Live trip report

[yankeesfan123]

So, I'm here right now as we checked in yesterday morning.

Our beach club villa was ready around 11 am.

Hungout around the hotel.

Ate dinner at Captain's Grille at 5pm. All four of us loved our meals.

Headed to MK via bus. Arrived about 7pm.

Hit Philharmagic with no wait, HM with no wait, the Splash Mountain with FP+ around 7:45.

Then we went to our reserved spot for MSEP. We got there around 8:25 (15 minutes before the return window) and there were already about 75 people in the area.

After MSEP, we walked onto Buzz and MiLF before heading out for tonight. Got back to the hotel about 11pm.

MDE and FP+ worked flawlessly. I'm traveling with my in laws who haven't been here in 20 years and couldn't be more thrilled with MDE and FP+. Granted, they never knew the old system, but they love this so far.

Today: Epcot and more resort/pool time.

[yjgirl32]

Thanks for sharing. Have a magical trip!!!!

[VWL Mom]

Sounds like a successful first day, enjoy your trip!

[AgentC]

Great first day. Have fun!

[DKA041177]

Thanks for the information! Keep it coming!

[marlyn]

I'm here also. Arrived Saturday, I was very surprised with how small crowds were yesterday at both MK and EPCOT!

Have a great day today!

[rjmdds]

Looking forward to hearing more as we arrive on the 22nd.

[yankeesfan123]

Day 2 (so far):

We didn't really have any plans today originally but decided to head over Epcot in the morning because we were all up and moving.

We entered through the International Gateway at 9 and wandered through the west side of the World Showcase. We went to Spaceship Earth and hopped on with no line. Then we went to The Land and, one again, hopped on with no line. We road Figment and then watched the fountain show.

At 11, we strolled through the rest of the World Showcase and grabbed a light lunch in France before heading back to the Beach Club.

We spent a few hours by Stormalong Bay and now we are relaxing in our room.

Tonight: 5pm ADR at Coral Reef followed by a FP at Soarin and Maelstrom.

We might mosey over to HS for EMH tonight or maybe Jellyrolls.

Every attraction had a standby wait of less than 15 minutes except Soarin (50) and TT (70) when we left Epcot at 11:45 earlier today.

[conan617]

This is great stuff!~ I was checking the MDE app this morning for wait times and your feedback on waits is very similar to the what the app is listing. Good to know that your real time data is translating to the app.

If you keep posting, I'll keep reading

"yankeesfan123 - forum legend" :thumbsup:

[yankeesfan123]

As long as you keep posting it in the Trip Report forum, which is what it's for. Always fun to read something there.

Yet no one sees it there because not as many people visit that forum.

Here, as I'm reporting on the THEME PARKS (yes, as well as other things) I think it to be more useful.

[Imalismom]

We can leave it here, and when the trip is done - move it over to Trip reports...

[yankeesfan123]

We can leave it here, and when the trip is done - move it over to Trip reports...

Thanks Ali's mom!

To finish up day 2:

We left the BC and went to Coral Reef for a 4:45 ADR. We finished dinner, rode Nemo with no wait, and hungout in the Seas for a bit.

At 6:45, as we were about to leave The Seas, it began pouring. We hustled over to The Land before it really got going though.

We hit Soarin with a FP+. Now, it's pouring out and a lot of people are taking shelter in The Land pavilion (and TT was closed), but even then, the SB line for Soarin was only 45 minutes when we entered the line and 40 minutes when we exited. I think that 40 minutes is a very reasonable time for that attraction.

It was still raining when we left the Land around 7:45. We started to head to Norway for an 8pm FP at Maelstrom. Well, two of our paths were blocked by GIANT puddles, 3-6 inches deep. This was a mess and caused quite the little mess.

After shuffling sideways on the curb while holding onto the fence in front of Mexico, while my FIL carried my MIL across the puddle, we made it to Maelstrom. 15 min SB line here, but we used our FP.

We stopped at France for dessert and exited the park around 8:40pm. The rain was just letting up after about 2 hours. The WS had very light crowds. Almost no one was waiting for Illuminations but it looked like it hadn't been canceled.

Once again, MDE worked perfect. Not a single issue and even the website worked smoothly. I also didn't see or hear anyone who had any issues. Most guests seems to have a pretty good handle on the system from what I can see. Very few people with just "gray MB" if you know what I mean.

Tomorrow: HS in the morning to hit some of the "lesser" attractions as my party likes to avoid the chaos that can be Disney World. Then an ADR at Chefs de France followed by some MK time.

Goodnight all!

[hauntedmansiongirl]

Thanks for the live report! So glad to hear that the lines are good! :mickey:

[conan617]

As long as you keep posting it in the Trip Report forum, which is what it's for. Always fun to read something there.

I'll keep reading no matter where it is posted. I enjoy your reports immensely.

[yankeesfan123]

Today we headed to HS in the morning. We walked over and arrived just a few minutes after rope drop.

We were avoiding any of the big attractions that would attract big crowds because we have FP for the ones we want to do at the end of the week.

We walked to the left and almost did Star Tours but the rest of my party decided that simulators aren't their thing. We skipped it, even though the line was only posted at 5 minutes. I assume it was a walk on.

Instead, we saw MuppetVision then walked onto the Backlot Tour. Not too much going on in this area of the park which was nice.

We strolled down the Streets of America then wandered to Indiana Jones. We saw people lined up to see the Frozen royal welcome parade at this time (about 10:55) but it didn't seem to be overly crowded.

Indy was fun but the ball wasn't rolling! They covered it just fine but it did seen a tad awkward if you've seen the show.

We exited the park around noon, took the boat back to the hotel and ate lunch at hurricane hannahs.

Relaxing now. 5pm ADR at Chefs de France tonight followed by MK.

Thanks all!


Edit: I need to add that I did see some confusion with MDE today. I saw/heard more than 1 party that didn't think you could change just 1 FP without canceling and changing ALL your FP. Not sure where they received that info.

Also, the people seated behind me at Indy wanted to right the "Twilight" Tower of Terror. I hope they weren't expecting vampires!

[tinkx2]

Also, the people seated behind me at Indy wanted to right the "Twilight" Tower of Terror. I hope they weren't expecting vampires![/QUOTE]


That is too funny!!!!:silly::laughing:

[yankeesfan123]

BTW, I'm doing all this by phone so I apologize for the typos!

[hauntedmansiongirl]

No problem with typos! It's just adding to the charm! :mickey:

[ransam]

This is like eating too many cookies. I want to eat them, but I know it's not good for me. I want to read your reports, but it's making me so jealous that i'm not at the park.....
anyway, I like cookies and I like your reports. LOL

[yankeesfan123]

Wrapping up yesterday's report:

After lounging around the pool, we ate at Chefs de France at 5pm. Then, we walked to the front of the park to catch to monorail to MK.

MK seemed to be pretty crowded for a random Tuesday night without EMH, but it is summer vaca.

We had a 30 minute wait at Jungle Cruise. Not terrible for this time of year. We then journeyed up the Swiss Family Treehouse before heading to BTMRR with a FP. The queue is awful. It was sweltering with no airflow and we were only in line for 5 minutes.

We walked back through Adventureland and rode a Pirates. The wait was listed as 35 minutes but it only took 20. By the time we exited (8:20), it was only a 15 minute wait.

We grabbed some Dole Whips and headed to the Rose Garden to watch Wishes. Some people were hopping the fence in the front of the reserved area to join us FastPassers, and there really weren't too many CMs to catch them.

That was it for the night for us.

Today: AK and then we brave DTD later tonight. Eek.

[yjgirl32]

This is great- our trip is coming up and this is getting me even more excited(if that's possible) and also this is very helpful. Thanks for sharing.

[rjmdds]

You sound like you have a very causal approach to the parks which is nice. I would imagine it allows you to really stop and smell the roses. Btw, rough loss for Yanks last night in case you missed it.

[yankeesfan123]

You sound like you have a very causal approach to the parks which is nice. I would imagine it allows you to really stop and smell the roses. Btw, rough loss for Yanks last night in case you missed it.

I got back to my room just in time to see the home run... :(

[yankeesfan123]

This morning we headed to AK. It was EMH and we arrived shortly after rope drop.

We walked straight back to the Safari and ride with no wait as it was still early. We ventured through Pangani and Maharaja then rode Everest with a FP at 10. The standby was listed as 30 minutes which looked about right but I can't say for sure.

We then grabbed a snack and saw Nemo with a FP. This FP was useless. It was also the first show of the day. As we exited, hundreds of people were lined up for the 12pm Nemo show. The FP would have probably been more useful for that show. However, we didn't want to ride Kali and two of us aren't big FOLTK fans (sorry), so it was our best option.

We ate lunch at Flame Tree and rode Dinosaur. The posted SB time was 50 minutes. It seemed like that was a slight over exaggeration because the line did seem to be moving at a decent speed. We left the park about 12:30.

Once again, not a single MDE issue. No long FP lines like some report (I'm sure they exist, we just haven't been stuck in one). Also, we haven't seen a single Brazilian Tour Group.

Tonight, we have an ADR at Raglan Road then we are seeing La Nouba. I'm nervous about the traffic leading to DTD and we decided to take the bus, but I hope it goes OK.

[yjgirl32]

I too am a Yankee fan and watched the end. :( Glad to hear your trip is still going well. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for sharing.

[MrPeetrie]

Yankeesfan123, loving the live updates AND the typos!

[yankeesfan123]

Had an uneventful evening but maybe I can still provide some insight.

We took the bus from Beach club to DTD for dinner and La Nouba.

The bus ride was smooth, with no traffic and no surprises. It kinda stinks being dropped off all the way over at the Marketplace but we survived.

Dinner and the show were great. We walked back to the bus and got back to our resort without any traffic issues or other delays.

I don't know what parking was like for car drivers, but I definitely felt like I made the right choice with the bus.

The boat launches to Port Orleans had SUPER long lines. I think a lot of people all had the same idea to take boats instead of the buses or driving.

Once again, no MDE issues today. When I left AK around 12:30 earlier today, there were fast passes still available for every attraction. Dinosaur and Everest were limited though (only 2 return windows available and both were for after 6).

[yankeesfan123]

I went to the Workd Showcase myself this morning while the rest of the family relaxed by the quiet pool.

It was nice being out there alone. I was able to spend as much time as I wanted in the countrys and take it all in. I saw o' Canada and impressions de France for the first time in 15 trips. The videos were beautiful and I don't know what took me so long to see them.

The WS was empty, all the way up to 1pm. I took a quick walk through Future World and saw that TT was listed at 35 minutes and Soarin at 70. This was at about 12:30. Everything else was less than 20 minutes.

No MDE issues yet. I've been using it frequently to check wait times, I've changed FP times and attractions, and I've been using it to locate bathrooms sometimes too!

One of the two little knobby things on my magic band snapped off today. Oh well, if the other one breaks I'll go get a gray one at the counter.

[MrPeetrie]

Thanks for the update. Miss the typos. :blush:

[Terra]

I have enjoyed everyone of the reports!! Thank you so much. I only live an hour away but still feel that excitement every single time.
Can't wait for our vacation in 22 days!

And with all that mention of eating in France, I'm so craving their French Onion Soup!

[yankeesfan123]

This afternoon we made it to our Mama Melrose ADR at 3:50 just in time to beat the rain! Phew! We drove to HS because the skies looked scary and it was a good call!

Dinner was good, but we had the Fantasmic package and it really seemed like a lot of food for my party. We are usually entree only people, but we enjoyed our dinner nonetheless. I guess we are easy to please.

Following dinner, we hit TSM with a FP. The standby was 120 minutes. It took us about 15 minutes with the FP. My in laws loved this ride, it was probably the most fun they had all trip and it was the only attraction they wanted to do twice (but no one wanted to wait lol).

We then rode The Great Movie ride with a FP. We were able to get right on. The Standby line said 20 minutes but it looked longer than that to me. They did have two cars running though. I was hoping to have the front car to see the western scene but no luck.

After this was a trip to One Man's Dream. My in laws aren't really Disney people but they absolutely loved the models and the video. I was glad I brought them there.

We then had about an hour to kill before our ToT FP so we saw the American Idol finale. I haven't seen this show in years; it was actually pretty entertaining. Two out of the three finalists were fantastic. The judges are pointless but it seems like they've limited their role done the last time I saw it (I think).

We rode ToT then got in like to enter Fantasmic. The FP/dinner package line was longer than the standby line! This was the earlier show. It looked like more than half of the arena was saved for reserved spots. I still like the show even if some others don't. The music is wonderful.

We drive back to our resort and then watched the Frozen fireworks from the beach at the beach club while eating ice cream from beaches n cream. Perfect!

Tomorrow is our last full day before flying out Saturday we will be finishing with Epcot and illuminations!

[yjgirl32]

I too have enjoyed your reports. They are great and since everyone seems to enjoy them think I might do a live report too.

[yankeesfan123]

Last full day:

Thos morning, the family decided it was going to be another pool day. They like to relax in vacation so they are taking these last two days pretty easy.

I woke up early and walked through Epcot at rope drop and took the monorail to MK. There were signs in Epcot showing what attractions still had availability. Most were listed as "limited availability" but Maelstrom was listed as still having availability.

MK was pretty empty this morning. I strolled around the New Fantasyland since I had not yet seen it. It's beautiful there. At 9:20, Mine Train had an 85 minute wait. After trying Lefau's brew, I walked past Mermaid and there was no wait so I decided I would check it out. It's a cute ride, but since I don't have kids yet, most of Fantasyland is usually used as a walking path for me.

I did a little souvenir shopping on Main Street, mostly to get some nice A/C. I also got a good look at the hub construction from the dessert party area. Looks like they are moving at typical Disney pace.

I left MK and tried to find my family's brick on the path towards Grand Floridian. No one in my family remembers the "coordinates" and I had no luck. But I did find my grandmothers!

I monorailed it back to Epcot and walked back to the International Gateway. SE had a 30 minute wait. It sounds long but it is a Friday in the summer and it's an EMH day so it seems about right to me.

I watched the chair performer guys outside of France before heading back to my resort.

We will be headed back to Epcot tonight.

MDE uodate today: everything still working great. I've eavesdrop as much as possible to hear the experiences of others. I hear two common things at least once or twice a day. Those being: people don't know they can change the time or their FP and people don't know and they don't know you can change just one experience without changing all three.

But I only hear that once or twice per day out of hundreds of people who I see/hear/talk to. Most people know what they're doing.

[yankeesfan123]

Last one:

We had dinner at San Angel Inn last night a 5pm. The place was packed. Food was good and service was good but I think we enjoyed the overall experience better at the other places in which we dined.

We joined the three caballeros after dinner then used our FP for Test Track. I had heard that if you used your FP then you bypassed the "create your own car" area, but we still got to create our car! We had fun and scored 198 points.

Then we ventured to the American Adventure. This show is great, but there was one of those "tour" groups in the show talking non-stop and chanting throughout the show. Luckily the show is loud enough that we could hear most of it and still enjoy it. Oh, and the tour group was a bunch of American college kids.

We exited the theater around 8:15 and boy did the skies look scary. Hardcore lightening continued for the next hour but it was just to our north.

Anyways, after leaving AA, we started to walk to the reserved area for FP viewing for illuminatioms. From across the lagoon I could see that people in the reserved area were already filling in and the spots up against the rails were all taken. So, instead of watching from the reserved area with a few people in front of us, we found a spot along the rails in the UK. The show was good but I've always thought it drags in the middle once the globe comes out. Kind of brings the mood down; the globe doesn't do it for me.

We did try to change our illuminations FP but nothing was available at this time. It was almost 9pm on a busy EMH night so it didn't surprise me. I was just hoping to get lucky.

After the show, my wife and I picked up dessert in France and found a bench by the beach at the Beach Club and watched the frozen fireworks.

We then changed and went to jellyrolls for a few hours. Neither of is really drink or go to bars but it was a good time and the music was great.


Last thoughts: MDE worked great without a single issue. I know others have bad experiences with app issues and such, and given the fact that there are thousands upon thousands of people there each day, I'm sure some people had issues. But I didn't.

DTD wasn't as bad as some people say as long as you take the bus.

I have never been during the busy summer months and without FP+ I don't think we would have been able to do 75% of what we did.

We never hit a "long" FP line. I'm sure it happens but it didn't happen to us. Sometimes the line looks long (outside of splash and TT), but once we made it past the scanning station we were in quick.

Wait times on MDE app were exactly the same as listed on the rides. The standby lines tended to move a little faster than the sign stated. That's always been the usual from my past experiences.

We only had to wait in a standby line longer than 15 minutes twice: Jungle Cruise and Pirates. We didn't have FP but those are must dos!

FP for the first Nemo show at AK and the FP reserved area for illuminations are pointless.

The DVC resorts sure get built a lot faster than attractions do!

Epcot suffers a little bit after F&G. Lots of fake walls, green scrim, and bushes on wheels. In some areas, concrete was being put down while in ithers grass was being grown.

Okay well I think that's all. Packing time and airport in a few hours!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask any questions.

[VWL Mom]

Thanks for letting us tag along with you. Headed down in two weeks so very happy to hear your positive experience with MDE/FP+.

Safe travels home!

[cer]

enjoyed your trip report! :mickey:

[yjgirl32]

Loved reading your live report. Thanks so much for all the great info- a big help for my up-coming trip.

[Nut4DW]

Thanks for sharing!

[honeybear]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I am so excited for my trip now!

[KylesMom]

Wonderful "as you go" trip report. Sounds like FP+ worked seamlessly for you - glad to read more positive feedback on the system. Thanks for sharing! :mickey:

[yankeesfan123]

Wonderful "as you go" trip report. Sounds like FP+ worked seamlessly for you - glad to read more positive feedback on the system. Thanks for sharing! :mickey:

Not a single problem with it!

[faline]

Thanks for the live updates - that rain storm sounded like it left some serious puddles!!

[yankeesfan123]

Thanks for the live updates - that rain storm sounded like it left some serious puddles!!

It was a lake. I had never seen that before.