Back home with good and bad

[fly girl]

Just returned from our May 27th through June 1st vacation. While we had a great time overall (of course, it's Disney!) we felt the feel of WDW was a tad lack luster this time.


THE GOOD:

1. Symphony in the Stars fireworks. Oh man, one word ... AWESOME! We all really enjoyed it. None of us are big into SW, so we avoided HS during SWW except to see the fireworks on Sunday. Wow, they didn't disappoint.


2. Food. I know, I am surprised too! Finally had the chance to try Cali Grill and Sci Fi. CG, just wow. Delicious. Sci-Fi, it's nothing high brow but the sandwiches were good and the shake was yummy. Just wish our car had a tad more light to see (had to use my cell phone to see a few times.) Also tried Trattoria al Forno this trip, pretty good! The caprese was wondeful, and we enjoyed this dining experience more than Kouzzina.


3. Crowds. Given that it was over a weekend and start of summer we were expecting heavy crowds. It was busy, but not a lot of pushing and shoving. Guests were pretty respectful.


4. Lady Tremaine at MK. She rocked!! Great character interaction and so doggone funny. Asked my daughter if her parents have instilled in her to marry for money. DD looked at me confused, I said, "NO!" To which LT responded, "Listen to me and marry for money." LOL. The best part was when I was taking a picture she saw my engagement/wedding set and said "HA! Look at that ring, you DID marry for money!" Just hysterical.



THE BAD:

1. FP+. Yes, I am in the full fledged hater group. This is our third trip and I still don' t like it. Honestly, I think it is keeping us from returning for a long while. Lines ARE longer -- never waited this long for PoTC, Living with the Land, or ToT. And by the time you make it to your 4th FP, if you are at any other park other than MK your getting zippo. I don't need FP to the Muppets, it's only a 5 minute wait anyway.


2. I know this is very small potatoes to many, but to me it is big. What is up with the lack of care of the park flowers? One of my very favorite things in the park is looking at all the meticulously groomed landscaping and flowers. Not this trip. Epcot was surprisingly pitiful. Half of the flowers were dead in a huge bed on the center walkway between Future World and World Showcase. Very sad. *** If anyone has been there recently and saw the same, please reply to the thread -- I am dying to see if other people noticed this.***


3. Construction here, construction there, construction EVERYWHERE! Oh my, I know it is progress but it really does take away from the beauty. What surprised me most was that you could see in plain view the workers by the castle. I understand it really would be difficult to mask, but at 9am to see the bulldozer in full use was odd.



When I look back the good outweighs the bad, but the bad was just B-A-D. The first 2 especially.


We have an upcoming trip to DL late next month so it will be interesting to see the comparisons. I know DL already has one huge leg up ... old school paper FP's.


EDITED TO ADD.
I know I have read recently people asking about Miles from Tomorrowland merchandise. I'm sure it has been covered, but I did see it in HS in the gift shop across from Disney Jr. Live. Just an FYI for anyone searching for it.

 

[tlmadden73]

Crowds .
What was the "crowd calendar" predicted crowds and what did you think it was?

FP+ - Doesn't it help avoid crowds on those high demand rides without having to make that sprint to the back of the park to get the paper ones?
*shrug* I find it convenient .. but I can't disagree it makes lines longer as people FP things that never needed fast passes.

Still construction? I went in October and I too was disappointed at all the construction walls at AK and MK.

 

[cariann77]

We got back on May 24th. The construction as MK didn't' bother me too much, but AK was another story. It was claustrophobic in the walkways. We were there on a low crowd day, it was at a 3 and felt like much worse. You could hardly move in the walkways.

 

[fly girl]

Crowds .
What was the "crowd calendar" predicted crowds and what did you think it was?

FP+ - Doesn't it help avoid crowds on those high demand rides without having to make that sprint to the back of the park to get the paper ones?
*shrug* I find it convenient .. but I can't disagree it makes lines longer as people FP things that never needed fast passes.

Still construction? I went in October and I too was disappointed at all the construction walls at AK and MK.

TP had crowd levels 6-7 on given days where as easywdw had 8's. I would say it was 6.


Epcot felt pretty empty Saturday morning although the line waits were long. (30 minutes for LWTL and Figment!)


No, FP+ doesn't help our touring style. It was a system that we had down pat. The biggest problem is that in Epcot we can only ride Soarin' or TT. I am not waiting 140 minutes in line! Not doing it. Before FP+ we would pick up Soaring FP. Ride LWTL, Nemo, Figment until our FP time. Then we walk over to TT to pick up FP. Ride Mission, SE, have lunch then shimmy over to TT. This system just doesn't work for us. We don't ride as many rides as we used to.


Yes, still construction. LOTS of it. I don't think there was 1 park free of it. MK was noticeable as it is in the center by the castle -- however the new grassy area is quite lovely. But the bulldozer at 9am took away from the beauty. AK too. Walls a plenty!

 

[fly girl]

We got back on May 24th. The construction as MK didn't' bother me too much, but AK was another story. It was claustrophobic in the walkways. We were there on a low crowd day, it was at a 3 and felt like much worse. You could hardly move in the walkways.

AK has always felt claustrophobic to me, esp with no place to escape the heat. I swear it felt 15 degrees hotter that day than any other day that week and it was the same.

 

[ArwenMarie]

We got back on May 24th. The construction as MK didn't' bother me too much, but AK was another story. It was claustrophobic in the walkways. We were there on a low crowd day, it was at a 3 and felt like much worse. You could hardly move in the walkways.

The pictures of AK look terrible with walls. Those paths already could feel easily clogged without the walls ugh.

 

[ArwenMarie]

AK has always felt claustrophobic to me, esp with no place to escape the heat. I swear it felt 15 degrees hotter that day than any other day that week and it was the same.

Yes, no where to escape the heat.

 

[JennyDrake]

YES! I have noticed the flowers as well and for a couple of years. Specifically dead rose blooms. I'm a rose aficionado and it's *not* hard to "dead head" the blooms when they are past their prime AND it make the rose bloom again sooner (if it isn't a one-time seasonal rose.

 

[tlmadden73]

No, FP+ doesn't help our touring style. It was a system that we had down pat. The biggest problem is that in Epcot we can only ride Soarin' or TT. I am not waiting 140 minutes in line! Not doing it. Before FP+ we would pick up Soaring FP. Ride LWTL, Nemo, Figment until our FP time. Then we walk over to TT to pick up FP. Ride Mission, SE, have lunch then shimmy over to TT. This system just doesn't work for us. We don't ride as many rides as we used to.

I understand that. I haven't done FP+ yet at a "Tiered" park yet (until August). In October we did MK and AK and it worked well (especially with a 2 year old) .. we didn't have to wait in lines long .. I didn't have to run to ticket stations .. (though, I wouldn't have minded it) .. we were able to coordinate a few ride times with friends that happened to be going to those parks on same days (but in most cases we just did our own thing).

Looking at DHS . .I am not sure how I am going to FP+ that .. everything .. EVERYTHING I would consider getting FP+ is Tier 1. Tier 2? I doubt I would ever need fast pass for those.

 

[fly girl]

YES! I have noticed the flowers as well and for a couple of years. Specifically dead rose blooms. I'm a rose aficionado and it's *not* hard to "dead head" the blooms when they are past their prime AND it make the rose bloom again sooner (if it isn't a one-time seasonal rose.

This was the first trip I really noticed the lack of care. Epcot flowers were just sad and sorry. I really was shocked.

 

[Momtomouselover]

Thanks for sharing! I'm really looking forward to the good items on your list. We leave next week and I'm really not looking forward to the construction walls. I can't believe how many there are! The lack of care with landscaping would be a biggie too. It is also a big part of what makes the parks special.

 

[fly girl]

I understand that. I haven't done FP+ yet at a "Tiered" park yet (until August). In October we did MK and AK and it worked well (especially with a 2 year old) .. we didn't have to wait in lines long .. I didn't have to run to ticket stations .. (though, I wouldn't have minded it) .. we were able to coordinate a few ride times with friends that happened to be going to those parks on same days (but in most cases we just did our own thing).

Looking at DHS . .I am not sure how I am going to FP+ that .. everything .. EVERYTHING I would consider getting FP+ is Tier 1. Tier 2? I doubt I would ever need fast pass for those.

The Tier thing is what really ruins it for us. For HS, I chose TSMM as my Tier 1 since I knew those would be gone by the time I could get the 4th. I was hoping to ride RnR at opening, but the line was INSANE when we walked up to it (turns out they hadn't opened the gates to the ride but at the time I didn't know) so we rode ToT instead. Of course by the time I finished with my 3 FP+'s (TSMM, ToT, Star Tours) at 1:30pm I couldn't get anything else except shows and Muppets.

 

[Pappa Bear]

We were in Epcot during the same time as you were and I commented to Momma Bear that some of the plants looked as though they needed some TLC. Were they nice? Yes, but not near as immaculate as I am used to seeing them. That bed of wilted plants was there last Tuesday and I thought to myself then that was a very conspicuous place to have such a poor example of Disney's gardening skills and attention to detail. It was just so "unDisney."

 

[fly girl]

Thanks for sharing! I'm really looking forward to the good items on your list. We leave next week and I'm really not looking forward to the construction walls. I can't believe how many there are! The lack of care with landscaping would be a biggie too. It is also a big part of what makes the parks special.

Enjoy your vacation!! If you aren't going specifically for SWW, just make a point to get over to HS on a weekend night for the Symphony in the Stars fireworks. It starts at 9:45pm. We walked from the Boardwalk around 9:10pm and stood by the little gift shop in the center just after you swipe your Magic Band/card to enter the park. Great view. Of course it was very hard to see the big screen for the 15 minute staged entertainment leading up to it, but for us that wasn't a big deal.

I know, that landscaping was big deal to us too. That's part of what makes the Disney parks so beautiful. How pristine they usually are. Hopefully you will see an improvement.

 

[tlmadden73]

The Tier thing is what really ruins it for us. For HS, I chose TSMM as my Tier 1 since I knew those would be gone by the time I could get the 4th. I was hoping to ride RnR at opening, but the line was INSANE when we walked up to it (turns out they hadn't opened the gates to the ride but at the time I didn't know) so we rode ToT instead. Of course by the time I finished with my 3 FP+'s (TSMM, ToT, Star Tours) at 1:30pm I couldn't get anything else except shows and Muppets.

Hmm .. that is disappointing to hear. Done with Fast Passes by 1:30 PM and all that is left was shows? Not even Great Movie Ride?

My thought was to try and RD TSMM and also Fast Pass it for the morning to go on twice (or just to be safe in case we can't get there at RD). My hope was to have all our fast passes done by 12-1 pm to get the 4th for RnR for the adults later in the day .. but I may have to change that plan then ..

I like the fact that I can FP+ TSMM. I have been to DHS two times since it opened and I have never gotten on it due to 90+ minute wait times and no fast pass paper tickets available (even early in the day). Now I can guarantee I will get on that ride no matter what time we get to the park.

 

[fly girl]

Hmm .. that is disappointing to hear. Done with Fast Passes by 1:30 PM and all that is left was shows? Not even Great Movie Ride?

My thought was to try and RD TSMM and also Fast Pass it for the morning to go on twice (or just to be safe in case we can't get there at RD). My hope was to have all our fast passes done by 12-1 pm to get the 4th for RnR for the adults later in the day .. but I may have to change that plan then ..

I like the fact that I can FP+ TSMM. I have been to DHS two times since it opened and I have never gotten on it due to 90+ minute wait times and no fast pass paper tickets available (even early in the day). Now I can guarantee I will get on that ride no matter what time we get to the park.

Shows and Muppets were it -- there may have been late Star Tours too, but I am not sure. I can say with certainty it was slim pickens. Granted, I was there the day before SWW so I am sure the crowds were heavier for the big ride seekers as they were either not going during SWW, or partaking in other activities planned especially for SWW. I think I just got unlucky, maybe someone else who has had greater success could chime in.

 

[MataHari22]

know this is very small potatoes to many, but to me it is big. What is up with the lack of care of the park flowers? One of my very favorite things in the park is looking at all the meticulously groomed landscaping and flowers. Not this trip. Epcot was surprisingly pitiful. Half of the flowers were dead in a huge bed on the center walkway between Future World and World Showcase. Very sad. *** If anyone has been there recently and saw the same, please reply to the thread -- I am

Maybe not exactly the same thing you're talking about but... I noticed last year in EPCOT, that some of the flowers and shrubs looked seriously bad, BUT what I also noticed, is that there were children picking on the shrubs and flowers in a few places where the plants looked horrible. The one memory where I can tell you exactly where I was, because I was waiting a while, and it was agonizing to watch and now burned into my mind, was when I was waiting for Snow White. There was like a wooden fence or gate, and my back was against it, to my right, there were shrubs and there were two families, women with little girls, chatting away. Two of the little girls stood there, for at least 15 minutes ripping every leaf, and every flower off the shrubs. Parents said not one word. I was starting to seethe. Finally, one of the moms told them to stop doing it. They didn't listen.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I know exactly what Epcot flowers you're talking about. We were just there a week ago and it was very noticeable.

My theory is that they were flower and garden festival flowers past their prime and no one had bothered to replace them yet.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

We weren't able to make use of any additional fastpasses last week. It was a holiday week, but I expected some options. There was little to nothing left on most days (our Epcot day, for instance, had Living with the Land as the only option at about 2:00 in the afternoon).

We got back on May 24th. The construction as MK didn't' bother me too much, but AK was another story. It was claustrophobic in the walkways. We were there on a low crowd day, it was at a 3 and felt like much worse. You could hardly move in the walkways.

Our day was supposed to be a 4 and it felt like a 4 to me, but I still found it a little claustrophobic in places, most notably near Everest.

 

[chocolateMinnie]

completely agree with FP+ . Last trip we had times when we had finished our fastpasses by 11am and couldn't get anything for any decent ride (i.e. one with a line) for the rest of the day. Still it won't stop me going as many times as I can afford it