Re: Alpha's 2007 TR - Observations; the Peeves Report
- From: aksco33 <aksco33@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:28:12 -0700
On Sep 28, 2:59 pm, Alpha <notr...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Departure day; Observations and the Peeves Report
This morning we awoke early (but of course!) and scurried around getting
our things together. We were planning to meet my brother in Sebring
that morning, so we really had to hustle. We were going to eat
breakfast in Riverside Mill, but the place was a madhouse so we skipped
it. As a result, we left something like 3 counter service credits
behind, as well as a number of snack credits.
Observations:
I would not do the dining plan without it being free, and with the
changes coming for 2008, I doubt we'll bother with it even if it is
free. If it works as it should -- that is, you don't mind planning well
in advance for meals, you get the ADRs you want, you don't have any
unexpected changes in your plans while you're there, no one gets sick,
etc. -- then it's great. If anything at all upsets your apple cart, it
becomes hard to realize the full value of it. We also found that the
counter service options were too restrictive when it came to ordering
for our kids. I really would have been glad if they would let you use 2
kids credits to order one adult meal; that might have made it better for
us.
And I guess as a corollary... I think next time we'll book fewer ADRs.
Being on the dining plan, you naturally plan on several sit-down meals.
But after having done the plan 3 years in a row, I've started to feel
like our WDW vacations have been just a tiny little bit hijacked by
planning for and working around scheduled sit-down meals.
All the warnings I've heard here and from family about Epcot's evening
EMH proved to be true for us -- it's crowded. But the morning EMH at MK
was great, and it was last year too.
Even someone who's been to WDW 20 times can find plenty of new things to
see and do!
The bus system at WDW really is very good. Although DH has been a take-
the-rental-car kind of guy, this time around we took the buses more than
ever before. We've always had a rental car at WDW because our trips to
FL always involve a visit with family in another part of the state, but
I can see that if we travel to WDW sometime without visiting family, we
could easily do without renting a car.
The two big goosebumps-experiences of the trip: Wishes and Soarin'.
I know it isn't for everyone, but if there are more than just a couple
of you in your party, I really feel that it's best to work from a plan.
Either make the plan yourself, or be willing to follow someone else's
plan, but have a plan. My mom said, "What made everything so perfect
was the way you had everything planned. That saves a lot of wasted time
standing around wondering what to do next." See?? Listen to my mom.
:-) She and I have been to WDW with assorted family members, and we've
both experienced just what she mentioned: everyone standing around
wondering what to do next. (It's one of my park touring peeves.)
I wish Le Cellier would go back to offering a full maple crème brulee
for dessert, rather than the crème brulee sampler they've changed to.
The posted wait times were fairly accurate, except Soarin', which was
off by 50%!
You *can* go to WDW in the hottest month of the year and have a great
time. But you will sweat -- a lot. Just have to make your peace with
it, try to stay hydrated, definitely take that break in the middle of
the afternoon... and consider changing your clothes mid-day too. ;-)
The Peeves Report
(wherein I report on what I found this trip vis-à-vis some of the
griped-about things at WDW):
I didn't notice anyone smoking in places they shouldn't have been.
Nobody hit my ankles with their stroller or wheelchair, and I'm happy to
say we didn't hit anyone either. However, some kids, and later an
adult, darted right in front of my mom's wheelchair. Fortunately for
them, I've come to expect that.
I think someone made a dead stop right in front of us as we were walking
maybe once or twice. This is something you normally can expect to
happen all the time, but it really almost never happened this trip.
Nobody took our stroller. In fact, nobody took the digital camera that
was on top of our stroller!
One of our waiters forgot about us and the meal ended up taking over 2
hours.
The parks were clean and tidy.
I think I might have seen someone breastfeeding, but then, back in the
day I was known to nurse in public as well, so I didn't care.
Someone sat down in the middle of the row at Voyage of the Little
Mermaid, but it wasn't a big deal because there were only about 20
people in the theater. But people also failed to move to the end of the
row in Turtle Talk with Crush, which was playing to a full audience.
The CM was rather adamant that they continue to move. Her
uncompromising tone let me know that she was my go-to woman if the
punching kids in front of me should decide to act up again. :-)
Nobody stood in front of us when it came time for Wishes to start. Of
course, it wasn't like we had a primo viewing location. :-)
Everybody ahead of us in lines at counter service places was ready to
place their order when it was their turn.
Some guy tried to cut in line at a drink cart in the Studios, but the CM
didn't allow it and he went to the back of the line.
We did see a terrible instance of child misbehavior/absentee parents.
And we did see a couple of dads being obnoxious boors. However, there
are way, way more in the well behaved column than the horrible column.
The many people who are behaving as you wish/expect tend to fade into
the scenery, while the few insufferable people stand out like flashing
neon lights.
And many thousands of words later, my trip report has finally come to a
close. For those of you who read it all, thank you, and congratulations
for making it to the end. Pixie dust is on the way. ;-)
-- Alpha
Great report. It makes me want to go now or wished that I would have
taken advantage of the free dining plan since it is getting a
downgrade next year. Thanks.
.
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