Quick weekend trip to WDW, mainly for MVMCP on Sunday night, November 16th.
Flew in around noon on Saturday and after a quick lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe (the shtick was fun, the pulled pork a bit fatty), headed off to Hollywood Studios. FP+ were Toy Story, Star Tours and the Frozen singalong.
Started off rocky as Toy Story was closed, but was impressed that My Dis Experience sent me an email explaining the situation and my options. Ride opened about an hour later, and we rode with no problems. Also managed to fit in Tower of Terror, where my brave 6-year old had a blast. on her first ride The Frozen singalong was well done and it was a lot of fun to see all the kids react when Else made it "snow" in the (jam-packed) theater. Dinner was Brown Derby, where the steak remains a solid if painfully expensive choice. After dinner, a wonderful stroll through the Osborne Lights, which were much less crowded as it was now shortly after park close. Kudos to the CMs who were dancing and keeping the energy level up.
Sunday's MVMCP felt crowded to me, which didn't win me any points with my wife, who continually slams WDW for being too greedy and over-selling the event. But I think that the construction around the hub exacerbated things. I had grand plans of finding a spot around 7:30 to watch both the Castle Lighting at 8 and the Christmas Parade - but ran into a literal brick wall as the hub was already packed with people craning their necks to see the Celebrate the Season show. Consequently, we skirted the hub and proceeded to Frontierland where we managed to get a spot at 7:45pm for the 8:15pm parade.
I agree with those that say the Halloween parade is better, but I still found the Christmas parade very entertaining and well done. Both are worth seeing IMO. After the parade, quick rides with no wait (wonderfully surreal) at Splash and then Pirates. Heading to Fantasyland, we crossed the jam packed hub again just as Holiday Wishes was starting, and it too was beautifully done, with the icicle-encrusted castle providing the perfect backdrop for the fireworks. After several no-wait rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, we then waited a reasonable 20 minutes for 7DMT, which two first-time riders critiqued as very well themed and a lot of fun, albeit too short. We wrapped things up at about 11:30pm.
Other items:
Magic bands and FP+ worked very well with no glitches, progress has been made
Responsiveness of retail terminals for bands much better - paying is very quick
WiFi coverage also seemed improved
Visit reinforced my view that the Halloween and Christmas Parties are definitely worth doing at least once, despite the steep price tag. The parade and fireworks are well done, there are unique character meet and greets, and even if you don't stand in line for the characters, it's fun riding so many rides with minimal waits. My one complaint - and it's a common one - is that even the closed events like this feel too crowded. The need to plan and spend time squatting on a spot for Wishes or the parade takes away from the fun, and it's hard to enjoy the amazing snow on Main Street when your shouldering your way through the crowd. This may be a controversial statement - but if WDW would reduce the cap on the # of tickets for this closed event by 25% or more, I'd be willing to pay up to a 50% premium per ticket. Just my two cents.
Flew in around noon on Saturday and after a quick lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe (the shtick was fun, the pulled pork a bit fatty), headed off to Hollywood Studios. FP+ were Toy Story, Star Tours and the Frozen singalong.
Started off rocky as Toy Story was closed, but was impressed that My Dis Experience sent me an email explaining the situation and my options. Ride opened about an hour later, and we rode with no problems. Also managed to fit in Tower of Terror, where my brave 6-year old had a blast. on her first ride The Frozen singalong was well done and it was a lot of fun to see all the kids react when Else made it "snow" in the (jam-packed) theater. Dinner was Brown Derby, where the steak remains a solid if painfully expensive choice. After dinner, a wonderful stroll through the Osborne Lights, which were much less crowded as it was now shortly after park close. Kudos to the CMs who were dancing and keeping the energy level up.
Sunday's MVMCP felt crowded to me, which didn't win me any points with my wife, who continually slams WDW for being too greedy and over-selling the event. But I think that the construction around the hub exacerbated things. I had grand plans of finding a spot around 7:30 to watch both the Castle Lighting at 8 and the Christmas Parade - but ran into a literal brick wall as the hub was already packed with people craning their necks to see the Celebrate the Season show. Consequently, we skirted the hub and proceeded to Frontierland where we managed to get a spot at 7:45pm for the 8:15pm parade.
I agree with those that say the Halloween parade is better, but I still found the Christmas parade very entertaining and well done. Both are worth seeing IMO. After the parade, quick rides with no wait (wonderfully surreal) at Splash and then Pirates. Heading to Fantasyland, we crossed the jam packed hub again just as Holiday Wishes was starting, and it too was beautifully done, with the icicle-encrusted castle providing the perfect backdrop for the fireworks. After several no-wait rides in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, we then waited a reasonable 20 minutes for 7DMT, which two first-time riders critiqued as very well themed and a lot of fun, albeit too short. We wrapped things up at about 11:30pm.
Other items:
Magic bands and FP+ worked very well with no glitches, progress has been made
Responsiveness of retail terminals for bands much better - paying is very quick
WiFi coverage also seemed improved
Visit reinforced my view that the Halloween and Christmas Parties are definitely worth doing at least once, despite the steep price tag. The parade and fireworks are well done, there are unique character meet and greets, and even if you don't stand in line for the characters, it's fun riding so many rides with minimal waits. My one complaint - and it's a common one - is that even the closed events like this feel too crowded. The need to plan and spend time squatting on a spot for Wishes or the parade takes away from the fun, and it's hard to enjoy the amazing snow on Main Street when your shouldering your way through the crowd. This may be a controversial statement - but if WDW would reduce the cap on the # of tickets for this closed event by 25% or more, I'd be willing to pay up to a 50% premium per ticket. Just my two cents.
