Ongoing trip report (1/1 - 1/7)

Hi all
I'm currently down in WDW, and I thought I'd post my first ever trip report while I'm actually down here. I'm going to be posting each day's report in a new post, and adding it to the main post. These posts will include updates that I noticed since my most recent trip (Summer 2006) and my Christmas trip last year. I apologize if I cover items that have already been mentioned by others. So without further ado...

1/1 - Day One
My family and I left Atlanta at about 600 in the morning and made it to WDW at ~100 in the afternoon. The weather and an excessive amount of cops made the trip down a little slower than normal.

When we got here, we checked into ASMo and grabbed a quick bite to eat. A couple notes here:
- It seems like the Christmas tree configuration has moved. The tree that used to sit in the main hallway (between the gift shop and the main lobby) has been removed.
- The main pool is under refurb. Not sure when it comes back

The first priority was to head on over to Epcot to check out Wonders of Life (among other things). Thankfully, it was open, so my bro and I went on Body Wars (two pods were running, and our pod was 1/2 full) and took a crap load of photos to remember the place. I also finally found the hidden Mickey in the Body Wars mural, with some help from the girl working the BW entrance.

Next stop, El Rio Del Tiempo. We had to get one last spin on this memorable gem before it changes. For the first time in a long time, nobody in my family even thought about taking a picture on the ride. We just soaked it all up.

Ironically, the Three Caliberros were standing in the walkway between Mexico and Norway when we approached the temple. When we went on the ride, the line actually wound through the entire queue and stretched into the marketplace. I was shocked, to say the least. By the time we got back, the line was pretty much gone.

My bro and I then headed on over to MGM to attempt a ride on RNRC before it went under refurb. Unfortunately, the standby queue was 60+ mins, and rain and technical difficulties made waiting even more tedious and annoying. We finally gave up and bailed, which was nice because it gave us a chance to return to Epcot to experience some of the Future World stuff that closes at 700pm. Here's a summary:
- The two new flavors in Club Cool (I forgot their names) were tasty. They weren't nearly as good as Mezzo Mix, but what drink honestly is?
- We then hit Figment, which had no wait at all. We noticed a new room in the queue (as noted by Chape's 12-30 World Update).
- Next, we caught Living With The Land right before the queue was cut off. I thought the pre-recorded spiels were decent, and the boat throughput seemed much higher than before. My only complaint is that the "We are watching you" monitors were too obvious and took away from the ride a little.

The next big deal was finally seeing the new Nemo ride. With one single exception, I was blown away. The new Living Seas entrance is awesome, and I'm extremely glad to see the waves back. The queue was pretty darn good too. The ride itself was much more detailed and creative than I ever imagined. No video you'll ever see will cover everything this attraction has to offer. The anglerfish didn't appear to be working fully, but I got the general idea of his actual movement pattern (although I'd love to see it in action). My only complaint is one that has been noted on this board, and others: After going through the detailed queue that takes you from a beach down into an underwater environment, you can see clearly into Seabase right before you board your Clammobile, which shoots the theming all to hell. A simple wall with a door, or curtain will do wonders here.

We didn't do a whole lot after that. Since it was nighttime, we took pics of WoL when it was actually illuminated and didn't look completely shut down. We then hit Mission Space and Norway, and I took a ton of nighttime pics on our way out.

Tomorrow: AK in the morning, followed by some MK hotel-age (<3 the Poly), then MK until close. I can't wait...

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Keep those updates coming

 

[b-rian91]

When does Rockin Roller Coaster go under referb. and how long?

 

[wdwmagic]

Thanks for the report!

 

[wdwmagic]

When does Rockin Roller Coaster go under referb. and how long?

Check out http://www.wdwmagic.com/rehabs.htm

 

[LouDisney]

Can't wait to read more

 

[dxwwf3]

Glad you got to see WoL and El Rio one last time. That's the biggest reason I wanted to go to Epcot for NYE to see those two things.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Looks like I missed a day because my internet connection is sketchy. I'm using a Verizon 3G wireless card, and my reception isn't great at Pop Century, but I didn't have any problems at ASMovies at all. Hopefully I can get enough signal to make daily updates for the rest of the trip...

1/2 - Day Two

Today can only be described by three words: Rain, Strange, and Double. Rain because it rained for most of the day, strange because some strange things happened (more on that below), and double because I was able to hit Everest, TTA (big accomplishment, I know), HM, and Pirates twice on this strange, busy day.

We started off by hitting AK in the morning. As soon as the park opened, my bro and I ran to Everest for a quick ride, then got FP tickets for my whole family. Then, my bro and I went to Primeval Whirl, and my family hit Dinosaur, lunch at Pizzafari, and Everest again. Riding Everest immediately after lunch wasn't the best idea either

After we hit Everest, it started raining, and pretty much rained for the rest of the day. This made for a pretty unique safari trip, which I can't say I've ever experienced before.

When we were at AK, we got a couple "dreams" from the YOMD celebration. While waiting in line for Primeval Whirl, my bro and I each got a pair of the Million Dreams MouseEars. We're not going to wear them, but it was still pretty cool to get a pair of em (I haven't seen many of them on my trip thus far). While we were eating lunch at Pizzafari, a CM gave my mom one of those pin packs where you're supposed to keep one and give one to someone else. I suspect every CM is supposed to randomly hand out some items for the YOMD celebration, and not just YOMD officials (which is who handed out the ears).

Our dreams pretty much ended there since the weather was miserable for the rest of the day. Ha. Just when we thought the rain was just about done, it started raining again. We knew it was finally done when the street cleaners began sweeping the pools of water into the drains.

Next, we headed to WL to check out its awesome Christmas decorations. I forgot just how overwhelming the resort is.

After taking a hundred or so photos, we finally headed towards MK, which is where the weird stuff started to happen. It seems like every standby timer was set to some value from the middle of the day. At night, Pirates reported 50 mins when it was almost walk right on. Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mtn and Goofy's Barnstormer also did the same thing.

The park was still busy, though. The rain meant sit-down and indoor attractions were busier than normal. Having Splash Mtn down didn't help either. My bro and I tried to be as smart as possible by hitting attractions that didn't have FP (unless we had a FP, of course). Since the standby line for Peter Pan is extremely painful, we also got a FP for it as soon as we got in the park.

Notes:
- On both of our TTA runs, we had to wait in a line at the bottom of the ramp. We couldn't believe it!
- Laugh Floor was closed, with no signs of opening for previews any time soon
- Haunted Mansion is in dire need of an overhaul (duh). The audio kept cutting out, and the singing busts in the graveyard were extremely out of sync on one run.
- Seeing Splash Mtn down during this entire trip makes me a sad panda


1/3 - Day Three
Today we hit MGM in the morning, then Epcot at night. Thankfully, the weather was awesome during most of the day.

MGM appeared to be much busier than expected. At least, lines seemed longer than they should have been. Maybe this was due to RNRC being closed?

First, we got FPs for TOT, which were active from 1240-140 (we got them shortly after park opening). Then, we made our way toward Star Tours, whose wait was 30 mins at the time, but reached 50-60 later in the day! Next, we checked out GMR, which also had a line that went out the door. The 1130 Indy Jones show was lined up to Sounds Dangerous and it also wound towards Backlot Express. Even Muppets3D had a line around the building! Crowds were bad, for some reason. MGM didn't have Extra Magic hours, so I couldn't figure it out at all...

Here are a couple random notes:
- There's a new billboard for Fantasmic on top of the stone tower by the Hollywood Hills Ampitheater entrance.
- The streetmosphere here never fails to disappoint. The cops on Sunset Blvd are especially funny.
- Do they even run the Western mode of GMR any more? I used to be able to smell the gas from that scene, but I can't smell anything any more. I wonder if it's gone for good...Even when GMR had a line that stretched outside today, the only option was to experience the Gangster shootout.

When we were done with TOT, my bro and I headed out and stopped by the Yacht and Beach Clubs on our way to Epcot.

- YC has an extremely elaborate Christmas setup in its lobby. It's basically a large train table, with a couple towns, and skiers and ski-lifts that actually move. It's extremely detailed, and fun to look at.
- Since the weather was nice, there were actually a lot of people out at Stormalong Bay.
- The BC's lobby is almost as detailed as YC's lobby. It has a candy carousel instead of a winter landscape, but it has significantly more christmas trees and other decorations. It's almost overwhelming.

We finally made it to Epcot at ~200 and tried to get a FP for Soarin. They were all gone, as expected, so we tried to get one for Test Track, which was also completely void of FP tickets. Our last resort was LTTL, which was also out of tickets. It was shocking, to say the least. Overall, crowds seemed about average, but lines seemed to be a lot longer. Assuming the signs were accurate, MS:Orange had a 90 min wait when we got to the park, and Soarin was 120 mins.

After all that walking (which included a couple obligatory trips to Club Cool), we decided to go on Nemo. Nemo's line went all the way outside, but it only took ~15 mins to go through it all. This gave us a chance to look at more details along the way:
- The dirt outside the building (or whatever sits between the plants) has been replaced with shells you'd find on a beach. This was a real nice touch.
- The seagulls outside aren't annoying at all. If there's no wait outside, many people could easily walk right past them without hearing them talk
- Projected fish swim along the walls when you're underwater (in the old Circlevision room)

The ride itself never fails to impress. I notice more and more details every single time, and the final projection effect blows me away every time.

After Nemo, we took a quick spin around the countries. Here are some notes:
- In Mexico, the ride is all boarded up. You can't see into the loading station / queue or the exit hallway. The actual lagoon is open and you can still see everything from inside the pavilion. The first tunnel isn't boarded up, so you can see bright white work lights inside of it.
- The Tomb Warriors exhibit in China is outstanding.

After seeing half of World Showcase, we headed up to FW and took a spin on TT. When we were walking around WS, we saw the typical Florida thunderstorm clouds develop on the horizon, but they didn't exactly look threatening. Apparantly they became threatening while were in line for TT because they made announcements about the storms just as we were ready to board. Thankfully, they didn't interrupt our ride.

The storm did make things very interesting when we went on our next adventure, LWTL. We found out why the LWTL boats still have covers over them: the Tropics greenhouse has a lot of leaks. We could see streams of water falling from some sections of the roof. Since plants need water, it isn't exactly a bad thing. It's just not something you'd expect to see. The storm also created a deafening roar in all of the greenhouse areas. I don't know how much rain was falling, but it sounded like a hurricane's worth when we were in there.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a new Hidden Mickey (or at least a cool secret) I found on LWTL on this trip. You know how they have two colors of hydroponic lettuce, and one of them is in the shape of a mickey head? On the other side of the boat, one color is arranged to say Epcot. It's tough to read, but it's definitely there.

After LWTL, the rain let up, and the storm was pretty much done. We decided to hit Nemo again, in case it rained more (so we'd be in an area to explore a little). Did I mention Nemo is good?

After Nemo, we hit MS, took a lot of nighttime pictures, then took a quick spin on Maelstrom.

Tomorrow we'll be hitting Epcot in the morning (finally going on Soarin' ) and MK in the evening, with some MK-resort-action in-between.

As a side note, future reports from this trip will have less and less news, but I'll still report anything I find.

 

[Monty]

great report!

 

[nibblesandbits]

Can't wait to read more!

And the main pool at Movies is being refurbished until Feb according to Allears.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Awesome report!!!:sohappy:

 

[DigitalDisney]

Thank you all for the kind words. This is the first trip report I've ever written. Heh

1/4 - Day Four

I'm writing this as I just returned from a full day at Epcot, MK resorts, and the MK itself.

Epcot was pretty busy, to say the least. By the time we finally got settled into the park at around 1000, Soarin fastpasses were already for 1240-140 in the afternoon. After getting Soarin FPs for the whole family, my dad, my bro, and I took advantage of the singles line over at TT, which took about 20-30 minutes. Again, the park was busy.

Right after wrapping up TT, we went to MS and experienced the mighty Green Team experience. Green Team's queue had a 30 min wait, and Orange Team was between 60-90 mins already, with both queues stretching out the door.

While we were on MS, my mom noticed people getting stuff when they were playing the Mission Space Race game. All four of us then played it, and it turns out that our dreams were honored again, and we each got pin lanyards with two pins on them. Like the mouse ears, I won't wear them, but they're pretty neat. The Mission Space Race game is kinda neat too (I always laughed at it when I walked by)

After MS, we enjoyed a bunch of delicious beverages at Club Cool (man, I love that place), then went to use our FPs at Soarin. When we got there, the standby line was 2 hours long! Other than that, nothing eventful happened, aside from enjoying one of the greatest attractions on this planet.

As soon as our flight finished, my bro and I took off and headed on the monorail for the TTC. Unfortunately, we wanted to get from Epcot to the Contemp in a short amount of time to experience one of the finest lunches WDW has to offer. Since there is no direct bus service, this trip ultimately involved taking the monorail to the TTC, taking the express monorail to the MK, and taking the resort monorail to the Contemp. Thankfully, it didn't take a whole lot of time.

At the Contemp, we ate at the Fiesta Fun Center (or whatever it's called these days ) and had a chicken bacon swiss melt sandwich, which is outstanding. It's got a huge piece of grilled chicken, along with a ton of melted cheese and bacon.

After that delicious lunch, we took photos around the Contemp, took the monorail to the TTC, then walked to the Poly, where we took even more pictures. This happens at least once per WDW trip for us. We <3 the Poly.

We made it a point to check out Cpt Cook's, which looked decent. The only thing they lost during the renovation was the interactivity you had when placing orders. After playing with the menu system, it didn't appear that there was a way to have a custom order (although I could be wrong). We'll likely be trying it out tomorrow, so I'll give an official update later.

Finally, it was time to hit the MK. We got there right as soon as the 300 parade ended, so we saw tons of people leaving and thought that the park might have been emptier than expected. We could not have been farther from the truth.

When we got to the park, we got FPs for Space Mtn, which had a standby time of 100 mins! When we got our FPs, they were for 1010-1100, which was after the park's published hours. Turns out that they kept the MK open for another full hour and ran another iteration of Spectro because the park was so busy.

It was pretty much packed, so we again went with the strategy of visiting only non-FP rides unless we had a FP or it was during a parade or show. We were able to hit Swiss Family Treehouse, Tiki Room, Pirates (2x), Haunted Mansion (2x), TTA (2x), Small World (hey, it's extremely fun to take pictures here) and Carousel of Progress easily because there was either no wait, or the line moved very quickly. As for FP attractions, we hit Space Mtn when the park closed, used FPs 2x for Buzz (when we got the 2nd FP, FPs at all other attractions were pretty much gone), visited Philharmagic near the end of the day, and rode Thunder Mtn during Wishes (well, Wishes ended right when we were going to the lower lvl of the queue).

All in all, it was a good day. The only drawback was that someone on the front row of Pirates decided to take flash pictures of every single scene of the ride, and turned around (and flashed at everyone else in the boat) to take a few pictures as well.

A couple notes that weren't mentioned in previous day's posts:
- Space Mtn's queue is noticably brighter. The part where you go down under the railroad tracks is now illuminated and isn't dark any more. The blue florescent lights on the walls and ceiling are now turned on, and it's much easier to see now. Since it used to be really really dark in this part of the queue, this change is definitely a good thing.
- The top of the third lift in Thunder Mtn appears to have a new effect, although it's not very good at all. I guess it's supposed to look like rocks falling, but it really looks like a spotlight with a bunch of circles that go from the roof to the floor (it's tough to explain). This change had good intentions, but was poorly executed.

That's all for now. Tomorrow, we're planning on hitting MK in the morning with the parents, then my bro and I are going to MGM so we'll finally see the new Osborne lights.

Edit: I forgot to mention one major event that happened today. As we entered the MK and walked down Main Street, I saw none other than the Dapper Dans performing. In all of my visits to WDW, I don't remember ever actually seeing them perform live. They put on a great show and had a good crowd around them. All of the members looked pretty old, so I wonder how long this set of guys have been Dapper Dans. Anyone know?

 

[nibblesandbits]

Wow! I went this time last year...it seems much busier this year than last year! Still glad you're having a great time!!!

 

[Hakunamatata]

Edit: I forgot to mention one major event that happened today. As we entered the MK and walked down Main Street, I saw none other than the Dapper Dans performing. In all of my visits to WDW, I don't remember ever actually seeing them perform live. They put on a great show and had a good crowd around them. All of the members looked pretty old, so I wonder how long this set of guys have been Dapper Dans. Anyone know?

I think there are a number of gents that comprise the Dapper Dans, so there is a good chance that the group would be different every time you see them.

 

[ilovepluto23]

I'm wondering how much the crowds will die down by Tuesday (the 9th)...I'll be in the MK that day. I really hope the crowds are finishing up their holiday vacations. Great report, thanks for sharing!

 

[DigitalDisney]

Day 5 - 1/5

Well, folks, it's time for another update

Today didn't seem nearly as busy in the parks as previous days, for whatever reason. We started out at the MK to hit some stuff we haven't touched yet, and to hit a couple major attractions as well. We started by getting a FP for Space Mtn and then went over to Thunder Mtn. After BTMR, we took a spin on the Jungle Cruise and it turns out that our skipper grew up within a couple blocks of my parents up in Detroit. Whenever the skipper wasn't telling jokes, she was talking with the 'rents about the homeland. :lol:

After the cruise, we went over to TSI and had a blast exploring the place and taking a ton of pictures. There were a ton of checkers sets on the island, more than I've ever seen (or noticed) before.

Next it was time for a spin on Space Mtn, but it was down. Turns out that it went down earlier in the day, and they couldn't get it back up and running after a couple attempts. At least, that's what the CM up front said. Either way, we bailed and left the park.

Yesterday I mentioned that we would be going to Capt Cook's for lunch today. Turns out that my brother was getting sick of Chicken Caesar Salad (a crime, really) and wanted to get one of those amazing Chicken Bacon Melt sammiches at the Contemp again. Since I like it too, I didn't complain too much.

It wasn't too long before we ended up at MGM for the night. We immediately headed over to TOT to grab a FP and were sad when we looked over to see RNRC closed. Since it was our last day at MGM, we decided to see the things we either haven't seen yet or liked the most. This involved the Backlot Tour (I forgot how much the left side is favored on this ride. The right side doesn't get to see that much), Muppet3D, Star Tours, and GMR.

GMR was almost lined up out the door, yet it was still only running the gangster side. We had to wait over two iterations of the movie trailers before getting on the ride. When both sides are running full speed, you should be able to go through the entire queue and only see one iteration of the trailers at most.

After GMR, we headed back to check out the Osborne lights. This year, I was even more blown away than ever before. The standard display was just like the one from last year, with some minor differences. As everybody knows by now, the biggest change this year was the dancing lights, and boy are they something to see. They may look cool on your neighbor's house or on the beer commercials, but it's jaw-dropping when just about every bulb on New York Street is rocking out to the music. The first song I heard was by the mighty Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which surprised me considering this was at a Disney park (TSO can rock pretty hard). And no, it wasn't Wizards of Winter (the song from the dancing lights beer commercials on TV)

After getting blown away by the Osborne lights, it was time for some nighttime photography followed by a trip on TOT, the last Fantasmic showing, and more nighttime pictures as we headed out of the park. The TOT experience was interesting in that the library CM was behaving a little sketchy, in that he would be expressionless and stand extremely close to the hot girls in the room. It definitely didn't match other spooky TOT CM (or HM CM) behavior I've seen in the past.

Today was fun and all, but tomorrow is going to rock extremely hard. We're going to be going to AK in the morning and Epcot at night, and I can't wait. It'll be a great end (well, in terms of park days) to a great trip.

The end.

 

[DigitalDisney]

So here it is, the final update

Day 6 - 1/6

Today was one of the greatest days of the entire trip. It was the best day, weather wise. Instead of overcast skies, we were treated to a warm sunny day. The predictable Florida popup thunderstorms threatened us later in the day, but they didn't show up.

We started the day at AK. We got a later start than we wanted, but being both Saturday and a marathon day helped cut the crowds down significantly.

My bro and I headed on over to Everest to get FPs for the family and to take a spin with the standby line. Afterwards, we hit Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl, then enjoyed a delicious lunch at Pizzafari.

Next, my bro and I headed out on our own and explored Harambe and Asia and everything around them.

Finally, we met the parents at Everest and took a spin on it. Fortunately, they forgot to take our FPs, so my parents gave theirs to my bro and I, and we were able to ride it twice more without any wait. We ended up riding Everest 4x today, and 3x within 20-30 mins. It was glorious.

After the adventures on Everest, we headed out and went to Epcot, which wasn't too busy, although Soarin FPs were easily gone by the time we got there (no surprise).

The first thing we did was tour World Showcase, which we didn't have a chance to do the entire trip. Then we hit Figment, SSE, LWTL, 2xNemo, Innoventions, MS, TT - Single Rider, and 4xClub Cool (in no particular order).

The definite highlight of our Epcot visit was that the Anglerfish in Nemo was finally working. He had been running in B-mode for our entire trip, and we were shocked when we saw him running at full capacity. That one scene was so awesome (well, the overall experience is pretty good too) that we saw Nemo again towards the end of the day.

After we were finished with FW, we rode Maelstrom (this became a tradition at the end of our days at Epcot), and saw Illuminations.

Day Seven - 1/7
I really wanted to hit a park one last time, but nobody else in the family was with me. So, we ended up at the shopping village instead. We parked over at West Side, walked/shopped/took pictures on our way to the other end, ate a delicious meal at the Earl of Sandwich, then headed back.

A couple notes:
- PI didn't open until 1100am, which surprised us a little
- The draught selection at Ragland Road is outstanding. They had beers on draught that I can't get here in Georgia because of stoopid distribution rules. If I had the time, I would have had at least one of everything that wasn't common (Guinness, Bass, Harp, etc)
- Ragland Road also has an interesting menu for their quick-service location. They have deep-fried chicken/fish on a skewer with chips on the side. Since we ate at the Earl, I didn't try it, but it smelled good in there. No doubt it and the chips are much different (and probably tastier) than the chicken strips in the parks.

 

[DigitalDisney]

Overall opinion

Overall, the trip was outstanding. I wish the weather could have been nicer in the first half of the trip, but there's nothing that can be done about that. It also would have been nice if RNRC and Splash Mtn were open during the week (why can't they do refurbs on those attractions in Feb?).

Still, good times were definitely had. I was thrilled to finally go inside Wonders of Life after years of seeing it idle, and the new Nemo attraction simply blew me away. For the most part, the parks were extremely clean and well maintained, and just about every CM I saw was friendly and helpful.

WDW certainly has its flaws and shortcomings, but there are still plenty of things that make it a Disney resort. The theming is second to none, the attractions are outstanding, and it's a fun place to be during the day or at night, warm or cold, rain or shine. It's also great to see others experience WDW for the first time, be it their applause after Everest, or their reaction after enjoying Beverly for the first time.

Most of all, it's the little things that make the biggest difference. Every time we toured a deluxe resort, there was a CM there to greet us. The YOMD was a great event that I am really looking forward to on our next visit. I won't wear my mouse ears or pins/lanyard often (or ever), but it was cool that they handed them out as freebies and were very enthusiastic about it. Speaking of enthusiasm, when we left MK and Epcot, we saw CMs wearing big white mouse gloves, waving goodbye to everybody (at MK they were in the train station, and at Epcot they were near they Odyssey). I'm sure the same thing occurs at AK and MGM at park closing.

Even at ~6 days, the trip was still too short. There's just way too much to see and do and enjoy at WDW. There are too many resorts, too many parks, too many attractions, and not enough hours in the day or days in the week.

Also, hopefully I'll be able to create a photo gallery here to showcase the best/my favorite pictures from the trip. I still need to pick them out and edit them (my camera isn't level and makes crooked pictures ), which could take some time since I managed to take somewhere around 2,500 pics total.

 

[dxwwf3]

Unfortunately the Angular fish at Nemo was broken during my ride on New Year's Eve, and from what I hear it's the best part of the attraction. I thought the ride was "ok", but I look forward to see it running at 100% as well.

 

[LouDisney]

Great trip report. I really enjoyed reading it. Glad you had such a great time.