Originally Posted By RoadTrip Our longest trips to WDW have been ten days, and on day ten I am definitely ready to go home. For me it was not so much disappointment in anything; just a case of how many times can you walk through the same parks. This year we are going for twelve days, but a couple of those days will be occupied by our daughter’s wedding. I figure Epcot is always good for three days. The Animal and Magic Kingdoms are each good for two days. The Studios is good for one day. That totals eight days. Days nine and ten we kind of looked at each other and asked "well, what do you want to do now?" Downtown Disney always used to be good for a day but now is hardly worth more than two hours. We go to the Art of Disney and the Christmas store and that is about it. Everything else is a complete repeat of stuff you see in the parks. What we SHOULD do is head over to Universal for a couple of days. But when you have annual passes to WDW it always seems like you are wasting money if you do that.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<Having had the pleasure of seeing much of the world, and also working in a gritty subject area, I need escapism.>> I hear you. I am just "young," and want to explore while I still can. When you get older, it can be hard if not impossible to do some kinds of touring. That's where my mother is at; it is not physically possible for her to do certain things. I haven't seen half of the places you've been, either.
Originally Posted By barboy As to this whole notion that WDW attractions(shopping, parks, restaurants, hotels) are just too far from each other I can safely say that careful planning is far more important than at any other Disney destination. One decent sized blunder like leaving back at the AK Lodge the family's park hopper passes and discovering the mistake at the gates of Dis. Studios can really frustrate. If one has a car it's not too big of a setback but if one relies on buses.....ouch! That is why when I'm on property I systematically and thoroughly go through a check list for the day's needs.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss ^^That one thing I complained about in Dave's thread about changes we'd like to see. WDW demands too much planning, especially with regards to where to eat (at table srevice restaurants.) It is ridiculous to have to plan all your meals six months out. I am spontanious by nature; planning is not something I care to do.
Originally Posted By dshyates The vastness isn't really my issue, as much as the place seems to have been built without a Master Plan. At least when it came to placing the 2nd gate and monorail spur. If they had made the EPCOT spur a circular loop, they may have been able to have all 4 parks on the monrail line. I don't really have a problem with the resorts being off the monorail line, they could have also had DtD and the Waterparks with easier access from one of the park stations. That way all you would have to do is get to the monorail line to go to any of the WDW attractions. The 12 mile EPCOT line, as it stands now, seeems a bit of a waste.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<That is why when I'm on property I systematically and thoroughly go through a check list for the day's needs.>> For people who go there routinely, that becomes second nature. We've done that for so long that I didn't really think about it until you mentioned it. One last note. If you are staying at the Saratoga Springs resort make SURE you know what building your room is in and be sure to carry the resort map with you. This is especially important if you have a couple of margaritas with dinner at San Angel and then 2-3 glasses of wine while watching Illuminations. A person could spend a couple of hours wandering around that huge place trying to find their room. I'm not saying that has ever actually happened to someone, but wouldn't it be terrible if it did? ;-) P.S. Thankfully some woman saw us wandering around hopelessly lost and checked her map and told us where our building was.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Lol RT, that story always makes me smile! On our honeymoon, it was similar for us after a really good time at the endangered PI. Getting back to our mansion at Dixielandings (as it was then), was very tricky, then it took several attempts to put the key card in, the dang door slot kept moving, just like in Alice in Wonderland!
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<The vastness isn't really my issue, as much as the place seems to have been built without a Master Plan.>> I suppose it is hard to have a master plan when you didn't know going in that there would be more than one or two theme parks. And who knows? Maybe they did have a master plan, and it is exactly how WDW is now. Yeah, we all hate the buses, but I doubt the lack of more monorails is really driving (no pun intended) many people away.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Now with $4 gas monorails might look a lot more attractive. Although the initial investment is way higher, I think that could be offset through lower operating costs. The fact that electricity costs less than diesel is just one of the savings. Think how much longer the WDW roads would last if they didn't have the huge number of heavy busses constantly driving on them. I would like to see a "hub and spoke" type operation with monorails running to the major hubs and then light rail going from the hubs to the individual destinations.
Originally Posted By barboy ///What I love about DL and DLP is that everything is in walking distance, and while the quantity is lower, the quality to me feels greater./// I'd have to say 'yes' and 'no'. I feel DlR pound for pound and inch for inch is better quality than WDW but I wouldn't say that about the Paris resort. I find Dl Paris far supreme to his other 4 MK/Dl brothers but the Village Marketplace is so very 'unDisney' and poorly maintained.
Originally Posted By barboy May I retract my ///Village Marketplace is so very 'unDisney'///? , Thanks for understanding. I think that was unfair. What I should have written was: the Village Marketplace, like Tokyo's Ikspiri is more of a reflection of its host country, obviously, just as the Downtown Disneys are a reflection of US culture. The Village is Disney-like but with a European flavour. But I do stand by my earlier finding that The Village is poorly maintained.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss Not sure I quite understand what you mean by the Village being European in flavor, but the Disney Store there is terrible; I think the selection is poor.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I should amend that; to be fair, I haven't been to DLP in along time. The selection at that time was poor.
Originally Posted By fkurucz <<So.... X, fkur and trek do you find the WDW buses to be a less 'magical' than the Tokyo ones----I sure do!>> Never been to TDR, so I can't comment in that regard. However, I will say that the long bus ride from the Pop Century to the parks and back was certainly less than magical. Then again, the Pop Century wasn't all that Magical to begin with.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>Now with $4 gas monorails might look a lot more attractive.>> Trolley buses?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss If you're gonna go to the trouble of installing the catenary for trolleys, you may as well build a railed system, IMO.
Originally Posted By barboy //Never been to TDR, so I can't comment in that regard.// My bad.... sorry.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>I should amend that; to be fair, I haven't been to DLP in along time. The selection at that time was poor.<<< And getting worse, year by year I am afraid. WDW has better selections of merchandise, no doubt.
Originally Posted By sharon2 <<< WDW has better selections of merchandise, no doubt>>> You're kidding right?? We went in May & I had a hard time even finding 1 t-shirt I liked!! I ended up w/a T from the Italy Pav w/ the Roman colluseum on it!! No Mickey anywhere, you can't even tell it's from WDW!!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 <True, but when travelling so far with little ones, best to make it count. Having spent a fortnight at DLP and DL, I have not felt the same irritations. I suppose it is rather unique. A lot of the Brits who go tend to stay off site, or go for a week to WDW and a week on the beach/cruise. And a lot of onsiters stay for a shorter duration. I do wonder if this has an affect? < sounds like my vacations - we do 8-10 days at WDW - then 4-5 days at Vero Beach to relax and just wind down before returning home. We really enjoy the Vero Resort -
