Not Disney's best day today...

[Pat Ryan]

We're down here right now. Tried MGM this morning (Saturday)...
- got there at 10a and there were no fast passes for Toy Story Mania and it was an 80 minute wait.
- short delay in the start of Beauty and the Beast this AM (no big deal)
- longer delay at Indiana Jones and the had technical problems that had them skip the opening sequence
- Back Lot tour closed
- no Fantasmic today

Went to MK after dinner...
- Splash Mountain had a breakdown, walked away from that w/o using our fast passes
- Buzz Lightyear had long delays at the Fast Pass line (must have been a breakdown), we didn't bother using those passes either
- crowded, long waits

We're here for a few more days into next week so we're hoping for better luck... we went to EPCOT and MK the past two days and the lines were reasonable (although the weather wasn't great)....

[Tinkerbellaella]

President's week is listed as one of the busiest times.

[Mousemates]

heres a dose of :pixie: and our hopes that tomorrow goes better for you.

[DizneyRox]

Makes you wonder if it's the cutbacks or ust dumb luck... When you sacrifice maintenance, this is typical of what could happen.

[Grim Grinning Marathon Runner]

I'd like to see some updates from the OP on this as the week goes on. I've been there once on President's Day week and it was NUTS!!

I hope it gets better for you though
:mickey:

[chrisb26]

sorry you had a bad day at the parks. This entire week has been very crowded a few of the nights they actually kept the park open later then planned and added a second Spectro-Magic hopefully going into next week it will be a bit less crowded.

[SandmanGStefani24]

reading this makes me feel lucky that the parks were so manageable when I was there! really hope you can make the most of your trip, so just take it slow and enjoy!

[CleveRocks]

We're down here right now. Tried MGM this morning (Saturday)...
- got there at 10a and there were no fast passes for Toy Story Mania and it was an 80 minute wait.
- short delay in the start of Beauty and the Beast this AM (no big deal)
- longer delay at Indiana Jones and the had technical problems that had them skip the opening sequence
- Back Lot tour closed
- no Fantasmic today

Went to MK after dinner...
- Splash Mountain had a breakdown, walked away from that w/o using our fast passes
- Buzz Lightyear had long delays at the Fast Pass line (must have been a breakdown), we didn't bother using those passes either
- crowded, long waits

We're here for a few more days into next week so we're hoping for better luck... we went to EPCOT and MK the past two days and the lines were reasonable (although the weather wasn't great)....
The breakdowns stink. Just terrible luck, and I feel badly and hope it gets better.

But the Toy Story Mania situation is pretty normal. I was there at rope drop on Sunday Feb. 8, which is still Value season and therefore isn't one of the more crowded days of the year. It seems that everyone had the same idea as I ... there was a steady WALL of people heading to TSM.

The lines for the FASTPASS kiosks totally blocked the street. There are something like 6 kiosks, which are arranged against the wall of the ride building. Picture a line for each one that crosses the entirety of the Pixar Place "street" so that no one can really get by. This was at rope drop. I didn't have my FPs in hand until about 9:25 a.m. (rope drop was at 9 a.m.) and they were for 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. It is understandable that the FASTPASSes run out so quickly (when I first got in line, the sign said the return window was 10:05 - 11:05 a.m.), and there's nothing Disney can do about it.

I advise that if you want to do TSM that you get to DHS first thing on one of your remaining days, and head IMMEDIATELY to TSM to either get in the stand-by line of get FPs for later in the day. The ride was A LOT of fun, and it will be worth your trouble.

As far as Fantasmic being dark that night, you can certainly know in advance when it's showing and when it's not ... just grab a Times Guide (you could go online as well, but the Times Guide will be easiest).

[#1donaldfan]

.....hopefully it can be just a weekend thing and the 1st part of the week will slow to much more of your liking...good luck !!:thumbsup:

[Pat Ryan]

We usually go the Wed. following President's Day to the following Wed. (so we're here a few more days). We're not rookies... about 10 times in the last 10 years and have been going in this time frame since our kids got into school about 5-6 years ago. We like Wed-Wed for airfares about $100 cheaper each and the lower crowds in the next 2 days.

I think yesterday (Saturday) was busier than we normally see because the 2 days before weren't great (rain on Thursday, lots of short waits at the MK) and Friday was cool.

Today (Sunday) got to the Hollywood Studios at 9a, went straight to Toy Story Mania and the line for fast passes was about 1/2 hour long. We went straight to the walk on entrance and got on in about 40 minutes. Great ride. We got fastpasses after getting off the ride (just a few minutes, got times for 4:40-5:40p at about 10a today)

We didn't run into any other breakdowns today (although at 9a the attractions board at DHS showed Toy Story Mania as "temporarily closed" but by the time we got there is was open), although we left Hollywoods Studios and went straight to AK. Crowds were a little busy but reasonable (10 min. at Kali River Rapids in 75+ degree weather, 60 min. at Expedition Everest, 5 min. at Tough to Be a Bug).

We're deciding whether to go to Epcot tonight or DHS for Fantasmic (2 showings tonight).

[dtootsie42]

Glad you got to do TSM today....It is just as crazy at Disneyland to try and get on the ride. I'm thinking if it is crazy when we go I just might skip it but our oldest daughter who is in college has yet to do the ride so she'll want to go on it for sure.

Hopefully all the breakdowns you experienced the other day were just a fluke.....

Dec. 1997---Contemporary
Dec. 1999--Poly
June 2000--Disneyland
Dec. 2001---Poly Concierge
Dec. 2003---Poly Concierge
Dec. 2005---Poly Concierge
Nov. 2007---Poly Concierge
Oct. 2008--DisneyLand
Next trip Dec. 2009--Poly Concierge

[doodleboy]

I hope you have a great experience the remainder of your trip. We had one like that a couple of years ago that ended on a high note. It was like somebody was looking after us and we got to do everything we wanted in a short span of time the last couple of days. I hope the same for you.

We went for Columbus day once and I couldn't believe how many people were there. I finally figured out that if my kids are off, so are everyone else's. I also learned that some parts of the country get fall breaks, and others late Spring breaks. We now go every May, for as long as I can pull my oldest from school, and sometimes in October for Halloween, which has been good too. But too chilly for pool the times we went.

Have a great couple of days!:party:

[GBBT]

As Artie Lang would say.."WAHHH!!":D You're at Disney,have fun,take your time.Come next week,you'll be back in the real world......wishing you were back at the World.:thumbsup:

[grumpyguy]

love the artie reference ggbt!!!! first,i'm glad to hear the place is busy,but having some of these things happen to me when i'm there is one of my biggest fears...second,you're at wdw,find something else to do.so many variables make sticking to a plan almost impossible.
hope your trip improves.:thumbsup:

[Ian]

Sounds like the day we had at Disneyland on the 15th. Got there right at early opening and went straight to Space Mountain.

Broken.

Tried to get on the Indy ride later.

Broken.

And throughout various times of the day we were turned away from:

Pirates (broken)
Haunted Mansion (broken)
Peter Pan (broken)
It was not a banner day for DL's maintenance team that day.

[Diznee4Me]

Sounds like the day we had at Disneyland on the 15th. Got there right at early opening and went straight to Space Mountain.

Broken.

Tried to get on the Indy ride later.

Broken.

And throughout various times of the day we were turned away from:

Pirates (broken)
Haunted Mansion (broken)
Peter Pan (broken)
It was not a banner day for DL's maintenance team that day.

I'll be there next week - I hope all of those issues have been corrected.:fingers:

[thrillme]

I feel your pain. I went on Columbus Week in October and I thought I'd get a break in the crowds. NOPE. It was packed...especially at Epcot. We might go again next year in the summer where we can afford more time but...it may be one of our last times.

It's funny. I thought with the economy being so AWFUL that the crowds would go down a bit. But it seems to be getting "worse". In the past we've always been in the summer and longed to go at another time but...it doesn't seem to matter anymore.

[Ian]

I totally agree with that. We went the first week in December this year and the crowds were way worse than what we've seen in the past.

It really made me wonder how the heck attendance could be down! :confused:

[doodleboy]

I totally agree with that. We went the first week in December this year and the crowds were way worse than what we've seen in the past.

It really made me wonder how the heck attendance could be down! :confused:

Were the parks hours shorter than usual? That can have a big affect on crowds with more persons being there at the same time. Of course December trips were probably planned way in advance of the economic downturn.

[kelly.garrett]

Splash broke down when we were there a couple weeks ago, and so did TSM. We went on Splash shortly after the breakdown, and there was no sound...it was quite the experience.

[Pat Ryan]

We did catch the first Fantasmic yesterday (Sunday), since they only had it running 1 day out of 4 (dark on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday). When we went back to TSM with fastpasses in hand, it was down (about 2+ hours total)... we were unhappy. We went back after Fantasmic and they honored our fastpasses when it was back up.

Quiet'ish at EPCOT today (Monday). 2x for Soarin', 2x for Test Track... everything else had short waits. Fountain is closed, Electric Umbrella was closed.

IMHO... and not that I love the food there, but I don't think you should close down the main fast food restaurant in the middle of EPCOT.

[Ian]

IMHO... and not that I love the food there, but I don't think you should close down the main fast food restaurant in the middle of EPCOT.I agree ... this is calculated on Disney's part, because they're trying to drive traffic up to World Showcase where you're more likely to spend additional money on food and merchandise.

[brownie]

longer delay at Indiana Jones and the had technical problems that had them skip the opening sequence

We had that happen on our 2003 trip with my wife's family. It was disappointing that they didn't get to see the opening sequence.

Sorry things aren't going so well for you, hope they get better.

[TheVBs]

Hope the trip continues to improve! :)

[DisNut]

We were in DHS and Epcot on Friday. The crowds were okay. The whole Toy Story thing is a little discouraging. We were able to get Fastpasses with less than a 5 minute wait, but we were there at park opening. The way ADULTS ran to it was disgusting. Cast members did yell out to people not to run, but no one listens. The fast pass line was pretty organized and the wait line for the ride was pretty long.

Went to AK and MK on Saturday. AK was okay, but MK was crazy with people by the time we got there (after noon time). We expected it to be busy, so we just dealt with it.

Buzz had some problems with the fast pass line; we were told the fast pass line would be 25 minutes, so we waited, but less than 10 minutes later, we were on the ride.

It was a holiday week in addition to the Daytona 500 being the weekend before and since we were part of the crowds too, we couldn't complain too much!

All in all, we had a good time (especially since we had Dole Whip, choc chip cookies and popcorn)!!!

[Pat Ryan]

Monday (Epcot) and Tuesday (MK) were fine... yesterday we went during the day, hit a few attractions and came back after dinner and had our best 2.5 hours ever... how about this:
- got to MK at 5:30p
- got dinner in Tomorrowland
- went on HM (ride stopped 5x), Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Splash Mountain (got stuck for 10 min at the top of Slippin Falls, the 1st drop) and Peter Pan (got on at 7:57p, park closed at 8p).
- watched Wishes (missed a few minutes while on PP) from Fantasyland.. which we had never done before in about 12-15 visits. Nice location.

[javamama]

Your vacations sounds like our friends trip last October, "wallyworld" was not good to them either. I hope yours gets better soon, it sounds like it is. At least you didn't get a black eye from a 5 year old in the middle of the night like she did, so it could always get worse remember that:D

[Pat Ryan]

We really did have a great day on Tuesday though... I know I mentioned that HM and Splash Mountain both stranded us for a bit, that was just an aside.

[dixielandings]

HM stops now at least once pretty much every time we ride it. B/c it's an omnimover ride, if they have to stop it for someone who needs special assistance to getting on, the whole ride stops. Same at Spaceship Earth and The Seas w/ Nemo. I think either more disabled Guests are traveling to Disney these days or CMs just use more caution in assisting them than in the past.

As for the other issues from the OP, crowds and breakdowns can be a pain, I know. DH and I try as much as possible to go with the flow - having a plan and information provide you with great ammo for use against the unexpected.

[Eeyore Phan]

Splash Mountain went down yesterday as well. I'd say this occurred around 5pm. The crowds were a bit higher than normal for the first week of March, but still not bad considering it was a Sat afternoon at MK.

[dumbo ears]

ya I bet it is busy there right now. Some days are good at disney some aren't but you have to make the best of it and realize that you are actually there.