dizfan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 6, 1999
- Messages
- 2,245
We had a family (14) gathering at WDW from 12/26/06-1/3/07. I've been to WDW 14 times, but was very concerned about the crowds during the holidays. I wanted everyone in the family to have a good time. After reading several people post about TGMike, I decided to give it a try.
TGMike's recommendations made it one of the best WDW vacations we've ever had. We waited 40 minutes for Splash Mountain (didn't use TGM's suggestions). After that, our longest waits were 15 minutes for Pirates, Soaring, and RnR Coaster. We even walked right onto Everest. All during the Xmas-NY period. After NY's day, one day we didn't use TGM's suggestion. We met worse crowds at AK than we had scene at Epcot on NYE. We quickly got out of that park. CMs told us AK set record attendance while we were there.
We had a great time seeing the shows, riding rides, and yes even relaxing.
Our trip had a number of bumps and bruises, but we refused to let it ruin our vacation.
We had our credit card information stolen on the first/second day of the trip. When we went to breakfast on the third morning, our card was rejected. This was a major shock. Between Chase and Disney Security, they have a good idea where the information was stolen from and are handling the matters.
After a day of shock, we moved on with our vacation.
Epcot on NYE was a lot of fun. We had FP for Soaring and waited all of 15 minutes. Much better than then 180 minute walk-in line.
AK is definitely becoming a major park. We went there a couple different days. We heard they had 46,300 people the day before. One day we were there, the Safari line ran all the way back to Discovery Island and had wait times of 3 hours. Needless to say, we left and came back another day. Every day we attended AK, we heard the Everest FP were sold out before noon.
MK was busy everyday we went. We heard MK closed around 11:30am on NYE. Some family members didn't like Pirates, but we enjoyed it. Several family members decided to skip Mickey's Philharmagic. After my niece and nephew (adults) went with us, they quickly told those still there to make sure and see this attraction. Everyone in our family that saw it agree that people should see this show. Several children we talked with said this was their favorite attraction at MK.
MGM was the smallest crowds during our stay. Not sure if it was the days we went or if this park doesn't draw as many people as the others.
The weather covered a wide range. From mid-40's with damp air, to 80's and extremely warm. We're from Wisconsin and never thought we would say this, but we were colder when we arrived at WDW in late December than in Wisconsin in early January (50's and dry). In all my 40+ years, I've never seen crazy weather like this.
We stayed at the ASMo resort and weren't overly thrilled with our experience. A couple families needed adjoining rooms (young children), but could not be accomodated. All had requested non-smoking rooms, only to ahve some put in smoking rooms. After complaining repeatedly, they moved them to non-smoking rooms. Several rooms needed new paint jobs and plumbing repairs. The pool rehab was extremely noisy. Family members staying at the Ducks building complained about people at the Duck Pond pool swimming, screaming, and yelling at 2:30am. In year's past, we've stayed at all three AS resorts and enjoyed them. This time, it was very poorly managed.
The food court at ASMo also seems to have gone through some changes from our last visit a few years ago. The choices and quality of the food seems to have taken a more generic fast food approach. If you decide to get food from multiple locations, make sure to plan carefully. I forget the name of the four food stops there. Pizzas/pastas from the area to the left (as you ener) is generally the fastest (unless ordering a large pizza). The area second from the left had decent choices for dinner (not great for lunch). If you order something that is made fresh (cheese ravioli, chicken asiago, etc) it will take a few minutes while it's made fresh. Third from left is Roxy's (burgers, cheesesteaks, etc). It was the most popular during our stay. They make all the orders fresh, so it tends to take the longest (get this last). The last location is the ice cream/bakery area. Often times, there is little wait here. The checkout lines were often long. When we left WDW, it seemed like there were more people at ASMo (food court and bus lines) than there were between Xmas and NY. After NY's day, we couldn't even find a table to sit at.
All in all, it was a great trip. Without TGMike, I think we would have had a difficult time during the holidays.
For anyone going to WDW, make sure to have fun and relax. WDW is over 40 square miles, so realize you are not going to see everything. Keep the children involved in deciding what to do.
Sorry for the long report.
Dan & Debbie
TGMike's recommendations made it one of the best WDW vacations we've ever had. We waited 40 minutes for Splash Mountain (didn't use TGM's suggestions). After that, our longest waits were 15 minutes for Pirates, Soaring, and RnR Coaster. We even walked right onto Everest. All during the Xmas-NY period. After NY's day, one day we didn't use TGM's suggestion. We met worse crowds at AK than we had scene at Epcot on NYE. We quickly got out of that park. CMs told us AK set record attendance while we were there.
We had a great time seeing the shows, riding rides, and yes even relaxing.
Our trip had a number of bumps and bruises, but we refused to let it ruin our vacation.
We had our credit card information stolen on the first/second day of the trip. When we went to breakfast on the third morning, our card was rejected. This was a major shock. Between Chase and Disney Security, they have a good idea where the information was stolen from and are handling the matters.
After a day of shock, we moved on with our vacation.
Epcot on NYE was a lot of fun. We had FP for Soaring and waited all of 15 minutes. Much better than then 180 minute walk-in line.
AK is definitely becoming a major park. We went there a couple different days. We heard they had 46,300 people the day before. One day we were there, the Safari line ran all the way back to Discovery Island and had wait times of 3 hours. Needless to say, we left and came back another day. Every day we attended AK, we heard the Everest FP were sold out before noon.
MK was busy everyday we went. We heard MK closed around 11:30am on NYE. Some family members didn't like Pirates, but we enjoyed it. Several family members decided to skip Mickey's Philharmagic. After my niece and nephew (adults) went with us, they quickly told those still there to make sure and see this attraction. Everyone in our family that saw it agree that people should see this show. Several children we talked with said this was their favorite attraction at MK.
MGM was the smallest crowds during our stay. Not sure if it was the days we went or if this park doesn't draw as many people as the others.
The weather covered a wide range. From mid-40's with damp air, to 80's and extremely warm. We're from Wisconsin and never thought we would say this, but we were colder when we arrived at WDW in late December than in Wisconsin in early January (50's and dry). In all my 40+ years, I've never seen crazy weather like this.
We stayed at the ASMo resort and weren't overly thrilled with our experience. A couple families needed adjoining rooms (young children), but could not be accomodated. All had requested non-smoking rooms, only to ahve some put in smoking rooms. After complaining repeatedly, they moved them to non-smoking rooms. Several rooms needed new paint jobs and plumbing repairs. The pool rehab was extremely noisy. Family members staying at the Ducks building complained about people at the Duck Pond pool swimming, screaming, and yelling at 2:30am. In year's past, we've stayed at all three AS resorts and enjoyed them. This time, it was very poorly managed.
The food court at ASMo also seems to have gone through some changes from our last visit a few years ago. The choices and quality of the food seems to have taken a more generic fast food approach. If you decide to get food from multiple locations, make sure to plan carefully. I forget the name of the four food stops there. Pizzas/pastas from the area to the left (as you ener) is generally the fastest (unless ordering a large pizza). The area second from the left had decent choices for dinner (not great for lunch). If you order something that is made fresh (cheese ravioli, chicken asiago, etc) it will take a few minutes while it's made fresh. Third from left is Roxy's (burgers, cheesesteaks, etc). It was the most popular during our stay. They make all the orders fresh, so it tends to take the longest (get this last). The last location is the ice cream/bakery area. Often times, there is little wait here. The checkout lines were often long. When we left WDW, it seemed like there were more people at ASMo (food court and bus lines) than there were between Xmas and NY. After NY's day, we couldn't even find a table to sit at.
All in all, it was a great trip. Without TGMike, I think we would have had a difficult time during the holidays.
For anyone going to WDW, make sure to have fun and relax. WDW is over 40 square miles, so realize you are not going to see everything. Keep the children involved in deciding what to do.
Sorry for the long report.
Dan & Debbie
Thank you Dan and Debbie for your report. My family went to WDW in early dec. of 05. Attendance was low and we had a great trip. We were thinking about going in 07 from 19th-26th but were concerned about attendance levels, wait times, etc. We have DD, 9 and DS, 7 and so having to wait a long time for everything would really take the fun out of it for them! Your report is making me think that with TGM's help we can go and still have a great time! 
One question about TGM. Once I subscribe, can I play around with different dates and options to view different touring plans, or will the site only allow me to use one set of dates? I've read that your subscription is good for 60 days following your trip, which makes me think you must already have to know when you are going to use the sight? We are trying to decide between October (probably Columbus Day, but I haven't seen the kids' school calendar yet so I'm not completely sure when they will have a day or two off - it varies from year to year) and going again at Christmas time (my personal preference, but right now I'm being outvoted because of large crowd expectations at Christmas - DH does not want to hear complaints from DD and DS!!) Thanks again for your great trip report!
