The Good, The Bad, The Ugly- Grand Floridian August 2024 Report

[Gordon Gekko]

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly- Grand Floridian August 2024 Report

An honest report from a recent trip with my family. Mileage will always vary at Disney, it will always be what you and your family make of it, and we had a fantastic trip with lifelong memories. So here we go…

The Good
- Grand Floridian is an amazing property and has so much to offer. We utilized the proximity to MK to our advantage and stayed in Sago Cay which is closer to the walkway.
- Our park strategy still works and we didn’t purchase any lightning lanes. Get in early, midday naps/pool, go back later and we were able to beat most crowds and ride everything we wanted to.
- My son was guest announcer to kick off Carousel of Progress show- awesome.
- Tonga Toast
- Nostalgia still carries as my kids are becoming fans of the classic rides
- Private event at Epcot was one of the coolest things I have ever attended; very fortunate we had the ability to be a part of.
- Yachtsman’s is an absolute gem
- Disney Springs is a must for at least one night; great offering of incredible restaurants and shopping
- My kids scored pretty well in the Grand Floridian cannonball contest
- Kids had the times of their lives

The Bad
- Headliner attractions down every day in every park
- You cannot have 2 virtual queue rides in one park then have one that is consistently down and guests cannot join second queue because of this. Garbage
- Unsupervised kids that shouldn’t be unsupervised in public
- Tiana’s
- Spaceship Earth is one of our favorites but needs an overhaul
- Tomorrowland needs $$$ or just change name to Yesterdayland

The Ugly
- Halloween party in August
- Guest Experience leaning hard on “your ticket states ride downtime” BS when you are charging all time high prices. Deliver the product
- Crowds are beyond imbalanced; MK is overcrowded and the park is starting to show it
- Epcot is losing its identity

See ya real soon.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Extensive report!
One question- how or why do you think Epcot is losing it’s identity?

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Extensive report!
One question- how or why do you think Epcot is losing it’s identity?

The core of Epcot was never IP, now they are trying to jam it wherever they can. Also with everything they did in the past few years what did we really gain there?

 

[NYCgrrl]

The core of Epcot was never IP,

I’m sorry but what does IP mean in the context of this thread ?

 

[Gordon Gekko]

I’m sorry but what does IP mean in the context of this thread ?

IP meaning characters/movies. Epcot was about a community of tomorrow. Not a mismash of themed rides and water journeys.

 

[Tigger's ally]

Epcot was about a community of tomorrow.

I bolded a very important word. I often wonder how Walt would have fared trying to keep both Tomorrow land and Epcot up to date. Would he have been successful? I always had faith, but I really don't know how you change entire parks to keep up with the times. Some people want "tomorrow" things and others are calling for Ellen's energy back. Perhaps, Future World needed to lose it's identity????

I do agree with you on Yachtsman. Combine it with happy hour at the Crew's Cup and it is the wifey and my favorite night out. Is the Truffles Mac still on the side items? To die for!

 

[Gordon Gekko]

I bolded a very important word. I often wonder how Walt would have fared trying to keep both Tomorrow land and Epcot up to date. Would he have been successful? I always had faith, but I really don't know how you change entire parks to keep up with the times. Some people want "tomorrow" things and others are calling for Ellen's energy back. Perhaps, Future World needed to lose it's identity????

I do agree with you on Yachtsman. Combine it with happy hour at the Crew's Cup and it is the wifey and my favorite night out. Is the Truffles Mac still on the side items? To die for!

Crew Cup is awesome! Yes we got the truffle mac and it was phenomenal as usual.

I hear you on Epcot. I felt with the recent announcements that Epcot will be somewhat left behind and was robbed of proper investment due to Covid timing.

 

[diznynut]

Can you elaborate on why Tiana was bad?

 

[Gordon Gekko]

Can you elaborate on why Tiana was bad?

The story didn’t make a ton of sense and left you climbing the big hill thinking they really rushed to just remake Splash. Could have been so much more and that area a real crown jewel.