Zhaan
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2014
I just got back from a week at Disney World from Nov 15 - 22nd. I overall had a good time if you exclude the awful weather (cold and rainy), however my husband did not and was even talking of canceling our trip next Oct. 
This was our first trip since FP+ - our last trip was April 2013.
These are just my opinions on what was good, bad, and otherwise.
Magic Bands (not talking FP+ here): I liked the convenience of the magic band. I did not have any problems except twice when a photopass person's scanner wouldn't work on the band and they had to give me a card to take to the photo viewing area at the front of the park to have the pictures put on my account. The first time that was no big deal because there was no line, but the next time it was a pain because we had to wait about 30 minutes in line to get the pictures moved.
FP+: I don't hate it, but I'll never like it. I don't like having to know where I'll be 60 days out. We used to like to wake up and based on how we feel, weather, etc, decide where to go. Sure you can do that but you can't get the mine train nor TSMM at the last minute and other headliners will most likely have bad times (late evening etc). So we felt obligated to stick to a schedule picked 60 days out. We don't do many ADRs so this new scheduling doesn't suit us and was my husband's largest complaint. He said it did not have that free flowing vacation feel away from the schedules of RL. Also, the lines at the kiosks to get more FP after the first 3 are used can be quite long and usually the only things that had FP open were things that were walk-on anyway. Husband's other biggest complaint is the rides that used to be walk-on all have waits, sometimes very long waits. Again that affects the spontaneity of the day. Since I think it's here to stay my suggestion is to let you add your 4th + FPs from your phone - they can use GPS to know which park you are in so there's no reason to require you to stand in a line at a kiosk.
I had scheduled all of my FP+ for the first half of the day in hopes of getting more. This was a waste because some were walk-ons during the morning, and then by the time we were ready to get a 4th the FP+ kiosk lines were long and there wasn't much left to pick. Next trip I'll try doing all afternoon FP+.
Crowds: The parks were crazy crowded and this was supposed to be a low attendance week. I think FP+ makes it feel more crowded. People are walking around trying to figure out what to do until their next time. The walkways were super crowded and character meet and greets that used to have no line during low attendance times had crazy lines. I'm not talking A&E, I'm talking the ones that are just staying to the side in the streets - chip and dale, etc. Also, lines for QS were insane. We got to ABC Commissary before 11am one day and the line was outside wrapped around the building prior to opening! I will no longer go to MK on a Saturday. We were there both Saturdays - one of which was raining and cool, and it was so crowded it was hard to walk in tighter places.
Cast Members: I do see what people are saying about the decline in cheery customer service. However I don't think this is new, I've noticed a steady decline over the last few years. I only had one overtly rude CM. I was at a FP+ kiosk and did not ask for help. I had hit a button and nothing was happening - no progress indicator spinning, etc. I started to hit it again, because if you've used these you know they don't always "recognize" your touch and she bit my head off saying "don't touch that if you do it will take even longer and you'll yell at me". It wasn't just what she said it was how she said it. Obviously she's getting yelled at a lot, but her attitude was awful. I just let it go because I'm sure she's getting all kinds of grief, but at the same time it doesn't excuse her attitude. The only other notable issue was there were several cast members in QS jobs that could not understand English very well nor speak it very well. I have a food allergy so this made me slightly uncomfortable but everything seemed to work out OK. I had a few smiling really great CMs, but most were neutral or chatting with co-workers and not paying attention. Again this isn't new to me, I've noticed it over the last few years.
MVMCP: I won't do this again. Husband didn't like it at all and the only thing I enjoyed was my meet with Jack Skellington. He was great! However, after waiting 1 hour 15 mins for him, the lines for the other M&G I wanted to do were so long that I would miss the party if I kept doing M&Gs so he was the only one I got. Also, due to timing issues I was never in the right place to get a good spot for anything so I couldn't see the stage shows (I'm 5'0") and I couldn't see the parade. We had issues getting the allergy free cookies - it took about 10 minutes of people looking around cluelessly and generally ignoring us before a manager finally went in the back and found them. They were sold out of the passholder party exclusive pin - I was there on the 16th so that's just poor planning on someone's part and a big disappointment for me. The fireworks were OK but nothing horribly special. Just not worth the price tag. Oh and there were very few photopass people out at the party and the few out had long lines which we stood in since we had memory maker. Unless you spent the whole party getting M&Gs I would not pay extra for Memory Maker just for the party.
Memory Maker: It was great, loved it. I will do it again but not every trip. I don't need that many pictures of the same thing every time we go. This time I specifically tried to get a lot of M&G since I knew I had memory maker but on most trips it would just be more castle pictures, etc. We didn't get any of the animated ones even though we looked and asked and stopped at every photopass person we could find. We did get a lot of fun magic shots. The ride photo quality is pretty awful. I do like the ride videos though that's a nice touch. However, you can't put them in an album so it's more of a cute novelty for people who like to post on social media. Do stop every day as you exit the park and check your pictures. We did have some not show up but they were able to find them. There is a 48-72 hour delay in it showing up on your MDE account, but they show up immediately at these photopass viewing areas.
Characterpalooza: I won't do this again. I had my only really negative experience with another guest here. It was very crowded and them telling everyone you only have 20 minutes with the characters brings out the worst in people. They didn't have enough CMs for crowd control and so the lines were sort of all over the place. I noted who came up after me and when I was in line for Snow White a family tried to go ahead of me and I pointed out I was definitely there first and they gave me really nasty looks and said they would "let me go". How big of them. Also there are no photopass people for this and since we don't have high end cameras my pictures are good but not great. I ended up with Snow White, the Evil Queen, and Mary Poppins with Bert. Mary and Bert were the highlight - very in character and a lot of fun. After those 3 pictures I left even though the time wasn't up because it was just horribly crowded and pushy.
Festival of Lights at HS: This was my favorite part of the trip. Always fun! I love it because there isn't a bad spot even if you are short.
Gingerbread houses at the resorts: Love them - another highlight. BC wasn't up yet but we got to see Contemporary, GF, and Boardwalk.
SDMT: I loved it. I do wish it was longer but it's a lot of fun!
Best dining: Boma brunch - I've had it before and it never disappoints.
Construction: The walls really were everywhere it seemed. It makes fireworks viewing very crowded because there are so few good places to be without a wall in the way. AK is walls everywhere - we only went there one 1/2 day. I know it will be great when complete but I think if I had known it would be that bad when I first planned the trip I would have postponed it.
By the end of the trip, I think only to appease me, husband backed down on canceling next Oct and instead suggested we go to Universal 3 days of that trip. Seemed like a reasonable compromise and I will still get to go to Disney. I'm not crazy about some of the changes, but I still like just BEING there so I hope he'll be willing to still go every 1-2 years. What's sad is he used to love it as much as I do.
Since he hates the schedule part so much I suggested that I'll make the afternoon FP+ reservations but we can treat them as optional. I'm hoping that will make it feel more fun and free for him.
This was our first trip since FP+ - our last trip was April 2013.These are just my opinions on what was good, bad, and otherwise.
Magic Bands (not talking FP+ here): I liked the convenience of the magic band. I did not have any problems except twice when a photopass person's scanner wouldn't work on the band and they had to give me a card to take to the photo viewing area at the front of the park to have the pictures put on my account. The first time that was no big deal because there was no line, but the next time it was a pain because we had to wait about 30 minutes in line to get the pictures moved.
FP+: I don't hate it, but I'll never like it. I don't like having to know where I'll be 60 days out. We used to like to wake up and based on how we feel, weather, etc, decide where to go. Sure you can do that but you can't get the mine train nor TSMM at the last minute and other headliners will most likely have bad times (late evening etc). So we felt obligated to stick to a schedule picked 60 days out. We don't do many ADRs so this new scheduling doesn't suit us and was my husband's largest complaint. He said it did not have that free flowing vacation feel away from the schedules of RL. Also, the lines at the kiosks to get more FP after the first 3 are used can be quite long and usually the only things that had FP open were things that were walk-on anyway. Husband's other biggest complaint is the rides that used to be walk-on all have waits, sometimes very long waits. Again that affects the spontaneity of the day. Since I think it's here to stay my suggestion is to let you add your 4th + FPs from your phone - they can use GPS to know which park you are in so there's no reason to require you to stand in a line at a kiosk.
I had scheduled all of my FP+ for the first half of the day in hopes of getting more. This was a waste because some were walk-ons during the morning, and then by the time we were ready to get a 4th the FP+ kiosk lines were long and there wasn't much left to pick. Next trip I'll try doing all afternoon FP+.
Crowds: The parks were crazy crowded and this was supposed to be a low attendance week. I think FP+ makes it feel more crowded. People are walking around trying to figure out what to do until their next time. The walkways were super crowded and character meet and greets that used to have no line during low attendance times had crazy lines. I'm not talking A&E, I'm talking the ones that are just staying to the side in the streets - chip and dale, etc. Also, lines for QS were insane. We got to ABC Commissary before 11am one day and the line was outside wrapped around the building prior to opening! I will no longer go to MK on a Saturday. We were there both Saturdays - one of which was raining and cool, and it was so crowded it was hard to walk in tighter places.
Cast Members: I do see what people are saying about the decline in cheery customer service. However I don't think this is new, I've noticed a steady decline over the last few years. I only had one overtly rude CM. I was at a FP+ kiosk and did not ask for help. I had hit a button and nothing was happening - no progress indicator spinning, etc. I started to hit it again, because if you've used these you know they don't always "recognize" your touch and she bit my head off saying "don't touch that if you do it will take even longer and you'll yell at me". It wasn't just what she said it was how she said it. Obviously she's getting yelled at a lot, but her attitude was awful. I just let it go because I'm sure she's getting all kinds of grief, but at the same time it doesn't excuse her attitude. The only other notable issue was there were several cast members in QS jobs that could not understand English very well nor speak it very well. I have a food allergy so this made me slightly uncomfortable but everything seemed to work out OK. I had a few smiling really great CMs, but most were neutral or chatting with co-workers and not paying attention. Again this isn't new to me, I've noticed it over the last few years.
MVMCP: I won't do this again. Husband didn't like it at all and the only thing I enjoyed was my meet with Jack Skellington. He was great! However, after waiting 1 hour 15 mins for him, the lines for the other M&G I wanted to do were so long that I would miss the party if I kept doing M&Gs so he was the only one I got. Also, due to timing issues I was never in the right place to get a good spot for anything so I couldn't see the stage shows (I'm 5'0") and I couldn't see the parade. We had issues getting the allergy free cookies - it took about 10 minutes of people looking around cluelessly and generally ignoring us before a manager finally went in the back and found them. They were sold out of the passholder party exclusive pin - I was there on the 16th so that's just poor planning on someone's part and a big disappointment for me. The fireworks were OK but nothing horribly special. Just not worth the price tag. Oh and there were very few photopass people out at the party and the few out had long lines which we stood in since we had memory maker. Unless you spent the whole party getting M&Gs I would not pay extra for Memory Maker just for the party.
Memory Maker: It was great, loved it. I will do it again but not every trip. I don't need that many pictures of the same thing every time we go. This time I specifically tried to get a lot of M&G since I knew I had memory maker but on most trips it would just be more castle pictures, etc. We didn't get any of the animated ones even though we looked and asked and stopped at every photopass person we could find. We did get a lot of fun magic shots. The ride photo quality is pretty awful. I do like the ride videos though that's a nice touch. However, you can't put them in an album so it's more of a cute novelty for people who like to post on social media. Do stop every day as you exit the park and check your pictures. We did have some not show up but they were able to find them. There is a 48-72 hour delay in it showing up on your MDE account, but they show up immediately at these photopass viewing areas.
Characterpalooza: I won't do this again. I had my only really negative experience with another guest here. It was very crowded and them telling everyone you only have 20 minutes with the characters brings out the worst in people. They didn't have enough CMs for crowd control and so the lines were sort of all over the place. I noted who came up after me and when I was in line for Snow White a family tried to go ahead of me and I pointed out I was definitely there first and they gave me really nasty looks and said they would "let me go". How big of them. Also there are no photopass people for this and since we don't have high end cameras my pictures are good but not great. I ended up with Snow White, the Evil Queen, and Mary Poppins with Bert. Mary and Bert were the highlight - very in character and a lot of fun. After those 3 pictures I left even though the time wasn't up because it was just horribly crowded and pushy.
Festival of Lights at HS: This was my favorite part of the trip. Always fun! I love it because there isn't a bad spot even if you are short.
Gingerbread houses at the resorts: Love them - another highlight. BC wasn't up yet but we got to see Contemporary, GF, and Boardwalk.
SDMT: I loved it. I do wish it was longer but it's a lot of fun!
Best dining: Boma brunch - I've had it before and it never disappoints.
Construction: The walls really were everywhere it seemed. It makes fireworks viewing very crowded because there are so few good places to be without a wall in the way. AK is walls everywhere - we only went there one 1/2 day. I know it will be great when complete but I think if I had known it would be that bad when I first planned the trip I would have postponed it.
By the end of the trip, I think only to appease me, husband backed down on canceling next Oct and instead suggested we go to Universal 3 days of that trip. Seemed like a reasonable compromise and I will still get to go to Disney. I'm not crazy about some of the changes, but I still like just BEING there so I hope he'll be willing to still go every 1-2 years. What's sad is he used to love it as much as I do.
Since he hates the schedule part so much I suggested that I'll make the afternoon FP+ reservations but we can treat them as optional. I'm hoping that will make it feel more fun and free for him.
