***Official July 2019 thread***

9...more...days...
I cannot believe we are going next Friday! After 6 years, having a countdown at all was miraculous, but now that it's almost here I am beyond excited!!!!! Since the trip itinerary is basically memorized at this point, we keep saying things like "In 2 weeks at this time we'll be at AK DAH, in 2 weeks at this time we'll be at Epcot..." etc.


I hope it’s wonderful! Come back and tell us how it was.
 
9...more...days...
I cannot believe we are going next Friday! After 6 years, having a countdown at all was miraculous, but now that it's almost here I am beyond excited!!!!! Since the trip itinerary is basically memorized at this point, we keep saying things like "In 2 weeks at this time we'll be at AK DAH, in 2 weeks at this time we'll be at Epcot..." etc.

We leave next Friday as well! I cannot wait. I’m sure you are going nuts with it almost here after having endured a 6 year wait! Hope your trip is magical!
 
I hope it’s wonderful! Come back and tell us how it was.

Thank you! Will do!

We leave next Friday as well! I cannot wait. I’m sure you are going nuts with it almost here after having endured a 6 year wait! Hope your trip is magical!

Thank you! I hope yours is as well! It hasn’t been completely devoid of Disney; we live a 7 hour drive from DLR and have had several visits there in the interim. :) However, it HAS been 2 years and 4 months (not that anyone’s counting) since our last DLR trip, so... yeah, a long time for us!!
 


Well we are checking out today and heading to the beach. Fell in love with AKL so much. Wish we could stay here every trip.

After 2 summer trips we decided we don’t want to do it again. I’d rather deal with Thanksgiving crowds than this heat and rain. Guest behavior seemed to hit an all time low this trip, too.
I'm glad you loved AKL....we were there too from the 2nd to the 6th. Our room was on Zebra trail with a partial savannah view. Where were you guys? I was worried about how my DH would handle the heat but he had no issues. Mind you, we are not full day park people. Too bad you found gust behaviour to be an issue......that is sad. We didn't really notice anything but had breakfast most days on our balcony and ate at the pool bar or lounges on resort. Hope your November trip is magical!
 


the designer of the perfume Laila, which I've been meaning to buy for forever, was actually there, so I was able to get a gift set, which w/my AP discount, was the same price as just the large bottle on it's own, plus he autographed the bottle and a card
Gier Ness! I love him :love: I've been wearing Laila for years and pick up a new bottle every trip; last time he was there and I met him he rubbed lotion on my hands and arms and told me all about going to the Oscars a couple weeks earlier! Got some good pictures, wanted to meet him this time when I saw the sign but it was early and he wasn't there yet. The gift set I got in Feb. had a beautiful bag with it!
 
Preparing for my 6AM flight tomorrow!

Checked in to my flight right on the nose and surprisingly got an aisle seat, my personal favorite! Flying Spirit without paying for seat assignment is taking your life into your own hands times 2.

Meal prepping for my family as we speak then finish packing!
 
I know "summer crowds" is a common topic around the DIS. We did late June/first week of July in 2017 & 2018. This year we needed to travel later, just got back from a week at WDW.

I was curious to see any difference between early and late July, crowd wise. I think I'd peg things as definitely on the busier side late July judging from this past week. I had been looking at what I deem pretty stout wait times on many rides in the days before we left, and it generally matched that on the ground. It wasn't the holidays, but it wasn't "summer slow" either.

I was reminded of some rather obvious circumstances, such as how storms really wreak havoc on some FP lines when anytime FPs get flooded through the system.

Still had a great time - did everything we wanted, dodged the weather, plenty of park and resort time, etc. It was maybe just a touch more crowded than I expected (and for clarity, I am mainly thinking of MK (and DAK to some extent) when I say this.

Can't believe July is almost over!
 
We just got back late last night from an 8 night stay. We had a wonderful trip! We hadn't been in 6 years, so a lot was new to us.

The good:
- YC exceeded our expectations. The Epcot resort area is beautiful and having such easy access to Epcot and Hollywood Studios just cannot be beat. I would never pay rack rate for those resorts, but we got a big discount which made us decide to splurge. I'm sure with the event of SWGE those discounts are probably a thing of the past.

- We had 2 TS meals most days, and loved all our dining experiences! Standouts were Hoop de Doo Revue (just love, love, love that whole experience), Yachtsman (YUM - delicious!), and Yak and Yeti (those eggrolls and potstickers...I'm still thinking about them.) The variety and quality of TS dining options is one of the things that makes WDW really stand out to us, and sets it apart from DLR since DLR just doesn't have nearly as much.

- We loved the DAH events at HS and AK! Low crowds, night time at the parks (our favorite), fun atmosphere, and included snacks!

- Toy Story Land! We are both big fans of the franchise and oh my we loved this land. We got to experience it at the end of a Friday night and during DAH. We didn't go back during our day time HS visit because I didn't want to spoil that great experience with crowds and heat. Loved Slinky, loved the queue for TSM (we'd never done it at WDW because DLR has it...minus the incredible queue), loved AS2. Developed a new appreciation for the aliens, who I already loved.

- FOP. Just wow. We got to ride it 3 times - twice at DAH and once with a FP. It absolutely lived up to the hype.

- 7DMT! Pleasantly surprised! This opened not long after our last trip, so it was new to us. The standby waits are ridiculous of course, but I'd gotten 3 FPs for it in case we liked it, and we used them all.

- HEA. I am a sucker for castle projections because sleeping beauty castle at DLR is too small for them. Loved that show. Glad we splurged for the fireworks dessert party.

- The weather - we were actually pleasantly surprised! Of course it was hot, but we went in expecting that and we had planned for it. It was in the 70s multiple evenings; I couldn't believe how cool it got! The strategy of morning, resort break (nap), evening really worked for us. We only had rain issues one day - it rained (light rain, mostly) the entire time we were at Typhoon Lagoon. That actually made it really fun and kept the crowds way down! We didn't experience any ride closures due to lightning - a combination of being in the right place at the right time during thunderstorms. (Usually in our room, napping.)

The...ok:
- We are adept at crowds; we can handle them. DLR is usually crowded when we go because I'm a teacher and off season isn't a thing for us. We're used to navigating crowds. That said, we were unpleasantly surprised by the crowds, especially at MK. Oh my gosh. The standby wait times are ridiculous everywhere. WDW's main difference from DLR is FP+ and having FP for everything, which leads to insanity like 45 min for Pooh, 60 for Buzz (seriously?!), 120 for BTMRR, 135 for Space....these are just not wait times DLR sees. At DLR, Space on a crowded day would be 60, really crowded would be 90 (like, Christmas time), and normal busy times 45. That said...

-FP+. I have a love hate relationship with this concept. On the one hand, we planned well (thanks to these boards!) and never waited more than 25 min for anything. On the other hand, there is zero spontaneity, except at DAH events. I'm so glad we threw those in there, because I don't think I could have handled the FP+ system otherwise. DLR still has the rolling FPs you can't make until the day of, and I am grateful for that.

- Villains AH. I wish this hadn't been marketed as an after hours event, because it was nothing like the ones at HS and AK. It was far more crowded. I also discovered I don't like the entire villains theme at all. I clearly wasn't the target audience. I don't regret going, but it was definitely something I'd never do again.

To sum up
Overall, we had a wonderful time. We are different from a lot of people on these boards because our WDW visits are few and far between, and we go to DLR regularly. Since we live in CA and WDW trips are time consuming and expensive, I'm happy with that balance. I also learned this trip that though I love WDW and enjoy our trips there every few years, DLR is really my first love. I think that happens for all of us - we all end up with a "home" park. We have plans for DLR in October and probably again next summer, so I'll be mostly over on the Disneyland board now.

Hope everyone had fantastic trips, and hope those who are still enjoying theirs have a magical time! :)

Edit: p.s. Sorry this is so long...oops. LOL
 
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Standouts were Hoop de Doo Revue (just love, love, love that whole experience)

x2 on this. We had a great time at Hoop this past Tuesday. We had a large party over a variety of ages and it was by far the best meal experience of the trip.

Loved reading your post BTW, lots of helpful details for those reading along. As an infrequent WDW traveler, I'd say you just about crushed it on your trip. Nice job!
 
- Toy Story Land! We are both big fans of the franchise and oh my we loved this land. We got to experience it at the end of a Friday night and during DAH. We didn't go back during our day time HS visit because I didn't want to spoil that great experience with crowds and heat. Loved Slinky, loved the queue for TSM (we'd never done it at WDW because DLR has it...minus the incredible queue), loved AS2. Developed a new appreciation for the aliens, who I already loved.
Wow! I'm so glad y'all had a great trip. Your experience seemed similar to ours, including the weather! Although it does look like we may have had better crowds earlier in July, just from everything I've been reading lately.

It's funny about your TSL experience. That was exactly how I felt. We went to AH at HS on our very first night. It was our first time to see Toy Story Land too. We loved it! I'm so glad our first time was at night, because the weather was nice and the lighting was awesome! We had such a good experience overall that I considered going back again the following Friday night. But ultimately besides the cost factor, I didn't want to possibly have a negative experience that might tarnish our first one.

I'm sure we'll make it over to TSL during the day eventually. But right now all my memories are at night, where everything was so bright and cheery. And I'm totally okay with that!
 
x2 on this. We had a great time at Hoop this past Tuesday. We had a large party over a variety of ages and it was by far the best meal experience of the trip.

Loved reading your post BTW, lots of helpful details for those reading along. As an infrequent WDW traveler, I'd say you just about crushed it on your trip. Nice job!
We also went to HDDR on our trip this month. It was our first time to go there. Our family really enjoyed it as well. My only regret was not asking for mac & cheese. I guess it's not normally served, because we didn't get any. But I saw another table near us passing it around. That's a family favorite and I almost requested it. But our waitress was already working so hard, so I didn't want to ask.
 
x2 on this. We had a great time at Hoop this past Tuesday. We had a large party over a variety of ages and it was by far the best meal experience of the trip.

Loved reading your post BTW, lots of helpful details for those reading along. As an infrequent WDW traveler, I'd say you just about crushed it on your trip. Nice job!

HDDR is officially a must do for us on every trip; I think I even loved it more than I did back in 2013. And thanks for the compliment. It's a good thing I like planning because WDW definitely requires it! These boards also helped a ton. I used tips I read here constantly.

Wow! I'm so glad y'all had a great trip. Your experience seemed similar to ours, including the weather! Although it does look like we may have had better crowds earlier in July, just from everything I've been reading lately.

It's funny about your TSL experience. That was exactly how I felt. We went to AH at HS on our very first night. It was our first time to see Toy Story Land too. We loved it! I'm so glad our first time was at night, because the weather was nice and the lighting was awesome! We had such a good experience overall that I considered going back again the following Friday night. But ultimately besides the cost factor, I didn't want to possibly have a negative experience that might tarnish our first one.

I'm sure we'll make it over to TSL during the day eventually. But right now all my memories are at night, where everything was so bright and cheery. And I'm totally okay with that!

I really think TSL is probably far better at night. The lighting is just incredible, especially on AS2 and Slinky. I love that you had the same experience with it at DAH as we did! We actually originally intended to ride ToT and RnRC multiple times at DAH, but we just loved TSL too much, so we ended up just riding the two Sunset Blvd rides once and heading right back to TSL for the rest of the night.

We also went to HDDR on our trip this month. It was our first time to go there. Our family really enjoyed it as well. My only regret was not asking for mac & cheese. I guess it's not normally served, because we didn't get any. But I saw another table near us passing it around. That's a family favorite and I almost requested it. But our waitress was already working so hard, so I didn't want to ask.

There's mac and cheese?!?! I had no idea! I wonder if it's like the mac and cheese at Garden Grill, which I LOVED. I'm sure it's just Velveeta, but oh boy it was good. :)
 
We also went to HDDR on our trip this month. It was our first time to go there. Our family really enjoyed it as well. My only regret was not asking for mac & cheese. I guess it's not normally served, because we didn't get any. But I saw another table near us passing it around. That's a family favorite and I almost requested it. But our waitress was already working so hard, so I didn't want to ask.
When we ate at HDDR I requested the ma and cheese as soon as we sat down because my kids love it, I have heard sometimes they will bring it out without being asked but I wasn't going to chance it with a bunch of kids that love mac and cheese :)

Just popped in to lurk at the July experiences. I am going soon and considering finally going for my son's bday (July 5th) next year because of the bounceback out right now. Not sure I am brave enough for a holiday at wdw lol
 
When we ate at HDDR I requested the ma and cheese as soon as we sat down because my kids love it, I have heard sometimes they will bring it out without being asked but I wasn't going to chance it with a bunch of kids that love mac and cheese :)

Just popped in to lurk at the July experiences. I am going soon and considering finally going for my son's bday (July 5th) next year because of the bounceback out right now. Not sure I am brave enough for a holiday at wdw lol
We were there over the fourth and it wasn’t bad at all. I would totally do it again! We had a great trip!
 

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