PrincessTiffany
Is there anything better than Free Dining and Fast
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2007
- Messages
- 7,412
We were in WDW from December 10 - 19 at All-Star Movies. Our check-in experience Friday night was one of the worst experiences ever. When we got there at about 11 p.m. and there were exactly 4 people in front of me at check-in. It took 1 hour and 30 minutes to check those 4 families and us in. They put us in the Love Bug building and when we got to the rooms at about 12:45 a.m., they smelled so badly of cigarette smoke that it was sickening. I called the front desk and was told that a manager would be right up, well after an hour, still no manager, so I called back and got a manager on the phone and he said there was absolutely nothing they could do other than move us to Pop as ASM was full - at this point it was after 2:00 in the morning 
. He said he could move us to another two rooms the next day, so we had to stick it out and stay in the disgusting smokey rooms. As you can imagine, we didn't make it to rope drop at AK the next morning. We had to go down to re-check in. I stood in line 2 hours this time and was told that the computers had crashed and that they would not be able to cut us new keys or tickets. They gave us vouchers for that day to get into AK. It was about noon before we got to the park. The weather was very nice and AK was packed on the 11th.
We had dinner that night at 1900 Park Fare and the food and characters were great. We got back to the resort at about 9:00 p.m. we did get new rooms, but they still couldn't give us our KTTW cards and said we would have to come back in the morning again.
Got up Sunday morning and waited almost 2 hours for new tickets and finally got to Epcot at about 10:30 a.m. - so, missed rope drop again. It was rainy, but very busy on the 12th. This was the only park where I really noticed that a lot of the usual Christmas decorations were missing - it was a little sad.
We had dinner at Akershus that night. Guess what? Their computers had also crashed and were down that night! We had reservations at 6:30 p.m. and were seated at 7:45 p.m. - no I am not joking. Also, because their were so many people waiting, they wouldn't let anyone in the lobby and it was FREEZING outside. Let's just say that cold, hungry people with a bunch of whiney kids waiting to see their favorite princessess was NOT a pretty sight. The upside was that the food was good and the princesses were great.
Woke up to FREEZING temps on Monday. We layered up and headed to MK. Space Mountain was shut down half the day and the parks, even with the super cold wind chill, was still pretty full. We still had fun. I mean how can you see Mickey's Philharmagic and not be happy? We had dinner that night at Liberty Tree. We lucked out with a table at the front window. We could see the entire Main Street Electrical Parade right from our seats. It was beautiful! The Liberty Tree service and food was very good
Tuesday was the absolute coldest day of the week. We bundled up and headed over to DHS. Headed straight over to Toy Story - it was insane as usual. At 10 a.m. that Fastpasses were for 7:00 p.m. that night. Headed over to Rockin Roller Coaster and guess what? It was shut down for most of the morning. We hit Tower of Terror with a 20 minute or so wait. We left at about 1:00 p.m. to go back to rest up for MVMCP.
It was SO COLD that we seriously considered skipping the party, even though it meant losing $350.00, but decided we would go anyway. We had reservations at Crystal Palace and, as always, Pooh and Friends and the buffet were wonderful. The party turned out to be pretty fun - but it was so, so cold. The crowds weren't too bad, as I'm sure a lot of people left early or didn't come at all due to the crowds. The fireworks and parade made the cost and cold all worth it. And seeing the castly in lights, well, it makes me tear up just thinking about it.
We hit Universal on Wednesday and Thursday. This was our first visit and we LOVED it. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is incredible, amazing, fantastic, wonderful . . . . I could go on and on. We also loved the Suess-land - we even had breakfast with the Grinch. We had dinner Wednesday night at Ohana. Wow, how I love Ohana. This is always our favorite meal at WDW and once again, it did not disappoint. Thursday night we ate at Coral Reef. The service was really slow, but the food was really good and we enjoyed the atmosphere.
We did Epcot and DHS on Friday. The weather finally warmed up and it was sunny and beautiful. Even with the thick crowds we had a good time. The lines for both Fantasmic shows were crazy long. We saw the late show and we still love it. My kids enjoy Fastasmic more than any of the other night time shows at WDW. And I can't say enough about the Osborne Lights. We love it!!! It's is so magical. My kids were in awe. We headed over there after F! and stayed until well after closing hours. The kids danced and sang and were totally enthralled with the "snow."
Saturday, the 18th was our last official day in the parks. We had breakfast at Tusker House with Donald and friends at AK. It rained a lot that morning, so after lunch we headed back to the resort to dry out. We spent our last afternoon and night at MK. We had a magical dinner at Chef Mickey's - always a family fave! We even got to sit by the window and had a great view of the Castle.
We checked out on Sunday, the 19th and had breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana - it was great! Then headed to Downtown Disney for some shopping before heading home. It was a MAD HOUSE. I have never seen DTD that busy. We got a few things and headed out quickly.
Even with the rocky start at check in and the super cold temps, we managed to have a wonderful time. Free Dining is the BOMB! Really, we love free dining and the Disney Dining plan in general - best thing Disney has come up with in years.
Disney is still magical for this family
. He said he could move us to another two rooms the next day, so we had to stick it out and stay in the disgusting smokey rooms. As you can imagine, we didn't make it to rope drop at AK the next morning. We had to go down to re-check in. I stood in line 2 hours this time and was told that the computers had crashed and that they would not be able to cut us new keys or tickets. They gave us vouchers for that day to get into AK. It was about noon before we got to the park. The weather was very nice and AK was packed on the 11th.We had dinner that night at 1900 Park Fare and the food and characters were great. We got back to the resort at about 9:00 p.m. we did get new rooms, but they still couldn't give us our KTTW cards and said we would have to come back in the morning again.
Got up Sunday morning and waited almost 2 hours for new tickets and finally got to Epcot at about 10:30 a.m. - so, missed rope drop again. It was rainy, but very busy on the 12th. This was the only park where I really noticed that a lot of the usual Christmas decorations were missing - it was a little sad.
We had dinner at Akershus that night. Guess what? Their computers had also crashed and were down that night! We had reservations at 6:30 p.m. and were seated at 7:45 p.m. - no I am not joking. Also, because their were so many people waiting, they wouldn't let anyone in the lobby and it was FREEZING outside. Let's just say that cold, hungry people with a bunch of whiney kids waiting to see their favorite princessess was NOT a pretty sight. The upside was that the food was good and the princesses were great.
Woke up to FREEZING temps on Monday. We layered up and headed to MK. Space Mountain was shut down half the day and the parks, even with the super cold wind chill, was still pretty full. We still had fun. I mean how can you see Mickey's Philharmagic and not be happy? We had dinner that night at Liberty Tree. We lucked out with a table at the front window. We could see the entire Main Street Electrical Parade right from our seats. It was beautiful! The Liberty Tree service and food was very good
Tuesday was the absolute coldest day of the week. We bundled up and headed over to DHS. Headed straight over to Toy Story - it was insane as usual. At 10 a.m. that Fastpasses were for 7:00 p.m. that night. Headed over to Rockin Roller Coaster and guess what? It was shut down for most of the morning. We hit Tower of Terror with a 20 minute or so wait. We left at about 1:00 p.m. to go back to rest up for MVMCP.
It was SO COLD that we seriously considered skipping the party, even though it meant losing $350.00, but decided we would go anyway. We had reservations at Crystal Palace and, as always, Pooh and Friends and the buffet were wonderful. The party turned out to be pretty fun - but it was so, so cold. The crowds weren't too bad, as I'm sure a lot of people left early or didn't come at all due to the crowds. The fireworks and parade made the cost and cold all worth it. And seeing the castly in lights, well, it makes me tear up just thinking about it.
We hit Universal on Wednesday and Thursday. This was our first visit and we LOVED it. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is incredible, amazing, fantastic, wonderful . . . . I could go on and on. We also loved the Suess-land - we even had breakfast with the Grinch. We had dinner Wednesday night at Ohana. Wow, how I love Ohana. This is always our favorite meal at WDW and once again, it did not disappoint. Thursday night we ate at Coral Reef. The service was really slow, but the food was really good and we enjoyed the atmosphere.
We did Epcot and DHS on Friday. The weather finally warmed up and it was sunny and beautiful. Even with the thick crowds we had a good time. The lines for both Fantasmic shows were crazy long. We saw the late show and we still love it. My kids enjoy Fastasmic more than any of the other night time shows at WDW. And I can't say enough about the Osborne Lights. We love it!!! It's is so magical. My kids were in awe. We headed over there after F! and stayed until well after closing hours. The kids danced and sang and were totally enthralled with the "snow."
Saturday, the 18th was our last official day in the parks. We had breakfast at Tusker House with Donald and friends at AK. It rained a lot that morning, so after lunch we headed back to the resort to dry out. We spent our last afternoon and night at MK. We had a magical dinner at Chef Mickey's - always a family fave! We even got to sit by the window and had a great view of the Castle.
We checked out on Sunday, the 19th and had breakfast with Lilo and Stitch at Ohana - it was great! Then headed to Downtown Disney for some shopping before heading home. It was a MAD HOUSE. I have never seen DTD that busy. We got a few things and headed out quickly.
Even with the rocky start at check in and the super cold temps, we managed to have a wonderful time. Free Dining is the BOMB! Really, we love free dining and the Disney Dining plan in general - best thing Disney has come up with in years.
Disney is still magical for this family
. I also hope I can have your outlook if I'm faced with a similar situation.
this was my first time in winter and i must say i didnt think it was crowded 
btw we stayed at all star sports, did you have any problems with basketball teams at your resort or on your busses, because there was a basketball tounrmament and they all stayed at all star sports and they had to pack there whole 18 member team on the busses. it was crazy. glad you had a great time.
