Looking at the posts, I feel I must have really lucked out. Planned the heck out of our trip for weeks prior, down to which rides to do in what order, which to get FP for, and got to every park prior to opening. I really think that made all the difference. Skipped the 'EMH' park each day to avoid the larger-than-normal crowds.
We had a wonderful time! Crowds were what I expected, and weather...well I live in Houston, so it was the same old weather I'm accustomed to.
We ate breakfast in our family suite every day (brought our own) except for our character breakfast in AK, which was a nice, unrushed way to start our day. Headed off via car (no bus for us. Friends here same time waited over an hour some mornings and evenings to catch a bus) to each park. Got there prior to opening, were usually the first 100 in the park. Got to our #1 priority ride immediately, got off that and got a FP to our second favorite. Went immediately and rode 4-5 rides with 5 minute waits or less every day. (Exception HS. ToT was not working, so we missed it. By the time it was up and running, they'd run out of FP and the waiting queue was 2 hours).
Toy Story Mania
Ate lunch at 10:30 to avoid crowds, and after lunch basically alternated outdoor activities with air conditioned shows and character meets. It really helped beat the heat.
Phineas & Ferb HS
Yeah, the parks were crowded, but most of the time very manageable if planned correctly. Highly recommend bringing a stroller if you have a kid -- up to 7 years of age. I used it mostly as a Uhaul. Put soft-sided cooler with drinks & ice, and a bag of snacks. Backpack full of ponchos, Band-aids, tour book, etc. We were good. Kid got tired by lunch time and spent 3-4 hours in the stroller. Godsend!
Epcot was very nice, spacious, and never crowded. Rode Test Track right off the bat, and got a FP to do it again. Soarin' and a few other rides and then we headed to the 'countries' as we called them.
Epcot
Test Track
My DD of 6-1/2 really enjoyed the Phineas & Ferb game you could play in the countries. They said it took 30 minutes. In reality it took almost 2 hours because a lot of places you were supposed to find had changed or been updated since they did the game. Looking for an 8-panel window in a door that no longer existed took us 30 minutes alone. It was hot, and I wished we hadn't done the game, but my DD loved it and was excited to complete it. Spoiler alert: If you get tired of doing it and want to return your phone, go to UK. There's a trash can in front of the first shop you see over the bridge with a Perry the Platypus head on it. Pull open the head, and you can deposit your phone in there and be done with it.
The food in the American Village part of Epcot was by far our least favorite. Tasted like Boca Burgers I've bought at Wal-Mart, but it was filling, and we moved on. Met Donald in Mexico, and had a good time looking through all of the themed souvenirs for each country.
Had reserve seating for the fireworks, and it was very nice. Arrived 10 minutes prior to show time, and sat front row behind the Rose & Crown Pub (Crown & Rose?). Made friends with a duck that showed up, and actually could hear firework debris raining down on the roof over our heads, we were that close. Very nice way to end our evening.
Recommend morning only at AK. By noon, it was packed. It's too small a park for a full day IMO. Ate breakfast with Donald at Tusker House (adorable character greet, and great food). We headed to the pool and then Downtown Disney. Also hit up a Kissimmee Wal-Mart 5 minutes from Downtown Disney and got TONS of souvenirs for less than 1/2 price (identical to WDW park souvenirs). Spent $100 on what would have cost us $250 in the parks. Great way to end our day!
Downtown Disney
DD
Planet Hollywood @ DD
MK was our best day. Could have used two days there for sure. Met a ton of characters, and rode a bunch of rides. A wonderful rainstorm came through and cooled it down for the rest of the day. It was beautiful! Lunch at Crystal Palace with Pooh & Friends, and my daughter was in Heaven.
HS was our last day and was also a really fun day. Rode Toy Story Mania two times with no wait, then got a FP for 2 hours later. Went and did Back Lot Tour, which my DD loved. The stunt shows are not to be missed! Lightning McQueen made a surprise appearance at the Lights! stunt show, and my DD almost fainted.
Dinner at Sci Fi Dine In. So much fun! Such a cute theme! Great attention to details. Wonderful food, as well. I had the reuben sandwich. DH had a burger and fries. DD had popcorn chicken and a shake. Loved it all! I saw reviews about horrible food there, but we loved everything. Expected 50s diner-type food, and that's what we got but it was very tasty. Perfect timing, as a thunderstorm came rolling through just as we walked in the door.
Sci-Fi Dine-In
Our car for dinner at SFDI
Fantasma was very intense for kids under 8, so be warned. My DD of 6-1/2 was almost tearful when Mickey was being chased by demons and snakes. It was very intense for her.
I will say about 50% of the time CMs were checking FP times when you returned. Most of the time they simply took your ticket and let you in. I heard it was 'always enforced' but apparently they weren't always enforcing it when we were there. This happened in all four parks.
Our least favorite park was AK. Seemed like there wasn't a lot for our DD to do. Easily done by lunch time. Planned for that, and used that time to swim in our resort pool and shop at Downtown Disney.
Our resort was nothing short of perfect. Every detail was thought of, every need taken care of. I even loved the laundry room being next to the pool so I could throw a load in and swim and then climb out and throw it in the dryer. Excellent! Our room was clean, well-air conditioned, and every single item was in perfect repair. The pillows were great, the mattresses comfortable. The walls must have been very well-insulated, because we heard NOTHING while we were there. We were in building 1, facing the gardens not the pool (my request since the pools are active 24 hours a day). We were also on the top floor (my request).
Cozy Cone pool @ AOA
Little touches make all the difference
Parents room in Family Suite (locking door)
We arrived at 8:00 a.m. expecting to have them stow our luggage so we could go to Epcot. Instead, they handed us the keys to our room -- 7 hours early! This was the kind of treatment we were continuously enjoying while at Art of Animation. We deliberately ate at off times -- 10:30 lunch, 4:15 dinners -- to plan for crowds, and it worked perfectly for us, both in our resort and in the parks. Never had more than 3-4 people in line ahead of us. Never had to struggle to find a table. It all came down to timing and planning IMO.
I was absolutely blown away by the attentiveness of the lifeguards at our resort. They didn't sit. They paced and checked the bottom of the pool continually. A little boy started struggling, and one dove in and dragged him out. Dad apologized profusely for about 20 minutes, mom was highly upset with inattentive dad and let him have it in front of the entire crowd at the pool, but the kid was okay. The lifeguard was amazing. I saw it happening and before I could even react, she was already dragging him out.
Spent some time in the arcade at AOA and DD got some really cute prizes for not very many points on her card. Even their arcade prizes are themed to the resort. Very cute.
Didn't buy a $15 mug. Didn't get why that would be a good deal for us. We had a fridge, brought drinks. People kept asking us why we didn't have a mug. I don't get the appeal. For my family, we didn't need $45 worth of small plastic refillable mugs.
Our dining table in our room. Highly recommend family suite if you can budget it
I can't wait to go back. This was the perfect vacation for my family. Not a single complaint! Highly recommend Art of Animation resort.
Am sitting here today making arrangements to go for a 7-day trip next year!
We had a wonderful time! Crowds were what I expected, and weather...well I live in Houston, so it was the same old weather I'm accustomed to.
We ate breakfast in our family suite every day (brought our own) except for our character breakfast in AK, which was a nice, unrushed way to start our day. Headed off via car (no bus for us. Friends here same time waited over an hour some mornings and evenings to catch a bus) to each park. Got there prior to opening, were usually the first 100 in the park. Got to our #1 priority ride immediately, got off that and got a FP to our second favorite. Went immediately and rode 4-5 rides with 5 minute waits or less every day. (Exception HS. ToT was not working, so we missed it. By the time it was up and running, they'd run out of FP and the waiting queue was 2 hours).
Toy Story ManiaAte lunch at 10:30 to avoid crowds, and after lunch basically alternated outdoor activities with air conditioned shows and character meets. It really helped beat the heat.
Phineas & Ferb HSYeah, the parks were crowded, but most of the time very manageable if planned correctly. Highly recommend bringing a stroller if you have a kid -- up to 7 years of age. I used it mostly as a Uhaul. Put soft-sided cooler with drinks & ice, and a bag of snacks. Backpack full of ponchos, Band-aids, tour book, etc. We were good. Kid got tired by lunch time and spent 3-4 hours in the stroller. Godsend!
Epcot was very nice, spacious, and never crowded. Rode Test Track right off the bat, and got a FP to do it again. Soarin' and a few other rides and then we headed to the 'countries' as we called them.
Epcot
Test TrackMy DD of 6-1/2 really enjoyed the Phineas & Ferb game you could play in the countries. They said it took 30 minutes. In reality it took almost 2 hours because a lot of places you were supposed to find had changed or been updated since they did the game. Looking for an 8-panel window in a door that no longer existed took us 30 minutes alone. It was hot, and I wished we hadn't done the game, but my DD loved it and was excited to complete it. Spoiler alert: If you get tired of doing it and want to return your phone, go to UK. There's a trash can in front of the first shop you see over the bridge with a Perry the Platypus head on it. Pull open the head, and you can deposit your phone in there and be done with it.
The food in the American Village part of Epcot was by far our least favorite. Tasted like Boca Burgers I've bought at Wal-Mart, but it was filling, and we moved on. Met Donald in Mexico, and had a good time looking through all of the themed souvenirs for each country.
Had reserve seating for the fireworks, and it was very nice. Arrived 10 minutes prior to show time, and sat front row behind the Rose & Crown Pub (Crown & Rose?). Made friends with a duck that showed up, and actually could hear firework debris raining down on the roof over our heads, we were that close. Very nice way to end our evening.
Recommend morning only at AK. By noon, it was packed. It's too small a park for a full day IMO. Ate breakfast with Donald at Tusker House (adorable character greet, and great food). We headed to the pool and then Downtown Disney. Also hit up a Kissimmee Wal-Mart 5 minutes from Downtown Disney and got TONS of souvenirs for less than 1/2 price (identical to WDW park souvenirs). Spent $100 on what would have cost us $250 in the parks. Great way to end our day!
Downtown Disney
DD
Planet Hollywood @ DDMK was our best day. Could have used two days there for sure. Met a ton of characters, and rode a bunch of rides. A wonderful rainstorm came through and cooled it down for the rest of the day. It was beautiful! Lunch at Crystal Palace with Pooh & Friends, and my daughter was in Heaven.
HS was our last day and was also a really fun day. Rode Toy Story Mania two times with no wait, then got a FP for 2 hours later. Went and did Back Lot Tour, which my DD loved. The stunt shows are not to be missed! Lightning McQueen made a surprise appearance at the Lights! stunt show, and my DD almost fainted.
Dinner at Sci Fi Dine In. So much fun! Such a cute theme! Great attention to details. Wonderful food, as well. I had the reuben sandwich. DH had a burger and fries. DD had popcorn chicken and a shake. Loved it all! I saw reviews about horrible food there, but we loved everything. Expected 50s diner-type food, and that's what we got but it was very tasty. Perfect timing, as a thunderstorm came rolling through just as we walked in the door.
Sci-Fi Dine-In
Our car for dinner at SFDIFantasma was very intense for kids under 8, so be warned. My DD of 6-1/2 was almost tearful when Mickey was being chased by demons and snakes. It was very intense for her.
I will say about 50% of the time CMs were checking FP times when you returned. Most of the time they simply took your ticket and let you in. I heard it was 'always enforced' but apparently they weren't always enforcing it when we were there. This happened in all four parks.
Our least favorite park was AK. Seemed like there wasn't a lot for our DD to do. Easily done by lunch time. Planned for that, and used that time to swim in our resort pool and shop at Downtown Disney.
Our resort was nothing short of perfect. Every detail was thought of, every need taken care of. I even loved the laundry room being next to the pool so I could throw a load in and swim and then climb out and throw it in the dryer. Excellent! Our room was clean, well-air conditioned, and every single item was in perfect repair. The pillows were great, the mattresses comfortable. The walls must have been very well-insulated, because we heard NOTHING while we were there. We were in building 1, facing the gardens not the pool (my request since the pools are active 24 hours a day). We were also on the top floor (my request).
Cozy Cone pool @ AOA
Little touches make all the difference
Parents room in Family Suite (locking door)
We arrived at 8:00 a.m. expecting to have them stow our luggage so we could go to Epcot. Instead, they handed us the keys to our room -- 7 hours early! This was the kind of treatment we were continuously enjoying while at Art of Animation. We deliberately ate at off times -- 10:30 lunch, 4:15 dinners -- to plan for crowds, and it worked perfectly for us, both in our resort and in the parks. Never had more than 3-4 people in line ahead of us. Never had to struggle to find a table. It all came down to timing and planning IMO.
I was absolutely blown away by the attentiveness of the lifeguards at our resort. They didn't sit. They paced and checked the bottom of the pool continually. A little boy started struggling, and one dove in and dragged him out. Dad apologized profusely for about 20 minutes, mom was highly upset with inattentive dad and let him have it in front of the entire crowd at the pool, but the kid was okay. The lifeguard was amazing. I saw it happening and before I could even react, she was already dragging him out.
Spent some time in the arcade at AOA and DD got some really cute prizes for not very many points on her card. Even their arcade prizes are themed to the resort. Very cute.
Didn't buy a $15 mug. Didn't get why that would be a good deal for us. We had a fridge, brought drinks. People kept asking us why we didn't have a mug. I don't get the appeal. For my family, we didn't need $45 worth of small plastic refillable mugs.
Our dining table in our room. Highly recommend family suite if you can budget itI can't wait to go back. This was the perfect vacation for my family. Not a single complaint! Highly recommend Art of Animation resort.
Am sitting here today making arrangements to go for a 7-day trip next year!
