We spent much of this Orlando trip at Universal, which I'll cover in a separate post.
THE GOOD
THE BAD
CONCLUSION
The parks were generally very good, with the usual complaints about other guests acting obnoxious in certain situations. The hotel, however, was lackluster at best, as was the bus transportation. Considering I'm the type to spend the majority of my time in the parks anyway, I'm heavily leaning towards staying off-site the next time I visit, while enjoying a Universal on-site resort during that portion of my trip. I will definitely NEVER stay in an All-Star again.
THE GOOD
- Using MVMCP for the shorter ride times, rather than for the character meet and greets, worked out splendidly. Being in the Magic Kingdom from 4:30pm until 10:15pm, we experienced 10 attractions, with the longest wait being 15 minutes at Haunted Mansion and Winnie the Pooh. We also caught one of the Frozen shows and the fireworks.
- Animal Kingdom was generally enjoyable, despite being very tired on the final day of our trip. Even with a late start, we still experienced 10 attractions by 5:30pm. Personal favorites were Finding Nemo: The Musical and Expedition Everest (thank you single rider line).
- Nice weather, even getting a little chilly for us Midwesterners at MVMCP on the 14th.
THE BAD
- All-Star Movies felt cheap. I understand it IS cheap, comparatively speaking, to other WDW resorts, but after 3 nights at Cabana Bay, this felt like I'm staying at a Super 8 on 192.
- The bus transportation is very inefficient at loading on people in scooters. Considering drivers have to do this at pretty much every pickup, it surprised me that it took 5 minutes each time. Whatever system they have for it, they need a faster one.
- Insert the usual complaint about parents blocking everyone's view of castle shows by putting their kids on their shoulders. It's so obnoxious.
- We had a FastPass for Navi River Journey, but the ride had broken down. The line attendants didn't exactly admit this, just saying there was a "delay," but people were getting out of the FastPass line saying they hadn't moved in 30 minutes. We ditched the ride rather than waste our time.
- Honestly, Pandora's hype is really overblown. Yes, the floating mountains are remarkable. But this is nowhere close to the feeling you get walking through Diagon Alley at Universal, and Pandora was supposed to be Disney's response to what Universal has done with Potter.
- Magical Express could've been an issue. We were told the wrong time to arrive at the bus stop and arrived about 10 minutes late to find the driver looking for us specifically. He then asked for "my letter." I didn't know what he was talking about. He said it should've been slipped under our door to take that morning. I said it was the first I was hearing of it. He looked at me like I was from Mars. I pulled out my phone to call somebody, he just said "forget it" and put our bags on the bus. Phew.
CONCLUSION
The parks were generally very good, with the usual complaints about other guests acting obnoxious in certain situations. The hotel, however, was lackluster at best, as was the bus transportation. Considering I'm the type to spend the majority of my time in the parks anyway, I'm heavily leaning towards staying off-site the next time I visit, while enjoying a Universal on-site resort during that portion of my trip. I will definitely NEVER stay in an All-Star again.
