Princess Katelet
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2018
Howdy! My family and I went to WDW many times in the past, with a good bulk of our trips between 1999 and 2010. After our 2010 trip we were curious about Disneyland so we went there and LOVED it. When the FP+ change came to WDW in 2013 we decided it wasn't worth it to us to go back to WDW despite our being on the east coast, so we continued almost yearly with Disneyland.
I've paid attention though, and popped in on these boards here and there through the years and I knew WDW would have to either abandon FP+ or make some big changes to it because the original three a day at only one park was...horrifying. My mother wanted to take us on a cruise last week and was paying for the cruise and airfare. My youngest, turning 18 during the trip, hadn't been to WDW since she was 10 and was very anxious to go back and compare it to Disneyland, which is park she knows (and loves) so well. I always said I wouldn't go back unless someone else paid for it because of the FP changes but with the airfare taken care of and the changes that did indeed come, I decided to risk it. It was still incredibly expensive despite two days in a free vacation rental of my sister's and then three days at Caribbean Beach.
Anyway, here are my thoughts. First you must know that when I went in the 2000s I always had the August free dining and the legacy FP which we knew inside out. We were commandos who didn't let a minute be wasted and we rode ride after ride after ride and we ate well, too, with the free dining plan. Heck, for a few of those years we had the original plan with the appetizer and tip included! Life was good! WDW was fun! And easy! This time around...it was okay. It was better than I anticipated at least! We had fabulous times at the World when we used to go and I was banking on those memories helping to make it fabulous again. And it felt familiar and homey and I enjoyed it very much. Coming across Bay Lake toward the MK with the GF and CR and Poly and Castle surrounding you on every side was pretty awesome. Magical Express was familiar and fun, and monorails were something we hadn't done in ages. We had no dining plan this time though, and food was pricey and NOT good. I had an energy salad I liked at Electric Umbrella but that was all. Backlot Express was particularly gross. I was pleased with my chicken pot pie at Columbia Harbor House but they gave me green beans instead of hush puppies and I was in too much of a crowd to even notice until it was too late. The lack of lids and straws is super frustrating and yes, my almost 18 year old did spill her cold water all over herself because ANYone can spill, not just kids. And it's impossible to walk around with an open cup and try and sip without a straw and without spilling and people coughing and sneezing all over everywhere. Not pleasant. Without the dining plan we also didn't eat at any sitdowns except for Rainforest for the birthday. That was a huge disappointment with really bad food and such a LOUD and CHAOTIC atmosphere that we won't return. Rainforest at Disneyland was much nicer. So the food disappointed all the way around.
We visited our old stomping grounds of the Poly, CR, and WL and the WL was exquisite in all its Christmas decor. Roaring Fork was nice to return to, although again the food was just meh. And expensive. Toy Story Land was wall to wall people and we couldn't get a SDD FP anyway so we looked and ran. Frozen Ever After was kind of bland but when Elsa belts out Let It Go and you go backwards and watch the fireworks on the ceiling that was quite nice. I didn't care for the new TT at all. Soarin' will never be the same for me at either Park on either coast, but I find it especially disappointing to end over Epcot as the ball is just not thrilling or pretty or exciting like the castle is. The new 7 Dwarf ride is quite nice as it's so smooth, but the seats are very uncomfortable and I can't see how they fit very many people. They could have at least made the seats flat like Thunder and had them accommodate two or one, so if one sat there they could sit in the middle and have all the room they needed. The ride is far too short though and my car never swung the two times I rode it. I would never ride it without a FP as it's not at all worth it IMO. FOP was lovely but I hate how long the preshow is. I was impressed with how long the actual ride is though. Dinosaur is lame compared to Disneyland's Indy ride. I was anxious to compare those two as I had mostly forgotten what Dinosaur was like. I can see now WHY I had forgotten. I much prefer Guardians of the Galaxy at Disneyland and felt WDW's Tower had fewer drops and was less fun. I used to love Tower but I am a total convert and fan of Guardians at Land.
Now for FP+, which I was really dreading. I was able to get everything I wanted except SDD, and the refresh strategy worked for me most of the time. However, I spent a LOT of my time buried in my phone searching, booking, and rebooking things. It's not the way I wanted to spend my time but I did sort of enjoy the challenge of it and snagging a FOP the first day an hour before we left the park was pretty cool. Magic Bands are AWESOME. I do love those and their ability to open the hotel door and get you in the FP lines. At Disneyland you can use your phone for the same thing (except the hotel door) but of course it's $10 per person per day but you don't book ahead of time so when you arrive you have a vast array of FPs you can book. I still MUCH prefer Land's legacy FP, even when not combined with MaxPass.
I still hate all the parades and shows and fireworks and parties that create utter gridlock and bring things to a grinding halt. I know people love those things but I don't spend my time on them and get super frustrated with the chaos (and shorter hours on party days) they create. At Disneyland they at least let you cross the street between floats so it's a tiny bit more bearable that way but of course it's smaller there with tiny walkways so it's still a nightmare, especially when Fantasmic is going on RIGHT THERE IN THE WAY.
Park hopping at WDW is just SUCH a time waster. It's so frustrating to wait and wait for buses and boats and monorails and climb those steeeeep monorail ramps only to end up at the TTC and have to get off and go down the ramps and then back up again to get to your destination. It's just not fun. There are only about two or three rides at AK, Studios, and Epcot that we like so it's frustrating to go to so much work to ride them and waste so much time getting to them and then leaving and going elsewhere. At Disneyland you just walk the length of a football field between the two parks and once you're through security ONCE you can go back and forth all day unless you go outside the bubble. Not true at WDW...security each and every time and it's gridlock at those lines.
I had a nice time and it was nice to visit again but I still think I get a LOT more for my time and money at Disneyland and it's SO much easier and pleasant to plan and visit there. It's not quite the bubble WDW is but a lot of the rides are better and again, that park hopping is a dream.
Anyway, just thought I'd share! And thank you to all who answered my many questions as I planned this trip! Much appreciated!
I've paid attention though, and popped in on these boards here and there through the years and I knew WDW would have to either abandon FP+ or make some big changes to it because the original three a day at only one park was...horrifying. My mother wanted to take us on a cruise last week and was paying for the cruise and airfare. My youngest, turning 18 during the trip, hadn't been to WDW since she was 10 and was very anxious to go back and compare it to Disneyland, which is park she knows (and loves) so well. I always said I wouldn't go back unless someone else paid for it because of the FP changes but with the airfare taken care of and the changes that did indeed come, I decided to risk it. It was still incredibly expensive despite two days in a free vacation rental of my sister's and then three days at Caribbean Beach.
Anyway, here are my thoughts. First you must know that when I went in the 2000s I always had the August free dining and the legacy FP which we knew inside out. We were commandos who didn't let a minute be wasted and we rode ride after ride after ride and we ate well, too, with the free dining plan. Heck, for a few of those years we had the original plan with the appetizer and tip included! Life was good! WDW was fun! And easy! This time around...it was okay. It was better than I anticipated at least! We had fabulous times at the World when we used to go and I was banking on those memories helping to make it fabulous again. And it felt familiar and homey and I enjoyed it very much. Coming across Bay Lake toward the MK with the GF and CR and Poly and Castle surrounding you on every side was pretty awesome. Magical Express was familiar and fun, and monorails were something we hadn't done in ages. We had no dining plan this time though, and food was pricey and NOT good. I had an energy salad I liked at Electric Umbrella but that was all. Backlot Express was particularly gross. I was pleased with my chicken pot pie at Columbia Harbor House but they gave me green beans instead of hush puppies and I was in too much of a crowd to even notice until it was too late. The lack of lids and straws is super frustrating and yes, my almost 18 year old did spill her cold water all over herself because ANYone can spill, not just kids. And it's impossible to walk around with an open cup and try and sip without a straw and without spilling and people coughing and sneezing all over everywhere. Not pleasant. Without the dining plan we also didn't eat at any sitdowns except for Rainforest for the birthday. That was a huge disappointment with really bad food and such a LOUD and CHAOTIC atmosphere that we won't return. Rainforest at Disneyland was much nicer. So the food disappointed all the way around.
We visited our old stomping grounds of the Poly, CR, and WL and the WL was exquisite in all its Christmas decor. Roaring Fork was nice to return to, although again the food was just meh. And expensive. Toy Story Land was wall to wall people and we couldn't get a SDD FP anyway so we looked and ran. Frozen Ever After was kind of bland but when Elsa belts out Let It Go and you go backwards and watch the fireworks on the ceiling that was quite nice. I didn't care for the new TT at all. Soarin' will never be the same for me at either Park on either coast, but I find it especially disappointing to end over Epcot as the ball is just not thrilling or pretty or exciting like the castle is. The new 7 Dwarf ride is quite nice as it's so smooth, but the seats are very uncomfortable and I can't see how they fit very many people. They could have at least made the seats flat like Thunder and had them accommodate two or one, so if one sat there they could sit in the middle and have all the room they needed. The ride is far too short though and my car never swung the two times I rode it. I would never ride it without a FP as it's not at all worth it IMO. FOP was lovely but I hate how long the preshow is. I was impressed with how long the actual ride is though. Dinosaur is lame compared to Disneyland's Indy ride. I was anxious to compare those two as I had mostly forgotten what Dinosaur was like. I can see now WHY I had forgotten. I much prefer Guardians of the Galaxy at Disneyland and felt WDW's Tower had fewer drops and was less fun. I used to love Tower but I am a total convert and fan of Guardians at Land.
Now for FP+, which I was really dreading. I was able to get everything I wanted except SDD, and the refresh strategy worked for me most of the time. However, I spent a LOT of my time buried in my phone searching, booking, and rebooking things. It's not the way I wanted to spend my time but I did sort of enjoy the challenge of it and snagging a FOP the first day an hour before we left the park was pretty cool. Magic Bands are AWESOME. I do love those and their ability to open the hotel door and get you in the FP lines. At Disneyland you can use your phone for the same thing (except the hotel door) but of course it's $10 per person per day but you don't book ahead of time so when you arrive you have a vast array of FPs you can book. I still MUCH prefer Land's legacy FP, even when not combined with MaxPass.
I still hate all the parades and shows and fireworks and parties that create utter gridlock and bring things to a grinding halt. I know people love those things but I don't spend my time on them and get super frustrated with the chaos (and shorter hours on party days) they create. At Disneyland they at least let you cross the street between floats so it's a tiny bit more bearable that way but of course it's smaller there with tiny walkways so it's still a nightmare, especially when Fantasmic is going on RIGHT THERE IN THE WAY.
Park hopping at WDW is just SUCH a time waster. It's so frustrating to wait and wait for buses and boats and monorails and climb those steeeeep monorail ramps only to end up at the TTC and have to get off and go down the ramps and then back up again to get to your destination. It's just not fun. There are only about two or three rides at AK, Studios, and Epcot that we like so it's frustrating to go to so much work to ride them and waste so much time getting to them and then leaving and going elsewhere. At Disneyland you just walk the length of a football field between the two parks and once you're through security ONCE you can go back and forth all day unless you go outside the bubble. Not true at WDW...security each and every time and it's gridlock at those lines.
I had a nice time and it was nice to visit again but I still think I get a LOT more for my time and money at Disneyland and it's SO much easier and pleasant to plan and visit there. It's not quite the bubble WDW is but a lot of the rides are better and again, that park hopping is a dream.
Anyway, just thought I'd share! And thank you to all who answered my many questions as I planned this trip! Much appreciated!
