Observations from my recent trip 12/20-12/27

[sheila <3 WDW]

Just got home yesterday from our fifth trip. I still Love Disney World and our trip was amazing. Went with DH, 4 year old DS and 8 year old DD.

Some observations:

-Osborne lights were awesome. So glad we got to see them. Sorry they won't be around any more.

-new launch bay character greetings were great. Went after 7 pm Fantasmic on 12/21. Waited 10 minutes for Chewie, 20 for Vader. He talks! I didn't know that. Lol my son was dressed as Vader, was cute.

-tower of terror was awesome. My first time on it now that my son was 40 inches. We all rode. Had a video on my Photopass (memory maker) with it. Very cool. Video for 7 dwatf mine train, too.

-loved being able to see photopass photos on the app right after taking them! Uploaded some to Facebook right after getting them taken.

-4 years old is about the perfect age for meet and greets! We recorded almost every meet and greet because my son was hilarious. Spent over 5 minutes with Aladdin in Epcot on Christmas Day (Jasmine wasn't with him). My son was asking about all the props in Aladdin's area. Aladdin said the small blankets were baby magic carpets they had rescued from a fire. So cute. My son got kisses from 4 different princesses (Ariel, Pocahontas, Jasmine and Cinderella). Minnie wanted to keep him and threw herself on the floor crying when he said he didn't want to stay with her. Jasmine offered us Abu in exchange for him. Lol so fun. Amazing character interactions all over.

-great food. Be our guest is still my favorite for lunch and dinner. Croque monsier and the steak at dinner. Yum.

-Garden grill breakfast was amazing! 8 am adr, done and in line for soarin at 8:55. We were first in line. Then rode out again with fp+ and wait was already at 60 minutes.

-did not like biergarten. Food was ok, but had to wait in lines of 10 or more people before i could even get a plate at thr buffet. It was our longest meal at the parks at over 1.5 hours. Mostly due to the buffet lines.

-we had excellent bus service. Stayed at caribbean beach and had to stop a bunch before leaving the resort, but never waited longer than 10 minutes for a bus and that was just once. Most evenings we got on a bus that was loading as soon as we walked to the bus stop.

-loved the shop disney parks app to locate merchandise. At the baymax meet and greet on 12/23 Saw a woman with a plush baymax. My son desperately wanted one. Found it on the app at dhs and mk. He had to wait until our next mk day on 12/26, but he got his toy. Map showed exactly what store it was in. Awesome. I didn't try to order so i can't speak to that.

-candlelight processional was amazing! We did it Christmas day. So worth the dining package.

-loved the storytellers we saw in epcot. Norway was my kids favorite.

-hee crowds weren't as bad as i had feared. It was very crowded at mk on 12/26, but we still got lots done. Met lots of characters instead of riding rides. After the fireworks (dessert party) we split up. Dh and dd rode speedway (40 minutes wait, but dd had wanted to do it all day). Ds and i rode barnstormer and met all 4 characters in Pete's silly sideshow.

-love the lost and found. On 12/26, dd had lost a t rex toy from the dinosaur ride at ak (my son took it out of the stroller and left it in a stroller parking area). We thought it was gone for good, but we stopped at lost and found on our way out and they had it! She was thrilled.

-overall, i would totally go back in the days leading up to Christmas. It was an awesome trip.

 

[larryz]

-did not like biergarten. Food was ok, but had to wait in lines of 10 or more people before i could even get a plate at thr buffet. It was our longest meal at the parks at over 1.5 hours. Mostly due to the buffet lines.

How long until the Biergarten becomes a 2TS meal, then...?

 

[buccikulju]

What a great trip. Thanks for sharing such fun tidbits! Sounds like a magical time for you and yours.

 

[Doug M]

I agree with your kids, i loved the Norway storytellers, Italy was a real close second for me, UK was also excellent as was Morocco, heck they are all awesome! Glad we passed on Biergarten.

 

[WDWAurora]

How long until the Biergarten becomes a 2TS meal, then...?

I think this is rare. This was not my experience on 12/10, though overall crowds were likely less at that time. We always eat there, and have never seen lines that impacted our dining time like this person experienced. I am sure it was that way, it just isn't typical at all.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

I think this is rare. This was not my experience on 12/10, though overall crowds were likely less at that time. We always eat there, and have never seen lines that impacted our dining time like this person experienced. I am sure it was that way, it just isn't typical at all.

That's good to know. It was our first time there.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Thanks for the reviews. I always LOVE to read positive trip reports.

 

[tstidm1]

Great thoughts on your trip. I didn't have that much of an issue with Biergarten lines in 2011. It is simply a function of the time of year for that restaurant.