Warning long list!
1. Avoid late EMH like the plague. Everytime we went to a late EMH the park was more packed at night than during the day. They only had FP for Everest at AK and ToT and RnR at MGM, none at MK, didn't do Epcot. You would think Late EMH was some sort of new world religion or something. I think the number of people going to late EMH led to a downturn in early attendance because they were tired. I also noticed that people were VERY grumpy, argumentative and demanding during and after late EMH. There was no magic in those EMH.
2. Definitely DO go to Little Ones Hour at MK (But you better have a little one) They denied a few people entry because they didn't have children. They didn't ask the kids ages, but they did require you to have a kid. One guy asked if he could join my family to enter and take photos. My son rode Dumbo first in line and Stitch rode with him. We rode the carousel with Goofy and Chip and Dale, Rode Pooh with Tigger and the kids played a game with Wendy, Pan and Hook while sitting in front of IASW. Lots of fun and almost no one was there. We rode every ride and then moved to Tomorrowland to do all of it before 10:30 am.
3. The parks were practically empty until 11-12. Get there early and you can ride like 6-8 rides per hour.
4. The water parks are a blast. But once again, get there early! Crowds pick up around noon and wait times increased to an hour on the big rides very quickly. Use the early EMH. Summit Plummit was a great ride. Really enjoyed the tobbogan races and the family raft ride at BB. Wave pool wasn't working properly at TL and it rained for 2 hrs, no big deal as we were already wet.
5. Cindy's Castle was a lot of fun. We did this for breakfast and all the princesses were graceful and kind and took lots of time with the kids.
6. I'll never go to Crystal Palace again. We had lunch ADR at 1:20 and checked in early. It was hot outside and were forced to wait on the porch until 1:55. I asked the lady if she could get my child a little something to drink while we waited and received a harsh, NO! Can't you see I'm busy here!
The food was pretty good, but the characters just wanted to pat the kids on the head as they walked by, I had to stop them to get autographs and photos. Very UNmagical place. Server let my glass empty until requesting extra refills too.
7. Juan at ASSP is the bomb. We had a problem with our door entry not working and we were early. Juan at bell services overheard me and kindly went and made each child their own special balloon animal.
8. Bus services were great in the morning and horrible at night. If you didn't leave the park immediately at closing you had to wait 45 mins for a bus. At AK I overheard an executive on the phone chewing someone out about the 1000 or so people on the grass waiting for AS and Pop buses.
9. Family Magic Tour - It was so so. The girl tried to have lots of pep and energy, most of the adults just grumbled and griped. It was very hot and humid though. No real "tour" here. Just a jump from land to land in the MK. Girl kept looking at the time and trying to get us to hustle through it. The highlight though was that my kids saw Philharmagic with Wendy and Pan sitting right beside them.
10. Pirate adventure - DS 7 was dissapointed that they didn't get to meet any characters like Jack Sparrow or Hook or anyone. He didn't seem very excited when I picked him up.
11. Wonderland Tea Party - DD 9 very much enjoyed this event of making cupcakes with Alice and Mad Hatter and I would recommend it. I must say thanks to the lady who worked so hard to rearrange my daughter's experience. We were caught on Everest and didn't make it back for her originally scheduled date. (We have the left over front of line pass for 5 good until Sept
She worked with the conceirge at GF to get her in. Thanks for the dump truck load of Mickey Dust.
12. Mickey's Magic Show - It was great. I would pay to see this in a longer version in a travelling show. The magic was pretty simple, but all the characters made it really great.
13. Doodlebops - cancelled first show at 10 because "one of them was sick" I guess they had a miraculous recovery by 11:15 though. We were in the back, so I can't truly confirm this, but it sure looked like they were just lip syncing. Kids didn't know or care and really enjoyed the show.
NOTE: Get to MGM early and go straight to the desk to get a family ticket for the shows. You can send one person to get it. It is a single ticket with the time circled and the number in your party on it. They moved the desk from MMS to Doodlebops, ask for help in finding it.
14. Chef Mickey's - Had 8:50 ADR and didn't get in until 9:45 PM. Characters once again seemed rushed, did get a great window seat for my birthday, and saw Wishes in the distance, that's all they did for birthday.
15. Jo Jo & Einstein Breakfast - we had last breakfast ADR and got in a few mins early. The characters were great and they had people singing and dancing with the kids. DD 2 favorite of the trip.
16. Ohana Breakfast - 7:30 AM ADR and got in right on time. Very good breakfast and characters were great.
17. If you are going during Free Dining. You better have your ADRs already and make sure you check in early. I noticed a huge wait for all sit downs for lunch and dinner in the parks. Resorts except Chef Mickey's went very quickly.
18. Resorts were full and parking lots empty. When we avoided the EMH parks we had an enjoyable day of leisurely walking from ride to ride with minimal waits fast passing only super attractions. If we went to the EMH parks the wait times were VERY long for EVERY ride and character viewing.
19. Whispering Canyon - great food and entertaining and loud atmosphere. Really geared toward children. Waitress was funny and kept in character well. Desserts were yummy too. Got in early before ADR time and they were accepting 35 min wait walk ups.
20. Le Cellier - Awesome experience. One of the best steaks ever. Great romantic atmosphere, quiet and subdued. Really enjoyed it. The CM said they are booked through November.
21. Snack carts didn't work for several days. Lots of people were very angry that the carts weren't taking snack credits. We ended up using them up the last two days with lots of drinks and popsicles and such.
22. Magical Express worked flawlessly. Short wait for check in and short wait for a bus. The video really passed the time quickly. Luggage was delivered before we returned from the park. They even helped my rearrange my departure to be at GF instead as my daughter was doing Wonderland Tea Party.
23. Cast Members - 99% were awesome and made the time magical. Kids jump roped and hula hooped and such while waiting for parades. They have so many stickers for the memory books. I was told they were all working overtime shifts to accomodate the crowds. They were terrific.
Only rotten experience with CM at AK. It was hot and humid and we were sitting in front of the entrance to Flights of Wonder which had long since closed waiting on the parade about 5 minutes out.. There was a fan there that was helping Grandma (High BP) to cool down. Lady came by and rudely demanded that we move & that the area must be kept clear (for what?) We didn't grumble and began to stand up to move. Two guys beside us were standing in the fans air and another CM came over and cut off the fan! One of the guys told him he is a CM and showed his ID and they got into an argument.
24. Fantasmic - I recommend that you get some food from Catalina Eddies and carry it in at least an hour early. They didn't mind us bringing in the brown trays of food. We got great seats slightly left of center. Thousands were turned away each night though. Seats for dinner package were less than impressive all the way to the right of the theater.
When I think of other stuff I'll let ya know. Had a great 9/8 vacation with lots of memories and like 1500 digi pics. I'll sort through them and post some for your viewing in the coming days. Feel free to ask any questions as we did just about everything.
1. Avoid late EMH like the plague. Everytime we went to a late EMH the park was more packed at night than during the day. They only had FP for Everest at AK and ToT and RnR at MGM, none at MK, didn't do Epcot. You would think Late EMH was some sort of new world religion or something. I think the number of people going to late EMH led to a downturn in early attendance because they were tired. I also noticed that people were VERY grumpy, argumentative and demanding during and after late EMH. There was no magic in those EMH.
2. Definitely DO go to Little Ones Hour at MK (But you better have a little one) They denied a few people entry because they didn't have children. They didn't ask the kids ages, but they did require you to have a kid. One guy asked if he could join my family to enter and take photos. My son rode Dumbo first in line and Stitch rode with him. We rode the carousel with Goofy and Chip and Dale, Rode Pooh with Tigger and the kids played a game with Wendy, Pan and Hook while sitting in front of IASW. Lots of fun and almost no one was there. We rode every ride and then moved to Tomorrowland to do all of it before 10:30 am.
3. The parks were practically empty until 11-12. Get there early and you can ride like 6-8 rides per hour.
4. The water parks are a blast. But once again, get there early! Crowds pick up around noon and wait times increased to an hour on the big rides very quickly. Use the early EMH. Summit Plummit was a great ride. Really enjoyed the tobbogan races and the family raft ride at BB. Wave pool wasn't working properly at TL and it rained for 2 hrs, no big deal as we were already wet.
5. Cindy's Castle was a lot of fun. We did this for breakfast and all the princesses were graceful and kind and took lots of time with the kids.
6. I'll never go to Crystal Palace again. We had lunch ADR at 1:20 and checked in early. It was hot outside and were forced to wait on the porch until 1:55. I asked the lady if she could get my child a little something to drink while we waited and received a harsh, NO! Can't you see I'm busy here!
The food was pretty good, but the characters just wanted to pat the kids on the head as they walked by, I had to stop them to get autographs and photos. Very UNmagical place. Server let my glass empty until requesting extra refills too.
7. Juan at ASSP is the bomb. We had a problem with our door entry not working and we were early. Juan at bell services overheard me and kindly went and made each child their own special balloon animal.
8. Bus services were great in the morning and horrible at night. If you didn't leave the park immediately at closing you had to wait 45 mins for a bus. At AK I overheard an executive on the phone chewing someone out about the 1000 or so people on the grass waiting for AS and Pop buses.
9. Family Magic Tour - It was so so. The girl tried to have lots of pep and energy, most of the adults just grumbled and griped. It was very hot and humid though. No real "tour" here. Just a jump from land to land in the MK. Girl kept looking at the time and trying to get us to hustle through it. The highlight though was that my kids saw Philharmagic with Wendy and Pan sitting right beside them.
10. Pirate adventure - DS 7 was dissapointed that they didn't get to meet any characters like Jack Sparrow or Hook or anyone. He didn't seem very excited when I picked him up.
11. Wonderland Tea Party - DD 9 very much enjoyed this event of making cupcakes with Alice and Mad Hatter and I would recommend it. I must say thanks to the lady who worked so hard to rearrange my daughter's experience. We were caught on Everest and didn't make it back for her originally scheduled date. (We have the left over front of line pass for 5 good until Sept
She worked with the conceirge at GF to get her in. Thanks for the dump truck load of Mickey Dust.12. Mickey's Magic Show - It was great. I would pay to see this in a longer version in a travelling show. The magic was pretty simple, but all the characters made it really great.
13. Doodlebops - cancelled first show at 10 because "one of them was sick" I guess they had a miraculous recovery by 11:15 though. We were in the back, so I can't truly confirm this, but it sure looked like they were just lip syncing. Kids didn't know or care and really enjoyed the show.
NOTE: Get to MGM early and go straight to the desk to get a family ticket for the shows. You can send one person to get it. It is a single ticket with the time circled and the number in your party on it. They moved the desk from MMS to Doodlebops, ask for help in finding it.
14. Chef Mickey's - Had 8:50 ADR and didn't get in until 9:45 PM. Characters once again seemed rushed, did get a great window seat for my birthday, and saw Wishes in the distance, that's all they did for birthday.
15. Jo Jo & Einstein Breakfast - we had last breakfast ADR and got in a few mins early. The characters were great and they had people singing and dancing with the kids. DD 2 favorite of the trip.
16. Ohana Breakfast - 7:30 AM ADR and got in right on time. Very good breakfast and characters were great.
17. If you are going during Free Dining. You better have your ADRs already and make sure you check in early. I noticed a huge wait for all sit downs for lunch and dinner in the parks. Resorts except Chef Mickey's went very quickly.
18. Resorts were full and parking lots empty. When we avoided the EMH parks we had an enjoyable day of leisurely walking from ride to ride with minimal waits fast passing only super attractions. If we went to the EMH parks the wait times were VERY long for EVERY ride and character viewing.
19. Whispering Canyon - great food and entertaining and loud atmosphere. Really geared toward children. Waitress was funny and kept in character well. Desserts were yummy too. Got in early before ADR time and they were accepting 35 min wait walk ups.
20. Le Cellier - Awesome experience. One of the best steaks ever. Great romantic atmosphere, quiet and subdued. Really enjoyed it. The CM said they are booked through November.
21. Snack carts didn't work for several days. Lots of people were very angry that the carts weren't taking snack credits. We ended up using them up the last two days with lots of drinks and popsicles and such.
22. Magical Express worked flawlessly. Short wait for check in and short wait for a bus. The video really passed the time quickly. Luggage was delivered before we returned from the park. They even helped my rearrange my departure to be at GF instead as my daughter was doing Wonderland Tea Party.
23. Cast Members - 99% were awesome and made the time magical. Kids jump roped and hula hooped and such while waiting for parades. They have so many stickers for the memory books. I was told they were all working overtime shifts to accomodate the crowds. They were terrific.
Only rotten experience with CM at AK. It was hot and humid and we were sitting in front of the entrance to Flights of Wonder which had long since closed waiting on the parade about 5 minutes out.. There was a fan there that was helping Grandma (High BP) to cool down. Lady came by and rudely demanded that we move & that the area must be kept clear (for what?) We didn't grumble and began to stand up to move. Two guys beside us were standing in the fans air and another CM came over and cut off the fan! One of the guys told him he is a CM and showed his ID and they got into an argument.
24. Fantasmic - I recommend that you get some food from Catalina Eddies and carry it in at least an hour early. They didn't mind us bringing in the brown trays of food. We got great seats slightly left of center. Thousands were turned away each night though. Seats for dinner package were less than impressive all the way to the right of the theater.
When I think of other stuff I'll let ya know. Had a great 9/8 vacation with lots of memories and like 1500 digi pics. I'll sort through them and post some for your viewing in the coming days. Feel free to ask any questions as we did just about everything.
