chloelovesdisney
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 19, 2007
- Messages
- 8,415
Got back last night, was in WDW from 8/26-9/2. After all my worries we had a great trip, luckily had good CM encounters and didn't encounter cleanliness issues or attraction malfunctions (except Soarin kind of, see below).
First observation, where were all the guests? Was surprisingly slow. Followed easywdw recommendations and arrived for rope drop but still, yay for short waits though. Made great use of FP+, loved being able to schedule additional FP+ from the app. That was especially useful when park hopping, walked right onto something on arrival. Left MK one afternoon at 3:30pm got a TSM FP+ for 4:05p, got off TSM and made another FP+ for an hour later (that was the next time available). The third track makes a huge difference. The Star Wars characters and shows were a big hit, my son especially enjoyed trading with the Jawa and meeting Chewbacca.
We skipped Fantasmic this time around to get a good spot for the Star Wars fireworks which was a top hit of the week.
Perhaps it was the low crowds that made a difference but in previous trips I've had major issues accessing the MDE app in the parks and it worked fine this time around.
Security wasn't especially more onerous this past week, all the adults in our group had to go through the metal detector one time entering the International Gateway, my son stayed in the stroller parked right next to the machine. One other time my mother was asked to walk through. Bag check wasn't as bad as I expected.
In Epcot the Frozen ride was a big hit with my family. I loved Maelstrom and wasn't excited for the change (at all), but actually found it to be well done and enjoyable. Also spent a good amount of time playing the games when you get off Spaceship Earth, that was hugely popular with my 4yo and brother who came along.
Not sure what is the deal with the new Soarin, we rode twice in different theaters and found the movie to be oddly distorted in many scenes. It really took away from the experience.
It was the only issue out of the entire week that I scratched my head at. I like the idea in theory but wasn't impressed due to the distortions. I would have liked if they chose scenes from all the countries in the World Showcase.
We had great experiences with the photopass photographers this trip, found them out and about and got some wonderful family photos. I hadn't purchased the memory maker ahead of time since I am flooded with Disney pics from previous trips but broke down and ordered the one day version for a day we hopped and had a large number of great pictures in photopass. The $59 one day charge was worth it to me for my son's first Splash Mountain pic, plus the SDMT and Buzz pics and all the other pics for the day from the two parks. The one day price appeared in the app when I looked at the photopass pics, so it is still available!
Enjoyed all of our meals except Pecos Bills, didn't care for the menu changes or food we got.
Garden Grill, Via Napoli, Cape May Cafe and Beaches and Cream were all top hits.
Finally made it to Typhoon Lagoon, we all liked it especially the lazy river and kid's play area. Holy moly, that wave pool is serious, I only stayed in it briefly but other braver souls in my family stayed in longer.
We arrived about an hour after park opening and were able to find a couple chairs which we shared since at least 2 or 3 of us were usually off doing something at any given time.
If you have a free evening on a rest day, the Chip and Dale sing along and campfire at Fort Wilderness was a big hit. The singer there did a great job and dancing with Chip and Dale was a fun and new experience. I brought a bag of marshmallows but purchased the sticks there. It is kind of a trek there but for a one time thing was fun.
All in all we had a great trip and are starting our plans for next year (or maybe the year after).
Happy planning!
First observation, where were all the guests? Was surprisingly slow. Followed easywdw recommendations and arrived for rope drop but still, yay for short waits though. Made great use of FP+, loved being able to schedule additional FP+ from the app. That was especially useful when park hopping, walked right onto something on arrival. Left MK one afternoon at 3:30pm got a TSM FP+ for 4:05p, got off TSM and made another FP+ for an hour later (that was the next time available). The third track makes a huge difference. The Star Wars characters and shows were a big hit, my son especially enjoyed trading with the Jawa and meeting Chewbacca.
We skipped Fantasmic this time around to get a good spot for the Star Wars fireworks which was a top hit of the week.
Perhaps it was the low crowds that made a difference but in previous trips I've had major issues accessing the MDE app in the parks and it worked fine this time around.
Security wasn't especially more onerous this past week, all the adults in our group had to go through the metal detector one time entering the International Gateway, my son stayed in the stroller parked right next to the machine. One other time my mother was asked to walk through. Bag check wasn't as bad as I expected.
In Epcot the Frozen ride was a big hit with my family. I loved Maelstrom and wasn't excited for the change (at all), but actually found it to be well done and enjoyable. Also spent a good amount of time playing the games when you get off Spaceship Earth, that was hugely popular with my 4yo and brother who came along.
Not sure what is the deal with the new Soarin, we rode twice in different theaters and found the movie to be oddly distorted in many scenes. It really took away from the experience.
It was the only issue out of the entire week that I scratched my head at. I like the idea in theory but wasn't impressed due to the distortions. I would have liked if they chose scenes from all the countries in the World Showcase. We had great experiences with the photopass photographers this trip, found them out and about and got some wonderful family photos. I hadn't purchased the memory maker ahead of time since I am flooded with Disney pics from previous trips but broke down and ordered the one day version for a day we hopped and had a large number of great pictures in photopass. The $59 one day charge was worth it to me for my son's first Splash Mountain pic, plus the SDMT and Buzz pics and all the other pics for the day from the two parks. The one day price appeared in the app when I looked at the photopass pics, so it is still available!
Enjoyed all of our meals except Pecos Bills, didn't care for the menu changes or food we got.
Garden Grill, Via Napoli, Cape May Cafe and Beaches and Cream were all top hits. Finally made it to Typhoon Lagoon, we all liked it especially the lazy river and kid's play area. Holy moly, that wave pool is serious, I only stayed in it briefly but other braver souls in my family stayed in longer.
We arrived about an hour after park opening and were able to find a couple chairs which we shared since at least 2 or 3 of us were usually off doing something at any given time. If you have a free evening on a rest day, the Chip and Dale sing along and campfire at Fort Wilderness was a big hit. The singer there did a great job and dancing with Chip and Dale was a fun and new experience. I brought a bag of marshmallows but purchased the sticks there. It is kind of a trek there but for a one time thing was fun.
All in all we had a great trip and are starting our plans for next year (or maybe the year after).
Happy planning!
