First trip since the 1990s- the post-Disney blues are intense

WawaCoffee

Thank the Phoenicians
Joined
Oct 8, 2018
First off, I would like to thank everybody in this community for providing a treasure trove of useful tips, information, and recommendations. My girlfriend and I haven't been to Disney World since the 1990s, and we wanted to make the most of our trip without breaking the bank. We arrived on January 7th and departed on the 12th. To summarize, we had an unbelievable time, but were a bit bothered by the crowds on some days. We booked this trip in the second week of January per the recommendation of our travel agent for being a slow week in the parks. I suppose the marathon brought in more crowds, but it was a bit too much for us to handle at times. The tips posted in this community (i.e., where to stand for Happily Ever After, which Fast Passes to grab), greatly contributed to the magic. So, here we go, starting with arrival day!


Port Orleans Riverside (Royal Room, Garden View)

We were instantly blown away by how gorgeous this resort is. I lurked on this community board for several weeks prior to booking the trip; we wanted to stay in a resort that was relatively quiet but still had access to the parks via bus/monorail. We stayed on the third floor in Oak Manor. Beautiful, quiet, clean, and welcoming are all understatements. We often got off the bus early at night just to take a stroll around the property. The staff we encountered were all very accommodating, from the greeter in the main lobby to the bellman who brought us our groceries.

Side note: I instructed the Amazon Prime Now delivery driver to tell Bell Services to deliver our groceries to our room while we were in Hollywood Studios. After arriving back at the resort at night, we were told by Bell Services that they do not deliver groceries to rooms unless you are physically present. Thankfully, we didn't have anything that needed to be refrigerated.

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Hollywood Studios

We went to Hollywood Studios the same day we arrived (up at 12:30 AM, stayed in the park from 10 AM to 7 PM- a very long day). I'm not sure if it was due to our exhaustion, but we both had an "average" experience at this park. We immediately rode Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and then grabbed lunch at ABC Commissary which was okay, but average at best. We both felt slightly queasy from the french fries. Toy Story land was an absolute mad house (about 3:30 PM), but we still managed to hop on Slinky Dash and meet Buzz. Seriously, this area of the park is a nightmare for somebody with anxiety. We should have waited until after dinner to head our way over, but we were exhausted.

Dinner at Sci-Fi Dine-In made our night. Our waiter was extremely pleasant and even gave us a dairy-free milkshake on the house after we told him we had been up since 12:30 AM. I went out of my way to find a manager and commend him on his service (the first time I have ever done that). If we did it all over again, we would have replaced this day with Animal Kingdom. Hollywood Studios just didn't seem to keep us entertained.

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Epcot (2 days)

Our experience at Epcot was bittersweet. Nearly everything was just as we remembered it from when we were kids, and the nostalgia was overwhelming. Spaceship Earth, despite no longer being narrated by Jeremy Irons, was still a blast, but it bugged me that the entire sequence where you return to earth focuses on a touchscreen instead of the scenes that are now gone. It felt like a lot of magic was gutted due to budget constraints.
  • We rope-dropped Test Track (first ones in line at the rope) and it was closed until 12 PM. It opened and closed about four different times throughout the day. We managed to jump on before it closed the final time. Seriously, what is going on with this ride?
  • We got stuck on Living with the Land for about 15-20 minutes and nearly missed our dinner ADR. The speakerphones used for emergency announcements on this ride MUST be turned up, or replaced. Nobody on the boats could hear the announcements being made. We also got stuck on Spaceship Earth for a short while, but we didn't mind AT ALL because it was during the final descent to earth. It was absolutely breathtaking and one of the highlights of our trip. Video below!
  • We were very disappointed with both La Hacienda and Marrakesh for dinner (more on Marrakesh in the next bullet point). A waiter at La Hacienda spilled a plate of bean puree on my lap and, without apologizing, casually walked away to grab a wet towel for me. The manager came over at the end of our dinner and apologized. Most of the broken glass and bean puree remained on the floor until I brought it to their attention. This was all at 5 PM- the place was empty. No excuse to not clean it up when there are a handful of staff standing around.
  • We originally had dinner reservations at Spice Road Table, but when we saw a crowd of 20+ college kids drinking and making a scene at the bar, I called Disney Reservations and demanded to switch us without the penalty. I'm not sure if this is normal for a Friday (again, we haven't been to Disney since the early 1990s), but world showcase felt like a college fraternity party. It was so bad that we avoided world showcase for 90% of the day. Most of the places we wanted to eat at (the French ice-cream store, for example) had lines extending out the building. I'd rather wait on line for a ride... which we did- Frozen!
  • Frozen was phenomenal. The quality and attention to detail is insane. If this is the level of quality Disney is putting into their new rides, then we will certainly return. Definitely one of our favorites of the entire trip.
  • We very much enjoyed the Disney Pixar Film Festival! It was a cute distraction from the madness of world showcase. Only a handful of people entered the theater with us.
Overall, Epcot was a great time. The Memory Maker photographers were set up in all of the areas where I wanted good photos, and every one we encountered was pleasant and took their time. I could honestly just hang around future world for hours and just stare at the beauty of Spaceship Earth and its surroundings. Looking over my shoulder the final night we left, I shed a few tears.

I was also upset that Figment had less than a five minute wait the entire time we were there. I took several photos and videos outside the building, because I was afraid it would be gone when we return 4-5 years from now. It broke my heart. I also bought a bunch of Figment merchandise on our final day in Epcot. Sadness.

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Magic Kingdom (2 Days)

My girlfriend preferred Magic Kingdom over Epcot. Our experience here was definitely magical, but I prefer the educational experience of Epcot. We were lucky enough to arrive a few days before the Christmas decorations were gone. Beautiful is an understatement for how the castle looks at night. The fireworks were even better (more on that below).
  • Breakfast at The Plaza was fantastic. Just the right amount of food and reasonably priced. Our food came out in under 10 minutes. I hope this place is still open for breakfast next time we come!
  • I'm not sure what all the hype is about regarding Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. After using my 3 Fast Passes, I managed to snag one just before dinner. We both thought it was cute, but we enjoyed Thunder Mountain much more. I would have been very annoyed if we stood in line for over an hour.
  • I got stuck on the lift in Space Mountain. After about 5 minutes the lights turned on and they began evacuating the cars one by one. We walked alongside the track and had to duck underneath it at one point (I touched the track which was awesome). I recorded a video but I'm afraid to post it, as they told us repeatedly to not record. The photo I took below was before they told us to put our phones/cameras away.
  • Several members of this community urge others to get a dinner reservation at Be our Guest. I managed to snag one for 6:30 PM. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We were both in tears by how amazing it was. The attention to detail throughout the restaurant is breathtaking. The food was cooked perfectly. Our waiter was extremely pleasant. The photo with Beast made our night. What was even better was walking past Fantasyland after the park closed. We hung around and took pictures. It was easily the best restaurant we had both ever eaten at.
  • Thanks to the map of Magic Kingdom posted here, we left our dinner ADR at Jungle Skipper around 6:15 PM and snagged an amazing spot for Happily Ever After Fireworks. We were in front of the statue of Walt/Mickey, standing behind the railing of the garden on the right side. This prevented people from standing in front of us. The crowd quickly poured in, and I quickly realized that I made a mistake by not bringing a towel to reserve our territory. Luckily, I'm a large guy, so nobody tried to squeeze next to us. The crowd behind us was insane. A clip of our viewing spot is below.

The crowd behind us was insane!
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We have been home for nearly four days and the post-Disney blues are still in full effect. It's extremely difficult for us to adjust after having such a great week. Thank you again to everyone here for posting tips and recommendations.. although I was lurking most of the time, you all helped make our vacation together even better. We won't be returning for at least 4-5 years, but I will still browse to see what's new and happening in the parks.

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Oh wow! It looks like you had a fantastic time!

I wouldn't worry too much about Figment--he seems to be the mascot for Epcot these days. tbh, I'm on the fence about even going on the ride. The old Journey into Imagination was one of my favorites, but the new one...eh.

I keep hoping that maybe one day they'll redo it to be less "late-90's Wacky Fantasy Science" and more whimsy. Maybe even bring back the Dreamfinder.
 
Thanks for the review and pictures! We are looking at going next January from the 5th-14th. How were the crowds by the end of your trip or throughout the parks? I realize a "slow time" doesn't really exist, but I'm still trying to get an idea on wait times. Thanks!!
 


Thanks for the review and pictures! We are looking at going next January from the 5th-14th. How were the crowds by the end of your trip or throughout the parks? I realize a "slow time" doesn't really exist, but I'm still trying to get an idea on wait times. Thanks!!

The crowds in the beginning of the week weren't bad. At 1pm, the wait time for Soarin was about 30 minutes, Pirates was 15 minutes, and Space Mountain was close to an hour. When Friday came around, the wait times nearly doubled, I'm assuming due to the WDW Marathon weekend approaching.

If I could do it over again, we would arrive on Sunday (instead of Monday) and leave Friday (instead of Saturday). I hope this helped!
 
The crowds in the beginning of the week weren't bad. At 1pm, the wait time for Soarin was about 30 minutes, Pirates was 15 minutes, and Space Mountain was close to an hour. When Friday came around, the wait times nearly doubled, I'm assuming due to the WDW Marathon weekend approaching.

If I could do it over again, we would arrive on Sunday (instead of Monday) and leave Friday (instead of Saturday). I hope this helped!

Thank you so much! Appreciate the advice, a little apprehensive about marathon weekend, but hoping we do enough planning that it will work out okay :-)
 
The crowds in the beginning of the week weren't bad. At 1pm, the wait time for Soarin was about 30 minutes, Pirates was 15 minutes, and Space Mountain was close to an hour. When Friday came around, the wait times nearly doubled, I'm assuming due to the WDW Marathon weekend approaching.

If I could do it over again, we would arrive on Sunday (instead of Monday) and leave Friday (instead of Saturday). I hope this helped!
What a great report! You captured the spirit of each adventure and were able to share that with us. Well Done.
Bet you were shocked at the development of WDW since you were last there. I always like the Dixie landings now called Port Orleans resort. While Disney will never be a cheap getaway, you at least prove that moderate resorts are not a bad bet. We also control our costs by not visiting for more that 5 days and about a 5 year frequency.
 



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