Jobie
Earned Me Ears
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2005
Just got back from a trip and figured I would share a few things I observed that may help you on your next trip.
Mobile food ordering is a timesaver
If you are going to order food and if it is available to use MDE app to order, do it! It saves a lot of time. We were able to use it to save 20 minutes or so when ordering Dole Whips and also save us 45+ minutes (after waiting 4 hours in line for FOP) at Sa'tuli Canteen. I tried to tell others about it too where it would help them. As of now, you can not use AP discounts or Dining Plan credits with it, but if this does not affect you, take full advantage of it!
Flight Of Passage wait time can be greatly innacturate
Seems like Flight of Passage is still going through some technical issues. We got in line where it was supposed to be a 60 minute wait, but ended up waiting for 4 hours! This was due to multiple theaters on the attraction going down. The ride is incredible, but not ride is worth a 4 hour wait in my opinion. They did give us 2 fast passes each that could be used on any attraction at WDW, except for FOP, that expired in 48 hours. This did make up some of the time. However, just know if you are going to attempt stand-by for FOP there is a good chance it is going to be longer than the posted time.
Plan for security
Sometimes security screening was quick, but most of the time it added 15-20 minutes to getting into the park. On one day it was over 30 minutes. You will hear people complain, complain, and complain some more no matter the length of the security lines. I don't understand the complaining. They are trying to keep us safe. Just give yourself a little extra time, and it shouldn't be an issue.
People like to spit on plants, even if they are fake.
I didn't see a lot of rude behavior as some have reported, but I did see something every time I went in to Pandora: people spitting onto the fake plants. I find chewing tobacco not so pleasant, but I understand some enjoy this vice. Okay, it is a free country, enjoy it. But I do not understand the need to spit into plants that has been set up as beautiful scenery, especially when a portion of them are not even real and someone will need to clean your crud off of them! Why not just carry a bottle or something? It was the rude thing that I noticed the most, and it bothered me to know an artist took his/her time to make this beautiful place and somebody just wants to spit all over it.
Touringplans.com was off this trip
I am a major planner, and decided to user touringplans.com to help me with this trip. Their estimated wait times seemed way off this trip. I am not sure why, but there were many rides that were double the wait time that was predicted by them.
Going with the flow is more fun and enjoyable than sticking to a plan
My first couple of days I was bummed, because it seemed like all of the plans I made were coming through. I was not able to the attractions I thought I would be able to do that day or something else I planned would not happen correctly. I was actually wondering if I was going to have a good time or not. I then decided to throw the plans out the window (even skipped some FastPasses we had) and went with the flow as best as we could. I started to enjoy it a lot more and had a lot of fun! I will probably still plan in the future, but I need to remind myself it is okay to throw the plans out and just run with what has been dealt to you for that day.
FastPass+ Still Stinks
I am just not a fan. There are several ways I think it could be done better, but as they are now, I am just not a super fan of them. Added stress of planning even more (see above) and being disappointed in not being able to get your FastPasses that you want just starts things off badly IMO.
Staying offsite is possible
Up until this trip, we have always stayed on site. We love being in the Disney bubble for a week. This time however, we took a gamble and booked off site. We found a 3 bedroom condo for only $90/night that was only a mile or so for WDW. For the price, it was incredible. We did have to pay to park everyday at the parks and we did lose a little bit of that Disney magic by not having the theming and music as you walk around your resort, but it was still good. We had plenty of space, two bathrooms to get ready in, full kitchen and dining room, and more. We will probably still stay on site from time to time, but the condo is a great option as well!
Mobile food ordering is a timesaver
If you are going to order food and if it is available to use MDE app to order, do it! It saves a lot of time. We were able to use it to save 20 minutes or so when ordering Dole Whips and also save us 45+ minutes (after waiting 4 hours in line for FOP) at Sa'tuli Canteen. I tried to tell others about it too where it would help them. As of now, you can not use AP discounts or Dining Plan credits with it, but if this does not affect you, take full advantage of it!
Flight Of Passage wait time can be greatly innacturate
Seems like Flight of Passage is still going through some technical issues. We got in line where it was supposed to be a 60 minute wait, but ended up waiting for 4 hours! This was due to multiple theaters on the attraction going down. The ride is incredible, but not ride is worth a 4 hour wait in my opinion. They did give us 2 fast passes each that could be used on any attraction at WDW, except for FOP, that expired in 48 hours. This did make up some of the time. However, just know if you are going to attempt stand-by for FOP there is a good chance it is going to be longer than the posted time.
Plan for security
Sometimes security screening was quick, but most of the time it added 15-20 minutes to getting into the park. On one day it was over 30 minutes. You will hear people complain, complain, and complain some more no matter the length of the security lines. I don't understand the complaining. They are trying to keep us safe. Just give yourself a little extra time, and it shouldn't be an issue.
People like to spit on plants, even if they are fake.
I didn't see a lot of rude behavior as some have reported, but I did see something every time I went in to Pandora: people spitting onto the fake plants. I find chewing tobacco not so pleasant, but I understand some enjoy this vice. Okay, it is a free country, enjoy it. But I do not understand the need to spit into plants that has been set up as beautiful scenery, especially when a portion of them are not even real and someone will need to clean your crud off of them! Why not just carry a bottle or something? It was the rude thing that I noticed the most, and it bothered me to know an artist took his/her time to make this beautiful place and somebody just wants to spit all over it.
Touringplans.com was off this trip
I am a major planner, and decided to user touringplans.com to help me with this trip. Their estimated wait times seemed way off this trip. I am not sure why, but there were many rides that were double the wait time that was predicted by them.
Going with the flow is more fun and enjoyable than sticking to a plan
My first couple of days I was bummed, because it seemed like all of the plans I made were coming through. I was not able to the attractions I thought I would be able to do that day or something else I planned would not happen correctly. I was actually wondering if I was going to have a good time or not. I then decided to throw the plans out the window (even skipped some FastPasses we had) and went with the flow as best as we could. I started to enjoy it a lot more and had a lot of fun! I will probably still plan in the future, but I need to remind myself it is okay to throw the plans out and just run with what has been dealt to you for that day.
FastPass+ Still Stinks
I am just not a fan. There are several ways I think it could be done better, but as they are now, I am just not a super fan of them. Added stress of planning even more (see above) and being disappointed in not being able to get your FastPasses that you want just starts things off badly IMO.
Staying offsite is possible
Up until this trip, we have always stayed on site. We love being in the Disney bubble for a week. This time however, we took a gamble and booked off site. We found a 3 bedroom condo for only $90/night that was only a mile or so for WDW. For the price, it was incredible. We did have to pay to park everyday at the parks and we did lose a little bit of that Disney magic by not having the theming and music as you walk around your resort, but it was still good. We had plenty of space, two bathrooms to get ready in, full kitchen and dining room, and more. We will probably still stay on site from time to time, but the condo is a great option as well!
