Trip Report It has begun

We're here! Just waiting for my best friend to pick us up.
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We rope dropped Frozen today and got through twice. We got stuck for about ten minutes the second time, but we didn't mind. It was nice and cool and we were sitting.

Then we went to cape may for a late breakfast. It was decent... Lots of fruits and veggies, but we only went for the salted caramel beach buns that AJ from DFB raved about, but they aren't on the buffet. They bring one for each person to your table. They were also a bit of a let down. Barely any caramel at all.

My lanyard broke getting out of frozen, so I looked for a new one, but didn't like anything they had at beach club, so we came back to the park and went to the boat dock to take a boat to Morocco, then walked to America to watch voices of Liberty. Now we're stuck in Germany because of a downpour and thunder storm.
 
sheriffwoody

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
Quiet pools at deluxe and moderate resorts open at 7 am. @Songbird76 I am not sure about quiet pools (pools without lifeguards) at value resorts but you may want to check the sign at your quiet pool.
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but quiet pools are boringggggg :hilarious: We did the quiet pool at Coronado since we wanted to swim pre-Epcot in May, but it was way less fun than our mid-day swimming at Wilderness Lodge. LP is all about a waterslide now too.
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
sheriffwoody said:
but quiet pools are boringggggg :hilarious: We did the quiet pool at Coronado since we wanted to swim pre-Epcot in May, but it was way less fun than our mid-day swimming at Wilderness Lodge. LP is all about a waterslide now too.
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Some people enjoy the quiet pools for the "quiet" :) (I enjoy any pool at all, but sometimes it's nice to just chill at a less noisy spot.)
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We couldn't find Remy in Norway. Probably because there isn't a Remy in Norway. It's stupid hot, so we decided to go to the Land. Soarin' was only 25 minutes, LWTL was a walk on and awesome planet was also just starting, so we did all of them. It seems the Land Pavilion needs some love..
Garden Grill wasn't rotating yesterday or today, the up escalator wasn't working since we got here. We took the elevator because my knee and my hip have been yelling at me for days. Now we're at via Napoli.
 
lindawdw

lindawdw

Well-Known Member
Songbird76 said:
I feel like we aren't getting NEARLY as much done as we used to. You almost have to rope drop to get the popular rides, and we aren't even doing most of them! But genie plus is a total waste of money. We bought it for yesterday and got to use it exactly once. We bought the multi-park version, and I bought it at midnight. Made our first selection at 7am. We rope dropped Rise of the Resistance so we wouldn't have to get an Individual attraction LL, and figured we'd use genie plus for ToT, MRR, and Smuggler's Run then hop over to Epcot and use it for Frozen and Soarin'. That was the plan. So right at 7, I booked smuggler's run. We were some of the first people on Rise, so as soon as we got through, the park was still not open to the general public. ToT was down, so We headed to Mickey's Runaway Railway, got that knocked out without using a LL. Didn't like it at all, so we weren't going to use LL to ride again. ToT still down, so we went to Toy Story land for breakfast. TSMM was only 15 minutes, so we hopped on before getting food. ToT still down and our Smuggler's Run window was 9:30 to 10:30 and it was 9:36 so we headed straight there. We got right outside the entrance and we're told they were evacuating the area, we needed to leave and our LL would turn into a select experience pass that we could use on any ride except ToT, Slinky, or Rise. Which meant there was nothing left to use it on because we had already done Mickey's, TSMM, and you don't need it for Frozen Sing-along, and we don't like A.S.S. We went and did the sing-along, checked the app and it still said smuggler's run at 9:30. It wouldn't let us book another LL until we had used that, which we couldn't, OR after 10:30 which it now was. But ToT was still down, and we had done everything in the park we wanted to do except ToT which was down. But we couldn't park hop for 3 more hours. Not enough time to go back to the resort to swim, but also nothing left to do, and it was hotter than Satan's underpants. We figured we'd use the select experiences LL in Epcot, but it still hadn't changed from Smuggler's to Select Experiences. So we went to a guest experience kiosk and they changed it manually, but didn't mention to us that we couldn't use it in another park, which is bogus since we had park hoppers and the multi-park genie plus. I tried making a selection for Epcot, but the only thing that was already past 2 was test track... Which we didn't want to do. So I couldn't book a LL for Epcot, there was nothing left to book in HS. So we headed to Muppets just to waste time in some AC. It was noon after the show, so we went to Prime time to see if we could check in early. Finished that and took the skyliner over to Epcot and got there 7 minutes before 2, so we used the bathroom and reapplied sunscreen. Made a 2:20 LL for Soarin and figured we'd use the select experiences for Frozen, but couldn't use it in Epcot. So we did Soarin and by that time, there were no more LLs for Frozen and the stand by was 115 minutes. You don't need LL for Turtle talk, Nemo, living with the land, etc... All of them were walk ons. The only thing left we wanted to do was Frozen and it was sold out. So we spent 23 bucks each to ride Soarin once. You can't use LL for the same ride twice, so there was just nothing else to use it for. Remy makes us sick, I can't do coasters, so guardians was out. Not buying genie plus again. We can't use it on anything. You don't need it for most things we wasn't to do and we don't do the ones YOU DO need it for. Waste of money. Just have to rope drop the few we want to do.
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I am so disgusted with the whole Genie+ option especially after reading your post. I thought as soon as Disney announced this new way of getting more money from the guest that it was going to be a frustrating and confusing experience for the guest, and I was right! You definitely need to write Disney's Guest Services about your experience because the more that they hear the guest's negative feedback, the more they might reconsider this option and replace it with something better. I feel bad for you that you spent all that money and only got one ride out of it all day. That new "park hopper genie+" is a total scam IMHO. Disney needs to go back to what worked and it's called "Fastpass"!!!
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
lindawdw said:
I am so disgusted with the whole Genie+ option especially after reading your post. I thought as soon as Disney announced this new way of getting more money from the guest that it was going to be a frustrating and confusing experience for the guest, and I was right! You definitely need to write Disney's Guest Services about your experience because the more that they hear the guest's negative feedback, the more they might reconsider this option and replace it with something better. I feel bad for you that you spent all that money and only got one ride out of it all day. That new "park hopper genie+" is a total scam IMHO. Disney needs to go back to what worked and it's called "Fastpass"!!!
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When I first heard about it, I thought some of the things were good. Like, I like that people staying off property also have a chance at getting the more popular rides. They didn't with fast pass because all the good ones were gone by the time they could make fastpass reservations. We always stay on property, but I felt it was a bit of an unfair advantage. But I really dislike that you can only use it for a ride once. I think if there is availability, you should be able to use it. I'll probably email Disney when we get home, because I doubt they will refund it, but they should absolutely understand the problems with the product they offer, especially when it costs so much.
 
amjt660

amjt660

Well-Known Member
@Songbird76
I agree with your assessment of Genie + and DHS.
We had a similar experience - we used it twice for Mickey and TOT - Slinky was down all morning and we never made it on.

I struggle with the rules (especially the only ride once)
We did rope drop and rode the rides we wanted to ride without using Genie.
If we could have gone on rides twice we might have used it another one or two times.

And of course the fact that Genie and ILL cost money on top of an already expensive park ticket makes it tough.

Going to WDW is getting to the tipping point for me - the experience is becoming more frustrating than fun.

On my last visit it was the meet ups with other trip reporters that saved the vacation - the park experience is becoming a chore.

Following along - hoping things get a little better for you and your daughter


Max
 
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Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
amjt660 said:
@Songbird76
I agree with your assessment of Genie + and DHS.
We had a similar experience - we used it twice for Mickey and TOT - Slinky was down all morning and we never made it on.

I struggle with the rules (especially the only ride once)
We did rope drop and rode the rides we wanted to ride without using Genie.
If we could have gone on rides twice we might have used it another one or two times.

And of course the fact that Genie and ILL cost money on top of an already expensive park ticket makes it tough.

Going to WDW is getting to the tipping point for me - the experience is becoming more frustrating than fun.

On my last visit it was the meet ups with other trip reporters that saved the vacation - the park experience is becoming a chore.

Following along - hopping things get a little better for you and your daughter


Max
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That's exactly it. If we could use it for a ride more than once, it would be worth it. But to pay so much for only one ride is ridiculous.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We ate a bunch of food festival stuff... China is amazing! The tostada was fantastic except for the avacado foam because it has cilantro. We had bad luck with rides... Every time we wanted to ride something, it went down. Imagination, down. SSE, down. Frozen kept glitching so our 30 minute wait turned into a hour. But we did get to do Soarin' and got front row at the end towards the middle, so no dangling feet and no bent eifel Tower. Fantastic! We also did LWtL and the one in the Mexican pavilion. When SSE went down, we headed to DS for the Coca-Cola rooftop bar.

Germany :schinkennudelen and apple strudel with vanilla sauce. The apple strudel was so good, but I wouldn't get the cheese pasta again. It was ok, but the cheese was too chewy.

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Alps: Warm raclette with fingerling potatoes and baguette. We ordered ours without the pickles. It was good until the cheese cooled and wasn't melty. You can also get it with ham.
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China: pan fried chicken dumplings and a crispy duck bao bun. Both were fantastic and I went and got another bao bun because it was so good.
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Tostada with pork something... I know there were beans, and some sort of cheese, and I think chives? I loved it, but would get it without the avacado or guac Mousse, whatever it was. It had cilantro in it and I hate cilantro. Without that, it would have been perfect.
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ajrwdwgirl

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Songbird76 said:
We ate a bunch of food festival stuff... China is amazing! The tostada was fantastic except for the avacado foam because it has cilantro. We had bad luck with rides... Every time we wanted to ride something, it went down. Imagination, down. SSE, down. Frozen kept glitching so our 30 minute wait turned into a hour. But we did get to do Soarin' and got front row at the end towards the middle, so no dangling feet and no bent eifel Tower. Fantastic! We also did LWtL and the one in the Mexican pavilion. When SSE went down, we headed to DS for the Coca-Cola rooftop bar.

Germany :schinkennudelen and apple strudel with vanilla sauce. The apple strudel was so good, but I wouldn't get the cheese pasta again. It was ok, but the cheese was too chewy.

View attachment 736360

Alps: Warm raclette with fingerling potatoes and baguette. We ordered ours without the pickles. It was good until the cheese cooled and wasn't melty. You can also get it with ham.
View attachment 736361

China: pan fried chicken dumplings and a crispy duck bao bun. Both were fantastic and I went and got another bao bun because it was so good.
View attachment 736362View attachment 736363

Tostada with pork something... I know there were beans, and some sort of cheese, and I think chives? I loved it, but would get it without the avacado or guac Mousse, whatever it was. It had cilantro in it and I hate cilantro. Without that, it would have been perfect.
View attachment 736364
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The food looks good, sorry you had bad luck with rides. At least the avocado stuff on the tostada looks like it could be brushed off fairly easy and not spread all over for you. How was the Coke bar at DS?
 

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