Observations and thoughts following a trip

[Mrs. Max Goof]

I personally am not the type to write a trip report, however, I found it very helpful as I planned our trip to see people's thoughts following their recent trip. It's nice to read information about the now rather than someone spouting off memories from their visit 4 years ago. I apologize that this is long, but I hope some of you find it helpful! We were at DHS on 6/30 and MK on 7/2.

General

• Our Magic Bands and FP+ worked without a single issue. This was our first trip with both and I was very hesitant, but we ended up loving it. Thirty days out, we got all the FPs we wanted, including Toy Story and 7 Dwarfs, all before 1pm so we could get more FPs throughout the day. It significantly cut down on the amount of walking in both parks.
• There were Photopass photographers everywhere in both parks. It was nice to see there were photographers at every meet and greet now, as in the past, you had to hand over your camera to the character attendant for many meet and greets. It was also great to see them located in places such as the Tangled bathrooms and Under the Sea. We have no plans to buy any pictures and they were happy to take pictures on my camera.
• I had a lot of issues with the wifi across property. I continuously got kicked out, making it quite difficult to use the My Disney Experience app.
• After reading many accounts of visitors saying that the parks have felt significantly more crowded and that waits were longer than typical, I expected a lot of issues for this busy time of the year. We found the crowds to be very manageable and no worse than previous summer trips.
• I cannot recommend Touring Plans and the Lines app enough. We never waited more than 20 minutes in line for anything.
• Four words: no more cheese sauce. ANYWHERE.
• The Downtown Disney area is definitely a mess. The traffic was bad and even on a Wednesday night, the crowds were borderline unbearable.

DHS

• I absolutely love this park and was excited to go after having not been there in 4 years. However, I was disappointed in the state of the park. We had a great time, no doubt, but finished everything in the park (much of it two or three times too) by 4pm. I have high hopes for what is to come to this park, but don't think it is fair to pay full ticket price when so much is closed down.
• Rope drop was at 8:45 and everyone was allowed to run to their first attraction. It was total chaos. From there, you waited outside the attraction until 9.
• RnRC developed lines almost immediately. We were one of the first riders and when we got off, the wait was already posted as 40 minutes. ToT on the other hand was a walk on for nearly the first two hours of the park being open.
• RnRC was broken down for nearly 3 hours mid-afternoon, while ToT was broken down for an hour within that time. This caused big crowds for many of the shows, even Muppet 3D had a full house.
• We found that getting additional FPs at DHS was a lot more difficult than at MK. I obtained a fourth FP for Voyage around 3, and after refreshing the app several times, we landed one for RnRC. After that, it was pointless. Nothing else worthwhile was available.
• I absolutely despised the effect the dance party had on the park. First of all, it felt like it went on continuously for 5 hours. The area was completely mobbed and the characters were surrounded. The music was blasting and could be heard across the park. I also hated that much of the music was not family appropriate. I don't really want to hear Turn Down for What at a Disney park...
• The Frozen singalong was a surprise hit with both of us. The storytellers were laugh out loud funny and the quality of the projection screen was amazing. We went to this twice and the first show was significantly better than the second (different actors), but we liked that they really felt like completely different shows due to the unique jokes and improv from each pair.
• No Characterpalooza to be found. This was a bummer.
• There was no rock in Indiana Jones. Just as the sound effect of it coming started, the "director" yelled cut.
• I was pretty unhappy with the changes to GMR. The new script is downright cheesy and awkward. I also disliked that the finale video had so many Disney animated films thrown in. It seemed out of place.
• Voyage's screen is in terrible shape. It was grainy and the colors were not vivid at all. I don't want to see this show go, but the screen needs some serious help.
• While many of my bullet points are on the negative side, we truly did have a great day. However, until more attractions are added, we will not be back.

MK

• We were surprised how long the lines were for all characters. While certain characters in the past almost always had no line, now even minor characters like Marie were pulling 30-45 minute waits. Gaston's line was closed off before his set even started. It seems like many guests were in it to collect as many autographs as possible, not so much enjoy the experience of meeting the characters.
• Every animatronic at Splash was working beautifully! This was nice to see, as a couple of years ago, it seemed that half of the animals didn't move.
• Aloha Isle had nearly no line. We waited only 5 minutes for our Dole Whip floats, much better than nearly 30 minutes on our last trip.
• We had a wonderful experience with FP+ at MK! We ended up obtaining 7 total, much more than we ever were able to get using the older system. The best tip I can give is to take whatever is available on the kiosks and immediately go to change it on the app. If at first you cannot see anything, keep refreshing! I often had to refresh up to 10 times to find something, but boy did it feel good to get a FP for Splash, Big Thunder, and Space for the busy afternoon!
• 7 Dwarfs broke down around 1 and the train that was right near the sidewalk had to be evacuated. It was down for a long time.
• Speaking of, neither of us were in love with the mine train! I don't quite want to say we were disappointed, but we both felt like the attraction was short and that the overall speed of the coaster was very slow. I would never wait more than 20 minutes for it, yet the wait remained longer than an hour until park close.
• Festival of Fantasy was so beautiful! The costumes for the dancers and the floats were so gorgeously detailed. We sat right outside Peco Bills and had a great view!
• The new hub is looking great! I cannot wait to see it completed.
• Tiana and Naveen were not meeting all day. They are our favorite pair to meet, so this was a huge disappointment.
• I finally got to try a Nutella and fruit waffle and it was fantastic! They made the waffle fresh for me so it was nice and warm, making the Nutella all gooey and delicious. I highly recommend it!
• Main Street Electrical parade is a must-do for us, but we noticed many of the lights on the floats and costumes were burnt out.

I know this is an incredibly long post, but I hope it will be helpful to some of you who are in your planning phase! We had an amazing time. Feel free to ask me any questions and I'd be happy to try to answer!

 

[Kalliope]

Thank you so much for the detailed report. We go later this month and your tip about using the app to switch around the 4th fastpass is something I'll be using.

 

[kerri0616]

Thanks for the info! We are Disney veterans, but we have our first MDE/FP+ Trip coming up in December. It being Xmas week, I don't hold out hope for a 4th FP, but I will try what worked for you.

Glad you enjoyed.

K

 

[Malela9]

Getting ready to go and loving your detailed observations!

 

[Eastern]

That's a good tip about the 4th FP. The CMs didn't give us that advice when we tried and we didn't think of it. Even if you book something lame you still have a chance to change it around at some point without having to go back to the kiosk.