February 2014

[Disneymaddness]

I love winter, but I've had enough this year.

I don't love winter so I have REALLY had enough this year. LOL! This is what I need!

 

[scrapbooksellman]

Just returned from our magical trip. Weather was very up and down. FP+ was good, not needed some times. Tour groups were are biggest problem.
Memory maker worked great as well as magic bands.

 

[pld5]

I don't love winter so I have REALLY had enough this year. LOL! This is what I need!

 

[esmee1sttip]

Just returned from our magical trip. Weather was very up and down. FP+ was good, not needed some times. Tour groups were are biggest problem.
Memory maker worked great as well as magic bands.

Welcome back! Any other tips or tricks for some of us that haven't gone yet?

 

[mdsouth]

Hi everyone!

I just got back yesterday. Bummer. We had a great trip.

If you are early risers and plan to hit the parks early in the morning I would definitely save yor fast passes for the afternoon or evening.

In th MK most rides were easy to get on before 10 or 1030 but after that it was crazy at times. During the main part of the day Peter Pan would be anywhere from 40 minutes to 70'. The worst wait time I saw was for thunder mountain for 120 minutes!!! With Splah Mountain closed it is putting more riders on thunder mountain

Even the fast pass line was crazy heading down the walkway almost to the bridge . But it was only 20.-25 minute wait but that was with a fast pass

 

[scrapbooksellman]

Welcome back! Any other tips or tricks for some of us that haven't gone yet?

In my experience, rope drop is important. Wait times are much lower in the morning.
FP+ for the afternoon. Wear comfortable shoes and bring rain ponchos.
Do you have any questions?

 

[shughamster]

In Clearwater Beach at the moment after 10 days at POR.

Was with my dad for his 50th birthday trip from Scotland. One question though - is it always so busy in February? We booked thinking that it would be a quiet time of year to go. The HS National Cheerleading (nice to look at I suppose) wasn't anticipated, but even as we were leaving, 90 minute lines for Soarin' etc. daily, I didn't get it at all!

Love the new app/FP+ integration, and I can't recommend the dining plan highly enough.

Got some nice pictures too.

 

[Kathy Z]

Shughamster - Were you out on the lagoon for that marvelous fireworks photo?

 

[shughamster]

Shughamster - Were you out on the lagoon for that marvelous fireworks photo?

I went to the Ticket and Transportation Center, via the Contemporary, from Downtown Disney and took them from a bench across the lagoon. Took an hour to get there but got over 100 photos (that I need to edit, like removing the portion of tree in the corner).

 

[esmee1sttip]

Hi everyone!

I just got back yesterday. Bummer. We had a great trip.

If you are early risers and plan to hit the parks early in the morning I would definitely save yor fast passes for the afternoon or evening.

In th MK most rides were easy to get on before 10 or 1030 but after that it was crazy at times. During the main part of the day Peter Pan would be anywhere from 40 minutes to 70'. The worst wait time I saw was for thunder mountain for 120 minutes!!! With Splah Mountain closed it is putting more riders on thunder mountain

Even the fast pass line was crazy heading down the walkway almost to the bridge . But it was only 20.-25 minute wait but that was with a fast pass

Yikes @ thunder mountain...guess I expected it with no splash mountain

In my experience, rope drop is important. Wait times are much lower in the morning.
FP+ for the afternoon. Wear comfortable shoes and bring rain ponchos.
Do you have any questions?

Got the shoes and rain ponchos...sounds like the only thing missing is me taking a chill pill and just trying to enjoy it

Got some nice pictures too.

Beautiful pic! thank you for sharing

 

[ariane37]

just back from 10 day trip, 2/8-2/18 Lots of fun, many good things and a few not so good.
First 7 nights were at FQ, our 2nd stay. We are usually deluxe people but wanted to try a mod back in May, and were happy w/ POFQ. Still loved the resort, but did NOT love sharing EVERY bus with Riverside! We never shared in May but, this being their "slow time" buses are shared. Very frustrating. Also wasn't as thrilled with food court this time.
Last 3 nights were at AOA in LM room, my request since I'm the only girl in the family and don't often get to do girly things lol Theming is incredible! Walk to main bldg./pool.......yes, 6 minutes, so not bad the first day or so, but then gets old. Also not bad first thing in the morning, but we were over it by the afternoon of day 2. However bus service was much better than at FQ. Buses seemed to come extremely often, one after the other for the same park. And HS and EPCOT are very short bus rides away. Also food court is very organized and food selection is better than FQ/R.

Won't go much into MB/FP+ except to say we had one MB issue that sent us to GR at EPCOT for an hour which didn't sit well with DH, but we were given 4 anytime FP's for EPCOT and 4 for HS as we had made our 3 FP's for there for later in the day, so that made it better to deal with. FP+ wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be but it definitely changes the way we do things, will change our future trips, and I much prefer FP-.

We tried 5 new restaurants, all were good! Two that we will definitely return to are Brown Derby and Sanaa. Hope all you Feb. people who are there or heading down soon have magical trips!

 

[chasetsun]

We are leaving Pop Cemtury tomorrow and I overbought water. I have a case of bottled water that is still sealed. Please let's know!

 

[mdsouth]

just back from 10 day trip, 2/8-2/18 Lots of fun, many good things and a few not so good. First 7 nights were at FQ, our 2nd stay. We are usually deluxe people but wanted to try a mod back in May, and were happy w/ POFQ. Still loved the resort, but did NOT love sharing EVERY bus with Riverside! We never shared in May but, this being their "slow time" buses are shared. :

We were at PORFQ the same time you were --Feb 9-16 but We only shared a bus with POR twice. Once for MK and the other near the end of the night from Downtown Disney

It is funny how that worked out. I guess we were lucky and must have been going at odd times or different parks.

Did you go swimming? We went two days. The little golf cart ride was quick and fun. It gave me a chance to visit with the cast members. We walked back once and the walk was enjoyable. I wish I was back there now and taking a walk

 

[middlesista]

just back from 10 day trip, 2/8-2/18 Lots of fun, many good things and a few not so good. First 7 nights were at FQ, our 2nd stay. We are usually deluxe people but wanted to try a mod back in May, and were happy w/ POFQ. Still loved the resort, but did NOT love sharing EVERY bus with Riverside! We never shared in May but, this being their "slow time" buses are shared. Very frustrating. Also wasn't as thrilled with food court this time. Last 3 nights were at AOA in LM room, my request since I'm the only girl in the family and don't often get to do girly things lol Theming is incredible! Walk to main bldg./pool.......yes, 6 minutes, so not bad the first day or so, but then gets old. Also not bad first thing in the morning, but we were over it by the afternoon of day 2. However bus service was much better than at FQ. Buses seemed to come extremely often, one after the other for the same park. And HS and EPCOT are very short bus rides away. Also food court is very organized and food selection is better than FQ/R. Won't go much into MB/FP+ except to say we had one MB issue that sent us to GR at EPCOT for an hour which didn't sit well with DH, but we were given 4 anytime FP's for EPCOT and 4 for HS as we had made our 3 FP's for there for later in the day, so that made it better to deal with. FP+ wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be but it definitely changes the way we do things, will change our future trips, and I much prefer FP-. We tried 5 new restaurants, all were good! Two that we will definitely return to are Brown Derby and Sanaa. Hope all you Feb. people who are there or heading down soon have magical trips!

We were at FQ end of Jan into Feb and rarely shared bus with Riverside. It was busier than when we went in 2012 however and we seemed to wait longer for buses also. Still a great trip!!

 

[middlesista]

In Clearwater Beach at the moment after 10 days at POR. Was with my dad for his 50th birthday trip from Scotland. One question though - is it always so busy in February? We booked thinking that it would be a quiet time of year to go. The HS National Cheerleading (nice to look at I suppose) wasn't anticipated, but even as we were leaving, 90 minute lines for Soarin' etc. daily, I didn't get it at all! Love the new app/FP+ integration, and I can't recommend the dining plan highly enough. Got some nice pictures too.

Great Photo!!!

We thought it was much more crowded than we remembered. Agree on the meal plan. It worked well for us since we do a lot of character meals with granddaughters.

 

[ariane37]

We were at PORFQ the same time you were --Feb 9-16 but We only shared a bus with POR twice. Once for MK and the other near the end of the night from Downtown Disney

It is funny how that worked out. I guess we were lucky and must have been going at odd times or different parks.

Did you go swimming? We went two days. The little golf cart ride was quick and fun. It gave me a chance to visit with the cast members. We walked back once and the walk was enjoyable. I wish I was back there now and taking a walk

Funny you and middlesista had totally different experiences than we did! Seriously though, we shared EVERY time, except for one morning when we went to MK and the bus completely filled up at FQ. And yes middlesista, the waits were longer than when we were at FQ May of 2013. Different at AOA though, buses came so quick and they had the double-busses for MK - first time I've seen them. But as I said the trip was still great. Since we're normally at BWV and can walk to 2 parks, we were using the busses more than usual, so add that to the sharing and it just wasn't our finest hour transportation wise lol.

We did go swimming but not until we got to AOA. We tried to spend more time in the parks at the beginning of our trip, before the Presidents Weekend crowd came in, then relaxed more after the 15th. Kids loved the pools at AOA I was afraid they'd miss having a slide but they were just happy to swim! Glad you enjoyed your trip, mdsouth! I noticed your ticker......are you already planning a Feb. 2015 trip?

 

[mdsouth]

Funny you and middlesista had totally different experiences than we did! Seriously though, we shared EVERY time, except for one morning when we went to MK and the bus completely filled up at FQ. And yes middlesista, the waits were longer than when we were at FQ May of 2013. Different at AOA though, buses came so quick and they had the double-busses for MK - first time I've seen them. But as I said the trip was still great. Since we're normally at BWV and can walk to 2 parks, we were using the busses more than usual, so add that to the sharing and it just wasn't our finest hour transportation wise lol. We did go swimming but not until we got to AOA. We tried to spend more time in the parks at the beginning of our trip, before the Presidents Weekend crowd came in, then relaxed more after the 15th. Kids loved the pools at AOA I was afraid they'd miss having a slide but they were just happy to swim! Glad you enjoyed your trip, mdsouth! I noticed your ticker......are you already planning a Feb. 2015 trip?

No unfortunately no new trip planned. I am using my ipad and can't see my signature etc. the ticker is the one from this trip,. I guess it is counting days that I have been away from Disney. I will have to log on later on a regular computer and remove it. It will be sad not having a ticker anymore

 

[AmyKat]

We were at POR February 7 - 12. Every bus started at POFQ and then picked up at POR except MK busses. Those were dedicated resort busses. We were in the royal rooms closest to POFQ so we just walked to that bus stop most mornings.

 

[JediDad]

Left DC the morning before a winter storm on the 12th of Feb and returned on the 17th missing a foot and a half of snow in between. But it also meant the weather for us was mostly jackets/sweatshirts for the trip.

We stayed at POR and the bus situation on the way home was always crowded. Mini monsoon on the first night there and have to thank one outspoken bus rider that helped the last family squeeze onto the bus (which happen to be us ).

Best DIS advice (THANKS!): (1) BOG FP. I felt guilty walking past the long lunch line for a fairly decent quick service meal. (2) Extra power brick that weighed a ton but we would have had two dead cell phones by the middle of the day. (3) FB photopass share group. (4) Penny presses and disney pin trading. (5) Extra bag/suitcase for all the disney gifts I swore I wouldn't buy. (6) Bringing my own light up toys/glow sticks/flash lights. (7) Microwavable tupperware.

DIS advice I shouldn't have ignored: (1) Cheap ponchos; I am the proud owner of three dry sheets of TM printed plastic for the low low price of $20. (2) Taking time to smell the roses ... should have taken the kids out of school another day or two and taken a day to relax. We could have easily spent another two days at Epcot. (3) FP for afternoons only.

Other advice: (1) If anyone is doing the Jedi training, try and be on the front row of blue dots when in the studio collecting robes. In our group, the front row kids got to get on the stage with the Jedi master/Darth Vadar and my son's group got to train with the other Jedi and fight Darth Maul. Son still had a blast ... I was at THE PERFECT spot for taking pictures of the kids ON STAGE . (2) If your schedule can benefit from it, check out late till 1pm for free ... past that it costs ... only if available. (3) For me, it took me two bus rides to finally figure out to empty my stroller sufficiently for easy fold before getting to a bus stop. (4) For any dads out there, bring a deck of cards to the laundry facility ... not sure if it was a POR thing but only saw us dads there ... I didn't, but I should have started a texas holdem tourney while we waited for our kids' underwear to dry. (5) Was debating on whether to bring the laptop and glad I didn't ... I actually could have left the tablets as well.

Mistakes: (1) Buying brita bottles + garden grocer + dining plan = waste. Rarely used the brita water bottles and likely could have used the snack credits or meal drinks for water bottles; like another poster mentioned I had tons of water bottles left over in the hotel room. (2) Also we brought with us a whole suitcase of fruits and snacks but never even dented them because of the desert portion of each meal. (3) Inviting my sister/loving aunt was a bit of a mistake on my part and caused a fair bit of un-needed drama ... once on a bus so apologies if anyone was there for the bloodbath. (4) Not reminding my 5 yr old daughter to stay put after lifting her down from the carousel horse and turning away to help her brother then frantically calling her name as she had wandered off by herself. (5) This is likely too much info, but should have given my kids fiber vitamins during the trip. (6) Buying mickey ear hats ... my kids wore them for all of 30 minutes.

Rides: (1) Really enjoyed both the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor/Factory and Turtle Crush ... both had live comedians talking through digital characters and unexpectedly fun. (2) Longest wait for us was 2hrs for soaring. (3) My sister got nauseous/sick after the Mission Space Orange/Spinning Team ride. (4) The movie ride at HS was a mistake because our kids 5/7 were too young to see the Aliens character drop down from the ceiling. (5) Did anyone enjoy the Stitch show? I was a bit disappointed or just didn't understand.

Thanks MDSouth for starting this Feb thread! Unfortunately, I won't be back for another half decade or so.

 

[mdsouth]

Thanks JediDad for the detailed report! I like how you identified the key Dis tips that worked for you and those that didn't. I plan to sit down and write a trip review.

Unfortunately, this too will probably be my last trip for awhile. My DH is not a Disney fan. He tolerates it but that along with the expense makes it a trip we take every four years or so.

I just stated my Feb 2014 trip report and it is September 6th!! I guess I am milking all I can out of this experience!

Here is the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=52227352#post52227352