My adult daughters and 11 yr son just returned from a fast, wonderful trip. We got to experience the Food and Wine AND the MNSSHP - both of which were new to us. We stayed at the Poly - again a first. If anyone has questions I’ll try and answer.
Overall thoughts, it’s been 6 years since we had been on property. A lot has changed - some things not for the better. The crowds were higher than what we had thought or hoped. “only” having 3 FP a day was sad - last time there were more available after you had used your initial allotment. Seven dwarves is a very fun ride but unless you have a FP I wouldn’t wait. Average wait was 2plus hours a day anytime I checked. Cost to eat at the Beast’s castle was worth it for the experience - but not sure I’d pay it again. There was a LOT of construction and not a lot to do at HS. We weren’t interested in ToyStory Land and although we went to see it, so many people that I couldn’t breathe. SciFi restaurant is always a sure winner however. Epcot future world - lots of construction or closures there too. I’m glad Spaceship Earth will be getting some love - it needs to be refreshed. The world showcase was awesome as usual. Food and Wine was fun and more economical than I would have thought. Our room at the Poly had plenty of space and was perfect for location. We had no issues with monorails. Actually walked in and was able to be seated at Ohana on the last night. (so go ask if you have no reservations!) It was a fun getaway and I’m super happy we went. But not sure now if based on crowds, construction if we will return prior to 2022 or after.
we leave bright and early tomorrow morning for the same! Although we are staying at All Star Music (hoping for one of the newly renovated rooms!)
Was MNSSHP super crowded? We are going tomorrow, on the hopes that a Tuesday night might not be too bad
We went to MNSSHP on Columbus Day. It was a slightly rainy night but the crowds were fine. Less than last year, same party.
The ASMusic rooms haven’t been refurbed yet. They are still working on ASMovies. Sorry!
I think your Mickey party will be great. It was our best night of our trip with thoughts to crowds. If your kids are old enough, take advantage of the rides and skip the show.
No kids!! 
Ugh, I got movies and music mixed up 
oh well, we are only there for two nights.
wait! …So you cant get more fastpasses after you have used your 3 pre picked ones??
Yes, you can get more after you use the first 3, one at a time.
Ok thats what i thought. thats the way it was last time. The OP scared me, maybe i misunderstood
With the level of crowds - we were unable to secure other FP the entire trip. We had our preplanned 3 per day - that’s all we got. Now, at the party, no FP are allowed but crowds were less and it was relatively short waits. (except for Peter Pan and Seven Dwarves)
Would you be able to share which dates you were at which park? Did TP’s CL match up? With all the changes, I’m starting to become leery of this entire trip to Disney. We, too, haven’t been in 6 years and I’m afraid the kids will be very disappointed. When we went, the FPP system was still in beta and we were among the first to test it- and the old FP system was still being used. That was awesome.
Maybe better to keep the nostalgia than try to make new happy memories there.
Oh- and we love SciFi Diner, too!
You guys eat anything worth noting?
I have never had trouble getting more FPP, and we go during spring break (as well as 1 or 2 other times every year). The key is booking them early in the day and then taking whatever is available as number 4, then modifying over and over until you get what you want. Even on CL 10 days, there are FPP.
Not possible! It is still awesome. We always get lots of same day FPP after using our first 3, including headliners like FOP, Test Track, the Safari, EE, Rock Coaster, etc. The key is to keep modifying, every time you hit refresh a new time/ride may pop up. It just takes time and patience.
Thanks for the encouragement! I made the “mistake” of telling them this was in the works, so I’m not sure I can get out of it even if I wanted to! The hard part is that there are 5 of us, so the extra FPP are going to present some more logistical challenges.
Interesting enough, I have always had success getting additional FPP after using the first 3, until this last trip to F&W over Columbus day weekend. Now, I get that it is a small sample size, but we were unable to get additional FPP for practically ANYTHING. This was very unusual I thought, considering that I had almost no trouble getting additional same-day FPP in June for my family of 4 (with similar crowd levels) and that now I was just looking for a party of 2 (or even singles). It was a noticeable difference.
At any rate, I thought it was strange, but then I think Backside of Magic mentioned within the past couple of weeks that one of them had that issue as well.
So, take that for what its worth (a small sample size and a single trip) but it makes me wonder if WDW is monkeying around with same day FPP somehow.
Wonder if fewer FPP is because at “slower times” they cut back on number of CM’s working and number of “cars” being available
They better not be! It’s bad enough they took away our ability to make FPP on a separate dummy account without tickets linked (now those were really the good days!), the least they can do is leave same day FPP alone. I will be there in December, will be curious to see what is going on with same day FPP.
Our trip was Oct 5 (Friday) through 9th. But really, the 8th was our last day with the early flight out the next morning. So yes, that was Columbus day long weekend. Someone asked about food - the Epcot F&W was great! And we still missed some things. My only comment - too many sweet things. But the Fire Eats and Canadian and China booths were our faves.