Trip Report Nov 2022, the Old Devotees go back after 13 years-Updated Part 2

Hello all, this TR will be fully forthcoming when we get back and Thanksgiving is over but some initial thoughts. We were former devotees who went 2x per year for YEARS. We switched to Europe and elsewhere about 13 years ago. we are here now For first time since then. Initial thoughts:

1. The park hopping system STINKS. Waiting until 2 for deluxe especially? Awful.
2. Crowds crowds crowds. Never again during party nights at MK. We went last night for a romantic walk around AK before close. Horrible! All the people skipping MVMCP were pushed out to places like this, what a mess.
3. CMs have been terrific everywhere.
4. Thrill of victory, agony of defeat overall.

Anyway more later, just some initial thoughts. Will have a lot more to say pro and con later. Cheers

 

[ceecee101]

Ok continued. Packed up, checked out of Swan, had luggage transferred to CR (gave a nice tip). Can’t recall and have crummy notes about what we did at HS though I do know we got one Genie+ for MF and that was fun. Again though having to wait around after booking our next for MMRR. Even with Genie+ on that the wait was long and for us not worth it. Going to sound like a repetitive old crab but we missed the Movie Ride. Had lunch just some take out somewhere and eventually got to CR to check in, WONDERFUL!!! We had only done CL there years ago but it was even better. Our room was pretty much next to the lounge itself so no walking forever down a long hallway just to get some water. And what a great view! So we just hung out, had appetizers and wine for dinner and watched the fireworks from our balcony that faced MK. Was lovely and very nice to get away from the crowded parks.

 

[ceecee101]

Next Day-Epcot last day of F&W, are we crazy? And then MK at night
Yes we were nuts and had made a PR for Epcot on the last day of F&W. we took the monorail, and When we got there front of park was packed but WS had opened. We had a LL for Remy which we hadn’t done yet so we wandered WS and it was relatively quiet EXCEPT for any rides—no chance to even get on the Mexico ride. This was one day where because WS was relatively quiet we were able to get some great Memory Maker photos. This was also the day I started having a mild stomach issue. Searching for something like a banana or toast took us all the way back to the Land, which came to the rescue. Know we can always find something there. Helped settle stomach just in time for Remy. I was not impressed. DH liked better than me but again wouldn’t do again.
Back to CR as we had an ADR at Steakhouse. Given my uneven stomach had something plain, can’t remember maybe pasta. DH had burger. It was all so-so. If we ever went back we would eat in the Lounge instead, much quieter in there and better atmosphere.
back upstairs for a nice rest as MK open tonight without the party. Know it will be crowded.
And…it was. We had our drinks and apps at the CR CL which was great. Then back to MK and knew, uh-oh. We did get Pirates, Thunder and Jungle but no way could we get anything on Genie+ for the other side of the park which was too bad as we ended up missing some of the old time favorites. Oh well. It was so crowded that even the LL queue for Thunder had switchbacks and ran halfway down the Splash bridge. Insanity! Tried to do the railroad which had just reopenEd this week but just too crowded. So we left. Even that was an adventure. This was BEFORE fireworks and we had to be taken out the back so we got our own mini back stage tour along with hundreds of others trying to leave because couldn’t get down Main Street. Pretty awful.
Happy to get back to CR and sit on the deck and watch fireworks. BTW we thought these were much better than the Xmas party fireworks which we got to compare from our deck those last three nights. Continued next post

 

[Tuvalu]

The railroad train was just testing. It has still not reopened yet, so you didn’t miss an opportunity to ride.

 

[ceecee101]

Last park day, ending on a bummer
well my stomach issue? Yeah middle of the night puke. Fortunately I have some miracle medication that stops all puking within 5 minutes so took that and went back to sleep. Today was supposed to be MK but we also woke up to rain! Guess we had been lucky, nary a drop the whole trip. Anyway I decided not to push it so rain+some sensitive stomach=no park for me. DH decided to brave it so I got him a Genie+ for Space so he could do that side of the park. Sadly I would miss it including People Mover and CoP, favorites! Best thing about CL—perfect if you’re not feeling great. Got some plain toast, banana, etc. Took back to room. DH left to head over. maid came in, gave her the tip for having taken care of us and actually helped her with the room a bit. Such a sweet lady and she wanted to chat which we did. she left, I noticed a HUGE cloudburst of rain and thought poor DH though he had his rain parka, heavy duty. I pretty much just read and watched football. He shows up later, DRENCHED. He had to walk back as monorail too packed. We packed, just hung out and watched fireworks from the deck. No photos for this day.
I forgot to mention the night before when we were coming back on the monorail from MK I gave up my seat to a man more elderly who was with his family. Told him since we were the first stop I would stand and he could have my seat. He was, I thought, grateful but when we were getting off he said Happy Thanksgiving and the he proceeded to berate me for wearing a mask! After I had given my seat up for him. I can tell you DH was glad we were getting off as I am not one to let that go, I have health reasons for masking. Anyway nothing said and we got off but it was like, seriously? Is this what WDW is like now, some older man feels he needs to blast me for having a mask on.
Anyway I will have a longer list of final thoughts and why we won’t be back for awhile, if ever, though we will go to DL again. Very sad In many ways, but Ok in others. Glad we did go back to see but right now would rather have the money back! Lol. Never felt once in all those years of going 2x per year that I wanted to leave and just go home but we both felt this way.
So Monday just flew home, funny thing happened, a good friend from home was passing through DFW at the same time as we were so going opposite directions so we had a short visit with him. Otherwise just typical flying home stuff. Happy to get back, see our pets, etc. No post WDW blues. Final thoughts later.

 

[ceecee101]

Final thoughts (sorry taken a bit to finish this)

First I want to say I hope WDW continues to provide all of you years of joy and pixie dust. It used to be that way for us. Alas, no more and I think it will be a long time, if ever that we go back. We will do DL again, we’re only a couple of hours from there and can easily do a day there but our WDW days are, sadly, likely over.

Why? Themes you have seen repeated over and over on this board. Foremost, CROWDS. If Disney thinks by forcing park reservations and Genie+ and LLs and all that they are “managing crowd levels” as they claim they are totally mistaken, this isn’t management, it’s barely contained chaos. To prove this to myself since we hadn’t been back in 13 years after we got home I went through every single year of pictures, starting in 1995 and running through 2009. Trips all different months of the year as we used to go 2x per year. Not one time did I see it even remotely like what we just experienced. Not once. It just made it ridiculous.

Next, due to CROWDS, and because we hadn’t been in 13 years and wanted to see the new rides, we had to be slaves to both park reservations, limits on hopping and GENIE+. This meant we were tied into things all the time, it meant waiting around in one park even if we were done until we could hop, it meant crisscrossing parks back and forth, etc. —well you all know the drill. It took the entire overlay of magic and being in the bubble and ripped the blanket right off. We hated it.

I guess last is COST. It was flipping expensive. We know from the past that it wasn’t going to be cheap but this was just over the top. And there’s nothing like ending a vacation kicking yourself for spending way too much money on something that is extremely disappointing.
So I guess that’s it. Best wishes and dreams for you who still love it. We were devotees for years but no longer. Cheers, C

 

[amjt660]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us


Max