~Just back..crowds, restaurants, wait times..etc

[joenan88]

Hi All There is a lot to write so I will keep updating! I stayed at The Grand Floridian 08.15.08 for 5 nights and loved it! The resort is great..the staff is wonderful and the rooms, grounds, pools and restaurants are top notch. I stayed in the sugar loaf building 1st floor which was very convenient to everything. The day of arrival we ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe for lunch..the food was very good! I would recommend it.

Now...the parks were crowded! Tons and Tons of foreign travelers...probably 75% of the parks visitors did not speak english. The wait times varied but the major rides were all over 45 minutes..even with Tropical Storm Fay. The only day the parks weren't crowded was Tuesday 08.19 because everyone was told the storm was going to hit..we ventured to the AK and was able to ride the Yeti many times in a row.

The Deluxe Meal plan was way to much food for us!
**Stay away from Chef Mickey's until the construction is over..it is very loud and the smell of burned rubber from the construction can be smelled while eating
**CRT for dinner was a HUGE let down
**LOVED LOVED Yak and Yeti the desserts are to die for!
**Sci-Fi was fun we loved the theme and it kept the kids busy..great service..food was OK.
I will write more later..any questions??

 

[sardanem]

Hi. I have a question about Chef Mickey. Do you know when they stop working for the day? We have ressies for tomorrow at 7:45 pm. Do you think the smell will be that bad so late into the day? I hate to smell yucky stuff while I am eating. I also suppose there is not much I can do about it at this point either. Here is to thinking happy thoughts. My kids were so looking forward to this restaurant. I don't want to start our trip on a bad note. Thanks for any info.

Lisa

 

[joenan88]

Hi. I have a question about Chef Mickey. Do you know when they stop working for the day? We have ressies for tomorrow at 7:45 pm. Do you think the smell will be that bad so late into the day? I hate to smell yucky stuff while I am eating. I also suppose there is not much I can do about it at this point either. Here is to thinking happy thoughts. My kids were so looking forward to this restaurant. I don't want to start our trip on a bad note. Thanks for any info.

Lisa

Hi Lisa..I didn't want to miss Chef Mickey's either..but I kind of wish I did..the construction noise and smells are prominent from at least 8 am to 5 pm...I do not know if you will smell or hear anything during your dinner but that whole level is a mess...the magic of that restaurant is compromised until the work is over and from the looks of things that will not be for a while...

 

[VeroBeachGirl]

Anyone know when the work on Chef Mickeys is going to be complete?

 

[MemoryMaker711]

Hi. I have a question about Chef Mickey. Do you know when they stop working for the day? We have ressies for tomorrow at 7:45 pm. Do you think the smell will be that bad so late into the day? I hate to smell yucky stuff while I am eating. I also suppose there is not much I can do about it at this point either. Here is to thinking happy thoughts. My kids were so looking forward to this restaurant. I don't want to start our trip on a bad note. Thanks for any info.

Lisa

We ate at Chef Mickey's on 8-19, our ressie was at 6:25pm-didn't notice any unusual smells at all-have a great time!

 

[2dogmom]

I ate at Chef Mickey's on 8/20 at 5:00 and I didn't hear any noises or have any bad smells. It was as good as usual.

I just got back last night and didn't think it was at all crowded, probably due to the storm. Sure, the Toy Story and Space Mtn needed a fast pass, but we were having a 10 minute wait for BTMR and Splash most of the week. I thought it was really reasonable.

 

[alldiz]

Did they keep all the rides open during Fay?

like BMTRR, Splash, outdoor fantasy land rides..W
Were the nightime shows cancelled...ie wishes, fantasmic
Thanks
Kerri

 

[francie57]

We were at WDW from 8/14-8/21. The crowds were not bad at all. We go every year at the same time and thought the crowds were less this year. There definitely were a lot of europeans this year compared to previous years. The waits were nothing - most of the posted waits were completely off. We never waited more than 10 - 15 mins. for anything. The longest wait posted was Toy Story at 90 min. We had fast passes so even that wasn't a problem. As for Tropical Storm Fay. Disney certainly lucked out. It rained lightly on Tues, on and off on Weds. (lightly), and on Thurs. the sun was out in the morning and the only rain we had was on our way at 4:00 to the airport. The only thing that was really interrupted by Fay was Test Track and the fireworks. Illuminations was done without any fireworks - really not worth standing to watch.

 

[2dogmom]

Yes, I noticed most rides open, even Test Track when the rain wasn't very hard. Illuminations was canceled on Thursday. We ended up seeing no fireworks at all the whole trip due to the weather

 

[joenan88]

The major rides..Soarin, Test Track, TOT, Rock and Roll coaster all had over 45 minute wait times during the afternoon...The mornings were light..Toy Story Mania had 90 minute wait and all fast passes were gone by 10:00am..we got ours at 9:30am with a return time of 1:30pm..with the rain.

 

[joenan88]

It rained lightly on Tues, on and off on Weds. (lightly), and on Thurs. the sun was out in the morning and the only rain we had was on our way at 4:00 to the airport. The only thing that was really interrupted by Fay was Test Track and the fireworks. Illuminations was done without any fireworks - really not worth standing to watch.

That's strange we were in Universal Studios Thursday and it POURED..side swiping winds...

 

[francie57]

Its amazing how just a few miles can be so different weather-wise. We checked our luggage at the airline desk in the Boardwalk at 10:00 on Thurs. and then headed to Epcot. We had a slight sprinkle on the way - didn't even need raincoats. After heading to Test Track and riding that the sun came out and the rest of the morning went between sunny and cloudy. There was a slight sprinkle around 12:30 that lasted about a min. and then we never saw rain again until we were half way to the airport just after 4:00. We all commented on how lucky we were since we didn't want to be soaked for the flight home.

 

[2dogmom]

I was at Epcot that day, started with some light rain, then some sun. My friend's DH even said he got some sunburn as we were going on Soaring. By late afternoon, it was pouring buckets of rain, and SO windy. Not sure if Spaceship Earth was creating a wind tunnel effect or if it was really that windy. That was when they had a message that Illuminations would be canceled.

 

[roxanec]

WE WERE AT DISNEY 15-21
IT POURED THURSDAY AM IN THE MK AND IN THE AFTERNOON AT EPCOT. THEY DID KEEP MOST RIDES OPEN. PARADES AND SHOWS WERE CANCELED DUE TO THE WEATHER. BUT THE CROWDS WERE GREAT. WE WENT TO MK AT 8 AM. WE WOKE UP TINKERBELL, WENT TO SMALL WORLD, TEA CUPS, INDY 500 CARS, WINNIE THE POOH AND PETER PAN AND WERE BACK AT OUR HOTEL BY 9:45.

 

[littlele]

We were at WDW from 8/14-8/21. The crowds were not bad at all. We go every year at the same time and thought the crowds were less this year. There definitely were a lot of europeans this year compared to previous years. The waits were nothing - most of the posted waits were completely off. We never waited more than 10 - 15 mins. for anything. The longest wait posted was Toy Story at 90 min. We had fast passes so even that wasn't a problem. As for Tropical Storm Fay. Disney certainly lucked out. It rained lightly on Tues, on and off on Weds. (lightly), and on Thurs. the sun was out in the morning and the only rain we had was on our way at 4:00 to the airport. The only thing that was really interrupted by Fay was Test Track and the fireworks. Illuminations was done without any fireworks - really not worth standing to watch.

We were there from 8/18-24 and our experience was similar. There was no problem getting on rides as we arrived fairly early in the day, utilized fast passes and occasionally used the single rider line. It worked great for us as we never waited for more than 10 mins. In fact, most rides we basically walked on. We did follow TGM advice as to which days to visit the parks, so maybe that helped?

Also, I am completely surprised to hear that Illuminations was cancelled because we were there at Les Chefs watching the fireworks Friday night when the rain was easily at it's worst.