Where did the magic go?? 11 days at WDW Dec 6-16th!

[bellasmommy0]

Well the title could be misleading, we did have lots of magic.. but it seemed to me that it just wasnt the same as the previous trips we had made. All in all it was a wonderful trip, but would I go in December again..probably not! I will start filling you all in, in the next post.

 

[bellasmommy0]

Well this is my 1st trip report and I didnt keep notes, so bear with me and I will tell you all about the ups and downs of it!! We had some very magical moments and some not so magical moments... But all in all we had a great trip. We had 11 days with 10 day park hoppers, and looking back it was too long. But it was a lesson learned.

We started off our trip leaving the house at 7 am, our flight was at 830 am. We made it to the airport and checked in with no problems. Got onto the plane, and we sat and sat and sat!! We were supposed to have a 45 minute layover in Houston and we ended up not even havign time to go to the restroom!! The problem we had this morning was the rest. at our small airport, didnt have anything the kids would eat for breakfast and we had planned on feeding them there. Well when that didnt work, we figured we would have time to get something in Houston.. Well guess what that was a no go!! So we got to Orlando a little early at 1 pm! We were starving, and we had 2 cranky kids!! So we went straight to the McDonalds and pizza place there to eat!! After we were full and happy again, we were off to the magical express counter..........and the long lines started!! We waited forever, and then go into another line for the bus and waited forever again!! At least that is how it seemed!

Picture of DD on the Magical Express!

DD and nephew on magical express
We got to All Star movies at about 330 pm. I sent DH to claim the fridges that I had gotten in a fridge swap while I checked in. We got the Fantasia building, room 5917, we had a connecting room with SIL/BIL so it worked out good. At this point SIL and I took a taxi to the publix. We got what we needed for the week. We had a wonderful cab driver named Sandra..she was from Haiti. She was very friendly and stopped the clock and waited for us while we shopped.
Once we got back our bags were already there! So we got the rooms situated, and then off to DTD.
Well DH was tired so he stayed behind to take a nap, and met us a while later. SIL/BIL/DN and DD/I went our own ways. We looked around the stores, didnt buy much. DD got a light up toy. Took some pictures around DTD. DD thought she had to pose with everything.

DH met us about 730 and we had ADR's for Planet Hollywood at 9 pm, but it was drizzling and we were hungry. So we got over there about 8 pm and they got us right in. And I must say the food was Delicious!! It was very loud, but I expected that so it was OK. We enjoyed looking around at all of the memorabilia, and listening to the music. Sorry I couldnt take food pics, DH thought I was crazy with pics anyway! But DH had a steak, I had ribs, and DD had cheese pizza and it was all good. I had a drink called the "Gorillas in the mist", it was Delicious!!

See how much DD liked Planet Hollywood.
When we were done here we caught the bus and went back to clean up and rest for the next day!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Sorry I didnt resize those pics...and I thought I had fixed the one picture to be right side up! I will do better in the next post!

 

[kaysmommie]

looking foward to hearing all about your trip! Your kids are adorable. We had the same kind of trip this year with many ups and downs. I thought we were finished with Disney for a year or two but 3 weeks later I already missed it, LOL.

Sorry about your plane ride with starving kids, not fun at all.

 

[bellasmommy0]

looking foward to hearing all about your trip! We had the same kind of trip this year with many ups and downs. I thought we were finished with Disney for a year or two but 3 weeks later I already missed it, LOL.

Sorry about your plane ride with starving kids, not fun at all.

Before the trip DH was already saying "no more Disney for a few years" After this trip he is adament about not going again for at least 3 -4 years!! At this point I agree with him

 

[chascath]

Just got back yesterday (12-19) and will not be going back at least for several years if ever again. This year was s major bust. Mickey's party on the night of 12-16 was a total fiasco, bedlam, confusion, rudeness, gridlock, total waste of time and money. I really felt sorry for the folks in wheelchairs. They were going nowhere. Looked like one lady was on the verge of tears. Even the hardcore Disney go'ers and party veterans I talked to on the bus back to our hotel and the next day had the same comments.

Hollywood studios on thursday was the most crowded I have seen it during this time of year. Hit the major shows which were outstanding (Beauty and the Beast, Motor Stunt show), a couple of rides and got the heck out. Epcot on 12-15 was OK but except for the Norway pavilion we did not see the usual storytellers or other entertainment we usually see in front of all the pavilions.

The food of course became more expensive but the quality definitely went down. Even the reliable bar-b-que sandwich at Pecos Bill was a major miss. Tasted like sugared beef and smaller portion.

Wife commented that we were so flustered this visit that we did not spend any time enjoying the christmas decorations or the landscaping like we usually do. It was hurry up, go-go-go before fastpasses ran out or the lines reach the 45-60 minute wait times.

I'm already looking at alternatives for next year.....

 

[bellasmommy0]

Just got back yesterday (12-19) and will not be going back at least for several years if ever again. This year was s major bust. Mickey's party on the night of 12-16 was a total fiasco, bedlam, confusion, rudeness, gridlock, total waste of time and money. I really felt sorry for the folks in wheelchairs. They were going nowhere. Looked like one lady was on the verge of tears. Even the hardcore Disney go'ers and party veterans I talked to on the bus back to our hotel and the next day had the same comments.

Hollywood studios on thursday was the most crowded I have seen it during this time of year. Hit the major shows which were outstanding (Beauty and the Beast, Motor Stunt show), a couple of rides and got the heck out. Epcot on 12-15 was OK but except for the Norway pavilion we did not see the usual storytellers or other entertainment we usually see in front of all the pavilions.

The food of course became more expensive but the quality definitely went down. Even the reliable bar-b-que sandwich at Pecos Bill was a major miss. Tasted like sugared beef and smaller portion.

Wife commented that we were so flustered this visit that we did not spend any time enjoying the christmas decorations or the landscaping like we usually do. It was hurry up, go-go-go before fastpasses ran out or the lines reach the 45-60 minute wait times.

I'm already looking at alternatives for next year.....

I completely understand. We attended the 12/9 Xmas party and feel like it was a complete waste of a large amount of money!! If and when we return to WDW, I will never waste extra money on one of their partys as both times I have went to one, it was a complete waste of time and money!!

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Can't wait to read more about your trip....

BTW my guy said the same about the parties, we've done both the halloween and Christmas, and we liked both but won't do them again. Disney though, yes, we booked bounceback!

 

[bellasmommy0]

Well I had wanted to get an early start, but after traveling the day before it didnt happen. It was about 10 am when we left the hotel. We were off to MK today.

(Notice the cute pillow case dress that MIL made for her, everybody loved it!)

We got a bus pretty quickly.

We got to MK and saw Daisy Duck, who we had missed on previous trips, so we got in line to meet her.

Our 1st site of the castle

As we approached the castle, the show was going on, so we stopped to watch that after much insistence from my DD!!

And then off to DD favorite ride, the teacups!!

We must have rode these 15 times or more over this trip!
This is our elve Max who is living with us until Xmas eve..she insisted he come to the park with us at least one day!

As were trying to not stand in long lines..as we had plenty of days left, we skipped alot of rides this day. After teacups we were off to Small World. And then we were off to the Jungle Cruise, which was a walk on at this time. And then Pirates of the Carribean, which also had a small line! ( If only they had all stayed this way all week!!). After this we found a spot for the parade in Frontierland, we got a great spot right at the start of the parade.

(This was about the time that the camera died.. so no more pics. There were a few from Chef Mickeys but they didnt turn out great, so I wont post them!)
By the time this was over it was time to start heading to our ADR at Chef Mickeys! And as always it was wonderful!! Our ADR was at 430, so we were some of the 1st in and the food was fresh and delicious. DD and nephew were excited to meet Mickey and the gang!! We decided after dinner to head back to the hotel to get warmer jackets as it was getting quite cold, and head to Hollywood Studios for EMH. We didnt plan to do much that night, but just wanted mostly to see the Osborne lights. But we also did Muppets 3D, and The Little Mermaid show. We also dropped into the Playhouse disney dance party, but DD and DN were too tired to care about dancing. When we got to the lights we were in AWE!! That is worth the entire trip even the unmagical moments!! And it wasnt crowded this night so DD and DN were able to get out of their strollers and try and catch snow and play around. It was absolutely MAGICAL!! Unfortunately, I had not planned well, and didnt have my camera fully charged..so no pics from that night! We headed back pretty early since we still had alot of days and didnt want to wear ourselves out early in the trip!!

 

[siestakey]

I agree, and I am an Annual Pass Holder! Disney Magic is GONE, and my cup was always full, all my clouds had silver linings, and it is now a foggy day at Disney. Cedar Point treated their guests better! My DH said NO RENEWAL THIS YEAR! and my glass is now 1/2 full, should I go for it?? Sadly, I think I have to agree............Where has all the magic gone??????

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

Bella- am trying to pm you but your box is full!!

 

[jollyg]

We just returned from our first ever trip to WDW (12-6 through 12-14).

We were all so excited about going because we had planned and saved for over two years to make it happen.......what a major disappointment!

We have 4 kids ranging in age from 13 to 2 and by the 3rd day my 8 years old was crying because she wanted to go home.

We are an easy going easy to please kind of family, but I'd never met so many rude and discourteous park employees in my life.

Our entire trip we only had one employee who ever gave us the time of day and she was working in one of those DVC booths.

Most of the time we felt like cattle being herded to the next watering hole, so that we could stand in line for hours again.

I made a reservation for our family to have lunch at Ciderelle's Royal Table on the day of our arrival to WDW. We arrived only to find out that they didn't have our reservation, but they charged my credit card for it when I made the reservation back in July!

Over all our experience was that WDW is way to big and way to crowed.

The "Disney Magic" we thought we would get turned out to be rudeness, disorganization and frustration!

We paid around $1500 for our 7 day hopper tickets for our family of 6 and felt it was a waist of money.

The few things we did get to do at WDW was enjoyable, but we'll never invest the time and money to do it again to be treated like that.

 

[bellasmommy0]

We just returned from our first ever trip to WDW (12-6 through 12-14).

We were all so excited about going because we had planned and saved for over two years to make it happen.......what a major disappointment!

We have 4 kids ranging in age from 13 to 2 and by the 3rd day my 8 years old was crying because she wanted to go home.

We are an easy going easy to please kind of family, but I'd never met so many rude and discourteous park employees in my life.

Our entire trip we only had one employee who ever gave us the time of day and she was working in one of those DVC booths.

Most of the time we felt like cattle being herded to the next watering hole, so that we could stand in line for hours again.

I made a reservation for our family to have lunch at Ciderelle's Royal Table on the day of our arrival to WDW. We arrived only to find out that they didn't have our reservation, but they charged my credit card for it when I made the reservation back in July!

Over all our experience was that WDW is way to big and way to crowed.

The "Disney Magic" we thought we would get turned out to be rudeness, disorganization and frustration!

We paid around $1500 for our 7 day hopper tickets for our family of 6 and felt it was a waist of money.

The few things we did get to do at WDW was enjoyable, but we'll never invest the time and money to do it again to be treated like that.

Not that I am glad others also had problems, but when I started writing this I thought that maybe I just had expected too much, but like you I ran into many rude employees and bad planning on Disneys part. I will add more later on!!

 

[joelp]

Well the title could be misleading, we did have lots of magic.. but it seemed to me that it just wasnt the same as the previous trips we had made. All in all it was a wonderful trip, but would I go in December again..probably not! I will start filling you all in, in the next post.

I've found you!!!

Since we were at WDW the same time ... I have to agree with your general feelings ... But - I also think we may have had toooo high expectations for a really MAGICAL vacation ...

... and the crowds - at least at the MK and during MVMCP - were much larger than I expected ...

Plus - going in December made dealing with the Holidays all that more stressful ...

But the weather was just about perfect ... and how about those Christmas decorations!?!

OK - time for me to read on ...

Have a great 2009 ... !!

P.S. working on my TR - but I may wait until the Photopass CD arrives ...

 

[joelp]

I completely understand. We attended the 12/9 Xmas party and feel like it was a complete waste of a large amount of money!! If and when we return to WDW, I will never waste extra money on one of their partys as both times I have went to one, it was a complete waste of time and money!!

I agree - the Dec 9 MVMCP was WAAAAYYYY more crowded than I expected!! Wall-to-wall people ... long lines for almost all the rides

And it was sooo bad we couldn't pull off our planned DIS Meet ...


I'm glad I did it this one time - but I doubt I'd do it (or any other hard ticket party) again ...

We finally caught a breather around 10:30 when we strolled into Tomorrowland - it was practically empty there ... so the DW got to ride Space Mtn. and the DD and I took a leisurely tour on the TTA ... I needed that!!

We saw all the shows but Belle's, but couldn't get a good spot for Holiday Wishes ...

 

[joelp]

Agghhh - we were so close to each other in the MK on Dec 7!!!

While you were watching the Castle show - we were just around the corner riding Winnie the Pooh and getting our picture taken with McScrooge McDuck ...!!

When you were on the Teacups - we were waiting in line for the Fairies in Toontown ...!!

We were just outside LTT during the parade ...!!



Bummer - I think it would have been a lot of fun to see our two DDs meet and carouse in the House of Mouse ...

... maybe next time ...


And where was Daisy Duck!?! - my DD has been dying to meet her the past two trips!!

 

[joelp]

Not that I am glad others also had problems, but when I started writing this I thought that maybe I just had expected too much, but like you I ran into many rude employees and bad planning on Disneys part. I will add more later on!!

Fortunately, we didn't have any of that!! All the CMs we encountered were great!!

Got to remember - everyone gets stressed out over the Holidays - and CMs are only human (right? ... despite that magic potion they make them drink every day ... )

 

[bellasmommy0]

Fortunately, we didn't have any of that!! All the CMs we encountered were great!!

Got to remember - everyone gets stressed out over the Holidays - and CMs are only human (right? ... despite that magic potion they make them drink every day ... )

Oh I do understand that the holidays had alot to do with the stress level, but as I write more and you read on you will see what I mean! It would have been great to meet you, but what can you say.. I did meet Lcaemom, I was standing by the gingerbread house at grand floridian waiting until check in time at 1900 Park Fare, and I heard are you bellasmommy....it took me a minute to click.. And then she told me who she was, so it was nice to put a face to the name. On our 1st night there, on the way back from DTD, we met a young lady who was there on the college program and her family was visiting, we asked her where to find Daisy Duck, as my DD was also bugging about her. She was between the restroom and the fire station in MK every day we were there, just out of view unless you were looking. So next time you will know where she is. We never did meet the fairies as the line was always 1 1/2 hours and DD didnt want to wait that long..that is another complaint on my part, that you will hear later on!! Happy New Year!!!

 

[Silver Queen]

We were at WDW during the same time period but had a very positive experience. We were at MVMCP on Dec. 9 and agree that it was much too crowded. Once we got in we headed right to Tomorrowland where the crowds were lighter. Getting in was tough because it was before 7:00 and there were still a lot of people in the park who didn't have party tickets. After that we just tried to make the best choices that we could to stay away from the most crowded areas and we were satisfied with what we were able to do. Now that we've done it once we would probably not go back to another MVMCP. There are not that many extras to warrant the additional money.
As far as the CMs were concerned we experienced exceptional service. The servers that we had in the restaurants ranged from good to exceptional and we made it a point to let the restaurant managers know when we had a great server (like Linda at Coral Reef and Julie at Chefs de France). We loved our first stay as DVC members at SSR. Once again, we were delighted with the excellent service and positive attitude from the CMs.
I recognize that everyone will have different experiences from time to time so all I'm saying is that we believe that there is still plenty of magic in The World and we're looking forward to returning.

 

[bellasmommy0]

We were at WDW during the same time period but had a very positive experience. We were at MVMCP on Dec. 9 and agree that it was much too crowded. Once we got in we headed right to Tomorrowland where the crowds were lighter. Getting in was tough because it was before 7:00 and there were still a lot of people in the park who didn't have party tickets. After that we just tried to make the best choices that we could to stay away from the most crowded areas and we were satisfied with what we were able to do. Now that we've done it once we would probably not go back to another MVMCP. There are not that many extras to warrant the additional money.
As far as the CMs were concerned we experienced exceptional service. The servers that we had in the restaurants ranged from good to exceptional and we made it a point to let the restaurant managers know when we had a great server (like Linda at Coral Reef and Julie at Chefs de France). We loved our first stay as DVC members at SSR. Once again, we were delighted with the excellent service and positive attitude from the CMs.
I recognize that everyone will have different experiences from time to time so all I'm saying is that we believe that there is still plenty of magic in The World and we're looking forward to returning.

Like I said in my first post, there was still alot of magic and we had a great time, but compared to previous trips this one was only so-so... . MVMCP although was a HUGE disappointment. As for CM we had some excellent ones and some incredibly rude ones. I am working on my next post now!! Happy New Year!!