Let me start by letting you know that this was our 11th trip to Disney World, however it was our first in January. This was done since my daughter is now in college and finals are going on during our normal trip times in May. Also along for the trip was my wonderful wife, my 13 y/o son and my daughters "boyfriend" for his first trip to Disney. Since we had five people this time and I did not feel like handing over 2 months of my mortgage for a family suite on grounds, we unfortunately ended up staying off grounds for the first time. I don't know if that affected the magic for me but I will never stay off grounds again. Too much travel time. FYI we stayed in a 2 bedroom condo at Staybridge Suites which is a good neighbor hotel. It was very clean and staff was very nice but you just do not get that magical feel that you get while in the World.
Let me preface this report by saying we obviously love Disney World. I am not however, one of those people that have that glassy eyed look with the rose colored glasses that we all see walking around the parks.
First the positives:
Cast Members were once again very friendly. Even though it is shameful what most of these people are payed, they obviously love Disney and it shows.
The parks as usual were clean, bright and magical. Epcot may be the best place on this earth. Especially, right after Illuminations when the park is emptying out and you can sit down with the warm breeze on your face and listen to Tapestry of Nations. Or how about sitting in Adventureland eating a dole whip after the crowds have done the post Wishes run for the ferry. Come on, you all know the feeling I am talking about.
The weather was great. Most days in the eighties which is saying alot since we live in Wisconsin.
Now the not so positives:
Crowds: I picked this week for advertised low crowd levels between the Holidays and the Marathon. Most websites reported 2-3 crowds out of 10 which is typical of our May or October trips. Wow, were those reports wrong. I have never seen so many touring groups in my life. I even asked a castmember at Hollywood Studios why it was so crowded and she had no idea where all the people were coming from. Castmembers looking for a post Holiday break looked shell shocked. I am not sure, but it is my guess that every school from South America must have booked a Disney World vacation last week.
New fantasyland: I have been following the construction on this website for over two years and could not wait to see it in person. It is very nice to look at, but honestly, we spent less than an hour in this area. I understand that my kids are not small anymore, but there is not alot to do here. We went to Beast Castle for lunch at 1:30 and still ended up waiting in line for an hour to get in. It is great to look at but honestly the food is somewhat average. We got a fastpass for Ariel and it was nice. Both kids mentioned it was the Nemo ride with a little mermaid. We tried to get into Belle but wait times were still over an hour at park close. We walked through the Circus area but again wait times were crazy for Dumbo. My overall impression was pretty average. I really, really, really wanted to love it, but for two+ years of construction and millions of dollars, it is my opinion that it may have been better to put two E ticket rides in there. Or bring back the subs.
Cost: Holy Moly. The last time we went to Disney World was October of 2010. We stayed at the Carribbean Resort, had free Disney dining and purchased seven day tickets for less than $2,300. Taking the boyfriend out of the equation and purchasing the exact same set up this time would have been over $800 more. That does not include the increase in air fare. For the amount of money we went through this time, I could have taken us all to Hawaii for two weeks.
So there you go. My first ever trip report. Alot of positives on this trip, but some pretty big negatives that I have never had for a trip to Disney World. I will be very careful next time on choosing which time of year we go and if prices keep going up, we may need to start picking a different destination.
Let me preface this report by saying we obviously love Disney World. I am not however, one of those people that have that glassy eyed look with the rose colored glasses that we all see walking around the parks.
First the positives:
Cast Members were once again very friendly. Even though it is shameful what most of these people are payed, they obviously love Disney and it shows.
The parks as usual were clean, bright and magical. Epcot may be the best place on this earth. Especially, right after Illuminations when the park is emptying out and you can sit down with the warm breeze on your face and listen to Tapestry of Nations. Or how about sitting in Adventureland eating a dole whip after the crowds have done the post Wishes run for the ferry. Come on, you all know the feeling I am talking about.
The weather was great. Most days in the eighties which is saying alot since we live in Wisconsin.
Now the not so positives:
Crowds: I picked this week for advertised low crowd levels between the Holidays and the Marathon. Most websites reported 2-3 crowds out of 10 which is typical of our May or October trips. Wow, were those reports wrong. I have never seen so many touring groups in my life. I even asked a castmember at Hollywood Studios why it was so crowded and she had no idea where all the people were coming from. Castmembers looking for a post Holiday break looked shell shocked. I am not sure, but it is my guess that every school from South America must have booked a Disney World vacation last week.
New fantasyland: I have been following the construction on this website for over two years and could not wait to see it in person. It is very nice to look at, but honestly, we spent less than an hour in this area. I understand that my kids are not small anymore, but there is not alot to do here. We went to Beast Castle for lunch at 1:30 and still ended up waiting in line for an hour to get in. It is great to look at but honestly the food is somewhat average. We got a fastpass for Ariel and it was nice. Both kids mentioned it was the Nemo ride with a little mermaid. We tried to get into Belle but wait times were still over an hour at park close. We walked through the Circus area but again wait times were crazy for Dumbo. My overall impression was pretty average. I really, really, really wanted to love it, but for two+ years of construction and millions of dollars, it is my opinion that it may have been better to put two E ticket rides in there. Or bring back the subs.
Cost: Holy Moly. The last time we went to Disney World was October of 2010. We stayed at the Carribbean Resort, had free Disney dining and purchased seven day tickets for less than $2,300. Taking the boyfriend out of the equation and purchasing the exact same set up this time would have been over $800 more. That does not include the increase in air fare. For the amount of money we went through this time, I could have taken us all to Hawaii for two weeks.
So there you go. My first ever trip report. Alot of positives on this trip, but some pretty big negatives that I have never had for a trip to Disney World. I will be very careful next time on choosing which time of year we go and if prices keep going up, we may need to start picking a different destination.
