SimonSez
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 28, 2014
Just got back from Disney a couple days ago and had a really nice time. This was our first trip since the big changes were implemented, of course I'm talking about magic bands and FP+. These were our experiences and opinions and others may feel differently, but this was how it went down for us.
First of all, we stayed at the Boardwalk and loved it. The convenience of being within walking distance to both Epcot and DHS, cannot be understated. Of course, you can also take the boat to the studios. We drove to the Animal Kingdom, and took the bus to MK. We had a nice big balcony, and could see the Frozen fireworks from there. We could also hear some of Fantasmic. Only drawback was when we returned late from the MK, there was no place open to refill our mugs. Yes, this is probably minor in the scheme of things, but also kinda frustrating. We usually stay at the Poly, and of course Captain Cooks is a 24 hour operation, so you know, spoiled and all lol. We would definitely stay at the Boardwalk again.
DHS--we always do this park the first half of the day. We went twice, but the second time we went in the late afternoon and stayed for the Frozen show. I have to tell you, we enjoyed this park a lot more at night and I can't believe we never did this before
The Frozen show was cute and I loved the "snow" at the end 
TOT was great as always!
Epcot--probably my favorite park overall. Learned something this time, and that was if possible, use the single rider line at Test Track. It's pretty fast and you can ride multiple times. It's a nice option and one I've never utilized before. Many of you are probably saying "well duh everyone knows that." Yes, but now I do too
Only rode Soarin once which is a crime but oh well.
Animal Kingdom--enjoyed this one too, although this is where I suffered the lowest part of the trip--aside from leaving Disney to go home
We did the safari, which is always fun. Also KRR and as usual, I got soaked. Dinosaur (does anyone remember when it was called Countdown to Extinction?) Anyway, we ended at Expedition Everest. Now I've never had any trouble with EE, but this time things went a little awry for me. I don't think it was the ride per se, but the fact that I don't hydrate myself very well. I'm kind of a weirdo in that I don't get thirsty very often. I don't drink fluids that much and it never seems to bother me. I don't know why, maybe I was a camel in a previous life 
Anyway, take a 95 degree day in a park where we didn't do any indoor activities like shopping and eating, and sit in the sun and eat potato chips. I start to feel a little off right before we get on EE. Add the g forces of that ride and well things got a little hairy for me. I felt a little queasy but it was more than that. I was perspiring way more than I felt was normal and I just felt weird all over. I sat on the ground just watching people go by and drinking a coke, that was for queasiness and before I realized I was probably suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. I swear my vision went wavy a couple times. Needless to say, we left after that and I had to sit down twice, one time at the Rain Forest Cafe gift shop. We got to the hotel and I downed a Powerade. I felt much better after that, and managed a trip to DTD with no problems. So, always hydrate yourself even if you're not thirsty. Most of you already know this, but maybe some of you are like me and lose your common sense sometimes
DTD--we were worried about the construction, but found that most of it was confined to Pleasure Island area. We parked over by Cirque Soleil and took a boat to DTD. It did dock near RainForest Cafe. Going back to the car later, we walked it and had no problems. Bottom line--DTD wasn't bad at all, so don't let the construction deter you. At least at the time we were there, I can't of course, vouch for how it will be in the future, but right now it seems fine.
Magic Kingdom--Okay, we really liked the Mine Train. I know some are disappointed in it and we enjoy the big thrill rides as much as anyone, but the 7DMT was really cool. We rode it the first night with a FP and the wishes fireworks was going on at the same time, so cool. We rode it again our last night in Disney, and waited an hour to get on. Again, great ride! So both times we rode at night. Space Mountain, went down at least twice this past Friday, and yes the lights came on. It always looks creepy when the lights are on in there. TTA was great as always, and we really appreciated the fact they opened it just in time for our trip
Peter Pan posted a 50 minute wait when we rode it, but it was actually 10 minutes! Guess you can't always believe the wait times. Now I do have a beef about the Haunted Mansion stand by queue 
what's up with that? People are herded into that common area under the awning and just kind of shuffle along, then squeeze into a much more narrow area leading to the interactive graveyard. Ugh, I seem to remember a much more organized set up. Not sure what Disney is doing there all in all, had a great time at MK, but was disappointed in Peco's Bill, they changed their menu and now the hamburgers have bacon, onion rings, and bbq sauce Maybe a lot of people like that, but I like my burgers simple and then just put on certain ingredients from the condiments bar. Okay, I'll stop whining about that now 
This past week we learned that the rain poncho is your friend No day was a washout, and the rain actually cut the heat which was nice. The only day we didn't see a shower was Wednesday at AK, the day I had heat issues. Speaking of AK, a cute little side note--I was walking around a merchandise cart at the same time a female mallard was walking on the opposite side. We met at the end of the cart and I didn't think anything of it as there were legions of female mallards everywhere. Except this one had six tiny, fuzzy ducklings behind her 
they were so cute! I called my sister over there and soon about 50 people were standing around cooing and squealing lol. She got her babies to the water and all was well. I felt special for a few seconds there, I was the only one who saw them due to that encounter behind the merchandise cart..again sometimes the little things have the biggest impact. Note this was was before my heat episode.
Okay. did I forget anything? Oh yes, two little things I haven't talked about yet...MBs and FP+
Where to start, where to start
Well fortunately, we didn't have any major glitches involving the bands or FP+ We did get a blue Mickey a couple of times, especially my sister at the International Gateway at Epcot. Only thing we could figure was there was something coating the band like sunscreen or lotion. The band might have been slipping a little too, causing poor contact with the Mickey thingy you hold it against. But no long tedious experiences at Guest Services for us at least. We felt the MBs were really convenient most of the time. FP+ went fairly smoothly, although I must say it didn't seem like we rode as many things as we did in the past. Also, I felt like the stand by lines took longer than in the past. We only got a 4th FP twice the whole time we were there. Having said that, we probably didn't utilize FP+ to the best of its ability either. We would reserve FP for the latest time in the park, or we would park hop, and yes, I will admit this and we did it on purpose... we used FP+ in our first park of the day not our second 
So, what did we expect 
Just putting the info out there so you can see that if you do things the way they are suggested, you might get maximum benefit out of FP+ just sayin. I never said we were normal
So, sorry for the long winded post. I guess it's sort of a mini trip report as I'm too lazy to do a real one I do appreciate all the dedicated and far more talented and energetic people than me here, who take the time to do those trip reports 
I don't expect to return to Disney for a couple years, so I live through others here on Dis. All in all, we had a great trip and hated to see it end 
but we will be back 
In the end there were few glitches (and some were probably of our making). Go to DTD, ride the 7DMT, and oh yes, try Le Frou's brew at Gaston's, yummy! We give FP+ a B- for a grade. It could use some tweaking like maybe allowing 4 FPs instead of 3, or maybe allowing you to get a 4th without requiring you to use all 3 first. But hey, what do I know Anyway to all who have yet to go, try not to worry too much, and hope you have a great trip 
and yes, the Anna and Elsa line really is that long!
First of all, we stayed at the Boardwalk and loved it. The convenience of being within walking distance to both Epcot and DHS, cannot be understated. Of course, you can also take the boat to the studios. We drove to the Animal Kingdom, and took the bus to MK. We had a nice big balcony, and could see the Frozen fireworks from there. We could also hear some of Fantasmic. Only drawback was when we returned late from the MK, there was no place open to refill our mugs. Yes, this is probably minor in the scheme of things, but also kinda frustrating. We usually stay at the Poly, and of course Captain Cooks is a 24 hour operation, so you know, spoiled and all lol. We would definitely stay at the Boardwalk again.
DHS--we always do this park the first half of the day. We went twice, but the second time we went in the late afternoon and stayed for the Frozen show. I have to tell you, we enjoyed this park a lot more at night and I can't believe we never did this before
The Frozen show was cute and I loved the "snow" at the end TOT was great as always!Epcot--probably my favorite park overall. Learned something this time, and that was if possible, use the single rider line at Test Track. It's pretty fast and you can ride multiple times. It's a nice option and one I've never utilized before. Many of you are probably saying "well duh everyone knows that." Yes, but now I do too
Only rode Soarin once which is a crime but oh well.Animal Kingdom--enjoyed this one too, although this is where I suffered the lowest part of the trip--aside from leaving Disney to go home
We did the safari, which is always fun. Also KRR and as usual, I got soaked. Dinosaur (does anyone remember when it was called Countdown to Extinction?) Anyway, we ended at Expedition Everest. Now I've never had any trouble with EE, but this time things went a little awry for me. I don't think it was the ride per se, but the fact that I don't hydrate myself very well. I'm kind of a weirdo in that I don't get thirsty very often. I don't drink fluids that much and it never seems to bother me. I don't know why, maybe I was a camel in a previous life Anyway, take a 95 degree day in a park where we didn't do any indoor activities like shopping and eating, and sit in the sun and eat potato chips. I start to feel a little off right before we get on EE. Add the g forces of that ride and well things got a little hairy for me. I felt a little queasy but it was more than that. I was perspiring way more than I felt was normal and I just felt weird all over. I sat on the ground just watching people go by and drinking a coke, that was for queasiness and before I realized I was probably suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. I swear my vision went wavy a couple times. Needless to say, we left after that and I had to sit down twice, one time at the Rain Forest Cafe gift shop. We got to the hotel and I downed a Powerade. I felt much better after that, and managed a trip to DTD with no problems. So, always hydrate yourself even if you're not thirsty. Most of you already know this, but maybe some of you are like me and lose your common sense sometimes DTD--we were worried about the construction, but found that most of it was confined to Pleasure Island area. We parked over by Cirque Soleil and took a boat to DTD. It did dock near RainForest Cafe. Going back to the car later, we walked it and had no problems. Bottom line--DTD wasn't bad at all, so don't let the construction deter you. At least at the time we were there, I can't of course, vouch for how it will be in the future, but right now it seems fine.
Magic Kingdom--Okay, we really liked the Mine Train. I know some are disappointed in it and we enjoy the big thrill rides as much as anyone, but the 7DMT was really cool. We rode it the first night with a FP and the wishes fireworks was going on at the same time, so cool. We rode it again our last night in Disney, and waited an hour to get on. Again, great ride! So both times we rode at night. Space Mountain, went down at least twice this past Friday, and yes the lights came on. It always looks creepy when the lights are on in there. TTA was great as always, and we really appreciated the fact they opened it just in time for our trip
Peter Pan posted a 50 minute wait when we rode it, but it was actually 10 minutes! Guess you can't always believe the wait times. Now I do have a beef about the Haunted Mansion stand by queue what's up with that? People are herded into that common area under the awning and just kind of shuffle along, then squeeze into a much more narrow area leading to the interactive graveyard. Ugh, I seem to remember a much more organized set up. Not sure what Disney is doing there all in all, had a great time at MK, but was disappointed in Peco's Bill, they changed their menu and now the hamburgers have bacon, onion rings, and bbq sauce Maybe a lot of people like that, but I like my burgers simple and then just put on certain ingredients from the condiments bar. Okay, I'll stop whining about that now This past week we learned that the rain poncho is your friend
No day was a washout, and the rain actually cut the heat which was nice. The only day we didn't see a shower was Wednesday at AK, the day I had heat issues. Speaking of AK, a cute little side note--I was walking around a merchandise cart at the same time a female mallard was walking on the opposite side. We met at the end of the cart and I didn't think anything of it as there were legions of female mallards everywhere. Except this one had six tiny, fuzzy ducklings behind her they were so cute! I called my sister over there and soon about 50 people were standing around cooing and squealing lol. She got her babies to the water and all was well. I felt special for a few seconds there, I was the only one who saw them due to that encounter behind the merchandise cart..again sometimes the little things have the biggest impact. Note this was was before my heat episode.Okay. did I forget anything? Oh yes, two little things I haven't talked about yet...MBs and FP+
Where to start, where to start
Well fortunately, we didn't have any major glitches involving the bands or FP+ We did get a blue Mickey a couple of times, especially my sister at the International Gateway at Epcot. Only thing we could figure was there was something coating the band like sunscreen or lotion. The band might have been slipping a little too, causing poor contact with the Mickey thingy you hold it against. But no long tedious experiences at Guest Services for us at least. We felt the MBs were really convenient most of the time. FP+ went fairly smoothly, although I must say it didn't seem like we rode as many things as we did in the past. Also, I felt like the stand by lines took longer than in the past. We only got a 4th FP twice the whole time we were there. Having said that, we probably didn't utilize FP+ to the best of its ability either. We would reserve FP for the latest time in the park, or we would park hop, and yes, I will admit this and we did it on purpose... we used FP+ in our first park of the day not our second So, what did we expect Just putting the info out there so you can see that if you do things the way they are suggested, you might get maximum benefit out of FP+ just sayin. I never said we were normal So, sorry for the long winded post. I guess it's sort of a mini trip report as I'm too lazy to do a real one
I do appreciate all the dedicated and far more talented and energetic people than me here, who take the time to do those trip reports I don't expect to return to Disney for a couple years, so I live through others here on Dis. All in all, we had a great trip and hated to see it end but we will be back In the end there were few glitches (and some were probably of our making). Go to DTD, ride the 7DMT, and oh yes, try Le Frou's brew at Gaston's, yummy! We give FP+ a B- for a grade. It could use some tweaking like maybe allowing 4 FPs instead of 3, or maybe allowing you to get a 4th without requiring you to use all 3 first. But hey, what do I know Anyway to all who have yet to go, try not to worry too much, and hope you have a great trip and yes, the Anna and Elsa line really is that long!
