Yesterday I got back from a WDW trip that was quite overdue, considering the last time I visited the resort was during a High School Band Trip in Spring Break of...2005. An the last time I stayed on property was 2003!
So this was a return that was a long time coming, and while I can be quite critical and cynical at the house of mouse for questionable choices and additions to the parks, last year a 1st time visit to Disneyland proved the magic is still there. So admittedly, I was intrigued to see if WDW still has it, especially since a lot of criticisms and whatnot were directed at WDW.
I can tell you right now some issues still ring true, and to rip the band-aid off the issues that still hold are..
- WDW was resting on their laurels for quite some time, where part of that was due to...
- MDX/FP+ being a really expensive project which didn't turn out as expected due to being put out way too early, leading to parks not really getting much additions for a long while. That leads to...
- The current state of Epcot. Even with Ratatouille, GotG: Cosmic Rewind and the Play! Pavilion on the way, there's still a lot of work to be done. Though right now with none of those attractions open, the park is still in a state which didn't justify me spending a whole day there, so I didn't visit that park this trip.
Now with that out of the way, onto the much nicer flipside. When it comes to the Magicbands, there's various aspects which I do like from them. I like having the room key and park tickets on them, and I do like how the onride photos and whatnot are automatically uploaded to your account via them.
For general park ops, the security and gate process is an absolute breeze now. Love the new security gates which forgo the usual bag checks, and just tapping the magicband to the sensor is way faster than anything else. Disney has usually been really good at the gate process, and this is just even faster!
As for mask compliance, out of all the places I've been to this year, WDW did have the best mask compliance out of all the parks. The CM's were also eagle eyed and made sure everything was being followed.
For ride ops, they were probably the smoothest I've seen it. Could've been due to the mix of low crowds and no Fastpass, but I sure as heck wasn't complaining!
Now with that lil intro out of the way, time for the trip proper, starting with a new hotel for me and some rather pleasant surprises (and one downright shocker) in Hollywood Studios.
Day 1: A Whole New World where the sky's the limit, and Hello Hollywood!
Pulling a page from my Universal trip earlier, I arrived in Orlando nice and late to give me plenty of time to head to the hotel and get some rest beforehand. So I took advantage of Magical Express since I was in no rush to get there, and it's complimentary. I wasn't on the official bus, but in one of the smaller Mears shuttles with one group that was heading to Pop Century. As for me, I was staying at a place I've never been to before, Art of Animation!
This was my first foray into staying at a hotel other than Wilderness Lodge (Which I've stayed at in 2001 & 2003), and I have to say AoA is a really nice hotel! Being a fan of animation, this hotel had a lot of really nice little touches. The lobby alone is a treat with all the concept art on the walls and up on the main chandelier, and I felt each section was done up nicely. While the Lion King suites would've been well up my alley, those would be money better spent when I'm with family and friends, so I was over in the Little Mermaid section. While it's the furthest out of all the buildings, the walk is nowhere near as long as I thought it would be, it's actually fairly quick for me. I also was fine with that area having outdoor entry to the rooms since it would prove to come in handy in checking the temp/weather, especially for the next day.
While the first day is Hollywood Studios, I actually took a more relaxed approach and didn't start the day until the afternoon, this is due to me having a particular lunch reservation in Disney Springs which I didn't want to miss. So it was off to the bus station where I got to see first-hand how the buses were being handled. I can happily report they were being handled incredibly well at AoA, since the buses were coming in fleets of 3-4 for each park, followed by a extra bus or two right afterwards. An it didn't take long to get on mine.
Disney Springs
With the exception of a couple stores, this place is completely unrecognizable compared to it's Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island days! The whole area looks really nice, and I've never seen the area so populated compared to my times previously here, to be honest it was really nice to see it that way. The only place that was a lil bare was the West End, but it's understandable since Cirque Du Soleil isn't performing yet, Jaelo is only open on the weekends, Beatrix is under construction and the NBA Experience is...well it does have the wonderful lil Haunted Mansion inspired Christmas tree outside it! Now then, time for the reason I was down here for lunch...
Homecomin'
So out of the bajillion new restaurants which have opened since I was last at the resort, this was one that had a -lot- of hype behind it. It sounded great, it looks great...it was also pretty hard getting a reservation since even at the 60-Day mark there were 0 available dinner reservations. Lunch was the only thing available and I had to end up changing my trip plans to squeeze it in. So was it all worth it? HECK. YES.
I had the thigh high chicken biscuits, a side of mac and I finished it off with the Shine cake. All of it was really good, and I can see why this place can be packed with reservations. I can also see how easy it can be to go into a food coma in here, thankfully I avoided that...but man is it tempting! All in all, this was a fantastic way to start the trip! After lunch, it was back to the hotel to head off to Hollywood Studios in a brand new way.
The Disney Skyliner
I won't lie, when Disney first announced this I was in the boat of skeptics. I didn't think a gondola system was the brightest of ideas in Florida weather, nor was it gonna' be quick etc. So welp, I ate a big honkin' plate of crow on this one! It's honestly a great addition to the resort, and it's way faster and more convenient than I thought it was gonna' be. It's a huge get for the hotels it does service, especially AoA and Pop Century since those hotels are already pretty close to AK, DS and the water parks, so having real quick access to HS and Epcot is a huge boon. It's a real quick and easy trip to Hollywood Studios, and the Skyliner was gonna' come in handy at the end of my trip as well. (More on that, later.)
An as I glide over to Hollywood Studios, it's off to the next part detailing that 1st day!
So this was a return that was a long time coming, and while I can be quite critical and cynical at the house of mouse for questionable choices and additions to the parks, last year a 1st time visit to Disneyland proved the magic is still there. So admittedly, I was intrigued to see if WDW still has it, especially since a lot of criticisms and whatnot were directed at WDW.
I can tell you right now some issues still ring true, and to rip the band-aid off the issues that still hold are..
- WDW was resting on their laurels for quite some time, where part of that was due to...
- MDX/FP+ being a really expensive project which didn't turn out as expected due to being put out way too early, leading to parks not really getting much additions for a long while. That leads to...
- The current state of Epcot. Even with Ratatouille, GotG: Cosmic Rewind and the Play! Pavilion on the way, there's still a lot of work to be done. Though right now with none of those attractions open, the park is still in a state which didn't justify me spending a whole day there, so I didn't visit that park this trip.
Now with that out of the way, onto the much nicer flipside. When it comes to the Magicbands, there's various aspects which I do like from them. I like having the room key and park tickets on them, and I do like how the onride photos and whatnot are automatically uploaded to your account via them.
For general park ops, the security and gate process is an absolute breeze now. Love the new security gates which forgo the usual bag checks, and just tapping the magicband to the sensor is way faster than anything else. Disney has usually been really good at the gate process, and this is just even faster!
As for mask compliance, out of all the places I've been to this year, WDW did have the best mask compliance out of all the parks. The CM's were also eagle eyed and made sure everything was being followed.
For ride ops, they were probably the smoothest I've seen it. Could've been due to the mix of low crowds and no Fastpass, but I sure as heck wasn't complaining!
Now with that lil intro out of the way, time for the trip proper, starting with a new hotel for me and some rather pleasant surprises (and one downright shocker) in Hollywood Studios.
Day 1: A Whole New World where the sky's the limit, and Hello Hollywood!
Pulling a page from my Universal trip earlier, I arrived in Orlando nice and late to give me plenty of time to head to the hotel and get some rest beforehand. So I took advantage of Magical Express since I was in no rush to get there, and it's complimentary. I wasn't on the official bus, but in one of the smaller Mears shuttles with one group that was heading to Pop Century. As for me, I was staying at a place I've never been to before, Art of Animation!
This was my first foray into staying at a hotel other than Wilderness Lodge (Which I've stayed at in 2001 & 2003), and I have to say AoA is a really nice hotel! Being a fan of animation, this hotel had a lot of really nice little touches. The lobby alone is a treat with all the concept art on the walls and up on the main chandelier, and I felt each section was done up nicely. While the Lion King suites would've been well up my alley, those would be money better spent when I'm with family and friends, so I was over in the Little Mermaid section. While it's the furthest out of all the buildings, the walk is nowhere near as long as I thought it would be, it's actually fairly quick for me. I also was fine with that area having outdoor entry to the rooms since it would prove to come in handy in checking the temp/weather, especially for the next day.
While the first day is Hollywood Studios, I actually took a more relaxed approach and didn't start the day until the afternoon, this is due to me having a particular lunch reservation in Disney Springs which I didn't want to miss. So it was off to the bus station where I got to see first-hand how the buses were being handled. I can happily report they were being handled incredibly well at AoA, since the buses were coming in fleets of 3-4 for each park, followed by a extra bus or two right afterwards. An it didn't take long to get on mine.
Disney Springs
With the exception of a couple stores, this place is completely unrecognizable compared to it's Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island days! The whole area looks really nice, and I've never seen the area so populated compared to my times previously here, to be honest it was really nice to see it that way. The only place that was a lil bare was the West End, but it's understandable since Cirque Du Soleil isn't performing yet, Jaelo is only open on the weekends, Beatrix is under construction and the NBA Experience is...well it does have the wonderful lil Haunted Mansion inspired Christmas tree outside it! Now then, time for the reason I was down here for lunch...
Homecomin'
So out of the bajillion new restaurants which have opened since I was last at the resort, this was one that had a -lot- of hype behind it. It sounded great, it looks great...it was also pretty hard getting a reservation since even at the 60-Day mark there were 0 available dinner reservations. Lunch was the only thing available and I had to end up changing my trip plans to squeeze it in. So was it all worth it? HECK. YES.
I had the thigh high chicken biscuits, a side of mac and I finished it off with the Shine cake. All of it was really good, and I can see why this place can be packed with reservations. I can also see how easy it can be to go into a food coma in here, thankfully I avoided that...but man is it tempting! All in all, this was a fantastic way to start the trip! After lunch, it was back to the hotel to head off to Hollywood Studios in a brand new way.
The Disney Skyliner
I won't lie, when Disney first announced this I was in the boat of skeptics. I didn't think a gondola system was the brightest of ideas in Florida weather, nor was it gonna' be quick etc. So welp, I ate a big honkin' plate of crow on this one! It's honestly a great addition to the resort, and it's way faster and more convenient than I thought it was gonna' be. It's a huge get for the hotels it does service, especially AoA and Pop Century since those hotels are already pretty close to AK, DS and the water parks, so having real quick access to HS and Epcot is a huge boon. It's a real quick and easy trip to Hollywood Studios, and the Skyliner was gonna' come in handy at the end of my trip as well. (More on that, later.)
An as I glide over to Hollywood Studios, it's off to the next part detailing that 1st day!