Some Observations from My Trip This Past Week

[BrianL]

I was in the parks from October 19th to the 23rd. Here are some thoughts and key learnings:

• Pandora - My first time there. Flight of Passage is as amazing as advertised! Wow! Conversely, the Navii River Journey is just okay. It could use more animatronic figures. It was pretty, and the Shaman is amazing looking, but I wouldn't wait in a 90 minute line for it. I'd say about 30 would be my ceiling for that. Also, I was a little disappointed in the size of the land and it wasn't really super impressive all lit up at night, something I was excited to see. Still, FoP makes up for any shortcomings and then some. I also really liked eating at Sautui Canteen.

• Rivers of Light - Also my first time. I know the show is divisive, but I will fall on the side of really liking it. A friend of mine, who I had expected not to like it at all was really impressed. I think it was actually quite moving to him and has inspired some deep thoughts.

• Happily Ever After - Now, this was my favorite show! It was my first time at this too, and it is impressive. I had a great spot in the former FP area and it was amazing. I love the soundtrack and the projections were spectacular.

• Star Wars Desert Party - I have never done a desert party, but my friends wanted to try it, so we did. Everything was delicious and they really made you feel like a VIP, what with our fancy lanyards and Storm Trooper escort. I think it was a mistake to replace a real dinner with it as there was too much sugar. Thanks goodness for the cheese and hummus so I could at least have a little protein! Flash frozen Nutella balls were amazing!

• Garden Grill - I finally decided to try this for lunch because it has always smelled so good. It was a big hit and it was nice to have a meal that consisted of "real" food. It was a good hearty meal, and it was a hard sell because of all the Food & Wine things we all wanted to try, but everyone was very happy with it.

• Ride Closures - I did notice a lot of down time for major rides, though getting the anytime Fast Passes for them was a plus. 7DMT was down for a while at MK. Expedition Everest went down for hours and through the end of the park day. We were bestowed an FP for the next day though. It felt like you could almost play a game of picking an FP for a ride that goes down a lot in hopes of getting an Anytime-Anywhere FP instead. I am not saying that is a viable strategy as I'm sure it was just a bit of coincidence, but just a funny thing to imagine

• Frozen Ever After - It was one of my friends first time riding it. He liked it a lot more than he probably should. He was like a "theater kid" or something, so he appreciates the pageantry. Honestly, Like it a lot too, but don't spread that around since I know I'm supposed to hate it.

• Transportation - I had planned an itinerary with a lot of hops with the intention of using the Express service, but we all know how that went. So, without it, we decided we would carry on with the plans, and honestly it worked out pretty well. The park-to-park buses were more crowded than I can ever remember them being, but overall, they were very efficient. I can remember long waits for these buses, but maybe we just got lucky.

Anyway, that's about it. A good time was had by all, and we had lots of fun and funny moments. I am glad to be back though, however I'm always thinking about next time. Always.

 

[smallworldnh]

We also saw Rivers of light during our stay last month and loved it. We almost passed because of some negative reviews but the bottom line is that everyone is different and likes different things. I'm glad we saw it and I would see it again. And yes, Flights of Passage is the best attraction ever!! (IMO, of course) Great review!

 

[mousehouse23]

I really enjoyed reading this. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'm glad it was such a successful trip! Now I'm even more excited to ride FoP for the first time this March!

 

[DisneyFive]

Great review. FOP and HEA are the two things that we're REALLY looking forward to next trip. Glad you liked them. Soarin is my all time favorite WDW ride, so if FOP improves on that I'm sure I'll love it.

Dan

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Yes, thanks BrianL for the great report!

 

[Bete]

Would you share your location for Happily Ever After in greater detail, please?

Former fastpass area is not bringing it home to me. Thanks.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

I was in the parks from October 19th to the 23rd. Here are some thoughts and key learnings:

• Pandora - My first time there. Flight of Passage is as amazing as advertised! Wow! Conversely, the Navii River Journey is just okay. It could use more animatronic figures. It was pretty, and the Shaman is amazing looking, but I wouldn't wait in a 90 minute line for it. I'd say about 30 would be my ceiling for that. Also, I was a little disappointed in the size of the land and it wasn't really super impressive all lit up at night, something I was excited to see. Still, FoP makes up for any shortcomings and then some. I also really liked eating at Sautui Canteen.

• Rivers of Light - Also my first time. I know the show is divisive, but I will fall on the side of really liking it. A friend of mine, who I had expected not to like it at all was really impressed. I think it was actually quite moving to him and has inspired some deep thoughts.

• Happily Ever After - Now, this was my favorite show! It was my first time at this too, and it is impressive. I had a great spot in the former FP area and it was amazing. I love the soundtrack and the projections were spectacular.

• Star Wars Desert Party - I have never done a desert party, but my friends wanted to try it, so we did. Everything was delicious and they really made you feel like a VIP, what with our fancy lanyards and Storm Trooper escort. I think it was a mistake to replace a real dinner with it as there was too much sugar. Thanks goodness for the cheese and hummus so I could at least have a little protein! Flash frozen Nutella balls were amazing!

• Garden Grill - I finally decided to try this for lunch because it has always smelled so good. It was a big hit and it was nice to have a meal that consisted of "real" food. It was a good hearty meal, and it was a hard sell because of all the Food & Wine things we all wanted to try, but everyone was very happy with it.

• Ride Closures - I did notice a lot of down time for major rides, though getting the anytime Fast Passes for them was a plus. 7DMT was down for a while at MK. Expedition Everest went down for hours and through the end of the park day. We were bestowed an FP for the next day though. It felt like you could almost play a game of picking an FP for a ride that goes down a lot in hopes of getting an Anytime-Anywhere FP instead. I am not saying that is a viable strategy as I'm sure it was just a bit of coincidence, but just a funny thing to imagine

• Frozen Ever After - It was one of my friends first time riding it. He liked it a lot more than he probably should. He was like a "theater kid" or something, so he appreciates the pageantry. Honestly, Like it a lot too, but don't spread that around since I know I'm supposed to hate it.

• Transportation - I had planned an itinerary with a lot of hops with the intention of using the Express service, but we all know how that went. So, without it, we decided we would carry on with the plans, and honestly it worked out pretty well. The park-to-park buses were more crowded than I can ever remember them being, but overall, they were very efficient. I can remember long waits for these buses, but maybe we just got lucky.

Anyway, that's about it. A good time was had by all, and we had lots of fun and funny moments. I am glad to be back though, however I'm always thinking about next time. Always.

I have to agree with you on your commentary on Pandora. I think the land itself isn't very large but it is jammed with detail. We waited 20 min for NRJ and would never wait over 30 min either. Pretty but it needs a pirates or frozen drop to jazz it up a bit. I loved Frozen too, last trip was my first time. Sorry about all your FP+ issues, we always have that happen on at least one ride but not multiples, that's not fun. I have seen a few videos of the last few weeks and the crowds all looked out of control at every park. I was there in Feb and again in August, multiple trips.....and the crowds were much lighter. But it still sounds like you had a great trip.

 

[SpaceMtnGirl]

We tried Garden Grill for the first time earlier this month. LOVED it. The food was sooooo good. Character interaction was spot on. Service was top notch. Can't believe I've missed this gem in all our previous trips.

 

[acwsmom]

We were there the week before you and I agree with everything you said. Pandora was beautiful but small (I was really surprised by that), but it was so crowded and badly lit in the evening that we really didn't enjoy that time of day. I'm sure it'll be better once the crowds die down some.

We loved the river ride, but it was so short and definitely not worth waiting in line for over an hour! Never tried FOP (couldn't get FP+), but I'm sure we'll do that on our trip in the Spring. We loved Rivers of Light (DD said it was her new favorite show) but I wished it had some sort of story line...or at least told me who those four people were who were walking around and then on the boat. I was a little confused by that one. But it was beautiful regardless.

The Happily Ever After show made me tear up. It was gorgeous! My only complaint was that it was hard to figure out what to look - there was so much going on. But I'm sure that frustration will go away once we've watched it a few times.

My only real complaint were the crowds and the ride closures! Crowds were worse than we expected and much worse than our previous Oct trip. MK was definitely at a 10 when we saw Happily Ever After because it was one of the only nights during the week where it was going to be shown because of MNSSHP. It was bad enough that my DS actually began to hyperventilate because he felt so claustrophobic while we waited. It was pretty bad. I'm hoping when we see it during our Spring trip it'll be better since there won't be all of those parties every night.

And the ride closures were almost comical. We only got lucky with one bonus FP when FEA broke down during our FP+ time, but we kept seeing rides down on the apps when we were looking to see which ride we wanted to do next. There was even once where MDE told us BTMR was down for a while even though we were standing right next to it and it was clearly open. But the rest of the time, the app seemed to be right. We saw POC down several times, the PeopleMover was down numerous times, along with several others. It definitely felt worse than normal.

 

[BrianL]

Would you share your location for Happily Ever After in greater detail, please?

Former fastpass area is not bringing it home to me. Thanks.

When they redesigned the Hub area they added two areas with a short fence around them and some astro-turf sitting spaces. The one on the right (Tomorrowland side) is for the Desert party. The one on the left is now open to everybody. It is in front of Casey's Corner. The thing is a lot of people still think it is some kind of special area, so there was lots of free space inside.

 

[ols386]

Thank you for posting this. Very informative.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Sounds like you had a great trip.

I enjoyed reading your impressions and I agree with you on Frozen Ever After. I love it! I will miss Maelstrom forever, but Frozen is a fantastic ride.

 

[Disnsyncey]

I was there this weekend too! I was lucky to have a 7DMT FP for JUST after it came back up yesterday, as it was down most of the morning that I saw. We had a time where TT was down as well, but that worked out well for us too, we came back and rode it later in the evening....come to think of it, ToT was down after we rode it on Sunday morning during EMH, so we got an anytime FP for it, and it really was handy for us!

I LOVED HEA, I was at the dessert party on the other side of Main Street from you, outside was SO PACKED.....

We had some long waits for buses (one AK EMH morning we had a bus by 6:45, but then the 2nd day we didn't get one til 7:10) and from park to park, AK to MK was a bit long on Saturday afternoon, but overall it was fine.....better than paying for a rental car!

We didn't have any days where we had Epcot FP+, so we just had to check on 4th and 5th FP+ after we used our morning ones....we were able to get TT, Soarin, AND FEA as those from checking on the bus rides over....

 

[xlsm]

Our trips overlapped by a couple of days - I was there 10/14 - 21. Totally agree on Pandora - it took my breath away. No pictures I've seen do it any kind of justice, it's definitely something you have to see for yourself. My ride chicken mom declared Flight of Passage her favorite thing of the trip...the only thing she wanted to do again of course, lol. Sorry, mom, that's a hard no unless you want to wait for two hours in line (which was the wait time the day we were there, 10/18. River Journey was actually longer at many points during the day, and we skipped it)

Agree on HEA, too. I love that show so much! It makes me emotional.

Sounds like you had a great trip!!

 

[BrianL]

I was there this weekend too! I was lucky to have a 7DMT FP for JUST after it came back up yesterday, as it was down most of the morning that I saw. We had a time where TT was down as well, but that worked out well for us too, we came back and rode it later in the evening....come to think of it, ToT was down after we rode it on Sunday morning during EMH, so we got an anytime FP for it, and it really was handy for us!

I LOVED HEA, I was at the dessert party on the other side of Main Street from you, outside was SO PACKED.....

We had some long waits for buses (one AK EMH morning we had a bus by 6:45, but then the 2nd day we didn't get one til 7:10) and from park to park, AK to MK was a bit long on Saturday afternoon, but overall it was fine.....better than paying for a rental car!

We didn't have any days where we had Epcot FP+, so we just had to check on 4th and 5th FP+ after we used our morning ones....we were able to get TT, Soarin, AND FEA as those from checking on the bus rides over....

I was at HS for that EMH and rode ToT before it went down. We skipped out to AK after the first Indiana Jones show but one of my friends stayed since he met some family from the area, and it was pretty terrible over at RnRC as all those FPs flooded in.

I did stake my spot in the turf area about 90 minutes early, but the funny thing is that it never filled in. There was a lot of room in there and I never felt crowded. Both of my friends skipped out on it, but I chatted with a dude I was sitting near. We all really loved the show!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Thanks for the update!

 

[ScrapYap]

I was in the parks from October 19th to the 23rd. Here are some thoughts and key learnings:

• Pandora - My first time there. Flight of Passage is as amazing as advertised! Wow! Conversely, the Navii River Journey is just okay. It could use more animatronic figures. It was pretty, and the Shaman is amazing looking, but I wouldn't wait in a 90 minute line for it. I'd say about 30 would be my ceiling for that. Also, I was a little disappointed in the size of the land and it wasn't really super impressive all lit up at night, something I was excited to see. Still, FoP makes up for any shortcomings and then some. I also really liked eating at Sautui Canteen.

• Rivers of Light - Also my first time. I know the show is divisive, but I will fall on the side of really liking it. A friend of mine, who I had expected not to like it at all was really impressed. I think it was actually quite moving to him and has inspired some deep thoughts.

• Happily Ever After - Now, this was my favorite show! It was my first time at this too, and it is impressive. I had a great spot in the former FP area and it was amazing. I love the soundtrack and the projections were spectacular.

• Star Wars Desert Party - I have never done a desert party, but my friends wanted to try it, so we did. Everything was delicious and they really made you feel like a VIP, what with our fancy lanyards and Storm Trooper escort. I think it was a mistake to replace a real dinner with it as there was too much sugar. Thanks goodness for the cheese and hummus so I could at least have a little protein! Flash frozen Nutella balls were amazing!

• Garden Grill - I finally decided to try this for lunch because it has always smelled so good. It was a big hit and it was nice to have a meal that consisted of "real" food. It was a good hearty meal, and it was a hard sell because of all the Food & Wine things we all wanted to try, but everyone was very happy with it.

• Ride Closures - I did notice a lot of down time for major rides, though getting the anytime Fast Passes for them was a plus. 7DMT was down for a while at MK. Expedition Everest went down for hours and through the end of the park day. We were bestowed an FP for the next day though. It felt like you could almost play a game of picking an FP for a ride that goes down a lot in hopes of getting an Anytime-Anywhere FP instead. I am not saying that is a viable strategy as I'm sure it was just a bit of coincidence, but just a funny thing to imagine

• Frozen Ever After - It was one of my friends first time riding it. He liked it a lot more than he probably should. He was like a "theater kid" or something, so he appreciates the pageantry. Honestly, Like it a lot too, but don't spread that around since I know I'm supposed to hate it.

• Transportation - I had planned an itinerary with a lot of hops with the intention of using the Express service, but we all know how that went. So, without it, we decided we would carry on with the plans, and honestly it worked out pretty well. The park-to-park buses were more crowded than I can ever remember them being, but overall, they were very efficient. I can remember long waits for these buses, but maybe we just got lucky.

Anyway, that's about it. A good time was had by all, and we had lots of fun and funny moments. I am glad to be back though, however I'm always thinking about next time. Always.

Agree with you on Na'vi and that FOP is a five out of five.

 

[maxiesmom]

My family was at the parks Oct 18-24, and we were lucky that we didn't run into any ride closures, except for the scheduled ones. We did find Epcot and the Magic Kingdom to be crazy busy both Friday and Saturday. Sunday and Monday were like a different world, very light crowds and low wait times.

I disagree with you about the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. Saw them once, don't care if I see them again. For me, they lack the magic of Wishes. Personal taste, I know. But it makes me sad there is no longer a Wow moment to close the Magic Kingdom. Only an OK one.

Btw, did you notice how wait times on many rides were over-inflated? Almost double what the waits truly were? Ran into that multiple times, especially in the Magic Kingdom.

 

[mamamelody2]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[BriLovesDisney]

Thank you for sharing this! I hope you had a great time!

I'm hoping I can get up the nerve to try FOP by the time our trip comes!