Trip Report Honey, lets take the kids out of school - First December visit 2021

Hey hey! I'm Paul and I'm a long time lurker, with a few trip reports under my belt. Love reading all of your reports and decided to just get this pre-report trip thread started.

Last year my Brother In Law gifted us his DVC points at Riviera for a trip in December. Well, unless you have been living under a rock, COVID kinda put a kink in those plans last year. We decided mid June that we would cancel and try again for this year. My wife is an ICU nurse at the local hospital and we have taken this very serious from the beginning. Thankfully the girls were on board and we don't regret the decision at all. Our trip this year is from the 4th to the 9th, and will be our first visit during the christmas holidays. Something my wife has always expressed she wanted to do. Again we will be staying in Riviera and we are eager to see the resort.

With my wifes schedule we have decided to take our kids out of school for the week. They will be taking their chrome books with them to keep up on school work while we are away. The intention is to take mid-day breaks to tackle any work their teachers will be posting throughout the day. Might be a challenge, but we are up for it.

As a family we have only been once, and that was in the fall of 2017. My youngest was 2 going on 3, so she doesn't remember a whole lot. Since then I have been one other time with my sister and we were there only 2 days as I was in town for a conference. Now that I type that I forgot to post that report all together. DOH! Also, in October in 2019, my oldest daughter and I were in Tokyo, one day after Typhoon Hagibis. We did not have intentions of visiting either of the Tokyo parks, but because of damage to rails near Mt. Fuji, it kept us from visiting that area. So instead we decided to spend the day at Tokyo Disney Sea. Looking back I'm glad we had the opportunity to see this park.

So there is a little backstory.....

My wife and I

This year will be our 18th year of marriage. As I said before, she is an ICU nurse, and I work in the engineering field. She isn't a huge theme park fan, but does love Its a Small World. This trip will be my 23rd time to be in a Disney Park. I'm looking forward to seeing the parks during the Christmas season. I also have way too many hobbies, one includes keeping a nano reef. So visiting the Living Seas at Epcot is one of my favorite pavilions.

Lorelai

My oldest and the sweetest little girl out there. Yea I’m biased. Lo loves anything and everything to do with Flamingo’s, Softball, and making people smile. She also has recently started to create digital art for her and her sisters teepublic site. If you are interested in seeing her work, send me a message. I wont clog the thread up with that.


Ella aka Eggs

This little angel is in her first year of grade school. She loves her pets, loves to dress up, and wants to follow in her sisters footsteps of playing softball.

We are headed out in 27 days! Hopefully no delays with the flights and a good week to be in WDW!

Please critique our days. Also looking for suggestions for possible dining.

Our plan is as such:

4th - Arrive and Relax at Resort. Possibly visit Disney Springs or most likely head to GF to check out the Gingerbread house.

5th - AK in Morning, park hop to HS.

• If unable to score a lunch for Sci Fi on the 7th, hoping to get a dinner for this evening. No luck so far.

6th - EPCOT, afternoon break/swim, EPCOT in Evening and take advantage of Extra Hours

• Was trying to score a Space 220 Lunch or Dinner, but have since given up.

7th - HS

• May purchase Genie+ depending on crowds
• Will purchase LL for Rise
• Oga's for evening drink, and for experience.
• Building Droids after Oga's
• Trying to score a Sci Fi lunch. No success yet.

8th - MK , afternoon break/swim, MK in Evening and take advantage of Extra Hours

• May purchase Genie+ depending on crowds
• Depending on crowds may purchase LL for SDMT

9th - Checkout day, Beaches and Cream for Lunch.

 

[tehSAC]

After leaving the Beach Club, we headed back to Disney Springs. Hopefully no roaches after we visit this time. LOL We had around Two and a Half hours to kill before we needed to head to the airport for our flight home. We once again parked in the Lime garage, but instead of turning left out of the garage, we headed towards the bridge crossing over near the Rainforest Café. On the way over we stopped for a few photos by the Lego sculptures.

Mom wanted to visit the Christmas store, so that’s where we headed next. She was hoping to possibly find a nutcracker for her collection, but no luck. In the rear of the store, there was a candle shop, and the girls saw the area where they could make their own. So I stayed with them for that experience, while mom went off to do some more shopping. The experience was fun for the girls. They got to pick their own scent, color, and even some extra decoration to mix into the wax, or just place on top. The employee took their candles and said we could pick them up in around 45 minutes.

Mom was at Marketplace co-op, so we made our way there. When we found her, she had found what she was looking for a few nights before. Lorelai also picked up a Orange Bird pop socket while we were there. After that we popped back in to the pin shop and the girls each purchased a few pins for their collections. Ella wanted to visit the Toy store, and wow was that a disappointment! Sure Santa was there, but what happened to Once Upon A Toy?! Used to be one of my favorite shops. Oh well. Mom and Ella made their way towards the World of Disney, and Lorelai and I went to pick up the candles. When we found Mom and Ella, they had found the face painting spot. Ella wanted a little décor on her face, and I told her “how are you going to make it through TSA at the airport? That doesn’t match your ID!” She just laughed at me and said “I don’t have an ID dad, they know I’m with you.” LOL

We ended our day at World of Disney. Picking up a few extras for family back home, and then back to the parking garage. I broke a little rule, going back to the car.

When we got to the car we did some last minute re-arranging of our luggage to fit in the new purchases, rolled down the windows to soak up that Florida weather, and off to MCO we went. I was concerned about a possible long wait at the check in counter, because the last time I was there it was a nightmare to get checked in. This time we were checked in within 10 minutes, and TSA was a 20 minute wait. When going through security they pulled me off to the side. The xray saw the candles, and next to the candles in our bag was our charging cables for our phones. Did not look great, he said he had to check cause it looked like a bomb. YIKES!

After that excitement, I looked at our boarding passes, and it had us going to a different terminal. Not the usual Southwest terminal. I was confused and concerned we would be going to the wrong spot. I considered going to said gate and checking, and leaving everyone in security, but we just went with it and got on the monorail to the terminal. My wife noticed there was a pretzel stand, so I went over and got in line for pretzel bites for her and the girls. So the one of the last interesting things of the trip would happen while I’m waiting for our food. I’m standing off to the side, and I hear this huge belch, and then feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and there is a older guy, so obviously drunk, without his mask on asking me if I’m in line. He would belch and then talk to me. Eventually asking me “Hey pal (belch) is this the line for (belch) pretzels? Do you think they (belch) sell beer? Haha” I say yes, and point in the direction of the end of the line. He ignores everything I say, and just walks up to the counter and demands a pretzel and a beer. He was visibly upset when they told him they didn’t have beer and he would have to wait in line like everyone else. He belched and said something obscene, grabbed his bag and off he went. I told my family that the wait was so long cause I had to go to Universal to meet Barney. LOL

During that encounter I thought to myself, I really hope this guy isn’t on my flight. We ate our food, and about an hour later we made it to the gate. Oh you know exactly what I’m about to say don’t you? There he is, sitting in a row by himself. I sit down, and the lady next to me says “wow did you just miss a “show”.” I said “let me guess ol guy over there caused an issue?” She would go on to tell me he verbally assaulted a black family, and tried to pick a fight with them. “Oh man, please don’t let this guy on our flight” I was thinking to myself. I ran over to the restroom, and then I notice a male and female officer standing off to the side. Eventually a Southwest employee and the female officer go over to him and I can see him getting visibly upset. The southwest employee hands him another boarding pass and tells him he wont be on this flight. Well this obviously doesn’t make him happy. He starts poking the officer in the chest, and verbally assaulting her as well. About the same time they announce that digital boarding passes will not work at this gate and to visit the podium to get a printed pass. During all of that I miss what happened with Barney, but my daughter said the Officer escorted him away from the terminal.

We boarded our flight, and around 10:20 we were back in Indianapolis. The end of our vacation, and the end of this portion of the report. Next time I post it will be my thoughts and reasons why we wont be returning any time soon. Possibly ever.

.

 

[tehSAC]

Okay the report is finished, and I believe some of you have stuck around for my thoughts. Reasons for the decision to most likely not return as well. They will sound like I am complaining about everything, and I kinda am, but I want to help you understand our decision. I will do my best to highlight the best and worst of our trip. Some items Disney does right, some they could revert back too, and some they could not control. I also understand some of these changes are due to COVID, and I understand. Honestly I live in a house that has taken many precautions due to my wife’s job. However some of these changes, seems to me that Disney is using it as a crutch. Again I’m going to do my best here, and I’ve taken a few days to write and re-write this. So…….

Pricing

First and foremost, Disney has priced our family out of a vacation. Simple as that. Disney is pricing a lot of families out of memories together in these parks. From paying for fastpasses, to not providing all of the extras they used too, it just feels like a grift anymore. These trips are catered to people in a higher tax bracket, AND it used to not be that way. Nothing against those families, but we don’t fit into that group, nor would I like too. This was the most expensive family trip we have ever done, even after my brother in law gifted us DVC points to stay at the Riviera. Our typical family vacation is usually around $2,500 to $3,000, and we dropped that in park tickets alone in this trip. Sure we could have saved some money here and there, specifically with Savi’s, in-park dining, etc, but that’s how Disney gets you right? For what you pay for to get into the park, and all of the extras that used to be included, I don’t think Disney makes it worth it anymore. It’s the little things that used to make it special for us. A tram to give your feet a break, a fastpass to give you access to that ride you really wanted to experience, better quality food, housekeeping, etc. Genie+ and the pricing for the holiday party, which we chose not to do, was what really ruined it for me. The Christmas party was something we really wanted to do when we started to plan this trip, then the pricing was announced and that was the nail in the coffin. $860 on top of park tickets for 3 extra hours in the MK is insane! If you can afford that, or choose to spend that money, no judgement on my end. You do what is right for you, but it will never get any better. Disney has you right where they want you, and using COVID as a crutch leaves a bad taste in my mouth!


Fastpasses

If it was up to me, you eliminate them all together. Why? Well when I used to go as a kid, they were not available, so we adapted and enjoyed the parks as they were meant to be IMO. I remember our June trips in the middle and late 90’s and being able to do everything we wanted to do. Crowds were not like they are now either. Sure the parks were busy, but nothing like I see being reported or in vlogs like I see today. Our trip in May of 2012 was the first time I ever used fastpass, and I only used it on one attraction, Peter Pan. I thought it was a hassle, but I believe this was because I was learning as I was going. Then in 2017 and 2018 I brushed up well before our trip and used it to our advantage. Then when it was announced Genie+ was going live on October 19th I was glued to any article, vlog, podcast to learn all that I could. This was such an added stress that is just not needed, but Disney makes it a necessity, and as Disney park fans, we are all okay with it. When the parks had no fastpasses, it was a spontaneous adventure. Now you’re staring at your phone, trying to make that $15 per person worth it. You miss the details Imagineers wanted you to see, because you are rushing to make a reservation, or refreshing the app to find a better time. I realize this all makes me sound like an old fart, but looking back on our trip, I missed out on little moments that I will never get back. That is not the park experience Walt wanted us to have. Genie+ is a grift, a grift I am guilty of participating in. Genie is made for families like us, because we don’t frequent on a yearly basis. The only way for us to have not used it, was to have had a much longer vacation, which would have been even more expensive. So they have me by the B-A double hockey sticks. We could have never been able to accomplish what we did at the MK without it, but deep down I hate that. We could have accomplished more at other parks, but I wasn’t dropping that cash. Then you get into the subject of paying extra for the most popular rides. I did this for 5 attractions, at a total of $200 plus tax. Ouch that could have gotten us a nice meal somewhere on property, but maybe not because ADR’s are difficult to land. We will touch on that later. TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS to ride 5 popular attractions, 4 that I personally would never spend the money on again. 4 attractions that are either too short, or too “cheap” to spend the money on. Again something else we will touch on later. Disney again had me by the twig and berries. I could wait in those ridiculous queues, that Disney dolled up to take your mind off the wait, and miss out on other attractions. Or… I could add on a couple more days to my ticket and reservation to experience those rides. Doing that means more money for Disney. See what I’m saying? Fastpasses you get to skip the lines, but those who can’t afford it now, may miss out on other things because the hold the line up for me and everyone else that paid to skip the line. In my honest and humble opinion, removing fastpasses would bring back that magic we fell in love with, and may even lower crowds. Okay I’m rambling, but hopefully you get my point. To me a successful trip is a trip where you can do attractions multiple times. Only way this can be done anymore is by opening your wallet.


Dining

Crap, where do I start? How about this? The ADR process is crap, especially for someone who is not prepped. Not all of us prep, or enjoy prepping like most of us. We got lucky landing some great ADR’s but I did not acquire these on my 60 +5 day mark. These took multiple searches daily, or other services to land these reservations. A couple that we ended up dropping, because we found that it ate too much into our park time. Again if I was a local or frequent visitor, we would enjoy these more often. The best ADR of the trip was Oga’s and I landed that a few days past our open window. Sci-Fi I didn’t land until about a week or so out before our trip. We really wanted to experience the Space 220 lounge and I checked daily, multiple times a day, to see if we could score a reservation. Obviously no luck, and I was still searching at 7PM on our EPCOT Day. Time I should have been enjoying the park with the girls. It all has to do with luck on these, because people grab and hold onto them like the toilet paper shortage we all saw last year. Hell I’m guilty of it. Make Disney spontaneous again, and no that’s not a play on a Trump slogan. I’m serious! Give people options day of, don’t make them plan months in advance. It’s no longer a vacation, it’s a ugly social experiment to one up the next guest. It doesn’t help control guests, it create animosity.

Those three things really are the thorns in my side when it comes to Disney. They could be fantastic, and Disney could really knock it out of the park with some changes, but we know that wont happen. The greed outweighs Walt’s overall “plan” with his parks. The parks have not been good since Eisner was around…..


The Great

• Magic Kingdom.
  • Planning, life stresses, etc melt away when I’m in this park. It’s my happy place.
• Tropical serenade was fantastic.
  • Honestly probably better than the original Dole Whip. Mainly because the whip wasn’t as creamy like they used to be.
• Oga’s
  • When I left I said it might be a one time visit for us. However I would do it again in a heartbeat.
• Rise
  • Amazing. Best ride in WDW, and would be happy to spend money to ride it again!
• mobile ordering
  • I loved this for a number of reasons. Mainly cause I tend to be a bit socially anxious, and this alleviates this anxiety of mine.
• Loved the shower the most!!!
  • You read the report. Best part of the Riviera resort.
• Next trip we will spend more time at MK

The Good

• Falcon
  • cool cause it’s the falcon but I think it would be better being a pilot. Was an engineer and just happy to ride.
• Pog juice
  • Disney, offer this everywhere!
• Sci Fi
  • BBQ burger was fantastic as well as the theming. This is a restaurant I would love to experience again.
• GE popcorn
  • Trying to figure out how to make this at home. LOL
• Big Thunder is so much better in the middle

The Okay

• Lo and I loved HS. Mom and Ella thought it was okay.
• Pool was too small liked it was saltwater though
• Beaches was okay.
• Remy’s and Mickey and Minnies was cool, but not something we felt we wanted to do again in the future.
  • Personally dislike all the screens and Remy’s is a little too short.
• Riviera was nice but too fancy for us.
  • Small for a deluxe resort for me. Skyliner is not a huge selling point for me if I wanted DVC.
• Epcot used to be more enjoyable. In the future if we go back we might skip Epcot
  • Wasn’t construction, wasn’t attractions. Just felt off to me. I cannot pinpoint why I didn’t enjoy it this year like I have in the past.
• AK Is still a half day park for us.
  • We enjoy the theming more than anything in Animal Kingdom
• Galaxy’s Edge
  • As a huge Star Wars fan I loved all the details, but GE felt a little flat to me. I feel like they tried to squeeze in too much in the land. I would have preferred Disney to focus on a planet/land from one of the movies. Then again I am also one of those people that wished they would have built a 5th park that was just Star Wars related. Disney could have killed it with that approach!

The Bad

• Crowds were a hassle to us
  • We planned to go during this time mainly because of past crowds. Nothing we could do to change this.
• No characters seen in GE.
  • Honestly we stuck around for an hour or so to hopefully catch some characters and never saw one. Very disappointing.
• Lack of resort merchandise and lack of Christmas offerings merchandise wise.
• Blue milk was meh
• Disappointed with deco. Loved HS, but other than Main Street they fell flat
• Genie+ was definitely needed more but didn’t like spending the money on it. Should have used it more but was able to do plenty in standby.
• Skyliner is a meh in our books

The Ugly

• Roaches – Well you read the story.
• People and there lack of sense of others around them annoyed me the most. Stop directly in main paths, not make room for others in tight spaces, etc.
• So many scooters. They were the worst, and they people driving them acted like they were the only ones in the park. Sorry if you need one, but if you are reading here, I’m guessing you are not those type of ECV users.
• Not happy with Nickle and Diming
  • Seriously, Disney is a grift. They know they can charge what they charge and people will continue to pay for it. From Vloggers, to first time visitors.

Attractions Count (places with a queue that we placed our butt and were entertained) = 37


Navi
Rise
Star Tours
Three Caballeros
Frozen
Test Track
Spaceship Earth
Remy’s
Figment
Soarin
Living with the Land
Nemo
Alien Swirling Saucers
Toy Story Mania
Mickey and Minnies
Slinky Dog
Falcon
Jingle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Seven Dwarfs
Haunted Mansion
Buzz
Laugh Floor
Barnstormer
Dumbo
Mermaid
Small World
Big Thunder x5
Splash x2
Pirates
Tiki Room
Peter Pan


Okay with that, this report is complete.

PS does anyone have an extra GE spork? I REALLY want one of those and there were none available during our visit.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Great report and honest opinions. Thanks for sharing.

 

[LeighM]

Great report. And your final thoughts are very similar to what mine will be. Luckily, we're just a family of 2 adults so paying to ride Rise was only $33 but even that felt like a punch in the gut

 

[MickeyCB]

Very much enjoyed your report, and I'm sorry but the roach story was the highlight for me!

 

[tehSAC]

Great report and honest opinions. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you for reading.

Great report. And your final thoughts are very similar to what mine will be. Luckily, we're just a family of 2 adults so paying to ride Rise was only $33 but even that felt like a punch in the gut

Thank you. I have a feeling there will be a lot of us in the coming year with similar feelings

Very much enjoyed your report, and I'm sorry but the roach story was the highlight for me!

Haha! Thanks for reading!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Thanks for the TR.

I hope you never let your family forget how you drove that back to MCO with cockroaches in tow and in children’s shoes to boot!

 

[tehSAC]

Thanks for the TR.

I hope you never let your family forget how you drove that back to MCO with cockroaches in tow and in children’s shoes to boot!

you’re welcome, thanks for taking the time to read. I’m sure they won’t.

 

[amjt660]

Great TR - I appreciate you taking the time to relive the trip with us

Your take on the park and the business of the park is (unfortunately) accurate
I have not stepped foot in WDW since Christmas of 2019 and I am not sure when we will
At least one more trip for me - your insights on the current state of affairs are helpful

Max

 

[tehSAC]

Great TR - I appreciate you taking the time to relive the trip with us

Your take on the park and the business of the park is (unfortunately) accurate
I have not stepped foot in WDW since Christmas of 2019 and I am not sure when we will
At least one more trip for me - your insights on the current state of affairs are helpful

Max

Thanks for following along!

 

[cgersic]

Thank you for sharing all of it! It was a good experience to hear about someone who attempted to utilize Genie+ and I still can't believe the cockroaches story! You have a lovely family and it was nice to share the memories with you.

 

[tehSAC]

Thank you for sharing all of it! It was a good experience to hear about someone who attempted to utilize Genie+ and I still can't believe the cockroaches story! You have a lovely family and it was nice to share the memories with you.

Thank you, and thank you for reading.