TRIP REPORT: This will be the last trip for a long time.....

[map57]

First off, let me say we loved the trip and had a great time. This was our 4th trip since 2008 (6 years). So we have seen changes and learned some things in that time. Kids are now 13 and 11....the "magic" is pretty much gone for them. They are not into animated movies anymore and didn't care anything about going to a parade or a show. We still did a few, but they wanted to RIDE the RIDES. As most of you know....you can ride cheaper rides other places....

The nice part was when my oldest said he would definitely want to bring his kids....that made me feel like I did my part as a parent....

Positives:
Magic Bands - Loved using them instead of tickets, keys, and fastpass tickets. Step in the right direction.

Memory Maker - got a lot of pics and getting the ride pictures and the two ride videos is great. Another move in the right direction.

Food - For the most part we ate whatever and whenever....and loved it. One of our favorite is the funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow in the MK. If you go, get one and send me one back....
If you don't go there...go to O'hana and send me back the desert from there. They don't deliver...we checked....

Magical Express - If you are flying down and staying at a resort....use it. Only negative was having to be up a little early the day we were leaving, but taking care of our bags coming and going made that worth it.

Nothing was broken down....all rides were good and we had a good experience.


Negatives:
Fast Pass - Could have put this in the positive some too... I liked being able to get the 3 ahead of time and knowing we could get on the rides pretty quick....BUT....I also felt like I HAD to follow the schedule as opposed to being in the moment and wanting to do something else. Sometimes it just happens... Also, if you don't have a fastpass....you were going to wait. October has picked up in numbers....but there were plenty of times that there was a 30 min or longer wait because MORE people now have fastpasses. Case in point....Extra Magic hours at DS....(so a lower crowd than normal hours right...).....there was a 60 min+ wait for RnR....same as it was during reg hours.

Adult Park Goers - I know this may go against many, but to me the parks are about the kids....always has been and should be IMO. My wife and I weren't shocked that people would be there without kids....just at the large number of people that were....and I'll just leave it at that.

7DMT - Hate to say this was a negative....but as both my kids said..."why would anyone wait over an hour to ride that?". They both said the ride was fun, but that was about it...and it was REALLY short. Don't blink twice....you will miss most of the ride. We rode it 2 times and enjoyed it....but it didn't make the must do list on the last day (and we went to 3 different parks and ended with the Halloween Party that night). IF it were as long at BTMRR, I think we would have done it more and they would have liked it more.

So as I said...it was a great trip....just probably our last....
For us it is about our kids and spending those "moments" that are special in their lives....so as far as Disney goes....next....the grand kids!!

Next up....relaxing beaches.....

I'll be glad to answer any questions that I didn't get into enough specifically.

map

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I strongly disagree that Disney is just for kids. In fact it is intended and designed for everyone. I am glad Disney realizes this and makes the experience fun for all. The thinking that this is "just for adults" means if you are single like me (yes another form of single person discrimination it appears) then once we are of age, no more Disney for us!

 

[cakebaker]

Disney has never been just for kids.

We went to Disney when my girls were kids, then went for another 10 yrs as adult only trio until my daughter had my grandson 2 years ago and now we're back to going with a young one again.

Some of our best trips were as adult only. But hey, if it works for you- it works for me!

 

[disneygolfer1985]

I strongly disagree that Disney is just for kids. In fact it is intended and designed for everyone. I am glad Disney realizes this and makes the experience fun for all. The thinking that this is "just for adults" means if you are single like me (yes another form of single person discrimination it appears) then once we are of age, no more Disney for us!

I agree. I enjoy going more now than I do when I was a kid. I'm a DVC member, so I know I'll always be going every year. Also, you were going over the F&W, which is heavily geared towards adults. Other than Thanksgiving and Christmas, I would prefer to go to the F&W just because there are so many things to do. I enjoy the immersion into the scenes and I'm not as big into the rides, which is good because the new system deters that.

 

[JeninTexas]

Thanks for your report. I appreciate getting the information. Glad you had a good time.

 

[map57]

I strongly disagree that Disney is just for kids. In fact it is intended and designed for everyone. I am glad Disney realizes this and makes the experience fun for all. The thinking that this is "just for adults" means if you are single like me (yes another form of single person discrimination it appears) then once we are of age, no more Disney for us!

As I stated....that is just my opinion...I also stated that we weren't shocked that people were there without kids....just the large number that were.

As far as it being for the kids....from the beginning Disney used (not the only purpose) the parks to promote their TV shows/movies. While we all know that everyone can watch the shows and enjoy them (as I do)....they were directed towards the kids. This is why I said that my kids had kind of lost interest. They aren't into the "kiddy" shows/movies anymore. If you are, then by all means do whatever you like. I could still go and have fun without them, but for us, it is about them. Nowhere in my statement did I say adults shouldn't go without kids.

Enjoy,

map

 

[ncdj2013]

Adult Park Goers - I know this may go against many, but to me the parks are about the kids....always has been and should be IMO. My wife and I weren't shocked that people would be there without kids....just at the large number of people that were....and I'll just leave it at that.


map

Well that just makes me sad for you. I never got to go to WDW until I was an "adult"....That being said some of us will always be kids. Hubby and I will continue to go every year as long as we can still walk.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Well that just makes me sad for you. I never got to go to WDW until I was an "adult"....That being said some of us will always be kids. Hubby and I will continue to go every year as long as we can still walk.

I have gone to Disney dozens of times, all but one as an adult. Part of my joy in addition to going on the rides (I am not a huge show person) is seeing the faces of other kids faces when they see a character. Disney is for everyone and I am thankful that they target everyone when building the parks.

 

[map57]

Well that just makes me sad for you. I never got to go to WDW until I was an "adult"....That being said some of us will always be kids. Hubby and I will continue to go every year as long as we can still walk.

Don't feel bad for me....We've had 4 great trips and I will hopefully have more at some point in time. But we are at a point that our kids are very involved in sports and other activities and we don't want to miss those either....just like I didn't want to miss their eyes lighting up the first time they got to be in the parks.

 

[agame2323]

sounds like someone's ready for Universal Studios

 

[crystalsmom1021]

1st Time visit for our entire family. Celebrated my daughters 9th Birthday. Loved the Magic Bands and the Memory Maker. Magical Express was Awesome. We had some Excellent Meet and Greets as well. Aladdin and Jasmine in MK Chip and Dale at Rafikis Planet Watch in AK and the wicked step sisters at 1900 were awesome. Our server at Tusker House was hands down the best service that we had. Our driver on the safari at AK was AWESOME. We spent most of our time between MK and AK. We have 3 full autographs books and got to see our daughter dance with the Beast at Be Our Guest.

Hands down my favorite was MNSSHP.

Overall experience was great. We stayed at the Art of Animation and the cast members were great.

I myself thought it weird that adults were walking around with Happy Birthday buttons or Celebration buttons. I would rather ALL the focus be on the kids, but that's just me.

I was not really impressed with a lot of the food that we had. The best meals we ate were Tusker House, Ohana and Be Our Guest hands down. Coming in second would be Garden Grill but ONLY for the food. Not sure why Landscape of Flavors had such rave reviews. I was not impressed.

I had some very magical moments and some very WTH moments during our trip. I would say that everyone one should try everything once which we did. My daughter to is into rides and attractions so things were a little underwhelming for her. Not sure if we will make it back but enjoyed the time and the memories that we made together.

 

[map57]

sounds like someone's ready for Universal Studios

That was one of my thoughts.....
My oldest would ride anything...and I mean anything....he's one of those that steps off the platform 12 stories up with just a harness on and nothing below him but concrete....and wants to do it again....

Disney is just a lot of money if you are not getting the WHOLE experience....and sadly...in a lot of ways they are not anymore. They did enjoy it enough to want to go back at some point....with their kids. So I feel like I did my part.

 

[AngiTN]

As I stated....that is just my opinion...I also stated that we weren't shocked that people were there without kids....just the large number that were.

As far as it being for the kids....from the beginning Disney used (not the only purpose) the parks to promote their TV shows/movies. While we all know that everyone can watch the shows and enjoy them (as I do)....they were directed towards the kids. This is why I said that my kids had kind of lost interest. They aren't into the "kiddy" shows/movies anymore. If you are, then by all means do whatever you like. I could still go and have fun without them, but for us, it is about them. Nowhere in my statement did I say adults shouldn't go without kids.

Enjoy,

map

No but you did put the adult park goers on your list of negatives so folks are not going to take kindly to making your negative list.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

Universal is definitely the place to go for the older teens. More thrilling rides. I love both Disney and Universal so I end up going to both.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

No but you did put the adult park goers on your list of negatives so folks are going to take kindly to making your negative list.

Yeah that was what caught my eye. Stated that didn't understand why adults without kids would go which to me implied adults don't belong but that was clarified so I'm guessing something different was intended but kind of hard not to jump to that conclusion by the first post.

 

[dwheaton]

My wife and I went several times before we had kids and had a great time. While I've loved our trips with our older daughter (we now have two and are taking both in January), it seems odd to state that people there without kids is strange. Heck, I'd go there myself if I could, though I know that's weird to some. Like others have said, that's the great things about the parks. They're designed to hit almost any market. Of course, it does seem like recent changes haven't been as interested in adults without kids. We'll see where it goes...

 

[kerplop]

My wife and I went several times before we had kids and had a great time. While I've loved our trips with our older daughter (we now have two and are taking both in January), it seems odd to state that people there without kids is strange. Heck, I'd go there myself if I could, though I know that's weird to some. Like others have said, that's the great things about the parks. They're designed to hit almost any market. Of course, it does seem like recent changes haven't been as interested in adults without kids. We'll see where it goes...

Agreed. Heck there's even an entire section on the planning DVD on doing WDW without kids/adults only...

 

[TXOktober]

Kids weren't in the cards for me and my fella and we love Disney and Universal. Neither of our families could afford to go when we were children; so when we went the first time it was like being children again.

We make up for the lack of kids by taking our friends or family that never been to Disney. We love giving that amazing wide-eyed experience to our friends & family. February we are taking my youngest sister and her SO, they are so excited! And I'm excited to get to show them Disney World and discover the Harry Potter sections of Universal with them, since *I* haven't seen those yet.

 

[famy27]

Yeah that was what caught my eye. Stated that didn't understand why adults without kids would go which to me implied adults don't belong but that was clarified so I'm guessing something different was intended but kind of hard not to jump to that conclusion by the first post.

I agree that WDW is definitely not for just kids. I was there as an adult prior to having kids and I'd go back in a heartbeat without them when they're grown.

However, looking at the OP's review, I am guessing there was more to his situation. Considering he was there during F&W (as I was last October), my guess is the behavior of some of those adults might have been the issue, not the fact that it was adults. We ran into more than one group of over-served adults swearing, fighting, and generally acting like idiots. Most people were acting appropriately, but the few bad apples were really off-putting. My DD, who was 7 at the time, was watching wide-eyed as the group in front of us at one booth was letting some very colorful language fly. So, to me, the problem isn't adults without kids, it's drunk and poorly-behaved adults. Of course, I may be totally off base here. Perhaps the OP can clarify.

 

[LaurenT]

As I stated....that is just my opinion...I also stated that we weren't shocked that people were there without kids....just the large number that were. As far as it being for the kids....from the beginning Disney used (not the only purpose) the parks to promote their TV shows/movies. While we all know that everyone can watch the shows and enjoy them (as I do)....they were directed towards the kids. This is why I said that my kids had kind of lost interest. They aren't into the "kiddy" shows/movies anymore. If you are, then by all means do whatever you like. I could still go and have fun without them, but for us, it is about them. Nowhere in my statement did I say adults shouldn't go without kids. Enjoy, map

Well - you didn't say adults shouldn't go without kids ... But you listed people who do so as a negative part of your trip.
I'm going all by myself in Nov - a 50 year old woman with a husband and an 11 year old daughter. It's a gift from my husband. I live going with my family, but he knows that I also love doin my own thing. I will stay up late, will do the things my dd doesn't like, will not meet with any characters ... Will not bother with sit down meals, etc
I apologize in advance if my presence in the park turns out to be a negative part of someone else's vacation....