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Thread: Back to the Beach Club!

  1. #1
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    Aug 2014
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    Gulf Coast of Florida

    Lightbulb Back to the Beach Club!

    Travel dates: 9/14/2014 thru 9/20/2014
    Travel method: Delta to the Gulf Coast, then personal car to WDW.
    Resort: Beach Club Villas
    Accommodations: Deluxe Studio
    Ages Represented in Group: 54, 55
    Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: Very experienced especially Jean.
    Comments: In gratitude to all those who have posted trip reports before.
    Cast of characters: Chuck, late comer to the Disney mania and Jean, unofficial tour guide and Disney fanatic.

    Introduction:
    Hoping this trip report is as enjoyable as many of yours have been for us. It is a great way to get a little bit of Disney magic while on breaks at work.
    A little bit of background on how we came to be Walt Disney World fanatics. We love Disneyland and it is much closer to where we live, but WDW is our awesome place. After all this time and visits it is still our awesome place.
    Jean grew up in the northeast and her parents became snowbirds to Florida and that is how she came to get to know and love WDW. She has been there over 25 times. Nine times staying on Disney property with Chuck.
    Chuck grew up with very little Disney experience. No trips to Disney, no real affinity for Disney outside of watching Walt's old black and white TV show. Didn't care about Mickey and Minnie one way or the other.
    Boy met girl and in 1999 we got married and started our life together. First marriage for both of us and no kids either. After we had been married a couple years, Jean suggested we visit her Mom on the Gulf Coast in Florida and make a side trip to WDW. I had never been to Florida before and I said sure. I had just got laid off from a great job and it sounded like a good way to lift my spirits. We had a great time at her Mom's, she is the best mother in law in the whole world, and then we made our way to the All Star Sports at WDW. As we drove into the park, I was completely and totally awestruck. It was an incredible feeling of awe. We made our way to the hotel, ( I am a complete believer in staying on Disney property), and found out that it was spring break week. The place was absolutely packed. And I hate crowds. Cannot stand them. We went to the park and it was wall to wall people, a nightmare for me. But, even with all the people, with all the screaming kids at All Star Sports, with the muggy weather, I had an absolute complete blast. It was so much fun. Incredible time. I was hooked. It was great to be able to go with someone as experienced as Jean, so that really helped, but even with all the negatives, I had a fantastic time. It was a learning experienced for me and we have changed our approach since then but overall I was enthralled with Walt Disney World. And at that time I was a 42 year old male with no prior Disney experience. My life has not been the same since. So far we have been to the All Star Sports, Coronado Springs, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Grand Floridian, The Beach Club, and then as DVC members to the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village, Old Key West, Aulani, and now back to the Beach Club in a Deluxe Studio. One mistake we made was not joining DVC sooner. We did not join until our 6th trip, and that was an error. We knew we were going to come every other year at least, but for some reason we held off on buying into DVC. We do believe we get treated a little bit different as DVC members, and we hope that is going to get better as time goes on. The savings we have gotten by being DVC members is substantial, even on park tickets. It really is the only way to go for people like us who have the WDW bug.
    This year we decided to go back to the Beach Club mainly because we like how close it is to Epcot. We love being able to walk in through the back door. We enjoy Storm A Long bay and being close to Hollywood Studios also. We also really, really love the waterparks. It is a toss up between Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. They are so much fun. Laugh out loud fun, fun, fun. This time we are going to do the Backstage Tour at the Magic Kingdom and have dinner at Cinderella's Castle which we have never done. We have done one Princess meal before at Akerhaus Castle which caught us off guard but this time we will be prepared. We have additional ADR's at a few places we haven't ate at before, including the Rose and Crown and the Yachtsman Steakhouse but we are also going to play some things by ear. We do some planning but also enjoy serendipity too. Leaving for Florida in 11 days with 2 nights at my Mother in Laws, 6 nights at WDW, and then 2 more nights at MIL's before we leave for home. We did have some negative experience with our Magic Bands and My Disney Experience, but we think we have that all worked out and we should be good to go. I do wish Disney wouldn't but people on hold for so long and would shorten up the menus we have to go through to talk to a human being.
    I will be posting more when we get to the parks. Thanks again to all of you that post trip reports. I have gotten quite a bit of enjoyment out of them.


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  3. #2
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    Aug 2012
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    Good luck with the magic bands. Have a great trip. I look forward to reading your trip report


  4. #3

    Have a great trip. I love it at the Beach Club. It is the perfect location

     

    If no-one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middle man (Billy Bragg)

  5. #4
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    Aug 2014
    Location
    Gulf Coast of Florida
    9/14/2014 Arrival at WDW/Epcot
    We arrived at the Beach Club Villas at 11:15 am after an uneventful drive from Sarasota, uneventful expect for a few Florida drivers that thought by tail gating us it would get us to exceed the speed limit significantly. Eventually they all peeled off and sped by.
    We were welcomed by the guard who radioed ahead and the cast member who greeted us at the door welcomed us by name and brought us in to check in. It was interesting that nobody said “Welcome Home” which is the typical greeting for Disney Vacation Club members when they arrive, until we brought it up. Not a big deal, but a difference from years past. We had done online check in and weren’t expecting a room to be ready this early but they had one ready for us and it turned out to be in a pretty good location looking out over the river and away from the pool area. We have not been very good about picking room locations and often times get ones far away from everything, but this time we were pretty pleased with where we ended up. It was close to the parking lot and we unloaded our bags and were out the door and walking to Epcot right away.
    We love the Beach Club location because of its 5 minute walk to Epcot. A very pleasant walk too, past the beach and lake and into the back door of the park. We had to go to Guest Relations and get our new annual passes activated, and after that we got right in, ( after a little bit of trouble with the new Magic Bands, more about that later), and we got our first Memory Maker shot on the bridge looking into France. It was very hot but not unpleasant and we decided to see how busy Maelstrom was now instead of waiting for our 7 pm FastPass. It had not really registered with us that Maelstrom was going to be replaced by a Frozen attraction soon and we were a little surprised by the 25 minute stand by wait since the park didn’t seem too crowded. We got in line but after about 15 minutes with the line not moving much we bailed out and went over to Mexico and walked right now the 3 Caballero’s ride. This is always a nice ride for us. We didn’t remember Maelstrom ever being that busy but now we know why.
    We left Mexico and got a few more Memory Maker pictures from the backside of Epcot including with our favorite MM photographer Louie. Then a little shopping at Mouse Gear and a not so good sausage sandwich at Starbucks. Blech. We had a Character Spot Fast Pass for 6 pm but we saw the Stand By line was only 10 minutes and after about 10 minutes we were looking at Goofy and getting ready to take our picture with him. This was the way it was mostly with the Fast Pass Plus system for us this trip. We signed up online but reality was usually different. We enjoyed getting our pictures taken with Goofy, Mickey and Minnie and then it was off to the Land.
    We rode Living with the Land, and then saw the Circle of Life movie while waiting for our 4 pm Soarin’ Fast Pass. We still had some time so we did the Nemo clam shell ride and then walked right into one of our favorite attractions, Turtle Talk with Crush. We don’t have any kids but we have always enjoyed this one. It wasn’t the best Crush we have heard but it is still a fun part of WDW. Then one of the times were we actually used a Fast Pass + and that was for Soarin’ and we still had a 10 minute wait for the ride. While in line we starting talking with a woman from Argentina who was there for the first time in 20 years with her kids and husband. That is one of our favorite things about WDW world, meeting and talking with people from all over the world who have come to central Florida to have some fun. We especially enjoy talking with the people who enjoy the “bubble” as much as we do. True identification at depth for us WDW geeks. We were able to give her a few tips about the parks and it turns out they had never done Soarin’ before. They were in for a treat and afterwards they were grinning ear to ear and so were we. We did Soarin’ a few more times before the week was out.
    We had a 6:30 ADR for The Rose and Crown pub but we were hungry after Soarin and it was about 4:30 pm so we went over and asked if we could get in early. The young English woman said they might be able to fit us in, then gave us a pager and we walked over to see the Beatle’s Imitation band and right when we got there the pager went off. We went back to the podium and they took us right in and the restaurant looked 80% empty. We didn’t understand why she didn’t just seat us right away? Oh well, we had a nice chat with the young Englishman who took us to our table and enjoyed our interactions with our Englishwoman server Kathryn. However the food was a different matter. I have been to England and have had the real English fish and chips and these were similar but with too much batter and not enough fish. I had the meat appetizer and the Apple Salad and enjoyed the salad. About 3 out of 5 for the food. We can now say we have eaten at the Rose and Crown. After the early dinner we walked around the World to see what the Standby time was for Maelstrom and it was 30 minutes so we scratched that idea and walked back to the Beach Club resort with the idea of coming back to Epcot later to watch the Illuminations fireworks show. When we got to the lobby, we ran into Tina who seems to be an at large, roaming, jack of all trades, concierge person and she told us about the new Frozen Fireworks show at Hollywood Studios. We hadn’t heard about them but she said they were not to be missed but they were only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Since we weren’t going to be here on Saturday night we decided we should go there tonight. We went back to the room and rested a bit and decided to walk to HS instead of taking the bus or driving there. We weren’t familiar with the path and after a little bit of confusion we finally found it and walked along the river to the park. It was a warm night and a very pleasant 15-20 minute walk. We went to a spot near the old American Idol audition studio and Wow. It was an incredible show. We think it may have even been better than Illuminations which is better on a nightly basis than the ones we have on 4th of July in our hometown. We thought it was a great way to try and plus up HS, and were very grateful to Tina for pointing us in that direction. It was a great way to cap off a great first day back at Walt Disney World and the Beach Club Villas.
    9/15/2014
    We are not rope drop people. We have spent all day in the parks before and have done a rope drop here and there, but it is not our usual MO. But we wanted to get to Toy Story Mania early and do it twice in one day with our Fast Pass later in the day. We plan but we are not really planners, and this new Fast Pass + system seems to want us to plan more and for this trip it didn’t really work out too well. We are still stuck in how Disney trained us the old way. Maybe next trip we will do better. We didn’t let it get in our way too much, but it did cause its share of snafu’s throughout the trip. So up early to walk over for a warm walk to HS, we got there about 8:40 am and were surprised by how many people were already there. They opened the park at 8:45 am but had the paths to the attractions roped off. Jean had us take a right before the main right to TSM and it turned out to be a very smart move. We ended up at the Starring Roles restaurant behind a rope and after a Frozen story opening on the main stage which we couldn’t see very well, they started walking us in behind the rope at 9 am. We were on the side pathway and they actually held the crowd from the main pathway back until our group passed by after a short walk we ended up being one of the first 25 people in TSM for that day. That is not our thing but it was kind of cool to do that once. We really like that attraction as so many people do and hope they can replicate that in another park soon. Something similar anyway, just like Soarin’, why not modify them and put them in other parks? And while I am editorializing, I would like to recognize the team of people at WDW that capitalized on the popularity of the Frozen phenomenon especially the people who decided to move most of it to Hollywood Studios. HS needed the help and from what we could see people really were enjoying all the different Frozen things throughout the park.
    After TSM we wandered around a bit and went over and got right on the Great Movie ride. We have always enjoyed that and this time I paid attention to all the little bits of staging that were arrayed along the path of the ride. It was and is amazing to me how much detail they go to make sure that we are in the “Story” while we ride the various attractions. As always, the story was corny but we liked it nonetheless. After that we wandered around the streets awhile and decided not to do the Back Lot tour because we always do it and we didn’t realize that it was going away. Would have liked to do it one more time but that’s what I get for not paying attention. We were walking the back streets and saw 3 cast members standing under an umbrella in the middle of the street with nobody around them so we went down to check it out and found out they were given return tickets away for the new Frozen sing along that they had at HS. We got a couple tickets even though we had not seen Frozen yet despite the fact I am from Norwegian stock and have been to Norway. We have totally missed out on the Anna and Elsa crazed until we went to WDW. While waiting for the show we got a couple more Memory Maker photos, one with Phineas and Ferb who we have no idea who they are, and then we saw the Muppet 3d Show which is fun. After that it was time for the show and we used our return tickets to get good seats. They had a big stage with a big screen and then two smaller screens on each side. The show was hosted by two “historians” and they were funny. The sing along was interesting because so many people, especially the kids know the words and gestures to the songs. They showed the words on the screen but I think most people didn’t need them. We will probably watch the movie now even though we know how it ends. After the hour sing a long we went to the Brown Derby for lunch. We have ate their once before and it was excellent so we had high hopes. We went around noon and it wasn’t crowded and we got right in. Tarik was our attentive server and he did a great job. I went with appetizers again and got the blue crab spring rolls and the appetizer Cobb salad and they were both very good. Jean got the full size Cobb salad and really enjoyed it. It was fun to watch Tarik mix up our Cobb salads. They have a special way of doing it and he was good at it. Another really great meal at the Brown Derby and the only downside was towards the end when we had a screaming kid at the table next to us. Who knew, screaming kids at Walt Disney World.  After lunch we had our Fast Pass + for TSM and it took us about 10 minutes to get on the ride. We both had better scores this time and it was fun again. We did a little shopping after that and then did the warm walk back to the Beach Club for a nap some laundry and then our ADR at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. This was another awesome meal. Our server was Thomas and he was great. He talked us into getting the Crab Donut for an appetizer but when they delivered the plate it was some kind of prawn dish. I took my fork and turned over one of the prawns looking for the crab, but it was all prawn. We told Thomas and he went and talked to someone and told us it was on the house if we wanted it. He then dropped off our Crab Donut so we got an extra delicious appetizer out of the deal. Jean had a fantastic butterflied filet steak, (because she likes her steaks well done), and I had a fantastic New York steak. It was another memorable Yachtsman meal. We even had the truffle macaroni and cheese that concierge Sarah recommended to us. Good thing we had a deluxe studio with a fridge so we could take some of the food home and have it the next day. Great stuff. Then we headed back to the room for an early night so we could get up bright and early for our Keys to the Kingdom tour of the Magic Kingdom tomorrow.
    9/16/204 The Magic Kingdom/ Keys to the Kingdom Tour/Cinderella
    We have never done a behind the scenes tour at WDW before and we wanted to try something different this time so we signed up the “Keys to the Kingdom” tour. We had to be at the park at 8 am and we weren’t sure about the bus schedule so we drove up there and ended up parking close enough that we could walk the Ticket and Transportation center instead of having to take the shuttle. The monorail was down so we took the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom entrance.
    This is the first trip for us where we did not use the bus service extensively. And it really was nice not having to rely on the bus.
    The tour started right at 8:30 am and seemed like a well-oiled machine. Our tour guide was Brian and it was a wonderful experience all the way around. We learned several secrets about Main Street, went backstage and say cast members practicing dances for the Christmas parades, went into the Utilidoor system and got a lot of history on the building of the park. I won’t go into a lot of detail on the tour because I think everybody who goes to the park should experience it themselves. We highly recommended it and plan on doing the Backstage tour that covers all the parks on one of our next visits.
    After the tour we did Thunder Mountain Railroad twice, and then saw the Festival of Fantasy Parade where I got my foot run over by a stroller, “Ouch”. The parade was a new one for us and we enjoyed it. Then on to Pirates of the Caribbean, which is a favorite of ours before we headed over to the Castle for dinner with the princesses. Last year we had scheduled lunch at Akerhaus Castle in Norway at Epcot and it had turned out to be a Princess lunch were several of the Disney princess come by your table for pictures. It is mainly for little princesses but we enjoyed it and have never eaten at the Castle so we thought we would try this one. We walked in and had our picture taken with Cinderella, who was very beautiful, then went upstairs to the dining hall for dinner. Snow White, Princess Aurora, Princess Jasmine, and Cinderella all came over to the tables and chit chatted while people took pictures with them. The food was pretty good, we both had roasted chicken but we were underwhelmed with the setting. It didn’t seem fitting for a dining room in the Castle especially having all those people crammed into such a small space. We hope Disney will “plus” that space up some day.
    After dinner Jean rode the carousel and then we followed the Rainy Day Cavalcade out of the park. Even will all our visits we had never heard or seen of the RDC until our tour guide Brian had mentioned it that day. It had started raining a bit so instead of the regularly scheduled parade with all the floats and dancers they pile a bunch of the characters into the Main Street vehicles and they drive along the parade route. It is better than nothing. We walked out behind them and headed back to the Beach Club. A very special day at the Magic Kingdom.
    9/17/2014 Animal Kingdom/The Dark Side of My Disney Experience
    We slept in today and after a rainy and leisurely morning we headed up to the Animal Kingdom, not our favorite park but I really like Kali River Rapids and Jean loves the Lion King show and we both love the Kilimanjaro Safaris. And we love many of the Animal Kingdom restaurants, at the Lodge and in the park. Including the Tusker House which has a great buffet. Our first Fast Pass was for KS and it was a good one. It had rained quite a bit and we saw lots of different animals and towards the end one of the female lions started roaring loudly. We had never heard that here before and then the male lion started roaring and finally the second female joined in. It was really something to behold. A great start to the day at the Animal Kingdom.
    Then we experience the dark side of the new Disney Magic Band system. We were walking by Tusker House and decided to see if we could get a walk up reservation for 1:30 pm. Bad move on our part. Yes, they had seats at 1:30 pm but they could not take a walk up reservation. They told us to call the Disney Dining phone number. So we did, and after I gave them all my information, they asked me for a credit card so they could charge me $10 if I didn’t show up for the reservation. Well, since my credit card is linked to my Magic Band I don’t bring it into the park. No credit card number, no reservation over the phone. I tried to explain the insanity of this to the manager, and he took us over to the Guest Relations shop were we tried to make reservations using their pads and that didn’t work, then the Guest Relations cast member took all our information, including my Magic Band and pin number and it still wouldn’t work. This all took about an hour and we ended up surrendering and not eating at Tusker House. Very unDisneylike experience.
    We were very hungry after this so we went to the Yak&Yeti Quick Service and had pork rolls and chicken fried rice. The pork rolls were good, and the rice was mediocre. The eating area was crowded and seemed dirty. EasyWDW had AK as a two but it seemed more crowded than that to us. After lunch I did Kali River Rapids 3 times and Jean did it once. Then the Lion King show at its new location and Jean loved it again but I was a little surprised they didn’t design the new building with a better way of moving people out after the show. It was really messy. After that, a stroll around Dino Land which we have done only a couple times before because we think it is pretty cheesy, but this time we played some games and rode on one ride and then we left the Animal Kingdom for a trip to one of favorite restaurants at all of Walt Disney World, Boma at the AKL. We did not have an ADR but we got there right before it opened and got right in. We love all the different flavors and textures from the buffet and our service from Victor was excellent. We love all the restaurants and we are big fans of the team that created the “new” Animal Kingdom dining experience. Great job by the whole team.
    After that we drove back to the Beach Club and we got lost. We ended up outside the bubble briefly! It was that kind of day. We got turned around and made it back home. After some down time we walked over to Epcot for Illuminations and for about the 3rd or 4th time this trip I had trouble using my Magic Band to get into the parks. They always blame me saying that “I am pressing too hard”, or “Your finger is not all the way up”, or “ Wipe your finger off there is too much oil on it”, etc. etc. My view is that it is not a good idea to criticize your customer before they come into your establishment to spend money. I have been using the fingerprint system for a ever since they have had it, in the past with the card and now with the Magic Bands, so like I told the cast member, maybe you should take a look at your system instead of blaming your customer. So I had to get out of line and they do something with their pad and I get back in and try it and they pass me. It was extra Magic Hours at Epcot and we walked over to see how busy Maelstrom was and it was 45 minutes for standby so we just kept walking around the lagoon and went to the bridge between France and England where we usually watch Illuminations. There was a big party there clogging up the bridge so went to the end near England and staked out a place. Got to experience some young drunken adults talking inanely but thank God they moved on after a little while. After that the show started and like usual it was awesome. We think the new Frozen show might have more fireworks but they are both incredible. After the show we did Soarin’ twice and then walked back to our deluxe studio at the Beach Club Villas. Had some negative experiences today at WDW but overall the day was still excellent.
    9/18/2014 Typhoon Lagoon and the Magic Kingdom.
    We slept in today which was great and because Typhoon Lagoon doesn’t open until 10 pm and we were going to drive in instead of taking the bus. The weather was ok, and we had a blast doing the various slides and the wave pool. We especially enjoy the Pineapple Crusher and do that over and over. It is laugh out loud fun. The park seemed to be pretty crowded especially the wave pool. After a few hours at TL we drove back to the Beach Club and relaxed and then decided to go to the Magic Kingdom again to see the Electric Light Parade which is a favorite of Jean’s. We also wanted to try and get on the new 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. We had problems linking our passes up with our MDE account so we weren’t able to get Fast Passes for the 7DMT so we tried several times to see if we could get in on Stand By without having to wait an hour or more. We decided to walk through Epcot and catch the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom Transportation and Ticket Center. That was nice just strolling through Epcot and we got on the Monorail with no problem. It was interesting that every time we used the Monorail this trip the cars smelled like urine. It must be tough to keep them fresh with all those toddlers riding the train every day. After we got to the TTC we took the ferry over to the MK again and it seemed very busy. We tried a few times to get on the Mine Train then gave up on that and went to Buzz Light Year were we got right on. After that we went to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Caf which was busy and got some mediocre food and once again the seating area was crowded and dirty. We need to plan our meals better. We went and rode the Under The Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid and when we got out we could tell a storm was coming. We walked through Fantasyland the back way to the Haunted Mansion and got right on. When we got out it was pouring buckets and we thought it would pass quickly, but after standing under the canopy at the entrance to the HM for an hour we decided that there was going to be no Electric Parade that night and we walked through the rain and the park to the bus depot just like thousands of other people did at the same time. It was chaos and so unlike Disney. We finally got on a bus (for this first time this trip), and it was completely packed, every standing stop filled. We were soaked and it was a miserable ride back. Even though in the past we have marveled at the efficiency of the bus service and have not minded using it, this time we really enjoyed not having to wait for the buses and have liked the freedom of being able to walk to two parks and use other methods to get to the others. A real highlight of this trip. Another day of adventure at WDW completed.
    9/19/2014 The Magic Kingdom again!
    Another sleep in day and we woke up to a gray overcast sky. It was cloudy most of the day with no sun but warm. We drove up to the Magic Kingdom again and got into the park around 11 am. Right when we got to the beginning of Main Street, the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street parade started and we followed it up to the Adventure Land cutoff and made our way to the Jungle Cruise area. It was a 20 minute Stand By wait and we got a good, corny skipper, Matt. A good start to our last day at WDW. Then another ride on POTC, then we went to see how much of a wait for TMRR and it was 50 minutes so we walked back over to The Enchanted Tiki Room which we haven’t seen for a long time. Jean talked me into it and now it can be a few more years before we see it again. We went to see how long Peter Pan’s Flight Stand By was and it was too long so we did It’s a Small World and we actually had to wait 10 minutes to get on. The parks did seem somewhat crowded this week but for most of the rides the wait was not too bad. We did like the Fast Pass Kiosk system because they had people there who could answer our questions. We definitely did not use the new system well and next time we will spend more time planning. After ISM we went a kiosk and the only thing available was the Great Goofini so we walked over there and as we went through the Fast Pass Line it was obvious that the roller coaster was down. It is a really short ride and I am not sure why they even bothered to build it so it wasn’t that big a deal that we couldn’t go on it. We went over to the People Mover which is one of my favorite rides and then to the Stand By line at Buzz Lightyear which was fun again. We got our pictures taken and it is really funny to see the serious expressions on our faces as we shoot the targets. We had an ADR for the Plaza Restaurant and we got in a little early. It was a good meal and they even made me a full up BLT instead of the Turkey Club which Jean had. It was good food and good service. It started raining lightly so we put on our ponchos that we hadn’t had last night and we went over to Frontierland to use our TMRR Fast Passes. Not the best idea right after lunch but it was still fun like always. We could not get Fast Passes for the new train ride and we chose not to do rope drop for it so that was a minor disappointment for this trip. TMRR is just my speed though and many people we talked with who had ridden the new train ride said they still liked TMRR better. After that we decided to work our way to the exit and we stopped at the Town Square store which we had never been in and did a little shopping. We went for one last Railroad ride around the Magic Kingdom and then headed back to the Beach Club with a plan to walk to HS tonight to watch the Frozen Fireworks show from the path that leads to the park. But it started raining again and we thought they might cancel the fireworks so we didn’t bother. We got dinner from the Marketplace and planned to go to HS in the morning before we left for Sarasota.
    9/20/2014 Our last day, out with a whimper
    We woke up and it was still raining so we scrapped plans to go to HS. We could have ponchoed up but decided against it and started packing to leave early. The Mousekeeper tried to get in early and we had gotten 2 calls and 2 e-mails thanking us for staying so we took the hint and left a little after 10 for another uneventful drive back to the Gulf Coast. It was uneventful except for more tailgaters and some electronic signs saying “There is a wrong way driver on the roadway ahead”. They didn’t say how far ahead or any good information like that, and thankfully we never saw them or the aftermath of something like that. Made it back safely to Sarasota with many happy memories of our latest trip to WDW.

  6. #5
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Gulf Coast of Florida

    Prologue:
    I realize there is some negativity in this trip report and there were some negative moments during this trip. Overall though, we love being there and have many, many happy memories from this trip. We are a great team on Disney property. We walk with a purpose, and laugh out loud often. Hopefully we will get used to the new Disney system before they change it to something else. They keep having to retrain us and as we get older it gets harder for us to catch on. We hope Disney listens to it's faithful customers and continues to improve the experience for everyone. It was very interesting writing this trip report. It took a lot of effort but it helps cement some of the memories in my mind.


  7. #6

    I loved your trip report. Thanks so much for sharing the good and the bad with us.

    My family haven't been back to WDW in 5 years - I know the horror of it. But things just kept getting in the way like - new grandbabies, Son graduating from the University, new home repairs - you know those things. Any way your problems with the "system" are reasons I am not chopping at the bit to be back. The way you were treated at Tusker House was so not right!! I hear from some that they love the new system and many more that don't. Disney keeps raising the prices and taking more and more away. I think I will take a cruise!!
    Any way thanks for your trip report, I did enjoy it.
    Ellen


  8. #7
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Gulf Coast of Florida

    Hi Ellen,
    Thank you for your feedback. It was interesting that they just didn't say "Absolutely" when we asked about a reservation. And they could have just gotten my card number from my badge. Maybe they will get it figured out. We still plan on going soon again, we just plan on going to other places more often now.
    Chuck


  9. #8

    Wonderful trip report Chuck. I enjoyed your candidness. I leave in two weeks for a trip there and, like you, will be experiencing the FastPass+ system for the first time. It helps to hear about use of the new system, good and bad, what worked and what didn't for others. Sorry you had crummy weather but you and your wife certainly kept a happy & positive attitude it seems. Thanks again for posting your report. I'm sure it will help me when I visit.
    (another) Ellen


  10. #9
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Gulf Coast of Florida

    Thank you very much Ellen. I was concerned I was being too much of a Negative Nelly.
    It took a couple weeks or more to get the Fast Pass thing straightened out and by that time the 7 Dwarfs train was out of Fast Passes. Next time I will stay on hold no matter how long it takes.
    Hope you have a great trip and the one saving grace of the new system was the Fast Pass kiosks in the parks. The cast members were very helpful. Couldn't do what we wanted them to do always, but they were helpful.


  11. #10
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Gulf Coast of Florida

    Just got back from a week at Saratoga Springs and WDW. Had a great time even though our Magic Bands were less than Magic, the bus system gave us fits, and the concierge at SSR was not up to Disney standards. We had problems getting into our room, transferring Fast Passes and buying merchandise with the Magic Bands. Really concerned about Disney management with these continued issues.
    Tried to get to Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios on Saturday morning and we saw 5 Magic Kingdom buses, 3 Animal Kingdom buses and an Epcot bus before the Hollywood Studios bus showed up. What kind of idiots do they have dispatching buses at WDW these days? And the drivers kept lying to us, saying the HS bus was right behind them. I guess Disney is teaching it's employees to lie now. Really concerned with Disney management.
    And the concierge at SSR seemed to have perfected the art of not making eye contact. It was like we were a huge bother to them. And then they couldn't perform some of the most basic tasks. I am really concerned with Disney management for not paying people enough so they can get and keep competent people.
    And one last thing, the parks were way busier than the prognosticators said they would be. Everything was really busy, even Downtown Disney. We picked last week because we were hoping for smaller crowds and it was at least twice as busy as the people said it was going to be.


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