Me and the family just got back from DW. We were there from the 23rd until the 29th. Although I love the on site hotels we stayed off property because we had a large group and it was easier and cheaper using time share points for our condos. (Our time share is not DVC.)
A lot of my report may sound negative so before starting i want to make it clear, I'm a long time DW nut. Been there about 12 times over the years and considering i live in New Hampshire that's a lot of DW vacations. (And a lot of $$$ spent) And i WILL be going back.
But I need to be honest, there are a few things that really were NOT magical this trip.
First - the crowds were out of control. (and so were many of the rude stressed out guests) I knew going during the holidays would be busy but I wasn't prepared for the crowds we had to deal with. For example, getting on the PEOPLE MOVER in tomorrow land took 15 minutes. Can you imagine a 15 minute line for the people mover? I've been at Disney on the 4th of July and the people mover was a walk on. ANYWAY the point is i highly advise not visiting DW during Thanksgiving and i hear Christmas is worse. I will NEVER go to DW during a holiday again.
Second - DownTown Disney was HORRIBLE! We ALWAYS go to DTD when we get to Florida to start our Disney experience and have always loved the experience. This time it was a total horror show. Parking was nuts, traffic was nuts and there was nothing but boards up everyplace because all of the construction. There was little to enjoy and everyone was herded into the same small walkways to get to the places that WERE open. And those stores and restaurants were so crowded that is was nothing but total stress. These was no magic or wonder, just stress. I assume once Disney Springs is complete it'll be nice again but right now i highly recommend you not venture to Down Town Disney.
Third - My step daughter busted her butt and basically lived on line getting us FastPasses. She stayed up past midnight every night at the 30 day before our trip mark to get us some decent fast passes and she did a great job but if it were not for all her efforts we would have been out of luck. Lucky for us she was willing to literally lose sleep on work nights so we could get on some good attractions.
(And keep going back day after day for weeks to try to get Mine Train) Also now almost all the attractions have fast pass lines so this means that all the stand-by lines are much slower than they were before they had fast passes. Fact is they only let you book 3 fast passes (you can't book more until you use all 3) so you spend most of your day in the stand-by lines and because most attractions have fast pass lines now all the stand-by lines are slower. So I question if you really get any benefit from fast passes. Yes you get on 3 attractions faster, but all the rest are slower than before,
so do you really get on more attractions during your day? (I doubt it) I realize many of you will completely disagree with my feelings and I respect that. Please don't flame me for the way I feel about this, respect that i have a right to my opinion just like you. My feeling is this new Fast Pass Plus and My Disney Experience does more harm than good and adds stress and more time in lines to your over all experience. 
Oh the stand-by line for the Mine Train was 2 to 3 hours constantly. So if you don't get a fasts for the Mine train either expect to not experience it or be ready to spend a long time in a VERY long line for the 3 minute ride. (I did't time it but i think 3 minutes is a good estimate.) Also the ride is really cute, the animatronics are great BUT is it worth a 3 hour wait for a 3 minute ride? After riding the Mine Train I personally wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes for it. My whole group liked it but all agreed it didn't live up to the hype.
Anyway sorry to sound so negative, I still love DW and WILL go back in a few years, but this particular trip was more stress than magic. I'm SURE had we gone during a slower week this report would be somewhat different, BUT I still recommend, if you are going during a slow week to still stay away from Down Town Disney and I would recommend not spending a crazy amount of time waiting for the Mine train. Yeah it's cute and new, but that's it. If you spend 2 or 3 hours waiting for it you'll end up disappointed. And expect longer/slower stand-by lines at all the attractions that didn't have fast pass your last visit. I found this fact to be very disappointing. I know Disney is trying to make things easier but I believe they took 3 giant steps backwards and made the Disney Experience less magical.
Anyway I hope my experience on this trip either helps you or at least prepares you for your next trip. Especially if you intend to visit during the holidays.
A lot of my report may sound negative so before starting i want to make it clear, I'm a long time DW nut. Been there about 12 times over the years and considering i live in New Hampshire that's a lot of DW vacations. (And a lot of $$$ spent) And i WILL be going back.
But I need to be honest, there are a few things that really were NOT magical this trip.
First - the crowds were out of control. (and so were many of the rude stressed out guests) I knew going during the holidays would be busy but I wasn't prepared for the crowds we had to deal with. For example, getting on the PEOPLE MOVER in tomorrow land took 15 minutes. Can you imagine a 15 minute line for the people mover? I've been at Disney on the 4th of July and the people mover was a walk on. ANYWAY the point is i highly advise not visiting DW during Thanksgiving and i hear Christmas is worse. I will NEVER go to DW during a holiday again.
Second - DownTown Disney was HORRIBLE! We ALWAYS go to DTD when we get to Florida to start our Disney experience and have always loved the experience. This time it was a total horror show. Parking was nuts, traffic was nuts and there was nothing but boards up everyplace because all of the construction. There was little to enjoy and everyone was herded into the same small walkways to get to the places that WERE open. And those stores and restaurants were so crowded that is was nothing but total stress. These was no magic or wonder, just stress. I assume once Disney Springs is complete it'll be nice again but right now i highly recommend you not venture to Down Town Disney.
Third - My step daughter busted her butt and basically lived on line getting us FastPasses. She stayed up past midnight every night at the 30 day before our trip mark to get us some decent fast passes and she did a great job but if it were not for all her efforts we would have been out of luck. Lucky for us she was willing to literally lose sleep on work nights so we could get on some good attractions.
(And keep going back day after day for weeks to try to get Mine Train) Also now almost all the attractions have fast pass lines so this means that all the stand-by lines are much slower than they were before they had fast passes. Fact is they only let you book 3 fast passes (you can't book more until you use all 3) so you spend most of your day in the stand-by lines and because most attractions have fast pass lines now all the stand-by lines are slower. So I question if you really get any benefit from fast passes. Yes you get on 3 attractions faster, but all the rest are slower than before,
so do you really get on more attractions during your day? (I doubt it) I realize many of you will completely disagree with my feelings and I respect that. Please don't flame me for the way I feel about this, respect that i have a right to my opinion just like you. My feeling is this new Fast Pass Plus and My Disney Experience does more harm than good and adds stress and more time in lines to your over all experience. Oh the stand-by line for the Mine Train was 2 to 3 hours constantly. So if you don't get a fasts for the Mine train either expect to not experience it or be ready to spend a long time in a VERY long line for the 3 minute ride. (I did't time it but i think 3 minutes is a good estimate.) Also the ride is really cute, the animatronics are great BUT is it worth a 3 hour wait for a 3 minute ride? After riding the Mine Train I personally wouldn't wait more than 30 minutes for it. My whole group liked it but all agreed it didn't live up to the hype.
Anyway sorry to sound so negative, I still love DW and WILL go back in a few years, but this particular trip was more stress than magic. I'm SURE had we gone during a slower week this report would be somewhat different, BUT I still recommend, if you are going during a slow week to still stay away from Down Town Disney and I would recommend not spending a crazy amount of time waiting for the Mine train. Yeah it's cute and new, but that's it. If you spend 2 or 3 hours waiting for it you'll end up disappointed. And expect longer/slower stand-by lines at all the attractions that didn't have fast pass your last visit. I found this fact to be very disappointing.
I know Disney is trying to make things easier but I believe they took 3 giant steps backwards and made the Disney Experience less magical. Anyway I hope my experience on this trip either helps you or at least prepares you for your next trip. Especially if you intend to visit during the holidays.
