First Disney Trip...Ready To Go Again.

[Frozen2014]

The Parks

The first comment I want to make about the parks is that sooo many people come in and out every day, but yet the place was spotless. I mean, not one piece of garbage on the ground. I don't know if its due to people really holding on to their garbage until finding garbage can, or if the staff was diligent in cleaning up any mess. Likewise, the bathrooms were quite clean. I'm comparing this to other amusement parks we've been to where you do see garbage and the washrooms are a nightmare. I was quite impressed with Disney.

Now for the parks themselves. I can't comment on AK or the water parks but I love how HS, Epcot and MK are all themed. MK is of course, the magical one with princesses and castle, the most rides and something for everyone (well, guess you can say that about any park). I'm currently reading about the history and I love how each area in MK was so thought out and if you notice, the rides go together. Tomorrowland is more futuristic rides. Fantasyland is more make believe and younger rides. Adventureland covers well, adventure type rides like Pirates of Carribean and Jungle Cruise and then there's Frontierland. And they are all laid out well where you can circle from one and easily flow to the next.

Epcot is a mix of kids attractions (Nemo, Turtle Talk, Figment) with science type attractions (Spaceship Earth, Innoventions, etc) and then Future World with all the countries.

HS is stunt shows, "live theatre" and some thrill rides. For some reason though, HS is the one park that I'd be looking at my map and still totally lost and couldn't figure out how to get from point A to point B. Am I the only one who found that?

Another thing that I love is that the rides tell a story. Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan...you're not just in a car that is moving, but there is a story going on. Even something like Splash Mountain has a story throughout the entire thing until you get to the huge hill (not talking from experience but DS explained it). And there's a whole history and background story of Big Thunder Mountain Run, which could be "just a roller coaster". Haunted Mansion? Well enough said. I think that's why I found rides such as Magic Carpet and Dumbo quite boring as these were some of the few rides that were 'just an amusement park ride'.

Also, with respect to the rides. You hear comments how 7DMT is a short ride (which i guess the complaint is you wait so long for something that's over so fast). But compared to what I've seen at other amusement parks, the ride time is actually standard. I think it's more that Disney rides in general last longer. The first time riding Big Thunder Mountain, I was amazed a few times that it was still going.

If I only had to pick one park to visit, it would be Magic Kingdom. If two...that would be tough. I guess first time going it would be HS, but once you've been there, then you've seen a lot of the shows so then it would be Epcot.

If we return someday, then I could see us adding Animal Kingdom for one of our days....but it was the one of least interest to us so we didn't get there on this trip.

 

[ariane37]

Would you return to AoA?

Well, there's no easy answer to that question lol. Never say never......but I don't think DH will. In general we don't like the value resorts, although in certain ways AOA certainly is a step up from the others IMO. I wouldn't mind trying one of the suites; however, if we were going to spend that $ DH would most likely just want to get a 1 bdrm at a deluxe (we usually rent points when we stay deluxe so its cheaper than what Disney charges). I do have luck talking him into some things when we plan our trips though, so again, never say never Certainly there was nothing bad about the resort that would keep us away (except the walk from LM), just most likely a preference for another resort.

Our friends just came back on Sunday from staying at POP. They've previously only stayed at All Star Sports. They walked over to AOA one afternoon and fell in love with the theming They've decided that's where they'll stay on their next trip in Nov. of 2016, and since they go with extended family it's 10 people and they'll get 2 suites. We've always wanted to go with them so maybe that will be our time to try AOA again!

 

[Frozen2014]

Well, there's no easy answer to that question lol. Never say never......but I don't think DH will. In general we don't like the value resorts, although in certain ways AOA certainly is a step up from the others IMO. I wouldn't mind trying one of the suites; however, if we were going to spend that $ DH would most likely just want to get a 1 bdrm at a deluxe (we usually rent points when we stay deluxe so its cheaper than what Disney charges). I do have luck talking him into some things when we plan our trips though, so again, never say never Certainly there was nothing bad about the resort that would keep us away (except the walk from LM), just most likely a preference for another resort.

Our friends just came back on Sunday from staying at POP. They've previously only stayed at All Star Sports. They walked over to AOA one afternoon and fell in love with the theming They've decided that's where they'll stay on their next trip in Nov. of 2016, and since they go with extended family it's 10 people and they'll get 2 suites. We've always wanted to go with them so maybe that will be our time to try AOA again!

Ha ha...as you said, "never say never". And that certainly does work out great to only book 2 suites for 10 people. Our two kids stayed in the table bed so it does hold more than one (plus the pull out sofa and bed in the 'master room')
So at least you got to try AoA, and even in your room preference. And I'm sure it's fun to try out other resorts.

 

[Frozen2014]

FP+

This is a common topic on the DIS boards...and not all good comments. They changed FP to FP+ earlier this year, I believe, and there has been huge debate on which is better. We never experienced the paper version but from reading about it, the new FP+ is certainly my preference.

First I'll say that both are fantastic...I mean, it allows you to go in the fast line for some rides. Awesome, and obviously fair that this is only for some as it wouldn't make sense otherwise.

However, with the paper version, I couldn't imagine having to run to a ride to grab a ticket, only to come back later. And what if the time wasn't ideal for you? Plus Magic Kingdom is quite spread out so what if the ride you want to ride is across the park? Or the rides surrounding this one all have long standby lines? And then this grabbing of a FP ticket repeats throughout the day.

With FP+, you get to book 3 rides per day at a single park, even before you leave for the airport (and in fact, months earlier).

Aside from our HS day, we didn't have any rope drops planned. Plus I am a big planner so I personally loved the new FP+. It doesn't force you to arrive first thing in the morning to grab those tickets. With FP+, I researched the rides to figure out which ones are good for our family, and then used the helpful post by mesaboy, plus some other sites to figure out the best uses of FP. And I had no issue with the fact that I grabbed these 60 days before we left (ok...I would have preferred not having to stay up until midnight to do this, but that's only a minor point and I chose to stay up).

As for getting my choices at 60 days prior at midnight....saw 7DMT pop up for both our MK days (days 2 and 5), but did not see A&E. (Managed to get A&E later by pure luck of constantly checking). Got everything else no problem.

But it's an obvious advantage if staying onsite and the longer your vacation. So maybe I wouldn't be so positive about it if we were offsite.

Guess my only complaint is that the phone app seems to favor iPhones. Both DH and I have a Windows Phone. We have Disney Expedition, which is great for seeing park hours and wait times, and even your booked ADRs and FPs, but it wasn't as easy to use it to book or change FPs. I think I did use it to change the time of one, but couldn't book new attractions.
...and of course the tiering at Epcot and HS. But I suppose they don't have enough headliners to take that out and they are trying to spread the crowds.

So I am on FP+ side...loved it! We could just walk on the big rides, as we'd see others in the line ups (of course, for the other rides, we'd be along the others in the line ups )

 

[MomoMama]

We loved FP+ too! We would have missed many attractions without FP+.
My problem was that FP+ added another layer of planning to the trip. Disney trip requires so much planning, if you want to fully enjoy it. We had to plan everything around available FP+ and dining reservations. Then when we were there, we needed to constantly check the time to make sure we would not miss or be late for anything.
But I do rather plan ahead than wait in the line, so yay! for FP+!
This weekend I was at a local event park, trying to get DD to meet Santa. The wait was long...I missed FP+.

 

[Frozen2014]

Hi MomoMama. Yes...totally agree with you that you certainly have to research and plan with FP+, which is probably the biggest complaint with those that don't like it. For me, I totally didn't mind and it kept me Disney involved for months prior to our trip (i.e. as opposed to just waiting and waiting for our travel day to arrive). I think it also got me extra excited for disney as I was learning about all the rides in the research. And yeah, I agree with you...you have to remember your schedule...either by phone app or paper print out. But we were walking around with the paper print out anyways to follow the touring plan I created (we didn't know the park well enough to just walk from ride to ride). I think I'd find the paper FP harder since it could throw off your touring plan since you wouldn't know the time until you pulled the ticket...plus, you'd have to account for the time to head to the ride to get the ticket. Did you ever try the old system? It's interesting as our local amusement park (which is only open from May - Oct) has a FP option but for an additional fee. Never tried it.
Ha ha...funny how you miss it while waiting to meet Santa.

 

[MomoMama]

Hi MomoMama. Yes...totally agree with you that you certainly have to research and plan with FP+, which is probably the biggest complaint with those that don't like it. For me, I totally didn't mind and it kept me Disney involved for months prior to our trip (i.e. as opposed to just waiting and waiting for our travel day to arrive). I think it also got me extra excited for disney as I was learning about all the rides in the research. And yeah, I agree with you...you have to remember your schedule...either by phone app or paper print out. But we were walking around with the paper print out anyways to follow the touring plan I created (we didn't know the park well enough to just walk from ride to ride). I think I'd find the paper FP harder since it could throw off your touring plan since you wouldn't know the time until you pulled the ticket...plus, you'd have to account for the time to head to the ride to get the ticket. Did you ever try the old system? It's interesting as our local amusement park (which is only open from May - Oct) has a FP option but for an additional fee. Never tried it.
Ha ha...funny how you miss it while waiting to meet Santa.

I never tried the old FP system. When we went to WDW last year, it was just for one day. And I did not quite understand how the system worked or find the kiosks. FP+ was easier to understand and schedule, except that you would have to reserve all 3 at a time. If you reserve 1 and then want to add 2 more later, you will have to cancel the first one you booked and start over. That was frustrating. We ended up not having 3 FPs for some of the days because we did not want to cancel what we had already booked. It was easy to check our schedule with the Disney App on the phone, but my problem with the app was that often I had connection errors.
And it would be nice if we could book more than 3 FPs at MK...

 

[Frozen2014]

I never tried the old FP system. When we went to WDW last year, it was just for one day. And I did not quite understand how the system worked or find the kiosks. FP+ was easier to understand and schedule, except that you would have to reserve all 3 at a time. If you reserve 1 and then want to add 2 more later, you will have to cancel the first one you booked and start over. That was frustrating. We ended up not having 3 FPs for some of the days because we did not want to cancel what we had already booked. It was easy to check our schedule with the Disney App on the phone, but my problem with the app was that often I had connection errors.
And it would be nice if we could book more than 3 FPs at MK...

Yes, so true. I forgot about that. Silly how it didn't let you cancel just one ride and you had to cancel everything. I'm sure many were in the same boat as you.
I had a paper printout of our FPs as it was easier plus my phone battery isn't the greatest so only used it to check wait times.
Yeah...would be nice to book more than 3 FPs but I do see why they only allowed for 3.

 

[Frozen2014]

Magic Bands

We arrived at our resort and got our magic bands on check in (since we're from Canada). Went to our room and only DS worked to open the door. So back to the front desk we went. The CM reset DH, DD and my magic band and personally walked us back to our room to ensure they worked.

That was the only issue we experienced and I will say...that I totally love the Magic Bands. Such cool technology (and that's coming from someone who works in the technical field). I mean they do everything from being your room key, to holding your ADR and FP bookings, to checking in for FP, to Memory Maker, to being a pretty bracelet (ha ha). We didn't need cash or anything. They are even waterproof which is great for swimming. As well, if drove to a resort for an ADR, the CMs at the parking entrance just scanned it and could see that we had a table reservation. Very cool.

Really don't have anything negative to say since even with our check in issue, it was resolved quite quickly.

 

[Frozen2014]

Final Remarks : Will We Return? Or Should I Say When?

We've been back for 6.5 weeks now. DS just commented at dinner last night that 'the most he could stay at Disney for would be for 2 months'. I wish! And DD constantly asks if we can go on 'Monster' again (i.e. Haunted Mansion). So as you can see, we're still talking about the trip like it was yesterday. Yet sadly, when we returned I couldn't get that Magic Kingdom welcome music out of my head and now I can't even remember it (the one that they play at the front gate).

In a way I find it funny as I'm a 41 year old adult and totally addicted to Disney. I mean, isn't this a place for kids? But yet there's something so special about it, and not to sound corny but it truly is magical. It's like you can be a kid again and at the same time, take total joy in seeing your kids experience the magic. It's the most perfect trip for all ages.

This was truly the best vacation we've ever taken and three of us could jump right back on that plane tomorrow and return to Disney. DH may take more convincing but I think we'll go back some day. I know though that we will never recreate this first vacation. First off, everything was being seen for the first time. The "wow" feeling first seeing the floats and costumes at the parades. Another example, as we got on Peter Pan or Little Mermaid ride for the first time, we saw the story not knowing what was around the corner, so I can't see it being as amazing second time around. But mostly, DD was the most perfect age...totally into princesses so CRT, Akershus, BBB, meeting Anna and Elsa, seeing the castle, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Hollywood Studio shows (Beauty & the Beast, Little Mermaid, Frozen Sing-A-Long), etc., was just perfect. And even the other character interactions were priceless too. How can we recreate that? And DS too was at a great age. He was past characters and very anti-princess, but he still is a kid and got super excited on things like Splash Mountain, Jedi Training, etc.

I'll say that a trip to Disney is quite pricey with the cost for the park, resort, flight all adding up. So this is not something we can do every year. Having said that, it was such a great experience that since our return, I have put aside some money for 'vacation funds' and said to DH that I would really love to travel more while our kids are still young and at home. So I'm starting to look at our next big trip...maybe in 2016. Since it may be too soon for DH to return to DW, I have started looking at a Disney cruise to spread out the park experience. But I really hope that the next big trip after that, we return to The World (or even Disneyland). It truly is a magical place where you leave reality for a bit and just enjoy life.

 

[MomoMama]

Haha...we have the same problem! DD and I would love to go to Disney anytime, but it will be hard to convince DH. I have better chance of convincing DH to go to Disney cruise again, but he prefers non-Disney cruise so he would not have to line up for the princess gatherings for us... But I am telling him that Disney's kids club is better than other cruise lines, and we can have some adult-only relaxing time. And I am thinking of Disneyland too, because it will be do-able in a long weekend. If we are going to WDW, I would like it to be a week long vacation. I think I will bring up WDW trip to DH after DD gains 3 more inches in height...
I know what you mean...the first time magic is priceless. But Disney is constantly changing things and adding something new, I am sure we will enjoy the trip no matter how many times we go there!