So my trip report is basically so I can complain about transportation, and crowds, oh.. and heat (but that's a we-are-from-Wisconsin problem, not a problem for everyone).
This was my 5th WDW trip, wife's 4th, oldest daughter's 5th, son's 3rd, and youngest daughters first. It is the first time for me and older kids in 5 years, and the first time for my wife in 10. First time my son could ride all rides. That's all hard to understand, I know. Get married and stay married, or never get married is my best advice. And 3 kids is 2 or 3 too many. Anyway...
DME was flawless both ways. Not a complaint there. Arrival was fine, but room wasn't ready until 4PM which kind of sucked. We wanted to unload our carry-ons and get to the park. Instead we had to wait around for a couple of hours (check-in was supposed to be at 3, we were hoping to get in early and arrived around 2).
The room was perfectly fine, and as detailed as expected (Royal Guest Room), but they forgot the pack-and-play that we included in the notes in our online reservation request and called to follow-up request. So we had to request it yet again. Failure #2 POR, not winning the heart and mind of my lovely wife at this point.
To Epcot and San Angel Inn for dinner. First round of FP went well and so did dinner. Not a very crowded park at this point, but hot for us ("real feel" our entire trip hovered around 100 and up to 105). I was sweating buckets, and hot kids make for ornery kids. That went on for 6 days. Nemo was glitchy as heck. Sound was off and one scene was dark and not functioning at all.
MK on Day two. Breakfast at BOG and dinner at Liberty Tree. We made all of our reservations 30 days out, at midnight. Both meals fine and parks not overly crowded yet. FP all fine as well. Added a few after using our initial 3. I personally had a rough day being sick to my stomach (not Disney related, but something I caught) and being really hot.
Back to Epcot on Friday for more FP and World Showcase. Dinner at Chefs de France. By CdF we are realizing that there isn't a consistent communication from CMs about inclusion on the DP. In other words I said "sure" to the large Perrier versus the small because I was thirsty, but being sort of dense didn't know I would pay for it, when the small would have been included. Not a big deal as I consistently order adult beverages above and beyond the included stuff. However we noticed this sort of happening a lot. Crowds really starting to pickup for the holiday weekend. We went back to MK which we knew would be busy, but holy hell... trying to leave right after Wishes was absurd. My understanding was that the monorail went down due to an incident involving a young girl, and we couldn't even get to the bus stop for 30+ minutes. God bless the little girl and prayers for her health, but shutting the whole thing down seems overkill. Although I don't know details, so can't really get too mad. However, when trying to leave we noticed the younger crowd (damn teenagers) didn't seem to notice or care about the sleeping baby in the stroller I was pushing. Just kick it and/or push it, we don't mind at all. Don't like stollers? Don't go to a family destination, but I digress. Hottest day by far. Heat with humidity feels like 105 at one point according to my phone. It felt like 120 to this Wisconsin boy.
Saturday at AK. I knew about the Avatar construction, but this place is tore up all over the place. We were also taken by surprise at the lack of sight lines to the ToL. Wife remembers being able to see it from anywhere in the park to help with navigation, but that was a very long time ago. I seem to remember that as well, and not quite as long ago. Is tree trimming in order? Lunch at Tusker House. Very crowded. Waiting under the tree with a couple hundred other people for Bug's Life all packed in doesn't seem super safe. A slight panic attack set in. At least there is more at AK. Back to room for nap, then back to MK for a couple of rides. JC boat broke down and held us up for 30-45 minutes.
Sunday breakfast at way over-crowded POR food court. Day at DHS for Star Wars Weekend and dinner at 50s PT Cafe. Waited 45 minute after reservation time to sit. Temps "down" to high of about 92. Best day by far for us in terms of enjoyment, but when we left we wanted to go to downtown for a bit before bed. CM told us to take bus to Saratoga Springs and walk. Our own fault because we didn't know, but we got off too soon and ended up having to wait for another bus to DTD. Got there and more crowded then I remember, and with of course a less savory bunch so we didn't stick around long. Wanted to take boat back to POR and there was 4 or 5 boat loads of people waiting in line already. I stayed at POFQ about 5 years ago and don't remember such long boat lines. They had to reassign a boat to help out.
Monday BF at POR foodcourt again. This place not built for the traffic it gets. Very, very crowded. No parks. Hung around before heading out.
In general FP went well. Meals were all enjoyable, nothing to write home about, at least for the prices. CdF for us was $200ish with tip although we were on the meal plan. We were hot, obviously. Transportation was underwhelming. Wife questions the value of the meal plan. AK was all tore up. It was too crowded Fri-Sun. More than I have seen it in 5 trips.
This was my 5th WDW trip, wife's 4th, oldest daughter's 5th, son's 3rd, and youngest daughters first. It is the first time for me and older kids in 5 years, and the first time for my wife in 10. First time my son could ride all rides. That's all hard to understand, I know. Get married and stay married, or never get married is my best advice. And 3 kids is 2 or 3 too many. Anyway...
DME was flawless both ways. Not a complaint there. Arrival was fine, but room wasn't ready until 4PM which kind of sucked. We wanted to unload our carry-ons and get to the park. Instead we had to wait around for a couple of hours (check-in was supposed to be at 3, we were hoping to get in early and arrived around 2).
The room was perfectly fine, and as detailed as expected (Royal Guest Room), but they forgot the pack-and-play that we included in the notes in our online reservation request and called to follow-up request. So we had to request it yet again. Failure #2 POR, not winning the heart and mind of my lovely wife at this point.
To Epcot and San Angel Inn for dinner. First round of FP went well and so did dinner. Not a very crowded park at this point, but hot for us ("real feel" our entire trip hovered around 100 and up to 105). I was sweating buckets, and hot kids make for ornery kids. That went on for 6 days. Nemo was glitchy as heck. Sound was off and one scene was dark and not functioning at all.
MK on Day two. Breakfast at BOG and dinner at Liberty Tree. We made all of our reservations 30 days out, at midnight. Both meals fine and parks not overly crowded yet. FP all fine as well. Added a few after using our initial 3. I personally had a rough day being sick to my stomach (not Disney related, but something I caught) and being really hot.
Back to Epcot on Friday for more FP and World Showcase. Dinner at Chefs de France. By CdF we are realizing that there isn't a consistent communication from CMs about inclusion on the DP. In other words I said "sure" to the large Perrier versus the small because I was thirsty, but being sort of dense didn't know I would pay for it, when the small would have been included. Not a big deal as I consistently order adult beverages above and beyond the included stuff. However we noticed this sort of happening a lot. Crowds really starting to pickup for the holiday weekend. We went back to MK which we knew would be busy, but holy hell... trying to leave right after Wishes was absurd. My understanding was that the monorail went down due to an incident involving a young girl, and we couldn't even get to the bus stop for 30+ minutes. God bless the little girl and prayers for her health, but shutting the whole thing down seems overkill. Although I don't know details, so can't really get too mad. However, when trying to leave we noticed the younger crowd (damn teenagers) didn't seem to notice or care about the sleeping baby in the stroller I was pushing. Just kick it and/or push it, we don't mind at all. Don't like stollers? Don't go to a family destination, but I digress. Hottest day by far. Heat with humidity feels like 105 at one point according to my phone. It felt like 120 to this Wisconsin boy.
Saturday at AK. I knew about the Avatar construction, but this place is tore up all over the place. We were also taken by surprise at the lack of sight lines to the ToL. Wife remembers being able to see it from anywhere in the park to help with navigation, but that was a very long time ago. I seem to remember that as well, and not quite as long ago. Is tree trimming in order? Lunch at Tusker House. Very crowded. Waiting under the tree with a couple hundred other people for Bug's Life all packed in doesn't seem super safe. A slight panic attack set in. At least there is more at AK. Back to room for nap, then back to MK for a couple of rides. JC boat broke down and held us up for 30-45 minutes.
Sunday breakfast at way over-crowded POR food court. Day at DHS for Star Wars Weekend and dinner at 50s PT Cafe. Waited 45 minute after reservation time to sit. Temps "down" to high of about 92. Best day by far for us in terms of enjoyment, but when we left we wanted to go to downtown for a bit before bed. CM told us to take bus to Saratoga Springs and walk. Our own fault because we didn't know, but we got off too soon and ended up having to wait for another bus to DTD. Got there and more crowded then I remember, and with of course a less savory bunch so we didn't stick around long. Wanted to take boat back to POR and there was 4 or 5 boat loads of people waiting in line already. I stayed at POFQ about 5 years ago and don't remember such long boat lines. They had to reassign a boat to help out.
Monday BF at POR foodcourt again. This place not built for the traffic it gets. Very, very crowded. No parks. Hung around before heading out.
In general FP went well. Meals were all enjoyable, nothing to write home about, at least for the prices. CdF for us was $200ish with tip although we were on the meal plan. We were hot, obviously. Transportation was underwhelming. Wife questions the value of the meal plan. AK was all tore up. It was too crowded Fri-Sun. More than I have seen it in 5 trips.
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I look forward to seeing you around the forums more in the future!! 
