Well ladies and gentlemen, got back from our wonderful two weeks in Orlando on Friday and thought I'd bore you senseless with my holiday (vacation to you) ramblings on the various parks. This year Mrs Merg and I had 3 of our friends over too, so we had the added pleasure of introducing them to Disney and Universal and they loved them both.
Magic Kingdom
Visited on 4 separate occasions with no real issues or complaints other than Thunder Mountain being down on the day we had FP's for it. Was pleasantly surprised how relatively quiet the park was (with the exception of the Saturday night firework show) which meant with a bit of common sense we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything. Those with lines beyond 20 mins were either FP'd already or done early morning on another day so we easily did everything we wanted during our visit. Our three first time guests were absolutely blown away by the beauty and cleanliness of the place, along with the friendliness of the cast members. We didn't see any trash on the monorails, no attractions falling apart, suffered no tour groups chanting or noticed any light bulbs not working. The Jungle Cruise had great captains on all three rides including a lovely young lady captain who managed to go through her entire joke compilation during the ten minute delay not moving after boarding and departing the dock for unknown reasons, she knocked it out of the park.
Also discovered a new treat in Tomorrowland, a mixed icee sold underneath the people mover. It's a brown/green colour and is even better than the old blue or red options which was hard to believe. Our guests tried various snacks whilst there and even seemed happy to pay for snacks like hot dogs and fries without complaining about the cost. We took them to The Crystal Palace character breakfast one morning too and they absolutely loved it. They loved the character interaction and had photos with all of them and it made my day seeing three adults forgetting they were grown up for a few minutes and talking to and hugging Pooh and friends, a lovely moment.
The downside was leaving the MK on Saturday night when it shut at 10pm following the 9pm fireworks. We did Buzz with a FP around 9:45pm and then grabbed a drink in the hope that killing some time would allow more guests to disappear before heading to the TTC. It took us over an hour from the queue for the ferry to reach our car but it was a fair price to pay to see the fireworks I guess, I just wish people didn't behave like jerks in the ferry queue by pushing and shoving so much.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Always been one of my favourite parks and I was dying to see Glalaxy's Edge and the new parking lot and road structure there. After booking our trip 10 months ago it was announced that Galaxy's Edge would be opening 2 weeks after we arrived. Staying off property and after expecting huge crowds descending upon The Studios, we'd decided to book a 1 night stay at Disney in order to take advantage of the extra early 6am entry into the park which as it turned out wasn't necessary. We and our friends had our 1 night stay 5 days into the trip however on day 1 after dropping Mrs Merg at Walmart for a few hours I ventured in to The Studios at around 8:40am on my own to see what was what and wandered straight into Galaxy's Edge and rode the Falcon 3 times with a 5-10 minute wait through the single rider queue each time.
We kept our Disney reservation anyway and that morning got there for 6am precisely and entered the park. To be honest even though I'd done it a few days before on my own, it was great the 5 of us going in and seeing the excitement and anticipation on the others faces. The Disney cast members were also great at building the anticipation and encouraged cheering as the early morning mob marched in and entered GE. After all the 'criticism' on here all I can say is that we loved it. We knew ROTR wasn't open anyway and we enjoyed MFSR for what it was, Mrs Merg especially loved seeing the Falcon for the first time and had numerous pictures taken in front of it. One of our friends built a droid as we watched and squealed with excitement as it came to 'life'. The other one built a light saber and thought that a brilliant experience as he's a self confessed 'Star Wars nerd'. We all thoroughly enjoyed the land and I find it odd that it receives so much criticism on here. We interacted with both Chewie and Storm Troopers in a fun way though there were some characters such as Rey who just seemed to walk around doing very little. The shops there were interesting and the cantina was fun though overpriced, we just enjoyed ourselves there and it felt like Star Wars to me despite many saying it doesn't?
We got on Slinky with a 25 minute standby wait and did everything else at The Studios over our 3 visits. Did the Frozen singalong 3 times as well after never doing it till this trip and find it an absolute gem of a show, mainly down to the actors who play the historians who were hilarious. A big shout out to 'Equity Ben' who we saw twice, he was made for this role and came across as such a lovely, funny guy. My girls 'Betty Shambles' and 'Evie Starlight' were both working the streets (no, not like that!!!!!!!) and as usual their interactions were superb. It's a shame that the Citizens of Hollywood were reduced in numbers however a friend of Evie's has said that they're going back to the full compliment in the next few days which is great to hear.
Also forgot to mention the lovely lady Grace at the medical bay. I became 'unwell' during one particularly hot day whilst there and ended up having to sit on the floor due to feeling dizzy. Shortly after a CM brought over a wheelchair (thank you) and took me to the medical bay near the entrance. I was helped in, given ice water and offered a bed in an air conditioned room. After a few minutes I improved enough to open my eyes and Grace took great care of me. She checked my blood pressure and temperature and before I left gave me an ice pack for my neck, she was an absolute angel. A few days later when we visited The Studios again, we popped in to thank her personally. Mrs Merg also wrote a thank you for her supervisor which we gave to her. She chatted to us both for a while and asked us to pop in to see her when we return next year (hopefully not ill though) and gave us both a big hug before we left, what a lady.
Epcot
Lots of construction going on at Epcot right now which does unfortunately mean that the beauty of this park is currently not what it was, but what can you do. Really miss the fountain and club cool (would have love to introduce our friends to Beverley), but it's still an enjoyable park. Nemo, The Land, Soarin, Journey, Test Track and Mission Space were all enjoyed by our group. Tried the Pixar Short movies for the first time this year and fell in love with the short 'Piper' about the baby bird, a very sweet little presentation.
Food & Wine was in full flow and we sampled our way around the countries enjoying a number of offerings. It's kind of a shame that some of the food samples are so small but hey it's Disney, what more did we expect. I've also got to say that the Guardians of the Galaxy building doesn't look anywhere near as ab as some make out on here. I even asked our new visitors if there was anything that stood out as 'unsightly' from World Showcase looking back towards Future World and other than the construction fences they had no clue what I was talking about.
Animal Kingdom
Just did the one visit to the AK this year, not because we don't enjoy it but just because we were doing other things on other days. Rode Flight of Passage for the first time and wow, what an attraction!!!! Also experienced 'Rivers of Light' for the first time and whilst enjoyable, is probably the weakest of Disney's night time offerings. It just seems to not quite deliver, leads you up to expecting something special but then never quite gets you there. I don't know how to explain it any better than that.
The Safari was as brilliant as ever, including a giraffe that decided to stand in the rode and go to the toilet whilst blocking us. It was quite amusing with our driver saying "When you gotta go, you gotta go" whilst various noises and smells circulated around us. Everest had a 10 minute single rider line so I rode it 3 times whilst Mrs Merg enjoyed a coffee and of course 'disco yeti' isn't an issue for me as I ride it for the thrill rather than the animatronic. Our friends thought it had actually moved till I pointed out it hadn't, but there you go (and yes, it was better when it actually worked before I get death threats).
Universal Studios (Halloween Horror Nights)
My gosh, I love Halloween Horror Nights. All 5 of us had bought a Frequent Fear Pass for this event and we went 3 times so we could do all 10 houses, the AOV show along with some rides. As usual it was great fun. One of our friends is a screamer (again, no not like that!!!!!) and despite me forewarning her that will just attract more scareactors in the scare zones, she screamed. This meant a lot of attention for her and a lot of headaches for us. I usually find the none IP houses can be better than the IP ones and this year was no exception. In fairness Ghost Busters was great with the Yeti one coming in at number two. The Academy of Villains show this year was tremendous, better than last years which whilst very good wasn't as great as this one. We all squirmed at the guy twisting his arms the wrong way and some of the shadow imagery was back to it's original very best. We saw it 3 times and never got tired of it, there's just so much going on and it's all so slick.
Almost witnessed an incident escalating in one of the scare zones when some guy decided he was going to scream " F You" into the face of a scareactor trying to do her job of scaring him. Security intervened and explained to him that he couldn't do that and his response to them was "She comes near me and she faces the consequences". Some people really are jerks and as we walked on he was being asked to step to one side to "continue the discussion more privately" which I took to mean he was being thrown out.
More screaming ensued whilst riding Rip Ride Rockit Coaster followed by a huge meal at Cowfish on City Walk.
So in summary
A great holiday as usual, spent with some great friends. It was lovely introducing them to Orlando and all it has to offer. As well as Disney and Universal we took them to Celebration, various premium outlet malls and my wife's favourite shop, Walmart (go figure?). Had a barbecue one evening at their resort and went boating on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon from the Contemporary Resort marina, along with a couple of visits to Disney Springs. Galaxy's Edge was extremely fun, a shame that we didn't experience ROTR this year but there's next years visit to enjoy that on. For those still reading, do you seriously have this much spare time on your hands and thanks
Magic Kingdom
Visited on 4 separate occasions with no real issues or complaints other than Thunder Mountain being down on the day we had FP's for it. Was pleasantly surprised how relatively quiet the park was (with the exception of the Saturday night firework show) which meant with a bit of common sense we didn't wait longer than 20 minutes for anything. Those with lines beyond 20 mins were either FP'd already or done early morning on another day so we easily did everything we wanted during our visit. Our three first time guests were absolutely blown away by the beauty and cleanliness of the place, along with the friendliness of the cast members. We didn't see any trash on the monorails, no attractions falling apart, suffered no tour groups chanting or noticed any light bulbs not working. The Jungle Cruise had great captains on all three rides including a lovely young lady captain who managed to go through her entire joke compilation during the ten minute delay not moving after boarding and departing the dock for unknown reasons, she knocked it out of the park.
Also discovered a new treat in Tomorrowland, a mixed icee sold underneath the people mover. It's a brown/green colour and is even better than the old blue or red options which was hard to believe. Our guests tried various snacks whilst there and even seemed happy to pay for snacks like hot dogs and fries without complaining about the cost. We took them to The Crystal Palace character breakfast one morning too and they absolutely loved it. They loved the character interaction and had photos with all of them and it made my day seeing three adults forgetting they were grown up for a few minutes and talking to and hugging Pooh and friends, a lovely moment.
The downside was leaving the MK on Saturday night when it shut at 10pm following the 9pm fireworks. We did Buzz with a FP around 9:45pm and then grabbed a drink in the hope that killing some time would allow more guests to disappear before heading to the TTC. It took us over an hour from the queue for the ferry to reach our car but it was a fair price to pay to see the fireworks I guess, I just wish people didn't behave like jerks in the ferry queue by pushing and shoving so much.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Always been one of my favourite parks and I was dying to see Glalaxy's Edge and the new parking lot and road structure there. After booking our trip 10 months ago it was announced that Galaxy's Edge would be opening 2 weeks after we arrived. Staying off property and after expecting huge crowds descending upon The Studios, we'd decided to book a 1 night stay at Disney in order to take advantage of the extra early 6am entry into the park which as it turned out wasn't necessary. We and our friends had our 1 night stay 5 days into the trip however on day 1 after dropping Mrs Merg at Walmart for a few hours I ventured in to The Studios at around 8:40am on my own to see what was what and wandered straight into Galaxy's Edge and rode the Falcon 3 times with a 5-10 minute wait through the single rider queue each time.
We kept our Disney reservation anyway and that morning got there for 6am precisely and entered the park. To be honest even though I'd done it a few days before on my own, it was great the 5 of us going in and seeing the excitement and anticipation on the others faces. The Disney cast members were also great at building the anticipation and encouraged cheering as the early morning mob marched in and entered GE. After all the 'criticism' on here all I can say is that we loved it. We knew ROTR wasn't open anyway and we enjoyed MFSR for what it was, Mrs Merg especially loved seeing the Falcon for the first time and had numerous pictures taken in front of it. One of our friends built a droid as we watched and squealed with excitement as it came to 'life'. The other one built a light saber and thought that a brilliant experience as he's a self confessed 'Star Wars nerd'. We all thoroughly enjoyed the land and I find it odd that it receives so much criticism on here. We interacted with both Chewie and Storm Troopers in a fun way though there were some characters such as Rey who just seemed to walk around doing very little. The shops there were interesting and the cantina was fun though overpriced, we just enjoyed ourselves there and it felt like Star Wars to me despite many saying it doesn't?
We got on Slinky with a 25 minute standby wait and did everything else at The Studios over our 3 visits. Did the Frozen singalong 3 times as well after never doing it till this trip and find it an absolute gem of a show, mainly down to the actors who play the historians who were hilarious. A big shout out to 'Equity Ben' who we saw twice, he was made for this role and came across as such a lovely, funny guy. My girls 'Betty Shambles' and 'Evie Starlight' were both working the streets (no, not like that!!!!!!!) and as usual their interactions were superb. It's a shame that the Citizens of Hollywood were reduced in numbers however a friend of Evie's has said that they're going back to the full compliment in the next few days which is great to hear.
Also forgot to mention the lovely lady Grace at the medical bay. I became 'unwell' during one particularly hot day whilst there and ended up having to sit on the floor due to feeling dizzy. Shortly after a CM brought over a wheelchair (thank you) and took me to the medical bay near the entrance. I was helped in, given ice water and offered a bed in an air conditioned room. After a few minutes I improved enough to open my eyes and Grace took great care of me. She checked my blood pressure and temperature and before I left gave me an ice pack for my neck, she was an absolute angel. A few days later when we visited The Studios again, we popped in to thank her personally. Mrs Merg also wrote a thank you for her supervisor which we gave to her. She chatted to us both for a while and asked us to pop in to see her when we return next year (hopefully not ill though) and gave us both a big hug before we left, what a lady.
Epcot
Lots of construction going on at Epcot right now which does unfortunately mean that the beauty of this park is currently not what it was, but what can you do. Really miss the fountain and club cool (would have love to introduce our friends to Beverley), but it's still an enjoyable park. Nemo, The Land, Soarin, Journey, Test Track and Mission Space were all enjoyed by our group. Tried the Pixar Short movies for the first time this year and fell in love with the short 'Piper' about the baby bird, a very sweet little presentation.
Food & Wine was in full flow and we sampled our way around the countries enjoying a number of offerings. It's kind of a shame that some of the food samples are so small but hey it's Disney, what more did we expect. I've also got to say that the Guardians of the Galaxy building doesn't look anywhere near as ab as some make out on here. I even asked our new visitors if there was anything that stood out as 'unsightly' from World Showcase looking back towards Future World and other than the construction fences they had no clue what I was talking about.
Animal Kingdom
Just did the one visit to the AK this year, not because we don't enjoy it but just because we were doing other things on other days. Rode Flight of Passage for the first time and wow, what an attraction!!!! Also experienced 'Rivers of Light' for the first time and whilst enjoyable, is probably the weakest of Disney's night time offerings. It just seems to not quite deliver, leads you up to expecting something special but then never quite gets you there. I don't know how to explain it any better than that.
The Safari was as brilliant as ever, including a giraffe that decided to stand in the rode and go to the toilet whilst blocking us. It was quite amusing with our driver saying "When you gotta go, you gotta go" whilst various noises and smells circulated around us. Everest had a 10 minute single rider line so I rode it 3 times whilst Mrs Merg enjoyed a coffee and of course 'disco yeti' isn't an issue for me as I ride it for the thrill rather than the animatronic. Our friends thought it had actually moved till I pointed out it hadn't, but there you go (and yes, it was better when it actually worked before I get death threats).
Universal Studios (Halloween Horror Nights)
My gosh, I love Halloween Horror Nights. All 5 of us had bought a Frequent Fear Pass for this event and we went 3 times so we could do all 10 houses, the AOV show along with some rides. As usual it was great fun. One of our friends is a screamer (again, no not like that!!!!!) and despite me forewarning her that will just attract more scareactors in the scare zones, she screamed. This meant a lot of attention for her and a lot of headaches for us. I usually find the none IP houses can be better than the IP ones and this year was no exception. In fairness Ghost Busters was great with the Yeti one coming in at number two. The Academy of Villains show this year was tremendous, better than last years which whilst very good wasn't as great as this one. We all squirmed at the guy twisting his arms the wrong way and some of the shadow imagery was back to it's original very best. We saw it 3 times and never got tired of it, there's just so much going on and it's all so slick.
Almost witnessed an incident escalating in one of the scare zones when some guy decided he was going to scream " F You" into the face of a scareactor trying to do her job of scaring him. Security intervened and explained to him that he couldn't do that and his response to them was "She comes near me and she faces the consequences". Some people really are jerks and as we walked on he was being asked to step to one side to "continue the discussion more privately" which I took to mean he was being thrown out.
More screaming ensued whilst riding Rip Ride Rockit Coaster followed by a huge meal at Cowfish on City Walk.
So in summary
A great holiday as usual, spent with some great friends. It was lovely introducing them to Orlando and all it has to offer. As well as Disney and Universal we took them to Celebration, various premium outlet malls and my wife's favourite shop, Walmart (go figure?). Had a barbecue one evening at their resort and went boating on Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon from the Contemporary Resort marina, along with a couple of visits to Disney Springs. Galaxy's Edge was extremely fun, a shame that we didn't experience ROTR this year but there's next years visit to enjoy that on. For those still reading, do you seriously have this much spare time on your hands and thanks
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3-5 possibly? Would this be allowed ?
Enjoyed your comments about each park. (Sorry to hear that you had a bit of heat exhaustion, but happy to read that the CMs in the medical area were so helpful, and you felt better.) Agree with your review of FOP, Na'vi, and Kilimanjaro Safaris. (Na'vi was pretty, but I felt lacked any story, etc.)
