mi*vida*loca
Collect memories, not things
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2008
We just got back late Sunday night/early Monday morning. We had a fabulous time. It was just DD12 and myself on a mother daughter trip.
Crowds – We are used to going in August or early March so crowds were definitely higher but we still managed to do everything we wanted. Including riding our faves multiple times. We never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride. The walkways would be very congested but once you got through that it wasn’t bad and I’m not the type that likes crowds. Epcot on 11/10 was complete insanity by 2 pm (we arrived at 11 am). We weren’t doing the festival kiosks but instead just exploring the countries. Going into the countries and exploring wasn’t bad, the issue was getting to the next country. It was a sea of people!!! I started to get nervous and grabbed DD’s hand and made our way out at 2 pm. Thankfully we stayed at Boardwalk and could pop in and out but we completely avoided it on our last day. IMO it's still a very manageable week and I wouldn't hesitate to go that week again.
MDE and FP+ - The app worked 90% of the time. I was usually on my Verizon network since I have unlimited data. We got plenty of extra FP+, especially at MK. I saw all headliners pop up except for FOP and the TSL rides.
Weather – It was hot and humid. I heard a lot of locals say it was unseasonably warm. We only had rain on our first day and we missed most of it during our dinner at BOG. Other than that it never rained or we missed it.
Touring Plans – The app is so worth it. Many times rides would have a high wait time, I would check the TP app and it would say 10 minutes, we would get in line and it was absolutely correct. One time FOP had a 180 minute wait posted and the app said it was really 88 minutes. We had FP so didn’t try that one out.
Bathrooms – The bathrooms were always clean. MK always had 1-3 people cleaning them every time I used one and I go to the bathroom a lot. LOL The only time the bathroom was dirty was at AK but it was the disabled stall and I think someone had a mishap who wasn’t mobile. There were feces on the toilet smeared all over. It was about 9:15 am so I think it just happened.
Food – We never had a bad meal. We ate at YM, BOG, B&C, ESPN, VN, MM and plenty of QS places. We made most of our ADR’s the day of or the day before. We saw plenty of openings for every single restaurant including Ohana, BOG, Chef Mickey’s and lots more popular places.
Strollers – Holy monstrosity strollers. I saw a stroller that was literally the size of a Prius. I need to find it online. OMG it was huge. Who needs a stroller that big??? We never got hit by a stroller but people, don’t let your toddler push a stroller in a busy MK then get mad when people are dodging your kid or bumping into him. We can’t even see him. He’s short!
ECV – I saw two people get run over by people driving insanely on the ECV. I think one lady just got flustered right outside of SDD and tried to get out of there. She hit the gas, tried to do a uturn and ran over the back of one lady’s foot. It was awful. I also saw one guy tip over when he tried to do a uturn on his ECV. I’m afraid to see how these people drive cars!!
Bag check – Never waited long at all. Sometimes we got stuck behind someone with a stroller and 4646546498 bags. But other than that we were fine.
Strategy – I realized we are strictly RD, midday break by the pool and PM park people. We can’t do the parks from 1pm-5pm. It’s not for us. We had 10 days so by day 5 we just did sleep in, pool time and then a park around 4 pm. We got lots done close to closing. Especially at MK. Once people go to watch the fireworks crowds die down a lot.
MVMCP - We enjoyed it but it’s a one and done for us. The crowds were way too high for a special event. The fireworks and parade and snow on main street were amazing but again, the crowds. The crowds were higher than a regular MK day for us. We weren't at the party to ride rides so it wasn't the wait times that bothered us but just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere was difficult due to the crowds.
HEA dessert party – This was worth it. I don’t know how people deal with the crowds on Main Street. We walked through it one night and I was having anxiety. I couldn’t imagine squeezing into that to watch the show.
F&W festival – After one afternoon eating at the kiosks I was over it. Standing in line (and I went at 11 am so there weren’t really any lines, mostly just walk up or 2-3 people in line) for bite size portions of food that cost $5-8. And the drinks…hahaha….shot sizes of wine/beer at those prices. DD12 was not feeling it either. I live in an area with lots of diversity in restaurants so after a few kiosks I was just like eh. This is all stuff I can get at home. I have eaten and drank around the world before with my SO when there wasn’t a festival and it was fun. The lines on Saturday, 11/10, were 20-50 people deep at each kiosk. I couldn’t imagine doing that for a morsel of food.
With that said we had amazing time. Now back to the real world!
Crowds – We are used to going in August or early March so crowds were definitely higher but we still managed to do everything we wanted. Including riding our faves multiple times. We never waited more than 15 minutes for any ride. The walkways would be very congested but once you got through that it wasn’t bad and I’m not the type that likes crowds. Epcot on 11/10 was complete insanity by 2 pm (we arrived at 11 am). We weren’t doing the festival kiosks but instead just exploring the countries. Going into the countries and exploring wasn’t bad, the issue was getting to the next country. It was a sea of people!!! I started to get nervous and grabbed DD’s hand and made our way out at 2 pm. Thankfully we stayed at Boardwalk and could pop in and out but we completely avoided it on our last day. IMO it's still a very manageable week and I wouldn't hesitate to go that week again.
MDE and FP+ - The app worked 90% of the time. I was usually on my Verizon network since I have unlimited data. We got plenty of extra FP+, especially at MK. I saw all headliners pop up except for FOP and the TSL rides.
Weather – It was hot and humid. I heard a lot of locals say it was unseasonably warm. We only had rain on our first day and we missed most of it during our dinner at BOG. Other than that it never rained or we missed it.
Touring Plans – The app is so worth it. Many times rides would have a high wait time, I would check the TP app and it would say 10 minutes, we would get in line and it was absolutely correct. One time FOP had a 180 minute wait posted and the app said it was really 88 minutes. We had FP so didn’t try that one out.
Bathrooms – The bathrooms were always clean. MK always had 1-3 people cleaning them every time I used one and I go to the bathroom a lot. LOL The only time the bathroom was dirty was at AK but it was the disabled stall and I think someone had a mishap who wasn’t mobile. There were feces on the toilet smeared all over. It was about 9:15 am so I think it just happened.
Food – We never had a bad meal. We ate at YM, BOG, B&C, ESPN, VN, MM and plenty of QS places. We made most of our ADR’s the day of or the day before. We saw plenty of openings for every single restaurant including Ohana, BOG, Chef Mickey’s and lots more popular places.
Strollers – Holy monstrosity strollers. I saw a stroller that was literally the size of a Prius. I need to find it online. OMG it was huge. Who needs a stroller that big??? We never got hit by a stroller but people, don’t let your toddler push a stroller in a busy MK then get mad when people are dodging your kid or bumping into him. We can’t even see him. He’s short!
ECV – I saw two people get run over by people driving insanely on the ECV. I think one lady just got flustered right outside of SDD and tried to get out of there. She hit the gas, tried to do a uturn and ran over the back of one lady’s foot. It was awful. I also saw one guy tip over when he tried to do a uturn on his ECV. I’m afraid to see how these people drive cars!!
Bag check – Never waited long at all. Sometimes we got stuck behind someone with a stroller and 4646546498 bags. But other than that we were fine.
Strategy – I realized we are strictly RD, midday break by the pool and PM park people. We can’t do the parks from 1pm-5pm. It’s not for us. We had 10 days so by day 5 we just did sleep in, pool time and then a park around 4 pm. We got lots done close to closing. Especially at MK. Once people go to watch the fireworks crowds die down a lot.
MVMCP - We enjoyed it but it’s a one and done for us. The crowds were way too high for a special event. The fireworks and parade and snow on main street were amazing but again, the crowds. The crowds were higher than a regular MK day for us. We weren't at the party to ride rides so it wasn't the wait times that bothered us but just walking around and enjoying the atmosphere was difficult due to the crowds.
HEA dessert party – This was worth it. I don’t know how people deal with the crowds on Main Street. We walked through it one night and I was having anxiety. I couldn’t imagine squeezing into that to watch the show.
F&W festival – After one afternoon eating at the kiosks I was over it. Standing in line (and I went at 11 am so there weren’t really any lines, mostly just walk up or 2-3 people in line) for bite size portions of food that cost $5-8. And the drinks…hahaha….shot sizes of wine/beer at those prices. DD12 was not feeling it either. I live in an area with lots of diversity in restaurants so after a few kiosks I was just like eh. This is all stuff I can get at home. I have eaten and drank around the world before with my SO when there wasn’t a festival and it was fun. The lines on Saturday, 11/10, were 20-50 people deep at each kiosk. I couldn’t imagine doing that for a morsel of food.
With that said we had amazing time. Now back to the real world!
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Can absolutely relate, when we were there in October on a 5 night trip, only did F&W booths one weeknight evening for dinner, the other 4 nights did TS which we enjoyed, more relaxing for us. Just our personal preference after going to F&W, a few years now, can’t eat dinner at the booths standing up more than one evening ! 
