flynnibus deep thoughts about WDW - after nearly 10 years away

[flynnibus]

Ok, it's not really been 10 years for me... but NEARLY that for taking my whole family to the world. Technically, not everyone went this trip, because trying to get 4 women to align their schedules is like herding cats. But I pushed forward, and got at least 4 of 5 people on the bus and we made the trip.

I wanted to share some observations and comments about the world and our trip... so here's the place to do it!

The motivation for this trip was to give the family a return visit to WDW… which they haven’t had since 2009. This doesn’t mean we haven’t been to Disney, just we haven’t taken the family as a unit to WDW since then. In the interim, we’ve taken a husband/wife anniversary trip to DLR in 2013.. We’ve taken a husband/wife trip to WDW for a long weekend, we’ve been on 3 Disney cruises in that gap.. I’ve been to WDW 2-3 times on my own in that gap as well. So as my kids have gotten older, I faced more and more the reality that they barely know WDW anymore.. and my youngest who is 15, admitted she doesn’t even remember much about her last trip! So, despite my recent grievances in how WDW has been evolving, I decided to piggy back on a work trip to Orlando, and bring the family in for a 4 day/ 3 night stay at the Kingdom.

When/Where:
Just to establish a baseline.. I flew the family in late night on June 13, and we were to stay at the Yacht Club through about 4pm on the 17ty. This is a big change for us, as I went to splurge a bit where prior family vacations were all values, but I had grown up on deluxes in the heydays of the 80s of WDW. But pricing now on the moderates is so high, why not go just a tad higher and do a deluxe? With the summer promo is was basically just under $400/night.. which I had set as my threshold. Plus, I had stayed at Beach Club back in the 80s, and we even crashed the pool once as college kids, so I wanted to give my kids the chance to stay there with what (was) the best pool on property.

I also booked all this trip on short notice… just about 3 weeks before departure day. This meant all ’60 day FP windows’, etc were long shot.

 

[flynnibus]

First up… MDE
Ok, I’ve worked in software development… so I know my way around what it takes.. and this is not my first rodeo with MDE. But in it’s current state, I still say it’s a major cause of grief for guests. I’ve used MDE on a prior trip, including an onsite stay, but it had been awhile since we last used it. By day 2, I was ready to write Disney an angry letter about it.

Strike 1:
Coming into the trip, MDE app showed I had a after 5pm convention pass on my account, plus my new 4day parkhoppers that were part of my upcoming package. The Convention pass showed an expiration of end of 2018.. and I had used similar passes in the prior year, I just couldn’t recall if I had any left, but the app said I did have one on my account.

Because I wanted to make sure I didn’t accidentally use my 4 day park hopper when making a solo trip, it wasn’t clear how I could pick which ticket would be used on my entry to the park. So I called WDW (#1) - after about a 10min wait, agent tells me because my parkhoppers were through a travel agent, they can’t do anything, but guest relations at the park could ‘stack’ the tickets correctly so the right one would be used. Just goto GR first. Ok, so Monday night I want to see the fireworks, so I goto MK Guest relations (#2). Gentlemen there listens to my need, and goes to work on it… and then tells me that ticket is no longer valid and was used prior. Yet phone agent hadn’t seen that, it shows in my app as available (where as older prior used tickets were NOT there). I didn’t know either way, only knowing that MDE said I had a ticket. Eventually the GR rep worked up to grant me access to the park, and get the ticket cleared out of my MDE app… but it took about 30mins at guest relations all total. Good news is, they let me into the park without much fuss… the bad news was MDE was jacked up, they really had no reasoning for it, but were able to EVENTUALLY get it cleared up. (and next day, both the temp pass and the old ticket disappeared from MDE as they should have).

Strike 2:
But in talking about my parkhoppers… the GR person stated that I would have to check into my resort before my tickets would become active, because they were bought as a package. In my case, this was an issue because we intended to come directly to the parks on our first day and not spend time going to the resort. After all, we have online check-in now, and notifications when my room is ready, right??? Why waste time going to the resort, the front desk, etc. He said they would be able to resolve it at GR by calling the resort, but be weary their lines may be long in the morning. And no, online checkin would not be sufficient. WTH? Why would I want to buy tickets at all through an agent or as a package when all it’s been is a hassle so far vs buying them myself direct or stand-alone?

So I called my agent, and they said no, online check-in would be enough. But not willing to risk being dragged back to GR while the family waits to enter the park.. I changed my plans so we would goto the hotel first.

Strike 3:
So online checkin is the answer I’m told.. so I try to do that via my phone while at my work event. But during check-in, I want to add a credit card to the account to link for charging. So I try to add a card… but the photo system doesn’t work because it’s a card style with numbers only on the back.. ok. so enter manually. Won’t take the card. Try again, and again, just keeps failing each time. No reason other than a generic ‘cant add the card’ type error. Fine, I’ll change it at the resort. Then, I guess due to new security challenge needs, it tries to make me complete more of my MDE profile as part of checkin. But each time at the end, it said online check-in failed. So I repeat, and each time, it challenges me for less things.. but still fails. After 4 tries, online check-in finally completes… but I still don’t have my credit card added (#4). (this takes a total of about 30-40mins to get through). Each time it failed I got emails saying my account profile had been updated... but whatever it needed, it was not happy with my attempts at check-in.

Now I’m ‘anti-‘ on the process.

Prior to this, I was also reminded that the Yacht club is part of this trial on pet friendly hotels. Don’t want anything to do with that! Plus my wife is highly allergic to dogs. So I call DRC… wait on hold and the DRC person is not able to add my notes to the reservation because it was booked through an agent (but its late at night, and just days from my trip…) so she says I need to talk to the resort directly.. and I make that call. (#5/#6). Resort takes my request and adds it to the reservation. But again, another 30+mins between calls and holds to get this done.

 

[flynnibus]

Check-in Day:
Finally on morning of arrival, we get to the hotel early (before 8am) and checkin. They find our note about no Pets, and need to unlock our reservation to be able to assign us a room, but don’t work, they actually have plenty available right now! Great.. we can unload and go! So they make some calls, assign a room, and try to tell us we are good to go! I then ask the question about the magicbands and tickets, because I don’t want to get blocked… so they goto check the bands… hrmm… problems. Nearly 20mins later, they are finally confident the bands are working (several rounds, several people, several attempts, etc). (#7). We goto our room… good news is… our bands work! Bad news is… we are literally… the FARTHEST ROOM POSSIBLE on the hall. No lie, 4238… the END of the floor. Mental note… request ‘close to elevator’ in the future : ( It’s kind of defeating to avoid the big resorts to avoid big walks.. and then require such great distance to reach your room.

Note: They did give us a ‘non-inventory’ FP for our delays at the front desk… more on that to come.

So off to the parks. I had 3 FPs already planned for DHS that day, and we expected to goto DAK after, so I had set my wildcard FP for DAK with the front desk.

Upon leaving DHS, I use the app to look at FP availability for DAK, saw a spot for 4:50pm on Everest, and booked it for my group. But when we got to the hotel after, I looked at the app and I saw neither my new FP+ reservation was there, NOR my wildcard FP anymore. It said none of us were eligible for more FPs! So AGAIN, I need to call tech support (now interaction #8) to see what’s up. Agent doesn’t see anything about me booking a FP+… can’t explain why my app doesn’t show my FP, wildcard FP, or anything. Oh and now there is no more FP availability for Everest for the rest of the night. But magically, my wildcard FP+ now appears in my app again, which doesn’t require FP+ availability at the attraction (“non-inventory FP”), so I can still ride Everest… but I’ve had to deal with Customer Service again.

So less than 24hrs after my vacation starts.. I’ve had to work with Customer Service EIGHT TIMES in 4 days. This is not a premium experience. I was not happy and ready to say ‘never again’ at this point.

Some Good things about MDE:

• Mobile Food ordering worked well at the 3-4 locations I tried it. I like the option, and since its not really used much yet, low waits/etc.
• Wait Times and updates were very functional and useful (I also used the TouringPlans App throughout the trip)
• Walking Directions works well
• Love having the dining menus on hand

Some bad things about the app (really, just obvious improvements needed)

• Better Menu search (show me the result hit on the menu items) - allow for searching just within a specific park
• From time to time, attractions would be missing from the wait time view for no reason
• When I open up the Map view, why not zoom to the level near me automatically.. I don’t need to see the entire WDW map when looking for restrooms!
• I couldn’t swap dining reservations in the app without calling customer service (#9) - but I can concede that is a less needed case and talking on the phone for ADRs was much quicker and easier than tech support

While MDE has been a moving target over the years as they continue to refine and add features... I do find it to be a bit of a negative on the trip still. When I'm paying premium dollars, I don't want to have to deal with snafus, or figuring out 'cheat sheets' on how to get the App to show me what I want.

I want a vacation to BE A VACATION. Alas, the MDE app for my days leading up to the trip and first two days was NOT an escape from reality.. and instead dragged me into more CS calls than I want on any trip.

I do like the concept... just I don't think it's reached premium status yet. If they reduced wait times on tech support and guest relations to under 5mins total call... I'd probably reconsider my position.

I am forgiving of mistakes... just don't make me pay for them!

 

[flynnibus]

Yacht Club
Ok, last time I stayed here (technically Beach Club) would have been about 1991. I had found memories of Stormalong Bay… to where we even crashed the pool on a day trip back in 1993 or so just so my GF (future wife) would get to experience it.

Ok.. that said. Poor stormalong bay! It really comes across as a bit of a cluster-f now instead of elegant due to the fencing.

• There are no loungers/chairs near the bar
• There is no deck service for drinks/food like any real luxury place would have
• The walk from yacht club is awkard and not convenient from the lobby
• The slide (and bar) both require leaving the fenced area and crossing the open areas every time
• The restroom is outside the fenced area
• The bar is right next to the pool… but not the way to get to it…
• The pool really could use chillers… on day 1 it was super warm. Not as bad the other days

And what happened to the jets that were UNDER the sand? Used to have spots that were like quick sand… couldn’t find those
And I don’t remember only portions of the pool being sand bottom like it is now? But that could be bad memory.. anyone know for sure?
The pool deck seemed a lot more barren and cluttered than I recall… but again that could be bad memory.

Today it kind of comes off as neat, but overly cumbersome and not really super stand out as it did back when it opened. I’d have a hard time recommending staying here JUST for the pool. That said, I think we made 3 different stops to the pool on our short trip. Kids liked it... but while it had nice features, I think modern luxury places are nicer for adults.

Of course walking distance to EPCOT is great for the hotel. The self parking lots for the hotel aren’t terribly far, and that was nice.

The only other negative at the resort was the rude gate guard… who in a snippy manner on the last day told us “you can use that other lane and the gate will read your band so you don’t have to come to us” - Ok, that’s great news… should have told us that on check-in or the other 6-7 times we came through the gate.. or realized no one had said anything before being snippy with us for forcing you out of your chair.

 

[flynnibus]

Thoughts on the Parks:


DHS
I’ll tell you up front.. I’ve always had a soft spot for this park and it was one of my favorites back in the day. I’d shut down the ‘half day park’ complaints… mainly because there was more to do, you just needed to want to do it. But now, it’s certainly tough. We spent the morning at the park and did:

Tower of Terror (x2)
Rockin Rollercoaster (Waited)
Indy Stunt Show
Star Tours
Walked through Launch Bay
Watched First Order March
MuppetVision
(TSMM was closed)

With both TSMM and GMR closed… no interest in Character M&Gs… picking are slim. We intended to do Voyage of the Little Mermaid and One Mans Dream.. but left instead for the pool and to head to DAK. Waits were just too long (over 60mins for most headliners)… on a day that was supposed to be 6/10 by touring plans. (originally a 5, changed to 6, claimed 7/10 after the fact)

I found show quality to be generally decent with some notable exceptions

• C3-P0 was just slumped over in the ST queue… that was horrible looking
• Bad monitors in the Muppetvision pre-show
• Indy didn’t run the 3rd act with the plane scene (was a completely packed show tho!)

Random Thoughts:
Star Tours was the sequence that ended in SW:GE already?? Didn’t seem like it was possibly in the random rotation now, or did we just ‘luck out’ where it was the new TLJ planet AND SW:GE landing?

Rockin Rollercoaster stayed at the top 3 attractions for the kids tho over the whole stay.

Please update Muppets and keep it relevant. I do think it’s a treasure worth keeping!

The upcoming SW addition to DHS is the main reason I've been waiting to do a trip... but finally decided 2 years was too much for where my kids are at age wise.. so we pushed ahead.

 

[flynnibus]

DAK
So here, we totally did the commando rides-only touring, and didn’t take in the gentle portion of the parks. But this I think is an idea I think Disney is encouraging.. which I’ll elaborate more on later.

We did a half day here… till almost close. And by popular vote, we actually came back for rope drop on our last day.

Kids are big into coasters… so doing Everest was a must. At the end of the night, they would ride 3-4 times straight. Love that about everest at night!
I peaked a little at Rivers of Light, but had planned all along not to force family to watch. I think my plan was the correct one. Neat, but not compelling. Glad we skipped.
We opt’d to get in line for Flight of Passage, and wait what would ultimately be a 2hr wait.

FoP
What to say? I think it rightfully earns it’s place at the top 5 of amusement attraction and design. From the nice queue features in the lab, to the elaborate pre-shows. They really went far with this one. I really liked the attention (and dynamic) aspects of the ride ‘chair’, from the screen, the lighting to help mask the transition, the graphics quality, etc. All very well done. Is it ‘the best’? Probably subjective, but I don’t think you can fault someone for thinking it is. Unfortunately Spiderman was closed the whole time I was in Universal this trip, so miss refreshing my memory on that one

The FoP ride experience itself I think far exceeds what you get from “knowing what it is” and the ride videos. The integration and perception of speed and drops is VERY GOOD. Probably too good… in comparing with rides like Soarin that were incredibly accessible, FoP probably alienates some people from riding.. but everyone in our group got off thinking “that was totally worth the wait” and couldn’t wait to ride again.

Tree of Life - I was pleasantly pleased to see the Nets were removed from Tree of Life. I had missed that news in the past. We didn’t watch the full tree projection show, but the pieces I saw looked very nice. The Tree certainly still hold’s it’s place as an impressive feat.

We did see Pandora at night.. and while getting off FoP was my first view, I was initially disappointed, but as we got out in the main area of the land, it certainly got much much better.

Overall I found most of Pandora to be a bit too ‘plastic’. Obviously they’ve gone to great lengths with the area, and I do think they pulled off the jungle effect.. and the lack of canopy did not stand out in my visit. I just found most of the features to really feel like amusement park props rather than a real natural setting. The queue up on FoP had highs and lows… and certainly the water features were nice. But to me it just did not really come off as “convincing” - elaborate… yes. Switched my brain? No

I also noticed my kids were not really drawn into the features either. I mean, yes, they thought the floating mountains were cool.. they took photos on their own, etc.. but I don’t think anyone really went for the suspension of disbelief.

The resin/plastic they use for fake wood in handrails/etc stood out to me as weak. The features like the snouts or whatever they are all along the FoP outdoor queue are nice to see, but don’t really feel convincing/immersive. Overall it felt like they really worked hard.. but it just didn’t feel all that genuine IMO.

It did leave enough of an impact tho, that we did come back for our last day and do EMH rope drop to try to ride FoP again. We got to the park about 730am… and were outside the ticket booths while waiting for gates to open. But by 7:50 we were in the slow funnel into the FoP line.. by 8am we had reached the FoP entrance.. and 8:15 we were off the ride. They did not open the lab portion of the queue at that time of day. River Journey was only 10min wait at that time, so we rode that as well and had done both attractions by 8:45. So about an hour+ from waiting at gate, to doing both attractions. Pretty good!

River Journey… I found it well executed.. the floating jelly things were especially convincing. Of course it’s just short and kind of pointless. I almost wish it was the way people REACHED the valley as a way to enter the land. That might have been cool.

Alas Everest kept having power problems on our second visit.. so we didn’t get to ride it. Tho we did the Rapids, and then the kids wanted Test Track.. so DAK was done.

 

[flynnibus]

EPCOT
I had planned a half day->evening for EPCOT with afternoon FPs. Notable thoughts…

Soarin 2.0 stinks… and now with FoP it is going to really be left behind with younger people IMO. It used to be appreciated by all, and its strength was the wide appeal. But now all your ‘able bodied’ people will likely prefer FoP… and the new film is just so lacking. It really misses the emotional tug that the artistic direction the first version had. The bad CGI, the almost gag-like transitions… and bendy tower and taj mahal… It made me wonder if Disney will regret doing that 3rd theatre. But wait times still don’t go below 30mins.. so I guess doom isn’t here yet. I don't think Soarin 2.0 is as bad an update as Imagination was... but man what a miss IMO.

Imagination… some projectors out in the queue… still the horrible attraction and Image Works is a freaking joke. Had about 4 or more kiosks out of order too. This place needs saving badly… please Disney... put these EPCOT plans into place! Something!

Seas - I’m shocked Disney still pays to run the aquarium honestly. I still like Nemo’s attraction.. and honestly the projections looked sharper than I ever remember for the ones in the tank scenes. They looked amazing. Alas.. besides looking at the smaller exhibit rooms… the main aquarium is showing it’s age. Sorry kids, I know you like Tanked on TV and want to see elaborate things.. but the real tank is dark and dingy. Seeing the old ride path in the tank just makes me miss the old Seabase story line even more.

Living with the Land - I let the family do it.. auto-spiel rubs me the wrong way here

UoE - I’ve posted in the other threads… holy moley that building is huge. Lets hope Disney does something that can uphold the EPCOT legacy for striking architecture.

M:S - the kids did it.. didn’t talk about it much. I should have ridden Green to see the new video... but I didn't feel compelled to. I think at this point I was just holding a grudge against EPCOT

TT - They wanted to do many times, but rain kept beating us down. They finally got to ride it on our last day in Single Rider with only about a 25min wait. Kid #1 just talked about the scenes she remembered from the OLD ride. I too think the new ride lacks in the compelling story portion, but still has the thrills of course. I think that says a lot about TRON-track that my oldest brought up the old ride.. before talking about what she loved in the new one. TT 1.0 needed an update badly... but I think 2.0 lacks soul.

W:S
Nothing super notable… but I will give a shoutout to @wdwmagic for emphasizing with his news the Japan department store. Kid #3 was in heaven in there, and we returned twice for early birthday shopping. Something I probably would have skipped without WDWMagic coverage. She now returns to her friends with some legit magna cred

We ate in Morroco for dinner which went well.

Interestingly enough… even with the revamped Illuminations… its not really a family favorite. I like the show... I'm a big fan of Disney fireworks shows... but if given the choice, the family unit might pass. Sorry @marni1971 - I just can't defend the slow globe sections

I think in EPCOT we did
Imagination
Living with the Land
Soarin
Nemo
Aquarium for a bit
Spaceship Earth
M:S (2x)
Test Track
Grand Fiesta Tour
Japan
Some China
American Adventure (just me)
Friendship boat

Random Thoughts:
EPCOT really used to be a 2 day portion of your touring… but now… it seems like your biggest element is planning dinner. FW has some stand-out attractions still… but the entire place is a shadow of it’s former self. I would tell someone to tour WS if that’s their thing, and hit FW for highlights and leave. 0.5-1day max now… especially if you’ve been there before. And no 'drinking around the world' has zero interest to me.

What’s up with all the waterways being drained in Future World? I assume it’s just upkeep...

Sorry World Showcase… we have the Travel Channel now and the Internet… just being encyclopedias is no longer good enough.

 

[flynnibus]

MK
I had planned for a full day here, but we ended up here at least two times during the trip. Things we did:

7 Dwarves (Rope Drop)
Big Thunder Mtn (4+ times)
Haunted Mansion
IASW
Pirates
Space Mountain (3+ times)
Splash Mountain (3+ times)
Under the Sea
Hall of Presidents
Happily Ever After
Muppets Presents...
(some of Once Upon a time)

Random thoughts

• Disney really should clean up the ‘throwing of coins’ on attractions like BTMRR’s queue. Its pretty messy now
• 
  
  
• (I'm thinking Broken Window there here folks...)
• My young adults were not as hooked by Haunted Mansion and Pirates as I was as a kid I think
• The kids still think Space, BTMRR, Splash, FoP, and RnRC are their top attractions on property
• New HoP show finds a balance that works IMO - presentation looked modern and sharp
• Muppets is a nice addition.. I don’t think it resonates with everyone, but I found it fresh
• Happily Ever After is a world class show

I put most of my thoughts in the HEA thread - but I do think it’s one of Disney’s best additions in many many years. It’s certainly worth of being a world class showpiece. It’s the kind of thing that makes you say THAT is the Disney difference.

Honestly in this park I felt like all we did was go back and forth between Frontierland and Space Mountain… crossing Liberty Square like 50 times. Chasing wait times is the new norm and I DON’T particularly like it. More on that later…

 

[flynnibus]

So, some trends became apparent over my trip

1) You find yourself dodging wait times all the time now. I feel more so than even before. I think the FP scarcity combined with what seems like a boost in the average baseline wait contributes to this. No longer do I find us 'wandering through a land.. and taking the next thing in front of us'. Its always check the lines, cross the park to find the best line opportunity, etc. And this was on dates TP rates as a 6 (but later observed as an 8).

2) FP+ plus ADRs is too constraining. We actually felt at one point that we felt obligated to stay in a park due to existing reservations, vs moving onto something we wanted to do. That's a bad feeling. I know it will never happen, but I do wish Disney would either 1) Make walk-ups real again (at least same day reservations) or 2) Roll back the window to a short time (or remove the cancelation fee).

3) Dragging Coolers around the parks? Not cool IMO

4) The only way to experience a WDW vacation now is to turn off your brain when it comes to prices. If you actually try to use your normal senses when deciding what or where to go... you simply will melt down in anger or frustration. There is simply no way to put it... when a McDonalds-level Meal costs you $15/head instead of $7... your stop in the sundries store costs you $30 for snacks.. And a T-shirt is $32... prices suck. Disney has every economy of scale (labor, site, logistics, buying, etc) going for it and they still just really stick it to you. I mean dinner at liberty tree for 3 people... $146 dollars! At home that is steak/shrimp at the Japanese Steakhouse at 'special occasion' situation... You just can't justify any of it as a buyer. You can only agree to turn off your brain. I find that incredibly sad... and clearly I will never be one of those who visits more frequently than every year or two because I refuse to just burn money this badly.

5) People suck moving through crowds - see https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/thanos-rules-for-theme-park-guests.944256/#post-8254575

 

[flynnibus]

6) The details are lost on the younger ones... I mean, they clearly saw all the detail put into the lands... but I don't know if they really appreciated it. At the end of the days... coasters were want they kept getting drawn back to.

7) On Deluxe hotel... honestly you're paying to avoid negatives at the other hotels. And I think that's miserable. You're paying to have a smaller resort vs buses to get around.. or long walks. You're paying to avoid bad transit to the parks. You're paying to avoid the smaller beds at the values. At the end of the day, the hotel room I had all week before at the Rosen Center was every bit as nice as the $400/night renovated Yacht club room.


And at the end... on the way home I asked each of my family individually... what would they prefer for a future trip, WDW or another cruise?

All three said Cruise.
One said the parks were cool, but eventually they were getting a bit bored
One said they liked all the destinations the boat went
Mom said she loved not worrying about when/what for food and the service level on the boats

I did follow up with the youngest and said 'but what about when SW land opens?' - she reserved judgement

Sorry WDW, minus star wars... it looks like you are still second chair to your real vacation experience... your cruise lines.

 

[larryz]

Thank's for the comprehensile report. You've clearly put a lot of thoughts into it, and I appreciate your condor and attention to retail.

It's trip reports like this that have me seriously reconsidering my upcoming September trip. The only thing that has me NOT cancelling it as of right now is the commitment I've made in non-refundable tickets I've already paid for.

I suppose I'll have to "turn off my brain" somewhat sooner in the process than you recommended.

 

[flynnibus]

Thank's for the comprehensile report. You've clearly put a lot of thoughts into it, and I appreciate your condor and attention to retail.

It's trip reports like this that have me seriously reconsidering my upcoming September trip. The only thing that has me NOT cancelling it as of right now is the commitment I've made in non-refundable tickets I've already paid for.

I suppose I'll have to "turn off my brain" somewhat sooner in the process than you recommended.

Yeah, I went in with that mindset... and had to stay true to it. Just do not look at any prices on anything except maybe in the gift shops.

It's ironic that water and beer are expensive, but not absurd... while table service is just off the charts. Thanks DDP!!

And no I don't think DDP is the answer either, since I found the idea of planning out lots of table service actually more constricting than beneficial. And the DDP plans basically just encourage you to lock in meals each day... at these inflated prices vs saying adhoc is more expensive than locked in pricing.

Quick breakfast options are still generally lacking IMO and that would be something we would probably leverage more... vs big lunch and dinner. More like breakfast + dinner.

On this trip I did about 5hrs at Universal... one night at MK alone...(only getting to 3 rides + fireworks)... and then the 4 days with the family. I've not even looked at the bottom line cost yet... again just blocking it from my brain.

I just don't see the value in it currently. Cruising is expensive, but at least I feel happy doing it. Here, it still felt like fleecing too much. And I didn't even do any paid upgrades.

 

[flynnibus]

Other random observations...

The number of Disney strollers was way down in the parks... but not necessarily strollers overall by my observation. Have the rental companies undercut Disney finally? Stroller Parking seems to have been figured out... it wasn't a problem ever for me anywhere on the trip.

ECV usage was at a reasonable level... not a ton of them, but not rare either.

People before had mentioned about a decrease in 'magical day' - I didn't see that.. nearly every CM said it to me...

We lucked out with buses when using them this trip (largely for trips to MK) and generally got there within a few minutes of a bus. Parking trams however, we were only like 1 of 6... and usually walked instead.

 

[JillC LI]

Thank you for the comprehensive report. I was going to rope drop Na'vi and FP+ FOP on an upcoming trip, but now I'm considering both rope drop and FP+ for FOP.

Btw, where did you eat in Morocco? We are considering trying Restaurant Marrakesh on an upcoming trip.

 

[HonorableMention]

I just did Indy and they skipped the airport scene like you said. What are the safety concerns with it?

 

[flynnibus]

Thank you for the comprehensive report. I was going to rope drop Na'vi and FP+ FOP on an upcoming trip, but now I'm considering both rope drop and FP+ for FOP.

Btw, where did you eat in Morocco? We are considering trying Restaurant Marrakesh on an upcoming trip.

We did Marrakesh. No complaints, everyone liked their meal. And while its a big room, it was not loud at all which was nice. The belly dancer entertainment was good too. We had good service.

I was scared about having to be at the park super early for rope drop (I mean, if you at the front of the park for an hour, or the same time in the queue.. what do you gain??) but in our case we timed it just about perfect. They seemed to open the gates at about 7:40 or so... and we were through in just a few minutes even tho we weren't anywhere near the front. We drove from our hotel at maybe 7:15?

They had EMH people goto the left when entering the park... where they scanned MB after the turnstiles... and then had a hold position on a bridge leading into Pandora. Then moving roadblock to lead people to River Journey (to the left) or FoP to the right. Some people thought they would be cute (or were lost) and went left.. then try to come back to the FoP entrance.. but the line already snaked hundreds of yards down the pathways.. meaning they just had to double back again.

For resort guests, I would certainly recommend doing Rope Drop for Pandora... but be sure to come back another time and see the land at night.

 

[DisneyDoctor]

Flynn, thanks for sharing your report. It's full of super useful information that will help plenty of people.

I'm especially interested in your family's desire to go on a Disney Cruise rather than attend the parks. Could you share a bit more on what makes the cruises a better value in your family's opinion?

 

[NickMaio]

Other random observations...

The number of Disney strollers was way down in the parks... but not necessarily strollers overall by my observation. Have the rental companies undercut Disney finally? Stroller Parking seems to have been figured out... it wasn't a problem ever for me anywhere on the trip.

ECV usage was at a reasonable level... not a ton of them, but not rare either.

People before had mentioned about a decrease in 'magical day' - I didn't see that.. nearly every CM said it to me...

We lucked out with buses when using them this trip (largely for trips to MK) and generally got there within a few minutes of a bus. Parking trams however, we were only like 1 of 6... and usually walked instead.

That post was in-depth.....
Thanks.

 

[disneyflush]

Flynn, thanks for sharing your report. It's full of super useful information that will help plenty of people.

I'm especially interested in your family's desire to go on a Disney Cruise rather than attend the parks. Could you share a bit more on what makes the cruises a better value in your family's opinion?

Same. I went and priced a Disney cruise for our family right after reading through this.

 

[EOD K9]

@flynnibus Great observations. I prefer to cruise more than hit the parks. If I cruise, I will hit a park for one day just to say we did it and not stress over what we ride or don't. Your wife is right about worrying about eating and level of service.