Davey Jones II
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2008
We got back yesterday. We did eight days at WDW, three at Universal. A few random observations about our trip:
* Loved New Fantasyland. 7DMT is great. We rode it three times: once shortly after park opening (posted 75 min. wait, it took about an hour), once with FP+ and once during the Halloween Party. We waited about 30 min. during the party.
* Don't skip Enchanted Tales with Belle, even if you don't have children. There are some very nice effects and two terrific new AAs. The last one you see in the attraction may be the most incredible AA I've ever seen! They brought a character to life in a way that, to me, represents the state of the art for AAs.
* October is a really popular time of year at WDW. It may not be peak season, but most days were crowded. Crowds at MK were lower on Party days. If you want to see the Electrical Parade, show up in the evening or be prepared for heavy crowds all day.
* FP+ is a mixed blessing. I don't hate it and I don't love it. When you have a reservation, you seem to breeze in even faster than with Legacy FP. But when you're in standby, it often slows down the line.
* We missed our window for FP+ several times when the standby line was long, and it was not enforced. At other times, it was enforced -- when the standby was short. I can't be sure that they will continue to do it this way, but that was our experience.
* Most CMs were helpful, friendly and made our trip better. These people are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated.
* We loved Diagon Alley and enjoyed our three days at Universal. But we didn't feel that Universal's cutting edge attractions put a damper on our enjoyment of WDW. In some cases (the new AAs, talking Mickey, the Town Square Theater lobby posters) Disney displayed a lot of high tech themselves.
It's not all about tech, anyway. I feel a much stronger emotional connection to Disney's parks and many of the attractions.
* Universal has impressive new rides, but Disney is far better when it comes to shows and parades. Oh, the Festival of Fantasy parade is a home run for Disney. Loved it.
* I saw very little of the supposed wear, tear and broken effects that some people like to complain about. Almost everything was in good shape.
Overall, we had a great trip. Yes we did rush around quite a lot and I was often looking at my watch in order to coordinate everything and avoid missing FP+ times (which we often did anyway, as mentioned above) or grab a spot in time for a parade or show. Personally, I've always kind of liked that aspect of the theme park trips. It's the excitement of heading for the next fun attraction.
Sometimes it was stressful, but ultimately that was our choice -- we squeezed six theme parks and two water parks into eleven days. We could have taken more days to do everything, or taken a more relaxed approach and experienced less attractions. It's a question of priorities, and a balancing act between relaxation and excitement.
Every day was a new adventure, and we always woke up with a lot to look forward to that day. To me, that represents much of the appeal of a theme park vacation.
Oh, and the weather was pretty awesome.
* Loved New Fantasyland. 7DMT is great. We rode it three times: once shortly after park opening (posted 75 min. wait, it took about an hour), once with FP+ and once during the Halloween Party. We waited about 30 min. during the party.
* Don't skip Enchanted Tales with Belle, even if you don't have children. There are some very nice effects and two terrific new AAs. The last one you see in the attraction may be the most incredible AA I've ever seen! They brought a character to life in a way that, to me, represents the state of the art for AAs.
* October is a really popular time of year at WDW. It may not be peak season, but most days were crowded. Crowds at MK were lower on Party days. If you want to see the Electrical Parade, show up in the evening or be prepared for heavy crowds all day.
* FP+ is a mixed blessing. I don't hate it and I don't love it. When you have a reservation, you seem to breeze in even faster than with Legacy FP. But when you're in standby, it often slows down the line.
* We missed our window for FP+ several times when the standby line was long, and it was not enforced. At other times, it was enforced -- when the standby was short. I can't be sure that they will continue to do it this way, but that was our experience.
* Most CMs were helpful, friendly and made our trip better. These people are overworked, underpaid and underappreciated.
* We loved Diagon Alley and enjoyed our three days at Universal. But we didn't feel that Universal's cutting edge attractions put a damper on our enjoyment of WDW. In some cases (the new AAs, talking Mickey, the Town Square Theater lobby posters) Disney displayed a lot of high tech themselves.
It's not all about tech, anyway. I feel a much stronger emotional connection to Disney's parks and many of the attractions.
* Universal has impressive new rides, but Disney is far better when it comes to shows and parades. Oh, the Festival of Fantasy parade is a home run for Disney. Loved it.
* I saw very little of the supposed wear, tear and broken effects that some people like to complain about. Almost everything was in good shape.
Overall, we had a great trip. Yes we did rush around quite a lot and I was often looking at my watch in order to coordinate everything and avoid missing FP+ times (which we often did anyway, as mentioned above) or grab a spot in time for a parade or show. Personally, I've always kind of liked that aspect of the theme park trips. It's the excitement of heading for the next fun attraction.
Sometimes it was stressful, but ultimately that was our choice -- we squeezed six theme parks and two water parks into eleven days. We could have taken more days to do everything, or taken a more relaxed approach and experienced less attractions. It's a question of priorities, and a balancing act between relaxation and excitement.
Every day was a new adventure, and we always woke up with a lot to look forward to that day. To me, that represents much of the appeal of a theme park vacation.
Oh, and the weather was pretty awesome.
