karen1987
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2013
- Messages
- 524
So we (my partner and I) arrived back yesterday morning after a two week trip having stayed at Pop Century. Overall we had a fantastic time (of course!) and despite being there 10 months previously, felt like big kids walking in for our first visit. I'll try and summarise as much as possible as we crammed a lot into two weeks!
The Good
- Prior to our trip I had read a lot, as we all have, about people not getting on with FP+, but for us it worked very very well. I had pre-booked our FP+ reservations at 42 days out (this was quite a last minute trip!), and was able to get everything we wanted (Didn't want A&E, but got 7DMT and Wishes).
We usually ended up changing FP+ times everyday, throughout the day, except for TSMM and 7DMT. Some days our FP+ reservations changed altogether as we decided to go to a different park the night before and we able to get times to suit our plans.
Most days we didn't exceed 3 FP+, but on a few MK days we were able to get 4th, 5th and 6th FP+, we even snagged a Space Mountain FP+ at 21.15 on a Saturday at the kiosk!
- Magic bands worked 100% of the time.
- Rope drop worked well for us and we were able to get a lot done before 10-11 at each park. On our first morning and shortly after MK opening, we walked onto Splash Mountain and BTMR, and had minimal waits for other rides until ~ 10.30 when the park began to fill up. Only one day did we speed walk for Soarin' at rope drop as there were a lot of people heading the same way!
- We also took advantage of the majority of EMH, as we prefer to be in the parks very early and/or very late, which enabled us to gets lots done.
- Despite this being August, the crowds and weather were manageable. Because we rope dropped and planned our FP+ for the late afternoon/evening we were able to skip long wait times and most of the thunderstorms.
- Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express were brilliant! Disney need to pull their socks up in comparison. Yes, the new Fantasyland has very intricate detail, but Diagon Alley was something else altogether.
- ADR - Boma (Dinner) is just brilliant. Such a range of fresh and delicious foods, and the price is quite reasonable too, plus we got to see the AKL which is breathtaking.
The OK
- Wishes FP+ was alright, and it was nice to be able to sit on the grass in the Rose Garden, but because of the numerous trees surrounding this area our view was partially obscured. We would have had a better view down Main St. USA.
- Pop Century was underwhelming, at least compared to AOR last year. In the end we viewed it as a place to sleep and cool off in the afternoons, not much more. We found the decor to be quite bland and the food court to be limited, this is in comparison to AOA. However, we were placed in my requested room which was 50's building, third floor, lake view and this gave us a great view of the Frozen Fireworks and was a very short walk to the buses. The buses at Pop towards the end of the trip became quite sporadic, and we chose to get the AOA bus a few times and walk over to Pop instead (I prefer to be in transit rather than waiting!). Other than that the buses were great and one usually arrived within 10 minutes.
- CM customer service at Pop and the parks was a bit hit and miss. Some were all about giving you magical customer service, and others looked bored and miserable, and were quite rude on a few occasions.
- Gringotts was disappointing. We queued an hour in the single rider line, starting at 9.10. We both agreed the Mummy is a lot better and the technology used in Transformers/Spiderman is much clearer and sharper.
- ADRs - At 50's PTC we waited 30+ mins to be seated before wondering what the wait was and asking, only to realise we'd been ticked off their list and listed as seated! At Sci-Fi, my meal arrived stone cold, but this was quickly sorted. Apart from that these meals were very nice and we especially enjoyed the 50's PTC as our waitress was in character and very funny.
The Bad
- BA...of course. Customer service was bad; no smiles and very brisk attitude.
I know airline food isn't meant to be gourmet, but what we were served was appalling and it didn't seem fair to see the majority of people around us eating plenty of their own food because the airline meal was either inedible or because the size of the meal is quite small. Drinks were also a problem, as they ran out of juices half way through the LGW-MCO flight and ran out of water an hour before landing at MCO.
On the return flight, the blankets we were given were so small and thin, and it was freezing cold! Plus, one of my blankets had a hole in and after departing the plane I found red bite marks all over my legs which I didn't have in Florida.
I wish we could have afforded to go with VA instead, and will seriously consider paying a bit more next time to avoid BA.
- The MDE app (iPhone) proved to be extremely frustrating! When it worked it was great, but about 50% of the time it crashed and skipped pages when we tried to change FP+ times. It also showed incorrect park hours one day, so it was a good job we double checked.
That's me on the left!
The Good
- Prior to our trip I had read a lot, as we all have, about people not getting on with FP+, but for us it worked very very well. I had pre-booked our FP+ reservations at 42 days out (this was quite a last minute trip!), and was able to get everything we wanted (Didn't want A&E, but got 7DMT and Wishes).
We usually ended up changing FP+ times everyday, throughout the day, except for TSMM and 7DMT. Some days our FP+ reservations changed altogether as we decided to go to a different park the night before and we able to get times to suit our plans.
Most days we didn't exceed 3 FP+, but on a few MK days we were able to get 4th, 5th and 6th FP+, we even snagged a Space Mountain FP+ at 21.15 on a Saturday at the kiosk!
- Magic bands worked 100% of the time.
- Rope drop worked well for us and we were able to get a lot done before 10-11 at each park. On our first morning and shortly after MK opening, we walked onto Splash Mountain and BTMR, and had minimal waits for other rides until ~ 10.30 when the park began to fill up. Only one day did we speed walk for Soarin' at rope drop as there were a lot of people heading the same way!
- We also took advantage of the majority of EMH, as we prefer to be in the parks very early and/or very late, which enabled us to gets lots done.
- Despite this being August, the crowds and weather were manageable. Because we rope dropped and planned our FP+ for the late afternoon/evening we were able to skip long wait times and most of the thunderstorms.
- Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express were brilliant! Disney need to pull their socks up in comparison. Yes, the new Fantasyland has very intricate detail, but Diagon Alley was something else altogether.
- ADR - Boma (Dinner) is just brilliant. Such a range of fresh and delicious foods, and the price is quite reasonable too, plus we got to see the AKL which is breathtaking.
The OK
- Wishes FP+ was alright, and it was nice to be able to sit on the grass in the Rose Garden, but because of the numerous trees surrounding this area our view was partially obscured. We would have had a better view down Main St. USA.
- Pop Century was underwhelming, at least compared to AOR last year. In the end we viewed it as a place to sleep and cool off in the afternoons, not much more. We found the decor to be quite bland and the food court to be limited, this is in comparison to AOA. However, we were placed in my requested room which was 50's building, third floor, lake view and this gave us a great view of the Frozen Fireworks and was a very short walk to the buses. The buses at Pop towards the end of the trip became quite sporadic, and we chose to get the AOA bus a few times and walk over to Pop instead (I prefer to be in transit rather than waiting!). Other than that the buses were great and one usually arrived within 10 minutes.
- CM customer service at Pop and the parks was a bit hit and miss. Some were all about giving you magical customer service, and others looked bored and miserable, and were quite rude on a few occasions.
- Gringotts was disappointing. We queued an hour in the single rider line, starting at 9.10. We both agreed the Mummy is a lot better and the technology used in Transformers/Spiderman is much clearer and sharper.
- ADRs - At 50's PTC we waited 30+ mins to be seated before wondering what the wait was and asking, only to realise we'd been ticked off their list and listed as seated! At Sci-Fi, my meal arrived stone cold, but this was quickly sorted. Apart from that these meals were very nice and we especially enjoyed the 50's PTC as our waitress was in character and very funny.
The Bad
- BA...of course. Customer service was bad; no smiles and very brisk attitude.
I know airline food isn't meant to be gourmet, but what we were served was appalling and it didn't seem fair to see the majority of people around us eating plenty of their own food because the airline meal was either inedible or because the size of the meal is quite small. Drinks were also a problem, as they ran out of juices half way through the LGW-MCO flight and ran out of water an hour before landing at MCO.
On the return flight, the blankets we were given were so small and thin, and it was freezing cold! Plus, one of my blankets had a hole in and after departing the plane I found red bite marks all over my legs which I didn't have in Florida.
I wish we could have afforded to go with VA instead, and will seriously consider paying a bit more next time to avoid BA.
- The MDE app (iPhone) proved to be extremely frustrating! When it worked it was great, but about 50% of the time it crashed and skipped pages when we tried to change FP+ times. It also showed incorrect park hours one day, so it was a good job we double checked.
That's me on the left!
