esdras
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2006
- Messages
- 726
Maybe I'm just fooling myself - but I thought a return trip within two years would make this trip even better than '06. Nope. It was still great, and some things were better than the last time, but other things could have been better. So, with that in mind, a quick general impression, followed by a brief day-by-day best and worst review.
IN GENERAL:
We went the week leading into the Labour Day weekend - hoping it wouldn't be much worse than '06 when we arrived the day after Labour Day. Quite simply, crowds seriously vanish on and after Labour Day. In '06 we never used a FastPass - this year, we absolutely had to do so. It allowed us to see what we wanted, but without the sense of "freedom" in touring the parks that we experienced in '06. So, in terms of crowds, the '06 trip was better.
However, what was better this year was having full use of Magical Express. We were in our room less than an hour and a half after the plane landed - and resort check-in for the return was perfect. We flew AirTran in '06 when they weren't on the return check-in system. This year was NWA.
This year, we stayed in a Family Suite at ASMu - and I cannot praise those rooms enough. I think, however, we were in one of the original model suites, which has since be "re-configured". The bedroom didn't have an easy chair that you see in the photos, and the kitchenette was flush against the very back wall rather than up against the bathroom wall. Also, the bathroom across from the separate bedroom was complete (tub, sink toilet) with a sliding door instead of a door to the toilet tub area only. The room number was 9456 - in other words, first floor of Jazz building 9.
One really silly issue with the queen beds in the suites is this - I don't think (and a CM said that our suspicions are true) that ASMu got queen size bottom (fitted) sheets when they converted the rooms. The sheet was always loose - we thought it was a regular rather than fitted sheet. After checking, we noticed it was fitted - but a KING size. They seem to simply use the King sized sheets from the accessible rooms.
Finally, ASMu was re-surfacing the floor area in the main hall between the gift shop and cafeteria. This re-furb was NOT posted anywhere that I found prior to leaving. This meant no direct walkway from the rooms through to registration/giftshop/busses. We had to walk around the building every day - not a major problem, but a bit of an inconvenience.
Day 1 - Aug. 26 - Magic Kingdom
Good - Dinner at Cindy's. Had the first seating and we were the first family to arrive with a "princess" dressed daughter. She was selected as honourary princess of the day. A very nice magical moment.
Bad - Nothing really stood out as a bad point this day.
Day 2 - Aug. 27 - Hollywood Studios
Good - Had to try twice (and stayed for the first show), but our son got picked for the Jedi Tutorial. I told him to be "Jedi-like" and cheer and be happy for the kids who got picked for the first show - and, if he thought it looked like fun, we would try again for the next show. We stood at the same spot, and he was chosen for the second time - a highlight for him.
Bad - Toy Story Mania. It took half an hour to get the FastPass - and with that we still had about a 15 minute wait to ride (when the standby line was 110 minutes). It's fun - but not (IMHO) worth the 45 minutes total it took me to get FP's and then wait.
Day 3 - Aug. 28 - Break Day
Good - Ohana character breakfast. Excellent food - great server - just fun! Also good - our evening outing to the Adventurers Club. Still as funny as ever.
Bad - The Adventurers Club. We were there too early in the week to obtain some "closing" souvenirs they planned to start offering on Aug. 31 - and if you think that there is ANYTHING AC related to buy elsewhere - think again. Disney has obviously been planning this for a while - all trace of the AC is gone. Unless you are lucky to be picked from the audience and get the AC pin (sadly, not the case for us) - your last chance will be to get one of the limited souvenir glasses I previously mentioned. I guess it's eBay for me.
Day 4 - Aug. 29 - Animal Kingdom
Good - Not a Dream Prize - but a magical moment from them. They gave our son a Kilimanjaro Safari shirt and made him the safari helper (plus a Disney Honorary Citizen Pin). A nice surprise. Also good - Yak & Yeti is a very cool restaurant, but not all of us in the group liked the food - that was a personal dislike for too much ginger in a dish - but I like that spice so actually enjoyed it a lot. We all agreed that the decor of the restaurant was outstanding.
Day 5 - Aug. 30 - Epcot
Good - Princess Dinner at Akershus. We will NEVER do a princess breakfast or lunch at Cindy's again (probably do dinner there instead). The layout makes the restaurant far less chaotic, and the princesses were wonderful. The food was good too - and the dessert plate was excellent. Illuminations was great - and using the International Gateway to escape after and take a cab from the Beach Club got us back to our room in an hour - and that included walking from Germany (where we watched) and stopping at the Gateway Gift Shop for 15 minutes. It cost $11 for the cab plus tip to ASMu.
Bad - Nothing really - except I forgot my poncho and got soaked during a downpour after dinner.
Day 6 - Aug. 31 - Half Break Day
Good - Chef Mickey's late breakfast - not so much the food, but our daughter bonked her head just as they were shutting down breakfast for lunch, and the characters were doing a second round to the table. Mickey saw our daughter crying and came over - took her on his lap and hugged her. Needless to say - a Mickey hug can heal almost any hurt. Second good - although somewhat crazy, went to MK that night - but had a great view of Spectro from Liberty Square - right by the Stockades. The park was really busy - but we were just there for the parade and anything else we could fit it without a wait - very casual night.
Bad - I didn't get the chance to go on Haunted Mansion that night - I prefer to ride it at night, but had to wait until the next day.
Day 7 - Sep. 1 - Magic Kingdom Again!
Good - the crowds have virtually vanished! We re-rode all we wanted with little to no wait times - it got a little busy around lunch, but we left by 1pm to avoid the lines. Also good - had dinner at Boma that night. One of - if not THE BEST meal of the trip. AKL is simply beautiful!
Bad - Two things. My son lost his Jack Sparrow pirate hat he got two years ago by leaving it at Pecos Bill's. Even with a return there plus repeated calls to Central Lost and Found - even today - nobody turned it it. I hoped someone would do that rather than keep it for themselves - but sadly that isn't the case this time. The other bad - after dinner at Boma we left at 6:30 pm to return to ASMu - Animal Kingdom closed at 6pm that night. Went to the bus stop to go to AK and transfer to ASMu - the driver wouldn't let us on the bus, saying the park was closed. We asked the driver who took us to AKL initially if we could return to AK as a transfer point even if AK had closed, and he said that would be no problem. The driver wanted us to go from AKL to Epcot and back to ASMu. When we said that the other driver said we could transfer at AK, he said that driver was a dope. Well, another AK bus pulled in behind and let us - and two other families wanted to do similar transfers - on board. Some CM's just don't get Disney.
Day 8 - Departure
Good - Our kids got picked to wake up the Three Cabaleros before we left! Another nice magical moment - they got to keep the sombreros and mini maracas.
Bad - departure day.
So, mostly a great trip, but not quite perfect. Perhaps the worst moment was seeing the CM in the white vest as we were boarding BTMRR with a counter-clicker in her hand. She waved at us and asked how we were doing - I said great, and added that it could be even better if she was still there when we returned to the "station". Sadly, she was gone.
That sums up the whole trip - so close, but not quite perfect.
IN GENERAL:
We went the week leading into the Labour Day weekend - hoping it wouldn't be much worse than '06 when we arrived the day after Labour Day. Quite simply, crowds seriously vanish on and after Labour Day. In '06 we never used a FastPass - this year, we absolutely had to do so. It allowed us to see what we wanted, but without the sense of "freedom" in touring the parks that we experienced in '06. So, in terms of crowds, the '06 trip was better.
However, what was better this year was having full use of Magical Express. We were in our room less than an hour and a half after the plane landed - and resort check-in for the return was perfect. We flew AirTran in '06 when they weren't on the return check-in system. This year was NWA.
This year, we stayed in a Family Suite at ASMu - and I cannot praise those rooms enough. I think, however, we were in one of the original model suites, which has since be "re-configured". The bedroom didn't have an easy chair that you see in the photos, and the kitchenette was flush against the very back wall rather than up against the bathroom wall. Also, the bathroom across from the separate bedroom was complete (tub, sink toilet) with a sliding door instead of a door to the toilet tub area only. The room number was 9456 - in other words, first floor of Jazz building 9.
One really silly issue with the queen beds in the suites is this - I don't think (and a CM said that our suspicions are true) that ASMu got queen size bottom (fitted) sheets when they converted the rooms. The sheet was always loose - we thought it was a regular rather than fitted sheet. After checking, we noticed it was fitted - but a KING size. They seem to simply use the King sized sheets from the accessible rooms.
Finally, ASMu was re-surfacing the floor area in the main hall between the gift shop and cafeteria. This re-furb was NOT posted anywhere that I found prior to leaving. This meant no direct walkway from the rooms through to registration/giftshop/busses. We had to walk around the building every day - not a major problem, but a bit of an inconvenience.
Day 1 - Aug. 26 - Magic Kingdom
Good - Dinner at Cindy's. Had the first seating and we were the first family to arrive with a "princess" dressed daughter. She was selected as honourary princess of the day. A very nice magical moment.
Bad - Nothing really stood out as a bad point this day.
Day 2 - Aug. 27 - Hollywood Studios
Good - Had to try twice (and stayed for the first show), but our son got picked for the Jedi Tutorial. I told him to be "Jedi-like" and cheer and be happy for the kids who got picked for the first show - and, if he thought it looked like fun, we would try again for the next show. We stood at the same spot, and he was chosen for the second time - a highlight for him.
Bad - Toy Story Mania. It took half an hour to get the FastPass - and with that we still had about a 15 minute wait to ride (when the standby line was 110 minutes). It's fun - but not (IMHO) worth the 45 minutes total it took me to get FP's and then wait.
Day 3 - Aug. 28 - Break Day
Good - Ohana character breakfast. Excellent food - great server - just fun! Also good - our evening outing to the Adventurers Club. Still as funny as ever.
Bad - The Adventurers Club. We were there too early in the week to obtain some "closing" souvenirs they planned to start offering on Aug. 31 - and if you think that there is ANYTHING AC related to buy elsewhere - think again. Disney has obviously been planning this for a while - all trace of the AC is gone. Unless you are lucky to be picked from the audience and get the AC pin (sadly, not the case for us) - your last chance will be to get one of the limited souvenir glasses I previously mentioned. I guess it's eBay for me.
Day 4 - Aug. 29 - Animal Kingdom
Good - Not a Dream Prize - but a magical moment from them. They gave our son a Kilimanjaro Safari shirt and made him the safari helper (plus a Disney Honorary Citizen Pin). A nice surprise. Also good - Yak & Yeti is a very cool restaurant, but not all of us in the group liked the food - that was a personal dislike for too much ginger in a dish - but I like that spice so actually enjoyed it a lot. We all agreed that the decor of the restaurant was outstanding.
Day 5 - Aug. 30 - Epcot
Good - Princess Dinner at Akershus. We will NEVER do a princess breakfast or lunch at Cindy's again (probably do dinner there instead). The layout makes the restaurant far less chaotic, and the princesses were wonderful. The food was good too - and the dessert plate was excellent. Illuminations was great - and using the International Gateway to escape after and take a cab from the Beach Club got us back to our room in an hour - and that included walking from Germany (where we watched) and stopping at the Gateway Gift Shop for 15 minutes. It cost $11 for the cab plus tip to ASMu.
Bad - Nothing really - except I forgot my poncho and got soaked during a downpour after dinner.
Day 6 - Aug. 31 - Half Break Day
Good - Chef Mickey's late breakfast - not so much the food, but our daughter bonked her head just as they were shutting down breakfast for lunch, and the characters were doing a second round to the table. Mickey saw our daughter crying and came over - took her on his lap and hugged her. Needless to say - a Mickey hug can heal almost any hurt. Second good - although somewhat crazy, went to MK that night - but had a great view of Spectro from Liberty Square - right by the Stockades. The park was really busy - but we were just there for the parade and anything else we could fit it without a wait - very casual night.
Bad - I didn't get the chance to go on Haunted Mansion that night - I prefer to ride it at night, but had to wait until the next day.
Day 7 - Sep. 1 - Magic Kingdom Again!
Good - the crowds have virtually vanished! We re-rode all we wanted with little to no wait times - it got a little busy around lunch, but we left by 1pm to avoid the lines. Also good - had dinner at Boma that night. One of - if not THE BEST meal of the trip. AKL is simply beautiful!
Bad - Two things. My son lost his Jack Sparrow pirate hat he got two years ago by leaving it at Pecos Bill's. Even with a return there plus repeated calls to Central Lost and Found - even today - nobody turned it it. I hoped someone would do that rather than keep it for themselves - but sadly that isn't the case this time. The other bad - after dinner at Boma we left at 6:30 pm to return to ASMu - Animal Kingdom closed at 6pm that night. Went to the bus stop to go to AK and transfer to ASMu - the driver wouldn't let us on the bus, saying the park was closed. We asked the driver who took us to AKL initially if we could return to AK as a transfer point even if AK had closed, and he said that would be no problem. The driver wanted us to go from AKL to Epcot and back to ASMu. When we said that the other driver said we could transfer at AK, he said that driver was a dope. Well, another AK bus pulled in behind and let us - and two other families wanted to do similar transfers - on board. Some CM's just don't get Disney.
Day 8 - Departure
Good - Our kids got picked to wake up the Three Cabaleros before we left! Another nice magical moment - they got to keep the sombreros and mini maracas.
Bad - departure day.
So, mostly a great trip, but not quite perfect. Perhaps the worst moment was seeing the CM in the white vest as we were boarding BTMRR with a counter-clicker in her hand. She waved at us and asked how we were doing - I said great, and added that it could be even better if she was still there when we returned to the "station". Sadly, she was gone.
That sums up the whole trip - so close, but not quite perfect.
