.
--Took a quick, walk-on spin on JIYI. I still cringe at how they gutted the original for THIS, but I love dark rides of any stripe, and this has a couple of ok moments. But it's so sad they couldn't do something better than this. It just screams low-budget.
--Back to The Land, walked into Circle of Life right as it was loading then grabbed FPs for Living with The Land for the same timeframe as our Soarin FPs. Walked over to Living Seas but the line was back to the entrance so we skipped it. Went over to Innoventions and did the Ultimate Home Theater show. CM Bob was a very good host with a nice low-key delivery. I thought the high-def portions did not look as good as they should have, but a worthwhile little show that I hadn't done in a couple of years.
--Over to Soarin around 5:30, the standby wait was up to (yikes) 80 minutes. Total wait with our FP was maybe 15 minutes. Had seats in front row. This was my first trip on Soarin and I certainly enjoyed it but my reaction was kinda like Dom Deluise in History of the World Part 1--"Nice. Nice. Not *thrilling*, but nice." A fun ride and a nice addition to Epcot, but there were not quite as many dips or swoops as I expected. It's fun, no doubt, but I wish Disney would do something that would really wow us like Spiderman. Then over to LWTL (ZERO wait with FP, standby was 20 min at this point) for a ride in the very back row. Kinda nice to be able to look back with an unobstructed view.
--Headed out of Epcot around 6:45, walked back to Swan and drove to DD Marketplace. Pretty crowded but again manageable--the stores were not insanely busy and parking was easy. Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. Interesting new angle here, they now bring the food to your table instead of the light-up pager things. Again, busy but not annoyingly so--things run more smoothly with the system they have now. I had the Margherita pizza which was very good, mom had the Warm Chicken Aioli sandwich which she liked a lot. Checked out most of the shops on that side of the marketplace and headed back to the Swan around 9:30. Noticed that the little garden shop at the Marketplace is gone, replaced by an "everything under $10" shop--kind of an outlet for some of the slower-moving stuff from what I could see. Goofy's Candy Co is nice and big, lots of interesting stuff there...much better than the anemic little Candy Cauldron over at Westside.
--In all one of the best "first days" we've ever had here. Couldn't get over how perfect the weather was. And again, those worrying about crowds...if I'm not complaining I don't know how anyone could--I'm about as impatient as they come and even though it IS busy right now, it's really not a problem if you just relax and don't try to do everything at once. We really got a lot done at Epcot in only about 6 hours.
Just a note to those worried about crowds...I'm a 100% confirmed crowd-hater and I generally refuse to wait more than 20 minutes for anything. I come once or twice a year, usually in Oct or May, and it certainly seems busier now than it does in those months, but not overwhelmingly so. Today was a 7 I think on the crowd-predicition scale, and though it seems pretty busy it is MORE than manageable with FPs and a little smart planning. So to those stressing about crowds, based on my experience today all I can say is DON'T WORRY and just enjoy being here. Of course the MK tomorrow will tell the REAL tale about just how busy it is right now. That park always pushes my crowd tolerance to its breaking point.
--Myself (34) and my mom (59) checked in to Swan at noon, no line, room was ready (always a nice start to any trip)...great 7th floor view of Tower of Terror. First time staying here, the location is just fantastic. Unlimited high speed internet included in $10 resort fee. Don't let the $7 a day parking put you off...yes it's kinda high, but the convenience of walking to Epcot and the studios quickly takes the edge off that cost.
--Weather today was insanely great...warm enough (about 77 I think) but a cool breeze during the day, even a little chilly this evening.
--Walked to Epcot around 12:30 and went to the Land to score FPs for Soarin'. Standby was 45 minutes...got FP's for a 5:20-6:20 timeframe. Boat ride was at about 30 min wait so we went and did a quick ride on Spaceship Earth. About a 5 min wait there...it does seem a lot smoother, not nearly as many jerks and bumps. Still don't get the warning about the car rotating backwards. Why would anyone feel compelled to stand up at that point?!
--Garden Grill at the Land is open, to my surprise...most info I've seen had it closed til June. Doing brisk business already of course. Seasons food court looks like it should be open in a matter of days...saw some CM's training behind some of the counters. In general the makeover of The Land looks nice, but I wish they had kept the fountain.
--Walked back to Fish and Chips stand for lunch....looong line. They really need 4 windows here for busier times. About a 20-minute wait, F&C was good, but smaller pieces of fish than usual and it's been better in the past. Still not bad at all.
--Walked to O Canada and got in right as it started. One of the bigger crowds I've seen in a circlevision movie in the past few years. Some Canadians in the crowd did a complete rendition of "O Canada" at the request of the enthusistic CM host before the show. I still love the circlevision films. I think I noticed this last time but some of the narration has changed to be more "modern" I guess. Don't think there is any new footage though.
--Then over to Mexico for El Rio Del Tiempo, which was walkon as usual. If there's ever a long line here I know we're in big trouble. Not much to it but I still enjoy it as a nostalgic cross between If You Had Wings and It's A Small World. Over to Norway, Maelstrom was 20 min, so we passed on it for now.
--Over to Fountainview for a wonderful-as-usual slice of chocolate truffle cake. Mom had the white chocolate strwaberry cake and liked it a lot as well.
--Took a quick, walk-on spin on JIYI. I still cringe at how they gutted the original for THIS, but I love dark rides of any stripe, and this has a couple of ok moments. But it's so sad they couldn't do something better than this. It just screams low-budget.
--Back to The Land, walked into Circle of Life right as it was loading then grabbed FPs for Living with The Land for the same timeframe as our Soarin FPs. Walked over to Living Seas but the line was back to the entrance so we skipped it. Went over to Innoventions and did the Ultimate Home Theater show. CM Bob was a very good host with a nice low-key delivery. I thought the high-def portions did not look as good as they should have, but a worthwhile little show that I hadn't done in a couple of years.
--Over to Soarin around 5:30, the standby wait was up to (yikes) 80 minutes. Total wait with our FP was maybe 15 minutes. Had seats in front row. This was my first trip on Soarin and I certainly enjoyed it but my reaction was kinda like Dom Deluise in History of the World Part 1--"Nice. Nice. Not *thrilling*, but nice." A fun ride and a nice addition to Epcot, but there were not quite as many dips or swoops as I expected. It's fun, no doubt, but I wish Disney would do something that would really wow us like Spiderman. Then over to LWTL (ZERO wait with FP, standby was 20 min at this point) for a ride in the very back row. Kinda nice to be able to look back with an unobstructed view.
--Headed out of Epcot around 6:45, walked back to Swan and drove to DD Marketplace. Pretty crowded but again manageable--the stores were not insanely busy and parking was easy. Dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. Interesting new angle here, they now bring the food to your table instead of the light-up pager things. Again, busy but not annoyingly so--things run more smoothly with the system they have now. I had the Margherita pizza which was very good, mom had the Warm Chicken Aioli sandwich which she liked a lot. Checked out most of the shops on that side of the marketplace and headed back to the Swan around 9:30. Noticed that the little garden shop at the Marketplace is gone, replaced by an "everything under $10" shop--kind of an outlet for some of the slower-moving stuff from what I could see. Goofy's Candy Co is nice and big, lots of interesting stuff there...much better than the anemic little Candy Cauldron over at Westside.
--In all one of the best "first days" we've ever had here. Couldn't get over how perfect the weather was. And again, those worrying about crowds...if I'm not complaining I don't know how anyone could--I'm about as impatient as they come and even though it IS busy right now, it's really not a problem if you just relax and don't try to do everything at once. We really got a lot done at Epcot in only about 6 hours.
Can't wait to hear about the MK tomorrow!!! 
