Wadecool
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2011
- Messages
- 4,160
We went to WDW June 17-26 and I figured I'd post a trip report.
We did 2 days at MK, 2 days at EP, and 1 day at HS. Stayed offsite and ate in the parks either CS or TS everyday.
Security is everywhere and there's definitely a show of force being presented, which is awesome. Saw lots of OCSD cars sitting in grass around park entrances with no one in them. Saw several Disney security Chevy Tahoes with K9 UNIT on them but they didn't appear to be running so one has to assume (hope) there wasn't any dogs inside. I did notice several "dads" sitting or hanging around the park as if to be waiting for family with earpieces in their ears, possibly undercover. As mentioned in a recent post about pocketknives, I accidentally carried my EDC pocketknife into Epcot on our first day. Got through bag check and was directed to the metal detector and as I began emptying my pockets found it. Told the officer "guess I'll have to go back to the car" and started to turn around (knife is pricey Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and I didn't want to lose it to a trash can) and he said let me see it. He held it up his ID badge and the tip of blade was right at the end of it. He called a coworker over and they decided to let me keep it but "just don't take it out of your pocket". I didn't bring it to any other parks as I figured letting a knife into park is up to each officer to decide on and having to get back to parking lot of MK would be a royal pain. Overall we felt safe and secure. My wife work on a military base and I would say that outside of a Federal Installation, WDW parks (inside the security checkpoint of course) is one of the safest places to be.
Heat was rough last half of our trip but we had frogtogs and kept plenty of a/c rides and shows in the mix. Epcot in WS isn't too bad since we could sooth the heat with copious adult beverages (huge fan of Safari Amber, btw). Crowds were much less of an issue than I anticipated. MK on June 19th in particular was downright dead as far as crowds. We never waited more than 20 minutes on standby for anything all day. Our second MK day was June 24 and it was much more crowded.
Line jumping wasn't horrible but we did have one incident. Arrived at HS on Wednesday about 745 for 9am opening so we were on the rope behind a lady who appeared to be alone and a father and son behind her. My daughter was sitting cross legged on ground beside me leaning up against post. 2 ladies and 3 kids come cruising up and stand with the lady at front of line. I'm not bothered at all cause its rope drop and its inconsequential to our plans. The issue started when her husband comes up with double stroller and wants to get up with them in front of us. She bends down to my daughter and says "you're gonna have to get up sweetie so our stroller can get through". I look at my daughter and tell her "you hold fast". I told lady that if she wanted that stroller to be with her she should go back to where it was cause it wasn't going to be crossing where my daughter was. She replied that she wasn't going to be separated from her husband. I let her know she had 2 options: 1)join him back behind us or 2) consult any of the CM's who were several feet away and get their opinion. Silence and dirty looks after that, stroller stayed where it was.
We had several great TS meals, one at Ohana and one at Chef Mickeys. Counter service was ok but I was blown away at Pecos Bills when I saw there menu had changed. Wasn't a fan of the tex-mex switch, was craving some of those sautéed mushrooms on the toppings bar. We ended up getting our sautéed mushroom at Cosmic Rays later in the week so it's all good. We went for a pineapple dole whip and wondered why the line was so short, its usually longer. Turns out it had moved to a much better location with outdoor tables. Its funny because in the past we would get our dole whips and sit in that little abandoned courtyard beside the counter and eat them. Now they have a restaurant and its very nice in that area. Now whenever I see a storefront at Disney that's unused I'm curious to see what it will in years to come.
Great trip and already looking forward to 2018. I'm happy to answer any questions.
We did 2 days at MK, 2 days at EP, and 1 day at HS. Stayed offsite and ate in the parks either CS or TS everyday.
Security is everywhere and there's definitely a show of force being presented, which is awesome. Saw lots of OCSD cars sitting in grass around park entrances with no one in them. Saw several Disney security Chevy Tahoes with K9 UNIT on them but they didn't appear to be running so one has to assume (hope) there wasn't any dogs inside. I did notice several "dads" sitting or hanging around the park as if to be waiting for family with earpieces in their ears, possibly undercover. As mentioned in a recent post about pocketknives, I accidentally carried my EDC pocketknife into Epcot on our first day. Got through bag check and was directed to the metal detector and as I began emptying my pockets found it. Told the officer "guess I'll have to go back to the car" and started to turn around (knife is pricey Spyderco Paramilitary 2 and I didn't want to lose it to a trash can) and he said let me see it. He held it up his ID badge and the tip of blade was right at the end of it. He called a coworker over and they decided to let me keep it but "just don't take it out of your pocket". I didn't bring it to any other parks as I figured letting a knife into park is up to each officer to decide on and having to get back to parking lot of MK would be a royal pain. Overall we felt safe and secure. My wife work on a military base and I would say that outside of a Federal Installation, WDW parks (inside the security checkpoint of course) is one of the safest places to be.
Heat was rough last half of our trip but we had frogtogs and kept plenty of a/c rides and shows in the mix. Epcot in WS isn't too bad since we could sooth the heat with copious adult beverages (huge fan of Safari Amber, btw). Crowds were much less of an issue than I anticipated. MK on June 19th in particular was downright dead as far as crowds. We never waited more than 20 minutes on standby for anything all day. Our second MK day was June 24 and it was much more crowded.
Line jumping wasn't horrible but we did have one incident. Arrived at HS on Wednesday about 745 for 9am opening so we were on the rope behind a lady who appeared to be alone and a father and son behind her. My daughter was sitting cross legged on ground beside me leaning up against post. 2 ladies and 3 kids come cruising up and stand with the lady at front of line. I'm not bothered at all cause its rope drop and its inconsequential to our plans. The issue started when her husband comes up with double stroller and wants to get up with them in front of us. She bends down to my daughter and says "you're gonna have to get up sweetie so our stroller can get through". I look at my daughter and tell her "you hold fast". I told lady that if she wanted that stroller to be with her she should go back to where it was cause it wasn't going to be crossing where my daughter was. She replied that she wasn't going to be separated from her husband. I let her know she had 2 options: 1)join him back behind us or 2) consult any of the CM's who were several feet away and get their opinion. Silence and dirty looks after that, stroller stayed where it was.
We had several great TS meals, one at Ohana and one at Chef Mickeys. Counter service was ok but I was blown away at Pecos Bills when I saw there menu had changed. Wasn't a fan of the tex-mex switch, was craving some of those sautéed mushrooms on the toppings bar. We ended up getting our sautéed mushroom at Cosmic Rays later in the week so it's all good. We went for a pineapple dole whip and wondered why the line was so short, its usually longer. Turns out it had moved to a much better location with outdoor tables. Its funny because in the past we would get our dole whips and sit in that little abandoned courtyard beside the counter and eat them. Now they have a restaurant and its very nice in that area. Now whenever I see a storefront at Disney that's unused I'm curious to see what it will in years to come.
Great trip and already looking forward to 2018. I'm happy to answer any questions.
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I'm just not feeling it either.
