capegirl
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2003
- Messages
- 2,347
Our weather, and the crowds were much better than we ever expected. We had a couple of storms, but due to unusually good timing we successfully avoided using our ponchos for the first time in our Disney vacation history, so this was quite remarkable for Florida in July.
On our EPCOT day, we had an 8am Akershus ADR. We were allowed into the park at 8:50, and we were one of the first to check in. The breakfast was very nice, our server was wonderful, and she kindly brought out some Mickey waffles for our table. We had plenty of time for our meal, and photos with all of the princesses....then the FEA drama began. We left the breakfast at 8:50, and waited in the FEA line with the breakfast goers. Unfortunately FEA was down, and stayed down for hours that day. Lucky for us the it was up and running when we returned to EPCOT in the evening, and we were able to ride. We all thought it was cute,
but I do not think they have worked out all the bugs as the boats were bumping the sides, and at one point we were hit pretty hard by the boat behind us. FEA was 'rough around the edges' on that day, and after this experience I can see why the ride is often down.
We enjoyed the new Soarin' but the original is still our fave. We did the single rider for TT with only a 20 minute wait. They need to crank up the AC in Spaceship Earth; we were hot and sweaty time travellers.
We had two MK days. Our first day was an 8am opening, we did have FPs for 7DMT, Splash and BTMRR, that we did not even need. For some reason Wishes was at 9pm rather than the usual 10pm on this day and we had a great spot. Let me just say that I adore Wishes, but it did not seem as magical on this particular night. For some reason the crowd was quite loud and I think it was a big distraction for me. On our second MK day we had an 8am BOG breakfast that worked out very well for us considering it was also an EMM day. We got into the park a little before 7:45am, took our sweet time strolling up Main St.and arrived at a deserted BOG. We had our choice of any table in any room, and we chose Rose room. Somehow our GPS rose was malfunctioning as we received another table's order. The CMs seemed to be mystified by this, and I was asked for our receipt that of course was buried deep in the park bag. I had to dig for it by the light of DD's cell phone. Once I produced the receipt,
our food finally found it's way to our table.
After breakfast we were allowed to ride 7DMT at 8:40. We rode it three times, before the mob arrived. I have to say that this was the easiest day we've ever had at MK; every ride was a walk on and we had time to hang out at the shooting gallery in FL, and we took the train for a spin around the park . Just before noon we walked up to the Plaza restaurant and were seated immediately for lunch. While we were enjoying our meal the 'Mayor' arrived, so this was a wonderful surprise. After lunch we walked into the barber shop where DGS got a great haircut with no wait.
Best day ever at MK.
During our trip the monorails were limping along, many delays due to operational issues. Some monorails had wet seats from leaking ACs, and on others the AC was barely functioning especially the EPCOT monorail.
The only big security backup we encountered was at DHS. We arrived at 7:30 am, after a long wait for a DHS bus. They did not open the park early as they often do, so everything got backed up in bag check. It was an 8:00am EMH day, and there was a massive crowd building behind us.
We did not make it into the park until 8:20 am. I questioned Disney's call on not opening DHS a little early given the EMH crowds. I think it would have prevented much of the bag check delays. As a side note, we did one Universal day this trip, where everyone walks through a scanner; the process was much faster over on the dark side. When we arrived early at a Disney park, we noticed our whole family was asked to go through the scanners. When we arrived later in the day, it was a random selection. I also thought my bag was searched more thoroughly when going to the parks in the evening. They always searched through every nook and cranny and always asked me to open a small RFID card case that I carry in my purse.
We did the Star Wars dessert party at DHS. We checked in at Launch Bay at 7:30 pm, traded trinkets with the Jawas, and we were admitted to the party at 8:00 pm. Lots of snacks, and drinks, but NO SEATING at the tables. There were a couple of small benches up against a wall that were occupied. DD sat on the edge of a room divider, and a CM immediately came over and asked if she was okay. We had the feeling that 'sitting' was discouraged. There were also some tired children sitting under the tall tables. Around 9:15 pm we were escorted to the fireworks viewing area by the Stormtroopers and CMs who led us out through the mass of humanity already in place in front of the theatre. Our viewing area was in the center behind the large crowd. A busy walkway separated us from the crowd up front. This location was obviously chosen to give us the best view of all the projections on the theatre. I talked about this over on the Star Wars dessert party thread, but our view was not perfect due to the location of the show and issues within the wheelchair portion of dessert party viewing area. All things considered, the dessert party was was a pretty cool experience, but it was a one and done thing for us.
It was boiling hot on our AK day, so we did our fave rides, and left. We were not not interested in the nighttime safari, or the interim JB show. We enjoyed many good meals, Akershus, Trails End, Kona Cafe, etc....and great snacks of course. We tried out Traded Sam's...very cute vibe going on, but so tiny. Oddly, our stand out lunch was at the
Contemporary's Contempo Cafe. Their menu had better choices than many of the resort and MK counter services and I think many park goers have discovered this since the place was packed. Food is brought to your table so this was a plus.
We were amazed at all the changes with Disney Springs, definitely a shopping and dining extravaganza. We loved standing on the bridge looking down at the manmade spring; they did an outstanding job with this. It looked so inviting we wanted to jump in to escape the heat.
Prior to our trip there was discussion about mosquitos, and the Zika virus. We did use bug spray when we went out at night, but we did not have any mosquito encounters.
We saw many alligator warning signs, and the new fences at the Poly and at the GF where the fence construction project was still ongoing. This trip, we stayed at SOG, and this was the first time we did not see any alligators. A SOG bellman told us the larger gators had been removed, even from SOG property, and only the young gators remained.
All of the bathrooms that I visited were in good shape compared to our 2015 trip when they were a disaster.
We saw many tour groups but they had no impact on our park days. I am always amazed at their perfectly coordinated matching attire
and backpacks.
This was a longer vacation for us, and we were able to venture over to Universal for a day, and relax at our resort instead of running to the parks everyday like we usually do. We also spent a lovely afternoon exploring the town of Celebration.
We just arrived home this afternoon, and we're already home sick for our
'second home'. Can't wait to start planning our next Disney adventure.
One more thing...on this trip I followed the advice one of the touring experts and for the most part, we only went to the parks on recommended days; worked liked charm.
On our EPCOT day, we had an 8am Akershus ADR. We were allowed into the park at 8:50, and we were one of the first to check in. The breakfast was very nice, our server was wonderful, and she kindly brought out some Mickey waffles for our table. We had plenty of time for our meal, and photos with all of the princesses....then the FEA drama began. We left the breakfast at 8:50, and waited in the FEA line with the breakfast goers. Unfortunately FEA was down, and stayed down for hours that day. Lucky for us the it was up and running when we returned to EPCOT in the evening, and we were able to ride. We all thought it was cute,
but I do not think they have worked out all the bugs as the boats were bumping the sides, and at one point we were hit pretty hard by the boat behind us. FEA was 'rough around the edges' on that day, and after this experience I can see why the ride is often down.
We enjoyed the new Soarin' but the original is still our fave. We did the single rider for TT with only a 20 minute wait. They need to crank up the AC in Spaceship Earth; we were hot and sweaty time travellers.
We had two MK days. Our first day was an 8am opening, we did have FPs for 7DMT, Splash and BTMRR, that we did not even need. For some reason Wishes was at 9pm rather than the usual 10pm on this day and we had a great spot. Let me just say that I adore Wishes, but it did not seem as magical on this particular night. For some reason the crowd was quite loud and I think it was a big distraction for me. On our second MK day we had an 8am BOG breakfast that worked out very well for us considering it was also an EMM day. We got into the park a little before 7:45am, took our sweet time strolling up Main St.and arrived at a deserted BOG. We had our choice of any table in any room, and we chose Rose room. Somehow our GPS rose was malfunctioning as we received another table's order. The CMs seemed to be mystified by this, and I was asked for our receipt that of course was buried deep in the park bag. I had to dig for it by the light of DD's cell phone. Once I produced the receipt,
our food finally found it's way to our table.
After breakfast we were allowed to ride 7DMT at 8:40. We rode it three times, before the mob arrived. I have to say that this was the easiest day we've ever had at MK; every ride was a walk on and we had time to hang out at the shooting gallery in FL, and we took the train for a spin around the park . Just before noon we walked up to the Plaza restaurant and were seated immediately for lunch. While we were enjoying our meal the 'Mayor' arrived, so this was a wonderful surprise. After lunch we walked into the barber shop where DGS got a great haircut with no wait.
Best day ever at MK.
During our trip the monorails were limping along, many delays due to operational issues. Some monorails had wet seats from leaking ACs, and on others the AC was barely functioning especially the EPCOT monorail.
The only big security backup we encountered was at DHS. We arrived at 7:30 am, after a long wait for a DHS bus. They did not open the park early as they often do, so everything got backed up in bag check. It was an 8:00am EMH day, and there was a massive crowd building behind us.
We did not make it into the park until 8:20 am. I questioned Disney's call on not opening DHS a little early given the EMH crowds. I think it would have prevented much of the bag check delays. As a side note, we did one Universal day this trip, where everyone walks through a scanner; the process was much faster over on the dark side. When we arrived early at a Disney park, we noticed our whole family was asked to go through the scanners. When we arrived later in the day, it was a random selection. I also thought my bag was searched more thoroughly when going to the parks in the evening. They always searched through every nook and cranny and always asked me to open a small RFID card case that I carry in my purse.
We did the Star Wars dessert party at DHS. We checked in at Launch Bay at 7:30 pm, traded trinkets with the Jawas, and we were admitted to the party at 8:00 pm. Lots of snacks, and drinks, but NO SEATING at the tables. There were a couple of small benches up against a wall that were occupied. DD sat on the edge of a room divider, and a CM immediately came over and asked if she was okay. We had the feeling that 'sitting' was discouraged. There were also some tired children sitting under the tall tables. Around 9:15 pm we were escorted to the fireworks viewing area by the Stormtroopers and CMs who led us out through the mass of humanity already in place in front of the theatre. Our viewing area was in the center behind the large crowd. A busy walkway separated us from the crowd up front. This location was obviously chosen to give us the best view of all the projections on the theatre. I talked about this over on the Star Wars dessert party thread, but our view was not perfect due to the location of the show and issues within the wheelchair portion of dessert party viewing area. All things considered, the dessert party was was a pretty cool experience, but it was a one and done thing for us.
It was boiling hot on our AK day, so we did our fave rides, and left. We were not not interested in the nighttime safari, or the interim JB show. We enjoyed many good meals, Akershus, Trails End, Kona Cafe, etc....and great snacks of course. We tried out Traded Sam's...very cute vibe going on, but so tiny. Oddly, our stand out lunch was at the
Contemporary's Contempo Cafe. Their menu had better choices than many of the resort and MK counter services and I think many park goers have discovered this since the place was packed. Food is brought to your table so this was a plus.
We were amazed at all the changes with Disney Springs, definitely a shopping and dining extravaganza. We loved standing on the bridge looking down at the manmade spring; they did an outstanding job with this. It looked so inviting we wanted to jump in to escape the heat.
Prior to our trip there was discussion about mosquitos, and the Zika virus. We did use bug spray when we went out at night, but we did not have any mosquito encounters.
We saw many alligator warning signs, and the new fences at the Poly and at the GF where the fence construction project was still ongoing. This trip, we stayed at SOG, and this was the first time we did not see any alligators. A SOG bellman told us the larger gators had been removed, even from SOG property, and only the young gators remained.
All of the bathrooms that I visited were in good shape compared to our 2015 trip when they were a disaster.
We saw many tour groups but they had no impact on our park days. I am always amazed at their perfectly coordinated matching attire
and backpacks.
This was a longer vacation for us, and we were able to venture over to Universal for a day, and relax at our resort instead of running to the parks everyday like we usually do. We also spent a lovely afternoon exploring the town of Celebration.
We just arrived home this afternoon, and we're already home sick for our
'second home'. Can't wait to start planning our next Disney adventure.
One more thing...on this trip I followed the advice one of the touring experts and for the most part, we only went to the parks on recommended days; worked liked charm.
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Glad you had fun!
Thanks for sharing!
