Nole95
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2007
- Messages
- 971
Just got back from a 5 night trip during Memorial Day week (May 30 - June 4). Stayed at the Wilderness Lodge with wife, daughter (6) and son (3.5). Son is 41 inches so he was able to ride pretty much everything. He was only measured one time right before we loaded onto Splash.
Crowds were there but manageable if you had a plan. We had 3 GAD vouchers to use.
Monday - MK - Arrived at 8am and were at the front of the line to go into the park. Used combination of Tour Guide Mike plan, GAD FPs and regular FPs for the day. Had all of Fantasyland other than Philharmagic done by 10am. Did Splash, Space and Thunder Moutains as well as Buzz (twice). Walked right onto Pirates and HM. Did all this, including lunch, by 2pm when we left for a break. We waited no more than 5-10 minutes for any ride in the morning.
Returned about 4pm, rode Buzz a few more times, used FPs for Peter Pan, saw Philharmagic, Carousel. Had dinner at CP and then rode BTMRR before setting up for Spectro. Rained right before it started, but they started on time.
Tuesday - AK - Had 8:10am Tusker House reservation. Went and picked up FPs for EE when the park opened and then rode Safari with a 15 minute wait. Walked Pangani, Maharajah, rode EE, ate lunch and then walked some of the other Discovery Island trails. Headed back to WL for an afternoon by the pool.
Wednesday - Epcot - Arrived at 8:15 and went to an empty turnstile. I was near the front of the Soarin Stampede and quickly got a set of reguar FPs. Rode Nemo, saw Turtle Talk, Test Track with a GAD, Imagination, and then back to Soarin before lunch. Spaceship Earth after lunch, and then my wife and son went back for a rest while my daughter and I stayed. We rode TT and Soarin again using GAD FPs as well as SOAT.
Had dinner that evening at Germany and decided to walk back around for Illuminations. This turned out to be a good decision. About 20 minutes before the show, the sky was pitch black behind the World Showcase. Clear lightning bolts could be seen over France and America. The winds picked up and then the monsoon began. Luckily we were able to quickly get into the gift shop right behind us. A few brave souls stayed out, but they quickly stuffed in when it began to hail. I was quite surprised that the show was not delayed because of the wind and nasty weather, but it started right on time. Not that there was anyone outside to see it. In typical fashion, the monsoon let up to a drizzle right after the show was done, so it was not a bad walk back to the bus.
Thursday - HS - Arrived shortly after 9am, but since we had GAD FPs, we were not worried about the Toy Story Stampede. Ended up on Toy Story three times, RNRC, saw Muppets, Mermaid, ate lunch, and were pretty much done. This was the only day we thought the crowds seemed really large, but I think it is just the nature of this park. RNCC is just a slow loading ride even with a FP. It was the longest wait we had at any park all week.
Dinner at Boma, which was excellent.
Friday - MK - Our last day. Decided to just take it easy and not have a plan, but we did arrive by 8:30am. Rode Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Buzz (twice), Transit Authority, Teacups, Carousel, Philharmagic. Ate lunch, then rode Splash on a FP. Train back around. Buzz two more times, Monters Inc, then then our day was complete.
While there was a large number of people there, the crowds were manageable as long as you had a plan. Having the GAD vouchers was a big help. As I said, we used a combination of Tour Guide Mike and GADs to plan our days, took breaks pretty much every day, and had no major issues.
We never waited more than 5 minutes to be seated for an ADR. We arrived right on time and even a few minutes late on a couple of occasions. All our ADRs were between 6 and 6:30pm.
Crowds were there but manageable if you had a plan. We had 3 GAD vouchers to use.
Monday - MK - Arrived at 8am and were at the front of the line to go into the park. Used combination of Tour Guide Mike plan, GAD FPs and regular FPs for the day. Had all of Fantasyland other than Philharmagic done by 10am. Did Splash, Space and Thunder Moutains as well as Buzz (twice). Walked right onto Pirates and HM. Did all this, including lunch, by 2pm when we left for a break. We waited no more than 5-10 minutes for any ride in the morning.
Returned about 4pm, rode Buzz a few more times, used FPs for Peter Pan, saw Philharmagic, Carousel. Had dinner at CP and then rode BTMRR before setting up for Spectro. Rained right before it started, but they started on time.
Tuesday - AK - Had 8:10am Tusker House reservation. Went and picked up FPs for EE when the park opened and then rode Safari with a 15 minute wait. Walked Pangani, Maharajah, rode EE, ate lunch and then walked some of the other Discovery Island trails. Headed back to WL for an afternoon by the pool.
Wednesday - Epcot - Arrived at 8:15 and went to an empty turnstile. I was near the front of the Soarin Stampede and quickly got a set of reguar FPs. Rode Nemo, saw Turtle Talk, Test Track with a GAD, Imagination, and then back to Soarin before lunch. Spaceship Earth after lunch, and then my wife and son went back for a rest while my daughter and I stayed. We rode TT and Soarin again using GAD FPs as well as SOAT.
Had dinner that evening at Germany and decided to walk back around for Illuminations. This turned out to be a good decision. About 20 minutes before the show, the sky was pitch black behind the World Showcase. Clear lightning bolts could be seen over France and America. The winds picked up and then the monsoon began. Luckily we were able to quickly get into the gift shop right behind us. A few brave souls stayed out, but they quickly stuffed in when it began to hail. I was quite surprised that the show was not delayed because of the wind and nasty weather, but it started right on time. Not that there was anyone outside to see it. In typical fashion, the monsoon let up to a drizzle right after the show was done, so it was not a bad walk back to the bus.
Thursday - HS - Arrived shortly after 9am, but since we had GAD FPs, we were not worried about the Toy Story Stampede. Ended up on Toy Story three times, RNRC, saw Muppets, Mermaid, ate lunch, and were pretty much done. This was the only day we thought the crowds seemed really large, but I think it is just the nature of this park. RNCC is just a slow loading ride even with a FP. It was the longest wait we had at any park all week.
Dinner at Boma, which was excellent.
Friday - MK - Our last day. Decided to just take it easy and not have a plan, but we did arrive by 8:30am. Rode Tomorrowland Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Buzz (twice), Transit Authority, Teacups, Carousel, Philharmagic. Ate lunch, then rode Splash on a FP. Train back around. Buzz two more times, Monters Inc, then then our day was complete.
While there was a large number of people there, the crowds were manageable as long as you had a plan. Having the GAD vouchers was a big help. As I said, we used a combination of Tour Guide Mike and GADs to plan our days, took breaks pretty much every day, and had no major issues.
We never waited more than 5 minutes to be seated for an ADR. We arrived right on time and even a few minutes late on a couple of occasions. All our ADRs were between 6 and 6:30pm.
