one question and a few opinions from my trip this week.

coaches24

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jan 6, 2011
Messages
1,468
I just got home earlier today from my chaperone trip. Overall it was a great time. Got to ride ROTR when I didn’t think I would have that opportunity. Rode GOTG for the first time since it was TOT. Had the best spot for fireworks I have ever had.

But here is a question that came up from my trip and a couple of opinions on some things.

First is for POC. When did they get rid of the fog and projections? I always loved that part and it was no where to be seen. I’m sure I missed posts about it on here so I was just curious when/ why that was taken out?

Now for opinions on some things.

I tried max pass two of the three days and did not find it anywhere near worth 20 dollars a day. Now a big part of that is likely the impacted schedule I had being that I didn’t get to make my own schedule and that DD wanted to coordinate with friends. I found it useless as I would have to sit on my phone waiting for times to come up that I could actually use the pass. Saturday I had to go wait in line at city hall just to get it because the app was having big time problems taking payments so I lost a lot of park time trying to get the pass. The photo pass part is nice but otherwise I was better off not spending the money. I will likely try it again whenever my next trip is to see if I like it better when I don’t have to worry about meeting up with a group for other activities. But this time it was not helpful much at all.

Single rider is still by far the best way to do rides that have it IMO. Even with a group of 8 we had a blast with single rider rides.

BGs, I am not a fan of the BG system and hope it doesn’t last long. For me it added a level of stress to the day we went for it that I would prefer to do without. It also (and this is my bigger gripe with it) makes the morning time in the parks far less fun. I have been used to being one of the first in the parks when we go and getting many rides done right after rope drop before lines get long. Friday we got the BG, rode SM and then all the rides I would normally go to had long waits. I have never gotten so little done in the morning when I made it before rope drop. It makes DL park far more crowded at rope drop.

The evening after fireworks was a great time for rides however. Having always gone with a young child before (DD is 11 now) we rarely stayed late in the parks and would leave right after the night shows if we stayed that late. But for our last night we (DD and I) were able to stay after fireworks and walked onto several rides including smugglers run, POC, BTMRR, and a very short wait for IJ. Very few rides other than SM and PP had long waits. Smugglers had no line at all and we even had an empty seat because not enough people were there to fill it. So we had a great time after fireworks (and over all).
 
BGs have me concerned too. I've been planning our upcoming trip for a year, and I kept hearing to "get there early...it's a locals park...they all sleep in." If that was ever true, it's not now!
 
SR is a great option for those who can use it, but for families who have kids too young for SR or who don't want to risk being split up, FP/MP is still a better option (or just doing standby).
 
They took out the fog projections when they renovated the auction scene. Now it's back to the original audio.
 

BGs have me concerned too. I've been planning our upcoming trip for a year, and I kept hearing to "get there early...it's a locals park...they all sleep in." If that was ever true, it's not now!

it used to be... we would get there before opening and get so much done. ROTR has really ruined that!
 
They took out the fog projections when they renovated the auction scene. Now it's back to the original audio.
And way better plus a new show scene where the projection used to be. The revised auction scene..... yeah bring me back the original.
 
I tried max pass two of the three days and did not find it anywhere near worth 20 dollars a day.
It will be different when you are in control of your entire day. I've only used MP once and we only did one ride with it. It's not something that works well for us, but we normally arrive in the afternoon and most FPs are gone by then.
Single rider is still by far the best way to do rides that have it IMO.
Still my favorite as well. Easy to get on the ride and then move on to something else without watching the clock.
 
I agree about the MP being far less valuable if you have a schedule you need to work around. The beauty of it for us has been it sort of drives you rather than you drive it, which is fine since I do not like to plan that much when I am there outside of a few meals and shows. I deal with spreadsheets all the time at work, last thing I want is to build one for my vacation!

and yes, sadly POC has been adjusted to be less offensive, because pirates aren't supposed to be bad?

I agree on the staying after fireworks bit - as long as we do not have an early day ahead of us we certainly try to shut down the place.
 
SR is a great option for those who can use it, but for families who have kids too young for SR or who don't want to risk being split up, FP/MP is still a better option (or just doing standby).
Yep I totally get it. Not everyone can take advantage of it but if you can then it is a great feature. We have only started using it the last couple of trips because DD wasn't old enough the first few trips we made and then didn't like doing rides alone the first couple trips she was old enough for it. But she has become more comfortable with it now and enjoys being able to get on rides fast even if we aren't both together.
 
I don't know where you're from, but if you just went this past week, that's February break week for most of the northeast. I know lots of families just from my small city who went out there this past week!! I'm sure it made things 10x crowded with BG & RD!!

We're doing MP regardless of if it's a good value or not- my 11 & 9 year old don't want to ride alone even though they can.

I think the BG are the best option for now. It won't last forever. Most people don't want to wait in line, especially with kids, for 5-8 hours. And MP isn't even at Smugglers yet.

These are common gripes I guess but I'm hoping thing calm down when I'm there by Saturday!!
 
I hope you will try MP again when you go and have control over your own schedule. It works best if you can get there before RD and get through the gates (now everyone is through the gates trying to get ready for ROTR BGs!), and start booking FPs before either park even opens. You can stack them up quickly in the morning time for later in the day. You can also book from your room or offsite if you need to take a midday break, which makes evenings really nice to have a bunch of FPs stacked up. Make sure to refresh often and check for canceled FPs because the return times are often earlier than the stated return time. I rarely take the first time I am offered for a FP unless it is an immediate return time. Keep refreshing and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what pops up!

Trying to coordinate times with others who either don’t have MP or have it but their tickets aren’t linked to your MP booking, is very difficult. It is not like WDW where you are offered a choice of FP times; here you just get what is offered, and if you don’t like it, refresh and roll the dice again and see what you get. I agree that would be very frustrating!!
 
While I think the BG system is probably the best way to go for now with ROTR, I am concerned about what it has done to the crowding and ride lines after RD. This was one of the many things I loved about DL park compared to so many of WDW’s parks...the ability to get so much done at RD since so many would show up later in the morning.
 

New Posts


Disney Vacation Planning. Free. Done for You.
Our Authorized Disney Vacation Planners are here to provide personalized, expert advice, answer every question, and uncover the best discounts. Let Dreams Unlimited Travel take care of all the details, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy a stress-free vacation.
Start Your Disney Vacation
Disney EarMarked Producer






DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Add as a preferred source on Google

Back
Top Bottom