Trip Report: Dec. 27-Jan. 4

[ms7479a]

Just got back from Disney World last night. This was the first time I had ever been to Disney World during the holidays and it was great to see all the parks and resorts decorated but the crowds were huge. Here are some observations that I made during my trip:

Odds and Ends:
-I found it kind of strange that the movie shown on the Magical Express bus still referenced the Happiest Celebration on Earth. I think it needs to be updated.

- Bus service was very reliable throughout the trip. I don't think I ever waited longer than five minutes for a bus.

- Before going on my trip I had read some reviews of Pop Century, many of which commented on the thin walls of the rooms. I did not tell the rest of my family about this, and the one complaint they had about the resort was that you can hear almost everything going on in the rooms next door and outside. Overall, though, I was very happy with the Pop Century resort.

- Ate at T-Rex for the first time. I felt that the atmosphere was better than Rainforest Cafe, even though it was really noisy, but the food is better at Rainforest.

- This was the first time I had seen the Bay Lake Tower in person. Here are some pictures of the latest progress:

That's all I have time for right now. I will continue later with some observations from each of the parks.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Looking forward to more.
Very nice start...glad you had a good time!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Welcome back - I'm sure that I must have seen you in one of the parks

 

[ms7479a]

Continuing now with a few more odds/ends observations:

- If you are at Disney during the holiday season, I would highly recommend the carriage ride at Fort Wilderness. It takes you through some of the campsites so you can see all the decorations. Some of the displays are very elaborate. At only $35 for a half an hour, it is definitely worth the money.

- I never knew this: after the two later showings of the Hoop-De-Doo Review bus service is offered from Fort Wilderness to any resort on property. It definitely makes it alot easier than taking the boat to Magic Kingdom and then waiting for a bus to your resort.

- At Downtown Disney, the new Design a t-shirt store seems very popular. I went in just to check it out and it was filled with people. A problem I saw was that there are not that many consoles at which people can design their shirts. There are a lot of different options for you to chose from when designing your shirt. You can first choose between short sleeve and long sleeve shirts and a variety of different colors for each. Next, there are different categories of images which can be put on the shirt, such as characters or holidays. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't really anything theme park related. You can then put writing on the shirt, selecting the font type and size as well as the location you want the writing to appear. The cheapest option I saw was around $25.

- There were great sales all across property. All Christmas tree ornaments, tree skirts, and stockings were 50% off; hats, t-shirts, and beach towels were 40% off; and crocs were 25% off. There were also really nice canvas book bags with red and green holiday colors for just $5, with no other purchase necessary.

Magic Kingdom:
- Ate at the Crystal Palace for breakfast. When we were seated, we were given a fast pass to Mickey's Philharmagic. I don't remember this ever happening before when I had eaten there, is it something they normally do? I think it was just a ploy to get people to eat faster because it was really crowded.

- The Adventureland Veranda was open and inside was some seating and a little snack stand. I had never seen the building open before, but it seemed as though some of the space was blocked off by a curtain. It still made for a good place to sit and enjoy a dole whip.

- A common theme throughout the trip: fast pass machines breaking down. I have never seen so many machines at so many different rides having problems. The cast members were doing their best to fix the problems, but this still led to really long lines at the fast pass machines. One way they resolved the issue was by just handing out fast passes. At Magic Kingdom I was able to get fast passes to three different rides without even having to use my park pass.

- If you are looking for a good spot to watch the Spectromagic parade, the Main Street train station is great. I had never watched the parade from here before and we were able to find a good spot only about 20-minutes before the parade started.

More to come later.

 

[bgraham34]

Thanks for the update. I sure hope there are still Ornaments left when we get down to the world. I don't care if I have to spend full price.

 

[Thiger]

Congrats on your trip!
While I was looking forward to going in Jan, it seems that the original 30% occupancy reports were completely wrong as it seems like the park is booked solid for the rest of the month!

 

[ms7479a]

Thanks for the update. I sure hope there are still Ornaments left when we get down to the world. I don't care if I have to spend full price.

Definitely go to the Christmas shop in Downtown Disney. They have a ton of ornaments there.

On with the trip report.

Epcot:

- This was the first time I had been on Spaceship Earth since its big rehab. After reading all that other people had to say about the descent I was anxious to see it for myself and it was actually not as bad as I thought it would be. While the animation is a little corny I think, overall, the ride is still a very good one.

- My sister would like to know why the got rid of the single rider line on Mission Space. It seems like a good ride to have a single rider line.

- The Candlelight Processional was one of the highlights of my trip. We did the dinner package and ate at Tutto Italia (which was probably my favorite meal of the trip and much better than anything I had when it was Alfredo's). Angela Basset and Courtney Vance did a great job narrating, even though at some points they seemed overly dramatic. The conductor of the orchestra was pretty intense. I never knew there was a Walt Disney World Orchestra. What other events do they perform at?

- Went to Epcot on New Years Eve and I have to say that it was one of the craziest experiences I have ever had in my life. I have never seen the park so crowded. Not only were lines extremely long (Soarin' had a wait time of over 200 minutes) but I also couldn't believe the number of people who were lying down on grassy areas. Near Canada, for example, people actually climbed over the railing to lie down on the grass. People were also lining up over an hour ahead of time to get plastic hats and noise makers. One line stretched from the Germany pavilion all the way across the bridge to near the China pavilion. We decided that it wasn't worth the wait and later that night we encountered a cast member handing them out and got them with no wait at all.

- The worst part of the night came after the first showing of Illuminations. We had been at the Land Pavilion because we really didn't need to see Illuminations twice in one night. After Illuminations had ended we began walking toward World Showcase. This turned out to be a bad move because it was at the same time that many people were leaving. We got caught in the middle of a log jam. With people heading in both directions everything came to a virtual standstill, it was literally impossible to move. Cast members were trying to get the traffic flowing but problems were compounded by people who had already staked out their spots for the later showing of Illuminations as well as people who were in line for food at the Refreshment Port. It took us a half an hour of pushing and shoving to get from the Refreshment Port to the Canada pavilion. Here are a couple of pictures of the mess:

- However, it was all worth it because the fireworks display at midnight was the most awesome thing I have ever seen.

More still to come.

 

[Fade_to_Blah]

Thanks for the report.

I think with the FastPass machines, if you stick your room card in with the barcode facing up it usually works better and breaks less.

Most people, like me, assume the barcode has to be facing down. The reader on the bottom side gets used more and is more prone to break. Was news to me anyways

 

[ms7479a]

Here's the last part of my report:

Animal Kingdom:

- On It's Tough to be a Bug the smell effect for the stink bug wasn't working, but all other effects seemed to be working fine.

- On Kilamanjaro's Safari I saw more animals than any other time I had been on it. It is definitely best to go earlier in the morning when it is not too warm out.

- I know that Primeval Whirl just underwent a lengthy rehab, but it seemed worse than before. Did they put in more brakes? The ride seemed very jerky and stop-and-go.

- I had never seen the Flights of Wonder show before and after seeing it I highly recommend it. The birds literally fly right over the heads of the audience. Its a good thing to do if you just need some time off your feet.

- Finally saw Finding Nemo: The Musical and I think it is one of the best shows in all Disney World. It was very well-done and did a good job of condensing the plot into a half an hour. It was definitely Broadway-caliber. I had the songs stuck in my head all night.

Hollywood Studios:

- Toy Story Mania is amazing. It is far superior to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom and more challenging as well. The first time we rode it my sister beat me 106,300 to 106,200 (and won't let me forget it). I got better the second time I rode it, scoring 123,700.

- There were several cast members stationed around the American Idol building. I don't know exactly what they were doing, they were just standing there holding park maps.

- Also pertaining to American Idol, on Sunday morning I was at the ABC Commissary and could see something going on at the back of the American Idol building. There were a couple of people with cameras taking pictures of a guy standing in front of an American Idol background. I have a feeling that this was the guy who is going to be the Ryan Seacrest of the show, but I cannot confirm this. I was mad that I didn't have my camera with me.

- Sounds Dangerous was closed on Sunday. Is it under rehab or is it just open seasonally?

- The Osborn Lights were phenominal and suprisingly not as crowded as I thought they would be. It probably helped that we went during the first showing of Fantasmic.

This concludes my trip report. Overall, Disney World is amazing during the holiday season. The lights, the shows, the fireworks, everything just made Disney World more magical than it already is. I would strongly recommend that every Disney fan experience it at least once. However, I think once is enough for me. The crowds are huge and there are lines for everything: rides, food, and bathrooms. That being said, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, it was a great trip. I do look forward to going to Disney World when it is less crowded. Luckily I will be there from March 7-14.

I hope everyone enjoyed my trip report. If you have any questions about Disney World during the holidays I will try my best to answer them for you.

 

[disneytopdog]

Thanks for the update....My first holiday trip will be in early December 2009.....I cant wait!!!!