Nutmeg2016
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2016
2 adults, 2 kids (DS10 and DD7); stayed standard CL at Wilderness Lodge for 5 nights, with 6 park days (3 at MK; 1 day each at Epcot, HS and AK).
To sum it up, we had an amazing time. With just a few exceptions, operations seem to be back to normal. And after a rough couple of years on many fronts, the general vibes were very positive (IMHO); everyone seemed happy to be there, including guests and cast members.
Crowds: Parks were busy, attraction lines were long, but we never felt overwhelmed and were able to navigate walkways, etc. with relative ease. I was casually monitoring the status of park reservations, and the whole week kept fluctuating between “yellow” and “gray” (a slight improvement from solid gray for the previous 2 months). FWIW, if I had to pin down some predominant groups, it would be cheerleaders (apparently a major competition was happening in Orlando); families with very young children; and “locals” from the Southeastern US (this is purely anecdotal, but at times it seemed like every accent around us was Southern).
Weather: Pretty much perfect. Every day was hot but dry, with surprisingly little humidity and a lovely breeze. Having been a few times in April and had great luck with weather, I think we’ll stick to this time of year for that reason alone. (November and January trips were too chilly for our liking, e.g. too cold to swim, and our family’s extremely low tolerance for humidity means that summer trips are out of the question.)
Touring style: We tried to balance solid park time with relaxing at WL, and to avoid always rushing to get somewhere (not easy at WDW). As a result, we never made rope drop and completely missed out on early entry for resort guests. However, we still enjoyed some quieter moments/lower wait times up to roughly an hour after park opening. I think the longer park hours help distribute crowds throughout the day.
Genie+: We did 2 days with Genie+ (1 full day at MK and 1 afternoon visit to AK). I’ll definitely use it again; like everyone else, I don’t like paying extra for this, but we don’t go to WDW very often and it absolutely helped us get on more rides for those 2 days. We used it a bunch at MK; less so at AK since it has so few attractions, but I was able to stack our top 3 priorities for our afternoon visit.
A few thoughts on Genie+: I don’t find the user experience that intuitive, and my first few hours on it were frustrating. However, I eventually got the hang of it. As I’m sure others have said, the fact that you can only book the “next available” time slot (vs having choices as with FP+) is very limiting and keeps you on your phone, waiting for the best time to pop up if you’re planning around other activities, ADRs, etc. I also found the process for canceling a booking cumbersome, and sometimes the “when you can book again” time seemed later than it should have been.
Park Hours: They were very long, which is a huge plus in my view. While it made rope drop tough, I hope Disney keeps this up.
Wilderness Lodge: I absolutely adore this resort. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. The only "downside” was that it made staying in the parks vs. going back to the resort a tough choice. I’m not sure if I’ll ever stay anywhere else, bar maybe the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
WL Club Level: Overall a great experience which I think we’ll do again. Budget-wise, we thought this through very carefully, and figured access to the lounge for breakfast, “dinner,” snacks, drinks and beer/wine would recoup enough out-of-pocket dining expenses to make it worth it. In the end, I do think that we essentially got most of the added CL expense back, plus the easy access to food and drinks was an invaluable time saver (vs waiting down at Roaring Fork, etc). The food quality and variety were very good, and the options were relatively healthy. I should also mention that we’re not huge eaters; I’m not sure if everyone will be able to make dinner out of the evening options.
Access to the CL concierge and daily housekeeping were fantastic bonuses. E.g. when our initial ILL time for ROTR didn’t work with our schedule, a cast member was able to change it for us (she had to keep trying for about 10 minutes, which we really appreciated. . .)
Dining: Due to access to the CL lounge, we only made a few ADRs. Lunch at Garden Grill was absolutely wonderful and worth the high bill. The characters came around multiple times and really spent quality time with us. Both kids played rock, paper, scissors with Mickey- how can you top that? The rotation through Living with the Land is so unique, and the food was good. Prime Time Cafe was a lot of fun (although the food was so-so) and we had a nice lunch at Yak and Yeti. Service at all was great- fast and friendly.
Epcot: I’ll always have a soft spot for Epcot, esp. World Showcase, which appeared to be running at almost full steam (inc. entertainment, etc.). We walked on to Soarin’ maybe 45 min after rope drop for our first ride (just love that one) and it took the park awhile to feel busy. DS was a bit of a grouch that day, complaining about the lack of rides (as perceived by him as a 10-year-old; I disagree
.
While the fact that Epcot is so spread out makes it feel less congested, it also means a LOT of walking; we were all exhausted by the end of the day. If possible, I think we’ll spread Epcot over 2 days in future; maybe an evening for Future World one day (when wait times seem to drop) and a morning for World Showcase on a different day.
Hollywood Studios: Our HS day had the most extreme highs and lows. ROTR was as amazing as everyone says (we were very lucky to grab an ILL). Indiana Jones is always a big pleaser in our family. The early morning atmosphere at HS is wonderful; DD7 refused to go on any rides when we first arrived, so she and I just meandered around Sunset Blvd before the crowds descended, soaking in the music and morning light and perusing the empty shops, where we got lots of personal attention from cast members.
It was also the most frustrating park for “offline” attractions. RR was down for the entire day. ToT went down on and off, including when DH and DS were close to boarding after waiting in line for 30+ min, and had insane waits all day (when it was actually running); it was one of DS’s few “must dos” for the whole trip and he never got on. ROTR was offline on and off all day. DH and DS went back to the park that evening after a break to attempt more rides (which we hadn’t planned on) and only got on Toy Story and Star Tours. . . .
I regretted not getting Genie+ for our HS day, although I’m not sure how much luck we would have had with reservations (I’ve heard everything books up very early there. . .).
Animal Kingdom: We started our AK day later, arriving around 11.30am (due to a very late night at MK the previous evening). As I mentioned earlier, stacking a few Genie+ reservations throughout the morning worked pretty well. My daughter had a wonderful experience with Wilderness Explorers (probably the highlight of her trip); the cast members were fantastic. Caught a glimpse of Kite Tails, thought it was a really cute, throwback-type show. I’ve always thought AK would be a great park for exploring solo and/or with other adults, soaking up the atmosphere with a drink or 2 (maybe next time).
Magic Kingdom: We spent the most time here, almost all of it very enjoyable. Between spreading our time here over 3 days, using Genie+ one day, and taking advantage of deluxe evening hours, we did tons of attractions (some multiple times, including 4 rounds on Splash, our family’s favorite). Rides were going offline here and there, but since there are so many, I don’t think it affects touring nearly as much as at HS. Characters were everywhere, and it seemed like the cavalcades were constantly rolling through.
Deluxe evening hours at MK were fantastic. DD7 didn’t make it that long, so it was just me and DS10. We had such a memorable evening, staying almost to the bitter end (we boarded the boat back to WL around 1 AM). Haunted Mansion was legitimately creepy that late and w/ so few people, and we got on PP and Mine Train with very limited waits (since lines constantly moved, even the queues were enjoyable- I think in that sense FP/Genie+ has downgraded the overall experience a bit).
Cast members: They were fantastic. Attitudes ranged from super perky and Disney-esque to more subdued, but all were polite and seemed to know what they were doing. They also seemed more genuine and less robotic than in the past, which I think is a positive development.
Disney with elementary-age kids: DS10 was the perfect age. DD7 also had a great time, but she had less stamina and was much more reluctant with attractions (and there didn’t seem to be much logic to what she would/wouldn’t do, e.g. she loved Splash and the big drop, but refused to ride the river boat since it was “too big” (go figure. . ). Thank goodness we had two adults and could split up with the kids (we did this a lot).; I’d strongly urge any parents considering going solo w/ more than 1 younger child to bring along another adult if at all possible.
Highlights: Deluxe evening hours at MK; Garden Grill lunch; early AM atmosphere at HS; our first time on ROTR; Wilderness Explorers at AK; every moment at Wilderness Lodge.
Final thoughts: Tons of great memories, and I think Disney has finally rebounded from Covid. I know Genie+ is controversial, but it does help w/ waits once you get the hang of it. We’re an every few years-type family, so it will be a while before we’re back, but I’m already planning the next trip in the back of my head).
To sum it up, we had an amazing time. With just a few exceptions, operations seem to be back to normal. And after a rough couple of years on many fronts, the general vibes were very positive (IMHO); everyone seemed happy to be there, including guests and cast members.
Crowds: Parks were busy, attraction lines were long, but we never felt overwhelmed and were able to navigate walkways, etc. with relative ease. I was casually monitoring the status of park reservations, and the whole week kept fluctuating between “yellow” and “gray” (a slight improvement from solid gray for the previous 2 months). FWIW, if I had to pin down some predominant groups, it would be cheerleaders (apparently a major competition was happening in Orlando); families with very young children; and “locals” from the Southeastern US (this is purely anecdotal, but at times it seemed like every accent around us was Southern).
Weather: Pretty much perfect. Every day was hot but dry, with surprisingly little humidity and a lovely breeze. Having been a few times in April and had great luck with weather, I think we’ll stick to this time of year for that reason alone. (November and January trips were too chilly for our liking, e.g. too cold to swim, and our family’s extremely low tolerance for humidity means that summer trips are out of the question.)
Touring style: We tried to balance solid park time with relaxing at WL, and to avoid always rushing to get somewhere (not easy at WDW). As a result, we never made rope drop and completely missed out on early entry for resort guests. However, we still enjoyed some quieter moments/lower wait times up to roughly an hour after park opening. I think the longer park hours help distribute crowds throughout the day.
Genie+: We did 2 days with Genie+ (1 full day at MK and 1 afternoon visit to AK). I’ll definitely use it again; like everyone else, I don’t like paying extra for this, but we don’t go to WDW very often and it absolutely helped us get on more rides for those 2 days. We used it a bunch at MK; less so at AK since it has so few attractions, but I was able to stack our top 3 priorities for our afternoon visit.
A few thoughts on Genie+: I don’t find the user experience that intuitive, and my first few hours on it were frustrating. However, I eventually got the hang of it. As I’m sure others have said, the fact that you can only book the “next available” time slot (vs having choices as with FP+) is very limiting and keeps you on your phone, waiting for the best time to pop up if you’re planning around other activities, ADRs, etc. I also found the process for canceling a booking cumbersome, and sometimes the “when you can book again” time seemed later than it should have been.
Park Hours: They were very long, which is a huge plus in my view. While it made rope drop tough, I hope Disney keeps this up.
Wilderness Lodge: I absolutely adore this resort. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. The only "downside” was that it made staying in the parks vs. going back to the resort a tough choice. I’m not sure if I’ll ever stay anywhere else, bar maybe the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
WL Club Level: Overall a great experience which I think we’ll do again. Budget-wise, we thought this through very carefully, and figured access to the lounge for breakfast, “dinner,” snacks, drinks and beer/wine would recoup enough out-of-pocket dining expenses to make it worth it. In the end, I do think that we essentially got most of the added CL expense back, plus the easy access to food and drinks was an invaluable time saver (vs waiting down at Roaring Fork, etc). The food quality and variety were very good, and the options were relatively healthy. I should also mention that we’re not huge eaters; I’m not sure if everyone will be able to make dinner out of the evening options.
Access to the CL concierge and daily housekeeping were fantastic bonuses. E.g. when our initial ILL time for ROTR didn’t work with our schedule, a cast member was able to change it for us (she had to keep trying for about 10 minutes, which we really appreciated. . .)
Dining: Due to access to the CL lounge, we only made a few ADRs. Lunch at Garden Grill was absolutely wonderful and worth the high bill. The characters came around multiple times and really spent quality time with us. Both kids played rock, paper, scissors with Mickey- how can you top that? The rotation through Living with the Land is so unique, and the food was good. Prime Time Cafe was a lot of fun (although the food was so-so) and we had a nice lunch at Yak and Yeti. Service at all was great- fast and friendly.
Epcot: I’ll always have a soft spot for Epcot, esp. World Showcase, which appeared to be running at almost full steam (inc. entertainment, etc.). We walked on to Soarin’ maybe 45 min after rope drop for our first ride (just love that one) and it took the park awhile to feel busy. DS was a bit of a grouch that day, complaining about the lack of rides (as perceived by him as a 10-year-old; I disagree
.While the fact that Epcot is so spread out makes it feel less congested, it also means a LOT of walking; we were all exhausted by the end of the day. If possible, I think we’ll spread Epcot over 2 days in future; maybe an evening for Future World one day (when wait times seem to drop) and a morning for World Showcase on a different day.
Hollywood Studios: Our HS day had the most extreme highs and lows. ROTR was as amazing as everyone says (we were very lucky to grab an ILL). Indiana Jones is always a big pleaser in our family. The early morning atmosphere at HS is wonderful; DD7 refused to go on any rides when we first arrived, so she and I just meandered around Sunset Blvd before the crowds descended, soaking in the music and morning light and perusing the empty shops, where we got lots of personal attention from cast members.
It was also the most frustrating park for “offline” attractions. RR was down for the entire day. ToT went down on and off, including when DH and DS were close to boarding after waiting in line for 30+ min, and had insane waits all day (when it was actually running); it was one of DS’s few “must dos” for the whole trip and he never got on. ROTR was offline on and off all day. DH and DS went back to the park that evening after a break to attempt more rides (which we hadn’t planned on) and only got on Toy Story and Star Tours. . . .
I regretted not getting Genie+ for our HS day, although I’m not sure how much luck we would have had with reservations (I’ve heard everything books up very early there. . .).
Animal Kingdom: We started our AK day later, arriving around 11.30am (due to a very late night at MK the previous evening). As I mentioned earlier, stacking a few Genie+ reservations throughout the morning worked pretty well. My daughter had a wonderful experience with Wilderness Explorers (probably the highlight of her trip); the cast members were fantastic. Caught a glimpse of Kite Tails, thought it was a really cute, throwback-type show. I’ve always thought AK would be a great park for exploring solo and/or with other adults, soaking up the atmosphere with a drink or 2 (maybe next time
).Magic Kingdom: We spent the most time here, almost all of it very enjoyable. Between spreading our time here over 3 days, using Genie+ one day, and taking advantage of deluxe evening hours, we did tons of attractions (some multiple times, including 4 rounds on Splash, our family’s favorite). Rides were going offline here and there, but since there are so many, I don’t think it affects touring nearly as much as at HS. Characters were everywhere, and it seemed like the cavalcades were constantly rolling through.
Deluxe evening hours at MK were fantastic. DD7 didn’t make it that long, so it was just me and DS10. We had such a memorable evening, staying almost to the bitter end (we boarded the boat back to WL around 1 AM). Haunted Mansion was legitimately creepy that late and w/ so few people, and we got on PP and Mine Train with very limited waits (since lines constantly moved, even the queues were enjoyable- I think in that sense FP/Genie+ has downgraded the overall experience a bit).
Cast members: They were fantastic. Attitudes ranged from super perky and Disney-esque to more subdued, but all were polite and seemed to know what they were doing. They also seemed more genuine and less robotic than in the past, which I think is a positive development.
Disney with elementary-age kids: DS10 was the perfect age. DD7 also had a great time, but she had less stamina and was much more reluctant with attractions (and there didn’t seem to be much logic to what she would/wouldn’t do, e.g. she loved Splash and the big drop, but refused to ride the river boat since it was “too big” (go figure. . ). Thank goodness we had two adults and could split up with the kids (we did this a lot).; I’d strongly urge any parents considering going solo w/ more than 1 younger child to bring along another adult if at all possible.
Highlights: Deluxe evening hours at MK; Garden Grill lunch; early AM atmosphere at HS; our first time on ROTR; Wilderness Explorers at AK; every moment at Wilderness Lodge.
Final thoughts: Tons of great memories, and I think Disney has finally rebounded from Covid. I know Genie+ is controversial, but it does help w/ waits once you get the hang of it. We’re an every few years-type family, so it will be a while before we’re back, but I’m already planning the next trip in the back of my head
).
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