Just Back March 4-10

twoolle

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 10, 2014
Our family consisted of me, DH, DS8, DS6, DD4 and DS2. My parents also came along. Just wanted to share a few things from our trip:

We arrived on Sunday March 4 and got to MK by 1030am. It was packed so we basically just used our 3 fastpasses then watched the Muppets show. I tried to get more but there was nothing available until after 3 and it was only 1:30. My guess is because most people were still using their original 3. So we left and went to swim at WL. No big deal.

AM with 7am EMH...we drove and were thru the tapstyle by 620am. We were about the only group there with a stroller. More arrived after that. Once they let us in we could have easily done FoP, I didn't find the rush to be bad, even with the stroller. But we had a FP for later and did NRJ instead. They did not open KS until 810am which meant the line was pretty backed up. We arrived at the line atb8 and were on by 825.

Rivers of Light-we had fastpasses for it but didn't arrive until right at 7 for 715 show. There were very few seats left and we ended up on the edge but not a big deal.

Minnie Vans-we took one from MBYBBQ to epcot one evening. It was about 7 and I started searching right before the show was over. Good thing because it took a few minutes and another family was unable to get one a bit later. We did use 2 car seats so that took a bit for the driver to install but we were not in a rush.

Pirates Adventure game at MK- kids loved this and it may have been their favorite thing. So good for them to have unstructured time.

Pixie Dust-we did the Bon Voyage breakfast and DD4 wanted to join the professional but was too shy and her brothers wouldn't take her. Price Eric saw the dilemma and came and personally escorted her the while time. So sweet and her smile was priceless.
Also one night I had my 3 oldest at HS while DH took DS2 back to sleep. We just finished taking a photopass pic when a CM came up and asked if we would like special seating for the Star Wars Fireworks. We said yes then she named us the Galactic family of the night. She took us to meet Kylo Ren and Chewbacca then let us go and told us to come back at 740. It was cold so we got hot chocolate and returned and they gave us lanyards and took us to the dessert party viewing area. We sat on the ledge and chatted with the CM before the dessert party folks came out. We had a great view and it was nice to stay seated! They have us a certificate with our family name on it. I think it helped that we didn' have a stroller and the kids were a bit older, less chance of chaos I think.

Evenings at MK and additional FP...we went to MK on Wednesday and stayed for about 1 hour of the EMH. The park was so empty I wish we could have stayed longer. We were also there Friday night and it was packed until closing at 11pm but i was able to get additional FP by constantly refreshing. DD4 was determined to ride 7DMT onr more time but the wait was 70 or more minites all night. We got in line for big thunder About 10:15, waited 30 minutes and were off by 10:50. We hustled over to 7dmt arriving at 1057 with posted wait of 40 minutes. We waited only 15! It was a magical moment with my little girl.

Mobile Ordering...used it several times and it was great. But at 11am at CHH our order just never got made in the kitchen. The Cms were baffled and gave us a lemonade. It took 20 minutes of standing at the counter to get our food but not a big deal. We tried to use it one night at Casey' during EMH but it was "closed" on the app. We walked by and the line was out the door so we just ate in our room.

HEA Viewing-i wanted to get a spot sooner but we got off Space Mtn about 730pm for 755 show. Walked on the bridge and got a good view of the castle right before you hit the hub. However there was a tree blocking most of the fireworks. That was ok because we had already seen the fireworks portion and it's hard to watch both. My parents watched from outside the Emporium and loved it. We also watched while riding the Peoplemover and that was fun too.

Jedi Training...we arrived at HS at 8am for 9am opening and lined up 2nd at one of the tapsyles on the right. They let us in at 835 and we walked to the signups. It was not the mad rush I was expecting
We were 3rd in line and we were back with the crowd by 840am. The line was long by then! When they let us go we walked with the crowd to TSM but it started getting backed up so we popped in to meet Buzz and Woody with no wait. We were done and the rush had slowed so we got in line for TSM and waited only 15 minutes. That was Friday Mar 9.

Mickeys Backyard BBQ...Cat 1 seating totally worth the extra $10. If you cant book it keep checking. I was able to change ours just 2 days before. Early meet and greets, early access to buffet and beer, plus seats by the stage. The meet and greet lines were long all night and it seemed like only a few dances included the characters since they were meeting most of the night. DD4 and DS6 loved it but DS8 would not dance as he was a bit old for it. DS2 was too shy to dance. Overall we liked it better than HDDR because of kids ages.

Stroller rental...our own stroller broke while there on the first day so we booked with Kingdom Strollers and they delivered at 6am the next day for an extra $10. The other places did not deliver until 7am. Worked out great.

Flower and Garden...lines for food and drink were long on Thursday afternoon. WS was really crowded but kids enjoyed the honeybee scavenger hunt.


Overall we had a great trip but it was a bit chilly! Crowds were ok as I know we beat the big spring break rush.

That's it let me know if you have questions!
 
Our family consisted of me, DH, DS8, DS6, DD4 and DS2. My parents also came along. Just wanted to share a few things from our trip:

We arrived on Sunday March 4 and got to MK by 1030am. It was packed so we basically just used our 3 fastpasses then watched the Muppets show. I tried to get more but there was nothing available until after 3 and it was only 1:30. My guess is because most people were still using their original 3. So we left and went to swim at WL. No big deal.

AM with 7am EMH...we drove and were thru the tapstyle by 620am. We were about the only group there with a stroller. More arrived after that. Once they let us in we could have easily done FoP, I didn't find the rush to be bad, even with the stroller. But we had a FP for later and did NRJ instead. They did not open KS until 810am which meant the line was pretty backed up. We arrived at the line atb8 and were on by 825.

Rivers of Light-we had fastpasses for it but didn't arrive until right at 7 for 715 show. There were very few seats left and we ended up on the edge but not a big deal.

Minnie Vans-we took one from MBYBBQ to epcot one evening. It was about 7 and I started searching right before the show was over. Good thing because it took a few minutes and another family was unable to get one a bit later. We did use 2 car seats so that took a bit for the driver to install but we were not in a rush.

Pirates Adventure game at MK- kids loved this and it may have been their favorite thing. So good for them to have unstructured time.

Pixie Dust-we did the Bon Voyage breakfast and DD4 wanted to join the professional but was too shy and her brothers wouldn't take her. Price Eric saw the dilemma and came and personally escorted her the while time. So sweet and her smile was priceless.
Also one night I had my 3 oldest at HS while DH took DS2 back to sleep. We just finished taking a photopass pic when a CM came up and asked if we would like special seating for the Star Wars Fireworks. We said yes then she named us the Galactic family of the night. She took us to meet Kylo Ren and Chewbacca then let us go and told us to come back at 740. It was cold so we got hot chocolate and returned and they gave us lanyards and took us to the dessert party viewing area. We sat on the ledge and chatted with the CM before the dessert party folks came out. We had a great view and it was nice to stay seated! They have us a certificate with our family name on it. I think it helped that we didn' have a stroller and the kids were a bit older, less chance of chaos I think.

Evenings at MK and additional FP...we went to MK on Wednesday and stayed for about 1 hour of the EMH. The park was so empty I wish we could have stayed longer. We were also there Friday night and it was packed until closing at 11pm but i was able to get additional FP by constantly refreshing. DD4 was determined to ride 7DMT onr more time but the wait was 70 or more minites all night. We got in line for big thunder About 10:15, waited 30 minutes and were off by 10:50. We hustled over to 7dmt arriving at 1057 with posted wait of 40 minutes. We waited only 15! It was a magical moment with my little girl.

Mobile Ordering...used it several times and it was great. But at 11am at CHH our order just never got made in the kitchen. The Cms were baffled and gave us a lemonade. It took 20 minutes of standing at the counter to get our food but not a big deal. We tried to use it one night at Casey' during EMH but it was "closed" on the app. We walked by and the line was out the door so we just ate in our room.

HEA Viewing-i wanted to get a spot sooner but we got off Space Mtn about 730pm for 755 show. Walked on the bridge and got a good view of the castle right before you hit the hub. However there was a tree blocking most of the fireworks. That was ok because we had already seen the fireworks portion and it's hard to watch both. My parents watched from outside the Emporium and loved it. We also watched while riding the Peoplemover and that was fun too.

Jedi Training...we arrived at HS at 8am for 9am opening and lined up 2nd at one of the tapsyles on the right. They let us in at 835 and we walked to the signups. It was not the mad rush I was expecting
We were 3rd in line and we were back with the crowd by 840am. The line was long by then! When they let us go we walked with the crowd to TSM but it started getting backed up so we popped in to meet Buzz and Woody with no wait. We were done and the rush had slowed so we got in line for TSM and waited only 15 minutes. That was Friday Mar 9.

Mickeys Backyard BBQ...Cat 1 seating totally worth the extra $10. If you cant book it keep checking. I was able to change ours just 2 days before. Early meet and greets, early access to buffet and beer, plus seats by the stage. The meet and greet lines were long all night and it seemed like only a few dances included the characters since they were meeting most of the night. DD4 and DS6 loved it but DS8 would not dance as he was a bit old for it. DS2 was too shy to dance. Overall we liked it better than HDDR because of kids ages.

Stroller rental...our own stroller broke while there on the first day so we booked with Kingdom Strollers and they delivered at 6am the next day for an extra $10. The other places did not deliver until 7am. Worked out great.

Flower and Garden...lines for food and drink were long on Thursday afternoon. WS was really crowded but kids enjoyed the honeybee scavenger hunt.


Overall we had a great trip but it was a bit chilly! Crowds were ok as I know we beat the big spring break rush.

That's it let me know if you have questions!
Great report! Glad to hear EMH are still golden.
 
Sounds like you had a good time and were patient enough to just roll with it when things didn't go exactly as planned. If we can't find a FP until a hour later, we just go ahead and stand in line for another ride then you don't feel like you are waiting for your FP and we don't really mind waiting in line. Such good luck at HS with the Star Wars show, I'm jealous as Chewy is my man.
 


Mobile Ordering...used it several times and it was great. But at 11am at CHH our order just never got made in the kitchen. The Cms were baffled and gave us a lemonade. It took 20 minutes of standing at the counter to get our food but not a big deal.

I was also there Sunday 3/4- Saturday 3/10 doing a solo trip.

Met up with a friend at CHH Wednesday night around 6pm and my mobile order was fine. My friend place a Mobile order and got an email saying the charge to his credit card was pending. However, there was no record of the order in the app. CHH never had the order either. He went to see a manager and they were baffled as well. They gave him the food he ordered plus extra fries that he didn’t order. So clearly there is a glitch in the system some how.
 
We are going this week and two of our park days are showing lows of around 42(and we are planning on staying in Magic Kingdom until 12am) Do you mind shedding some light on how chilly your evenings were,( what was the actual temp?) and how you were dressed? I will be prepared with pants and sweatshirts but I’m hoping that is enough. I’m stressing about needing ear/hand warmth while waiting for fireworks.
 
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We were there this week as well (5th-10th) and it was really cold! 48-50 in the mornings and at night and windy. Definitely needed a sweatshirt/jacket, and one night at Disney Springs, Uniqlo was jammed with people buying the lightweight packable down parkas.
 
We are going this week and two of our park days are showing lows of around 42(and we are planning on staying in Magic Kingdom until 12am) Do you mind shedding some light on how chilly your evenings were,( what was the actual temp?) and how you were dressed? I will be prepared with pants and sweatshirts but I’m hoping that is enough. I’m stressing about needing ear/hand warmth while waiting for fireworks.

The evenings were low 50s...we stayed warm by keep moving and doing rides because once in the queue it was much warmer. The one night we waited a bit for the fireworks I bought coffee and hot chocolate and that kept our hands warm. I had a light fleece and a thin long sleeve shirt over a t shirt. It was warm enough and I never got miserable and I hate cold. I did not need ear muffs nor did the kids. Their hands got a little cold but they just kept them in their pockets. We wore pants to the parks every night and some mornings. Boys wore shorts under their pants. I did not pack enough pants and they had to wear the same ones all week!

I will say the one night of evening EMH at MK it got windy and cold so I think that attributed to the low crowds.

Mornings, even though it was 48 or 49 were not as bad because the sun was out. I had coffee to keep me warm and the kids had their excitement I guess.

Hope that helps
Layers are key...i did not pack winter coats and the kids just wore sweatshirts and sometimes long sleeves over their short sleeves.
 
What a great report! Sounds like a great time with your large family. You really made it work.

I'm assuming you weren't able to get any immediate subsequent FPs on Sunday because of your large family size. I was there solo- didn't even get there until 3PM- and was able to get plenty the whole time I was there. Them's the breaks with larger parties, I guess, but sounds like you made lemonade out of lemons. :)
 
We are going this week and two of our park days are showing lows of around 42(and we are planning on staying in Magic Kingdom until 12am) Do you mind shedding some light on how chilly your evenings were,( what was the actual temp?) and how you were dressed? I will be prepared with pants and sweatshirts but I’m hoping that is enough. I’m stressing about needing ear/hand warmth while waiting for fireworks.

I concur with those who replied sooner. I wore a light fleece lined jacket all but one day (Tuesday the warmest day). Last Thursday (coldest day) I had on a long sleeve shirt (not thick) with leggings and my jacket. I was comfortable in the sun and daytime hours. I stayed for the late showing of ROL at AK and was wishing I had on another layer while sitting waiting for the show to start. Most folks had a sweatshirt on or jacket so during the warmer times could take it off.
 
I forgot to tell about our BOG PPO experience on an EMM morning.

We took the bus from WL at 7am and were at MK and thru security by 715am. There were 2 lines on the far left and the left line was for EMM and the right line for PPO. They came by with a tablet to check our names and gave us a paper that would get us around to Fantasyland. They did not let us in until 750am and that included the EMM folks. We had a party of 8 and all did pre order. We got thru the line quickly and chose our table in the main dining room as there were plenty of tables. My parents order came out first and ours came about 10 minutes later. We were done by 835 and headed out. The original plan was to get in line for PPF since our whole family could ride together as opposed to 7DMT and head to Frontierland after that. But all that changed when my parents decided to join us and they couldn't get a FP for 7dmt. I told my mom she could ride it after BOG and then the 3 oldest kids wanted to as well. So the 5 of us went to get in line for 7dmt and DH, DS2, and my dad went to PPF with instructions to just get in line and wait until park opening to ride. Then we would all meet at BTMRR. Well DH didn't quite understand what to do and with EMM happening he said they wouldn't let him ride. So instead they went to ride the carousel 2 times and by the time they got back to PPF the park had opened and the line was 20 minutes. Now at 7dmt there was a line about 20 deep when we got out there. The CM walked us over to the entrance at 855am and then we started thru the queue at 9. It worked out great and we headed to BTMRR, expecting the rest of our group to be there. They were not and the line for BTMRR was growing because splash was down. I was getting nervous but I really wanted to wait for the rest of the group so we could get a rider switch for DH to ride later. I couldn't get in contact with him because he was in the PPF ride so we just decided to ride BTMRR without them. They didn't mind but it did throw off our morning as we didn't have time to ride Splash before our jungle cruise FP. I was able to switch some things around and got us all fastpasses for splash later that day.

I feel like with more trips under my belt the ability to make adjstments on the fly is getting better!

Also we did Frozen at rope drop on an EMH day. Got to park about 710am and they didn't even open security until after 730. The line was so long behind us! But we were let in the park at 8 and walked back to FES with just a few minutes wait. Then we met Anna and Elsa with about 15 minute wait.
 
Can anyone list the crowd levels for 3/4-3/11? We were there but I have such a hard time judging how crowded it is while we're in it. I was amazed how much we got done and I believe the longest line we waited on was about 12 minutes for The Gran Fiesta Tour of all things. And that's with my 6 year old daughter getting to ride every open ride in MK over the week. Disney After Hours helped, but the 8:30-10p hours on 3/4 may have been even emptier in Adventure/Frontierland.
 
Can anyone list the crowd levels for 3/4-3/11? We were there but I have such a hard time judging how crowded it is while we're in it. I was amazed how much we got done and I believe the longest line we waited on was about 12 minutes for The Gran Fiesta Tour of all things. And that's with my 6 year old daughter getting to ride every open ride in MK over the week. Disney After Hours helped, but the 8:30-10p hours on 3/4 may have been even emptier in Adventure/Frontierland.

We waited in that gran fiesta tour line also on 3/8! As for crowd levels they ranged from 3-7 depending on which day and park. Is there particular day/park you were interested in? I do know that the TP predictions were very close for last week.

We have now been twice in September, once the week after thanksgiving and now last week. Honestly they all kind of seemed the same. Sometimes it felt crowded and sometimes it felt empty!
 
Can anyone list the crowd levels for 3/4-3/11? We were there but I have such a hard time judging how crowded it is while we're in it. I was amazed how much we got done and I believe the longest line we waited on was about 12 minutes for The Gran Fiesta Tour of all things. And that's with my 6 year old daughter getting to ride every open ride in MK over the week. Disney After Hours helped, but the 8:30-10p hours on 3/4 may have been even emptier in Adventure/Frontierland.
I was there 3/4-6 and I think the crowds were a little worse than last year at the same time (I think some of it had to do with ride closures at MK and going on an EMH day at AK), but manageable especially with proper FP use.

I forgot to tell about our BOG PPO experience on an EMM morning.

We took the bus from WL at 7am and were at MK and thru security by 715am. There were 2 lines on the far left and the left line was for EMM and the right line for PPO. They came by with a tablet to check our names and gave us a paper that would get us around to Fantasyland. They did not let us in until 750am and that included the EMM folks. We had a party of 8 and all did pre order. We got thru the line quickly and chose our table in the main dining room as there were plenty of tables. My parents order came out first and ours came about 10 minutes later. We were done by 835 and headed out. The original plan was to get in line for PPF since our whole family could ride together as opposed to 7DMT and head to Frontierland after that. But all that changed when my parents decided to join us and they couldn't get a FP for 7dmt. I told my mom she could ride it after BOG and then the 3 oldest kids wanted to as well. So the 5 of us went to get in line for 7dmt and DH, DS2, and my dad went to PPF with instructions to just get in line and wait until park opening to ride. Then we would all meet at BTMRR. Well DH didn't quite understand what to do and with EMM happening he said they wouldn't let him ride. So instead they went to ride the carousel 2 times and by the time they got back to PPF the park had opened and the line was 20 minutes. Now at 7dmt there was a line about 20 deep when we got out there. The CM walked us over to the entrance at 855am and then we started thru the queue at 9. It worked out great and we headed to BTMRR, expecting the rest of our group to be there. They were not and the line for BTMRR was growing because splash was down. I was getting nervous but I really wanted to wait for the rest of the group so we could get a rider switch for DH to ride later. I couldn't get in contact with him because he was in the PPF ride so we just decided to ride BTMRR without them. They didn't mind but it did throw off our morning as we didn't have time to ride Splash before our jungle cruise FP. I was able to switch some things around and got us all fastpasses for splash later that day.

I feel like with more trips under my belt the ability to make adjstments on the fly is getting better!

Also we did Frozen at rope drop on an EMH day. Got to park about 710am and they didn't even open security until after 730. The line was so long behind us! But we were let in the park at 8 and walked back to FES with just a few minutes wait. Then we met Anna and Elsa with about 15 minute wait.
You sound like a master of rolling with the punches- even with a big family! I'm jealous. :)
 
You sound like a master of rolling with the punches- even with a big family! I'm jealous. :)

Honestly I was telling at my husband on the phone because he didn't wait to get in line at PPF. I was super stressed but just had to get over the fact it wasn't going to work out. But i did learn my lesson to always book FP for the big rides just in case. I never ended up riding PPF and DH never rode BTMRR. But there's always next time!
 
We just got back today. We didn't use the Minnie vans but did use Uber twice. My granddaughter scratched her glasses at the pool our first day and we took an Uber to the store in Kissimmee to replace them. The second time we took an Uber on our MK day from Kidani. He dropped us off by the Contemporary and we walked right over. $25 well spent, for us. We also really liked the mobile ordering and wish they'd had it at more of the restaurants.
 
I was there just about the same dates 3/3 - 3/9. I thought the crowds were ok some days, but really big other days. I made good use of fastpass and saw almost everything I was interested in. I did think it could have been a bit warmer. There were a couple of pretty chilly evenings to me. Especially the night I saw ROL at AK and it was so cold sitting by the water.
 

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