On our recent trip to Disney World, I learned a lot of things....
1). June is too crowded. I know I should have known that, but it was so much worse than I anticipated. My dh had one week all summer he could take vacation, and it was June 5-12, so that's when we took it. I wouldn't pass up the chance to go, even if its in June, but if I can pick, I won't pick June again. The weather was perfect! I didn't think it was too hot at all. Just too crowded.
2) The bus transportation is nice, but again, too crowded. The night we left MK at midnight, exhausted, hot, and of course, tired, we were standing in line for a bus back to POP with - no kidding - about 1,500 other people. I am not exaggerating at all. The line for POP was jam-packed with people nearly everytime we got in it. When the buses only come every 20 minutes or so, it doesn't take long to get way too many people in line.
3) GET THE DINING PLAN. It was awesome and we ate like royalty. We quickly figured out it was best not to buy meals for our daughter. She didn't eat enough to justify it, and we could use her meal for a meal/snack for us later on! She did better eating off our plates, and we were able to get better meals using her plan. I loved the dining plan.
4) Character meals are SO WORTH IT! We ate breakfast in the castle and it was incredible. I loved every minute of it. I wish I could hear "Attention Lords & Ladies of the Castle.... Now seating the Royal Tuck Family..." before every meal!!! That was awesome. My dd3 was dressed like Belle in the yellow dress, and Belle came to our table dressed in the blue dress with the apron - she was so great with my dd!! I told her I hoped she didn't mind us borrowing her dress - she said she had been looking everywhere for it! She flipped to my dd's autograph book to find her name and used it in conversation, as if she knew her personally without asking her name - that was really cool. We also got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Mary Poppins. The Fairy Godmother was in the lobby area and she was PRECIOUS. Sweet little "grandmotherly" type lady. Could have sat and talked with her all day! The next day we did PSB at Epcot. We were looking forward to *hopefully* seeing Mulan, Jasmine and/or Ariel, but all we got was Jasmine. The rest was the same as the day before, with the exception of Mary Poppins. My dd was disappointed, but that only lasted a minute. The interaction was incredibly brief at PSB. At CRT they took all the time you wanted. Both were still great, and very worth it. And I highly recommend letting your little girls wear their dress-up dresses. It adds to the magic!
3) We did Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We LOVED it. It was AWESOME! I did the twist with Goofy!! How great is that? My dd was picked out of a crowd of 600 to help present the desserts and dance on stage with the cast. It was our most "magical moment" of the whole trip! We had so much fun at the bbq - it was probably the best thing we did all week. Great food - great atmosphere. Can't say enough about it.
4) Pop is too big and getting bigger. It was a clean, comfortable room, but the walk was too long and lines were too long and I'm not sure we'll ever go back again. I loved the icons and I love the theme. It's really cute, and I'm glad we stayed there this time. Next time, I'd like to do something a little more "quaint".
5) We could've saved money on the Park Hopper passes. We never hopped a single time. The option to do it was nice, but we never took advantage of it, so it feels like we wasted the money. I'm not sure if we'll do that again or not...
6) Definitely get PS's - or AR's - whatever they' re called. We still waited for a table everytime, but it wasn't near what it would've been if we just walked in.
7) Don't go to MGM without seeing Fantasmic! It is so incredible! Loved it!
8) Fastpasses only work if the ride works. My dh got a FP for SM three times and everytime he went back, the ride was broken. He has still NEVER riden Space Mountain or Splash Mountain. That was disappointing.
9) I had to take away my dd's reservation to the Wonderland Tea Party with Alice & the Mad Hatter because she was being SOOOO BAD. I threatened it, and then had to follow through. One month later, I'm still regreting doing that. I know she didn't deserve to get to go, but it has punished me worse than her!!! I really wish she could've gotten to do that. So be careful what you say - you might really have to do it!
10) Bring a stroller that is easy to fold. We didn't. Cuss. Cuss.
11) Take advantage of the PhotoPass people everytime you see them. Once you get home, there are nearly as many pictures as you wish you had.
12) EMH's are more crowded than regular park hours. That plan didn't work for us. Again - don't go in June.
13) Magical Express was good - until our luggage got lost. It was supposed to be in our room when we got there at 3:00. It had been sent to our room at 2:00. Around 5:00 a lady brought it and said, "oops - I put it in the room 3 doors down by mistake." That was 2 hours of panic and waiting that I wish we didn't have to go through. And there was no compensation other than "sorry". For those 2 hours we were "stuck". My dd wanted to go swimming, but we didn't have swimsuits. We didn't have anything! Human error. No big deal in the end, I guess.
14) Crocs are great at Disney! My 3 year old had fun picking them out in the crowd. We loved ours. Get some.
15) There's no place like it on earth. Even in June.
1). June is too crowded. I know I should have known that, but it was so much worse than I anticipated. My dh had one week all summer he could take vacation, and it was June 5-12, so that's when we took it. I wouldn't pass up the chance to go, even if its in June, but if I can pick, I won't pick June again. The weather was perfect! I didn't think it was too hot at all. Just too crowded.
2) The bus transportation is nice, but again, too crowded. The night we left MK at midnight, exhausted, hot, and of course, tired, we were standing in line for a bus back to POP with - no kidding - about 1,500 other people. I am not exaggerating at all. The line for POP was jam-packed with people nearly everytime we got in it. When the buses only come every 20 minutes or so, it doesn't take long to get way too many people in line.
3) GET THE DINING PLAN. It was awesome and we ate like royalty. We quickly figured out it was best not to buy meals for our daughter. She didn't eat enough to justify it, and we could use her meal for a meal/snack for us later on! She did better eating off our plates, and we were able to get better meals using her plan. I loved the dining plan.
4) Character meals are SO WORTH IT! We ate breakfast in the castle and it was incredible. I loved every minute of it. I wish I could hear "Attention Lords & Ladies of the Castle.... Now seating the Royal Tuck Family..." before every meal!!! That was awesome. My dd3 was dressed like Belle in the yellow dress, and Belle came to our table dressed in the blue dress with the apron - she was so great with my dd!! I told her I hoped she didn't mind us borrowing her dress - she said she had been looking everywhere for it! She flipped to my dd's autograph book to find her name and used it in conversation, as if she knew her personally without asking her name - that was really cool. We also got to meet Cinderella, Aurora, Snow White, and Mary Poppins. The Fairy Godmother was in the lobby area and she was PRECIOUS. Sweet little "grandmotherly" type lady. Could have sat and talked with her all day! The next day we did PSB at Epcot. We were looking forward to *hopefully* seeing Mulan, Jasmine and/or Ariel, but all we got was Jasmine. The rest was the same as the day before, with the exception of Mary Poppins. My dd was disappointed, but that only lasted a minute. The interaction was incredibly brief at PSB. At CRT they took all the time you wanted. Both were still great, and very worth it. And I highly recommend letting your little girls wear their dress-up dresses. It adds to the magic!
3) We did Mickey's Backyard BBQ. We LOVED it. It was AWESOME! I did the twist with Goofy!! How great is that? My dd was picked out of a crowd of 600 to help present the desserts and dance on stage with the cast. It was our most "magical moment" of the whole trip! We had so much fun at the bbq - it was probably the best thing we did all week. Great food - great atmosphere. Can't say enough about it.
4) Pop is too big and getting bigger. It was a clean, comfortable room, but the walk was too long and lines were too long and I'm not sure we'll ever go back again. I loved the icons and I love the theme. It's really cute, and I'm glad we stayed there this time. Next time, I'd like to do something a little more "quaint".
5) We could've saved money on the Park Hopper passes. We never hopped a single time. The option to do it was nice, but we never took advantage of it, so it feels like we wasted the money. I'm not sure if we'll do that again or not...
6) Definitely get PS's - or AR's - whatever they' re called. We still waited for a table everytime, but it wasn't near what it would've been if we just walked in.
7) Don't go to MGM without seeing Fantasmic! It is so incredible! Loved it!
8) Fastpasses only work if the ride works. My dh got a FP for SM three times and everytime he went back, the ride was broken. He has still NEVER riden Space Mountain or Splash Mountain. That was disappointing.
9) I had to take away my dd's reservation to the Wonderland Tea Party with Alice & the Mad Hatter because she was being SOOOO BAD. I threatened it, and then had to follow through. One month later, I'm still regreting doing that. I know she didn't deserve to get to go, but it has punished me worse than her!!! I really wish she could've gotten to do that. So be careful what you say - you might really have to do it!
10) Bring a stroller that is easy to fold. We didn't. Cuss. Cuss.
11) Take advantage of the PhotoPass people everytime you see them. Once you get home, there are nearly as many pictures as you wish you had.
12) EMH's are more crowded than regular park hours. That plan didn't work for us. Again - don't go in June.
13) Magical Express was good - until our luggage got lost. It was supposed to be in our room when we got there at 3:00. It had been sent to our room at 2:00. Around 5:00 a lady brought it and said, "oops - I put it in the room 3 doors down by mistake." That was 2 hours of panic and waiting that I wish we didn't have to go through. And there was no compensation other than "sorry". For those 2 hours we were "stuck". My dd wanted to go swimming, but we didn't have swimsuits. We didn't have anything! Human error. No big deal in the end, I guess.
14) Crocs are great at Disney! My 3 year old had fun picking them out in the crowd. We loved ours. Get some.
15) There's no place like it on earth. Even in June.
