rangerxenos
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2008
Back from my November 29 - December 8 trip. Had a wonderful time despite the unexpected crowds for early December, it was INSANE. I travel during this timeframe every other year or so, and I've never seen crowds like this. We actually left Animal Kingdom on the 5th because it was so crowded. 65 minute wait for the safari no matter what time of day it was, and it took us an hour to get through the Flights of Passage line and we were there 30 minutes before early opening.
I will say that indoor mask compliance overall was very good, I was shocked. I wore my mask outside in the crowds as well, and I'll admit that the first couple of days of the trip left me really feeling that I had made a mistake coming. It's one thing to read that Covid numbers are good down there, it's safe. It's quite another to go from not being around a lot of people to being in huge crowds again. I did finally get used to it, and just wore a mask outside when there were lots of people. I suggest wearing a good mask, for protection not for looks, as others have said people sick and hacking everywhere.
Went to the Merriest Christmas party on the 7th, and it was awful. I had not planned on going because tickets were double what they were on my last trip, but my traveling companion really wanted to go as she's never been during the holidays, and bought my ticket. Crowds were insane until 9, when the party actually started and everyone else had to leave. Very few free snack carts open throughout the park, and long lines at all of them. Almost no Photopass photographers to be found to do the special Magic shots they supposedly had. The parade was shorter than normal. I will say that the Christmas fireworks were great, but 4 hours for $229 was price gouging, sorry.
CMs to a one were wonderful, I did not run into any of the rude ones that people keep mentioning, in fact quite the opposite.
Tried a few restaurants for the first time, and all were very good. Sanaa has gone on our list of restaurants to go to every trip, I finally got there this trip and both the service and food were wonderful, even with a limited menu. Steakhouse 71 was also excellent, service and food. And I did enjoy my Space 220 lunch, even though it was a pricey experience. Appetizer and drink were excellent, entree was just okay. Atmosphere was wonderful!
LOVED the two new rides that have opened since my last trip, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad (though it's too short a ride!) and Ratatouille. The later was an absolute delight, and I'm not even a big fan of the movie. Was very disappointed with Enchanted, though it was a little better from further back where you can see some of the projections on the buildings on Main Street. They should have tied it better to the 50th celebration, and had at LEAST a mention of Walt Disney. It just seemed to be too much flash and too little heart. Harmonious, on the other hand, was wonderful, I was surprised at how much I loved it.
We did not use Genie+, and were very glad we didn't, seemed to be lots of confusion, the app didn't work a lot of the time, and the most popular rides had no times left by early afternoon, which kind of defeats the purpose. We found that rope drop was a must to get anything done with the crowds. We only went to one extended evening hours, at EPCOT, and those were wonderful, almost no lines to speak of. I wish they would do them every night at one park, and add HS and AK to the list. We did pay to ride Rise of the Resistance, but turns out we probably didn't need to as wait times at the very end of the night were only an hour.
I had another wonderful stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we ended up with a great view of the animals despite booking a Standard room. Not sure if it was considered a Standard with a partial view or not, but it was lovely. I was not happy when they tried to talk me out of any housekeeping for my 9 night stay, and even less happy when they ended up coming only once to do a light housekeeping after I told them I would do the every 3 days. For a deluxe resort, that is completely unacceptable, and for stays of more than a week they should be doing a thorough housekeeping after a week.
I will say that indoor mask compliance overall was very good, I was shocked. I wore my mask outside in the crowds as well, and I'll admit that the first couple of days of the trip left me really feeling that I had made a mistake coming. It's one thing to read that Covid numbers are good down there, it's safe. It's quite another to go from not being around a lot of people to being in huge crowds again. I did finally get used to it, and just wore a mask outside when there were lots of people. I suggest wearing a good mask, for protection not for looks, as others have said people sick and hacking everywhere.
Went to the Merriest Christmas party on the 7th, and it was awful. I had not planned on going because tickets were double what they were on my last trip, but my traveling companion really wanted to go as she's never been during the holidays, and bought my ticket. Crowds were insane until 9, when the party actually started and everyone else had to leave. Very few free snack carts open throughout the park, and long lines at all of them. Almost no Photopass photographers to be found to do the special Magic shots they supposedly had. The parade was shorter than normal. I will say that the Christmas fireworks were great, but 4 hours for $229 was price gouging, sorry.
CMs to a one were wonderful, I did not run into any of the rude ones that people keep mentioning, in fact quite the opposite.
Tried a few restaurants for the first time, and all were very good. Sanaa has gone on our list of restaurants to go to every trip, I finally got there this trip and both the service and food were wonderful, even with a limited menu. Steakhouse 71 was also excellent, service and food. And I did enjoy my Space 220 lunch, even though it was a pricey experience. Appetizer and drink were excellent, entree was just okay. Atmosphere was wonderful!
LOVED the two new rides that have opened since my last trip, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad (though it's too short a ride!) and Ratatouille. The later was an absolute delight, and I'm not even a big fan of the movie. Was very disappointed with Enchanted, though it was a little better from further back where you can see some of the projections on the buildings on Main Street. They should have tied it better to the 50th celebration, and had at LEAST a mention of Walt Disney. It just seemed to be too much flash and too little heart. Harmonious, on the other hand, was wonderful, I was surprised at how much I loved it.
We did not use Genie+, and were very glad we didn't, seemed to be lots of confusion, the app didn't work a lot of the time, and the most popular rides had no times left by early afternoon, which kind of defeats the purpose. We found that rope drop was a must to get anything done with the crowds. We only went to one extended evening hours, at EPCOT, and those were wonderful, almost no lines to speak of. I wish they would do them every night at one park, and add HS and AK to the list. We did pay to ride Rise of the Resistance, but turns out we probably didn't need to as wait times at the very end of the night were only an hour.
I had another wonderful stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge, we ended up with a great view of the animals despite booking a Standard room. Not sure if it was considered a Standard with a partial view or not, but it was lovely. I was not happy when they tried to talk me out of any housekeeping for my 9 night stay, and even less happy when they ended up coming only once to do a light housekeeping after I told them I would do the every 3 days. For a deluxe resort, that is completely unacceptable, and for stays of more than a week they should be doing a thorough housekeeping after a week.
