Hello everyone!
My report won't be super detailed with pics and day by day. Just a few thoughts on our recent trip.
First our background: Myself and my DDs (15 and 16) have made several trips between 2003 and 2009. Life got in the way after 2009 and we weren't able to go afterward until 2015 for Cheerleading Worlds and April 2016 for Dance Worlds. It was great to get back after all those years, but our last 2 trips involved those competitions which are time consuming so this was our first vacation only trip since 2009.
Our resort Allstar Music. Magical express from the airport went smoothly. Didn't wait terribly long. We arrived at the resort around 1030am. Room wasn't ready so our carry ons were left with Bell Services and off we went to Magic Kingdom! Literally as we walked into the park the text arrived the room was ready. We didn't rush back as we had FP and ADR.
The parks were crowded but manageable with good use of FP we did everything we wanted to do during our stay. We had park hoppers and would consult the app after our FP were complete and either grab another in the current park we were at or look at the wait times, so the app was very useful.
Transportation was smooth. Didn't wait long for busses. Often times we would wait for the next one to arrive if it filled to standing room only. Music had a dedicated bus. Only a few times did we share with the other Allstars, rarity and wasn't bad.
The resort was as expected. We got the building we requested. Broadway. Not a crazy ridiculous walk from the main building. Seemed forever after a long day. Ha! Wasn't conducive to using the mugs though. I wish they would put a refill station by the piano pool for the buildings in the back. If we go back I'll definitely get preferred pool view for the proximity. Pool activities were going on every day and a couple nights they had movies. Piano pool even had beach balls and such tossed in by staff. We used the main pool mostly so we could be close to snacks and refill our mugs.
Room was clean, mattresses could use updating but weren't horrible. Carpet was a little faded, but wasn't a deal breaker. Had a sink issue and maintenance came immediately to fix. Mouse keeping was good. Room was cleaned before 1pm every day.
No pool towels but a towel return at the pools. Mousekeeping left open carts of towels in front of each elevator floor. Not sure if they always do that or did it because I'm sure the towel requests were crazy for them.
Food court was good. Kids liked the variety. Some lines were longer, but no biggie mine are old enough to know how to check out with the meal plan and we'd just wait for each other.
Weather was nice. Didn't rain the whole time. Warm for shorts and shirts during the day. Evening it cooled down. Most of the time we didn't need jackets, but we're from Ohio so 60 degrees in November doesn't require jackets for us. Ha! A couple nights we wore sweatshirts and shorts.
MVMCP - we attended this when the girls were 4. So wanted to do again as they were older. Had a ton of fun. Wouldn't necessarily pay to do it again but great for the experience at least once. The girls were amazed by the snow on mainstreet! Had an issue with transportation to the party. We had ADR at GF prior to. Finished with ample time, but monorail was down! They provided no additional transport except those tiny water taxis. The line was crazy to the boats. I do feel that disney dropped the ball on this. They should have quickly had a plan b for transport in that type of situation. We waited for the boat then noticed the monorail was back up so we went back. We missed the 1st hour of the party due to this. GF said we could be compensated at guest services but I didn't want to wait in yet another massive line and miss more of the party.
I think the only other thing we didn't care for was Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam at HS. It literally was the star wars show set to a different holiday theme which was an elf and something else we didn't remotely find entertaining. The snow part was cool. My girls got so bored during the show they went to ride TOT because there wasn't a wait.
All in all it was a wonderful trip. Seeing my nearly grown girls enjoy it as much as they did when they were little was really special. There is nothing like seeing your 15 year old tear up when she met Olaf or Sadness and Joy for the first time. Singing at the top of our lungs during the Frozen ride and during the sing along show. And cheering in front of the castle during Holiday wishes like it was a Beyonce concert is absolutely priceless.
We are planning our next trip for May 2016. Making our resort reservations as we speak. Should we return for Cheerleading Worlds in April our plans will change, but we'll be there regardless!
My report won't be super detailed with pics and day by day. Just a few thoughts on our recent trip.
First our background: Myself and my DDs (15 and 16) have made several trips between 2003 and 2009. Life got in the way after 2009 and we weren't able to go afterward until 2015 for Cheerleading Worlds and April 2016 for Dance Worlds. It was great to get back after all those years, but our last 2 trips involved those competitions which are time consuming so this was our first vacation only trip since 2009.
Our resort Allstar Music. Magical express from the airport went smoothly. Didn't wait terribly long. We arrived at the resort around 1030am. Room wasn't ready so our carry ons were left with Bell Services and off we went to Magic Kingdom! Literally as we walked into the park the text arrived the room was ready. We didn't rush back as we had FP and ADR.
The parks were crowded but manageable with good use of FP we did everything we wanted to do during our stay. We had park hoppers and would consult the app after our FP were complete and either grab another in the current park we were at or look at the wait times, so the app was very useful.
Transportation was smooth. Didn't wait long for busses. Often times we would wait for the next one to arrive if it filled to standing room only. Music had a dedicated bus. Only a few times did we share with the other Allstars, rarity and wasn't bad.
The resort was as expected. We got the building we requested. Broadway. Not a crazy ridiculous walk from the main building. Seemed forever after a long day. Ha! Wasn't conducive to using the mugs though. I wish they would put a refill station by the piano pool for the buildings in the back. If we go back I'll definitely get preferred pool view for the proximity. Pool activities were going on every day and a couple nights they had movies. Piano pool even had beach balls and such tossed in by staff. We used the main pool mostly so we could be close to snacks and refill our mugs.
Room was clean, mattresses could use updating but weren't horrible. Carpet was a little faded, but wasn't a deal breaker. Had a sink issue and maintenance came immediately to fix. Mouse keeping was good. Room was cleaned before 1pm every day.
No pool towels but a towel return at the pools. Mousekeeping left open carts of towels in front of each elevator floor. Not sure if they always do that or did it because I'm sure the towel requests were crazy for them.
Food court was good. Kids liked the variety. Some lines were longer, but no biggie mine are old enough to know how to check out with the meal plan and we'd just wait for each other.
Weather was nice. Didn't rain the whole time. Warm for shorts and shirts during the day. Evening it cooled down. Most of the time we didn't need jackets, but we're from Ohio so 60 degrees in November doesn't require jackets for us. Ha! A couple nights we wore sweatshirts and shorts.
MVMCP - we attended this when the girls were 4. So wanted to do again as they were older. Had a ton of fun. Wouldn't necessarily pay to do it again but great for the experience at least once. The girls were amazed by the snow on mainstreet! Had an issue with transportation to the party. We had ADR at GF prior to. Finished with ample time, but monorail was down! They provided no additional transport except those tiny water taxis. The line was crazy to the boats. I do feel that disney dropped the ball on this. They should have quickly had a plan b for transport in that type of situation. We waited for the boat then noticed the monorail was back up so we went back. We missed the 1st hour of the party due to this. GF said we could be compensated at guest services but I didn't want to wait in yet another massive line and miss more of the party.
I think the only other thing we didn't care for was Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam at HS. It literally was the star wars show set to a different holiday theme which was an elf and something else we didn't remotely find entertaining. The snow part was cool. My girls got so bored during the show they went to ride TOT because there wasn't a wait.
All in all it was a wonderful trip. Seeing my nearly grown girls enjoy it as much as they did when they were little was really special. There is nothing like seeing your 15 year old tear up when she met Olaf or Sadness and Joy for the first time. Singing at the top of our lungs during the Frozen ride and during the sing along show. And cheering in front of the castle during Holiday wishes like it was a Beyonce concert is absolutely priceless.
We are planning our next trip for May 2016. Making our resort reservations as we speak. Should we return for Cheerleading Worlds in April our plans will change, but we'll be there regardless!
