OFFICIAL JULY 2009 THREAD!!! (Part 2) It's here!!

[LuvMySoldier07]

I got my photopass cd today! most of the pictures are good, but some are blurry. a few times we asked the photographers to include the magic shots, but they said they were still training and didn't know how to do that. looking through my photos, you can tell which photographers knew what they were doing and which didn't. im happy we tried photopass, we got some great shots, but i dont think we will do it again.

 

[hpkalika]

We experienced the same thing with the kids and sizes. I had my daughter who just turned 7. She is extra petite for her age. Most people assume she's 4 or 5. She can even wear a 3-4T as long as its shorts or a skirt or top. We also had my niece who just turned 10. My niece is as tall as my DD7 is petite. CM's, would go up to my DD7 and make such a fuss over her (she's very cute) calling her little princess etc. This all made DN10 feel rejected because instead of being seen as a 10 year old, CM's thought she was at least 14. So they don't make a little girl fuss over her because they think it would come off as condescending. But she IS only 10. The manager at the Garden View Lounge at GF asked her about her pets and she mentioned a 13 year old dog. He asked her if the dog was older or younger. He genuinely thought she might be older than 13!! Her face really looks 10, but she's 5' 2"! It was rough for her, but thank goodness overall, she had a fantastic first visit to Disney.

It sounds like we were in different WDW's. We found the crowds very heavy, line waits very long, and had to skip many favorite rides because we couldn't fit them in because of waits. We spent the entire EMH at DHS waiting for Toy Story. It was awesome, but we couldn't do it again because waits ranged from 80-90 minutes. We couldn't get fast passes for Test Track and the wait was over an hour. A few times when it seemed possible, it was shut down for lightning. MIL and DN10 loved Soarin' so much that we spent our entire EPCOT EMH waiting for that one. On all our past trips, EMH ride waits were fairly short and most were walk-on. Not this time!!

Our original plan was to go to the parks in the morning, at rope drop if possible, and then return at lunch time for a pool break and then return to the parks after dinner. yeah... right!! There was 7 of us (in a 2BR villa), so by the time we were ready for the parks and we waited for the bus, having to load my MIL with a scooter each time, we arrived not at rope drop, but close to lunch time, so we ended up eating in the parks a bit more often than planned. By the time we returned for our pool break, it often started to storm before we even got into the pool. THEN we ended up back in the parks for EMH or later hours at MK, so we didn't get to bed in time, to get up early enough to get to the parks early enough. So, we did have to constantly re-adjust our expectations. We did fewer rides and few ride repeats. We didn't even make it to Adventureland at all!! I didn't get my Dole Whip! We did get to repeat Kali over and over at the end of EMH at AK. That was so much fun.

The tour groups were definately something I can live without. When we were trying to have a dinner with my cousin at Planet Hollywood they had the whole upstairs and they were chanting and stopping their feet!! ugh!! It was so loud we left without ordering more drinks or dessert.

Oooh .. this got long. Sorry

I think it depends on what days you went to each park. We spent the bulk of time at Magic Kingdom. Not always in the daytime though. We went after it opened then left for lunch or just wandered to the pool. Coming back in the evening after going to a water park or the Animal Kingdom allowed us to hit every ride we wanted to go on really quickly. I'm not a roller coaster person, so my husband could go on quickly in the single rider line (15 min wait rather than 40 or so for things like Test Track etc). We were able to see all the parades without being crushed by people in any of the parks. I expected it to be way worse. I think that the free dining for August helped out on that.

 

[meanmom121]

Hi everyone! We arrived home on Saturday morning but it has taken me this long to catch up on laundry, groceries and mostly sleep. I was exhausted after this trip!! I will try and do a trip report sometime soon but to summarize our trip briefly we had a blast. This was our 5th trip to disney so we went with a loose plan and that seemed to work well. The crowds seemed reasonable but there were days that seemed worse than others. Didn't really have much problem with rain I think one morning, maybe Mon. was a little rain but not enough to close the rides because we did test track despite the rain

The tour groups were horrible lots of cutting in line, loud with tons on singing, clapping and general yelling while in line and while walking through the parks. There were several times where we were all bumped, pushed or cutoff while in line or just walking through the parks. Also several gross displays of making out with each other right in the middle of everything.

I did get to meet Jenny and her new husband Vinnie while at the Biergarten for dinner. They are both so cute and nice!! Other than that I didn't see any other dis members.

We did have several encounters with rude guests while at WDW which we have never had before

I thought the weather was nice but the humidity did seem to be higher this year than in years past. We would try to get to the park relatively early do as much as we could and then leave by 1 or 2 and head back to the pool to swim.

We also tried the picnic in the park at Animal Kingdom and really enjoyed it! I would highly recommend it as a nice alternative to hamburgers and chicken strips. You do not have to order a meal for everyone in your party so we ordered the chicken for two and had plenty for the 4 of us.

Our son was finally tall enough to ride the big rides so we rode rnr, expedition everest, big thunder mountain rr and toy story mania over and over. Toy Story mania is a blast!! I am still wondering how people score in the 300,000 on that thing

Our adr's were hit and miss. Chef Mickey's was average as always, Boma was excellent as ususal, LeCellier was incredible. The filet mignon with the mushroom risotto was outstanding!! Cape May was average or below but we did not have a good waitress and my dd burned her fingers on a pair of tongs that had been left on a heating element and the management was very "oh well" about the whole thing. Teppan Edo was very good! We had a female chef who was awesome...she totally made the whole experience alot of fun! 1900 Park Fare was very average but our waiter was excellent!! Biergarten was very good as expected.

I am sure that I will think of more in my trip report. I am glad that everyone else had enjoyable trips and wish a safe trip to those who are having their trip now or soon.

We got back 2 weeks ago and I am barely catching up on this thread much less all my others. I need to find time to give yall a small synopsis - but in response to your mini report - Do they not allow teenagers in Brazil in the summer? I swear every teenager from Brazil was a Disney with me. I second your appraisal of 1900 Park Fair. - Food was mediocre. One of the best meals we had was at Akershus. The food was excellent quality, service was remarkable. I was surprised by this because all the reviews I've read from this place were not great. We even met the chef - who was the sweetest guy.

 

[meanmom121]

Hello!
We got back sunday evening. Just about everything was wonderful.
We ate at Citricos, 1900 Park Fare, Rose and Crown, Chef Mickeys, Coral Reef and last was Akershus princess dining.
Citricos was wonderful. Waitress a tad snooty but food was great.

1900 Park Fare was by far our favorite. Food was incredible, waitress was friendly and we sat at table 1 so we got the 1st pics with the charachters. Any dinner where my kid can run around the room after Anastasia and scream at the top of her lungs scored with her.

Rose and Crown was aces.

Chef Mickeys was a disappontment. It wasn't that the food was bad. It just isn't as stellar as the other places we went. If it was scheduled first, we wouldn't have noticed it as much. The worst part though was my daughter was a bit apprehensive about the charachters. She likes them, but is not interested in them touching her. So she is eating quietly and as long as we say something, she waves and talks and they keep a bit of a distance and all is well. Until Donald Duck sticks his beak between her and I and the big freak out begins. She then needs to hold both of my hands, which in hindsight is ok since I now don't eat the food. My daughter is 4 but looks 6 or 7 years old, so we got a few odd looks like what's that kids problem. Well, she is only 4. Four?!?! <looking astonished as though there were never another tall kid in history> wow, she's tall. Yes, she's tall. Thanks for letting me know, cause I was not sure til you mentioned it.

Coral Reef, can we get a table close to the aquarium? We are willing to wait a bit if that helps. We waited 20 min past our reservation time to sit at the back with no good views. Ordered an appetizer beyond the dining plan. No one brought it. I had to ask if it was customary to bring the appetizer after dinner. They brought it and ended up giving it to us for free since no one even noticed that we ordered it from the waiter to the chef. Food however, was excellant.

Akershus brought us Aurora and Ariel, who we had not seen as well as Cinderella and Snow White. Seems there is little hope in seeing Mulan or Pocahontas.

We stayed Club Level at Contemporary which was great. Food was plentiful and we had a good variety. Room was not ready on time because the previous occupants checked out and then apparently changed their minds after the mousekeeper cleaned the room. We had to wait for her to reclean it.

We're not movie people outside of the Disney classics we own. So MGM wasn't our cup of tea.

Epcot is always my favorite. We rode Spaceship Earth a few times. Love Maelstrom and liked the boat ride through Mexico. We on the Mars simulation. It did not look so closed in but won't do that again. It's like being car sick x's 10.

Animal Kingdom - we did the Wilderness Safari for club level guests. Well worth the money. I wish I could ride Kali River Rapids without getting off for a week. The place is amazing.

Magic Kingdom - we did every ride we wanted to, some 2 or 3 times. Lines were not terrible. Went back in the evening and found an average of 5 min waits. Met Princesses and Fairies. Saw all the parades and shows. Did the BBB for my daughter. CM's were calling her Jasmine on the way out while she was concerned that they really thought she was Jasmine. It took her a bit to get that she could pretend with them.


I preordered the CD for Photopass. I was hoping that the Photopass would be a good deal. Boy was it ever great. I did not have to carry a camera to everyplace on earth. I actually got to be in some photos. We got nearly 200 photos on the CD which I have already ordered. So Photopass is way up there on my list of happy Disney things.

Last place we went was Typhoon Lagoon for some sliding fun and a shark swim. I wish some slides were longer but otherwise, it was great.

We spent time relaxing our sore feet at the hotel pool. We watched people feed the birds so they would attack everyone else after them. So glad people can read the signs that say DON'T FEED THE BIRDS. One bird snatched a chip out of my kid's hand. I dearly hope that one day a bird that they felt the need to feed scares the poop out of them.

Otherwise, we had an excellant time. I think my daughter says it best, "Mom, I don't wanna go home. I wanna live here."

I was disappointed with photopass. We had a hard time finding photographers. About half the time when we did they told us their computers weren't working at that time. So i did not get to take advantage of them as much as I would have liked too. But I am glad the service is available because I can assure you those are pretty much the only photos I'm in; plus it allows us to have the entire family in the pic.

 

[meanmom121]

I am still adding borders, etc. to my photopass, and thought I was ready, and then I read that anything you change you have to manually set it to 4x6 or the borders will be cut off! AAHHH!!! So that's what I will be working on this weekend I guess!

Dad's surgery was postponed, he has a lot of problems with his blood not clotting, and this has caused some serious times after surgeries in the past. His pre-op bloodwork showed these levels to be really low, the surgeon postponed it, referred him to a hematologist to try to get those levels up before surgery... Waiting for the hemotologist to call back... Hate the waiting and not knowing, again! But, I am glad they are being proactive instead of being in the scary reactive state post surgery!

Thanks for keeping us updated on your Dad. I've had yall on my mind. I'm sorry he has had his surgery postponed and keeping him in my prayers. Thought I saw you at breakfast at one point but it wasn't you. Where were yall at POP? We were in the 50's room 2310

 

[meanmom121]

We experienced the same thing with the kids and sizes. I had my daughter who just turned 7. She is extra petite for her age. Most people assume she's 4 or 5. She can even wear a 3-4T as long as its shorts or a skirt or top. We also had my niece who just turned 10. My niece is as tall as my DD7 is petite. CM's, would go up to my DD7 and make such a fuss over her (she's very cute) calling her little princess etc. This all made DN10 feel rejected because instead of being seen as a 10 year old, CM's thought she was at least 14. So they don't make a little girl fuss over her because they think it would come off as condescending. But she IS only 10. The manager at the Garden View Lounge at GF asked her about her pets and she mentioned a 13 year old dog. He asked her if the dog was older or younger. He genuinely thought she might be older than 13!! Her face really looks 10, but she's 5' 2"! It was rough for her, but thank goodness overall, she had a fantastic first visit to Disney.

It sounds like we were in different WDW's. We found the crowds very heavy, line waits very long, and had to skip many favorite rides because we couldn't fit them in because of waits. We spent the entire EMH at DHS waiting for Toy Story. It was awesome, but we couldn't do it again because waits ranged from 80-90 minutes. We couldn't get fast passes for Test Track and the wait was over an hour. A few times when it seemed possible, it was shut down for lightning. MIL and DN10 loved Soarin' so much that we spent our entire EPCOT EMH waiting for that one. On all our past trips, EMH ride waits were fairly short and most were walk-on. Not this time!!

Our original plan was to go to the parks in the morning, at rope drop if possible, and then return at lunch time for a pool break and then return to the parks after dinner. yeah... right!! There was 7 of us (in a 2BR villa), so by the time we were ready for the parks and we waited for the bus, having to load my MIL with a scooter each time, we arrived not at rope drop, but close to lunch time, so we ended up eating in the parks a bit more often than planned. By the time we returned for our pool break, it often started to storm before we even got into the pool. THEN we ended up back in the parks for EMH or later hours at MK, so we didn't get to bed in time, to get up early enough to get to the parks early enough. So, we did have to constantly re-adjust our expectations. We did fewer rides and few ride repeats. We didn't even make it to Adventureland at all!! I didn't get my Dole Whip! We did get to repeat Kali over and over at the end of EMH at AK. That was so much fun.

The tour groups were definately something I can live without. When we were trying to have a dinner with my cousin at Planet Hollywood they had the whole upstairs and they were chanting and stopping their feet!! ugh!! It was so loud we left without ordering more drinks or dessert.

Oooh .. this got long. Sorry

I feel bad for you sounds like things didn't quite go as planned.

Well we used ridemaxx and wewaited in line only once. We pretty much walked on every ride. following our ridemaxx plan and we were able to ride/see everything in the parks. On the downside - We went commando style from rope drop to park close and I'm pretty sure I won't get my husband back there for awhile because I ran them so hard for 4 days in a row.

 

[meanmom121]

Yay! I've finally caught up with yall.

 

[dolfinjuls]

Hi everyone! We're back!

We got back home around midnight last night and here I am back at work today!

We had a great time! We really enjoyed our stay at Saratoga Springs and are happy with our DVC purchase! Can't wait to stay at AKV next trip which we haven't decided a date for yet.

Our highlight meals on the dining plan were LeCellier and Akershus! Loved both of them! I also really liked Tony's Town Square and Coral Reef. They were all new for us. We enjoyed the play & dine at Hollywood and vine for breakfast again, and really were happy with Chef Mickey's dinner (we did breakfast last year).

I'm so sorry I couldn't meet everyone at Hollywood Studios that one day...I can't even remember what happened now? I'm glad you all got to meet though!

And it was so nice meeting Tom and his family in their matching yellow shirts! hehe We didn't get a picture. I honestly didn't even think about it, we were pretty exhausted at that point!

We encountered a lot of tour groups as well. And they were HUGE! We did notice a bunch of singing and clapping from time to time, but I really just didn't let it bother me. We sat behind a bunch of girls in a tour group to watch Spectro one night and they were all very nice girls.

11 days was a bit too long for us w/ our little ones I think. We did take it easy this trip and didn't rush to get to rope drop or early breakfasts like we did last year and that made a big difference we thought.

 

[CosmicGirl]

You guys have GOT to watch this. It totally relaxed me, made me cry. I can't wait to leave! This is what I needed this am. A mom posted this of her family with questions about videos, why CM's won't dance, etc...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLOJ9HMkgAE

Still catching up here... what a fantastic video! I hope I can remember to copy this idea the day I have a family and take them to Orlando .

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Well we used ridemaxx and wewaited in line only once. We pretty much walked on every ride. following our ridemaxx plan and we were able to ride/see everything in the parks. On the downside - We went commando style from rope drop to park close and I'm pretty sure I won't get my husband back there for awhile because I ran them so hard for 4 days in a row.

I debated and debated about RideMax up until the night before we left, but in the end I just didn't have enough time to do it. I think for our next "regular" trip (not the 1.5 day quick trip we're probably doing in October) I will try RideMax. We were totally happy with the UOG Touring Plans again, but it couldn't hurt to try something different! I'm glad they worked for you.

Hi everyone! We're back!

We got back home around midnight last night and here I am back at work today!

I'm so sorry I couldn't meet everyone at Hollywood Studios that one day...I can't even remember what happened now? I'm glad you all got to meet though!

And it was so nice meeting Tom and his family in their matching yellow shirts! hehe We didn't get a picture. I honestly didn't even think about it, we were pretty exhausted at that point!

Welcome home! Sorry you weren't able to make it to Hollywood Studios...it would have been fun to meet you! At least you got to meet Tom and his family!

 

[RMmom]

We are going next July and I have learned a lot about WDW in July from reading this thread. We just went this past May on our first trip and I was on here constantly before that trip. This time around I decided to join in. Thanks for all of the tips about July. They will truly help me plan for next summer....only 1 year to go!!!

 

[hpkalika]

I was disappointed with photopass. We had a hard time finding photographers. About half the time when we did they told us their computers weren't working at that time. So i did not get to take advantage of them as much as I would have liked too. But I am glad the service is available because I can assure you those are pretty much the only photos I'm in; plus it allows us to have the entire family in the pic.

We got nearly 200 photos. We found it harder to find the photogs in the water parks and for some reason we don't have to many in Animal Kingdom. My husband was a tad less patient there though. We did the family raft ride in Typhoon Lagoon and that camera was having problems, but no one else had a problem otherwise.

 

[disneybarbie]

Hello!

Started my TR!!

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=32966560#post32966560

If you want to read.. promise lots of photos & info!

Barbie xxxxxx

 

[tinkerbell60]

We got back last night It was a great trip. I did get to meet Christy and her parents at DHS, but DD and I were able to get a last minute ADR at Teppan Edo so we could not stay for the "official" Dis meet at DHS that day. We were lucky enough to meet Nikki and Tom at the Poly - DD spotted Nikki's bag as they were walking on the beach. Also met KimDis in the Poly club lounge - but she was not on the this thread.

We felt that the crowds were not too bad, especially our first week there. The Brazilian tour groups were out in force. Some were much more pleasant than we remembered and others were just as rude as we remembered.

We were lucky enough to get last minute ADRs at Teppan Edo, Biergarten, and 50s Prime Time. ( between 2-4pm). Even at our other ADRs (La Cellier, the Wave, Crystal Palace breakfast and Chef's de France) there always seemed to be open tables and not huge crowds waiting to be seated as we have seen in the past. Loved the Wave and would recommend it - we did dinner there and DH and I agreed it is our new favorite.

We spent the first week at CBR - in the Pirate rooms - which we loved. They have a lot of storage. But, we were in building 39 - farthest away from everything. I think it would have been rough if we did not have the car. Also, DD saw a snake just outside the room one evening after a rain storm - that was pretty freaky.

The second week we were at the Poly - my new favorite resort. We were lucky enough to get a great rate for Club level - and I am officially spoiled.
I doubt we will do it again but it was great. DH gained 10lbs though and blames it on the food in the lounge so that will be his justification for not staying club level in the future.

I so wish we were still there. Reality is no fun!!!

 

[Mouseteacher]

Just giving an update as we are in the World right now. Weather is manageable. The mornings (we do EMH am) are good but by 1:00 it is hot. Strong rain and thunderstorms have rolled in every day about 5:00 and last quite a while. One day, the boats at the S/D had to stop running for a good while due to torrential rains. We missed out ADR at Bistro de Paris that night...couldn't get to Epcot.

We haven't seen any Brazilian groups so far. We have had pretty much walk ons on all the attractions we planned for the mornings until noon. Then we head back to our resort.

 

[flipflopmom]

So glad you are having a great time! Maybe the tour groups are done for a while! Sorry about the rain... Have fun!

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

Today's our last full day. We'll be at MK for opening, then dinner at California Grill.

 

[tinkerbell60]

Just giving an update as we are in the World right now. Weather is manageable. The mornings (we do EMH am) are good but by 1:00 it is hot. Strong rain and thunderstorms have rolled in every day about 5:00 and last quite a while. One day, the boats at the S/D had to stop running for a good while due to torrential rains. We missed out ADR at Bistro de Paris that night...couldn't get to Epcot.

We haven't seen any Brazilian groups so far. We have had pretty much walk ons on all the attractions we planned for the mornings until noon. Then we head back to our resort.

You are lucky you can take advantage of the early mornings. Sorry to hear about your Bistro ADR, I have always wanted to try that one. We had one day of bad rains last Sunday when we were there, they started around 1:30pm and lasted till early evening but there were some breaks in it.

I wonder if the tour groups are gone by the beginning of August......when we were there last year for July 4th they were not too bad so maybe it is just those couple of weeks in the middle.....

Today's our last full day. We'll be at MK for opening, then dinner at California Grill.

I feel your pain. Enjoy your last day!!!

 

[tinkerbell60]

Hey FlipFlop Mom - I just finished reading your dining reviews - great job! I am glad to hear that someone else likes Mama Melrose too! We felt the same way about the Dining plan - too much food especially for picky eaters. We did it once on Free Dining. I think we may have been at Fantasmic the same night - Thursday July 16th. It was unbelievably packed. We happened to be down by TOT at 7pm and the crowds were lining up so we did too. We ended up with good seats, but had a long wait in the heat. I was amazed that when we left the line to get in for the late show was all the way down the street. I guess that is the way it will be since they are only showing Fantasmic a few nights each week.

 

[flipflopmom]

Tinkerbell, yep, we were there. So you got in line around 7? So did we. We had to be near each other! Unfortunately, if you were, you would remember. My DH was saying that if he had a flag, we would we could go up to the front! There was a family behind us that the dad was getting upset with all the tour group kids busting through!