bladiator
Disney on my mind
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2012
Just got back from the longest WDW trip I've ever taken. First 4 days we brought my wife's parents along, and then for the next 4 days, my wife's sister came, so the first 7 or so days were pretty hectic for people that rarely go to WDW. After they all left, we were able to really relax and just go with the flow which was AWESOME.
Some quick thoughts:
Some quick thoughts:
- First time getting an AP. Found myself constantly looking for places to eat that were discounted. Am sad that I will be seeing the vast number of 45th anniversary 20% off locations going away for our next trip in February. Loved being able to wave the pass and get free parking. Had about 50/50 on whether or not the person in the booth took our pass and scanned it with the ID vs just seeing it and waving us through. I would have say (somewhat anecdotally, but hey, that's all I've got) that Epcot was the place where they cared the least. After adding up all of our discounts, I surmised that I had paid off the upgrade cost for one of the two passes I bought (10 days of parking plus food and merchandise). I didn't add in memory maker as a savings because I have never bought it before, but I did actually search out photographers for the first time in my life.
- Saw some crazy inefficiency on a couple of rides. A few examples: At Test Track one day I saw 80 minutes for the ride, and 70 minutes for single rider! So I went in with FPs with my FIL and there was NO ONE in the single rider line (obviously due to seeing a 70 minute wait outside) and they were putting us into cars with 1-2 empty seats per row. On another day, there was a 60 minute wait time for ToT and the FP line was out the door (and no one getting in the stand-by line at all). One of the CMs came out and told us that 2 of the 4 elevators were not working so the line was going to be slower, but moving. So we got in the first room with the video, which they did not fill entirely. And then we went in and there were NO lines in the main loading room. We almost filled my elevator (but I as a single rider was on my own row), but when I got off, I looked at the pictures, and the other elevator had 6 people on it!
- HEA didn't really do it for me -- I find it super loud and until they stop having XMas parties, I won't be able to get anywhere near the castle to fully see the projections, but all in all, I didn't like the show as much. I spent most of my nights at Epcot enjoying Illuminations (my favorite) and the extra holiday fireworks (that ending ... WOW!)
- Did Rivers of Light for the first time -- ok, now THAT was super loud. I know we were positioned near a speaker, but there was no portion that was quiet. Not even the quiet parts of the music were quiet. It was ear rattling. At least 10 parents with small children had to rush out with their screaming crying child during the show in our section. I think I could have enjoyed the show to some extent otherwise, but it didn't have enough "wow" factor to deal with the volume level (but those little moving projections were sweet)
- Didn't see any FOP FPs for the entirety of my 30 day FP window leading up to my trip, but was able to snag same day FPs for it 3 times during my trip, including one very crowded last day (Sunday, the 10th). It seemed that they were being dropped around the 10:40ish time frame (some people in front of me in line said they also found them during that time).
- Pandora is a place that is not very child friendly. At least not tiny child. My poor 1-year old was bored to frustrated tears by having to wait for mommy and daddy to switch out on FOP. The whole area seems very small and is overly crowded due to the popularity of both the rides there. All in all, I felt bad for our daughter having to deal with us wanting to go down there so much for FOP and not wanting to walk all the way out to something more interesting for her while we waited. Let's just say, we spent a lot of time in the deserted stroller parking square area next to the Satu'li Canteen.
- Enjoyed just grabbing whatever ADR was available the day I wanted to go eat somewhere instead of worrying about it months ahead of schedule. Picked places I never have eaten before just so I could enjoy being at an EPCOT resort in the evening and be able to walk over to see the fireworks and not have to fight the crowds going out.
- One more bullet point to say the MDE app is the best thing going right now. I grabbed FPs and ADRs like crazy just while standing around. Loved it.
