Thought on Disney

[FutureCEO]

This will be a brief non organized writing on my trip to Disney Nov 6-13. We stayed at the DVC Wilderness Lodge which is a fantastic hotel. My favorite hotel that I have stayed at is still the Contemporary.

The weather was great. Not a cloud in the sky until Friday but it was cold at night. It was not really that crowded...I waited no longer than 30 minutes. Mission Space was a walk on which was great considering last time during Thanksgiving week it was 90 minutes.

We did the Christmas Party which was awesome, both the parade and the fireworks. Most people were on Main Street which left the rides as walk ons. We saw a wedding party at Epcot and an engagement during the Osbourne Lights. World Showcase was by far the most crowded anywhere. It was fun eating the different foods. If I had more time, I would do more. but you only have so much time to do everything.


Now onto the bad stuff:

1) Lack of merchandise. Not in the sense where Disney doesn't have enough but the merchandise is the same everywhere...at least they could spice it up a little bit. There was barley any special Christmas merchandise which leads me to my next one. Also there is hardly anything for adults. Im 25; I don't want a shirt with a big picture of Mickey and 50 million other characters or a sweatshirt that does the same on the back. Though I did get one of those retro WDW shirts.

2) Transportation Sucks. We spent more time waiting for the monorail than any ride. Though one monorail did break....they only had 2 working. Wouldn't it be wise to get some more up and running. I mean, I know its off season but come on. Same thing with the buses. Some times 4 AKs came before 1 Epcot. And then our hotel would fill up the bus and they would still try and pick up Fort Wilderness people. Doesn't make sense.

I think that was it...fantasyland is going up fast...most decorations were up in MK, DHS and Epcot. No hotels.

On a side note. I don't know where Disney gets their younger employees and foreign employees but damn...they were hot.

 

[becanya]

Ok...so I have some questions for you. We actually are going next year from Nov 11-20 and staying at VWL too. And we will be arriving on the Saturday at the end of Jersey Week too. So...my questions...
- Was WL crowded when you were there?
- How was the pool? Super cold or manageable?
- You said the monorail was slow (it was in Oct this year too...so annoying!), but how were the boats? That's what we usually try to do.
- How was that first Sat you were there (the 6th)? Which park did you do that day? Was it super crowded since it was the last day of Jersey week?
- Any other recommendations for that week? Things that were super cool?

 

[wendysue]

We were also there Nov. 6 -13. The 6th was crazy at Epcot, but mainly due to Food and Wine Festival. It seemed that many were taking advantage of "Drinking around the world". The rest of the week was excellent. Took advantage of short wait times everywhere.
I agree that there is not enough holiday merchandise for the older age group. I cannot wear the shirts with all the characters taking up the whole shirt to work, but I could wear something more subtle that still shows WDW or Mickey in some way.
We always stay at Pop when we go now, because of the bus service. It is nice having one stop and not sharing. We did not have any problems with wait times, or getting back to the resort.
We visited Poly on Friday night to watch the MVMCP fireworks from the beach. (they were awesome) We traveled from Pop to Epcot by bus, then took the monorail to the TTC. From there, took the resort monorail to the Poly. After the 9:30 fireworks, we jumped on the resort boat to MK and then took the bus back to Pop. We were back in our room by 10:10. I wouldn't stay somewhere that I would have to pay twice as much and be herded onto the monorail like cattle.

 

[FutureCEO]

Ok...so I have some questions for you. We actually are going next year from Nov 11-20 and staying at VWL too. And we will be arriving on the Saturday at the end of Jersey Week too. So...my questions...
- Was WL crowded when you were there?
- How was the pool? Super cold or manageable?
- You said the monorail was slow (it was in Oct this year too...so annoying!), but how were the boats? That's what we usually try to do.
- How was that first Sat you were there (the 6th)? Which park did you do that day? Was it super crowded since it was the last day of Jersey week?
- Any other recommendations for that week? Things that were super cool?

-WL? I'm not sure what that means?
-I did not go in the pool for I need the outside air to be warm but the pool was heated. The water was warmer than the outside air.
-The boats were okay. I would like for them to go a little faster. It was easier and faster to go to MK by boat than by bus. Saturday night was MK and it was fairly busy. I will just say that the wait was 20 minutes for Pirates which is usually a walk on. But a cast member at Splash Mt on the Friday (12th) told us that the week before Thanksgiving is more crowded than the week I went.

-Festival of the Masters which goes from the 12-14 was cool. As well as the Food and Wine Festival. They also had the Children Miracle Network Classic. Hotel decorations were starting to go up after we left. We did mini-golf at the fantasia course...hard but fun. and since the buses we taking so long....we took the studios but than walked to epcot. i would def. do the Osborne Lights, XMAS Party (expensive but a fun time)

 

[becanya]

-WL? I'm not sure what that means?
-I did not go in the pool for I need the outside air to be warm but the pool was heated. The water was warmer than the outside air.
-The boats were okay. I would like for them to go a little faster. It was easier and faster to go to MK by boat than by bus. Saturday night was MK and it was fairly busy. I will just say that the wait was 20 minutes for Pirates which is usually a walk on. But a cast member at Splash Mt on the Friday (12th) told us that the week before Thanksgiving is more crowded than the week I went.

-Festival of the Masters which goes from the 12-14 was cool. As well as the Food and Wine Festival. They also had the Children Miracle Network Classic. Hotel decorations were starting to go up after we left. We did mini-golf at the fantasia course...hard but fun. and since the buses we taking so long....we took the studios but than walked to epcot. i would def. do the Osborne Lights, XMAS Party (expensive but a fun time)

WL was Wilderness Lodge...so just the overall crowdedness of the resort. For instance, was Roaring Fork crazy to get into? Or just walk in with no problem. Thanks for the info.

 

[FutureCEO]

The Lodge was busy. Roaring Forks had a line for both breakfast and lunch...though breakfast was far busier but the line goes fast. Buses and boats can get crowded esp. if they're late. The pools are rather small for the size of the resort but then again most people are in the parks.

I've stayed at Saratoga, Old Key West and Bay Lake for DVC resorts. I would rate The Lodge being busy like the Contemporary but without the foot traffic from people not staying there.

 

[ABigBrassBand]

1) Lack of merchandise. Not in the sense where Disney doesn't have enough but the merchandise is the same everywhere...at least they could spice it up a little bit. There was barley any special Christmas merchandise which leads me to my next one. Also there is hardly anything for adults. Im 25; I don't want a shirt with a big picture of Mickey and 50 million other characters or a sweatshirt that does the same on the back. Though I did get one of those retro WDW shirts.

2) Transportation Sucks. We spent more time waiting for the monorail than any ride. Though one monorail did break....they only had 2 working. Wouldn't it be wise to get some more up and running. I mean, I know its off season but come on. Same thing with the buses. Some times 4 AKs came before 1 Epcot. And then our hotel would fill up the bus and they would still try and pick up Fort Wilderness people. Doesn't make sense.

I think that was it...fantasyland is going up fast...most decorations were up in MK, DHS and Epcot. No hotels.

On a side note. I don't know where Disney gets their younger employees and foreign employees but damn...they were hot.

1) Yes, the merchandise is a huge problem and I sympathize completely; they really have to make the separate shops worth going to instead of having most of the same merchandise everywhere :hammer:

2) Yes, the monorails may take a while, but it's better than a sweaty bus (even though the monorails are sweaty as well, it's much more exciting!)

Can't wait to see Fantasyland when I go down, and I don't know what gender you were referring to, but most of the CM's I've met are pretty stunning.../hormones

 

[yankspy]

We were also there Nov. 6 -13. The 6th was crazy at Epcot, but mainly due to Food and Wine Festival. It seemed that many were taking advantage of "Drinking around the world". The rest of the week was excellent. Took advantage of short wait times everywhere.
I agree that there is not enough holiday merchandise for the older age group. I cannot wear the shirts with all the characters taking up the whole shirt to work, but I could wear something more subtle that still shows WDW or Mickey in some way.
We always stay at Pop when we go now, because of the bus service. It is nice having one stop and not sharing. We did not have any problems with wait times, or getting back to the resort.
We visited Poly on Friday night to watch the MVMCP fireworks from the beach. (they were awesome) We traveled from Pop to Epcot by bus, then took the monorail to the TTC. From there, took the resort monorail to the Poly. After the 9:30 fireworks, we jumped on the resort boat to MK and then took the bus back to Pop. We were back in our room by 10:10. I wouldn't stay somewhere that I would have to pay twice as much and be herded onto the monorail like cattle.

I was at Epcot on the 6th as well. It was funny because while WS was packed, Future World seemed empty. I guess it was the F&W festival as you said.

As far as transportation, we actually rented a car this time. It was great except for MK. The whole parking at the TTC and transfering takes too long.