Definitely not the trip report kind of person, but wanted to post a thank you as so many of your comments contributed to making our recent trip wonderful. Truly, the plans worked amazingly well and we had a blast. There was not a single point in our trip where I felt like my TP was failing me or where I didn’t feel like I knew what to do thanks to all your wisdom. Crowds this time seemed lighter to me. This is our third trip in June/July in the last 4 years and this seemed the lowest. Parks certainly felt full but not crowded if that makes sense. I will add a few reactions on dining, attractions, tours etc. in case they are helpful to others.
Travel- we flew to WDW for the first time. Finding DME at MCO was by far the biggest challenge to our week. I had the directions from Disney with me. It still felt impossible to find in part because of airport staff who repeatedly gave all different and all wrong information when we stopped to ask “is this_____?” My MIL flew in after us and had the exact same experience. We both asked at least 3 airport staff so 6 total and none gave correct information. With all the travelers this impacts, they really could do SO much better both with signage and definitely with informed staff. I did the free trial of CLEAR based on a suggestion I saw here and it was exactly like having a fast pass for TSA
Kona is our traditional arrival night meal. The menu changed since we were last there and I had read confusion about the way it is written. It doesn’t list sides with the steaks but I had seen some people reassure others that of course you will get sides with it. I assumed that too because it wouldn’t make sense not to. Well… at least in our experience it was unfortunately just as it looked on the menu and the sides are not included with the steaks. You literally would just get the steak with a garnish unless you chose to add sides (which were not included in the DDP credit or cost of the steak). I asked several folks in several different ways including our server and received the same answer. But to us the macadamia nut butter is worth the whole meal. It did deter us from ordering steaks though with one exception. My MIL and I split the “perfect porterhouse steak” which does come with ample sides and is more than enough to feed two hungry adults but is 2 credits. It would definitely be in the running for our best meal of the week. But if you are traveling solo or don’t have anyone who wants to split that meal with you, Kona may not be the best place for you to have a steak.
Epcot- did PPO Garden Grill for the first time and it lived up to all the hype. Great breakfast, fun characters, Soarin with no wait. My kids loved Agent P and all the effects seemed to be working well in the countries we did. It made WS fun for them and gave my MIL time to enjoy wondering around. Someone here suggested Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Mix Live. Based on the description I don’t think I would have included it apart from their review. It was an absolute blast! All generations in our group loved it. I tried VOL based on reviews from here. I cried. It was overwhelmingly beautiful. La Hacienda de San Angel was ok. Nothing bad but also nothing I have to have again. The avocado margarita was as good but the Orange Mango Fire one was fantastic. Did the Behind the Seeds tour. Information was really good but our tour guide didn’t have much personality. The greenhouse heat was no joke. That indoor 1 hour tour easily took more out of us than the 3 hour outdoor WAT at AK. Both similar times of day and similar weather.
AK- Loved WAT! Snack provided was definitely enough for a meal and was delicious. No more tiring than regular park time even on a hot summer day. Didn’t need a meal or any additional rest afterwards. FOP was down quite a bit on our day including our entire FP window. Mildly disappointing for us but certainly not a big deal to our group. We used the anytime FP we got to do Navi again which our group loves. Noticed after we did that the FP was supposed to exclude Navi but we had successfully used it there. So if you get an anytime, might be worth trying on an excluded ride to see if it could work for you. Tried TH for dinner. Our first time there. I wanted to love it but just liked it. Service wasn’t great. Food was ok. There were a few bites that were delicious but I felt like I had to work hard trying a bunch of different things from the buffet to find them. I will say I hadn’t had a Tusker beer since I had spent 6 months in Kenya several decades ago. I wanted a cocktail so my DH who rarely has a drink used his drink to get one just for me to be able to taste for old times sake. One sip brought floods of sweet memories flooding back. It is amazing how smells, tastes, etc. can do that.
We really struggled to find ME too! I assumed it was because I was stressed out trying to handle luggage as well as pushing DH in a wheelchair but maybe it’s just hard to find.
Resort time- We love Poly. We want to try and love other resorts too. But we just love the Poly so much we can’t bring ourselves to go anywhere else. We always build in days at the resort to enjoy it and those are so great. We also don’t come home from our trip exhausted in part because of those relaxing times. Transportation wise the monorail has always worked for us. Boats are a relaxing and fun option to have too. We never waited more than 5 minutes for a bus going to or from parks. 'Ohana-service was not nearly as good as past visits but the food still was. I like the meat (particularly the shrimp) but it is the other parts of the meal that I think are fantastic there. The meat alone is just ok I think. 3rd floor Rarotanga (3809) this time and were very pleased. Very convenient, peaceful location. Surprised that we could see the top half of the fireworks from our balcony.
HS-We tried Sci-Fi for the first time and loved it. We stuck with burgers and shakes but they were all good. The theming was amazing. Cool, dark, and much more quiet than I expected from some reviews I had read. Our kids and my MIL loved it and my DH and I got to sit together in the back of the car and completely relax. Was the only time we waiting significantly past our ADR time to be seated though. Jedi Training, why have they not added shade above the viewing area??? It is the hottest and most uncomfortable part of our trip each and every time hands down. We did one of the first shows in the morning this time hoping it wouldn’t be as bad. Our kids look like they are melting in the robes but don’t seem to notice. The adults waiting to watch and then watching feel like helpless victims in the relenting sun. No other time in our trips have I ever felt that way. We went to the new Lightning McQueen thing because it was new and we had time. Mostly empty. Seems like they geared the experience too young and placed it in a section where young families don’t go. We did the noon show of Indiana Jones (which we love). Mobile ordered our lunch and transferred it into to-go containers they gave us and then ate it while we waited for the show to begin. It worked very well for us.
MK- Getting SDFP after our initial 3 worked like magic for us again. Great day riding everything we wanted without standby waits. I liked HEA in person more than I had in videos. It didn’t feel nearly as overstimulating and busy in person as it did in the video. But it didn’t have a fraction of the emotional connection for me that Wishes did. A lot of fun to watch though. We could see the top half of the HEA fireworks from our room (standard view ). I think I felt more emotion just watching the fireworks without the projection. The projection added a lot of fun and excitement for me but seemed to take away the nostalgic, heart-tugging emotion.
There were a million little and big things that were great and went perfectly about our trip. I didn’t even attempt to write them up but did want to note things that were new for us, different, or would have been helpful to me. Thanks again for all you did to help make our vacation wonderful.
Haha! Truth. But even the tram was a challenge. The signage on it didn’t list whatever letter/number we were supposed to be going to. I asked an airport staff member standing next to us and they said this tram doesn’t take you there so we got off. Went to another staff member and they said yes it does. So we waited for the next one and got back on. Every step of the way we received misinformation and conflicting information from staff and no help from signage until we were almost to MDE at the furthest possible place you can get to and still be considered part of the airport Surely Disney has more pull with MCO than this.
We got confused going in the lifts, we knew we needed level 1 but we didn’t know what level we were on and then we went the wrong way and DH was in a foul mood because he hates having to use a wheelchair, and we had to go to the second carousel for our bags because you’re not allowed to take them in the lifts and waited about an hour and I was in tears before we found it.
DH isn’t coming on this trip and I assume we’ll go straight there and wonder why we couldn’t find it.
