Is it as bad at recent Tripadvisor reviews?

[kiteboy]

Hi again - we are still debating to go to Disney in Mid May

We havent booked anything yet. We are still trying to figure out if this a holiday for us essentially - I honestly didnt realize the extent of the bus rides to be honest

I knew we had to get buses but didnt realize that Blizzard Beach Waterpark for example is a good 1hr away from the French Quarter (where I have been pricing things up)

So obviously its an active non stop walking holiday and very very busy too. My question really is that some of the reviews of WDW on TripAdvisor are REAALLY bad

I know there will be queues and we arent getting away from that - but it sounds horrendous there in all honesty
Its a lot of money really and probably a once off for us. My boy is 9 at the time of travel so for me it feels like now or never

Any recent visit by anyone who found it horrendous or vice versa?

I think the plan would be a week at disney and possibly a more chilled out week at universal and walking distance to volcano bay but again no idea if any of this is a good strategy

I dont think the scale can be realised until you go there!!

 

[MarkleB]

I was there for two weeks at Christmas/New Year this year. We had planned our trip in April 2020, and it was cancelled by Covid two or three weeks before our flights. We then rescheduled it as soon as international flights were opened, and our second trip was cancelled by the UK holding onto our US passports too long while they issued new UK passports. Over the intervening time we saw one Disney World perk after another fall, making our dream vacation seem like it would be awful.

We told ourselves we'd save a little extra with the time we had, we'd blow it all out in a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, tell the kids "yes" to absolutely everything as we'd had to break their hearts twice, and then we'd never, ever go back, because there just didn't seem to be any magic left at Disney World.

Spoiler alert: We're already planning our next trip back. And one to Disneyland Paris to hold us over until then.

There's an amazing amount of magic. Every interaction we had at Pop Century that we had with cast members, they stretched their pixie dust as far as it would go for us. Literally from the first moment we got there. We weren't even off the Sunshine Flyer before our luggage was on a rack, and as soon as we told him our room number he practically shouted over his shoulder to follow him as he sprinted down the pavement with it.

Every park, every cast member, everything was fantastic. Well, no, there was an incident in cramming people into It's Tough to Be a Bug that was hoooorrible, but guest experiences saved they day. Seriously, I lost count of the number of times I had to open up My Disney Experience just to send a thank-you about a cast member.

As for buses, my wife won't allow me to consider any resort that isn't on the Skyliner now. And I think Blizard Beach always requires a ride to Animal Kingdom (aside from a couple of resorts) so it will be a bit of a silly ride, but we didn't turn out to have time to visit. (Well, we did have time, but only on days where the temperature was below freezing. So.) We didn't mind the buses. There were times we preferred them to the monorail. We also didn't mind Lyfts, though, when convenient.

Our oldest was 9 at the time of our first booking, nearly 13 now. They loved doing all the rides my 7-year-old loved, right down to Dumbo.

If you do go, I hope it's half as magical for you as it was for us. I get that word is overused, but honestly that described the feeling.

 

[ellataylor]

Hi,

We we’re there in June last year and like you had a lot of reservations and worries that it will have lost the magic since our last visit in 2014.

I honestly think that planning can make or break a WDW holiday. The parks were very busy and ride queues consistently long but with careful planning, buying Genie for MK and HS, early mornings, late evenings with lots of rest times, pool fun and ADRs to break up the day we honestly had the most fantastic time and have booked to return this December! I personally never queue for anything over a 30minute wait time and also don’t do parks open to closing. These are a recipe for miserable parents and children I think.

I’m a bit shocked about the bus time from Blizzard Beach to POFQ, this water park wasn’t open when we went last year. We always hire a car when we go, just so we can venture out of the bubble to eat or grab some groceries but we also use the buses because they are very convenient, air conditioned and reliable if you avoid park closing in my experience.

 

[csimon]

Hi again - we are still debating to go to Disney in Mid May

We havent booked anything yet. We are still trying to figure out if this a holiday for us essentially - I honestly didnt realize the extent of the bus rides to be honest

I knew we had to get buses but didnt realize that Blizzard Beach Waterpark for example is a good 1hr away from the French Quarter (where I have been pricing things up)

So obviously its an active non stop walking holiday and very very busy too. My question really is that some of the reviews of WDW on TripAdvisor are REAALLY bad

I know there will be queues and we arent getting away from that - but it sounds horrendous there in all honesty
Its a lot of money really and probably a once off for us. My boy is 9 at the time of travel so for me it feels like now or never

Any recent visit by anyone who found it horrendous or vice versa?

I think the plan would be a week at disney and possibly a more chilled out week at universal and walking distance to volcano bay but again no idea if any of this is a good strategy

I dont think the scale can be realised until you go there!!

Did you see on Trip Advisor that BB is an hour by bus from FQ? I can't actually believe that, although I've never done that trip so there may be something unusual about it, like several stops on the way. Did the review mention any reason for it? Remember that there may be "bitter" reviews from people who've had a rare negative experience! i've stayed at FQ, Animal Kingdom is further than BB and it certainly didn't take over an hour, I'd say 20 minutes. About 12mins to Magic Kingdom. Remember though that you may have to wait a while for a bus to actually arrive for you.

[Edit - apologies,I've just found the reason! It's not a direct service, there's actually no bus to BB from FQ. "Take the bus marked for Animal Kingdom and transfer to the bus stop marked for Blizzard Beach." So it's probably 40mins minimum or 80 maximum end to end depending on how long you have to wait for the two buses.]

 

[kiteboy]

Thanks all ...Will pass this thread on to my other half as she has reservations too
I think I'm more let's do it...than not to be honest and food still concerns me and yeh you will always get bad reviews on tripadvisor

I would probably like longer at disney but I think my other half likes the look of universal a bit better as we can probably chill out more there as volcano Bay is next door so that's kind of mimics our normal summer holiday a bit more and obviously gives our legs a.rest too.....we know how hard a full day on your feet can be so we gonna have to have downtime throughout as otherwise it will be miserable

Thanks again

 

[CamillaF]

Hi again - we are still debating to go to Disney in Mid May

We havent booked anything yet. We are still trying to figure out if this a holiday for us essentially - I honestly didnt realize the extent of the bus rides to be honest

I knew we had to get buses but didnt realize that Blizzard Beach Waterpark for example is a good 1hr away from the French Quarter (where I have been pricing things up)

So obviously its an active non stop walking holiday and very very busy too. My question really is that some of the reviews of WDW on TripAdvisor are REAALLY bad

I know there will be queues and we arent getting away from that - but it sounds horrendous there in all honesty
Its a lot of money really and probably a once off for us. My boy is 9 at the time of travel so for me it feels like now or never

Any recent visit by anyone who found it horrendous or vice versa?

I think the plan would be a week at disney and possibly a more chilled out week at universal and walking distance to volcano bay but again no idea if any of this is a good strategy

I dont think the scale can be realised until you go there!!

I took my twin daughters for there 9th birthday. We had a blast. We stayed at animal kingdom and rented points (someone on this board) cheaper then a moderate hotel and we got the late evenings. We rented a car and drove to most every park but magic kingdom. We woke up early and roped dropped (was able to ride Rise an hour before opening with a 15 min wait). We had an afternoon nap and swim time and went back to the park for the evening.

I planned way too much. It became a game. I wanted to win at Disney and I think I did. It was a magical trip that my kids will remember forever. However planning did become an obsession. (I am still on the boards trying to plan my next one.)

I assume the bad reviews are people who expected to not do any planning, show up and have a magical time. Sadly that is not something you can do.

If you want to go read disneytouristblog.com I found amazing information and was able to beat the crowds. We did every ride at least once and Galaxy, Remy, and Splash Mt at least two times in 4 park days. I don't think I waited more than 30minutes for a ride. I wish I had gotten 5 so I could have been a bit more relaxed. I had Genie+ and a plan.

 

[csimon]

Thanks all ...Will pass this thread on to my other half as she has reservations too
I think I'm more let's do it...than not to be honest and food still concerns me and yeh you will always get bad reviews on tripadvisor

I would probably like longer at disney but I think my other half likes the look of universal a bit better as we can probably chill out more there as volcano Bay is next door so that's kind of mimics our normal summer holiday a bit more and obviously gives our legs a.rest too.....we know how hard a full day on your feet can be so we gonna have to have downtime throughout as otherwise it will be miserable

Thanks again

Well, I'm off there in a fortnight after a gap of four years, a holiday postponed from 2020. Staying on site at Disney as I always do because I won't drive over there (Riverside this time) and taking a Lyft one day to Universal Iskands of Adventure. On the last trip, I went to the two Fun Spots and Busch Gardens.

The bus travelling on site can be a pain but actually I think it's a well oiled operation and works extremely well considering what they have to do and coordinate and the fact that it's "free" at the point of use. The parks are the bus hubs and the buses go from there to the hotels and back,and the system is always monitored so they can send more buses out. It's obviously more convenient if you've got your own car,but then that also means parking in the main parking lot and getting from your car to the park entrance.

In the past I've also stayed at Wilderness Lodge and Pop Century, and I feel that French Quarter has had the shortest bus journeys.

I'm hoping to have a good time but I'm very apprehensive of the even more extreme nickel and diming they've been doing and removing benefits, and Genie+ instead of FastPasswhich doesn't actually achieve anything except make you pay extra or wait in longer lines. But I wouldn't overthink all the negative things you can come up with because all in all it's going to be an amazing experience.

 

[kiteboy]

Crazy - was just looking for flights again and they gone up by £600 since I last looked!

 

[deno]

We went last August and the bus system was not as good as it used to be. After Typhoon Lagoon H20 night we waited nearly an hour to get on a bus (they were very infrequent) and it took us to Disney Springs where we had to change buses to Beach Club.

One night coming out of Magic Kingdom, we waited again, almost 45 minutes for a bus. At one point, the bus filled up and left. We all waited for a VERY long time and the bus that turned up to collect us was the same driver that had just gone to Beach Club and back.

There was a MASSIVE difference last year in the quality of service from previous years and a lot of times we would come out of the hotel foyer and just get an Uber rather that wait 30 minutes for a bus. Getting an Uber from our resort to Typhoon Lagoon, Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios was WAY quicker than Disney Transportation.

The Skyliner I only rode once. Very hot journey on that and weirdly gave me motion sickness!

 

[kiteboy]

Thats interesting....its so tough....I don't like the idea if waiting around for busses with a knackered 9 year old giving me grief ....I'd thought 20mins max for a bus is more than enough....all good info

 

[Kate_45]

Just been at the parks and the buses have all been pretty regular for us, including park to park ones. It is a pain though changing at animal kingdom for blizzard beach. Next time I would probably uber there and maybe pop into animal kingdom itself on the way back to break it up a bit (or vice versa - rope drop a few rides and then relax in the water). Typhoon lagoon is right by French quarter though and is a far better water park so I would uber there in less than 10 mins, have a great day, bus to disney springs for dinner and boat back to the resort.

It's still pretty magical for kids that have never been. Where else will you get that sort of experience? But is it worth the crazy price tag? Well I just don't know. So many other factors to consider such as normal spending habits, income etc. No one can tell you whether it's worth it for you.

Two people could go to the same park on the same day and one could find it horrendous and the other love it. Going early or late, knowing which rides/shows stay low at peak times, knowing that if the rise queue isn't out of the cave there's no way its an 80 min wait, mobile ordering food, having things to talk about in queues all help make it enjoyable.

 

[deno]

I agree with Kate on this. If your 9 year old hasn't been before it will be off the scale amazing for him regardless of the niggles you hear from the adults (like me ;-), there's really nothing like it for kids.

You might (as an adult) roll your eyes at the price of things over there and question the value for money but your 9yo won't be bothered about any of that, it will generate memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[kiteboy]

Thanks totally agree I'm on the booking site at 07:30am now..just doing some final checks

I tried to be clever to go through vpn to get usa disney and universal ticket pricing but there's no difference really...buying tickets is the next stage though!

 

[kiteboy]

Well - its done and dusted - all booked and on the credit card! Thanks for all the help - next thing is tickets and planning

 

[zavandor]

I think you should approach planning not as a completionist, but trying to understand what your family would enjoy more. There's no point in trying to cram as many rides as you can when you might be happy just spending 2 days at Animal Kingdom doing the Up! explorers badges (like my friends did).
Also, have reasonable expectations. If you can be at the parks at rope drop and stay late, then you'll be able to do most if not all the rides and shows, but if you know this would be too much stress, just choose the rides you are interested the most and take a more relaxed approach.
Bad reviews come when people don't plan and don't know what to expect.

 

[kiteboy]

Yeh no way are we going to attack stuff - in all honesty I think it will be amazing just being there anyway - theres a few rides we would like to do but Im hoping not to stress too much
Once the crowds get crazy we will likely go for a pool afternoon and then maybe go back for fireworks - dont know of the best strategy yet but that will probably suit us - I know how legs can get absolutely ruined walking around these places so dont want to ruin it by all of us cramping up

 

[Ronaldo17]

Well - its done and dusted - all booked and on the credit card! Thanks for all the help - next thing is tickets and planning

Make sure you log on to your MDE account and make your park reservations asap before you buy Disney tickets

 

[kiteboy]

So you have to do that even before you get tickets? I don't even know our itinerary yet but have been researching what would suit us

 

[Ronaldo17]

So you have to do that even before you get tickets? I don't even know our itinerary yet but have been researching what would suit us

Yeah, you need to make sure you can get park reservations for your dates before you buy tickets. Don't worry if you end up with reservations for days you can't go to Disney, you can easily cancel them on MDE.

 

[kiteboy]

OK thanks man