HydroGuy
A Pirate's Life For Me
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2005
- Messages
- 18,415
DW and I visited WDW March 3-13 and in all had 6 full parks days before and after a conference I attended (2 days at MK and Epcot, and 1 day each at AK and DHS). We stayed at AKL for 4 nights and the Swan for 5 nights. Some of my thoughts:
o Crowds were quite a bit more than I expected or any of the crowd prediction resources predicted. We navigated fine but I was hoping for a bit shorter lines. I wrote up more details here.
o Weather was really nice. DW has some health issues that really impact her on hot and humid days so I hoped early March would work for her. And it really did. High temps were in the low 70's on some days (we needed to wear sweaters early AM and in the evenings). And the last few days highs were in the low 80's. A couple days were mostly cloudy. No rain until the final afternoon and evening.
o I finally snagged an ADR at California Grill. First time for us. Food was great. We got a nice experience watching the fireworks just as we were finishing dessert.
o Another first time dining experience was the Nine Dragons at the China pavilion in Epcot. We really enjoyed lunch and put that on our "keeper" list for next time.
o Sci-Fi Dine-In is always a hoot. We never miss it.
o Since we were at AKL we had breakfast one morning at Sanaa which was underwhelming. We never got to dine at Boma's as I was not able to get an ADR on short notice and they were not able to take walkups the evening we tried.
o Finally got to ride the new Soarin Over the World ride (twice). Really well done and an awesome follow-on to the previous California version. We were at Disneyland Resort last summer when it opened and had planned to watch the old California version the day it closed (we succeeded) and watch the new Soarin Over the World on opening day which was our last day at DLR (we did not succeed). Alas we had something urgent come up and we had to skip our final day at DLR and missed the new version.
o Got to catch RoL using a FP on March 7. I enjoyed it a bit more than DW. It was not incredible but was a nice finish to an AK day. I wrote a few thoughts here for anyone interested.
o Finally got to ride EE at night. I rushed over after seeing RoL and the queue was just 3 minutes long. Wow! That was kewl! I had two rides earlier in the day but night time sure feels different!
o Booked FEA at the 60 day mark with no problem for our first Epcot day. That was better than I expected but as others have said nothing incredibly special. On our second Epcot day I had all early FP's and was able to get a 4th FP using MDE for FEA. Someone dropped their's because FPs were not available and then all of a sudden they were. It pays to keep checking. I am sure with it being just two in our party that made it easier. After FEA I was able to get a 5th FP for Soarin.
o Also got a couple extra FPs at DHS and at MK (once for JC and the other for POTC).
o Used Uber about four times getting back and forth to parks and shows or when we could not connect direct by bus to AKL or Swan. That worked out great.
o Used DME on arrival to get to AKL. That was pretty slow that night (our flight arrived at 10:15PM and we did not get to our AKL room until almost midnight).
o Always love Voices of Liberty. Got to hear them twice.
o Got to hear the Garden Rocks concert for Dennis DeYoung of Styx fame. His 30 minutes seemed too short but it was nice while it lasted!
o I MISS OFF-KILTER!!!
o Going back to WDW on Memorial Day weekend for the opening of Pandora with one of my kids who has never been to WDW. It is his birthday and he is a huge Avatar fan. DW and I hatched the idea while we were at WDW.
o Crowds were quite a bit more than I expected or any of the crowd prediction resources predicted. We navigated fine but I was hoping for a bit shorter lines. I wrote up more details here.
o Weather was really nice. DW has some health issues that really impact her on hot and humid days so I hoped early March would work for her. And it really did. High temps were in the low 70's on some days (we needed to wear sweaters early AM and in the evenings). And the last few days highs were in the low 80's. A couple days were mostly cloudy. No rain until the final afternoon and evening.
o I finally snagged an ADR at California Grill. First time for us. Food was great. We got a nice experience watching the fireworks just as we were finishing dessert.
o Another first time dining experience was the Nine Dragons at the China pavilion in Epcot. We really enjoyed lunch and put that on our "keeper" list for next time.
o Sci-Fi Dine-In is always a hoot. We never miss it.
o Since we were at AKL we had breakfast one morning at Sanaa which was underwhelming. We never got to dine at Boma's as I was not able to get an ADR on short notice and they were not able to take walkups the evening we tried.
o Finally got to ride the new Soarin Over the World ride (twice). Really well done and an awesome follow-on to the previous California version. We were at Disneyland Resort last summer when it opened and had planned to watch the old California version the day it closed (we succeeded) and watch the new Soarin Over the World on opening day which was our last day at DLR (we did not succeed). Alas we had something urgent come up and we had to skip our final day at DLR and missed the new version.
o Got to catch RoL using a FP on March 7. I enjoyed it a bit more than DW. It was not incredible but was a nice finish to an AK day. I wrote a few thoughts here for anyone interested.
o Finally got to ride EE at night. I rushed over after seeing RoL and the queue was just 3 minutes long. Wow! That was kewl! I had two rides earlier in the day but night time sure feels different!
o Booked FEA at the 60 day mark with no problem for our first Epcot day. That was better than I expected but as others have said nothing incredibly special. On our second Epcot day I had all early FP's and was able to get a 4th FP using MDE for FEA. Someone dropped their's because FPs were not available and then all of a sudden they were. It pays to keep checking. I am sure with it being just two in our party that made it easier. After FEA I was able to get a 5th FP for Soarin.
o Also got a couple extra FPs at DHS and at MK (once for JC and the other for POTC).
o Used Uber about four times getting back and forth to parks and shows or when we could not connect direct by bus to AKL or Swan. That worked out great.
o Used DME on arrival to get to AKL. That was pretty slow that night (our flight arrived at 10:15PM and we did not get to our AKL room until almost midnight).
o Always love Voices of Liberty. Got to hear them twice.
o Got to hear the Garden Rocks concert for Dennis DeYoung of Styx fame. His 30 minutes seemed too short but it was nice while it lasted!
o I MISS OFF-KILTER!!!
o Going back to WDW on Memorial Day weekend for the opening of Pandora with one of my kids who has never been to WDW. It is his birthday and he is a huge Avatar fan. DW and I hatched the idea while we were at WDW.
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