So for those of you who don't know me, let me give you a little background before starting this trip report. First, I've been going to the parks since I was pretty young (I actually went to WDW when it was just the Magic Kingdom), I also went through a period where I'd go at least once a year to WDW. I also participated in the College Program in Operations at the Indiana Jones Stunt theater and then went full time as an Entertainment Technician at the Magic Kingdom, eventually working on the Wishes crew. I'm now back in Texas. Ok, so that will give you a bit of my perspective.
We arrived on Thursday, May 22, in the afternoon so that we could get there in time to get some rest for the upcoming "Rock Your Disney Side," 24 hour event that was going to take place on Friday. We stayed in Pop Century and used the Magical Express to get to our resort. I also had a ticket that was added to my account over an issue a few years ago that had to do with some bad experiences. More on that later. So we arrived at our resort around 3:30 and the room was ready. Happily, I got a room in the 80s building - not so much because it was the 80s, but that it's one of the shortest walks to the bus stop without paying extra for the premium rooms (just cut across the parking lot and you are there). We dropped off our carry ons and headed for Downtown Disney. I was told at the hotel desk I had to go to Guest Services in order to get those previous tickets added on to the reservation. That was one minor annoyance with this trip as there was no way to add the ticket previous to our arrival and therefore couldn't choose FastPass+ selections until we actually got there. After about 15 mins at guest services, we got it straightened out and the FP+ stuff set up for our 2nd day (we already had purchased tickets for the first day). We headed to Earl Of Sandwich, had some dinner, stopped by the Pin store to grab the Maleficent movie pin that was just released that day and then headed to DisneyQuest. DQ is still just about as sad as it was the last time we were there. It seriously needs an update. I did find it fun that they had about 5 actual Fix-It-Felix video games there (and discovered, it's sort of a hard game) that we played a few times. After a couple of hours at DQ, we headed back to the room to get some sleep and get ready for the 24 hour event.
We took the first bus to Magic Kingdom from our resort and was lined up at the gate ready to go. I was hoping for a very different opening ceremony to the usual MK one, but the only thing that was really different was a few extra characters on the train, including Maleficent and other villains. I was happy that they were giving everyone promotional Maleficent movie buttons as we entered the park (I'm a huge, long time, Maleficent fan). We headed STRAIGHT to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train without stopping anywhere else first. Sure enough, the rumors were true and it was open. We literally spent MAYBE 5 mins in line (and most of that was just walking it, we rarely stopped) and ended up getting lined up in the front car. I was expecting a lot more swaying, based on the whole design with the cars able to tilt, but really, it just seemed to exaggerate the banked turns a bit. It was an OK coaster, somewhere between Big Thunder Mountain and Barnstomer in my opinion, though. It was very short. The animatronics were really good. I think a larger scale version of that coaster (along the lines of something like the Mummy coaster at Universal) would work really well. It's still a better alternative to the old Snow White dark ride, so I'll take it, but I doubt I'd wait in line two hours for it. As soon as we came out, the line had already started to show a 120 minute wait. We had FP set up for Space Mountain after that. The standby was short, so we went in that first, rode the Alpha track and then came back around and used our FP to ride the Omega track. After that, it was some random rides around the park (Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, etc). Everything went pretty smooth for the most part. I was glad to see Haunted Mansion working better than the last visit I had and was darker again. We then ran over to Animal Kingdom and hit the Safari, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and It's Tough to Be a Bug - all with little to no waiting. We had lunch at Flame Tree BBQ with the usual flock of birds (especially ducks) begging for food at the tables. Apparently one duck has learned to nudge your leg for food now as well. After that, we went back to Magic Kingdom expecting a big line of people ready to get in (it was about 3pm at this point), but we literally walked right in. The wait times were bad for the usual ones that always are (Space Mountain, Peter Pan, etc), but we couldn't get any new ones yet as we had the FP for the new Festival of Fantasy parade. We went there to the special viewing area with a Maleficent cupcake in hand from the new Starbucks that is now at MK and watched it from that area. We got some REALLY great pictures of some of the floats going by the castle. By far, the show stopper in the Maleficent Dragon float and the costumes of the escort that goes with it. I'm not big on parades, but I have to say that FoF is definitely worth watching at least once. We wanted to go get some pictures with Maleficent that evening, but those plans were crushed when the wait time was anywhere from 3-5 HOURS. Pretty much the night was watching Wishes, and riding some rides with moderate wait times. It really seemed that the crowds picked up around 10pm. It was slow for most of the day, but at one point, around 11pm, the PEOPLEMOVER had a line that wrapped around The Lunching Pad....yes, the PEOPLEMOVER. We did check out Carousel of Progress and sadly, some of the animatronics aren't working right and the sound is all sorts of messed up on a couple of scenes. That definitely needs some work. For the most part, everything else was running fairly smooth.
Day two had us staying out of the parks (mainly because we were sleeping in from the previous 20 hours at the park), but heading to Boardwalk for lunch at Big River. This was the first time eating there and I have to say, I wasn't real impressed. While the flavor was good, I ordered a New York strip Medium Well and it was beyond well done. I informed the waitress and she said they could make another, but I didn't want to wait. She said it's probably because it was a thinner steak. We then took the boat to the Swan and went to the Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf. We played through the Garden course and everything was working except for the spinning hippo which ended up getting everyone's balls stuck each time they played through it. We then went back to the Swan to get the bus to Downtown Disney. We were at the stop for almost 40 mins before a bus showed up. I had toyed with the notion of taking the boat to Hollywood Studios and then catching a bus there, but once I heard Fantasmic ending, I knew that we'd be waiting awhile for a bus due to the crowds leaving. We went to Downtown Disney, but got there too late to grab dinner, so we grabbed the souvenirs we needed to get and then shot over to the room and ordered a pizza from room service.
Day three had us starting the day at Hollywood Studios. This was officially my birthday (Sunday), so I was definitely trying to make the most of it. We started heading over to Rock N Roller Coaster. We did the same process as Space Mountain at MK - the standby was short, so we hit standby, then came out and used our FP to ride it again. We headed over to Tower of Terror (short 5 min wait) and rode that once. We used the FP to ride Star Tours and then headed to Muppets and Great Movie Ride. We then headed over to Lights, Motors, Action (where I had VIP seating set up) and caught the show there. They didn't do the jet ski part, but otherwise, the show was great. We then ran over to Epcot to catch my favs there. We did the typical stop by Club Cool and tried the new flavors they've put there since I was there last, and hopped on Spaceship Earth. By this point, the park had gotten crowded. We talked to Guest Services and managed to get VIP seating for Illuminations as well. My birthday dinner reservations were for my favorite restaurant - Biergarten, and so we had our dinner there and attempted to go to Test Track. There was slight rain and lightning out, so it wasn't running. We instead headed over to Malestrom and then Mission Space and took a ride on that. We had to quickly get back to World Showcase to get to our VIP seating in time. It was a great view of the show, but they didn't seem to run the flame barge that night. We decided that since MK was having an EMH, to head over for a few more hours to catch a few more rides for our last night. We headed to Haunted Mansion and rode that and saw that there was quite a wait for most of the rides. We took a break at the Rapunzel "charging station." I have to say, it's a great idea, but they need SIGNIFICANTLY more plugs there (for those who don't know, it's a seating area that has outlets next to some of the seats for charging phones, etc). We decided that it would be better to head back and get some rest, so we ran through Tomorrowland, hit the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor one last time and then headed back to the room.
That was pretty much it, standard trip on the Magical Express back to the airport (I should mention that Spirit airlines is 2 for 2 on BREAKING checked bags - this trip they broke the wheel off my large 50 lbs bag which made it real fun to carry to the bus stop).
Overall, the event was fun, but I will take an off season EMH filled week over a 24 hour event any day. It was fun to say we did it and it was great that they scheduled one so close to my birthday, but that'll be the last one I think I'll be attending short of me ever working there again.
Next on the horizon I believe is going to be another Disney Cruise...
We arrived on Thursday, May 22, in the afternoon so that we could get there in time to get some rest for the upcoming "Rock Your Disney Side," 24 hour event that was going to take place on Friday. We stayed in Pop Century and used the Magical Express to get to our resort. I also had a ticket that was added to my account over an issue a few years ago that had to do with some bad experiences. More on that later. So we arrived at our resort around 3:30 and the room was ready. Happily, I got a room in the 80s building - not so much because it was the 80s, but that it's one of the shortest walks to the bus stop without paying extra for the premium rooms (just cut across the parking lot and you are there). We dropped off our carry ons and headed for Downtown Disney. I was told at the hotel desk I had to go to Guest Services in order to get those previous tickets added on to the reservation. That was one minor annoyance with this trip as there was no way to add the ticket previous to our arrival and therefore couldn't choose FastPass+ selections until we actually got there. After about 15 mins at guest services, we got it straightened out and the FP+ stuff set up for our 2nd day (we already had purchased tickets for the first day). We headed to Earl Of Sandwich, had some dinner, stopped by the Pin store to grab the Maleficent movie pin that was just released that day and then headed to DisneyQuest. DQ is still just about as sad as it was the last time we were there. It seriously needs an update. I did find it fun that they had about 5 actual Fix-It-Felix video games there (and discovered, it's sort of a hard game) that we played a few times. After a couple of hours at DQ, we headed back to the room to get some sleep and get ready for the 24 hour event.
We took the first bus to Magic Kingdom from our resort and was lined up at the gate ready to go. I was hoping for a very different opening ceremony to the usual MK one, but the only thing that was really different was a few extra characters on the train, including Maleficent and other villains. I was happy that they were giving everyone promotional Maleficent movie buttons as we entered the park (I'm a huge, long time, Maleficent fan). We headed STRAIGHT to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train without stopping anywhere else first. Sure enough, the rumors were true and it was open. We literally spent MAYBE 5 mins in line (and most of that was just walking it, we rarely stopped) and ended up getting lined up in the front car. I was expecting a lot more swaying, based on the whole design with the cars able to tilt, but really, it just seemed to exaggerate the banked turns a bit. It was an OK coaster, somewhere between Big Thunder Mountain and Barnstomer in my opinion, though. It was very short. The animatronics were really good. I think a larger scale version of that coaster (along the lines of something like the Mummy coaster at Universal) would work really well. It's still a better alternative to the old Snow White dark ride, so I'll take it, but I doubt I'd wait in line two hours for it. As soon as we came out, the line had already started to show a 120 minute wait. We had FP set up for Space Mountain after that. The standby was short, so we went in that first, rode the Alpha track and then came back around and used our FP to ride the Omega track. After that, it was some random rides around the park (Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, etc). Everything went pretty smooth for the most part. I was glad to see Haunted Mansion working better than the last visit I had and was darker again. We then ran over to Animal Kingdom and hit the Safari, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and It's Tough to Be a Bug - all with little to no waiting. We had lunch at Flame Tree BBQ with the usual flock of birds (especially ducks) begging for food at the tables. Apparently one duck has learned to nudge your leg for food now as well. After that, we went back to Magic Kingdom expecting a big line of people ready to get in (it was about 3pm at this point), but we literally walked right in. The wait times were bad for the usual ones that always are (Space Mountain, Peter Pan, etc), but we couldn't get any new ones yet as we had the FP for the new Festival of Fantasy parade. We went there to the special viewing area with a Maleficent cupcake in hand from the new Starbucks that is now at MK and watched it from that area. We got some REALLY great pictures of some of the floats going by the castle. By far, the show stopper in the Maleficent Dragon float and the costumes of the escort that goes with it. I'm not big on parades, but I have to say that FoF is definitely worth watching at least once. We wanted to go get some pictures with Maleficent that evening, but those plans were crushed when the wait time was anywhere from 3-5 HOURS. Pretty much the night was watching Wishes, and riding some rides with moderate wait times. It really seemed that the crowds picked up around 10pm. It was slow for most of the day, but at one point, around 11pm, the PEOPLEMOVER had a line that wrapped around The Lunching Pad....yes, the PEOPLEMOVER. We did check out Carousel of Progress and sadly, some of the animatronics aren't working right and the sound is all sorts of messed up on a couple of scenes. That definitely needs some work. For the most part, everything else was running fairly smooth.
Day two had us staying out of the parks (mainly because we were sleeping in from the previous 20 hours at the park), but heading to Boardwalk for lunch at Big River. This was the first time eating there and I have to say, I wasn't real impressed. While the flavor was good, I ordered a New York strip Medium Well and it was beyond well done. I informed the waitress and she said they could make another, but I didn't want to wait. She said it's probably because it was a thinner steak. We then took the boat to the Swan and went to the Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf. We played through the Garden course and everything was working except for the spinning hippo which ended up getting everyone's balls stuck each time they played through it. We then went back to the Swan to get the bus to Downtown Disney. We were at the stop for almost 40 mins before a bus showed up. I had toyed with the notion of taking the boat to Hollywood Studios and then catching a bus there, but once I heard Fantasmic ending, I knew that we'd be waiting awhile for a bus due to the crowds leaving. We went to Downtown Disney, but got there too late to grab dinner, so we grabbed the souvenirs we needed to get and then shot over to the room and ordered a pizza from room service.
Day three had us starting the day at Hollywood Studios. This was officially my birthday (Sunday), so I was definitely trying to make the most of it. We started heading over to Rock N Roller Coaster. We did the same process as Space Mountain at MK - the standby was short, so we hit standby, then came out and used our FP to ride it again. We headed over to Tower of Terror (short 5 min wait) and rode that once. We used the FP to ride Star Tours and then headed to Muppets and Great Movie Ride. We then headed over to Lights, Motors, Action (where I had VIP seating set up) and caught the show there. They didn't do the jet ski part, but otherwise, the show was great. We then ran over to Epcot to catch my favs there. We did the typical stop by Club Cool and tried the new flavors they've put there since I was there last, and hopped on Spaceship Earth. By this point, the park had gotten crowded. We talked to Guest Services and managed to get VIP seating for Illuminations as well. My birthday dinner reservations were for my favorite restaurant - Biergarten, and so we had our dinner there and attempted to go to Test Track. There was slight rain and lightning out, so it wasn't running. We instead headed over to Malestrom and then Mission Space and took a ride on that. We had to quickly get back to World Showcase to get to our VIP seating in time. It was a great view of the show, but they didn't seem to run the flame barge that night. We decided that since MK was having an EMH, to head over for a few more hours to catch a few more rides for our last night. We headed to Haunted Mansion and rode that and saw that there was quite a wait for most of the rides. We took a break at the Rapunzel "charging station." I have to say, it's a great idea, but they need SIGNIFICANTLY more plugs there (for those who don't know, it's a seating area that has outlets next to some of the seats for charging phones, etc). We decided that it would be better to head back and get some rest, so we ran through Tomorrowland, hit the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor one last time and then headed back to the room.
That was pretty much it, standard trip on the Magical Express back to the airport (I should mention that Spirit airlines is 2 for 2 on BREAKING checked bags - this trip they broke the wheel off my large 50 lbs bag which made it real fun to carry to the bus stop).
Overall, the event was fun, but I will take an off season EMH filled week over a 24 hour event any day. It was fun to say we did it and it was great that they scheduled one so close to my birthday, but that'll be the last one I think I'll be attending short of me ever working there again.
Next on the horizon I believe is going to be another Disney Cruise...
