Just Back - 11/11 - 11/16

[tlmadden73]

Just a quick summary of some things I noticed on my recent trip:

1) The temp was hotter than expected (high 80s), then turned to "normal" (mid 60s)
2) Crowds were high (congested getting around but not unmanageable) on Sunday (Epcot)/Monday(AK) (not unexpected (last weekend of Food and Wine and a holiday)
3) Crowds were light at MK during the week (I enjoyed going on a party days). I would recommend doing that if not attending the party.
4) Fourth Fast Passes were impossible/difficult to find .. shortly after lunch - even during the week. At MK, could really only find FPs for things like Small World, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, etc. (But I attribute that due to the short days).
5) Toy Story Land was fun, but I agree with the general complaints - too cramped of walking spaces, no indoor shopping space, lack of a decent (long enough) queue area for SDD, not enough seating at Woody's Lunch Box, etc. But we enjoyed the rides and theming a lot!
6) Pandora (and FOP) was as awesome as people have said. Best ride in all the parks by far.
7) Glad I was able to get FPs for SDD and FOP - without them, I don't know if we would have experienced them (kids wouldn't wait that long).
8) Rider Swap is pretty darn awesome, though it seemed inconsistent how some CMs handled it.
9) Loved the Christmas theming in all the parks and resorts that were there this week.

And ..
If you are considering the behind the scenes train tour - WELL worth it!

Any questions? I'd be happy to share more specific experiences.

 

[firefly_ris]

Can you elaborate on your #8 point about rider swap? I'm contemplating using it for our next trip but haven't used it before. I understand the basics of how to do it but curious on what you mean by inconsistencies so I might get a better idea what to expect. Im glad you had a good trip!!

 

[tlmadden73]

Can you elaborate on your #8 point about rider swap? I'm contemplating using it for our next trip but haven't used it before. I understand the basics of how to do it but curious on what you mean by inconsistencies so I might get a better idea what to expect. Im glad you had a good trip!!

They would scan the band of the person going second (the person waiting back with our 2 yo). Then they would ask who is going to ride again. Sometimes they would let any 2 other people scan (thus getting a FP for a second ride). Sometimes they would just allow my son to scan to ride again (which he often didnt want to), other times they would just let anyone scan for the second ride (thus giving my wife and I a chance to ride twice).

SDMT told us we had an hour to use our second ride, other rides told us we had all day to use it (which was very convenient), but we couldnt have another rider swap FP, unitl we used it.

It just was very nice to have that option to ride with my some of family again later in the day (if we chose) if I ended up sitting out. I think we used it on: Test Track, Soaring, Flight of Passage, SDMT, Star Tours. Could have probably used it more, but there were some rides we just didnt go on, or the grandparents had no interest in going on, so we didnt use the swap.

I used it do to Star Tours with my son (his second time) at the end of the night despite our original ride time was at like 10:00 am.

Understanding how it works now .. one could definitely use it and game the system to mazimize your fast passes for the day, but for what is (just letting the parent who has to wait be able to skip the line later), it is great.

 

[jimim]

For our pandora ride swap he said it return time was x. I was like what? Was for an hour later even though we roped dropped it. So we show up 15 mins before the time he said. Ya there is no return time.

God ur trip went well. We r here now. I concur with all ur findings. Lol. We r waiting to get a bus for magic kingdom right now. It’s cluster. At least 5 buses needed. We gotcdown here at 745 too. Park is going to be nuts I’m thinking. I think we r going to miss our first fast pass.

 

[denecarter]

We r waiting to get a bus for magic kingdom right now. It’s cluster. At least 5 buses needed. We gotcdown here at 745 too. Park is going to be nuts I’m thinking. I think we r going to miss our first fast pass.

Where are you staying?

 

[tlmadden73]

For our pandora ride swap he said it return time was x. I was like what? Was for an hour later even though we roped dropped it. So we show up 15 mins before the time he said. Ya there is no return time.

God ur trip went well. We r here now. I concur with all ur findings. Lol. We r waiting to get a bus for magic kingdom right now. It’s cluster. At least 5 buses needed. We gotcdown here at 745 too. Park is going to be nuts I’m thinking. I think we r going to miss our first fast pass.

This week is probably going to be busy with the Thanksgiving break. I am sure a lot of people started their trips this weekend having at least 3 or more days off this week from work or school.

What I discovered was that "rope drop" really isn't a "secret" anymore. The buses are packed when trying to leave the resort around 8:00 - 8:30 (but I never experienced needing 5 buses). Getting through security and ticketing takes a while. The parks seem very crowded that first 30 minutes the park opens. And since you really don't know WHEN they will open the park exactly, it is hard to time anything. It felt like unless you are at the front of the pack and fast-walking (running) to the "key" rides that your waits could potentially be longer than later in the day. But being at the front of the pack probably means you are there an hour or more before listed park opening time (so you are still essentially waiting in a queue). I was at the Magic Kingdom at 6:45 am one morning (for a tour) and the only people there were PPO ADRs and the Early Morning Magic peeps and tour people. By the time the tour started at 7:30 am . .there were already people lining up at the ticket gates waiting for that normal 9:00 AM opening.

I experienced that with Test Track. Despite getting there before rope drop and walking right there, my family still waited 30-45 minutes for that ride.
Slinky Dog Dash? The line was all the way back to the Little Mermaid show.. and this was before 9:00 am. Who knows how long that queue was. The only park that felt like Rope Drop can work is MK .. as there is so many attractions that the initial crowds get spread out as opposed to sprinting towards a "Tier 1" attraction that happens at the other parks.

 

[jimim]

Slinky was a 60 min wait at 730 yesterday. Lol. Ya rope rope. Secret is out. Buses run when they want anymore. No more first bus at this time. U literally have to rope drop 90 mins pre and then next year it will be 120 mins pre. I have been saying that on here since June. They run buses when they want. They open the park when they want. It’s loke the Wild West. So I really can’t get a jump on it unless u get up at 6 am and hope for best. Magic kingdom is nuts already. Pirates down, haunted mansion down, big thunder down. I did get ice cream pretty easy though. Lol it’s all good.

 

[jimim]

Where are you staying?

Akl. It was a mess at 745 am. Kept just getting worse. We got on 2nd bus. My parents third. Then we hit the security wall. Wasn’t bad just really messed ya up. Lol