The depression is sinking in as we are now home...

[pafer]

We got home last evening very late from our 8 day vacation. Can I tell you how much I hate unpacking!!! The trip was somewhat successful but had it's moments both good and bad. I will never schedule a trip in peak season again! Not only were the crowds not much fun but I encountered less than happy CM's several times on this trip which never has happened before to us. I also found some of the the restaurants to be less than enjoyable experiences this trip and cannot help but wonder if it has anything to do with the meal plan and free dining? Oh and I don't know where to start about the long lines and rude ppl that insisted on cutting the lines or whole families taking up space in the single rider line for Everest. Oh and for those who have been before and used the rider switch with small children they seem to have gotten much stricter about who they give them to and I had trouble on a few occasions getting one. They also have started to mark the cards so they cannot be used later in the trip and are only valid on the day they give it to you. We had not experienced that on our last several trips.

Any questions?? I have a little time before I go finish making dinner. I will keep my eye on the thread and answer as much as I can.

 

[yankeepenny]

I am sending you some pixie dust for a better evening from here in Maine.
If you would like a cheering up postcard from our trip in sept,
send me a PM...

 

[keilani5]

Pafer,
Last year went at the exact same time as you this year. NEVER AGAIN! This year we are going to go in Sept. I am sorry to hear that you had to encounter a few(mabey more than a few) rude people. Last year we almost saw a fight and strangers were
screaming at each other. Are you going to post a trip report?
Well, happy unpacking! Please give us some more details about your trip!

 

[pafer]

I am sure once I get a chance to download photos and see them on the computer I will cheer up. I was just a touch dissapointed with the way things went this time.

We seemed to have trouble finding the characters we were looking for. The face characters seemed harder to find this trip and it seemed everywhere we went it was always the same characters. We missed Aurora as she left before we made it through the long line at toontown and then we only got two characters instead of three in the room. It was a little sad as we had been to the Boutique that day and my dd was dressed as Aurora. We went to Morroco to see Jasmine during the hours listed on the guide for that day and there was no one there at all. We checked back twice and found Aladdin along the lake taking photos but we were told he was done for the evening and the line was closed. It was only 7:00 and he was scheduled until 7:30 and only had two families left in his line so he would not have taken 30 minutes with them. The CM with him was quite rude to me and all I did was ask a few questions. I guess the heat was getting to everyone this trip.

 

[Meezers]

I am so sorry you had a rough trip. My family is very lucky as we are 3 adults and can go at the time of year we want. We will NEVER go between May and October again....

I noticed a little less magic last time I was there...now I concentrate on making my own....I pin trade and there is one e-bayer who sells the lanyard pins for $5.95 with no S&H....I buy a couple a month and then when I go I make sure to trade those away for whatever looks good...that way the CM lanyards are fun for the next person.

PS....late one night after a special event...DM and I (both rather Pooh sized) high stepped to a march down Main Street....guess the cleaning crew really liked it...can I help it if we were both majorettes about 22 years apart!

 

[pafer]

I might post a trip report later but I have to get over the depression first. I guess when you go in the off season and have such magical trips you expect more. I am going to chalk it up to heat and rude ppl making things less than fun for the CM's.

Has anyone noticed changes to the buffets?? I could swear in the past there have been larger selections of food and desserts. Have they made changes to cut costs due to the free dining and the meal plans?? We ate at Hollywood and Vine and I swear there were things missing at the buffet. The selection of bread seemed smaller. The dessert buffet seemed smaller and things were not being replaced as quickly as usual.

 

[ainmama2001]

I HATE that part! I take all my pictures and download them into a screensaver for my computer (and wallpaper). I also work on my scrapbook, listen to the soundtracks and of course, come on the DIS. It won't pass, but it will get better!

 

[anewvance]

Glad you had a nice trip despite the set backs. Did you get photopass pics taken? I always think it's something to look forward to when we get home, getting to see the photopass pictures we took.

p.s. I HATE unpacking too

 

[thelionqueen]

Sorry you had a bad trip...even worse being home and remember the bad things. Just a side note, the free dining promo does not start until August, so I'm thinking the crowds are just because it's peak time. We went 5/28-6/9 and the crowds and CM's were just great. I hope your next trip is much better. Hey, here's a thought..start planning your next Disney trip right now and wipe out the bad experience and depression with one step

 

[DisneyFan06]

I am so sorry your trip didn't really go according to your set schedule. It is summer, and it is a perfect time for families to go on vacation basically because the children are not attending school. My family was one of which that went only during the summer time. Even though there are crazy lines, etc.. - some people have no choice but to go that time during the year. Of course it can be frustrating but heck look at the bright side at least you went to Disney!

I am sure you will look back on your trip as something meaningful because every Disney trip has it's meanings.

Best Wishes,

Chris.

 

[SnwflkCts]

It really is hard once the trip is over ... getting back into the regular mundaneness of real life ... sigh ...

I am so glad I went to WDW for the first time in Feb. It must have been a good time to go. Although it was cold and we had to out race the BLIZZARD that was headed our way, it seemed everyone was in a good mood. None of that heat-induced madness!!

Tell me your favorite moment this time at WDW!!!! Let's concentrate on the good stuff to get you over the hump!

 

[disneychickforever]

yea, my parents use to take us only in the summer, but this year, I am turning 18 and in college without friday classes, so we are planning on going in the weekend right before Thanksgiving. It did always seem to stink, but at that time we also had my sister who is autistic (the CMs seem to be really nice toward handicap people.) Is it really better out of the summer time?

 

[pafer]

We went to the BBB on the Saturday. I had booked an appointment for my almost 5 year old dd but they don't do children under 3 so my youngest was going to have to just watch. The wonderful Fairy Godmother in training sat the youngest dd in the chair and did her nails and put a hair piece in for her for me because she had no one waiting for the next appointment. It was so cute to see both my girls looking so pretty and grown up. We then went to do some photo pass photos with the BBB photo guy and got several wonderful shots of the two girls together. Thank you so much to Katie...Fairy godmother in training and to the photo pass photographer for taking the time with my girls one of which was not very cooperative. I will post photos when I get the chance.

 

[DisneyFan06]

Is it really better out of the summer time?

To be honest, I have only experienced Disney during the summer time. I dont think going any other time during the year would feel very Disney to me because I am so used to comparing Disney to the summer season. However, Disney is Disney. I go there to enjoy it, like I am sure other families are as well. So if it is crowed - so be it, I will just have to make the best of it.

 

[Amps]

Sorry to hear it wasn't 100% for you but I'm glad you found some good times.

I went with my girlfriend at the end of May, it was our first vacation together in 5 years and our first time to Disney without family, also it was my first time staying onsite. Our first day there was miserable! We were up at 6am to drive 2 hours to the Buffalo airport (raining), our plane was 45mins late getting in and checking in and getting our groceries delivered took a lot longer then I thought it would. By the time we got to MK, it was still raining, 7pm and we were both starving. Lucky for us, the park was empty and after a much needed cheeseburger at Peko Bills and getting to go through Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Small world in about an hour, our spirits were much lifted but it wasn't untill the next morning that we really started to feel happy about the trip.

When I got home, after spending a couple hours at my house I had to drop her off at home (we both live with our parents still) and as I was pulling out of her driveway I started balling. I cried all the way home. Me, a 22 year old guy, driving his pickup truck, crying his bloody eyes out because I didn't want our vacation to end

But now I'm in the process of planning for next years trip and starting to feel lots better (4 1/2 weeks later).

 

[catm]

Hi, sorry your trip was such a disappointment. We just got back last Sunday night from a 10 day trip. 2 days in Vero Beach and 8 in Disney. I didn't think the crowds were that bad. And my family and I commented on how many great friendly people we met this time. Just to clear something up. The dining plan is not free. We paid $1400 dollars for it for our family. It guarentees the wait staff an 18% tip plus more if patrons decide the experiance was worth it. We only had 1 bad experiance with the dining, the food was good just the waiter seemed a bit rude. I know there have been times that Disney has offered the meal plan free. But last week was not one of them. As far as single rider lines. If a dozen people get in a line and are all willing to ride as a single, doesn't that make them a single rider? The lines for Everest were 70 to 80 minutes long when we were there, so waiting for 30 minutes in a single rider or fast pass line would not be unusual. Also the fast pass line is the line they use for the single rider line at Everest so that may be the reason it was a little longer. I hope once you unpack and look at your pictures you are able to feel alittle of the magic. I know when my kids were little it was especially frustrating trying to find characters. Now that they are big and don't care we seem to see them everywhere.

 

[checkwriter]

As I reflect back on our trip over Easter -- a very busy time indeed -- I find myself forgetting the familial disputes that seemed to pepper the early days of the vacation, and focus instead on how we grew together as a family as the trip wore on. And now we're enjoying the remembering, and the looking forward to the next trip. Of course the vacation wasn't perfect -- we're not perfect people -- but we grew as a family during the vaction and I'd do it again in a second. Look through the pictures; stay on the disboards, and share your experience and knowledge with others. It helps extend the trip.

 

[rlrx]

We just got back last evening also and it was my first trip in 20 years so I expected much worse as far as crowds and heat. We had a great trip but found the same problems with the characters as OP. The only face characters we saw were Mary Poppins and Aladdin and it seemed like MGM was the worst for "teasing" us with characters. We'd wait in line for a long time just to have them go on a break once we got close. I finally had to step back and tell my sons that we were not going to spend our whole vacation worrying about getting autographs. I noticed that some of the CMs were not as "Disney" as I had hoped they would be. Maybe my expectatons were too high but we always tried to be friendly to everyone just to spread the magic. We did have some magical moments which we'll always remember.

 

[pafer]

I am sorry to hear that the less than happy CM,s were not just experienced by us. I know this thread seems negative on my part so please don't think I had a horrible time. I did have a good time over all but I had some experiences that I had never had before in the off season. I feel bad knowing that for some this is the only time of the year they can visit and they too might be having these problems and think it is normal for Disney to have cranky CM,s and missing characters. I know it is hot and they characters need more breaks than usual but when they are indoors and on the schedule they should be there.

We spent sometime talking to a family that had booked a Princess breakfast as they wanted to see Aurora and were told this was the best way to find her. When they got there that day they were told Aurora would not be making an appearance and she was being replaced with Mary Poppins. They said they were not happy at all. They like Mary Poppings but had already stood in a long line to get photos and autographs with her and they expected Aurora and did not find her. The father was upset as he stated they paid for Princess and Mary is not a Princess.

 

[catm]

Boy, I remember those days of looking for specific characters for hours on end! One trip we were in search of Donald Duck the whole trip, we finally found him on our last day only to be told by a cast member that the line was closing and we would have to come back tomorrow. My little guy was so sad! There have been trips where we have ran into less than happy cast members, but then cms are human to. Also I know the heat during the summer can really effect everyones mood, making it hard to be tolerant. We tried to take a break in the afternoon and swim or go somewhere with airconditioning. And then go back to the parks at night. But I know this is difficult with younger children. Well I too, think you should start planning your next trip to help cheer yourself up!