showers2flowers
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2012
- Messages
- 239
We returned Saturday from a week-long stay. Some random thoughts and observations (keeping in mind that, with the exception of a slight marathon bump, this was a very slow week at WDW):
Resort: We stayed at AKL for the second time, and I still love it as much as I did the first time. Having said that, I find myself wanting to branch out next time, maybe to a monorail resort. Only problem is, my kid is hooked on AKL, so it’ll be hard sell to stay elsewhere!
Buses: Our longest wait for a bus was no more than ten minutes the entire week, and that was for a Disney Springs bus on a Friday evening from AKL. I was surprised to see that common courtesy was sometimes in short supply though, as I twice noticed parents holding small children (who could not yet walk) standing on the bus and not being offered a seat by anyone (I was already standing, otherwise I’d certainly have offered mine).
Weather: not gonna lie, it was a little bit on the chilly side, but for me that was perfect park weather. After a November visit to UO with temps topping 90, it was nice not to feel like I needed a shower after only half an hour in the parks! There was some bad weather Friday morning, in the form of wind and rain, that kept the parks pretty empty until afternoon. We forged ahead and did a rainy safari at AK during which we saw the most animal activity we have ever seen on the safari.
Crowds: not really an issue. We did HS on Marathon Sunday. Normally we avoid morning EMH, but we did take part on this day. No significant crowds until well after lunch time. Monday and Wednesday we did EP, and both days were pretty much dead. I have never personally seen such low crowds in EP, especially mid-afternoon to early evening in WS. Tuesday and Thursday were MK days, both were quite manageable, although Thursday was a bit more crowded. Friday there were storms in the morning, but we headed to AK anyway and had a fine time, with low crowds and very active animals.
Magic Bands/FP+: I was pretty apprehensive about the magic bands, as this was our first visit with them, but I really don’t have one negative thing to say about them. For us, they worked seamlessly. FP+ as well—several times during the week, we modified our selections in the app while inside the park, at times while standing outside the ride we wanted to switch to, and never had any problem whatsoever.
Jedi Training: The new Jedi training is so awesome! I thought the old one was good, but this new version is great. As far as capacity, when we went to check in for the 11:40 session, there were still slots available for the late afternoon and early evening sessions.
Symphony in the Stars/Launch Bay: Launch Bay was very cool. Darth Vader is very much in character and freaked us all out! But the winner was the Symphony in the Stars fireworks, which were hands down the absolute best fireworks I have ever seen anywhere, inside WDW or out in the real world! We also attended the dessert party and found the viewing location to be excellent and the selections quite varied and interesting. Expensive yes, but if you are looking for a splurge, well worth it.
Dine with Animal Specialist: You MUST do this. This experience does not get nearly enough love. For $49 ($35 for kids, I believe), you get a fantastic lunch at Sanaa that includes the full bread service, three salads, two entrees (we were served Goan fish curry and butter chicken, plus basmati rice) and dessert (a trio of bite sized mini desserts-a lemon lychee tart, strawberry kulfi, and Tanzanian chocolate mousse) plus nonalcoholic beverage of choice. PLUS, you get to spend 1.5 hours plus (our specialist, Dan, ran over time and we ended up spending well over two hours) hearing about the animals at both AKL and AK, as well as the opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Food: We did a mix of repeats and new experiences. Jiko, Boma (breakfast and dinner), Crystal Palace (breakfast), Tusker House (breakfast), and Akershus (dinner) were our repeats. All were reliably great experiences, with the winners food-wise being Jiko and Boma’s breakfast (that bread pudding!). As for the new, we did Sci-Fi for breakfast, Garden Grill breakfast, BOG breakfast, and Morimoto Asia. Sci-Fi will not be a repeat for us; the food was very average, though the atmosphere and the service were great. Garden Grill is a new favorite, and I would highly recommend their breakfast. BOG has a great atmosphere, although the food was our least favorite of any meal during our trip. However, by preordering we were out of there by 8:40 and in the 7DMT line by 8:45. That allowed us to get rid of our fast passes for that ride and select something that would save us some more time later on in the day. Morimoto Asia was also quite good. Be aware that most (though not all) of the entree portions are designed to serve more than one person. My personal favorite was the mochi mochi dessert.
Any comments or questions, fire away!
Resort: We stayed at AKL for the second time, and I still love it as much as I did the first time. Having said that, I find myself wanting to branch out next time, maybe to a monorail resort. Only problem is, my kid is hooked on AKL, so it’ll be hard sell to stay elsewhere!
Buses: Our longest wait for a bus was no more than ten minutes the entire week, and that was for a Disney Springs bus on a Friday evening from AKL. I was surprised to see that common courtesy was sometimes in short supply though, as I twice noticed parents holding small children (who could not yet walk) standing on the bus and not being offered a seat by anyone (I was already standing, otherwise I’d certainly have offered mine).
Weather: not gonna lie, it was a little bit on the chilly side, but for me that was perfect park weather. After a November visit to UO with temps topping 90, it was nice not to feel like I needed a shower after only half an hour in the parks! There was some bad weather Friday morning, in the form of wind and rain, that kept the parks pretty empty until afternoon. We forged ahead and did a rainy safari at AK during which we saw the most animal activity we have ever seen on the safari.
Crowds: not really an issue. We did HS on Marathon Sunday. Normally we avoid morning EMH, but we did take part on this day. No significant crowds until well after lunch time. Monday and Wednesday we did EP, and both days were pretty much dead. I have never personally seen such low crowds in EP, especially mid-afternoon to early evening in WS. Tuesday and Thursday were MK days, both were quite manageable, although Thursday was a bit more crowded. Friday there were storms in the morning, but we headed to AK anyway and had a fine time, with low crowds and very active animals.
Magic Bands/FP+: I was pretty apprehensive about the magic bands, as this was our first visit with them, but I really don’t have one negative thing to say about them. For us, they worked seamlessly. FP+ as well—several times during the week, we modified our selections in the app while inside the park, at times while standing outside the ride we wanted to switch to, and never had any problem whatsoever.
Jedi Training: The new Jedi training is so awesome! I thought the old one was good, but this new version is great. As far as capacity, when we went to check in for the 11:40 session, there were still slots available for the late afternoon and early evening sessions.
Symphony in the Stars/Launch Bay: Launch Bay was very cool. Darth Vader is very much in character and freaked us all out! But the winner was the Symphony in the Stars fireworks, which were hands down the absolute best fireworks I have ever seen anywhere, inside WDW or out in the real world! We also attended the dessert party and found the viewing location to be excellent and the selections quite varied and interesting. Expensive yes, but if you are looking for a splurge, well worth it.
Dine with Animal Specialist: You MUST do this. This experience does not get nearly enough love. For $49 ($35 for kids, I believe), you get a fantastic lunch at Sanaa that includes the full bread service, three salads, two entrees (we were served Goan fish curry and butter chicken, plus basmati rice) and dessert (a trio of bite sized mini desserts-a lemon lychee tart, strawberry kulfi, and Tanzanian chocolate mousse) plus nonalcoholic beverage of choice. PLUS, you get to spend 1.5 hours plus (our specialist, Dan, ran over time and we ended up spending well over two hours) hearing about the animals at both AKL and AK, as well as the opportunity to ask lots of questions.
Food: We did a mix of repeats and new experiences. Jiko, Boma (breakfast and dinner), Crystal Palace (breakfast), Tusker House (breakfast), and Akershus (dinner) were our repeats. All were reliably great experiences, with the winners food-wise being Jiko and Boma’s breakfast (that bread pudding!). As for the new, we did Sci-Fi for breakfast, Garden Grill breakfast, BOG breakfast, and Morimoto Asia. Sci-Fi will not be a repeat for us; the food was very average, though the atmosphere and the service were great. Garden Grill is a new favorite, and I would highly recommend their breakfast. BOG has a great atmosphere, although the food was our least favorite of any meal during our trip. However, by preordering we were out of there by 8:40 and in the 7DMT line by 8:45. That allowed us to get rid of our fast passes for that ride and select something that would save us some more time later on in the day. Morimoto Asia was also quite good. Be aware that most (though not all) of the entree portions are designed to serve more than one person. My personal favorite was the mochi mochi dessert.
Any comments or questions, fire away!
), to teenagers, to young adults, to seniors. The lunch is capped at 12 people though, so it was easy for everyone to get in questions and to hear everything.
