disnerdiest
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2011
- Messages
- 22
Hi All,
I would like to share some highlights of our recent family trip to WDW this past Thanksgiving week. To preface, we were a large traveling party - 14 of us in total (8 adults, 6 kids). All of us are DVC members and took part in the MyMagic+ program. This is my first official trip report posting so I may ramble and jump around. Apologies in advance for grammar errors and the like. I will post some pics but apparently you need a post count greater than ten to do so (note: kudos to DISBoards, this is a great idea to prevent post spam - not joking). EDIT: adding on some forgotten parts, some photos, more forgotten parts.
To make this easier to digest I'll split it up into sections.
MagicBands and MyDisneyExperience.com
We were selected for the MyMagic+ plus program early on. Strangely, there was no initial email - it just kind of popped up when logging into MyDisneyExperience.com. After receiving the bands some emails were sent from the official Disney email asking us to take part in the test. Strange, but not really a big deal. The kids loved customizing the colors of their bands and choosing a character to go on their profile on the MDE website. When we started planning the number of characters was pretty slim, it looks like there MDE site has since been updated with additional characters to set up as profiles. It should be noted that choosing a character really has nothing to do with anything else except the MDE website. It is kinda cute though.
As for the MDE website itself, when it worked it was great. When it didn't work - all sorts of bad stuff happened. Timeouts, crashes, duplicate accounts (four separate reservation numbers can cause havoc apparently), more timeouts, strange error messages with general phone numbers to call, and more and more timeouts. Even more infuriating was trying to actually get a hold of someone on the phone to discuss tech support of their website. It seemed like nobody knew anything form anything about the website or it's troubles and insisted that it is the way it is simply because it is in "beta".
Eventually, came to the hard realization that if you just keep trying to do the same thing over and over in the MDE website it will "take" at some point. Example, try to book a dining reservation. Timeout? Refresh the page. Timed out again? Refresh the page. Three times the charm? Nope, try again. Hey look at that it actually worked. Same can be said for FastPass+ booking. Timeout, Refresh, Repeat.
At one point a cast member told me over the phone that the site was slow for me in particular because I was a DVC member and those accounts were different from typical MDE accounts. To rectify, she told me to call DVC and ask them to "fix my account". DVC of course had no idea what that cast member meant.
In the end after many, many, many hours of dealing with that website everything was booked the way I wanted it to be booked. If you are the arranger for your family be prepared to deal with the MDE site - it can be a source of frustration.
Day One - Arrival / Downtown Disney
We arrived in the afternoon on Sunday and checked into Bay Lake via the Contemporary desk without any hiccups. The bands worked for all fourteen members of the group and could be used to open the room doors without issue. We were also handed Key to the World cards "just in case" something broke down with the bands.
It was a chilly week to be in Florida. We headed over to Downtown Disney and did some shopping / eating. Nothing much else to report here. Kids had a great time at the Lego store and other shops and then we headed back to BLT. We watched the fireworks from our rooms at BLT and called it a day.
Day Two - Entering the Kingdom
Woke up early-ish and all fourteen of us headed to the park. One of the reasons I love BLT so much is that you can walk right over to Magic Kingdom.
All of the MagicBands worked to enter the park flawlessly. Zoomed right into the park after bag check and went to Town Hall where two of the family members needed to apply for the Disability Access Service card. That went smoothly as well and the cards were issued (note: new cards will have your photo attached to them). More on the DAS card worked later on. For now we headed to our first scheduled FastPass+ for Buzz Lightyear. Now about that FastPass+ system...
I don't think Disney has anticipated how popular FastPass+ is/was going to be. At almost every attraction the FastPass line spilled out into the common area of the parks. To add to that - there was almost always a cast member at the end of the line with a flag saying LINE STARTS HERE. It seemed to confuse a lot of people and made navigating some areas of the park a little more troublesome at times, especially with heavy Thanksgiving crowds. We proceeded to the end of the FP line and there we waited for 4-5 mins before getting up to the actual swipe point for the MagicBand / FP system. I will say that the line did move fairly fast although we certainly didn't walk right onto the ride. Most of delays seem to be with the FP kiosk not detecting the MagicBand. Most CM's would fumble around and have to align them properly. The commonly used phrase all week was "MICKEY TO MICKEY". This was problematic for young guests as most of the time adults had to pick up their kids to get the bands to swipe. For us it really wasn't an issue but it wasn't super speedy. And in the end it causes delays in the overall FastPass line.
Next up, PeopleMover! No FastPass needed as always. Good way to kill the time between rides. After that we moved on to the Speedway which we did not have FastPass+ scheduled for but decided that we would try out the DAS card for some of the little ones to see how the new system worked. Just as we read online, the DAS card works as follows: the CM will issue a return time ten minutes before the current wait time. We were issued a wait time of about 15 minutes (wait time was 25 mins) so we hung out and then walked on without issue. The CM will write the wait time on your DAS card. You can arrive any time throughout the day to that attraction after your written wait time - but you can't go on any other rides using your DAS card in the interim. When you go back to the attraction, the CM will cross off your return time so the next CM can issue you a new one. It's a little bit of a strange system and I can see how some families would be annoyed with it (at one point we had our own issues with it, more on that later.)
It seems that Disney instituted some changes in some of their quick service food stations. The new change basically has the actual dining area loaded with cast members who check that you have actual food in your hands in order to let you take a seat and dine in that location. This is both good and bad. Good in that it ensures you a place to eat since you don't have people resting in the quick serve dining areas, but bad in that if you have a large group all of you must have some sort of food in order to sit. Problematic when you are trying to corral several children on top of carrying numerous trays of food. Once we got seated it wasn't a bad experience but getting to that point was a bit a trying. We ran into this same issue at several quick food stops at all the parks this trip. One of the kids in our party dropped their tray and the food along with it - a nearby cast member, without hesitation, scooped in and said "don't worry I'll be right back". When they next appeared they had a fresh plate of food. That was a nice bit of Disney magic to see and the kind of service that makes Disney, well Disney.
Some more rides later, we headed on over to Epcot for dining reservations at Mexico. We ate at the new place, La Hacienda De San Angel, and I have to say that it was fantastic. The atmosphere and the food itself were amazing. Although I love dining in the actual Mexico pavilion - being able to actually SEE your food / utensils / napkin / etc (it is a little too dark in the pavilion for my taste) made a happy difference. If you are booking dining, give this new place a whirl. And try the short ribs, yum.
After dinner, we did some quick rides at Epcot and headed back to BLT. One gripe about FastPass+ before this section ends. You are limited to just three rides per day at one particular park. Meaning if you plan on park hopping between Magic Kingdom and Epcot, you'll need to schedule your rides accordingly at one of those parks. Doesn't this kind of negate the Park Hopper option for ticketing in some cases? Again, seemed a little strange but if you plan accordingly and well in advance it can work just fine.
In the end, all of our FastPass+ reservations worked without a major hitch or glitch. The only major setback was the actual increased wait times of the actual FastPass lines vs standby lines due to fumbling of bands (MICKEY TO MICKEY!).
Day Three - Back to Epcot
We headed back to Epcot the next day. Same deal, all scheduled FastPasses from the MDE website worked without a hitch but the same issue persisted: long lines formed for the actual FastPass line.
We entered the park at around 9:30am and noticed a giant sign that stated Soarin' had already exhausted the supply of FastPasses for the day. Luckily, none of us had any plans to ride it that day. That has to say something about the overall demand of the ride though.
The new Test Track ride is so much fun, the added interactivity of making your own car is a nice touch. At the end of the ride we all compared car scores and tried to figure out who won. You can also tie the created car to your MagicBand but it only works while your at the park. There was nothing afterwards in the MDE site that kept the recorded scores. Note to Disney: that would be a nice addition to the MDE site, keeping track of meta data for things like ride scores.
For dinner, we did Tappan Edo - great as usual. Headed home to BLT after a few stops on the monorail and called it a day.
Day Four - Hollywood / Animal Kingdom
This was going to be a busy day. The plan was to hit these two parks and get everything done all at once. First up, Animal Kingdom. We walked on to Kilimanjaro Safaris and proceeded to take in the safari. When did Disney remove the whole poacher / baby elephant angle to this ride? Anyone know why it was removed - maybe just not politically correct anymore? We all kind of scratched our heads at the end of the ride and noticed something missing and then realized what it was ("come in Simba 1").
After that we decided to give DINOSAUR a try. Now I had never done this ride in my many years of being a self professed Disney nerd at any of my previous trips. I have to come right out and say it - I wasn't missing anything. I really got the sense that Disney built this ride banking on getting the rights to Jurassic Park but then had to alter plans drastically. Watch Jurassic Park and then wait on the queue for this attraction, you'll spot a lot of similarities other than just the general classification of Dinosaurs. The ride itself was nothing special either. There must have been some technical issues because most of the ride was just darkness and unfortunately pointless (even for Disney). I wonder if this ride will be getting the axe once AvatarLand starts development. Hey, wasn't that Claire Huxtable in the opening video?
Some animal spotting later then it was time to hit up Hollywood and take advantage of the FastPasses scheduled for that day. Again, no real issues other than the FastPass line itself. The Backlot Tour (no FP needed) is woefully out of date. The action movies referenced during the water part felt so incredibly old (sorry Michael Bay). Also, due to the cold weather the CMs decided not to use volunteers and "act" out the parts themselves. They way they did so was half-assed, lazy, and rushed - kind of like "move along people, nothing to see here". Catastrophe Canyon was also slightly modified - I could have sworn there was a segment where the tour got stuck in the canyon and the director yelled "action" accidentally. Maybe it's just another sign that this ride is on it's way out to make room for Star Wars land (or Cars Land according to rumors).
Muppet Vision was fun as always but you'd think with two new relaunched movies they could update the main feature with something fresh while keeping the story in tact. Regardless, I hope this sticks around - Muppets are fun for any age.
Onto Imagination - what a waste of space this ride is. I absolutely loved the original version of this ride when I was kid. So much so that I was Figment-crazy. The current incarnation of this ride lacks the title of a ride that is supposed to be about finding Imagination. It seems so non-sensical to the point that it doesn't ignite the brain but rather makes you scratch your head at the end of the attraction. Unfortunately, even Eric Idle can't save this ride. I got the nagging sense that the real ride is still hidden behind some walls. Bring back the DreamFinder!
Toy Story Mania is still an amazing ride. Booking a FastPass+ for this ride is a no-brainer, especially with a whopping 150 minute standby wait time. This is the type of immersive ride that Disney needs to stick to. It can roll with new movies since it's digital and the scores are fun to compare with family and friends. The revamped Star Tours ride, although no scoring mechanism to speak of, is also amazing and makes up for interactivity with the randomness of the ride. Another example of a Disney ride done right and a compliment to the IP it portrays. Speaking of Star Wars, it seemed that there were more Jedi Training events than usual. While this was fun to see it shows that they really need more space for that kind of thing. At one point they included Darth Maul along with Darth Vader to battle the kiddies.
For dinner we headed to PrimeTime. Can't go wrong with Fried Chicken, Meat Loaf and Peanut Butter Jelly shakes. Note: you need to try the PB&J shake at least once in your life.
The return trip back to Bay Lake was a big hassle. From Hollywood, there is one bus for three resorts: Contemporary, Floridian, Polynesian. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense that three of Disney's premier hotel locations share the same single bus route. I understand it is because of proximity but these buses were often packed to the front doors with lines spilling beyond the bus stop queue. Then, you look over at a singular bus stop for something like Saratoga Springs with no real line, and a singular bus for that hotel.
Day Five - Return to Magic Kingdom
Prior to hitting the park our MagicBands decided to stop working to open our room (same with the Key to World cards). I discovered this while running back to the room with my daughter who had a loose tooth that needed to come out. I ran with her to the front desk of BLT and explained the situation. We were also worried that if something was wrong with the bands and cards, we would have an issue getting into the park. As I explained the issue to the CM at the desk of BLT I mentioned that I needed to get into the room fast for my daughter's loose tooth. She was very accommodating and then said "wow, a loose tooth - that means Tinkerbell is coming tonight!" I shrugged it off and said something like "yep - tooth fairy will be paying a visit alright." Little did I know what the CM actually meant. When we returned to the hotel at the end of the day there was a giant Tinkerbell made out of white chocolate waiting for my daughter. That was a nice bit of Disney magic that I was honestly not expecting at all. In the end, it turns out that we had a faulty door lock mechanism. It was replaced when we came home that day.
Now back to the Magic Kingdom. We hit up Little Mermaid which in all honesty is just OK. For a ride boasting the most advanced animitronics in the world - it felt really dated despite being a brand new ride. The joke I heard someone make was that they had extra clamshells left over from the Nemo ride and needed to use them somewhere else.
Enchanted Tales with Belle is awesome. This is truly a new kind of immersive experience that I would expect from Disney. The animitronics (all 2 of them) on this ride are top notch. The fact that the kids are made to be part of the show and get to act something out with a Disney princess is magical. Two thumbs up on this one.
Small World - how can you visit this park and not have a ride on Small World? My only gripe is that they should really follow Disneyland's update and introduce the movie characters into the ride as they do over there. Prior to our trip, and mostly to prepare my young ones for dark rides, we do ride throughs on YouTube. Most of them are in HD and in my experience these are a good method of getting fears out of the way for little ones. My kids got so used to seeing the characters in the Anaheim version that they were kind of disappointed not to hunt them down this trip. Not much to do about this complaint except air it here.
Pirates of the Caribbean - something must have been up with this ride this week. According to my wait times app (should be a must-have for any park-goer - link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/disney-world-wait-times-free/id321601474) it was closed at some points during out trip. When it was working - three notable things were missing from the ride. 1) the waterfall effect featuring Davy Jones was removed 2) the mermaid effect was removed or not working 3) the most unforgivable error: the sulfur smell was absent during the fiery pirate raid part. I know that last one is nit-picky but that smell, it was a major atmospheric / Disney magic smell for me. I don't know why but I can remember the smell and always think "this is why I love coming back here." I was disappointed to not get a whiff of it. I wonder if someone complained and corporate had it removed.
That about wraps it up for now. When my post count increases I shall post some photos from our vacation (edit: posted photos). Overall we had a great time but there are still some tiny kinks to be ironed out with MagicBands and line distribution of FastPasses at the parks. Until next time!
I would like to share some highlights of our recent family trip to WDW this past Thanksgiving week. To preface, we were a large traveling party - 14 of us in total (8 adults, 6 kids). All of us are DVC members and took part in the MyMagic+ program. This is my first official trip report posting so I may ramble and jump around. Apologies in advance for grammar errors and the like. I will post some pics but apparently you need a post count greater than ten to do so (note: kudos to DISBoards, this is a great idea to prevent post spam - not joking). EDIT: adding on some forgotten parts, some photos, more forgotten parts.
To make this easier to digest I'll split it up into sections.
MagicBands and MyDisneyExperience.com
We were selected for the MyMagic+ plus program early on. Strangely, there was no initial email - it just kind of popped up when logging into MyDisneyExperience.com. After receiving the bands some emails were sent from the official Disney email asking us to take part in the test. Strange, but not really a big deal. The kids loved customizing the colors of their bands and choosing a character to go on their profile on the MDE website. When we started planning the number of characters was pretty slim, it looks like there MDE site has since been updated with additional characters to set up as profiles. It should be noted that choosing a character really has nothing to do with anything else except the MDE website. It is kinda cute though.
As for the MDE website itself, when it worked it was great. When it didn't work - all sorts of bad stuff happened. Timeouts, crashes, duplicate accounts (four separate reservation numbers can cause havoc apparently), more timeouts, strange error messages with general phone numbers to call, and more and more timeouts. Even more infuriating was trying to actually get a hold of someone on the phone to discuss tech support of their website. It seemed like nobody knew anything form anything about the website or it's troubles and insisted that it is the way it is simply because it is in "beta".
Eventually, came to the hard realization that if you just keep trying to do the same thing over and over in the MDE website it will "take" at some point. Example, try to book a dining reservation. Timeout? Refresh the page. Timed out again? Refresh the page. Three times the charm? Nope, try again. Hey look at that it actually worked. Same can be said for FastPass+ booking. Timeout, Refresh, Repeat.
At one point a cast member told me over the phone that the site was slow for me in particular because I was a DVC member and those accounts were different from typical MDE accounts. To rectify, she told me to call DVC and ask them to "fix my account". DVC of course had no idea what that cast member meant.
In the end after many, many, many hours of dealing with that website everything was booked the way I wanted it to be booked. If you are the arranger for your family be prepared to deal with the MDE site - it can be a source of frustration.
Day One - Arrival / Downtown Disney
We arrived in the afternoon on Sunday and checked into Bay Lake via the Contemporary desk without any hiccups. The bands worked for all fourteen members of the group and could be used to open the room doors without issue. We were also handed Key to the World cards "just in case" something broke down with the bands.
It was a chilly week to be in Florida. We headed over to Downtown Disney and did some shopping / eating. Nothing much else to report here. Kids had a great time at the Lego store and other shops and then we headed back to BLT. We watched the fireworks from our rooms at BLT and called it a day.
Day Two - Entering the Kingdom
Woke up early-ish and all fourteen of us headed to the park. One of the reasons I love BLT so much is that you can walk right over to Magic Kingdom.
All of the MagicBands worked to enter the park flawlessly. Zoomed right into the park after bag check and went to Town Hall where two of the family members needed to apply for the Disability Access Service card. That went smoothly as well and the cards were issued (note: new cards will have your photo attached to them). More on the DAS card worked later on. For now we headed to our first scheduled FastPass+ for Buzz Lightyear. Now about that FastPass+ system...
I don't think Disney has anticipated how popular FastPass+ is/was going to be. At almost every attraction the FastPass line spilled out into the common area of the parks. To add to that - there was almost always a cast member at the end of the line with a flag saying LINE STARTS HERE. It seemed to confuse a lot of people and made navigating some areas of the park a little more troublesome at times, especially with heavy Thanksgiving crowds. We proceeded to the end of the FP line and there we waited for 4-5 mins before getting up to the actual swipe point for the MagicBand / FP system. I will say that the line did move fairly fast although we certainly didn't walk right onto the ride. Most of delays seem to be with the FP kiosk not detecting the MagicBand. Most CM's would fumble around and have to align them properly. The commonly used phrase all week was "MICKEY TO MICKEY". This was problematic for young guests as most of the time adults had to pick up their kids to get the bands to swipe. For us it really wasn't an issue but it wasn't super speedy. And in the end it causes delays in the overall FastPass line.
Next up, PeopleMover! No FastPass needed as always. Good way to kill the time between rides. After that we moved on to the Speedway which we did not have FastPass+ scheduled for but decided that we would try out the DAS card for some of the little ones to see how the new system worked. Just as we read online, the DAS card works as follows: the CM will issue a return time ten minutes before the current wait time. We were issued a wait time of about 15 minutes (wait time was 25 mins) so we hung out and then walked on without issue. The CM will write the wait time on your DAS card. You can arrive any time throughout the day to that attraction after your written wait time - but you can't go on any other rides using your DAS card in the interim. When you go back to the attraction, the CM will cross off your return time so the next CM can issue you a new one. It's a little bit of a strange system and I can see how some families would be annoyed with it (at one point we had our own issues with it, more on that later.)
It seems that Disney instituted some changes in some of their quick service food stations. The new change basically has the actual dining area loaded with cast members who check that you have actual food in your hands in order to let you take a seat and dine in that location. This is both good and bad. Good in that it ensures you a place to eat since you don't have people resting in the quick serve dining areas, but bad in that if you have a large group all of you must have some sort of food in order to sit. Problematic when you are trying to corral several children on top of carrying numerous trays of food. Once we got seated it wasn't a bad experience but getting to that point was a bit a trying. We ran into this same issue at several quick food stops at all the parks this trip. One of the kids in our party dropped their tray and the food along with it - a nearby cast member, without hesitation, scooped in and said "don't worry I'll be right back". When they next appeared they had a fresh plate of food. That was a nice bit of Disney magic to see and the kind of service that makes Disney, well Disney.
Some more rides later, we headed on over to Epcot for dining reservations at Mexico. We ate at the new place, La Hacienda De San Angel, and I have to say that it was fantastic. The atmosphere and the food itself were amazing. Although I love dining in the actual Mexico pavilion - being able to actually SEE your food / utensils / napkin / etc (it is a little too dark in the pavilion for my taste) made a happy difference. If you are booking dining, give this new place a whirl. And try the short ribs, yum.
After dinner, we did some quick rides at Epcot and headed back to BLT. One gripe about FastPass+ before this section ends. You are limited to just three rides per day at one particular park. Meaning if you plan on park hopping between Magic Kingdom and Epcot, you'll need to schedule your rides accordingly at one of those parks. Doesn't this kind of negate the Park Hopper option for ticketing in some cases? Again, seemed a little strange but if you plan accordingly and well in advance it can work just fine.
In the end, all of our FastPass+ reservations worked without a major hitch or glitch. The only major setback was the actual increased wait times of the actual FastPass lines vs standby lines due to fumbling of bands (MICKEY TO MICKEY!).
Day Three - Back to Epcot
We headed back to Epcot the next day. Same deal, all scheduled FastPasses from the MDE website worked without a hitch but the same issue persisted: long lines formed for the actual FastPass line.
We entered the park at around 9:30am and noticed a giant sign that stated Soarin' had already exhausted the supply of FastPasses for the day. Luckily, none of us had any plans to ride it that day. That has to say something about the overall demand of the ride though.
The new Test Track ride is so much fun, the added interactivity of making your own car is a nice touch. At the end of the ride we all compared car scores and tried to figure out who won. You can also tie the created car to your MagicBand but it only works while your at the park. There was nothing afterwards in the MDE site that kept the recorded scores. Note to Disney: that would be a nice addition to the MDE site, keeping track of meta data for things like ride scores.
For dinner, we did Tappan Edo - great as usual. Headed home to BLT after a few stops on the monorail and called it a day.
Day Four - Hollywood / Animal Kingdom
This was going to be a busy day. The plan was to hit these two parks and get everything done all at once. First up, Animal Kingdom. We walked on to Kilimanjaro Safaris and proceeded to take in the safari. When did Disney remove the whole poacher / baby elephant angle to this ride? Anyone know why it was removed - maybe just not politically correct anymore? We all kind of scratched our heads at the end of the ride and noticed something missing and then realized what it was ("come in Simba 1").
After that we decided to give DINOSAUR a try. Now I had never done this ride in my many years of being a self professed Disney nerd at any of my previous trips. I have to come right out and say it - I wasn't missing anything. I really got the sense that Disney built this ride banking on getting the rights to Jurassic Park but then had to alter plans drastically. Watch Jurassic Park and then wait on the queue for this attraction, you'll spot a lot of similarities other than just the general classification of Dinosaurs. The ride itself was nothing special either. There must have been some technical issues because most of the ride was just darkness and unfortunately pointless (even for Disney). I wonder if this ride will be getting the axe once AvatarLand starts development. Hey, wasn't that Claire Huxtable in the opening video?
Some animal spotting later then it was time to hit up Hollywood and take advantage of the FastPasses scheduled for that day. Again, no real issues other than the FastPass line itself. The Backlot Tour (no FP needed) is woefully out of date. The action movies referenced during the water part felt so incredibly old (sorry Michael Bay). Also, due to the cold weather the CMs decided not to use volunteers and "act" out the parts themselves. They way they did so was half-assed, lazy, and rushed - kind of like "move along people, nothing to see here". Catastrophe Canyon was also slightly modified - I could have sworn there was a segment where the tour got stuck in the canyon and the director yelled "action" accidentally. Maybe it's just another sign that this ride is on it's way out to make room for Star Wars land (or Cars Land according to rumors).
Muppet Vision was fun as always but you'd think with two new relaunched movies they could update the main feature with something fresh while keeping the story in tact. Regardless, I hope this sticks around - Muppets are fun for any age.
Onto Imagination - what a waste of space this ride is. I absolutely loved the original version of this ride when I was kid. So much so that I was Figment-crazy. The current incarnation of this ride lacks the title of a ride that is supposed to be about finding Imagination. It seems so non-sensical to the point that it doesn't ignite the brain but rather makes you scratch your head at the end of the attraction. Unfortunately, even Eric Idle can't save this ride. I got the nagging sense that the real ride is still hidden behind some walls. Bring back the DreamFinder!
Toy Story Mania is still an amazing ride. Booking a FastPass+ for this ride is a no-brainer, especially with a whopping 150 minute standby wait time. This is the type of immersive ride that Disney needs to stick to. It can roll with new movies since it's digital and the scores are fun to compare with family and friends. The revamped Star Tours ride, although no scoring mechanism to speak of, is also amazing and makes up for interactivity with the randomness of the ride. Another example of a Disney ride done right and a compliment to the IP it portrays. Speaking of Star Wars, it seemed that there were more Jedi Training events than usual. While this was fun to see it shows that they really need more space for that kind of thing. At one point they included Darth Maul along with Darth Vader to battle the kiddies.
For dinner we headed to PrimeTime. Can't go wrong with Fried Chicken, Meat Loaf and Peanut Butter Jelly shakes. Note: you need to try the PB&J shake at least once in your life.
The return trip back to Bay Lake was a big hassle. From Hollywood, there is one bus for three resorts: Contemporary, Floridian, Polynesian. It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense that three of Disney's premier hotel locations share the same single bus route. I understand it is because of proximity but these buses were often packed to the front doors with lines spilling beyond the bus stop queue. Then, you look over at a singular bus stop for something like Saratoga Springs with no real line, and a singular bus for that hotel.
Day Five - Return to Magic Kingdom
Prior to hitting the park our MagicBands decided to stop working to open our room (same with the Key to World cards). I discovered this while running back to the room with my daughter who had a loose tooth that needed to come out. I ran with her to the front desk of BLT and explained the situation. We were also worried that if something was wrong with the bands and cards, we would have an issue getting into the park. As I explained the issue to the CM at the desk of BLT I mentioned that I needed to get into the room fast for my daughter's loose tooth. She was very accommodating and then said "wow, a loose tooth - that means Tinkerbell is coming tonight!" I shrugged it off and said something like "yep - tooth fairy will be paying a visit alright." Little did I know what the CM actually meant. When we returned to the hotel at the end of the day there was a giant Tinkerbell made out of white chocolate waiting for my daughter. That was a nice bit of Disney magic that I was honestly not expecting at all. In the end, it turns out that we had a faulty door lock mechanism. It was replaced when we came home that day.
Now back to the Magic Kingdom. We hit up Little Mermaid which in all honesty is just OK. For a ride boasting the most advanced animitronics in the world - it felt really dated despite being a brand new ride. The joke I heard someone make was that they had extra clamshells left over from the Nemo ride and needed to use them somewhere else.
Enchanted Tales with Belle is awesome. This is truly a new kind of immersive experience that I would expect from Disney. The animitronics (all 2 of them) on this ride are top notch. The fact that the kids are made to be part of the show and get to act something out with a Disney princess is magical. Two thumbs up on this one.
Small World - how can you visit this park and not have a ride on Small World? My only gripe is that they should really follow Disneyland's update and introduce the movie characters into the ride as they do over there. Prior to our trip, and mostly to prepare my young ones for dark rides, we do ride throughs on YouTube. Most of them are in HD and in my experience these are a good method of getting fears out of the way for little ones. My kids got so used to seeing the characters in the Anaheim version that they were kind of disappointed not to hunt them down this trip. Not much to do about this complaint except air it here.
Pirates of the Caribbean - something must have been up with this ride this week. According to my wait times app (should be a must-have for any park-goer - link here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/disney-world-wait-times-free/id321601474) it was closed at some points during out trip. When it was working - three notable things were missing from the ride. 1) the waterfall effect featuring Davy Jones was removed 2) the mermaid effect was removed or not working 3) the most unforgivable error: the sulfur smell was absent during the fiery pirate raid part. I know that last one is nit-picky but that smell, it was a major atmospheric / Disney magic smell for me. I don't know why but I can remember the smell and always think "this is why I love coming back here." I was disappointed to not get a whiff of it. I wonder if someone complained and corporate had it removed.
That about wraps it up for now. When my post count increases I shall post some photos from our vacation (edit: posted photos). Overall we had a great time but there are still some tiny kinks to be ironed out with MagicBands and line distribution of FastPasses at the parks. Until next time!
