Just Back (July 6-13 trip)

[Zippa D Doodah]

We (me, DW, DD20, DS17) had a fantastic seven day trip. Just arrived back home a couple hours ago. Some observations...

1) We are now AP holders for the very first time. We made good use of many benefits (hopping; memorymaker/photopass; 10-20% discount on dining; 20% discount on merchandise; occasional shorter lines at gates). The APs made us feel like VIPs. We will be back for a week next June and certainly several shorter trips between now and then so I know it is a good investment for us.

2) Pop Century was just a little on the wild side because of the many dance teams, soccer teams, and tour groups using the resort. The main pool was always crowded. The food court was an unusable ocean of people, mostly in the mornings. Bus queues were often among the longest I have ever experienced in my six total stays at Pop through the years. We all had a positive attitude about things and just worked around all that, but no way in Toontown would I ever stay at Pop (or likely any value resort) again in July knowing that all those various groups basically take over the resort. We did experience some noise outside our room a couple of nights, but nothing persistent. It's just not what I wanted in a resort stay.

3) FOP is AWESOME!!!! No spoilers from me, but it is a "don't miss" attraction. Well done, imagineers! The rest of Pandora just seemed underwhelming to me. NRJ was OK, but could use about four more animatronics and a storyline. The bioluminescence at night just seemed like a whole land of black light effects. The drum circle show was unintentionally hilarious; it came across to us like a skit on Saturday Night Live. I don't really go for the whole nature worship, "we're all one" message of Pandora and AK, so keep that in mind as you weigh my opinion. YMMV

4) I'm a big fan of Wishes and have many happy memories associated with the show, but HEA blew my socks off. True Disney magic! It is worth a trip just to see it.

5) For those measuring such things, it took us about exactly 75 minutes to get to our room at Pop after landing at MCO using Magical Express. Got a text along the way saying room was ready, so we went straight there with our carry-ons and were riding rides at MK an hour later.

 

[mamamelody2]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[lovethattink]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[DisneyfanLV]

We (me, DW, DD20, DS17) had a fantastic seven day trip. Just arrived back home a couple hours ago. Some observations...

1) We are now AP holders for the very first time. We made good use of many benefits (hopping; memorymaker/photopass; 10-20% discount on dining; 20% discount on merchandise; occasional shorter lines at gates). The APs made us feel like VIPs. We will be back for a week next June and certainly several shorter trips between now and then so I know it is a good investment for us.

2) Pop Century was just a little on the wild side because of the many dance teams, soccer teams, and tour groups using the resort. The main pool was always crowded. The food court was an unusable ocean of people, mostly in the mornings. Bus queues were often among the longest I have ever experienced in my six total stays at Pop through the years. We all had a positive attitude about things and just worked around all that, but no way in Toontown would I ever stay at Pop (or likely any value resort) again in July knowing that all those various groups basically take over the resort. We did experience some noise outside our room a couple of nights, but nothing persistent. It's just not what I wanted in a resort stay.

3) FOP is AWESOME!!!! No spoilers from me, but it is a "don't miss" attraction. Well done, imagineers! The rest of Pandora just seemed underwhelming to me. NRJ was OK, but could use about four more animatronics and a storyline. The bioluminescence at night just seemed like a whole land of black light effects. The drum circle show was unintentionally hilarious; it came across to us like a skit on Saturday Night Live. I don't really go for the whole nature worship, "we're all one" message of Pandora and AK, so keep that in mind as you weigh my opinion. YMMV

4) I'm a big fan of Wishes and have many happy memories associated with the show, but HEA blew my socks off. True Disney magic! It is worth a trip just to see it.

5) For those measuring such things, it took us about exactly 75 minutes to get to our room at Pop after landing at MCO using Magical Express. Got a text along the way saying room was ready, so we went straight there with our carry-ons and were riding rides at MK an hour later.

Thanks for sharing! We are leaving in 5 days for POP/WDW. Did you find the teams and groups dwindle down as your week progressed? Trying to prepare myself lol
I knew it was tour group/team month and was prepared for the parks but for some reason never considered the resort!

 

[SimonSez]

Thanks for the report. Nice to see a positive review as we're only three weeks out

 

[peachy1811]

Thanks for the report. We leave for Pop/Animal Kingdom in 7 days. I can't wait.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Might have passed you along the way.
Stayed at the Polynesian July 4 - July 11 and truly enjoyed the venue and parks. Lots of children who mostly gravitated to the Volcano Pool which left the hot tub and Oasis pool calmer places.
Didn't start booking the trip until the middle of June so I was quite the whirlwind booking and getting an "edjumacation" in all things Mouse. My only past experience was 25 odd years back @ Disney Paris so I'd a lot of catching up to do. Fortunately, few hiccups or disappointments beyond not being able to get all our FP wants or eat at 2 restaurants that looked good for different reasons: California Grill's brunch and Sci-Fi Restaurant.

I had a different view of Pandora. Great thematic follow through from start to finish from my POV although decided that it was too hot (weather) and alien looking to give any of the food a try. WindTraders, the gift shop, was fantastic and scored 2 dragon electronic puppets for the grands who couldn't make this trip. Wish I'd bought the bioluminescent hoodies when I saw them but being the newbie I am didn't realise I could only buy them at that specific shop. Hadn't the patience to wait 2 hours for standby tickets to FoP but was able to score FPs to the Pandora water ride. I found it soothing and in keeping with the dancers and drummers in the square and general surroundings. I will say I am a nature lover (gave up a 3 week camping trip in the Adirondacks for this trip, LOL) so that could make the difference in our outlook. Of course that's the beauty of Disney; something for all.

I liked my trip so much I just booked a 11 day trip for the end of December for the grands who didn't make the trip as well as the one who went with me. I must say I've been silent up to this point but did a lot of good reading here before my 1st trip and I thank all of you who added to my knowledge base.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

I thought of a few more bullet points to share while I was seeing the new Spiderman movie just now...
1) We did breakfast at Garden Grove for the first time. Excellent food, service, and character interaction! Thishe is my new favorite breakfast at WDW. I really liked the family style as opposed to buffet.
2) When staying at Pop and trying to beat crowded buses, take the Art of Animation bus instead. It was an easy walk over the bridge to our room in building 5.
3) It's a shame there are not more evening hours available to tour the parks, particularly MK. twas ambivalent about the 10pm closing time before the trip, but after being there and experiencing the heat during daylight hours I am on the side of having more evening hours.

 

[annemce118]

Glad to hear that you had a good time! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Davey Jones II]

FOP does seem to be the highlight of Pandora. I'm hoping I'll like the rest of the land, too. As for NRJ, right from the beginning I was saying that it should have more than one AA. Specifically, it should have some animal AAs. Isn't this Disney's ANIMAL Kingdom?

 

[Willlyb]

FOP does seem to be the highlight of Pandora. I'm hoping I'll like the rest of the land, too. As for NRJ, right from the beginning I was saying that it should have more than one AA. Specifically, it should have some animal AAs. Isn't this Disney's ANIMAL Kingdom?

Yeah, we kept looking up at the floating mountains and thought Disney missed a really neat opportunity to mount some banshees up there and just pipe in some screeches every once in awhile...maybe even give them the opportunity to have some soft wings that could move lightly in the breeze (if not just full-animatronic).

 

[AllieBoo]

I agree with much of your observations about Pandora. FOP is awesome, but I too was a little underwhelmed at the rest of it.

 

[whiporee]

I was just there for a short trip 8-10. We stayed at BLT, which was a great location and room, though the walk to the MK was long at the end of the night.

We drove up from our place in Orlando and headed for Epcot Saturday morning. I decided on preferred parking, and with five of us, just the cold water almost paid for the difference between regular and preferred.

We did Epcot Saturday morning and walked onto Soarin (which the new show was awesome) and FEA (meh) at 9:30 and 10, respectively. About 15 minutes for Spaceship Earth, and then had lunch at the French Cafe. I speak a little French and find myself slipping into it there -- I know that's about a gauche as one gets, but the servers were very indulgent with my terrible pronunciations. We watched Impressions of France, which was great, and then walked down to the American Experience. I know mileage will vary, but that was just about the cheesiest thing I've ever seen. We're a much better country than that exercise in jingoism projected.

We did the Cabejeros ride in Mexico (we'd never done it) and then checked into the hotel because my Coloradoan children and wife were nearly melting.

Compared to the other WDW resorts, the lobby is boring but functional. We had a two-bedroom unit there, and it had all the space we could need and then some. You could easily sleep nine there if you wanted. They gave my boys birthday buttons, and that was cool because every CM we passed made sure to say Happy Birthday to them. We drove over to AK (again, preferred parking and again, cold water) because I got FOP Fps, so we hit KS, Everest and then had dinner at Tusker House. It was fine, but had I known it was a character meal I would have passed -- they are way too pricey. Pandora was cool -- every bit as well themed and put together as HP, but not as iconic. The kids liked FoP very much, and the rest of the family liked Navi River. We stayed until we could see the bioluminescence stuff light up, and then drove home. I do think they need more direction in the Preferred parking lot -- someone next to parked too deep into the lane )because the car into front of them parked too shallow), and my wife had to guide me out. That would have sucked to be stuck there until someone walked out.

We had EMM the next morning, and I have to say it was all that had been promised. The new security lines did seem to help a lot in terms of getting people through quickly (though it might be because it was so early). There were more people than expected, but the kids did SDMT nine times, PP once and Pooh once before the park opened. Then we headed over to Space, where me and two of the kids walked on while my wife and the other did PM and Buzz. Then my wife realized she lost her Magic Band, but the folks at SDMT found it and returned ed it. We had our breakfast at 945 and stayed until about 10:15. HM was a 5-minute wait -- so was Pirates. The Muppets show was pretty cool, and then we went back to SM for our Fps, then to BTMR and Splash. At that point everyone was hot and tired, so we ate at Tortugas and rode the train back too Main Streets nd then monorail back to CR. The monorail took a while to get going.

The BLT pool was crowded and pretty boring but we stayed there until the rains came, and then went to Wave for dinner. We were rushed there, but the food was great and the boys got an awesome birthday desert. Less than Tusker, too -- if you don't care about characters, stay away from character meals. We monorail back and hit BTMR -- 30 min wait -- and then rushed to the Desert Party. We needn't have rushed; you don't need to be at the party part of it for more than 15-20 minutes. CMS were very kind, and walked us over to the garden. We were some of the last to arrive -- got there at about 8:55 -- so we were in the back, but plenty of space. My kids sat on the grass, and a Disney photographer walked up in front of us. I was wondering what she was doing, then I saw the man next to us drop to one knee. My 13-year-old daughter's mouth dropped in astonishment at what she was seeing, but the girl said yes and everyone clapped for them.

HEA was an impressive show, no doubt. But I thought all the projection took away from the fireworks, and I missed the narrative (cheesy as it was) that ran through Wishes. HEA just seemed a prolonged commercial for Disney movies, and while it was technically brilliant, it felt very hollow to me. That said, it just confirmed my stalwart belief in desert parties -- even squeezing in a late ride and showing up late, we had fantastic seats and good deserts. just had to pay for the experience.

We tried to hit Space again, but it was broken. So the kids did Astro Orbiter and we did PM and got to see Space all lit up -- that's a very compact roller coaster they've got in there. A last bit around the Speedway and we got home around 11 -- a long walk at the end of the day. I wish they still had that back exit to Tomorrowland, but that was decades ago.

The next day we hit Bilzzard Beach. it was a great water park -- not too crowded. We got to try out the virtual queue system, and that worked pretty well. but rain chased us out around 5, so we headed back to the house for some rest. I-4's status as a perpetual mess remained unchanged.

 

[Minnesota!]

Thanks for sharing - sorry your vacation is over, but how fun that you have AP's and have so many trips to look forward to! One of my bucket list items! Maybe after these kids of mine are out of school

 

[Mousefan mom]

Heading down in a week, how was the weather compared to typical this time of year? I know last year was exceptionally hot and rainy.

 

[whiporee]

It was hot, and we've been getting some showers lately. But mostly hot and humid.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Heading down in a week, how was the weather compared to typical this time of year? I know last year was exceptionally hot and rainy.

We live in NC so are used to a little southern summer heat. The humidity at WDW last week (and almost every week in summer) is no joke, but far from intolerable. We drank lots of water, ducked into shops and sleepy attractions at opportune times, and took pool breaks most afternoons. Well, DW and took the breaks. Our two young adult kids never left a park early the whole week. One issue we ran into was that the pool was often closed in the afternoon due to weather when we wanted to go swimming. A lightning strike 30 miles away can shut it down for 30 minutes. We found other things to do while the pool was closed. All in all, the weather was hot and sticky but did not bother us much anyway.

 

[Micca]

Cool report Zippa! Agree that having APs is awesome.