Xela Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 10 minutes ago, Genie said: I’m currenlty in Florida doing the Disney parks with the kids. My wife and I visited about 14 years ago (pre-kids) and have been looking forward to bringing bringing the little ones (8&6). Its mental busy, really does suck the enjoyment of it all. We came in Spring Break last time but it’s far busier now (we were told it’s a great time to come as it’s quieter). Its absolutely heaving. Queue to get your bag checked, queue to get the monorail, queue to get into the park, queue to take a piss, queue to get some massively overpriced lunch then have nowhere to sit. Kids aren’t really feeling the love and I can’t blame them, standing in the baking 32 degree sun for 50 mins to spin around for 90 seconds on a ride isn’t really anybodies idea of fun. We spend a bomb on Disney park tickets and they are far happier playing in the hotel pool. I won’t be rushing back. I went as a kid and absolutely loved it. I always wondered what it would be like now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 12 minutes ago, Genie said: I’m currenlty in Florida doing the Disney parks with the kids. My wife and I visited about 14 years ago (pre-kids) and have been looking forward to bringing bringing the little ones (8&6). Its mental busy, really does suck the enjoyment of it all. We came in Spring Break last time but it’s far busier now (we were told it’s a great time to come as it’s quieter). Its absolutely heaving. Queue to get your bag checked, queue to get the monorail, queue to get into the park, queue to take a piss, queue to get some massively overpriced lunch then have nowhere to sit. Kids aren’t really feeling the love and I can’t blame them, standing in the baking 32 degree sun for 50 mins to spin around for 90 seconds on a ride isn’t really anybodies idea of fun. We spend a bomb on Disney park tickets and they are far happier playing in the hotel pool. I won’t be rushing back. It was a bit of a shithole when we last went and felt a bit out-of-date really. It's a shame that the magic isn't even there for the kids. Have you tried the water parks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 6 minutes ago, sharkyvilla said: It was a bit of a shithole when we last went and felt a bit out-of-date really. It's a shame that the magic isn't even there for the kids. Have you tried the water parks? Not yet, probably going to go to Blizzard Beach on Monday (the other one is closed for refurb so no doubt will be packed). Its so different from when we came last time. So much more expensive, and so much busier. Depending on what vehicle you come in parking is $25-$50 for the day (we are using Uber / Lyft). It all centres around the fast passes, without them you’re looking at 90-120 minute wait for the bigger rides. In the blazing heat that’s no joke. Even with a fast pass it’s 15/20 mins. You can only have 3 per day, and can book from 30 days before. If you’re staying in a Disney hotel you can have more and book 60 days before. What this means is that for most of the big rides they’ve already allocated all the fast passes before the 30 day window opens for people like us. Yesterday at Magic Kingdom both kids asked to go home as they’d had enough. We went to animal kingdom today for no more than 2 hours then came out again. We tried to stay for lunch but mega queues to order and nowhere to actually eat it. Nothing tomorrow. Looking at Epcot Sunday but we’ll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 21 minutes ago, Genie said: Not yet, probably going to go to Blizzard Beach on Monday (the other one is closed for refurb so no doubt will be packed). Its so different from when we came last time. So much more expensive, and so much busier. Depending on what vehicle you come in parking is $25-$50 for the day (we are using Uber / Lyft). It all centres around the fast passes, without them you’re looking at 90-120 minute wait for the bigger rides. In the blazing heat that’s no joke. Even with a fast pass it’s 15/20 mins. You can only have 3 per day, and can book from 30 days before. If you’re staying in a Disney hotel you can have more and book 60 days before. What this means is that for most of the big rides they’ve already allocated all the fast passes before the 30 day window opens for people like us. Yesterday at Magic Kingdom both kids asked to go home as they’d had enough. We went to animal kingdom today for no more than 2 hours then came out again. We tried to stay for lunch but mega queues to order and nowhere to actually eat it. Nothing tomorrow. Looking at Epcot Sunday but we’ll see. I'm surprised it's that hot this time of year. I remember the food being a joke, pretty much all you could get was burgers and as you say is way overpriced. Could you go a bit further afield for the day and try Busch Gardens? There's always crazy golf as well if you're really desperate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 58 minutes ago, Genie said: Not yet, probably going to go to Blizzard Beach on Monday (the other one is closed for refurb so no doubt will be packed). Its so different from when we came last time. So much more expensive, and so much busier. Depending on what vehicle you come in parking is $25-$50 for the day (we are using Uber / Lyft). It all centres around the fast passes, without them you’re looking at 90-120 minute wait for the bigger rides. In the blazing heat that’s no joke. Even with a fast pass it’s 15/20 mins. You can only have 3 per day, and can book from 30 days before. If you’re staying in a Disney hotel you can have more and book 60 days before. What this means is that for most of the big rides they’ve already allocated all the fast passes before the 30 day window opens for people like us. Yesterday at Magic Kingdom both kids asked to go home as they’d had enough. We went to animal kingdom today for no more than 2 hours then came out again. We tried to stay for lunch but mega queues to order and nowhere to actually eat it. Nothing tomorrow. Looking at Epcot Sunday but we’ll see. Just on the fast pass thing as I understand it once you've used your 3 fast passes you can then go an get other ones (just in case you weren't aware). On the dining you can pre-order food on the Disney App which is meant to be quicker although of course the food is still well expensive and you need some where to sit! It also shows the wait time for rides which we always find useful. We're going to Orlando for a 3 weeks in August so interesting to hear your experiences (pre-booked a couple of restaurants already!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Brumstopdogs said: Just on the fast pass thing as I understand it once you've used your 3 fast passes you can then go an get other ones (just in case you weren't aware). On the dining you can pre-order food on the Disney App which is meant to be quicker although of course the food is still well expensive and you need some where to sit! It also shows the wait time for rides which we always find useful. We're going to Orlando for a 3 weeks in August so interesting to hear your experiences (pre-booked a couple of restaurants already!) Hi mate, 3 weeks in August is gonna be a real test! Ordering on the app is fine but seating is a major issue (unless you eat outside of normal eating times I guess). We found getting fast passes to anything decent is hard so probably zero chance same day. Theres a kids roller coaster in Toy Story land (slinky), nothing special but it’s new. Couldn’t get a fast pass for it on any day even 30 days out. On the day it was 90 minute wait. For us it’s just sucked all the “magic” out of it. Kids got fed up of queueing on day 2 and would rather be in a pool or a park. I guess you have little ones? How old are they? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 1 hour ago, sharkyvilla said: I'm surprised it's that hot this time of year. I remember the food being a joke, pretty much all you could get was burgers and as you say is way overpriced. Could you go a bit further afield for the day and try Busch Gardens? There's always crazy golf as well if you're really desperate. I am usually pretty good with the heat but a combination of it being over 30 degrees, surrounded by lots of people and queues is taking its toll on us all. Busch Gardens is great, we went last time (and Seaworld). Can’t fit it in this time though sadly. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t bother with Disney and get the Univeral / Busch Gardens / Seaworld parks instead. Not sure how they’ve faired since we went last time but knowing what I know about Disney I’d take the chance. Food wise, it’s north of $10 for a burger or nuggets and fries, and you’ll probably have to eat them sitting on a wall. Bought the kids ice lolly’s today, strawberry ice lolly’s, bog standard about 80p off the ice cream man.... $5.25 each. 500ml bottle of Coke is $4.50. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 1 hour ago, sharkyvilla said: I'm surprised it's that hot this time of year. I remember the food being a joke, pretty much all you could get was burgers and as you say is way overpriced. Could you go a bit further afield for the day and try Busch Gardens? There's always crazy golf as well if you're really desperate. I am usually pretty good with the heat but a combination of it being over 30 degrees, surrounded by lots of people and queues is taking its toll on us all. Busch Gardens is great, we went last time (and Seaworld). Can’t fit it in this time though sadly. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t bother with Disney and get the Univeral / Busch Gardens / Seaworld parks instead. Not sure how they’ve faired since we went last time but knowing what I know about Disney I’d take the chance. Food wise, it’s north of $10 for a burger or nuggets and fries, and you’ll probably have to eat them sitting on a wall. Bought the kids ice lolly’s today, strawberry ice lolly’s, bog standard about 80p off the ice cream man.... $5.25 each. 500ml bottle of Coke is $4.50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted February 23, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 23, 2019 I did my best to avoid Disneyland over the years. Went once as a kid and that was enough for me. I'm in California, so have never been to Disney World but assume the issues there are similar. Had to go 13 years ago for a family reunion with our 2 year-old and it was 40 degrees and still the lines for all the good rides were long . This was before the introduction of the fast passes and it was absolutely miserable. I managed to avoid going back for over 10 years and even canceled out on going with my brother and his kids when they were out for a visit because again the temperature was 40 on the day we were going to go (they were able to go without us a few days later). I finally had to go again last year with my daughter, as my son had gotten to go with his middle school band for a musical clinic/concert and she was feeling cheated. We went with my stepsister and her kids and actually had a very nice time. A lot of it was just the stars lining up properly. Her daughter is the same age as mine and they get along great and agreed on what rides they wanted to go on. We let lines and fast pass availability times determine where we went next and everyone was happy to go with the flow. It's so much easier when nobody has strong opinions about what to do next. It was the first week of summer vacation for my kid, but the LA locals were still in school, as were probably a lot of kids across the country, so the crowds were not yet at normal summer levels. My daughter had a great time and was so appreciative of getting to go, so all in all a pleasant experience. Still, I would be perfectly content if I never set foot in a Disney resort again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 1 hour ago, sharkyvilla said: I'm surprised it's that hot this time of year. I remember the food being a joke, pretty much all you could get was burgers and as you say is way overpriced. Could you go a bit further afield for the day and try Busch Gardens? There's always crazy golf as well if you're really desperate. I am usually pretty good with the heat but a combination of it being over 30 degrees, surrounded by lots of people and queues is taking its toll on us all. Busch Gardens is great, we went last time (and Seaworld). Can’t fit it in this time though sadly. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t bother with Disney and get the Univeral / Busch Gardens / Seaworld parks instead. Not sure how they’ve faired since we went last time but knowing what I know about Disney I’d take the chance. Food wise, it’s north of $10 for a burger or nuggets and fries, and you’ll probably have to eat them sitting on a wall. Bought the kids ice lolly’s today, strawberry ice lolly’s, bog standard about 80p off the ice cream man.... $5.25 each. 500ml bottle of Coke is $4.50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
il_serpente Posted February 23, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 23, 2019 (edited) 1 minute ago, Genie said: I am usually pretty good with the heat but a combination of it being over 30 degrees, surrounded by lots of people and queues is taking its toll on us all. Busch Gardens is great, we went last time (and Seaworld). Can’t fit it in this time though sadly. If I could go back in time I wouldn’t bother with Disney and get the Univeral / Busch Gardens / Seaworld parks instead. Not sure how they’ve faired since we went last time but knowing what I know about Disney I’d take the chance. Food wise, it’s north of $10 for a burger or nuggets and fries, and you’ll probably have to eat them sitting on a wall. Bought the kids ice lolly’s today, strawberry ice lolly’s, bog standard about 80p off the ice cream man.... $5.25 each. 500ml bottle of Coke is $4.50. The heat seems to be getting to you, mate. You're repeating yourself. Edited February 23, 2019 by il_serpente Blasted page break!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, il_serpente said: The heat seems to be getting to you, mate. You're repeating yourself. Haha that’s another for this thread, the iPhone double posts, seems to be happening to me a lot recently. If I close my phone then open it later it reposts my message for some reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumstopdogs Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 8 hours ago, Genie said: Hi mate, 3 weeks in August is gonna be a real test! Ordering on the app is fine but seating is a major issue (unless you eat outside of normal eating times I guess). We found getting fast passes to anything decent is hard so probably zero chance same day. Theres a kids roller coaster in Toy Story land (slinky), nothing special but it’s new. Couldn’t get a fast pass for it on any day even 30 days out. On the day it was 90 minute wait. For us it’s just sucked all the “magic” out of it. Kids got fed up of queueing on day 2 and would rather be in a pool or a park. I guess you have little ones? How old are they? We went to Orlando in August a few years back and saw the heat/busyness then. Although really difficult at first after a few days we got more used to it as I remember. On the fast passes yeah getting the decent ones same day it won't help but I recall getting extra fast passes to some of the mid range rides which at least reduced queuing times - but that was based on a few years ago. Heard about the new Toy Story ride and the queues. Our tactic will be either getting a fast pass (although sounds unlikely!) or getting their first thing. Probably won't be the only one trying that though. Our kids are slightly older than yours. On the food last time we ate breakfast at the hotel, took snacks and drinks with us to the parks and only really paid (food wise) for a big lunch and maybe an ice-cream during the day. Again in the evening we'd probably just eat back at our hotel because as you say food wise it is ridiculously expensive. Got the parking cost to factor in this time too! Have you only been to the 2 parks this time then? (We've got the Disney/Universal/Seaworld/Busch Gardens ticket so going to try and do the lot when we go but will be knackering!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 When my kids were 'that age' we drove down to Euro Disney and stayed in the cheapest Disney hotel. Used tesco points to get a car train crossing thing. Used company card for petrol. Staying on site, looked on scornfully at the first breakfast at all the plebs scooping breakfast pastries in to bags to eat for the rest of the day. Day 2, we arrived at breakfast prepared with a discreet snack rucksack! Staying on site gave us an hour or two before the gates opened, so stuff that was obviously popular got done a couple of times before the crowds arrived. I'm sure that info is a great help. We did it once, so the kids couldn't say they'd missed out due to a grumpy dad. But it was so obviously a money making machine I felt dirty the whole time I was there. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted February 23, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted February 23, 2019 I’ve only been to Disney once (Orlando) and we got so lucky. It was right after Florida had some reallly bad hurricanes. In fact our flight into orlando was the first flight let into Orlando airport after the storms. As a result the place was deserted. The longest we queued for a ride in the 2 weeks we were there was 45 minutes, and that’s only because it broke down while we were in the queue. There’s no way I’d ever brave anything like that when it’s busy. Kids or no kids. Hope the experience gets a bit better @Genie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 I’m probably painting it worse than it actually is. We’re having great family time. Its just that Disney create this perception of this magical wonderful place, and it’s nothing close really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davkaus Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 The stupid, out of touch old men that have made it close to impossible to enjoy the sport they're meant to promote, if you can't make it to the game. Someone in China or India can watch every single game for pence per month, but here in England you can pay out the arse for a subscription to a small number of games that might show the team you want to see once or twice, if you're lucky. What a bunch of arseholes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 4 minutes ago, Davkaus said: The stupid, out of touch old men that have made it close to impossible to enjoy the sport they're meant to promote, if you can't make it to the game. Someone in China or India can watch every single game for pence per month, but here in England you can pay out the arse for a subscription to a small number of games that might show the team you want to see once or twice, if you're lucky. What a bunch of arseholes. If you’re talking about Villa then they’re doing you a favour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 17 hours ago, Genie said: I’m currenlty in Florida doing the Disney parks with the kids. My wife and I visited about 14 years ago (pre-kids) and have been looking forward to bringing bringing the little ones (8&6). Its mental busy, really does suck the enjoyment of it all. We came in Spring Break last time but it’s far busier now (we were told it’s a great time to come as it’s quieter). Its absolutely heaving. Queue to get your bag checked, queue to get the monorail, queue to get into the park, queue to take a piss, queue to get some massively overpriced lunch then have nowhere to sit. Kids aren’t really feeling the love and I can’t blame them, standing in the baking 32 degree sun for 50 mins to spin around for 90 seconds on a ride isn’t really anybodies idea of fun. We spend a bomb on Disney park tickets and they are far happier playing in the hotel pool. I won’t be rushing back. We’ve been fortunate enough to go a few times (God bless you credit card providers) and it’s impossible to predict how busy it will be on any given day. Last time we went, we had a couple of days at Universal. The first day was insane, with 60min+ queues for most of the good stuff. Went back a couple of days later and we were literally walking straight on to every ride. It was totally bizarre. The food can be expensive, but the last time we went we had an absolute touch with the Disney dining plan. Paid £1350 for 5 nights accommodation (in a massive room at old key west) including the upgraded dining plan. I counted up the receipts at the end of it and we’d done £1100 worth of food/drink! Can’t wait to go back next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazzap24 Posted February 23, 2019 Share Posted February 23, 2019 Wasps! Two of the feckers have flown in my bedroom this afternoon, both the size of a light aircraft. It’s bloody February lads, give it a rest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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