preemiemama
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2009
Just back from our 18 person trip to the World. We stayed at BWV. We had Memory Maker. We had the deluxe dining plan, and ate at:
Breakfast: Tusker House, Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine, Kouzzina
Lunch: ESPN Zone, BOG (with a FP), Boardwalk Bakery
Dinner: Hacienda, Spirit of Aloha, Brown Derby (Fantasmic Package), Rose and Crown, Le Cellier, and Flying Fish
In general, we had a great time. Also, both the food and service were typically good.
Magic Bands worked just fine 95% of the time. Had a couple of blue Mickeys at rides that were fixed quickly. No issues at the hotel/room entry or park entry (aside from the first day when we had forgotten which finger we used for our APs from last year!). One caution when dining, if you have a large group and multiple rooms, each room has to have a band scanned for meals or some rooms can wind up with no meals while others have a surplus. Otherwise, no issues with using the bands for meals either!
Most of the CMs we encountered were great. Some went above and beyond, others were just fine. Had one or two that were less than magical, but this was certainly the exception. The one that stood out was our waiter at Brown Derby. I'm not sure he was all that comfortable with children- and we had quite a few! None of them were running around the restaurant or really misbehaved (half of our family is comprised of teachers, so we try to keep it in check!!). He just was not sure how to interact with them.
Rides were in fairly good condition. TSMM had some issues on our first day, so we got to ride again after talking to a manager. TT also had issues. It went down pretty much daily- some due to rain, some due to technical issues. Buzz also had some issues- it needs some attention for sure.
7DMT is cool. I would not wait more than 20 minutes for it, but enjoyed it more than I thought. Seats are snug, but I am "pooh sized" and fit ok- DH did as well. Animatronics are amazing, but the ride is short.
Agent P Missions got new phones. My son especially enjoyed the one in Germany. We had issues with the one in France, which apparently is having technical issues since the new phones. I will say that the phones are sensitive, and if you accidentally hit a button instead of touching the screen, you lose the mission altogether. This happened to us in Germany. We finished, and went to touch the OK button to find out the phone drop location, but brushed a button that took us out of the game. We went to the station in Italy and gave them the phone instead, so no worries there. (This was not the issue in France, the mission kept looping at one location and we could not finish the mission there.)
Also wanted to let people know that we did have the new boats on POTC and did NOT get soaked or banged around more than usual. (I actually got more wet on Malestrom!) Both POTC and Splash had backups with the boats while unloading but that is typical.
Memory Maker worked well- photos from the rides loaded fine on the bands. The majority of the pictures loaded to the account from everyone's bands/MDE accounts. There are a couple of magic shots missing, and one shot of my niece and Tink where balloons were added over Tink's face. I expect to be able to call this weekend after everyone checks to be sure nothing else is missing and get these things corrected.
Had a magical moment for our anniversary as well- special seating (in front of the dessert party) for Illuminations. Very cool!
That is all I can think of right now- if anyone has questions, go ahead and ask! I'll be glad to answer what I can!
Breakfast: Tusker House, Crystal Palace, Hollywood and Vine, Kouzzina
Lunch: ESPN Zone, BOG (with a FP), Boardwalk Bakery
Dinner: Hacienda, Spirit of Aloha, Brown Derby (Fantasmic Package), Rose and Crown, Le Cellier, and Flying Fish
In general, we had a great time. Also, both the food and service were typically good.
Magic Bands worked just fine 95% of the time. Had a couple of blue Mickeys at rides that were fixed quickly. No issues at the hotel/room entry or park entry (aside from the first day when we had forgotten which finger we used for our APs from last year!). One caution when dining, if you have a large group and multiple rooms, each room has to have a band scanned for meals or some rooms can wind up with no meals while others have a surplus. Otherwise, no issues with using the bands for meals either!
Most of the CMs we encountered were great. Some went above and beyond, others were just fine. Had one or two that were less than magical, but this was certainly the exception. The one that stood out was our waiter at Brown Derby. I'm not sure he was all that comfortable with children- and we had quite a few! None of them were running around the restaurant or really misbehaved (half of our family is comprised of teachers, so we try to keep it in check!!). He just was not sure how to interact with them.
Rides were in fairly good condition. TSMM had some issues on our first day, so we got to ride again after talking to a manager. TT also had issues. It went down pretty much daily- some due to rain, some due to technical issues. Buzz also had some issues- it needs some attention for sure.
7DMT is cool. I would not wait more than 20 minutes for it, but enjoyed it more than I thought. Seats are snug, but I am "pooh sized" and fit ok- DH did as well. Animatronics are amazing, but the ride is short.
Agent P Missions got new phones. My son especially enjoyed the one in Germany. We had issues with the one in France, which apparently is having technical issues since the new phones. I will say that the phones are sensitive, and if you accidentally hit a button instead of touching the screen, you lose the mission altogether. This happened to us in Germany. We finished, and went to touch the OK button to find out the phone drop location, but brushed a button that took us out of the game. We went to the station in Italy and gave them the phone instead, so no worries there. (This was not the issue in France, the mission kept looping at one location and we could not finish the mission there.)
Also wanted to let people know that we did have the new boats on POTC and did NOT get soaked or banged around more than usual. (I actually got more wet on Malestrom!) Both POTC and Splash had backups with the boats while unloading but that is typical.
Memory Maker worked well- photos from the rides loaded fine on the bands. The majority of the pictures loaded to the account from everyone's bands/MDE accounts. There are a couple of magic shots missing, and one shot of my niece and Tink where balloons were added over Tink's face. I expect to be able to call this weekend after everyone checks to be sure nothing else is missing and get these things corrected.
Had a magical moment for our anniversary as well- special seating (in front of the dessert party) for Illuminations. Very cool!
That is all I can think of right now- if anyone has questions, go ahead and ask! I'll be glad to answer what I can!
