cruising spud
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2007
I am mostly a disboards lurker, not a poster, but since I have always appreciated all of the useful advice this site offers, I thought I would post a review of our recent (we are currently headed home) Disney trip.
I probably won’t be saying anything that frequent/recent Disney goers don’t know, but I thought there might be folks reading who are like our family and haven’t been to Disney in a while.
My first stop- some background-our family used to visit Disney quite a bit. We stayed on-site at Disney hotels and loved going. Then, after our two oldest daughters left home, we discovered rv’ing, and although we continued to do Disney, we also traveled to other places. So, Disney…. not as much. Our last three Disney trips, counting this one, have been at Fort Wilderness. And, as a reference, three of us went on this trip. My DD/age 21, my DH/age 63, and me/age 57.
So, what was different/the same after being away from Disney for seven years?
Technology-Disney has started to edge into the age of technology. My experience setting up fastpasses was anything but stellar, so I wasn’t thinking I would fall in love with fastpasses at the parks, but I did. We still got to the parks a few minutes before each park opened, but that commando-style rider inside me was able to quiet itself a bit. Wonderful. A lesson I learned-unless you are talking about a BIG, think Seven Dwarves Mine Train, ride, don’t bother to make any fasspasses until an hour and a half or so after the parks open. All of the rides we did for the first hour or two were total walk-ons. I did feel that one item that Disney needs to work on would be setting up additional fastpass kiosks. These were few and far between, and the wait time at each one was fairly long.
One more technology item-really Disney, isn’t it time you had free internet available at the campsites without having campers set up those modems? Even one-star rated campgrounds have free-easy-to-use internet.
And, now that I think about it, one technology item that absolutely drove me insane-the laundry room at our comfort station. There was only one washing machine and two dryers that accepted coins. All other machines needed credit cards. Okay, my first and second laundry days went fine, but then, the credit card machine stopped accepting my credit card. Irony….this is the Disney credit card. I called Chase and was told that the credit card machine was not sending any hits to the credit card company. A machine issue. BUT, other people with different credit cards had no issues. I called guest relations. Five times in three days. No one could help. The fifth time I asked to speak to a supervisor, who said that this is an issue with some credit cards at some machines. He told me that I could buy a laundry card, which I did. No more problems.
And, my magic band did not always open the laundry mat door on the first try. Or the second. Sometimes not until the fourteenth or fifteenth try.
But, this was my biggest Disney issue, so, like Elsa, I Let It Go
Cleaniness-Fort Wilderness bathhouses were fantastic (my daughter used these every day), and I thought the parks were clean.
Our campsite was excellent, and the site still had the extra green hose, which I love. And, the grill was great to have, too.
Transportation-buses and boats always arrived in a timely fashion. Wonderful.
My husband and I brought our bikes. Did biking in the morning. Not too hot if done early enough. A fun way to see the campground.
One thing I learned that I did not know-we bought ten day tickets with no hopper option. On our last day at the parks, we visited Animal Kingdom. Got back to our camp site at about 4:00 pm, and thought it would be nice, if possible, to go to the Magic Kingdom the same night for an ice cream, mini kitchen sink dinner. J I called Guest Relations and asked if we could use our last ticket day to do another park on the same day that we did Animal Kingdom. I was told yes. We hopped on the boat, got to Magic Kingdom, and NOPE, we could not get into the park. I thought-total misunderstanding, of course the gatekeepers will let us in, once I explain that I had already called Guest Relations and been told yes. No. No, doesn’t matter what you were told. No, I do not care to make your last day a magical experience. No, no, no. The Guest Relations lady was one tough cookie. A lesson learned.
Something else I learned-one night at 5:30 pm I walked up to Trails End and asked to make a dinner reservation for 7:00 pm. I was told that any reservation less than two hours out, had to be made using My Disney Experience. I pulled out my phone and attempted to access the Disney app. But, the wifi was down, so the hostess penciled in my name. Very nice. And now I know.
One thing that amazed me-the vast amounts of alcohol sold at the parks. Now, I’m not a prohibition sort of person. We tossed back a few drinks ourselves. But, there were a heck of a lot more drink stands than fastpass kiosks. By far. .
Check out was fantastic. We ended up leaving a day early. I went to check out, and without even asking, was told that Disney would refund us for the day we didn’t use. Totally not expecting this. Nice, and thank you.
The dining plan-up until we got to Disney, I thought the dining plan was a total rip-off. Why would anyone buy it? But, after this recent visit, I can see why the dining plan would be a good idea. Especially if you stay in a hotel. Or have a lot of hungry kids. It wouldn’t have made sense for us this visit, but it is no longer something I will write-off as a waste of money.
I realize this is a long post. Just wanted to include everything I noticed on our trip. And, I would like to send out a thank you to everyone who does consistently post on the disboards.
I probably won’t be saying anything that frequent/recent Disney goers don’t know, but I thought there might be folks reading who are like our family and haven’t been to Disney in a while.
My first stop- some background-our family used to visit Disney quite a bit. We stayed on-site at Disney hotels and loved going. Then, after our two oldest daughters left home, we discovered rv’ing, and although we continued to do Disney, we also traveled to other places. So, Disney…. not as much. Our last three Disney trips, counting this one, have been at Fort Wilderness. And, as a reference, three of us went on this trip. My DD/age 21, my DH/age 63, and me/age 57.
So, what was different/the same after being away from Disney for seven years?
Technology-Disney has started to edge into the age of technology. My experience setting up fastpasses was anything but stellar, so I wasn’t thinking I would fall in love with fastpasses at the parks, but I did. We still got to the parks a few minutes before each park opened, but that commando-style rider inside me was able to quiet itself a bit. Wonderful. A lesson I learned-unless you are talking about a BIG, think Seven Dwarves Mine Train, ride, don’t bother to make any fasspasses until an hour and a half or so after the parks open. All of the rides we did for the first hour or two were total walk-ons. I did feel that one item that Disney needs to work on would be setting up additional fastpass kiosks. These were few and far between, and the wait time at each one was fairly long.
One more technology item-really Disney, isn’t it time you had free internet available at the campsites without having campers set up those modems? Even one-star rated campgrounds have free-easy-to-use internet.
And, now that I think about it, one technology item that absolutely drove me insane-the laundry room at our comfort station. There was only one washing machine and two dryers that accepted coins. All other machines needed credit cards. Okay, my first and second laundry days went fine, but then, the credit card machine stopped accepting my credit card. Irony….this is the Disney credit card. I called Chase and was told that the credit card machine was not sending any hits to the credit card company. A machine issue. BUT, other people with different credit cards had no issues. I called guest relations. Five times in three days. No one could help. The fifth time I asked to speak to a supervisor, who said that this is an issue with some credit cards at some machines. He told me that I could buy a laundry card, which I did. No more problems.
And, my magic band did not always open the laundry mat door on the first try. Or the second. Sometimes not until the fourteenth or fifteenth try.
But, this was my biggest Disney issue, so, like Elsa, I Let It Go
Cleaniness-Fort Wilderness bathhouses were fantastic (my daughter used these every day), and I thought the parks were clean.
Our campsite was excellent, and the site still had the extra green hose, which I love. And, the grill was great to have, too.
Transportation-buses and boats always arrived in a timely fashion. Wonderful.
My husband and I brought our bikes. Did biking in the morning. Not too hot if done early enough. A fun way to see the campground.
One thing I learned that I did not know-we bought ten day tickets with no hopper option. On our last day at the parks, we visited Animal Kingdom. Got back to our camp site at about 4:00 pm, and thought it would be nice, if possible, to go to the Magic Kingdom the same night for an ice cream, mini kitchen sink dinner. J I called Guest Relations and asked if we could use our last ticket day to do another park on the same day that we did Animal Kingdom. I was told yes. We hopped on the boat, got to Magic Kingdom, and NOPE, we could not get into the park. I thought-total misunderstanding, of course the gatekeepers will let us in, once I explain that I had already called Guest Relations and been told yes. No. No, doesn’t matter what you were told. No, I do not care to make your last day a magical experience. No, no, no. The Guest Relations lady was one tough cookie. A lesson learned.
Something else I learned-one night at 5:30 pm I walked up to Trails End and asked to make a dinner reservation for 7:00 pm. I was told that any reservation less than two hours out, had to be made using My Disney Experience. I pulled out my phone and attempted to access the Disney app. But, the wifi was down, so the hostess penciled in my name. Very nice. And now I know.
One thing that amazed me-the vast amounts of alcohol sold at the parks. Now, I’m not a prohibition sort of person. We tossed back a few drinks ourselves. But, there were a heck of a lot more drink stands than fastpass kiosks. By far. .
Check out was fantastic. We ended up leaving a day early. I went to check out, and without even asking, was told that Disney would refund us for the day we didn’t use. Totally not expecting this. Nice, and thank you.
The dining plan-up until we got to Disney, I thought the dining plan was a total rip-off. Why would anyone buy it? But, after this recent visit, I can see why the dining plan would be a good idea. Especially if you stay in a hotel. Or have a lot of hungry kids. It wouldn’t have made sense for us this visit, but it is no longer something I will write-off as a waste of money.
I realize this is a long post. Just wanted to include everything I noticed on our trip. And, I would like to send out a thank you to everyone who does consistently post on the disboards.
We are getting ready, 80 days to check-in, to get back to the Fort. In your post you were told you could buy a laundry card, could you explain this and where you got it from? Thanks.
