BOTL76
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2009
Hello Canadian Disney Fans,
My family went to Disney World December 5th to 14th.
I find when I post on here it always helps me plan future trips!
also just on some downtime through the holiday break and the kids are at grandmas house so what to do?!?! Ok a trip report here goes.
I will try and keep it a high level.
Travel party
There was a total of 9 of us from my family, so a big family trip! My Mom turned 80 in July and was her wish to go to Disney again so we fulfilled that!
My daughters are 6 and 9 and the rest of the travel party were all big kids...errr.. adults lol.
Weather
we had great weather during this time period. only 1 day and half of rain, the rest was warm and sunny, with some daily high's getting into the low-mid 80's, and lots of sunshine each day.
Flight
We took West jet from Pearson booked about 5 months in advance for a pretty decent round trip price. We liked flying first thing in the morning and still intrigues me how people haven't figured out how much of a benefit it is to get Nexus especially for when at Pearson.
Rental Car
My sister was arriving a few days after us so for our entire travel party we had a mini-van and an SUV. We rented from Thrifty and had a very seamless and hardly any wait for the signing out of the vehicle, all told less than 20 minutes from reaching the check-in counter to driving out.
Accommodations
Since 2011, Windsor Hills has been our choice of place to stay during our trips. We had a 5 bedroom house and enjoy the main pool area and my girls loved the new splash pad area in Windsor Hills. Plus the house itself with mini-pool and hot tub is always good for the "down days". We used Global resort homes (formerly Florida Sun Vacation Homes) and were able to get pool heat and a BBQ included in the price.
Parks
I am not sure if taking advantage of is the correct terms here (for price of park admission), but we decided it was best for us to get the Canadian ticket offer, and did the 6 day ticket option (no park hopper). We did MK and DHS twice, with a visit to each of EP and AK.
We follow touringplans so we tried our best to pick the days that had a low rating. I know TP updated a year or so ago that their crowd level predictions are different than previous calculations. So a crowd level of "3" at MK in 2019 is not the same as a "3" from a few years back. The difference, and we noticed it, as despite lower than normal crowd level predictions, the parks are busier than they used to be.
Another note is since we didn't stay onsite we found it next to impossible to get good Fast passes at the 30 day mark, so we didn't have any for the "major" attractions with the exception of focusing on a Toy Story selection for DHS.
For each park here is a brief summary
AK
Thought we would do the rope drop and get in line for Flight of Passage, but after going to the line and seeing it was already at 90 minutes, we made the executive decision to head over to Dinoland. Outside of the 2 rides in Avatar land the morning was hardly any waits for the other rides and we did the Nemo and Lion king show. Had a FP later for Everest and Safari's so it all worked out well. We also had a FP for river journey. While the ride is well done up visually, we made a note that it's not a ride worth waiting for longer than 30 minutes for. Overall a good day for us at AK, but we didn't do F of P and said we will try next time we visit.
MK (2 times)
knowing we were going to do MK twice it helped alleviate the stress of trying to get everything in. We essentially did Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and then Splash and Big Thunder for the first day. Our girls loved it. The second day we did rope drop for Seven dwarfs mine train and it was 60 minutes.
Interesting enough my girls loved COP and the People mover, we were doing those for a break but they loved them both! The second day we just focused on things they liked and avoided any long lineups.
DHS (2 times)
With Rise of the resistance opening just as we arrived, our predictions came true that we unless we got there early enough we wouldn't be in the boarding group. Both days they were gone by the time we arrived. note we didn't plan to attend the opening of the park, so both days we arrived after 10am and the signs were already posted that the boarding groups were gone for the day.
Overall we targeted Toy Story land and my girls love all 3 attractions there, and we were able to ride Slinky Dog in the morning and at night. It is definitely quite cool to ride it at night. We also did TOT and RRC, my girls are thrill seekers yikes! The one day we did Smugglers run. quite a cool experience but I was pilot on the left and my 9 year old was pilot on the right. She found it amusing to be a terrible pilot and just go up and down up and down, that if they ride was any longer my lunch was going to be left behind. From what I've read since I battled this motion sickness after the ride (took a good hour to get out of my system, Muppets 3D anyone?) my family members who did the gunners or engineers said once they realized their sister/niece was not going to be a good pilot they just focused their eyes on their task and it helped. Hoping my next adventure is more mild as I loved the theming of the Q and some bits of the ride.
Epcot
Did the main attractions with less than 30 minute wait times and had an evening FP for Frozen. Only did this park as a half day so arrived late afternoon and pleasantly surprised for the less than 30 minute wait times for TT and Soarin. Overall ok but definitely not a full day park (yet) for my girls.
Typhoon Lagoon
We made a snap decision to visit Typhoon Lagoon and we are so glad we did. The high for the day was 75F with some overcast. It was great! Locals and certain tourists don't seem to go when the temperature is this low! There was no waits for any of the slides and spent plenty of time in the wave pool. We "soaked" it all in and there couldn't have been more than a few hundred in the park during it's peak time. My girls were fast asleep that night by 7pm! (normally 8pm)
Overall comments/notes on the parks
- We had a great time and the memories will be priceless, but so much for much lower crowds for after American Thanksgiving and before things really start kicking in for the Christmas Holiday stretch drive. We have been 4 times previously during this same time of year and by far it was the busiest we have ever seen it. Obviously some great new attractions and things to do so we adapt. My girls going on the tomorrowland speedway cars 3 times within an hour over lining up for Peter Pan/seven dwarfs for an hour is one example of some good decision making to go with the flow.
- My mom was in a scooter, we rented from Apple Scooter and they were good to deal with. Dropped off and picked up right at our door at Windsor hills. We got a scooter for my mom as she has a bad hip, but normally can still walk. It was a good decision but the days the park are busy it is tough to navigate. I can't imagine being at DW in a scooter during peak times!
Skyliner
my wife and I had a "date" night so drove to Disney Springs, had dinner there and took a bus to CBR to hop on the skyliner. Pretty cool experience especially at night. We took it to the Epcot area and walked over to the boardwalk for dessert. We didn't have any major slowdowns on it and can see how it will be an effective way to transport guests in those areas it connects to. One thing at night is in certain parts you don't have lights shining on you or the glow of the parks near, so it gets very dark!
Overall Service
While nothing major, and don't know if it is because I am getting older or the generation we live in, but I found the service to be ok overall. Some good Cast members for sure, but they seem to be more rare than previous trips. I say this as with 6 days in the parks, 1 full day at Disney Springs and one at Typhoon lagoon, we seemed to notice this trend and witnesses a few incidents (the guest could have been wrong of course) that were being escalated in public. Again personally to us there was nothing wrong that happened to me or my family, just less of a Disney feel than what we have had in previous trips.
Money/Costs
I know this is captain obvious but it keeps getting more expensive to go to Disney, despite all the tricks and tips, the bottom line if you like to visit the parks like we do we are no longer able to do every year. I consider my family middle class and fortunate with that, but we just can't justify the family cost anymore to attend once per year and will have to spread it out to every 2 or 3 years as a family trip. Not trying to complain on this but thought it was worth mentioning as much as we love Disney for the first time from the end of this trip my wife an I aren't jumping around and doing cartwheels to plan our next trip which is sad. It has always been the opposite.
Overall my girls and my family memories are what made this trip worthwhile, so I will give this an 8 out of 10 for us as a family (we normally are 9 or 10 out of 10).
I hope you enjoyed my trip report and feel free to let me know if you have any questions that could help you plan your next trip. I certainly am grateful for all the information I have gathered on here to help our trip planning.
My family went to Disney World December 5th to 14th.
I find when I post on here it always helps me plan future trips!
also just on some downtime through the holiday break and the kids are at grandmas house so what to do?!?! Ok a trip report here goes.
I will try and keep it a high level.
Travel party
There was a total of 9 of us from my family, so a big family trip! My Mom turned 80 in July and was her wish to go to Disney again so we fulfilled that!
My daughters are 6 and 9 and the rest of the travel party were all big kids...errr.. adults lol.
Weather
we had great weather during this time period. only 1 day and half of rain, the rest was warm and sunny, with some daily high's getting into the low-mid 80's, and lots of sunshine each day.
Flight
We took West jet from Pearson booked about 5 months in advance for a pretty decent round trip price. We liked flying first thing in the morning and still intrigues me how people haven't figured out how much of a benefit it is to get Nexus especially for when at Pearson.
Rental Car
My sister was arriving a few days after us so for our entire travel party we had a mini-van and an SUV. We rented from Thrifty and had a very seamless and hardly any wait for the signing out of the vehicle, all told less than 20 minutes from reaching the check-in counter to driving out.
Accommodations
Since 2011, Windsor Hills has been our choice of place to stay during our trips. We had a 5 bedroom house and enjoy the main pool area and my girls loved the new splash pad area in Windsor Hills. Plus the house itself with mini-pool and hot tub is always good for the "down days". We used Global resort homes (formerly Florida Sun Vacation Homes) and were able to get pool heat and a BBQ included in the price.
Parks
I am not sure if taking advantage of is the correct terms here (for price of park admission), but we decided it was best for us to get the Canadian ticket offer, and did the 6 day ticket option (no park hopper). We did MK and DHS twice, with a visit to each of EP and AK.
We follow touringplans so we tried our best to pick the days that had a low rating. I know TP updated a year or so ago that their crowd level predictions are different than previous calculations. So a crowd level of "3" at MK in 2019 is not the same as a "3" from a few years back. The difference, and we noticed it, as despite lower than normal crowd level predictions, the parks are busier than they used to be.
Another note is since we didn't stay onsite we found it next to impossible to get good Fast passes at the 30 day mark, so we didn't have any for the "major" attractions with the exception of focusing on a Toy Story selection for DHS.
For each park here is a brief summary
AK
Thought we would do the rope drop and get in line for Flight of Passage, but after going to the line and seeing it was already at 90 minutes, we made the executive decision to head over to Dinoland. Outside of the 2 rides in Avatar land the morning was hardly any waits for the other rides and we did the Nemo and Lion king show. Had a FP later for Everest and Safari's so it all worked out well. We also had a FP for river journey. While the ride is well done up visually, we made a note that it's not a ride worth waiting for longer than 30 minutes for. Overall a good day for us at AK, but we didn't do F of P and said we will try next time we visit.
MK (2 times)
knowing we were going to do MK twice it helped alleviate the stress of trying to get everything in. We essentially did Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and then Splash and Big Thunder for the first day. Our girls loved it. The second day we did rope drop for Seven dwarfs mine train and it was 60 minutes.
Interesting enough my girls loved COP and the People mover, we were doing those for a break but they loved them both! The second day we just focused on things they liked and avoided any long lineups.
DHS (2 times)
With Rise of the resistance opening just as we arrived, our predictions came true that we unless we got there early enough we wouldn't be in the boarding group. Both days they were gone by the time we arrived. note we didn't plan to attend the opening of the park, so both days we arrived after 10am and the signs were already posted that the boarding groups were gone for the day.
Overall we targeted Toy Story land and my girls love all 3 attractions there, and we were able to ride Slinky Dog in the morning and at night. It is definitely quite cool to ride it at night. We also did TOT and RRC, my girls are thrill seekers yikes! The one day we did Smugglers run. quite a cool experience but I was pilot on the left and my 9 year old was pilot on the right. She found it amusing to be a terrible pilot and just go up and down up and down, that if they ride was any longer my lunch was going to be left behind. From what I've read since I battled this motion sickness after the ride (took a good hour to get out of my system, Muppets 3D anyone?) my family members who did the gunners or engineers said once they realized their sister/niece was not going to be a good pilot they just focused their eyes on their task and it helped. Hoping my next adventure is more mild as I loved the theming of the Q and some bits of the ride.
Epcot
Did the main attractions with less than 30 minute wait times and had an evening FP for Frozen. Only did this park as a half day so arrived late afternoon and pleasantly surprised for the less than 30 minute wait times for TT and Soarin. Overall ok but definitely not a full day park (yet) for my girls.
Typhoon Lagoon
We made a snap decision to visit Typhoon Lagoon and we are so glad we did. The high for the day was 75F with some overcast. It was great! Locals and certain tourists don't seem to go when the temperature is this low! There was no waits for any of the slides and spent plenty of time in the wave pool. We "soaked" it all in and there couldn't have been more than a few hundred in the park during it's peak time. My girls were fast asleep that night by 7pm! (normally 8pm)
Overall comments/notes on the parks
- We had a great time and the memories will be priceless, but so much for much lower crowds for after American Thanksgiving and before things really start kicking in for the Christmas Holiday stretch drive. We have been 4 times previously during this same time of year and by far it was the busiest we have ever seen it. Obviously some great new attractions and things to do so we adapt. My girls going on the tomorrowland speedway cars 3 times within an hour over lining up for Peter Pan/seven dwarfs for an hour is one example of some good decision making to go with the flow.
- My mom was in a scooter, we rented from Apple Scooter and they were good to deal with. Dropped off and picked up right at our door at Windsor hills. We got a scooter for my mom as she has a bad hip, but normally can still walk. It was a good decision but the days the park are busy it is tough to navigate. I can't imagine being at DW in a scooter during peak times!
Skyliner
my wife and I had a "date" night so drove to Disney Springs, had dinner there and took a bus to CBR to hop on the skyliner. Pretty cool experience especially at night. We took it to the Epcot area and walked over to the boardwalk for dessert. We didn't have any major slowdowns on it and can see how it will be an effective way to transport guests in those areas it connects to. One thing at night is in certain parts you don't have lights shining on you or the glow of the parks near, so it gets very dark!
Overall Service
While nothing major, and don't know if it is because I am getting older or the generation we live in, but I found the service to be ok overall. Some good Cast members for sure, but they seem to be more rare than previous trips. I say this as with 6 days in the parks, 1 full day at Disney Springs and one at Typhoon lagoon, we seemed to notice this trend and witnesses a few incidents (the guest could have been wrong of course) that were being escalated in public. Again personally to us there was nothing wrong that happened to me or my family, just less of a Disney feel than what we have had in previous trips.
Money/Costs
I know this is captain obvious but it keeps getting more expensive to go to Disney, despite all the tricks and tips, the bottom line if you like to visit the parks like we do we are no longer able to do every year. I consider my family middle class and fortunate with that, but we just can't justify the family cost anymore to attend once per year and will have to spread it out to every 2 or 3 years as a family trip. Not trying to complain on this but thought it was worth mentioning as much as we love Disney for the first time from the end of this trip my wife an I aren't jumping around and doing cartwheels to plan our next trip which is sad. It has always been the opposite.
Overall my girls and my family memories are what made this trip worthwhile, so I will give this an 8 out of 10 for us as a family (we normally are 9 or 10 out of 10).
I hope you enjoyed my trip report and feel free to let me know if you have any questions that could help you plan your next trip. I certainly am grateful for all the information I have gathered on here to help our trip planning.
