50th trip was a let down, Epcot & AK is not worth the money

T

Tay

Well-Known Member
So I decided to change my trip three weeks early for my trip to be there on the first. I should have just waited. While cheap, the hotel was gross. I also didn’t know the busses were that bad.

My last trip in July had me skeptical of going to this trip with the lack of safety measurements that were taking place but it’s improved. People didn’t have a problem wearing masks indoors.

I rode everything at Epcot but Mission Space. I would like to ride it someday. DHS was pretty cool. It’s definitely my favorite park. It’s pretty much the Disney version of USO to a T. I enjoyed the Frozen sing a long more than I thought I would.

I wanted October 1st merch but got there after noon and it was gone. I also wanted to see a big celebration of the 50th but didn’t. The low ride times sort of made up for it but I just did them back in July so it was like whatever. It was painful seeing people walk around with the merch.

FOP is probably my favorite ride ever but AK is so boring. I can’t believe it had in 2019, over 2 million more visitors than DHS and 1.5 million visitors over Epcot! It’s a zoo with 5 rides. Most zoos cost under $25.

Epcot is truly beautiful but going to Disney Springs and MK would have satisfied me. I have no idea what and why Harmonious was created. It was all over the place. Remy was fun. Wish I got to try a crepe.

If Disney brings back the midday tickets, I will definitely go back to all 4 but right now I can only see me going to MK and DHS and maybe Epcot for a festival without Covid lurking.

I had a decent time. It not raining all week was a bonus!
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
J4546 said:
Sorry you didnt like AK, I think its the best Disney park in Florida.
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I actually really liked both AK and Epcot, just not for $115 each lol. They both have my favorite rides in the whole resort, they’re just overpriced of what they have to offer. They both seem like passholder, 7+ day ticket holder parks. Hopefully Dinoland finally gets an overhaul.
 
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Gaston's gal

Gaston's gal

Well-Known Member
Although the overall 50th celebration wasn't a "Wow" like I had hoped, I still enjoyed being there with countless Disney lovers in honor of what the day represented. If you were there for the rides, that Friday would've been the best day EVER since the wait times for rides at all four parks was significantly lower than it normally was. I also enjoyed some of the "specialty" food & drink offerings that they had. The 50th Celebration Hot Dog was my absolute favorite!
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Gaston's gal said:
Although the overall 50th celebration wasn't a "Wow" like I had hoped, I still enjoyed being there with countless Disney lovers in honor of what the day represented. If you were there for the rides, that Friday would've been the best day EVER since the wait times for rides at all four parks was significantly lower than it normally was. I also enjoyed some of the "specialty" food & drink offerings that they had. The 50th Celebration Hot Dog was my absolute favorite!
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I mainly wanted to go for the celebration then the rides. I missed the only one they had and I was really salty seeing everybody with the Oct 1st merch so I didn’t want to feel the love but the low wait times made it slightly better. I wished I would have sucked it up though. I should have deleted EBay from my phone.
 
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Gaston's gal

Gaston's gal

Well-Known Member
Tay said:
I mainly wanted to go for the celebration then the rides. I missed the only one they had and I was really salty seeing everybody with the Oct 1st merch so I didn’t want to feel the love but the low wait times made it slightly better. I wished I would have sucked it up though. I should have deleted EBay from my phone.
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Most definitely don't want to look at the merchandise on Ebay. It is WAAAAAAAAY overpriced! Almost all of the WDW 50th celebration mercy will be available for 18 months so you will have time to get it eventually if you go back. :)
 
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JIMINYCR

JIMINYCR

Well-Known Member
You dont say why you felt the resort was gross. Or your issue with the buses. The value resorts arent the quality of Moderate or Deluxe but Ive never seen them as gross. Lesser experience and noisier. But you get what you pay for, so expect less from them.
Weve been questioning how grand the 50th events were going to be and have been expecting a lesser celebration than past ones. The remaining Covid repercussions and the financial position Disney has been experiencing made many of us hope for more but realized we might not get a WOW out of them.
Any time theres special merchandise you have to get there first thing in the morning because they sell out. Guests staying onsite are there to get in on the specialness of the day and want the dated merch, locals and those they hire to buy buy up a lot to resell.
AK has many guests excited about Avatarland and FoP, so yes that attracted the numbers before SW land drove guests in. EP has been in a refurb mode and thats impacted their numbers over the recent past. AK isnt my favorite either of the parks but many guests like the relaxing atmosphere and enjoy the park. It isnt a zoo and was never meant to be looked at as a zoo. Going in with that expectation, you will be disappointed.
Harmonious was created for the change up around the 50th. Illuminations was getting old and stale and Disney wanted something new. I agree Harmonious isnt great but it was time to change if they werent going to improve on Illuminations.
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
JIMINYCR said:
You dont say why you felt the resort was gross. Or your issue with the buses. The value resorts arent the quality of Moderate or Deluxe but Ive never seen them as gross. Lesser experience and noisier. But you get what you pay for, so expect less from them.
Weve been questioning how grand the 50th events were going to be and have been expecting a lesser celebration than past ones. The remaining Covid repercussions and the financial position Disney has been experiencing made many of us hope for more but realized we might not get a WOW out of them.
Any time theres special merchandise you have to get there first thing in the morning because they sell out. Guests staying onsite are there to get in on the specialness of the day and want the dated merch, locals and those they hire to buy buy up a lot to resell.
AK has many guests excited about Avatarland and FoP, so yes that attracted the numbers before SW land drove guests in. EP has been in a refurb mode and thats impacted their numbers over the recent past. AK isnt my favorite either of the parks but many guests like the relaxing atmosphere and enjoy the park. It isnt a zoo and was never meant to be looked at as a zoo. Going in with that expectation, you will be disappointed.
Harmonious was created for the change up around the 50th. Illuminations was getting old and stale and Disney wanted something new. I agree Harmonious isnt great but it was time to change if they werent going to improve on Illuminations.
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I would say the bathroom was gross abd leave it at that. There were a few incidents on the busses. I didn’t expect the long walks from the bus stop but like you and my family said you get what you pay for.

I’m on here. I knew they weren’t going all out and are full of crap acting like Covid is the reason why. However, with the reservations, the significance of the 50th, and of course them being so money hungry, I had hope they would make sure everyone who came to support their mediocre offerings got something other than the poster and guide. I feel stupid for actually thinking they actually care. I mean they couldn’t even have Christina Aguilera perform on the 1st lol.

For the money, AK is an overpriced zoo to me. I loved both AK and Epcot but they’re overpriced for my trip. I said earlier if I had an AP, I would have enjoyed them more.
 
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E

eye4themeparks

New Member
The value resorts are some of the smallest resorts on property and even though they all have one central bus stop, i've never walked more than 5-6 minutes to get to them, even while staying in the farthest buildings. I have walked 10+ minutes to get to the bus stop at moderate/DVC resorts. As for as walking from the park entrance to the bus stop, yeah the put the value resorts at the end for a reason. Partly it's due to the # of rooms at the values, so there isnt a bottleneck right at the bus entrance blocking the path for everyone.
 
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ShookieJones

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
I wouldn't judge any resort on one experience. I haven't stayed at values, much but of the 3-4 times I have stayed (Pop, AoA, Movies, Sports) the rooms have always been clean and sufficient.

The time we rented a car and came back to ASM around park close the line of cars to get back in through the security gates was a bit of annoyance, but something, I understood I was dealing because I was saving a few bucks. ;)
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
eye4themeparks said:
The value resorts are some of the smallest resorts on property and even though they all have one central bus stop, i've never walked more than 5-6 minutes to get to them, even while staying in the farthest buildings. I have walked 10+ minutes to get to the bus stop at moderate/DVC resorts. As for as walking from the park entrance to the bus stop, yeah the put the value resorts at the end for a reason. Partly it's due to the # of rooms at the values, so there isnt a bottleneck right at the bus entrance blocking the path for everyone.
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I didn’t have a problem with the walk to the bus stop from the hotel. I thought that was reasonable. Passing by the deluxe bus stops, I overheard someone say let’s head to the back with all the other peasants lol. It was hilarious to me.
 
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M

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
Tay said:
I would say the bathroom was gross abd leave it at that. There were a few incidents on the busses. I didn’t expect the long walks from the bus stop but like you and my family said you get what you pay for.

I’m on here. I knew they weren’t going all out and are full of crap acting like Covid is the reason why. However, with the reservations, the significance of the 50th, and of course them being so money hungry, I had hope they would make sure everyone who came to support their mediocre offerings got something other than the poster and guide. I feel stupid for actually thinking they actually care. I mean they couldn’t even have Christina Aguilera perform on the 1st lol.

For the money, AK is an overpriced zoo to me. I loved both AK and Epcot but they’re overpriced for my trip. I said earlier if I had an AP, I would have enjoyed them more.
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COVID is and will continue to be a legimate reason for issues for quite some time.
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Mickey5150 said:
COVID is and will continue to be a legimate reason for issues for quite some time.
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Sorry it isn’t to me. Zero excuses! This is the 50th anniversary! There should’ve been a plan b in place. You mean to tell me they couldn’t do something with Stitch’s building at least in 2 years since Covid first came to light or found an old electric parade and repaired it? Universal built Transformers in a similar building in 13 months. They’ve opened 3 new coasters during the pandemic and now is back to building a new park. All they did was pout about their bonuses.
 
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T

Tay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
CaptainAmerica said:
Google "global supply chain crisis."

You might learn something.

Maybe "national labor shortage" while you're at it.
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So how was Universal able to finish redoing Hulk, Hagrids and the Jurassic roller coaster in the same year and only delay the opening of their brand new park by a year and a half?

Oh that’s right their employees weren’t embarrassingly throwing public tantrums about their bonuses, sulked it up and did what they had to do. You’re missing the point trying to be snarky. I’m very aware that there’s a global pandemic going on that has delayed basically everything. The point is they should not have waited until the last minute to do stuff for the 50th! Covid just came up two years ago. No one saw it coming. Two years ago we knew about the 50th anniversary. By March 2020, whatever they had planned should have been 75% done. They knew Tron would not be ready in 18 months so why not just start something else that would have? Or go find an old night parade and fix it up?

How is what I’m saying unreasonable. It’s not like I’m pointing out the fact that the big thing for MK’s 50th was supposed to be a clone and not something original.

Also what do supply shortages have to do with them releasing the exclusive stuff that was only supposed to be available at MK on 10/1/21 at Epcot and pretty much everyday these past two weeks?
 
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