GadgetRick
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2000
- Messages
- 654
Just got back from our latest visit. Figured I'd share how it went with everyone.
Crowds, crowds and MORE crowds...
Lots of people around here are asking about crowd levels. Well, since we were going during one of the spring break weeks (seems schools either had last week or this week off), I was prepared for larger crowds than we're used to. We, typically, go during the first week in December (very niiiiiice...) so we're spoiled.
Anyway, let me start by saying it was CROWDED. I know on (at least) Tuesday, they closed MK down because it was at capacity (we did AK in the morning and tried to get into MK but couldn't). We were at MK on Wednesday morning and, by mid-day, it was quite crowded as well. My guess is they probably closed it that day, too but I don't know that for sure.
For those of you who like crowd pics to gauge crowd levels, here ya go...
MK around mid-day on Wednesday
About 10:00ish on Wednesday
MGM--yeah, I still call it MGM--around 2:00ish on Thursday
As you can see, it was quite crowded. Luckily, we were ok for the most part. Couldn't do a few things we normally do but not a big deal for us since we go so often. I'd HATE to be that family who goes during this week and it's their only trip to Disney! Yikes! We're seasoned enough to know how to work around the parks properly so the crowds didn't get us down.
Food
Everyone always like to talk about the food. I, for one, have become dissappointed in Disney food. In my opinion, the Disney Dining Plan has ruined the food experience throughout DW. I know, I'll probably get flamed for this but hear me out...
First of all, I'm not referring to the nicer places (e.g. California Grill, Fultons, etc.), I'm referring to the, "Disney," places. Since they started the plan they standardized all of their food on, well, not very good food. The burgers throughout Disney used to be very good (relatively speaking). The fries now are just about as bad as Burger King fries. There's absolutely no selection, they have the SAME thing in all of the places. Oh, they may call it something a little different but it's the same thing. The deserts are a joke. Luckily, they still have some good ice cream but that's about it any more.
Breakfasts used to be very good. Great cinamon rolls, eggs, potatoes, etc. Now, the cinamon rolls are edible (at best), the eggs aren't terribly great and some of the places have moved to crappy hash browns like you'd get at McDonalds--I did find real hash browns luckily enough.
On top of all of this, forget about getting into any table service joint unless you made reservations months in advance. Too many people with the plan make multiple reservations and NEVER cancel the ones they have no intention of keeping. This locks out those of us who don't know what they're having for dinner tonight much less months from now.
I think the dining plans are excellent values--if you don't mind the food you get. You get a lot of it but the food has gone steadily downhill since they started the plans. Also, with or without a plan, you still can't get into places unless you make reservations months in advance. This is very frustrating. I've given up on using the plans any more because I can't get into anywhere and it's a waste if you only use it for burgers and fries. We wind up off the property for dinner usually now.
We were able to get my younger son into the Crystal Palace for the character breakfast (thankfully). The food there is still good thank goodness! however, $76 for two adults and one child is just a wee bit steep for a buffet breakfast. My son loved it so that takes some of the sting out of the price but it's still very expensive.
We also ate at Whispering Springs again. We love the joint. Food is quite good and it's a blast. However, I will say they didn't do as much as they used to. Seems like they only brought ketchup around, not crayons and other things. Much more fun with everyone dropping off 100 crayons on your table. Oh well, still enjoyed it.
One thing I want to mention is a CM named Alyssa. She worked at the noodle place in MK. We stopped there for breakfast on Friday and we were about to order when she noticed the birthday button on my younger son. She pulled him and my older son out of line to color and gave them cookies. Things like this is why I still love Disney (regardless of the complaints I'm airing in this thread).
Transportation
I must say, Disney seems to be doing a better and better job with the transportation. Over the years I've had mixed reviews for the transportation system but, the last few times we've gone, everything has been run much more smoothly. Never waited more than a few minutes for anything (bus, monorail, boat, train, etc.). Even with the crowds, there seemed to be an adequate amount of busses running. I'm glad to see they're getting this right.
I still think they need to go back to when the bus drivers were more, "involved," with the passengers. They're all polite and all but it was more fun when they'd talk to everyone, give Disney trivia, sing songs, etc. Now, they just turn on the recorded, "We are now on our way to..." message and drive you to your destination. Much less personal for sure.
I also will never understand why they don't make the stop numbers the SAME no matter what park you're at. Wouldn't be hard and would take a lot of confusion out of finding your bus when you're leaving.
Space Mountain
Yes, we, like most of you, love Space Mountain. However, we were informed they're finally taking it down in 2 weeks for the 2+ year refurb we've been hearing about for so long. I have to poke around and see if anyone knows what they're doing. If they're going to have it down for that long they must be doing more than just refurbing it. I'll miss it for sure. Glad we got on it a couple of more times before they close it.
Toy Story Mania
Still as crowded as ever. If you want to get on it, be there at rope drop, run, don't walk, to the attraction, grab a fast pass then ride it--you'll want to do it again. On Thursday, we waited for 20 minutes just to GET a FP. This was at about 9:30ish. We still love it though, well worth a wait.
Soarin
See what I wrote about Toy Story Mania and just insert, "Soarin," for Toy Story Mania.
Weather
We got lucky and unlucky at the same time. No rain--always a good thing and it wasn't as hot as it could have been. However, on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was actually chilly (at least the morning on Wednesday). Never got above 50ish on Tuesday and it never got very warm on Wednesday (maybe 60--was 43 in the morning). Honestly, I'll take that over hot any day. Reminded me of the weather we get in December--only colder.
Conclusion
Although I complained about things like the food, we still love Disney and will continue to go. We'll be back the first week in December for my older son's birthday. My biggest complaints have to do with Disney starting to nickel and dime us with things like paying a fortune for non-expiring tickets, the food not being as good as it used to and a few other things. Doesn't ruin the experience but I miss the other things. So, don't take this message as me hating on Disney. I just want to see them do better. We still love it though.
Not a Disney pic but taken while in FL.
Crowds, crowds and MORE crowds...
Lots of people around here are asking about crowd levels. Well, since we were going during one of the spring break weeks (seems schools either had last week or this week off), I was prepared for larger crowds than we're used to. We, typically, go during the first week in December (very niiiiiice...) so we're spoiled.
Anyway, let me start by saying it was CROWDED. I know on (at least) Tuesday, they closed MK down because it was at capacity (we did AK in the morning and tried to get into MK but couldn't). We were at MK on Wednesday morning and, by mid-day, it was quite crowded as well. My guess is they probably closed it that day, too but I don't know that for sure.
For those of you who like crowd pics to gauge crowd levels, here ya go...
MK around mid-day on Wednesday
About 10:00ish on Wednesday
MGM--yeah, I still call it MGM--around 2:00ish on Thursday
As you can see, it was quite crowded. Luckily, we were ok for the most part. Couldn't do a few things we normally do but not a big deal for us since we go so often. I'd HATE to be that family who goes during this week and it's their only trip to Disney! Yikes! We're seasoned enough to know how to work around the parks properly so the crowds didn't get us down.
Food
Everyone always like to talk about the food. I, for one, have become dissappointed in Disney food. In my opinion, the Disney Dining Plan has ruined the food experience throughout DW. I know, I'll probably get flamed for this but hear me out...
First of all, I'm not referring to the nicer places (e.g. California Grill, Fultons, etc.), I'm referring to the, "Disney," places. Since they started the plan they standardized all of their food on, well, not very good food. The burgers throughout Disney used to be very good (relatively speaking). The fries now are just about as bad as Burger King fries. There's absolutely no selection, they have the SAME thing in all of the places. Oh, they may call it something a little different but it's the same thing. The deserts are a joke. Luckily, they still have some good ice cream but that's about it any more.
Breakfasts used to be very good. Great cinamon rolls, eggs, potatoes, etc. Now, the cinamon rolls are edible (at best), the eggs aren't terribly great and some of the places have moved to crappy hash browns like you'd get at McDonalds--I did find real hash browns luckily enough.
On top of all of this, forget about getting into any table service joint unless you made reservations months in advance. Too many people with the plan make multiple reservations and NEVER cancel the ones they have no intention of keeping. This locks out those of us who don't know what they're having for dinner tonight much less months from now.
I think the dining plans are excellent values--if you don't mind the food you get. You get a lot of it but the food has gone steadily downhill since they started the plans. Also, with or without a plan, you still can't get into places unless you make reservations months in advance. This is very frustrating. I've given up on using the plans any more because I can't get into anywhere and it's a waste if you only use it for burgers and fries. We wind up off the property for dinner usually now.
We were able to get my younger son into the Crystal Palace for the character breakfast (thankfully). The food there is still good thank goodness! however, $76 for two adults and one child is just a wee bit steep for a buffet breakfast. My son loved it so that takes some of the sting out of the price but it's still very expensive.
We also ate at Whispering Springs again. We love the joint. Food is quite good and it's a blast. However, I will say they didn't do as much as they used to. Seems like they only brought ketchup around, not crayons and other things. Much more fun with everyone dropping off 100 crayons on your table. Oh well, still enjoyed it.
One thing I want to mention is a CM named Alyssa. She worked at the noodle place in MK. We stopped there for breakfast on Friday and we were about to order when she noticed the birthday button on my younger son. She pulled him and my older son out of line to color and gave them cookies. Things like this is why I still love Disney (regardless of the complaints I'm airing in this thread).
Transportation
I must say, Disney seems to be doing a better and better job with the transportation. Over the years I've had mixed reviews for the transportation system but, the last few times we've gone, everything has been run much more smoothly. Never waited more than a few minutes for anything (bus, monorail, boat, train, etc.). Even with the crowds, there seemed to be an adequate amount of busses running. I'm glad to see they're getting this right.
I still think they need to go back to when the bus drivers were more, "involved," with the passengers. They're all polite and all but it was more fun when they'd talk to everyone, give Disney trivia, sing songs, etc. Now, they just turn on the recorded, "We are now on our way to..." message and drive you to your destination. Much less personal for sure.
I also will never understand why they don't make the stop numbers the SAME no matter what park you're at. Wouldn't be hard and would take a lot of confusion out of finding your bus when you're leaving.
Space Mountain
Yes, we, like most of you, love Space Mountain. However, we were informed they're finally taking it down in 2 weeks for the 2+ year refurb we've been hearing about for so long. I have to poke around and see if anyone knows what they're doing. If they're going to have it down for that long they must be doing more than just refurbing it. I'll miss it for sure. Glad we got on it a couple of more times before they close it.
Toy Story Mania
Still as crowded as ever. If you want to get on it, be there at rope drop, run, don't walk, to the attraction, grab a fast pass then ride it--you'll want to do it again. On Thursday, we waited for 20 minutes just to GET a FP. This was at about 9:30ish. We still love it though, well worth a wait.
Soarin
See what I wrote about Toy Story Mania and just insert, "Soarin," for Toy Story Mania.
Weather
We got lucky and unlucky at the same time. No rain--always a good thing and it wasn't as hot as it could have been. However, on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was actually chilly (at least the morning on Wednesday). Never got above 50ish on Tuesday and it never got very warm on Wednesday (maybe 60--was 43 in the morning). Honestly, I'll take that over hot any day. Reminded me of the weather we get in December--only colder.
Conclusion
Although I complained about things like the food, we still love Disney and will continue to go. We'll be back the first week in December for my older son's birthday. My biggest complaints have to do with Disney starting to nickel and dime us with things like paying a fortune for non-expiring tickets, the food not being as good as it used to and a few other things. Doesn't ruin the experience but I miss the other things. So, don't take this message as me hating on Disney. I just want to see them do better. We still love it though.
Not a Disney pic but taken while in FL.
Oh, the wife also says she HATES the coffee there. I don't drink coffee so I can't comment.
We just got home yesterday and though I miss Disney I dont miss all those crowds. 
so we are kind of stuck going when he is out of school.
It was the same in March 2009, but I was prepared that time! 
