After our Walt Disney World trip in spring, we were pretty bummed. You know what it’s like — you look forward to something for so long and then BOOM – all over. As a result, we decided to embrace our DINK status and plan a trip for November, when NJ schools are closed for the yearly teacher’s convention. The time frame overlapped both the last days of the Food and Wine festival in Epcot, and the beginning of the holiday season.
Can you handle this beauty?
Since our trip began on November 5, we had to choose our FastPasses (and therefore choose what park we were visiting on what day) waaaaaaaay back on September 6. And as somebody who can barely figure out a weekly menu on Sundays, having to guess what I want to do 2 months ahead is really hard.
We stuck with maybe 25% of the plans we made. On paper, it wasn’t a great trip. We rode not one ride in Epcot. We didn’t go to Animal Kingdom again. There was only one day where we ended up using all of our FastPasses. In practice, this was one of the best trips. I think our laid back & plan-scrapping attitude had a lot to do with it.
I feel badly for the families with kids who don’t have the flexibility and number of trips under their belts that we do. For example, on Saturday night we were supposed to go to Epcot, eat at the Food and Wine Festival, and see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform. But we were beat, it was drizzling, and we didn’t want to deal with the crowds and buses. Instead, we took the boat from Port Orleans French Quarter to Downtown Disney and just meandered. It turned out great. But what if I had kids and one felt crappy but it was our only chance to ride Soaring on the trip? Hey, Disney…vacations shouldn’t be so strictly scheduled!
Port Orleans French Quarter continues to be intimate and charming. The bed was comfortable and the room smelled fantastic. The weather was so mild at the beginning of the trip that we even got to hit the pool!
This time we took advantage of online resort check-in. I checked in 2 weeks in advance and let the hotel know we would be arriving around 10 am. (One of us booked very early airline tickets.) Even with that, we still were at the front desk for the same amount of time as when we checked in normally. Actual check-in is at 3, so I knew the room likely wouldn’t be ready when we arrived. But we weren’t even given a room number. They asked if we were headed to the parks or if we would be waiting around the resort. We said we’d be heading to the parks , and the text message with our room number arrived at 2:00pm. I wonder if we would have had our room assignment earlier if we said we’d wait.
I don’t see a benefit to checking in early. There is no time savings, and less guest service. Disney can fix this so easily though! Just tell me what room number I’m going to have even if it’s not ready. Tell me where it is, give me the resort map with the room circled on it and then text me when its ready.
Friday night, we ponied up for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. It was magical. Expensive but magical. There was a special parade, there was snow on Main Street, and there were stations where we received free cookies and cocoa. The Jungle Cruise was converted into the Jingle Cruise, with all of the bad jokes, PLUS really cool 1940s-era Christmas decor!
There is a show where the cast of Frozen (of course) shows up to light up the castle. Anna, Kristoff, and Olaf (Two out of three of them were not very … smart…) convince Queen Elsa to ice up the castle. Elsa had reservations because it wasn’t her kingdom and she wanted permission before changing the castle. Which is really not a “Let it Go!” attitude. After being convinced, Elsa channels Stevie Nicks for about three minutes while the castle lights.
Speaking of Frozen, I saw far more little Annas than little Elsas, which surprised me. A portion of Studios was converted into Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post. They had an area where kids could play with actual snow! We didn’t do that, but I did partake of a grownup drink while we watched.
I had many magical moments this trip, but there were two that stuck out and they were both on our last morning. On our last day, we always go to the Magic Kingdom for opening and power through as much as we can. You can get a LOT done in the first two hours of the day. I’m glad FP+ hasn’t ruined that yet.
I finally got to experience Enchanted Tales with Belle. I hadn’t seen it before this trip because the wait time was always very long and I felt weird waiting over an hour for something directly aimed at kids without having a kid of my own in tow. It’s part of my own Disney honor code — if I’m taking a spot someplace where a kid definitely should be, then I won’t go. It’s why I don’t camp out parade spots or eat in the castle. The posted standby wait time was 30 minutes but we waited fewer than ten. It’s an interactive show with kids playing most of the parts. But you get to visit Maurice’s cottage, see Lumiere, and watch Belle. Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney flicks so this hit me right in the sweet spot.
My second magical moment: I met the Fairy Godmother. I don’t see her in the Magic Kingdom other than tethered to the top of a parade float, so this was big. One of my fantasy retirement jobs is being the Fairy Godmother at Walt Disney World. We waited ten minutes to have our picture taken with her. She said “Hello, Princess” and I MAY have had a lump in my throat. I’m such a softie.
We rode the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, which opened after our last trip. It is the smoothest coaster I’ve been on since Everest. It was also extremely short and if I waited 80 minutes for it I’d have been irritated. I thought it would tell a story like Splash Mountain, but there is no story. There is also no thrill, because the ride isn’t very fast. Instead, it felt like every time the train would get going, there was a hill or braking. So while I didn’t dislike it, I wouldn’t wait more than 20 standby minutes for it. I probably won’t burn a FP on it again, either.
My obligatory FastPass+ gripe begins here
The system continues to be a mess. Disney should record bus conversations. If they did, they would have heard a group of moms talk about exchanging their Park Hopper passes for One-Day/One-Park passes once they learned the FastPasses were limited to only 3 in one park per day. Sure, you can go to a kiosk once you get to park two, but if you get there in late afternoon, all of the extra fast passes are gone.
I think the system pisses me off because the attraction groupings force me to make dumb Disney decisions that I would never make on my own in order to see the one attraction I do want. Example: Even with planning 2 months out, Sunday (the last day!) was the only day I could get a FP+ for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. We had to leave at 2:15 to get back to POFQ for the Magical Express back to the airport. In order to get a ride time that worked for us, I had to select a FP+ for Pirates of the Caribbean at 9:10, which was 10 minutes after opening. I’m a WDW veteran. I would never ever voluntarily choose a 9:10 FP+ for Pirates because I know the line would be short anyway! But we was stuck and felt like a real idiot as we walked past a completely empty standby and scanned our bracelets in. And then we immediately rode again because the standby line was STILL empty.
To my dismay, I am starting to believe that Disney fudges their stand by times. On Sunday morning, the standby line at Peter Pan said 20 minutes but we walked on in 5. (And then we rode it immediately again, with just another 5 minute wait.) Small World said 10 minutes standby and we walked right on. The My Disney Experience phone app said that Jungle Cruise had a 20 minute wait. When we made it to Adventureland, the standby sign said 45 minutes and the cast member said 35 minutes. Not knowing what time to believe, we walked away. Pirates of the Caribbean said 20 minutes but it was also a walk on. The WDW attraction wait times used to be spot on, to the minute. Maybe it’s the new electronic system lagging. Maybe they are padding standby times to make worthless fast passes seem worthwhile. But on both this trip and the April, there has been a disconnect. I hope it’s worked out.
End of FastPass+ gripe
We ate well. We snagged a same-day lunch reservation at Le Cellier on our first day. We booked it while on the Magical Express bus, which is a big win for the My Disney Experience app. It was a 3pm reservation, so it wasn’t quite lunch or dinner, but it was fantastic. We did the ‘Ohana character breakfast again, too. It was a carbon-copy experience of April. WM gets his Aloha Mickey fix, I get my Polynesian fix, and we all win. I had a hot dog at Caseys, something I always want to do but never have a chance to because we’re never in the right spot at the right time. And, of course, the Food and Wine Festival impressed.
I had a lot of worries going into this trip. I worried about weather. I worried about Max at the kennel. I worried that the kennel would burn down while we were away (okay, this is every trip). I worried about our apartment being broken into. I worried about leaving the new car in the airport lot. I worried about money. And weirdly, I worried that we would have to cancel the trip for some reason. Thankfully, none of my worries came to fruition. The worst that happened is that I lost my prescription sunglasses somewhere on Star Tours. But even that’s not the end of the world. They were scratched up and never fit me correctly to begin with.
The crowds were light and the weather was fantastic. It was supposed to rain the last two days, but instead it rained Saturday night into Sunday morning. It was supposed to get cold, but it never became unbearable. The most I wore was a fleece jacket.
I don’t know when we’ll be back next, because after the holidays we’re going to look for a little house and I know from experience that houses are money pits. So I’m glad this trip was so fantastic.
We used a 3rd party app (TripAdvisor??) to advise for wait times and found it WAY more accurate than the posted signs.
“Touring Plans” is the app.
And padding the wait times makes COMPLETE sense for them, for 2 reasons. One, a long wait time will encourage people to seek out something with a shorter line and help to even the waits out. And two, it gives people a sense of “oh, that wasn’t so bad” compared to what they were expecting when they get to the front.
I never do the fast pass – I don’t want to time my day around anything. Our trip coming up is going to be laid back – no reservations, no fast passes, whatever goes goes.
I haven’t been to Disney in something like 7 years so I’m sure a lot has changed. But we got married in November and honeymooned at Disney, it was probably one of the best trips we’ve had to Disney. It wasn’t too crowded, it wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too cold. November’s definitely a great time to go to Florida. I’m glad you had a good time. Good luck house hunting in the new year!