Arrived back yesterday after what has to be our best WDW visit ever.
Everything went like clockwork with no hitches,problems or hastles.
My first observation is that the crowds are definately down at all major parks.
Our maximum wait time for the major attractions was about 20 mins for the Indy cars at MK.
It was walk on with no wait at Test Track,Aerosmith,Space Mtn etc,etc.
Our first visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge was excellent .
The Arusha Savannah room was excellent and animal viewings were plentiful at any time of the day.
The AKL pool was rarely busy although it was'nt so quiet to the extent of being non-atmospheric.
The characters sightings were plentiful and the kids had little wait times for autographs and photos.
We had a car so our usage of the WDW transport system was minimal but one black mark is the pollution and black smoke that is emitted from these buses is horrendous.They REALLy do need regular tune ups and maintenance checks to cut down on the black smoke that pours out of the exhaust of the vast majority of vehicles.While standing at Downtown Disney waiting for a bus you might easily collapse with Carbon Monoxide poisoning due to the excessive fumes (add this to the very hot humid conditions during our stay and it makes the breathing difficulties even more apparent).
My only disappointment (due to rehab) was not getting on Maelstorm .
We did get a couple of fast passes ,but to be honest they really were'nt needed.
The friendliness of the CM's was evident and we never encountered an unfriendly or unhelful one.
We did,however encounter some idiot visitors.
Sometimes I can't beleive how rude,obnoxious and bad mannered some people can be.I won't go into details,but it is suffice to say that we now have a radar for these folk and make a point of avoiding them when at all possible.
We really enjoyed Test Track and Aerosmith (first time for both).Some of the older MK rides are a bit dated but this is part of the charm of visiting MK ....to see the rides "of the future" as they were back 20 or 30 years ago.
All in all a fabulous trip ..but I have to say that the prices for certain items are absolutely scandallous and the gouging of the the visitors is quite evident.
If they hope to attract the customers back to the previous levels of attendance,I think pricing fairly would be a good place to start.
My example is breakfast at The Grand Floridian for the four of us was about $60...Now it was nice...but no nicer than similar breakfasts for half the price at other locations.Sure we got to see some other characters but due to the business of the location,you seem to get herded in and out top make way for other customers coming in (one of the few busy locations on our trip).
To end.....I must say we had a blast but unfortunatley the blast to our pocket book makes us squirm a little too.
Everything went like clockwork with no hitches,problems or hastles.
My first observation is that the crowds are definately down at all major parks.
Our maximum wait time for the major attractions was about 20 mins for the Indy cars at MK.
It was walk on with no wait at Test Track,Aerosmith,Space Mtn etc,etc.
Our first visit to Animal Kingdom Lodge was excellent .
The Arusha Savannah room was excellent and animal viewings were plentiful at any time of the day.
The AKL pool was rarely busy although it was'nt so quiet to the extent of being non-atmospheric.
The characters sightings were plentiful and the kids had little wait times for autographs and photos.
We had a car so our usage of the WDW transport system was minimal but one black mark is the pollution and black smoke that is emitted from these buses is horrendous.They REALLy do need regular tune ups and maintenance checks to cut down on the black smoke that pours out of the exhaust of the vast majority of vehicles.While standing at Downtown Disney waiting for a bus you might easily collapse with Carbon Monoxide poisoning due to the excessive fumes (add this to the very hot humid conditions during our stay and it makes the breathing difficulties even more apparent).
My only disappointment (due to rehab) was not getting on Maelstorm .
We did get a couple of fast passes ,but to be honest they really were'nt needed.
The friendliness of the CM's was evident and we never encountered an unfriendly or unhelful one.
We did,however encounter some idiot visitors.
Sometimes I can't beleive how rude,obnoxious and bad mannered some people can be.I won't go into details,but it is suffice to say that we now have a radar for these folk and make a point of avoiding them when at all possible.
We really enjoyed Test Track and Aerosmith (first time for both).Some of the older MK rides are a bit dated but this is part of the charm of visiting MK ....to see the rides "of the future" as they were back 20 or 30 years ago.
All in all a fabulous trip ..but I have to say that the prices for certain items are absolutely scandallous and the gouging of the the visitors is quite evident.
If they hope to attract the customers back to the previous levels of attendance,I think pricing fairly would be a good place to start.
My example is breakfast at The Grand Floridian for the four of us was about $60...Now it was nice...but no nicer than similar breakfasts for half the price at other locations.Sure we got to see some other characters but due to the business of the location,you seem to get herded in and out top make way for other customers coming in (one of the few busy locations on our trip).
To end.....I must say we had a blast but unfortunatley the blast to our pocket book makes us squirm a little too.
