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Post by applegrcoug on Feb 4, 2024 14:53:20 GMT -5
Well, we made it back early this morning from our trip to WDW, although our bags are still in Colorado someplace (I hope).
It started out several days before we were to leave with Alaska Air redoing flights over and over as I outlined in another thread.
Some general thoughts and reflections...For reference, our last trip was five years ago at this same time.
We stayed at Grand Floridian in a 1-bedroom which was a bit of a departure from the normal Bay Lake Tower 1-bed. When talking about pure quality of life, I'm not sure which one is better. The TV Murphy bed and the sofa Murphy bed at VGF are clearly a step up from the let's face it, sh!tty, Disney issue hide-a-beds. The trade off is what I feel is better transportation at BLT and that extra bathroom.
It really has gone up in price for everything. I feel like the mouse was always in my pocket. No TIW combined with five years of price hikes really just shocked me. That combined with Genie+ and the above mentioned AS situation made me get a little snappy at my family which put a damper on things.
I really don't like how Genie+ and individual lightning lanes are structured. Do I do it today? Do I not? If I do, I better use the absolute freagin heck out of it today and burn out my family...I dunno, just not a fan. I'm not sure how one is supposed to do Hollywood Studios these days except wait in long lines, or get a park hopper and rope drop HS every day for a ride and then move along.
We did ride all the new rides, Tron, GoG, both Star Wars and Runaway Rollercoaster. Everyone felt GoG was by far the best. Rise of the Resistance was ok I guess. The theming was cool, but I'm just not a fan of the rides based on automated pallet jacks.
I miss the citizens of Hollywood and the Grand Floridian Orchestra Society.
I did feel that the quality of the quick serve meals improved since last time.
Overall, not as magical...
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Post by johnb on Feb 4, 2024 15:59:14 GMT -5
Without them, DHS has no soul. It's a patchwork collection of rides.
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Post by Brian5581 on Feb 4, 2024 22:23:06 GMT -5
I will forever miss my orchestra.
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Post by Eeyorelover22 on Feb 5, 2024 7:03:42 GMT -5
Very honest post. The newbies don’t know what they are missing…
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Post by a1000monkeys on Feb 5, 2024 14:08:47 GMT -5
Agree with everything. ROTR lost its wow factor for us on the last trip. Also, lost interest in Oga's Cantina. The best part of the land are the character interactions.
Tron was ruined for us with the terrible stand by queue system.
I think DL is doing character interactions and street-mosphere a bit better than WDW.
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Post by baymaxfan on Feb 5, 2024 15:48:27 GMT -5
Agree with everything. ROTR lost its wow factor for us on the last trip. Also, lost interest in Oga's Cantina. The best part of the land are the character interactions. Tron was ruined for us with the terrible stand by queue system. I think DL is doing character interactions and street-mosphere a bit better than WDW. Two thoughts: 1. I really wished Disney took the opportunity to make a different Star Wars land at each location and use recognizable places - Endor, Tatooine, Hoth, lots of options really. I still like ROTR, but it is so much easier to get on at DL that I won't wait or deal with the rope drop rush at WDW. 2. Maybe DL has to do better because it relies a lot on repeat, local business. WDW relies on occasional trips and DVC (who essentially guarantee a repeated stream of business). |
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Post by disneyteach on Feb 6, 2024 6:09:15 GMT -5
Completely agree with your thoughts on Hollywood Studios. I would completely skip if my kids would let me. The lines are just too long to be enjoyable and none of them are worth the wait.
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Post by applegrcoug on Feb 6, 2024 9:27:04 GMT -5
I forgot my other observation of now vs five years ago...
Buses. They seem less frequent and more packed. Years ago, we stayed at one of the all stars. Buses there were always packed and not as often especially compared with the deluxes. I remember thinking to myself, man, those guys never have to get packed in like sardines. Now, it was frequent getting stuffed in. I remember one morning we were going to HS to try and get there for rope drop. The bus came from Poly and was packed. Bus driver told us we could stuff in or wait for the next bus in 20-30min.
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Post by Wiltony on Feb 6, 2024 16:25:20 GMT -5
I can't believe Disney doesn't harness more IP from the original Star Wars trilogy. I'm constantly seeing Rey and Kylo everywhere, but I think people would appreciate seeing more OG Leia, Luke, Han, C3PO, R2, etc. once in a while. (Though I do see Chewy frequently, however!)
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Post by baymaxfan on Feb 6, 2024 16:43:59 GMT -5
I forgot my other observation of now vs five years ago... Buses. They seem less frequent and more packed. Years ago, we stayed at one of the all stars. Buses there were always packed and not as often especially compared with the deluxes. I remember thinking to myself, man, those guys never have to get packed in like sardines. Now, it was frequent getting stuffed in. I remember one morning we were going to HS to try and get there for rope drop. The bus came from Poly and was packed. Bus driver told us we could stuff in or wait for the next bus in 20-30min. Maybe it's recall bias, but I feel the same. We've gone to renting a car and driving to the parks to avoid the buses. The first time I rented a car for WDW, I found it glorious and wondered why I never did it before. |
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Post by applegrcoug on Feb 6, 2024 19:27:40 GMT -5
I forgot my other observation of now vs five years ago... Buses. They seem less frequent and more packed. Years ago, we stayed at one of the all stars. Buses there were always packed and not as often especially compared with the deluxes. I remember thinking to myself, man, those guys never have to get packed in like sardines. Now, it was frequent getting stuffed in. I remember one morning we were going to HS to try and get there for rope drop. The bus came from Poly and was packed. Bus driver told us we could stuff in or wait for the next bus in 20-30min. Maybe it's recall bias, but I feel the same. We've gone to renting a car and driving to the parks to avoid the buses. The first time I rented a car for WDW, I found it glorious and wondered why I never did it before. That is interesting... Leaving MK on the extended evening I observed A LOT of people riding the monorail to the transportation center. Only one reason for deluxe guests to ride to there... |
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Post by helenabear on Feb 7, 2024 21:09:51 GMT -5
I know I am absolutely in the minority but I didn't actually enjoy citizen's of Hollywood. I also didn't enjoy a whole lot in DHS so there is that. But the orchestra, yes, miss it completely. I wish they could bring something like that back. Maybe it's recall bias, but I feel the same. We've gone to renting a car and driving to the parks to avoid the buses. The first time I rented a car for WDW, I found it glorious and wondered why I never did it before. That is interesting... Leaving MK on the extended evening I observed A LOT of people riding the monorail to the transportation center. Only one reason for deluxe guests to ride to there... To go to Epcot? To walk to Polynesian? Those are why I go to the TTC MK is the only park I try not to drive to tbh. I'd rather bus it though reality is, we're getting stuck in our ways and spending more and more time at the Polynesian (thank goodness for the new tower). This year is our first year not at any MK resort for at least one of our trips since pre-covid. I'm worried I'm going to miss it. Don't mind driving or getting Uber/Lyft to the parks. I did a lot of driving spring break this past year and enjoyed it. |
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Post by brp on Feb 8, 2024 21:50:57 GMT -5
I forgot my other observation of now vs five years ago... Buses. They seem less frequent and more packed. Years ago, we stayed at one of the all stars. Buses there were always packed and not as often especially compared with the deluxes. I remember thinking to myself, man, those guys never have to get packed in like sardines. Now, it was frequent getting stuffed in. I remember one morning we were going to HS to try and get there for rope drop. The bus came from Poly and was packed. Bus driver told us we could stuff in or wait for the next bus in 20-30min. Maybe it's recall bias, but I feel the same. We've gone to renting a car and driving to the parks to avoid the buses. The first time I rented a car for WDW, I found it glorious and wondered why I never did it before. We stay on the Boardwalk, so we walk to Epcot and DHS. We do prefer to drive to AK, but we bus to MK. If we go later in the day, we just monorail from Epcot. Cheers. |
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