We just returned from two weeks at the world, and while we had a good vacation, we will revise future plans based on this trip's experiences.
Good:
Magic Bands--worked perfectly for all 6 in our party (on 3 different reservations). Only glitch was husbands band wasn't activated and required a trip to the check-in desk. Not a big deal.
FP+--this worked very well for us. We are not rope drop people, so it was nice to have at least 3 FP per day.
App--we found the Disney app to be very helpful. I didn't have to remind everyone of FP times or dinner reservations.
Bad:
Crowds--it was very crowded for the last two weeks of January. I expected MLK week to be busy, as it has been in the past, but it was much busier than usual. The last week of January wasn't much slower than MLK week. A lot of South American visitors, and not just tour groups.
Tour Groups--Not just South Americans, there were a lot of school groups (cheerleaders, music groups, etc). The standby times were unpredictable because you could have a short wait time posted then a couple large groups flood the queue.
Disney Dining--it wasn't all bad, but we spent a lot of money on mediocre food. We'll return to Teppen Edo, Tuttu Italia, Chefs de France. We'll skip Captain's Grill and Ohana, which both used to be a couple of our favorites.
Annoying:
People sneezing/coughing and not covering their mouths--we saw this a lot. DH and I now have colds again, which we'd just gotten over before vacation.
People thinking they're the only ones in the park--stopping in the walkway to take a selfie, groups standing/blocking entire walkways/exits, people jumping lines by entering through the exit (saw this at food/drink stands).
Based on our experiences this trip, we won't go back in January. As much as I hate the heat, we may go again during September. It's a heat for crowd trade off. We also may rent a car so we can dine off site. The food is too expensive to be so mediocre.
Good:
Magic Bands--worked perfectly for all 6 in our party (on 3 different reservations). Only glitch was husbands band wasn't activated and required a trip to the check-in desk. Not a big deal.
FP+--this worked very well for us. We are not rope drop people, so it was nice to have at least 3 FP per day.
App--we found the Disney app to be very helpful. I didn't have to remind everyone of FP times or dinner reservations.
Bad:
Crowds--it was very crowded for the last two weeks of January. I expected MLK week to be busy, as it has been in the past, but it was much busier than usual. The last week of January wasn't much slower than MLK week. A lot of South American visitors, and not just tour groups.
Tour Groups--Not just South Americans, there were a lot of school groups (cheerleaders, music groups, etc). The standby times were unpredictable because you could have a short wait time posted then a couple large groups flood the queue.
Disney Dining--it wasn't all bad, but we spent a lot of money on mediocre food. We'll return to Teppen Edo, Tuttu Italia, Chefs de France. We'll skip Captain's Grill and Ohana, which both used to be a couple of our favorites.
Annoying:
People sneezing/coughing and not covering their mouths--we saw this a lot. DH and I now have colds again, which we'd just gotten over before vacation.
People thinking they're the only ones in the park--stopping in the walkway to take a selfie, groups standing/blocking entire walkways/exits, people jumping lines by entering through the exit (saw this at food/drink stands).
Based on our experiences this trip, we won't go back in January. As much as I hate the heat, we may go again during September. It's a heat for crowd trade off. We also may rent a car so we can dine off site. The food is too expensive to be so mediocre.