Anyone just back from a trip recently?

[Buffalo2Disney]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?

How was the weather?

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

 

[rchampagne]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?

How was the weather?

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

I just came back on Saturday from a 7-day trip.

Crowds seemed very heavy in the afternoon. When I see a long wait for People Mover, I know it's a busy day.

Weather was usually around 90 degrees, but we did have 1 day where it rained almost non-stop (and very heavy), and a 2nd day where it rained for half the day (again, very heavy).

I have simple tastes for my food, and I honestly didn't see much in the Epcot food booths that interested me. I realize I'm probably in the minority on that one.

Fastpass+ and Magic Bands worked just fine... much better than our last trip 18 months earlier.

I did follow EasyWDW's recommendations. I have no idea if they worked. We had minimal waits during the early morning hours, but after lunch, it was usually too busy (and hot), so we'd return to the resort to hang at the pool. But maybe if we didn't follow their recommendations, it would've been even worse.

Have fun!

 

[scrapquitler]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds? Lighter than I expected, given that it was vacation week for parts of New England.

How was the weather? Warm to hot, a little humid a couple of times, breezy and comfortable at other times. We had a small shower on Sunday but we missed it while we were in one ride. On Monday it rained pretty hard for several hours. It was a welcome relief from the cold in New England!

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths? I never made it to World Showcase to find out.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands? We were pleased with the FP+ system. We got all the FP+ we wanted and I never had problems changing the time/attraction the same day. Admittedly, I didn't try to change my 7DMT FP+, and I never sought out FP+ for the super popular things like Ana & Elsa, Fireworks or Parade viewing.

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you? We don't generally follow the crowd calendars (for example, we often go the EMH park, which the crowd calendars suggest agains. We always do MK on our first and last day, regardless of the recommendations.

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

I just came home last Wednesday.

 

[bbak30]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?

How was the weather?

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

We are on the way home from a 5 day trip.

Crowds were as expected, large but manageable. LOTS of cheerleaders who have little to no consideration for others. They were everywhere.

Weather was super hot. Hotter than I expected. We took mid day breaks which we have not previously done. Lot of water.

I didn't actually try and of the F&G booths but they looked fabulous. Regretting that decision now.

Magic Bands and FB worked great for us. We were able to ride several thing stand by but a successful trip does require planning.

I didn't plan too much based on crowd calendars so I can't answer.

All in all, we has a fantastic time and can't wait to go back in October. I don't know if I will do another April trip due to the cheerleaders and the weather but it was still a good time! .

 

[cluno]

Just got back last week after a week long stay.

How were the crowds?

I thought that they were definitely manageable. Heavy in the afternoon. Poured rain last Monday and it cleared the park, so after we came back to MK after O'Hana dinner, we had crowds like first thing in the morning. Totally worth getting wet.

How was the weather?

Hot, hot, hot, but I come from Canada, and returned to snow, so take that with a grain of salt. The only evening that was remotely chilly was the Monday after the rain.

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

Beautiful!! But, it was hard to get good pictures of the topiaries because photopass photographers were camped out in front of many of them. Didn't get much a food booths as it turns out, though we had hoped to.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

FP+ worked well for us on every day except for EPCOT. We had FP for Soarin' so we hightailed it to TT, but it was down first thing which threw everything for a loop. Our family of 5 had FP+ for MS, but two didn't ride. Those two FP+ didn't clear after the one hour window, so when we tried to get FP+ for TT after the initial 3, those were still showing up. DH booked 3 FP+ for TT for those of us that rode MS, and DH switched the other 2 from MS to Nemo, since it was closest to kiosk, then scanned, but didn't ride in order to clear them. By then couldn't get 2 more FP+, so DH and DD rode single rider.

Other than that, FP+ worked for us. We arrived early, rode a couple of rides, and then it was time for our first FP+. On our first MK day, we got 3 more after the initial ones.

We loved the magic bands! DH and I could charge on ours. Loved not having to remember key cards, etc. DS took his off at bedtime the first two nights because he found it uncomfortable to sleep with. I hooked it on the lock on the door so that we wouldn't forget it in the am. Everyone else never took theirs off. Actually, all 3 kids are still wearing theirs nearly a week later. Loved that the kids could open the room door with it so that if they forgot their hat, goggles, whatever, they would just run back and grab them.

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Purely by coincidence, I think we were at the recommended parks all days but one. It seemed fine to us, but we don't go too often, so not sure what crowds are usually like.

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

Have fun! Take lots and lots of pictures.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

Not just back from a trip, but we live here and were out in the parks a lot this past week/weekend. Here are my thoughts.

How were the crowds? -- Bigger than usually for this time of e the year. However that was due to a world championship cheer/dance event going on at EPCOT all week long.

How was the weather? -- It has been unusually hotter than normal for whatever reason as of late here in Orlando. Some days temps hit the low 90's in April. Not very common really. It will be hot when you get here, stay hydrated for sure.

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths? -- These are very good and growing as the event has grown over the passed few years.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands? -- FP+ always works great for us. Though we typically just use our AP cards instead of wearing the MagicBands. No reason really, just habit I guess.

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you? -- Can't comment as I do not use their calendar, etc.

I hope you have a MAGICAL trip!!!

 

[ArielDreams]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?

How was the weather?

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

Just got back yesterday from a 6 day trip!

Crowds - Great when we were at parks for rope drop. We tended to head back to the hotel around 2 each afternoon and that's when it started getting really busy. AK & MK seemed busiest to us. There were also cheerleaders and half of New England was on vacation. Not too bad though.

Weather - Very hot but manageable. A couple torrential downpours but nothing too bad.

F&G Festival was great! DH and I spent an evening eating/drinking around the World Showcase. We switched off countries and had food and/or drink at each one. We focused on getting stuff from the outdoor kitchens if the country had one. I do not recommend the margarita from the Mexico outdoor kitchen (blueberry pomegranate) but definitely recommend the specialty blue one at the regular margarita stand. The vegetable quesedilla there was tasty. In China, I had the kung pao chicken bun and the veggie spring rolls - both were amazing! Peach bellini in Italy was great and DH loved his pulled pork sandwich from the smokehouse at the American pavilion. From a previous trip I can recommend the frushi from Japan and we enjoyed the chicken kabab at Morocco. I also sampled the pineapple soft serve in rum at one of the other outdoor kitchens - yummy.

We absolutely loved FP+ and our magic bands! The magic bands were so easy and we did not feel overscheduled with our FP+ reservations. It actually made it easier because we knew we would be able to ride certain rides later on in the trip so didn't feel like we had to cram in everything at once. I also didn't find that any of the typical walk on rides had longer than usual waits (just my opinion). We were able to get 2 extra same day FPs at MK and 1 more at AK (though we didn't need it). The longest we waited the whole trip was 45 mins at Studios to see Baymax. Again, we were willing to do this because we knew we already had FPs scheduled for ToT and TSM later in the day so didn't need to rush there.

I do not follow EasyWDW crowd calendars but we avoided EMH parks and it seemed to work in our favor!

Have a great time on your trip!!

 

[Northernlites]

We just got back. Monday was less crowded than I expected at MK. Thursday at em was a zoo at MK, the park was crazy, never again....

 

[brianj320]

returned the other day from our honeymoon stint at Disney. we were there from 4/17-4/22 and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

How were the crowds?

the crowds were large but bearable. there were a lot of high school bands, cheerleaders and the entire city of Boston in the parks for our time there. generally, everybody was polite and acted accordingly but there were several times that people would cut in front of you walking or just dead-stop walking causing you to nearly knock them over as you plowed into them.

How was the weather?

the weather was hot and humid. Monday the 20th it poured rain for several hours and MK emptied out completely. me and my wife trudged through the park in the rain to get on a bus to go back to the hotel. we showered, got dry clothes, had dinner then went right back for an awesome evening of fireworks, light-show and more rides. it was fantastic and we were both so happy we went back at night.

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

honestly, we didn't do any of the food booths. we did take loads of pictures of all the topiaries as well as had the MemoryMaker photos done wherever the photographers were set up.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

FP+ worked quite well. we had no complaints at all. we had a minor hiccup regarding our 4th "freebie" we had but it worked out to our favor anyway so it really was no big deal. the magic bands were great; no issues with them at all. they kept getting mistaken for watches because we put watch-faces on each band but otherwise no issues at all. just remember, "mickey to mickey".

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

I had consulted them at 1 point but this was after all the planning was completed. it so happened only 1 day was in-line with their crowd calendar and honestly, I didn't notice if it worked or didn't work. I mean it wasn't wall-to-wall people and we got to do everything we wanted to with relatively minor wait times (apart from the FP+). I think the longest we had to wait for any ride was 35 minutes and that was Test Track at Epcot.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?

How was the weather?

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

I just got back at 11:00pm last night.
Crowds were heavier than I expected - I use Touringplans.com and would compare most days to 6's and 7's on the crowd calendar except for yesterday morning. in the MK when it was nice and light.
There were many middle school band groups and there was a cheerleading competition going on in Epcot that I didn't know about so I was surprised at all the cheerleaders I saw dressed up in their costumes walking through Epcot.
I didn't follow the best park recommendations - in hindsight I wished I had. It probably would have helped with the crowds.

FP+ worked great for me, magic band worked great. I did the online check in and was texted my room number while I was on Magical Express. I arrived at 5pm. I stayed at POR and know the resort well so I had no problem finding my room. It took 4 hours for me to get my luggage once I was at the resort - that surprised me since it had always been within the 3 hour window. I went to DHS right after dropping off my carryon in the room and when I got back 3 and a half hours later my luggage wasn't there. I went to Bell Services who told me they were behind but would have my luggage to me within 30 minutes. And they did.

On Saturday morning, the magic band system went down in Hollywood Studios again - you couldn't change FP's or charge using your magic band. They worked fine to use currently scheduled FP+ reservations though.
Since this is the 2nd time this happened in that park in the past month that I'm aware of based on seeing the post on the Disboards, I would be prepared with alternate payment methods - I was fine since I had cash on me but the person in front of me wanting to get a churro didn't so she couldn't get her food.

Flower and Garden Festival was fun - I did miss the HGTV stuff but the new gardens were cute. I enjoyed the topiaries, did the English Tea Garden Tour which filled up quick and was nice, and ate at the food booths for one lunch and one dinner. I tried things at all of the booths except one which I somehow missed. I actually enjoyed most of the food I tried with the exception of 2 items - the duck confit in france was tough and the white corn arepa in the new Botanico booth which I expected to like but I just didn't care for the taste.
The concert I saw was the Guess Who which was fantastic. I got there 30 minutes early and was glad I did - the concert area was packed fast once they let us in.
I went into the Festival Center briefly but wasn't really into much in there. I did think the gardening in the styrofoam containers was cool but other than that nothing really caught my eye. There was a planting demonstration going on that was filled up when I walked by. I totally bypassed the little movie area that I meant to stop in - ooops.

The weather was hot and it did rain in the afternoons for a bit. The one day I went to AK it rained all morning but quit around 2pm. I finally was able to see the 2 baby gorillas so that sure made my day. The animals were pretty active in the rain.

I forgot I wanted to mention that I love the Wishes FP area. It was totally worth it to me to not be able to get a 4th FP that day because I had one for Wishes. It was busy but not crowded , the view was great, and being out of the way of everyone leaving when I knew I was going to stay since the park was open later was wonderful. I would get that FP+ again in a heartbeat.

As I was unpacking today, I sure wish I was still at Disney World! Have a great time!!!!

 

[Hisgirl]

Finally, finally, finally leaving on Thursday to head back to WDW!! Was wondering if anyone who has been recently and just got back can share some of their experiences.

How were the crowds?


I'm here right now. We went to MK and Epcot on Sunday and were actually surprised. This is my fifth trip in 14 months and MK has consistently been packed. We've always chosen off season and been surprised at the shoulder to shoulder crowds. However, yesterday and today are less crowded. Today we were in AK and while pretty busy, nothing like our last few trips where people were knocking into us. You chose a good time to come.

How was the weather?

When it's sunny it's really warm and humid. I brought some light knee length cotton skirts and it's helped keep me cool. We're pretty sweaty and sticky by 2pm. But... Lots of intermiddent cloud cover which helps. Right this very moment, it's 5:45 pm and a breezy and cool feeling 78. I have on a tee and I'm chilly. If we go out tonight, I'll bring a light sweater. It felt cool this morning.

Rain is predicted tomorrow and wednesday so we have two ponchos. Bring a light coverup in case any rain really cools things down.

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths?

We just wandered and looked but won't eat till we go on Wednesday. I feel there are less flowers than the last two F&G festivals but still plenty to see.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands?

FP is fine but my magic band isn't getting me into the parks. It was linked and shows up but at the turnstiles turns into a dud. I use my plastic UT ticket at that point to get in. MK city hall said they fixed it but they didn't.

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you?

Basically yes, and I find it's a good idea but we've been a lot recently and aren't feeling so driven so we're just hopping here and there each day.

Getting excited! Only 4 More Days!

 

[Buffalo2Disney]

Thank you everybody for the replies. You are all getting me more excited! The forecast as of now (though you really can't count on it this far out) shows warm and sunny for a lot of the days. Being from Buffalo were we had some snow just last week, it's gonna be hot for us but we've been sooooo cold up here this year we need it. Cant Wait!

returned the other day from our honeymoon stint at Disney. we were there from 4/17-4/22 and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We stayed at the AKL for our honeymoon 2 years ago, amazing resort!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

.

 

[Hisgirl]

We just finished a day at MK and HS. In ponchos early on and I had to buy a sweat shirt! The air conditioning mixed with the rain was giving me a chill. Now, it's so pleasant outside!

 

[kaetra]

We went April 18th through 24th

How were the crowds? - EasyWDW & UT had most of our days as recommended and crowd levels as Moderate. The parks felt pretty crowded to me though, and standby wait times were pretty high most of the time after 11am and when it wasn't raining. Walkways were very crowded and sometimes hard to navigate without bumping into people. (I would hate to see the park on a 9-10 crowd level day if our days were level 5.)

How was the weather? - Hot and Humid (for us, we normally go in cooler seasons). Frequently right around 90 degrees, very humid in the morning. Sometimes the humidity burned off sometimes it didn't. Much hotter than I expected for April. We only had 1 day where rain completely hindered our plans. Other days a shower or two would move through and pass relatively quickly.

How was F&G Festival and how were the food booths? - Didn't try any of the food booths except the Violet Lemonade and it was delicious. They also have Pineapple Soft serve there which is exactly the same as the Dole Whip.

How did Fastpass+ work for you? How about your magic bands? - MagicBand did not open our door when we arrived at Midnight. We had to spend 20 minutes on the phone with the front desk before they got them to work. No problems with room door after that. No problems using MagicBands for purchases or entering parks. We scheduled FastPasses for afternoons and there were very rarely viable selections for 4th FP after we finished our first 3. FastPass kiosks were busy in the afternoons and had lines, but the lines did move quickly. I never waited more than 15 minutes in a FP line. We used extra bands for Same Day Fast Passes in the morning and there were good selections in the morning at MK. None for TT or Soarin' at Epcot though, even when checking at 9:30am. I could not find a FP kiosk in Animal Kingdom anywhere easily. (Our AK day got rained out fairly early so I didn't ask a CM where the FP kiosk was)

Did you follow EasyWDW crowd calendars and go to best park? How did that work for you? - Yes I followed them. I don't know how well they worked because it still seemed very crowded to me, but this was our first spring.

You are going to have a fantastic time!

 

[danny1649]

thread belongs here on this board. Danny

 

[Lady Hiss]

We got back about 2 weeks ago. In answer to your questions:

The crowds weren't too bad, depending on the park. We could tell things weren't great when there was a line at TTA - lol. The most disappointing was a 40 minute wait for single rider EE by 10:30AM - we had elected to get PM FP at EPCOT that day instead of getting AM AK FP. The trade offs are necessary these days, imho, and it doesn't always work the way you hope.

The heat was brutal, as others have said - hot and humid. It wore us down by noon. There was the threat of rain each day (I got tired of packing the darn ponchos). It rained only once in our four days there, and, nope, that didn't clear the parks out or help keep the lines down! I hope your weather will be less humid.

EPCOT F&G Festival was fun. We enjoyed various adult beverages, frooshi, tacos in Mexico. I have weird food allergies (garlic and onion, sadly) so didn't partake in much of the offered small plates. Btw, the key word is 'SMALL'. One guest was incredulous when he was served a very small beer. The festival pavilion didn't seem to offer much, but we were there late in the day. At least it was cool in there! The flowers throughout EPCOT were gorgeous.

The magic bands worked well. However, and I know I'm in the minority here, I think FP was a pain. The ideal way to tour (rope drop, then rest, then use late afternoon FP) didn't work so well for us. Several problems: I got sick one day, so didn't get the early start I'd hoped; MDE went down another day and that was a huge pain; it's not fun trying to find something to do/ride after your 3rd FP has been used mid afternoon as even the minor rides have long lines and there are no headliner FP left. I won't go into a FP rant here - suffice it to say, Im not a fan.

Wishing you a magical, fun-filled trip!

Lady Hiss