Just completed my trip to Disney World and figured I would share what I thought worked well and what didn't with people who would actually care.
Key Stats: My wife and I are 30 years old, we have a 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. This is My 8th trip to Disney, fifth with wife, third with son and 2nd with daughter. We are middle class, the reason we can afford to go so often is that we are within driving distance (North Carolina) and I am military which Disney supports with generous discounts (THANKS!). We stayed four nights at Art of Animation and four nights at Swan and Dolphin, the trip went from 20 Sep to 28 Sep.
Things that worked well, I liked
1. We stayed the night prior in Saint Augustine which is something I highly recommend for those travelling long distances. It allowed us to sleep in the next day and put us at the resort by noon which meant we had the day to hang out by the pool, go to downtown or even do a late park trip if we wanted. Way better than arriving late at night after a 9 hour car ride exhausted.
We are big football fans and wanted to watch the games. ESPN Zone is usually a zoo so we tried the ESPN Sports grill at the wide world of sports complex. Its only open if there is an event there that day and it costs a "fun day" to enter the premises but the restaurant had Sunday Ticket and was not crowded at all.
Straight to room check-in was awesome. No issues and considering how long check was last time I was there I really appreciated being able to skip it.
AOA continues to be an awesome option for families. We love having the suite and the kids love the splash pad and huge pool. Very nicely themed
Animal kingdom was my daughters favorite (it was my son's at that age) and it continues to be a park that doesn't get to crowded which is great. Its now my second favorite after Epcot
If you plan on staying at the Swan or Dolphin shop around for a rate that is better than the one their homepage advertises. If you find it they will match that price and give an additional 20% off which makes it a very affordable option especially during food and wine festival. They do charge for parking, however since we stayed on a Disney property the first four nights we showed up early the next day and left the cars at the boardwalk for the remainder of the trip. I do really like these hotels, the grounds and pools are great, nice restaurants and food options on site including several affordable choices and its easy to get to Epcot or Hollywood without taking the buses which I now hate (more below).
We went with another family who also had a young kid. After the first park day we realized that they let us do rider swaps in conjunction with fast pass. We then switched our plans so each family had different rides. One family would fast pass it and get a rider swap while the other watched the kids. Kinda cheating the system and I'm sure they will fix it but its something to keep in mind.
Beer selection in all the parks has improved, I appreciate the variety
Cast members were friendly and helpful as ever. I'm always impressed with their positive attitude.
What I disliked:
I hate the fast pass plus.... it takes your ability to be flexible. We ended up swapping our Epcot and Hollywood days and it took about an hour to cancel and rebook the rides. It also forced us to accept times that were not ideal. Booking more rides at the park was a pain which required us waiting in another line. Our friend was able to do some fast past switching on his app, he has an Apple. My wife and I have androids and our app kept crapping out on us and not letting us switch. I love having the wristbands be my room key, credit card and reservations but I liked the original fast pass model.
Magic Kingdom was miserable due to the crowds. Even though we were there during the "off-season" Magic Kingdom was packed. The reason was due to the Not so scary Halloween thing going the day before and day after which dumped everyone in the park on that Monday. Annoying that those events shut down the park as it making the days the park is open late incredible crowded. Why don't they do these things at Hollywood or Animal Kingdom instead of shutting down the park that draws the largest crowds
Bus transportation was terrible. I know I'm gonna come off insensitive but the number of scooters in the parks has grown exponentially since my last visit. Its like a scene out of Wall-E. The result was every single bus I went on had to load at least one if not two of these contraptions making the load times take forever and the buses being even more crowded. While I can tolerate this for handicapped, injured or elderly, a lot of riders came across as overweight people who didn't want to walk which only added to my annoyance. I also saw two bystanders get run over by people on scooters. Not sure what the answer to this is but I now will only take the buses to Magic Kingdom and the only reason I do that is to avoid the transportation hub, otherwise I would drive.
Food and Wine festival, which I was really looking forward to, was a huge bust. Lines were a half hour per booth for small portions of food and drink (which were delicious). Maybe it was because we were there on the first weekend but its not something I would plan around again.
A ridiculous number of rides broke down while we were there. Im assuming it was a fluke but we broke on
DisneyQuest was a huge disappointment as the height restrictions on their best attractions are baffling. My son was unable to go on cyber mountain and the buzz light year bumper cars thing yet could ride Everest... ***.
Toy Story midway Mania (had to walk back to the exit after a cast member came and got us)
Haunted Mansion (5 min)
Spacehip Earth (10 min)
Nemo (15 min)
Splash and Thunder broke down while we were in line
All in all the trip was a bit of a disappointment compared to last time. My biggest gripe is the fast pass plus. I really hope they scrap that program or enhance it to something else. Not in any rush to return.
Key Stats: My wife and I are 30 years old, we have a 5 year old son and 2 year old daughter. This is My 8th trip to Disney, fifth with wife, third with son and 2nd with daughter. We are middle class, the reason we can afford to go so often is that we are within driving distance (North Carolina) and I am military which Disney supports with generous discounts (THANKS!). We stayed four nights at Art of Animation and four nights at Swan and Dolphin, the trip went from 20 Sep to 28 Sep.
Things that worked well, I liked
1. We stayed the night prior in Saint Augustine which is something I highly recommend for those travelling long distances. It allowed us to sleep in the next day and put us at the resort by noon which meant we had the day to hang out by the pool, go to downtown or even do a late park trip if we wanted. Way better than arriving late at night after a 9 hour car ride exhausted.
We are big football fans and wanted to watch the games. ESPN Zone is usually a zoo so we tried the ESPN Sports grill at the wide world of sports complex. Its only open if there is an event there that day and it costs a "fun day" to enter the premises but the restaurant had Sunday Ticket and was not crowded at all.
Straight to room check-in was awesome. No issues and considering how long check was last time I was there I really appreciated being able to skip it.
AOA continues to be an awesome option for families. We love having the suite and the kids love the splash pad and huge pool. Very nicely themed
Animal kingdom was my daughters favorite (it was my son's at that age) and it continues to be a park that doesn't get to crowded which is great. Its now my second favorite after Epcot
If you plan on staying at the Swan or Dolphin shop around for a rate that is better than the one their homepage advertises. If you find it they will match that price and give an additional 20% off which makes it a very affordable option especially during food and wine festival. They do charge for parking, however since we stayed on a Disney property the first four nights we showed up early the next day and left the cars at the boardwalk for the remainder of the trip. I do really like these hotels, the grounds and pools are great, nice restaurants and food options on site including several affordable choices and its easy to get to Epcot or Hollywood without taking the buses which I now hate (more below).
We went with another family who also had a young kid. After the first park day we realized that they let us do rider swaps in conjunction with fast pass. We then switched our plans so each family had different rides. One family would fast pass it and get a rider swap while the other watched the kids. Kinda cheating the system and I'm sure they will fix it but its something to keep in mind.
Beer selection in all the parks has improved, I appreciate the variety
Cast members were friendly and helpful as ever. I'm always impressed with their positive attitude.
What I disliked:
I hate the fast pass plus.... it takes your ability to be flexible. We ended up swapping our Epcot and Hollywood days and it took about an hour to cancel and rebook the rides. It also forced us to accept times that were not ideal. Booking more rides at the park was a pain which required us waiting in another line. Our friend was able to do some fast past switching on his app, he has an Apple. My wife and I have androids and our app kept crapping out on us and not letting us switch. I love having the wristbands be my room key, credit card and reservations but I liked the original fast pass model.
Magic Kingdom was miserable due to the crowds. Even though we were there during the "off-season" Magic Kingdom was packed. The reason was due to the Not so scary Halloween thing going the day before and day after which dumped everyone in the park on that Monday. Annoying that those events shut down the park as it making the days the park is open late incredible crowded. Why don't they do these things at Hollywood or Animal Kingdom instead of shutting down the park that draws the largest crowds
Bus transportation was terrible. I know I'm gonna come off insensitive but the number of scooters in the parks has grown exponentially since my last visit. Its like a scene out of Wall-E. The result was every single bus I went on had to load at least one if not two of these contraptions making the load times take forever and the buses being even more crowded. While I can tolerate this for handicapped, injured or elderly, a lot of riders came across as overweight people who didn't want to walk which only added to my annoyance. I also saw two bystanders get run over by people on scooters. Not sure what the answer to this is but I now will only take the buses to Magic Kingdom and the only reason I do that is to avoid the transportation hub, otherwise I would drive.
Food and Wine festival, which I was really looking forward to, was a huge bust. Lines were a half hour per booth for small portions of food and drink (which were delicious). Maybe it was because we were there on the first weekend but its not something I would plan around again.
A ridiculous number of rides broke down while we were there. Im assuming it was a fluke but we broke on
DisneyQuest was a huge disappointment as the height restrictions on their best attractions are baffling. My son was unable to go on cyber mountain and the buzz light year bumper cars thing yet could ride Everest... ***.
Toy Story midway Mania (had to walk back to the exit after a cast member came and got us)
Haunted Mansion (5 min)
Spacehip Earth (10 min)
Nemo (15 min)
Splash and Thunder broke down while we were in line
All in all the trip was a bit of a disappointment compared to last time. My biggest gripe is the fast pass plus. I really hope they scrap that program or enhance it to something else. Not in any rush to return.
