Trip Report Our first WDW trip, not so scary in Disney but so scary in Universal

Hi all,

a day later than promised, but here is our TR from out October 2014 trip to WDW and Universal. It will be a long TR I guess, we have tons of pictures! So please be patient, it probably will take quit some time to finish this TR! This week we still have holidays so not that many time to work on this TR, but from next week I will post as many posts as possible during work time :)

If you are interested in the PTR: here it is

The overall thought of this trip is marvelous, wonderfull, magical, scary, beautifull! I guess a lot of you want to know the comparison with DLP. My first opinion is that although the parks in USA are older than DLP I am sure that the parks in USA are better!! The cast members are more gentle, easier to talk to! The look of the park is cleaner than in DLP, all the buildings are in a much better shape than in DLP. Off course we are in DLP 4/5 times a ytear, so everything feels 'normal' and WDW was a first timer (yeah I was there 25 years ago, but the only thing I remember from that trip are the pictures (sorry not digital). So when you visit WDW for the first time everything looks better than DLP.

The best thing about WDW in comparison to DLP is the magic band system in WDW. It really worked out very good! We also had the Memory Maker, so beside our tons of pictures we also have 100+ memory pics taken by cast members.

So in short words the days:
Friday October 17th: flight, was ok, not that much turbulence
Saturday October 18th: Magic Kingdom, was great, special, magical
Sunday October 19th (daytime): Universal, Island of Adventure, was also great, Harry Potter was marvelous
Sunday October 19th (nighttime): Universal, Universal Studios, Halloween Horror Night, absolute a thrill!
Monday October 20th: Epcot, not really our thing, Test Track was great, The Wine and Food thing was not our thing
Monday October 20th: Downtown Disney, hard to find a parking lot, and a lot of structure going on, some great shops, but overall not really our thing
Tuesday October 21th: Universal Studios, great day!
Wednesday October 22nd: Hollywood Studios, a more that great day, Fantasmic was a more that special end of the day
Wednesday October 22nd: Premium Outlets, not that great, much shops that were not our thing
Thursday October 23rd (daytime): Animal Kingdom, good, not great! Some great rides, for the rest nothing more than a zoo
Thursday October 23rd (nighttime): Magic Kingdom, Not So Scary Halloween, a more than great night!!
Friday October 24th: flight home, was ok, a lot of turbulence

So this was the trip in a nutshell!

Much, much, much more to come!!

p.s. It was the first time, but absolutely not the last!!!!
 
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coachwnh

coachwnh

Well-Known Member
FlaggNL said:
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Funny picture!
 
FlaggNL

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Sorry again! Still have the conclude my report! And I sure will do! It is very busy on this side on the ocean! Holidays, work, and still work :) As I told before we had to cancel our October 2015 trip, since the tickets for the flight were already soo expensive it wouldn't be good to do it! But off course way to early for a PTR, but we will be back in the world in October '16 and October '17! And that is for sure!!

So please more patience but there absolutely will be a finale wrap up of this report!
 
FlaggNL

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It is some time ago that I promised to wrap-up this TR with the final thoughts and the comparison with DLP. So here we go!

Final thoughts:

The trip was marvelous. To be in WDW was a long anticipated have to do! We thought about it for more than 5 years. Every time we thought that it was out of our budget. But then in early 2015 we decided with some friends to do it! Of course the pre feelings were great and got greater by the day. We counted down from 260 days…. Sometimes time did go slow and sometimes the days were gone faster than expected.

And like I said it was marvelous. Magic Kingdom was great! Even greater than we expected! As you know we are in DLP a couple of times a year and a lot of people told us that we shouldn’t compare it with DLP since Paris is much newer. But I will come back on that comparison later!

Flight:

The flight was with Arke, a Dutch company, and was good. Of course for us Europeans a 9 our flight is long, but it was good to do. The flight back had a stop on Miami. We had to stay in the plane for almost an hour, but after that everything went fast. It was a night flight, so we had time to sleep, although sleeping in a plane is not quite comfortable.

Villa:

The villa we rented was very good. Good beds, nice pool and only a 30 min drive to WDW!

Weather:

The weather was more than great! We expected rain showers every day at the end of the afternoon, but during the whole trip we never saw a raindrop. The temperature was between 25 and 30 ° C and clear blue skies! In the Netherlands in October it can be quite cold and less sun so that was great!

Food:

The food was good. We did not have the time to eat in restaurants while we were in WDW (and Universal). But in comparison with Europe there was much more choice!

Transportation:

We rent a car for the whole period of our stay. It great to ride in such a big SUV! The parking lots at WDW are much bigger than in DLP. Off course there are more people inside the park. It was great that there is a train riding a couple of times during the hour. So after parking we were in the parks very fast. The only thing is that you have to take the boat to get to Magic Kingdom, but it is nice! The Transportation between the parks is more than good!

Shopping:

We did not have a lot of time to get to shops outside WDW or Universal. We went to the Florida Outlets but most of the shops were still expensive. Only the Disney outlet was great and we bought a lot J

Then the parks:

Magic Kingdom:

The best park of WDW in our opinion! It was not that crowded, although there were long lines with some rides. The castle is great, but to be honest the castle in DLP is more beautiful. Some rides are the same as in DLP, but for the most everything was new! We did not have the time to do every ride. We also went to the Not so Scary Halloween Party and that was the best night of the trip! What a great party. Next time we visit WDW in October we absolutely will go there again!

Studios:

A great park, with some great rides and shows! We only expected more of the Star Wars part of the park.

Epcot:

Not our park. Test-drive was great, but in our opinion that was all. We only spent half a day here.

Animal Kingdom:

A nice park with Kali River and Mount Everest as great rides, the rest is nothing more than a Disney themed zoo. When we were in the park there were not many animals awake. Maybe next time be there earlier in the day.

We also spent 2 days in Universal. Great parks, although Adventure Island is better. The other park had, in our opinion, to many simulators. But the Harry Potter rides are the best any theme park has in the world. No ride in WDW can compare with Harry Potter. Maybe in the future Avatar can meet up. We also went to the Horror Night! Was very great but sooo crowded. We did the Walking Dead house and the From Dusk Till Dawn house, for the other houses the waiting lines were 140 mins+.

Comparison:

Like I said before, a lot of people told us before to not compare WDW with DLP since Paris is way younger. But to be honest WDW is better in almost every way. WDW is cleaner, the working crew is nicer, the rides are better, and the merchandise is much more. The only thing what’s better in DLP is that you can walk from park to park. But for the rest: WDW!
 
lbrad

lbrad

Well-Known Member
WOW!!! Just finished your TR :) Love all the pictures. Thanks for taking us along :happy:
AWESOME TR !!! Glad you & your family had such a great time. Your family is beautiful :inlove:
 
FlaggNL

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
lbrad said:
WOW!!! Just finished your TR :) Love all the pictures. Thanks for taking us along :happy:
AWESOME TR !!! Glad you & your family had such a great time. Your family is beautiful :inlove:
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hej, thanks for taking time to read the TR! It is a long one :) It was a more than wonderfull trip! Thanks for the compliments, I will pass it to the rest :)! And that's why we return to WDW next October (see PTR) and when we return home, off course there will be a new TR!
 

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