Hi everyone, I'll try to keep this brief and highlight what stuck out for us. This was our 5th trip and we stayed at Art of Animation LK suites. Before our trip I was on here a lot, but kept feeling a little apprehensive about my upcoming trip. Lots of complaints on here so I removed myself for a while and tried to put my worries behind. I'm so glad I did... to sum it up, we had a fantastic time and can't wait to plan trip #6!
So the first night we just hung out in Disney Springs. Our original plans were to catch a movie at the eat-in theater, but that didn't work out. They were sold out 30 minutes ahead of time, so we had to do something else. We chose to eat at Raglan Road for our first time... it was ok. I really enjoyed the River Dancing, but the food was just ok. In all fairness, I think it just wasn't our type of food. I got fish & chips and it was good, but no better than Columbia Harbour House fish & chips. We probably wouldn't choose to eat there again.
Magic Kingdom - First let me say that I LOVE the new wrist bands. I was worried about that, but it worked out great for us. It was really cool to swipe our last fast pass ride and immediately pick the next one. Anyway, some new things in MK for us: 7DMT --- really cute! We all enjoyed it! No, it's not a thrill ride, but the theming was wonderful.
Speaking of fast passes, we did a fast pass for 7DMT for 9:45. We got to MK before it opened. We were able to ride EVERYTHING in Fantasyland before 9:45. I really recommend that plan. Everyone heads straight for that ride first and it doesn't take long for the line to back up. It was awesome to just walk right in with little wait time. Oh, and speaking of wait time, for our entire trip, the most we waited for any ride was 25 to 30 minutes. It wasn't bad at all!!
Tour groups - didn't notice too many. We only noticed one or two large groups, no problems. We figured the Brazilians were busy with the Olympics.
Animal Kingdom - Nice to do at night. We chose to skip the Jungle Book show. From what we could hear and see, it was worth it to be able to ride EE and Dinosaur with no wait time. The show sounded really boring and we didn't have any interest in it. I'll wait for River of Lights. We all agreed AK is a little more fun now and bumped it up in favorites after MK.
Epcot - Soarin' was soooo much better! Everyone clapped after the ride. Also, Frozen was pretty good too. We all agreed we enjoyed it more than Maelstrom.
Hollywood Studios - Aside from Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror... this park moved down to last place for us, but we still had a lot of fun. The Star Wars light show was pretty awesome - I'll say it was top notch! When Star Wars Land is built, the park will be a lot better.
Dining Plan - This was our first time to NOT do the dining plan. I haven't looked at my credit card bill yet, but it is a no brainer that we spent a lot less!! We are now NON dining plan converts! The only "bad" thing is that I was much more aware of what I was spending on food. (For the 6 of us at Ohana, it was $300. We are now rethinking our "must do" place. Maybe it's not worth it anymore.) In some cases, two of us shared meals. We always got water and almost never bought dessert. I chose to buy groceries and have them delivered - snacks, drinks, and simple breakfast items. We just don't eat that much for breakfast so it worked for us. I think that is the way to go for us.
Well, that's about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. We left Disney loving it just as we always have! We plan to go in a few years, hopefully when all the new lands will be finished. I think it's only going to get better!
So the first night we just hung out in Disney Springs. Our original plans were to catch a movie at the eat-in theater, but that didn't work out. They were sold out 30 minutes ahead of time, so we had to do something else. We chose to eat at Raglan Road for our first time... it was ok. I really enjoyed the River Dancing, but the food was just ok. In all fairness, I think it just wasn't our type of food. I got fish & chips and it was good, but no better than Columbia Harbour House fish & chips. We probably wouldn't choose to eat there again.
Magic Kingdom - First let me say that I LOVE the new wrist bands. I was worried about that, but it worked out great for us. It was really cool to swipe our last fast pass ride and immediately pick the next one. Anyway, some new things in MK for us: 7DMT --- really cute! We all enjoyed it! No, it's not a thrill ride, but the theming was wonderful.
Speaking of fast passes, we did a fast pass for 7DMT for 9:45. We got to MK before it opened. We were able to ride EVERYTHING in Fantasyland before 9:45. I really recommend that plan. Everyone heads straight for that ride first and it doesn't take long for the line to back up. It was awesome to just walk right in with little wait time. Oh, and speaking of wait time, for our entire trip, the most we waited for any ride was 25 to 30 minutes. It wasn't bad at all!!
Tour groups - didn't notice too many. We only noticed one or two large groups, no problems. We figured the Brazilians were busy with the Olympics.
Animal Kingdom - Nice to do at night. We chose to skip the Jungle Book show. From what we could hear and see, it was worth it to be able to ride EE and Dinosaur with no wait time. The show sounded really boring and we didn't have any interest in it. I'll wait for River of Lights. We all agreed AK is a little more fun now and bumped it up in favorites after MK.
Epcot - Soarin' was soooo much better! Everyone clapped after the ride. Also, Frozen was pretty good too. We all agreed we enjoyed it more than Maelstrom.
Hollywood Studios - Aside from Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror... this park moved down to last place for us, but we still had a lot of fun. The Star Wars light show was pretty awesome - I'll say it was top notch! When Star Wars Land is built, the park will be a lot better.
Dining Plan - This was our first time to NOT do the dining plan. I haven't looked at my credit card bill yet, but it is a no brainer that we spent a lot less!! We are now NON dining plan converts! The only "bad" thing is that I was much more aware of what I was spending on food. (For the 6 of us at Ohana, it was $300. We are now rethinking our "must do" place. Maybe it's not worth it anymore.) In some cases, two of us shared meals. We always got water and almost never bought dessert. I chose to buy groceries and have them delivered - snacks, drinks, and simple breakfast items. We just don't eat that much for breakfast so it worked for us. I think that is the way to go for us.
Well, that's about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. We left Disney loving it just as we always have! We plan to go in a few years, hopefully when all the new lands will be finished. I think it's only going to get better!
