Originally Posted By TDLFAN Just a quick observation about my visit to the MK today 12/30th.. I approached the park with caution... being the day before new year's eve and all that. Actually, only ended visiting there because my parents are visiting town and G-Fan wanted to catch the holiday entertainment before it was retired for this season. Against my better judgement, I went to the MK today. Guess what!! The MK exceeded my expectations today in grand fashion!! Much to my surprise, the park was very busy but NOT to the point of being TDL-horrible. Most wait times for attractions were do-able. Same for food service. The Pecos Bill and Harbour House Restaurants were surprisingly slow at usual rush hour times... noon and 6pm. The kids working there for the holiday season were doing a great job of moving the crowds. It was not even difficult finding a place to sit for a meal, or just resting. I was pleasantly surprised. While the MK was busy and cleanliness was not "disney quality" like I am used to seeing in Tokyo and Hong Kong, some other areas of the park were clean enough... but there was room for improvement there, or shall I say.. return to "standards"? However... my expectations were greatly exceeded in regards to the amount of entertainment available at the MK today.. Guests were treated to several showings of "Dream Along with Mickey" and "Twas the Night B4 Xmas" several times during the day, and then several showings of "Celebrate the Season" as night.. That was in addition to the "Cinderella's Xmas Wish" Illumination show at the castle. The Xmas Parade performed twice in the afternoon, while SpectroMagic had two showings in the evening. To top it off... "Xmas Wishes" played to a most enthusiastic response as well. To close the evening in grand fashion, we were treated to a preview midnight performance of the new year's eve spectacular version of "Fantasy in the Sky" and it was FABULOUS! (Eat your heart out TDL! The MK outdoes your puny pyro show) I *loved*loved*loved* the countdown pyro in the shape of numbers as the entire perimeter of the MK lit up in spectacular fashion reminicent of the Tencennial Celebration spectacular back in 1981. I was WOWED! The best part was the expeditious way we were able to exit the MK (while show showers came down over Main Street! ). The lines to board the monorails and the ferry boats seemed to be moving quite well...and we arrived at the TTC shortly thereafter... NO bottleneck mess to leave the MK and arrive at our car in the parking lot. Needless to say... the MK deserves major KUDOS today! Great job most everyone working the park today!
Originally Posted By TDLFAN One more thing... it was nice seeing Denise (nbodyhome) again and meeting CMDad as well.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Congrats on the great day!!! I know you call it as you see it, and am very pleased that you found it so good on this visit. Hope your visits in the future can be as good!
Originally Posted By mousermerf I swear sometimes you stalk me.. Anywho, I was there too! Tested my "is the self serve kiosk faster" theory at pecos bills and was pleasentl suprised that even with a minimal line it is faster. I saw someone wearing a Epcot 25 t-shirt, was it perhaps anyone from here? Also - did you see the line for the TTA? Around 9-10pm the TTA was using a small set of switchbacks while Laugh Floor and Stitch weren't even filling their shows. I hope someone sends the powers-that-be the counts for that period. Maybe their face in it and say "Bad imagineer! No! Bad!" Did you see the stages for DJ setup? Made me realize every single dj i've seen in the parks just plays a disney-approved playlist and adds some commentary. It's the same playlist Epcot had last year at the fountain stage at tomorrowland, and then in fantasyland there's just a 20min delay. Really kinda silly. Oo! I rode the double decker mainstreet vehicle thingy from the castle to town square. Got my classic vintage ride on. They brought them out after the NYE fireworks.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Sounds like a fantastic time. Maybe they are noticing the negativity on boards like these and are trying to do something about it!
Originally Posted By nbodyhome I saw someone wearing the 25th shirt too, probably the same guy you saw! It was nice meeting CM Dad and seeing TDLFan (who gave me a really nice book, which I wasn't expecting). I actually ended up leaving early and not seeing the late fireworks. It had been a long day, and it was getting more crowded (and I wasn't with anyone, and really bored). I never get bored at Epcot, but it was just too busy at the MK to take photos. I thought about going to Epcot for a bit, which I should have done. Glad everyone else enjoyed them, though! I arrived home around the time the fireworks started.
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 Always good to see a real positive report from TDLFAN, it makes the negative ones more believable for me.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN >>I actually ended up leaving early and not seeing the late fireworks. It had been a long day, and it was getting more crowded (and I wasn't with anyone, and really bored).<< Oh that's too bad Denise. I honestly didn't think I was going to be there past 9pm since my parents do get tired easily but much to my surprise.. they held up until midnight and TDLMOM commented on how much fun she had watching the fireworks. If I had known you were by yourself and bored I would have invited you to join G-Fan, the parents and I for the evening. So sorry!
Originally Posted By bayrr326 I was there too with my girlfriend. We didn't get there until around 8. I was surprised as we arrived at the resort and there was no traffic and I saw the MK parking lot and it was no where near full. I did my usual zig zag around the cones and parked near the front. We walked right up Main Street got a spot in the middle of the hub and watched Holiday Wishes. This show really doesn't lose anything without the perimeters. We hung around and watched the Celebrate the Season show since we missed it at the MVMCP party we went to. We rode a few rides and was surprised at how short the wait was. I have been on other nights were it seemed busier. We then got a spot once again right at the end of main street at the hub 15 minutes before Fantasy in The Sky. All I got to say about the show is wow. Yes, it is not the most synchronized show but they make it up in the sheer number of huge fireworks. The countdown was awesome. That was so cool using fireworks to spell out the numbers. All the perimeters going off with all kinds of different fireworks was so cool. And the finale was just jaw dropping. There are alot of things that I don't like about the current state of MK but they know how to put on an amazing fireworks show. Kudos to Brad Cicotti for designing another amazing show. This show along with Magic, Music and Mayhem are 2 of the best fireworks shows I have ever seen. The most shocking thing was getting out of the park was so easy. We walked down main street with the rest of the crowd after the fireworks, exited, walked up the monorail ramp and we only had to wait one train. I don't know if it was because the resort guests had EMH but we were leaving the parking lot at 12:30. My only negative was that the Q's of the few attractions we went on were just full of trash. They looked like no one had bothered to sweep them all day. Same thing for MILF's and Philharmagics theaters. However, the streets were pretty clean. They had alot of people out sweeping. I saw alot of managers, maintanence and behind the scenes people out sweeping. That and they did a good job with crowd control. They had cast members on all the bridges around the hub and on main street seperating the crowd to create a two way traffic flow. I am guessing that attendance this week is down from last year. Since I have not heard of any closings and after seeing the crowds last night. Well, we had a blast and we will be hitting Epcot tonight.
Originally Posted By nbodyhome TDL Fan - I wouldn't have wanted to intrude. What I should have done was to head over to Epcot for 4 hours or so, and then back to the MK. I never get bored at Epcot, though I might still have been tired. I'm glad you were able to stick it out until midnight!
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORWEN: Oh! Excuse me, but isn't this supposed to be a topic about Fabby--formerly known as the Fabulous Disney Babe--going to a Disney theme park of her choice? I mean, that's what the title of the thread seemd to imply. So, you mean to say, you didn't actually spend any time with Fabby, TDLFAN???
Originally Posted By figment1986 Great Report TDLFan, the fireworks looks spectacular on youtube... but must be brilliant in person! << Oo! I rode the double decker main street vehicle thingy from the castle to town square. Got my classic vintage ride on. They brought them out after the NYE fireworks. >> You mean the Omnibus?
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Glad to readthis report because I know there are no rose colored glasses involved here and earlier today we ( the fam ) had a discussion and the decision is to go to WDW for the holidays 12/22 - 1/3... something I've never done. The potential crowds concern me but the last few trips have been mid summer - so although worse - it won't be 100 degrees --likely a decent trrade off. So looking to gather information like included here on the 'extras' at that time of year. I will renew my AP in August and although DVC points are dear at that time of year - I now believe I am looking forward to it.
Originally Posted By demderedoseguys Add me to the list for next holiday season. Usually we visit in March and July-for my wife's B-day and in early November for our anniversary. We've decided to do the holiday trip this/next year instead of the anniversary trip. Can't wait. I start missing Disney around this time of year ( actually I miss it after 2 months no matter when I go, but more so when winter in the NE starts), so next Christmas ,it's WDW for us. Thanks for the review TDLFAN. Happy New Year, everyone!!!
Originally Posted By mickeyboy43 Great review TDLFAN. I wis i could just "up and go" to WDW all the time. But im stuck 10 hrs away in Alabama. Fooey.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for the report. And to see a true celebrity like Denise ... that's like the proverbial cherry on the sundae! One question, what were the crowds/waits like ... it seems by the way you were able to get out so quickly that they weren't that bad?
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Oh, we should also note that all the entertainment you saw was really just for Christmas week. I believe almost everything, from the stages shows to the Christmas Parade to Holiday Wishes all ended with 2007 unlike at DL where the holiday entertainment all goes through Sunday and Small World Holiday even goes another 2-3 weeks after. But I'm very glad that you, as a local, were able to enjoy the offerings. I just can't justify paying what it costs to be there Christmas week.
