I'll give everyone a brief evaluation of my trip. I was there last week for 5 days, 4 nights at Polynesian DVC.
It was plenty crowded, especially the MK the first day of Boo Fest. Both MK and DS just feel full of people, and walking anywhere is a task because of the crowds. Wait times were not terrible, especially since we did rope drop on four of the five mornings. EC and AK were more pleasant to visit because of fewer crowds and generally shorter ride wait times.
Schedule for the week: Sun: MK (am), EC (pm), Mon: DS (am), MK (pm), Tues: MK (am), AK (pm), Wed: DS (am), EC (pm), Thur: AK(am), MK (pm).
Best things on the trip: Food service: Columbia Harbor House was a go-to at least three times, and a lot of my meals were at Cpt Cook's. ABC Commissary is overlooked. It has good food and a nice cool relaxing place to recharge with a cold drink. Brown Derby does have a fantastic salad and service, as does the Grand Floridian Café. Beaches and Cream has the best sundae anywhere. WDW security seemed very helpful and friendly.
Speaking of food service: it was very hot, and water fountains are not common in the parks, but I always found to easy to get ice water any place I stopped for a drink. A few places gave me a water cup without me even asking.
Resort Parking: I had no problem leaving a car much of the day at the Grand Floridian. I had drove there for breakfast because the monorail replacement bus never arrived. The gate guard had me park by the Spa, and there was plenty of parking there even with a big wedding going on. I couldn't rescue the car until later because there was a transportation breakdown mid-day. I was also able to park at Wilderness Lodge one night. I was there to eat at Roaring Forks, and there was no problem getting onto the resort and parking (again, plenty of spaces available).
Overall, the parks all look good and well-maintained, very little litter, the bathrooms are clean, the CMs are friendly and I could tell some of the CMs were new to the job.
Some transportation problems: I ran into a real transportation SNAFU leaving MK early one afternoon. I needed to be on the resort monorail to get to GF to get my car. The monorail stopped at the TTC and the CMs told us to take the ferry back to the MK, then a boat to GF. The CMs would not tell me how long the monorail would be stopped, but I think this was construction-related so they must have had an idea. We I took the ferry back to MK, which was a slow, then went to the line for the GF boat. Everyone was taking the boat now because the monorail was shut down. So I could not get on the first boat. The boat returned and went out of service because there were thunderstorms in the area. It never did rain or storm at Bay Lake, but now the only route left was a long walk to GF. I did the walk, and when I was halfway there the resort monorail went past me, so it was out of service for about an hour. This was bad communication, and they should have had another transportation solution in place (like a bus) for people who got stuck.
I always argue for renting a car, and despite the transportation issues I had, I didn't use the car very much. Bus or monorail to all the theme parks worked pretty well most days. I only left property once on this trip. The MK bus from the Poly was great.
Other smaller problems: not every ride opens at opening time. So rope-dropping may not make sense if you want to ride something that opens later. I'd like to test a touring plan where I rope drop and only hit rides that are a walk-on (and open) in the first hour. I suspect I could get 5-7 rides in with that plan because Buzz, Pooh, Mermaid, Small World, Mansion, and Pirates are all close to being walk-ons the first hour after opening.
One other minor problem: my Touring Plans room request was not honored, but that was probably because several of the DVC buildings are being renovated.
Some things I am neutral about:
Rise of the Resistance. I watched the videos and practices and hit the join button right at 7am, but didn't get a group. I got a 1pm backup group but they never called it. So I changed my plans, and got a park reservation for a day later at the Studios and watched more videos and got a low boarding group. I think the secret was to not be on WDW WiFi, and to find a location at the resort with good 5g coverage. It is a really good ride, but so much trouble to ride it. Anyway, be willing to change your plans mid-stream.
ADRs: I booked a lot of reservations for meals and cancelled all but 2 of them. ADRs tie one down and I ended up shuffling my plans a lot (see above). I also didn't get all the ADRs I wanted (like an early dinner at Garden Grill or a Wave breakfast).
Trader Sam's: it would have been nice to visit there since I was staying at the resort, but it's again a hassle to get on a list and only show up at one time slot. Not a disappointment, more of a "meh".
Biggest Disney Disappointment: asking at City Hall what time Splash Mountain would open and being told, "All I can tell you is the park opens at 9." They seemed to open Splash at 10:30am every day last week, why not tell the guests the truth??
Worst Disney Magic of the Trip (or was it worst Disney practical joke?): the gate guard at the parking lot when I arrived and scanned my Magic Band said, "Ohhhh, the Bungalows." I spent the rest of the day wondering if WDW has upgraded me to a bungalow. Nope! Just a Studio, as I had booked.
