Driving to parks
Stayed offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, which I HIGHLY recommend!!!! We had no issues getting to and from the parks with our car. The only exception to this is Magic Kingdom. You can only get to the transportation and ticket center and then have to take a boat or monorail from there to MK. Even then, it wasn't too bad. It added about 20 mins to our arrival, so plan that when you have to drive there. All the other parks were within 5 mins of our resort and very easy to get in and out of.
Parks
Rides were up and down and mostly the good rides were the ones with "technical difficulties." Looong lines.... make use of fast pass or you'll only go on about 3 rides all day standing in line. Be OK that you might not ride Mine Train. We didn't. The lines were super long, more than 2 hrs, and a fast pass just never existed, even with good planning. Someone told me if you've riden Thunder Mtn Railroad, it's pretty much the same ride. Who knows we never got to ride it to know if that's true or not.
If you are concerned about privacy, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE YOUR FINGERPRINT TAKEN. They will not tell you this because they want any and all info you want to give. I refuse to do this. If you are like me and do not want them to have your fingerprint, then tell them so. A cast member will come over and take pics of your party and then when you go through the lines again, you just tell them that you do not do the fingerprint. They will move your party off to the side and a cast member will check you in. We heard from other patrons they didn't know they could refuse the fingerprint and had they known they would have. Do it if you have no issues with this, but don't be suckered into it if you don't like it. It only added about another minute or two to our entrance to the park.
FastPass
Disney has made it so that preferential treatment is given to those staying on site. They will have first dibs for everything - fast passes and dining. Without careful planning, you'll have a horrible trip. Disney is no longer a good option for those doing a "day trip" as there will be few fast passes available and without planning, you'll be out of luck.
Use the fast pass system in advance. You can get 3 fast passes per day per park in advance. Once you use those 3 you can get more. But you'll have to use the first 3 first. I suggest your first 3 you plan for the morning so you have the fast passes for later in the day after you've used the first 3. Fast passes are changed all the time. I was standing in line trying to get Tower of Terror and none were available. I hit the back button and suddenly it was there. Someone must have changed or cancelled so it was available for me to take. Point is, don't think if you look once and it's not there that it won't be there if you go back to the kiosk in an hour. It might be. Also if you are using the disney my experience app, you can only use the app to schedule and modify the first three fast passes. After that, you have to go to the kiosk. Stupid.
Also, if you have a fast pass for something and the line isn't long, take the standby and change your fast pass to something else. We did that a few times and I was able to use the iPhone app to change it.
The my disney experience is not intuitive. When scheduling, just take whatever they give you then go in individually and pick alternate experiences and times. It's weird the way the whole thing works, but don't just accept the times/attractions they give you, go in and change them to what you want. I actually had 3 fast passes back to back over the course of 3 consecutive hours after I modified my attractions and the times. It was great!
Mini Golf
We went to the Disney Winterland/Summerland mini golf. It was a great time!!! It really was interactive and we had a blast. It was probably the best mini golf course I've been to and was a nice break from the parks in the evening. There is another one Fantasia Gardens that is also a Disney course. We didn't go to that one but I'm sure it's great, too. If you like mini golf, check it out!
Dining
The sit down restaurants were fine. My favorite was the Cinderella Dinner at Park Fare. The evil stepmother and step sisters were awesome. The food was really good, too. I recommend it! The quick service was not so good. Pretty much every quick service meal was mediocre and overpriced. I also thought when I was there 6 years ago, the food was much better for QS meals. Not anymore. I don't recommend any QS meals. I'd rather bring in a sandwich. If you must eat there and don't want hamburgers that have been sitting in a steam tray for hours, book a sit down. It's worth it. We really enjoyed Crystal Palace lunch. Reservations are similar to fast pass. Take advantage of advance planning. Check often. I waited weeks for the right time for Sci Fi Dine In theater.. I just checked every single day and finally a perfect time appeared. People are constantly changing their plans. If you are diligent, you'll most likely get what you want. I planned about 30 days out and we, eventually, got all of our dining ressies we wanted.
Memory Maker
I do not recommend this. Photographers are hard to come by and I don't want to take the same pic over and over in front of Spaceship Earth. We had 289 pics after our return but many of them were "stock" photos of the park and characters. If there had been more photogs around like I used to see in the past, I'd recommend it, but it just wasn't what I had hoped it would be. I think they know that people are using it, Disney is limiting your use of it by not having as many photo opportunities. That's really a shame.
All in all we had a great experience. It took some getting used to the fast pass system and if you are not a techie or willing to learn the system, your trip will not be good. I hate to say that, but it's pretty much mandatory that you have to PLAN your Disney trip in advance or don't bother going. There are just so many people they have to try to control the crowds with all of these reservation services. Take advantage of them. Learn about them. Don't be afraid. Call the disney number if you need help.
If anyone has questions or feedback, I'll be glad to answer. We went to all 4 parks over the course of 6 days. Hope some of this is helpful to someone.
Stayed offsite at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, which I HIGHLY recommend!!!! We had no issues getting to and from the parks with our car. The only exception to this is Magic Kingdom. You can only get to the transportation and ticket center and then have to take a boat or monorail from there to MK. Even then, it wasn't too bad. It added about 20 mins to our arrival, so plan that when you have to drive there. All the other parks were within 5 mins of our resort and very easy to get in and out of.
Parks
Rides were up and down and mostly the good rides were the ones with "technical difficulties." Looong lines.... make use of fast pass or you'll only go on about 3 rides all day standing in line. Be OK that you might not ride Mine Train. We didn't. The lines were super long, more than 2 hrs, and a fast pass just never existed, even with good planning. Someone told me if you've riden Thunder Mtn Railroad, it's pretty much the same ride. Who knows we never got to ride it to know if that's true or not.
If you are concerned about privacy, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE YOUR FINGERPRINT TAKEN. They will not tell you this because they want any and all info you want to give. I refuse to do this. If you are like me and do not want them to have your fingerprint, then tell them so. A cast member will come over and take pics of your party and then when you go through the lines again, you just tell them that you do not do the fingerprint. They will move your party off to the side and a cast member will check you in. We heard from other patrons they didn't know they could refuse the fingerprint and had they known they would have. Do it if you have no issues with this, but don't be suckered into it if you don't like it. It only added about another minute or two to our entrance to the park.
FastPass
Disney has made it so that preferential treatment is given to those staying on site. They will have first dibs for everything - fast passes and dining. Without careful planning, you'll have a horrible trip. Disney is no longer a good option for those doing a "day trip" as there will be few fast passes available and without planning, you'll be out of luck.
Use the fast pass system in advance. You can get 3 fast passes per day per park in advance. Once you use those 3 you can get more. But you'll have to use the first 3 first. I suggest your first 3 you plan for the morning so you have the fast passes for later in the day after you've used the first 3. Fast passes are changed all the time. I was standing in line trying to get Tower of Terror and none were available. I hit the back button and suddenly it was there. Someone must have changed or cancelled so it was available for me to take. Point is, don't think if you look once and it's not there that it won't be there if you go back to the kiosk in an hour. It might be. Also if you are using the disney my experience app, you can only use the app to schedule and modify the first three fast passes. After that, you have to go to the kiosk. Stupid.
Also, if you have a fast pass for something and the line isn't long, take the standby and change your fast pass to something else. We did that a few times and I was able to use the iPhone app to change it.
The my disney experience is not intuitive. When scheduling, just take whatever they give you then go in individually and pick alternate experiences and times. It's weird the way the whole thing works, but don't just accept the times/attractions they give you, go in and change them to what you want. I actually had 3 fast passes back to back over the course of 3 consecutive hours after I modified my attractions and the times. It was great!
Mini Golf
We went to the Disney Winterland/Summerland mini golf. It was a great time!!! It really was interactive and we had a blast. It was probably the best mini golf course I've been to and was a nice break from the parks in the evening. There is another one Fantasia Gardens that is also a Disney course. We didn't go to that one but I'm sure it's great, too. If you like mini golf, check it out!
Dining
The sit down restaurants were fine. My favorite was the Cinderella Dinner at Park Fare. The evil stepmother and step sisters were awesome. The food was really good, too. I recommend it! The quick service was not so good. Pretty much every quick service meal was mediocre and overpriced. I also thought when I was there 6 years ago, the food was much better for QS meals. Not anymore. I don't recommend any QS meals. I'd rather bring in a sandwich. If you must eat there and don't want hamburgers that have been sitting in a steam tray for hours, book a sit down. It's worth it. We really enjoyed Crystal Palace lunch. Reservations are similar to fast pass. Take advantage of advance planning. Check often. I waited weeks for the right time for Sci Fi Dine In theater.. I just checked every single day and finally a perfect time appeared. People are constantly changing their plans. If you are diligent, you'll most likely get what you want. I planned about 30 days out and we, eventually, got all of our dining ressies we wanted.
Memory Maker
I do not recommend this. Photographers are hard to come by and I don't want to take the same pic over and over in front of Spaceship Earth. We had 289 pics after our return but many of them were "stock" photos of the park and characters. If there had been more photogs around like I used to see in the past, I'd recommend it, but it just wasn't what I had hoped it would be. I think they know that people are using it, Disney is limiting your use of it by not having as many photo opportunities. That's really a shame.
All in all we had a great experience. It took some getting used to the fast pass system and if you are not a techie or willing to learn the system, your trip will not be good. I hate to say that, but it's pretty much mandatory that you have to PLAN your Disney trip in advance or don't bother going. There are just so many people they have to try to control the crowds with all of these reservation services. Take advantage of them. Learn about them. Don't be afraid. Call the disney number if you need help.
If anyone has questions or feedback, I'll be glad to answer. We went to all 4 parks over the course of 6 days. Hope some of this is helpful to someone.
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