I already sent in a review on our stay at POR from 11/26/06 - 12/5/06. If interested you can read it at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1296172
As for the parks, we had a park hopper pass The crowds were heavy the Saturday right after Thanksgiving, eased up a bit on Sunday, then were not that bad Monday thru Friday, but then picked up again the next Saturday and Sunday, but Disney always seems busy to me. My wife and I picked this week because many of our friends visited during the week after Thanksgiving and told us that the parks were empty. This is NOT true. The crowds may be less than other periods, but certainly not empty. You still have waiting times between 20 - 60 minutes depending on the ride. I really don't think there is a time when the parks are empty any more. Disney is a popular vacation spot. Regardless, we had a great time.
The parks decorations look very nice during the x-mas holiday season and will put you in the holiday spirit. The fast pass option also came in handy during busy times. Our favorite rides were the MGM's Rockin Rollercoaster, Epcot's Soarin and Mission Space, Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest. For our next trip we will try the dining plan. But I will always rent a car when we go. We saved so much time getting to the parks and coming home from the parks. I spoke to people in the parks and they were complaining about the wasted time due to buses. Some people had to wait almost an hour at closing time due to buses being full. This would have driven my wife and I crazy, especially after waiting in line for nearly everything else. The AAA diamond parking pass also helped alot. These parking spots are within easy walking distance to the front gate, however, there are not alot of them. Since we haven't been to Disney since 1993 I noticed that there are many more strollers in the parks and many people riding those motorized carts around. The 3D movies have also improved during this period, except for the muppet movie in MGM, this is the same movie that was there 13 years ago. I think that Disney may need to update some of the attractions in the near future to keep things interesting. We did enjoy a trip to Universal on a Wednesday. That day it was foggy and raining lightly when we left for the park. Turns our when we arrived we were the only ones in line waiting for tickets at 8:30 am. We purchased a 1 day 2 park ticket for US and IOA. Both parks were empty that day. The weather cleared up around 10:00 am. We were able to do all of both parks that day, there were no lines to speak of. The mummy ride was our favorite in US, and Spiderman was a big hit in IOA. I wanted to go on the Hulk rollercoaster, however, the Jimmy Neutron ride in US did me in earlier in the day. IOA reminds me a little like Busch Gardens. We were really glad we made the trip to US and IOA. This was a great trip for us and a nice time of the year to visit Orlando. We can't wait to return! I have posted some photos of the parks. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them.
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As for the parks, we had a park hopper pass The crowds were heavy the Saturday right after Thanksgiving, eased up a bit on Sunday, then were not that bad Monday thru Friday, but then picked up again the next Saturday and Sunday, but Disney always seems busy to me. My wife and I picked this week because many of our friends visited during the week after Thanksgiving and told us that the parks were empty. This is NOT true. The crowds may be less than other periods, but certainly not empty. You still have waiting times between 20 - 60 minutes depending on the ride. I really don't think there is a time when the parks are empty any more. Disney is a popular vacation spot. Regardless, we had a great time.
The parks decorations look very nice during the x-mas holiday season and will put you in the holiday spirit. The fast pass option also came in handy during busy times. Our favorite rides were the MGM's Rockin Rollercoaster, Epcot's Soarin and Mission Space, Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest. For our next trip we will try the dining plan. But I will always rent a car when we go. We saved so much time getting to the parks and coming home from the parks. I spoke to people in the parks and they were complaining about the wasted time due to buses. Some people had to wait almost an hour at closing time due to buses being full. This would have driven my wife and I crazy, especially after waiting in line for nearly everything else. The AAA diamond parking pass also helped alot. These parking spots are within easy walking distance to the front gate, however, there are not alot of them. Since we haven't been to Disney since 1993 I noticed that there are many more strollers in the parks and many people riding those motorized carts around. The 3D movies have also improved during this period, except for the muppet movie in MGM, this is the same movie that was there 13 years ago. I think that Disney may need to update some of the attractions in the near future to keep things interesting. We did enjoy a trip to Universal on a Wednesday. That day it was foggy and raining lightly when we left for the park. Turns our when we arrived we were the only ones in line waiting for tickets at 8:30 am. We purchased a 1 day 2 park ticket for US and IOA. Both parks were empty that day. The weather cleared up around 10:00 am. We were able to do all of both parks that day, there were no lines to speak of. The mummy ride was our favorite in US, and Spiderman was a big hit in IOA. I wanted to go on the Hulk rollercoaster, however, the Jimmy Neutron ride in US did me in earlier in the day. IOA reminds me a little like Busch Gardens. We were really glad we made the trip to US and IOA. This was a great trip for us and a nice time of the year to visit Orlando. We can't wait to return! I have posted some photos of the parks. If you have any questions I will be glad to answer them.
Great pics
