Park observations - July 19-24

[leighe]

Well, first of all - it was soooooooo HOT and HUMID. However, being from Kentucky we're used to that so we coped pretty well. Our heat index here at home today is 105 so par for the course for us.

The parks were crowded but managable if you got there at opening and used fastpass well. We had seen every major thing we wanted to see in MK on Thursday, July 21 by the time we ate dinner at 5:15pm. Epcot seemed to be the most consistantly crowded.

There were lots of tour groups from all over and we didn't see any rude behavior from the kids at all. Some of the chaperones, however, were awful. My dad was in line at the Electric Umbrella at Epcot and there was a man ordering right in front of him. A lady came up to my dad and said that man was her husband - could she cut in front of him? Of course he said okay. Well, the man wasn't her husband and she proceeded to order for about 40 people! It was more than $300 worth of food. We were shocked! Dad told the man at the register and he just shrugged and says, "It happens all the time."

We did see lots of pushing with strollers and saw one lady get completely knocked off of the curb. The woman pushing the stroller turned around and gave her a dirty look as the other lady was lying on the ground! A CM immediately came up and helped her but the lady who had pushed her had disappeared into the crowd. There was also a lady who threw a fit at an entire curb of people because her eight and ten year old couldn't get seats right on the curb about 5 minutes before Specto began. She kept yelling at the people who had been sitting there for at least an hour (including us) and then she would turn to her daughters and say "Well, you would think that you should be in the front since you are EIGHT AND TEN." Oh - also a man threw a cussing fit in Philharmagic because he couldn't stop in the middle of the row. A CM escorted him out - and he was cursing at the top of his lungs the entire way out! His poor family was so embarrassed.

Over all though, people were really nice and polite. I guess three jerks out of thousands of people really isn't that big a deal.

All in all it was a great trip! We loved Soaring and the stunt show at MGM. I thought Cinderellabration was adorable too, although I think DH thought once was enough! We tried evening EMH at MK on the 22nd and it was CRAZY. Since we'd done everything we wanted to do anyway we just got some ice cream on Main Street and headed back to the resort.

Any questions?

 

[Hillbeans]

We were down from the 15th through the 23rd, so our time down there overlapped....I was expecting heat, but the heat down in WDW was unbelievable - just walking from the car to the tram in WDW and AK was almost unbearable. I don't plan on ever going there in July again - although being pregnant also added to the discomfort.

I commented to DH that I didn't see ONE parent yelling at their kids, which was wonderful! Of course, the next day I heard one parent telling their kid off, but one out of a hundred thousand isn't so bad.

We also got an early start on our park days, and thought the larger parks handled the crowds well - MK was a scene during the 10 pm fireworks on the 21st though, that was the largest crowd i've ever seen there.

Hope you enjoyed your trip as much as we did ours.

 

[afcgirl]

I was also there from July 17 to July 22.

I agree that although it was very hot, the crowds were manageable if you use fast passes and get there early. The crowds seemed somewhat lighter than last July.

As a stroller pusher, I have to mention that it is not always the person pushing the stroller that causes the accident. Sometimes people walk into the stroller. A few times I was valiantly trying to avoid hitting people and then someone would cut in front of me without looking and get hit. They would then give me a dirty look, even though it was their fault.

Also, in response to the above post, what is wrong with verbally disciplining your child if he or she is not behaving? Is it better to let them run wild or to spank them? I don't know if you have kids or not, but sometimes yelling is necessary for the kids to even hear you in that environment, let alone to respond to you.

All in all, we had a great time, got in all of the rides and attractions we wanted to, and had very little rain. It was truly magical.

 

[thekimber]

Also, in response to the above post, what is wrong with verbally disciplining your child if he or she is not behaving? Is it better to let them run wild or to spank them? I don't know if you have kids or not, but sometimes yelling is necessary for the kids to even hear you in that environment, let alone to respond to you.

I'm betting the previous poster was referring to parents that yell at their kids for being well, kids. You know, expecting them to be happy and chipper after 8 hours in the heat and crowds at MK. "What do you mean you would rather go back to the hotel and swim?? We paid good money for these tickets, and we're going to get our money worth!! #@{#"

Love those people -- NOT.

 

[Hillbeans]

Also, in response to the above post, what is wrong with verbally disciplining your child if he or she is not behaving? Is it better to let them run wild or to spank them? I don't know if you have kids or not, but sometimes yelling is necessary for the kids to even hear you in that environment, let alone to respond to you.

.

I see nothing wrong with dicipline in the parks, in fact I have a 4 yo and we tried to be as respectful to him as we expect him to be to us. He told us one night he didn't want to go out anymore, and we stayed in the house instead of going to Epcot our last evening for 3 hours - some parents would drag their tired, hot kids there and yell at them if they were grumpy because "they paid good money for those tickets, etc".

However, I find that telling a child off using the "F" word is not appropriate under any circumstance and that's the one and only time we heard a parent yelling at their child on this trip.

I also need to agree on the stroller issue....we had a teenager fall into our stroller and hurt DS on our last trip...us stroller pushers sometimes get a bad name, but sometimes people are walking 8 people wide and aren't paying attention to those around them. I try to be as considerate as possible with my stroller, but sometimes people make it difficult by stopping, changing direction and not looking where they're going.

 

[Taylorbell]

We were there July 15 - 23 and I agree it was HOT and HUMID! I really wished it would have rained more. We only got a sprinking on the 17 and the 21. Other than that, it was just plain old hot - and we're pretty used to heat here in Texas - just not all that humidity!

As far as the tour groups go, we ran into them everywhere and they were not well behaved. The ones that we were around were ill-mannered and rude. Here's one example: We had a PS at 8:05 at CP on Friday, 22nd. After checking in, we were told to have someone near the porch to listen for our name. The rest of our party (there were ten of us) went and sat out on the benches in the front or walked on the bridge to AdventureLand. Well, this tour group came up (about 50 kids) and they all stood on the steps in front of the door to Crystal Palace. So, me and the rest of those that were waiting were shoved out. One of the hostesses from CP asked the group to please not block the stairs and they didn't budge. Not only that, but several of the kids were "making out" in line right in front of us. I realize that kids are kids, but 15-16 year-old kids making out at 8:00 in the morning right in front of you is not what I want to see or should expect to see at DisneyWorld. It was just gross. When our name was finally called, we all went around the ramp way to get inside. I've got about a hundred other "tour group encounters". None were good.

I did hear lots of people yelling at their kids. One lady telling her 10ish looking daughter..."I don't see how you have any friends" in a voice that was absolutely horrid. Also heard one lady telling her kids to get the h*** out of the way. I agree kids are hot and tired and sometimes kids need to be disciplined, but you can do it in a way where everyone around you doesn't have to hear it. I'm wouldn't be surpised if everybody in the parks didn't hear me yelling "Rylee, over here" all the time because my 8 year old likes to wonder off and we are constantly calling her back to us or trying to get her to catch up. She's always off in "Rylee-World".

I also witnessed a lot of rude people - especially in line for character greetings and the parade. It was amazing how people just cut in line or would try to crowd in for the parades or for spots for Illuminations (once again, all I can say is tour groups!) My brother had a stoller for his 2year old and had no trouble manuevering with it, however he has lots of patience!!

Alright, I think I'm going to try to write a trip report and get this all in.

Amy

 

[dukester]

I agree with everyone. IT WAS HOT. Best money spent.....On a fan and sprayer at MGM....Use FASTPASS where we were able too but really any line that said 30 minutes wait was pretty quick. The most problem our family saw was the kids from Brazil. They acted as if they owned the place and every where else. On I think Wednesday night leaving the MK four groups went to the buses and began singing and dancing and being loud. This is around midnight....People were hot and tired and did not want to here that. One person asked an adult supervisor of the group to tone it down and that did not help. Two ladies asked a cast member at the bus stop if they could do something and they said they could not. Disney did bring in another bus to put all of them on so they would not disrupt the other guests.