So I will weigh the pros and cons. I'll let you in on it, it is mostly pros. Disney still does the parks well, you can't deny that. I do have some concerns as a lifelong fan of the parks and I will get into that here.
So we did a couple of days at Universal, did both parks. They were great. Crowds were manageable and the lines were shorter than at Magic Kingdom and seemed to flow a lot better. I will say what I have always said before, if you are a Disney fan you still need to check out Universal Studios. For me though Islands of Adventure is superior to Universal Studios. It is one of those "Terminator 2" types of things where the second park is better than the first one. The sequel is better. Universal does rely a little too much on the simulators and the screens. Fast and Furious, Transformers, Jimmy Fallon, Simpsons, etc. It is too much on that side of the park. Men in Black makes you a little dizzy too. Even the Minions ride does. The classics are still good though. E.T., Mummy, great rides. Still the best in the park I think. And that Bourne Stuntacular was pretty good too as a show. Harry Potter Escape from the Gringotts is a great ride.
Islands of Adventure is still arguably the best park outside of Magic Kingdom in Florida. Epcot can certainly be argued too. But the rides are still great, the old ones too, very immersive, great theming. Very well done and the Potter section is still the best part of the park. You get the feeling Universal is going to go full blitz with Epic Universe in 2025. So we'll see.
Onto Magic Kingdom and Disney. So, the world has changed since the last time we were there in 2018. Not in a good way either. I can remember parking and just walking into Disney Springs. Now they have controlled entrances and exits. Plus a metal detector and guards at the entrances. They weren't unfriendly or anything, but it wasn't the welcome that you expect. The Boardwalk still allows people to walk in freely and other than the resorts around the MK lagoon I can't remember metal detectors at the front. But it was still a surprise to me. Then there was the lack of boats at Disney Springs. That had changed. Apparently they ditched the two other docks in Disney Springs in 2020 and then just have the far right go to and from the resorts. So that changed too, again, a different sort of customer service being taken away that you don't expect from Disney. The Boardwalk still had all the boats running though.
So going into Magic Kingdom there was the bag check at the TTC. That took far longer than it should have and I guess it was random because my wife got pegged for a check but I saw plenty of people with bags walk through. Then we take the ferry and get to the gate but my wife did not have her ID. Again, that was new. I had my wallet of course but she didn't. So we get held up a few minutes at the guest services part as they print up some cards for us to get in. I will say that there definitely lacked that classic Disney spirit at the front of the park. The guards weren't polite, and it made you long for the 1990s when all you did was show them a ticket and walk in. It is the paranoid world we live in, so I can't hang all of it on Disney. Heck, some people give this sort of paranoia a thumbs up. I don't. So it did sort of give a bit of a dent to the start of the day. I was not a fan of how they did the Tron thing either. Why not just have a normal line up? This is something I hope is not done for the future. If the line up is 120 minutes then you at least know it. Hey, great ride and all, but I sincerely hope this is not a new thing for Disney to have your phone get a notification.
It was a little sad seeing Splash Mountain gone. And I am not sure how much they are going to alter the Country Bears but it was nice to see the old school show that has the same songs/characters. That is the thing with Disney, there isn't a lot of optimism that they are going to improve the CBJ, and ditto for Splash Mountain. When your guests think an inferior product is going into what they already have then it isn't a good thing.
But onto the good things. We were there from 9am-10pm. Maybe more like 10am though. Still a long day. All of the rides are just like we remember, and our kids are now all old enough to remember things now too. We did NOT use the Genie +. This may be unpopular, but it is not needed. It is a drain on the park and the guests. Here are the big things we didn't do: Peter Pan and Snow White's Mine Train. That's it. Maybe you think Tom Sawyer's Island is big as well as the Liberty Belle Riverboat because we missed those as well. I like those, but it wasn't a big deal breaker. We did everything else. Tron, Space, Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Small World, Mermaid, even the shows like Monsters Inc., CoP, HoP, CBJ, Tiki Birds. Walked around the Swiss Family Treehouse too. Actually saw the daytime parade but because of long lines and some rain that cost us having Thunder close temporarily (we got on it later in the day) we decided to skip the fireworks. Oh, and we were on Winnie the Pooh and I forgot just how horrible that ride loads. For about 5 minutes we didn't even budge. I like the ride, but they were letting the Genie + people in and ignoring the stand by line. So we got off of it and for the last couple of hours did some big names.
By the way, Philharmagic is still the same show but I like the addition of Coco in there. This is the Disney I know. Keep the classics in there, improve on it without cutting it up (like they seem to want to do to the Bears). My son's favourite show was Hall of Presidents. Actually all of our kids loved it. I did too at their age.
So Magic Kingdom is still the best day out there. The best experience and has the best shows/rides that stick with you. Lots of attention to detail and still tons of nostalgia. I worry about the future because I don't think the powers to be want to keep it that way. The best attractions are still the ones Walt had a hand in, even 57 years after his death. There is just that touch that can't be beat.
Here is what I think about Genie +. It is for suckers. People got sucked in thinking they need it. You don't. The 1990s version of peeling through the parks still works. Stick to a section and do it. Make a decision on what is worth waiting and what isn't. Don't waste time walking all over the place. The lines flowed better 30 years ago than they do today. If no one bought it the parks would be better off. Granted I did go on a day that was in between two Halloween parties that had the parks closing at 6pm. However, someone at our resort went the day after us and said the rides were mostly walk ons for the 9-6pm days. The longest wait was 20 minutes for them. So there might be something to that. Anyway, Magic is still the best park but Disney can still be their own worst enemy. Their customer service did lack a bit I felt than what you expect. They can't let that happen. No one wants to see them turn into a Six Flags sort of operation. But they do need to do something about the lines. Go back to the original fastpass or have nothing at all. It would be a better flow. And I still think more dark attractions like in Disneyland is the key to spreading out the lines.
Lastly, the Skyliner is nice. Loved it. It was being erected last time we were there. But the rides are very picturesque. Something good to do if you want to visit the resorts. Which we did. Very Disneyparks-like.
So we did a couple of days at Universal, did both parks. They were great. Crowds were manageable and the lines were shorter than at Magic Kingdom and seemed to flow a lot better. I will say what I have always said before, if you are a Disney fan you still need to check out Universal Studios. For me though Islands of Adventure is superior to Universal Studios. It is one of those "Terminator 2" types of things where the second park is better than the first one. The sequel is better. Universal does rely a little too much on the simulators and the screens. Fast and Furious, Transformers, Jimmy Fallon, Simpsons, etc. It is too much on that side of the park. Men in Black makes you a little dizzy too. Even the Minions ride does. The classics are still good though. E.T., Mummy, great rides. Still the best in the park I think. And that Bourne Stuntacular was pretty good too as a show. Harry Potter Escape from the Gringotts is a great ride.
Islands of Adventure is still arguably the best park outside of Magic Kingdom in Florida. Epcot can certainly be argued too. But the rides are still great, the old ones too, very immersive, great theming. Very well done and the Potter section is still the best part of the park. You get the feeling Universal is going to go full blitz with Epic Universe in 2025. So we'll see.
Onto Magic Kingdom and Disney. So, the world has changed since the last time we were there in 2018. Not in a good way either. I can remember parking and just walking into Disney Springs. Now they have controlled entrances and exits. Plus a metal detector and guards at the entrances. They weren't unfriendly or anything, but it wasn't the welcome that you expect. The Boardwalk still allows people to walk in freely and other than the resorts around the MK lagoon I can't remember metal detectors at the front. But it was still a surprise to me. Then there was the lack of boats at Disney Springs. That had changed. Apparently they ditched the two other docks in Disney Springs in 2020 and then just have the far right go to and from the resorts. So that changed too, again, a different sort of customer service being taken away that you don't expect from Disney. The Boardwalk still had all the boats running though.
So going into Magic Kingdom there was the bag check at the TTC. That took far longer than it should have and I guess it was random because my wife got pegged for a check but I saw plenty of people with bags walk through. Then we take the ferry and get to the gate but my wife did not have her ID. Again, that was new. I had my wallet of course but she didn't. So we get held up a few minutes at the guest services part as they print up some cards for us to get in. I will say that there definitely lacked that classic Disney spirit at the front of the park. The guards weren't polite, and it made you long for the 1990s when all you did was show them a ticket and walk in. It is the paranoid world we live in, so I can't hang all of it on Disney. Heck, some people give this sort of paranoia a thumbs up. I don't. So it did sort of give a bit of a dent to the start of the day. I was not a fan of how they did the Tron thing either. Why not just have a normal line up? This is something I hope is not done for the future. If the line up is 120 minutes then you at least know it. Hey, great ride and all, but I sincerely hope this is not a new thing for Disney to have your phone get a notification.
It was a little sad seeing Splash Mountain gone. And I am not sure how much they are going to alter the Country Bears but it was nice to see the old school show that has the same songs/characters. That is the thing with Disney, there isn't a lot of optimism that they are going to improve the CBJ, and ditto for Splash Mountain. When your guests think an inferior product is going into what they already have then it isn't a good thing.
But onto the good things. We were there from 9am-10pm. Maybe more like 10am though. Still a long day. All of the rides are just like we remember, and our kids are now all old enough to remember things now too. We did NOT use the Genie +. This may be unpopular, but it is not needed. It is a drain on the park and the guests. Here are the big things we didn't do: Peter Pan and Snow White's Mine Train. That's it. Maybe you think Tom Sawyer's Island is big as well as the Liberty Belle Riverboat because we missed those as well. I like those, but it wasn't a big deal breaker. We did everything else. Tron, Space, Thunder, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Small World, Mermaid, even the shows like Monsters Inc., CoP, HoP, CBJ, Tiki Birds. Walked around the Swiss Family Treehouse too. Actually saw the daytime parade but because of long lines and some rain that cost us having Thunder close temporarily (we got on it later in the day) we decided to skip the fireworks. Oh, and we were on Winnie the Pooh and I forgot just how horrible that ride loads. For about 5 minutes we didn't even budge. I like the ride, but they were letting the Genie + people in and ignoring the stand by line. So we got off of it and for the last couple of hours did some big names.
By the way, Philharmagic is still the same show but I like the addition of Coco in there. This is the Disney I know. Keep the classics in there, improve on it without cutting it up (like they seem to want to do to the Bears). My son's favourite show was Hall of Presidents. Actually all of our kids loved it. I did too at their age.
So Magic Kingdom is still the best day out there. The best experience and has the best shows/rides that stick with you. Lots of attention to detail and still tons of nostalgia. I worry about the future because I don't think the powers to be want to keep it that way. The best attractions are still the ones Walt had a hand in, even 57 years after his death. There is just that touch that can't be beat.
Here is what I think about Genie +. It is for suckers. People got sucked in thinking they need it. You don't. The 1990s version of peeling through the parks still works. Stick to a section and do it. Make a decision on what is worth waiting and what isn't. Don't waste time walking all over the place. The lines flowed better 30 years ago than they do today. If no one bought it the parks would be better off. Granted I did go on a day that was in between two Halloween parties that had the parks closing at 6pm. However, someone at our resort went the day after us and said the rides were mostly walk ons for the 9-6pm days. The longest wait was 20 minutes for them. So there might be something to that. Anyway, Magic is still the best park but Disney can still be their own worst enemy. Their customer service did lack a bit I felt than what you expect. They can't let that happen. No one wants to see them turn into a Six Flags sort of operation. But they do need to do something about the lines. Go back to the original fastpass or have nothing at all. It would be a better flow. And I still think more dark attractions like in Disneyland is the key to spreading out the lines.
Lastly, the Skyliner is nice. Loved it. It was being erected last time we were there. But the rides are very picturesque. Something good to do if you want to visit the resorts. Which we did. Very Disneyparks-like.
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