Originally Posted By barboy And you can count me in with the 'take your time', 'stop and mell the roses' crowd--- after all I'm supposed to be on vacation too. I just wish that going back to the hotel for a nap or swim wouldn't be such a 3-4.5 hr. deviation in the day(like when one is touring the MK but is staying at Boardwalk). Not a big deal at all on most days but sometimes one really needs to be on time for things like dinner reservations or meeting up with party members.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<We were there in early December to supposably the "quiet" period. Not our experience.>> I would not consider early December a quiet period anymore. Many people have started going at that time to avoid the Christmas crush. This has been exacerbated by all of the MVMCP dates in early December. January, especially the first couple of weeks after New Years is hard to beat for low crowds.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey We went in early December this past year and the crowds were quite manageable. I would love to go to WDW in early January, especially since it's my birthday and all (January 2 - mark it on your calendars, I like chocolate and Mickey Mouse), but I haven't yet had the chance.
Originally Posted By NikkiLOVESMickey Yeah, I missed the 101 - I didn't realize until after I posted, and then it was too late. Oh, the agony!
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Perceptions are so interesting. Barboy: >There is nothing magical about those ugly noise machines nor the time riding in them especially when packed like sardines after fireworks and illuminations....There is nothing magical about waiting 15-25 minutes for one to show.< Trippy: > I don't have a hard time finding the bus. It is gloriously air-conditioned when I get on. It zips around the standing traffic and gets me where I want to go.<*** Yes, perceptions are certainly interesting danyoung. I see this argument very much along the lines of pessimist/optimist (nothing wrong with either perception per se, although I would imagine the optimistic mindset makes for a happier vacation lol). As for me, I'm in the middle somewhat. I don't mind the Disney buses that much, but I certainly don't think they're wonderful or even "well done"...it certainly can be a hassle at times. As for people who are saying a car is somehow "worse", I really don't get it. It seems like a much simpler process, more private and more relaxing, and particularly at the end of the night I very much ENJOY arriving at my car and sliding in..cranking up the AC and the tunes, and taking a nice quick drive back to wherever I'm headed (rarely a Disney hotel...for THAT it's a no-brainer for me, since it's a mere 5-10 minutes drive from any park in WDW). Dave, everytime I hear more of your story I'm struck by thinking that you guys just seemed to have an unfortunate run of bad luck that trip. I know the bus system is not that great, but your experiences do seem to be on the verge of "worst case", and it seems to have happened to you guys a lot in that one trip! Most unfortunate, but sadly that does sometimes happen (and it's all the more disappointing when it's a grand, expensive adventure that you've been looking forward to and all that). Similar stuff happened to me once on a trip to Guam, up to and including getting robbed! Guam is a lovely place, to be sure, but my run of bad luck experiences (starting the minute we landed, in fact, getting stranded at 2 in the morning at the airport without our expected pickup) certainly tainted my views of that particular vacation spot! C'est la vie, right? ***It zips around the standing traffic*** I don't get this part. Sounds awfully Pollyanna'ish to me. I've been stuck in traffic on the bus more than a few times, I don't ever recall zipping around anyone. In fact, if they DID have some dedicated bus roads (perhaps there are some and that's what I'm missing), it would make things a lot better I think.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<***It zips around the standing traffic*** I don't get this part. Sounds awfully Pollyanna'ish to me. I've been stuck in traffic on the bus more than a few times, I don't ever recall zipping around anyone.>> The Disney transit has to deal with traffic on the general roadways, but they all have exits from the parks separate from auto traffic. So while everyone else is backed up trying to get out of the park, the busses are on their way. This is especially significant at the MK at closing when there is always a HUGE backup of private cars at the TTC while the busses zip underneath the Seven Seas Lagoon on their own private tunnel and roadway.
Originally Posted By disneydad-01 why dont you whiners go to universal so you can trip all over each other if you want to be constricted like tuna
Originally Posted By bobbelee9 <<<Well I lived in Orlando for 3 years and the spread outness of WDW didn't really bother me when I would pop over for dinner or a day in a park.>>> How I hate people who can say that, I'm just sooooooo jealous. Pop over for dinner, damn, I would love to do that.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<why dont you whiners go to universal>> I don't see anyone whining. Disney doesn't need to be defended; there *are* problems with their operations sometimes.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I know not everyone will see things the way I see them. I'm a glass half full kind of guy. Probalby more like a glass three-quarters full kind of guy. If my car breaks down I'm happy if it happens in a safe area and the weather is good. What can I say? I bet I'm a happier guy than most!!
Originally Posted By barboy LOL, One of the happiest times in my life was when my car broke down; way back in 11th grade I was on a fist date with a very cute girl from English class and we took full advantage of my broken down beater ride after seeing one of those Friday the 13th movies. Ahhhhh such great mammaries, I mean memories.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Indeed we did have bad luck - broken down buses try to load EMV's causing an extra 40 min wait from the MK. The Nemo and Yeti AA's being 101 each trip through (as well as on many other attraction - PotC, HM, IASW, CoP, SSE, etc. FIlthy tables in Columbia Harbor House, no in role characters in 50's Prime Time, Sarah ripping her pants in the Mara on a broken chair, poor checkin and cleaning experience at AKL, heaving crowds due to Xmas Parade filming and POP Warner (with only 2 late nights in the MK over 11 days due to MVMCP), booking restaurants before park schedules released to get it, then choose being stuck in madness of parade filming day or miss PS with no table service available elsewhere before 9:30pm, 5 exchanges of broken Pal Mickey's. We had a lot of fab memories on that trip too - Mikey's dream on Star Tours, the LP meet etc. But what should have been an unforgetable vacation turned out to be our worst disney vacation ever, and it cost $10,000 before souvenirs. We had fun in the main, but when we went to DLP 6 months later for 2 weeks for $4000 and had a vastly superior vacation, and then again 5 months ago at the Grand Californian for 6 days at $5000, well frankly I am not in a hurry to go back to Florida. I am an optimist, and I want to love WDW, but I'm not a rube either. To spend so much for an inferior product, well I'm a little gun shy. But what makes me really angry is the fixes are easy. If it was a short journey like most of you, or had been cheaper, or maybe we had a car or stayed off site, we may have had a better time. But with over 300 superior personal experiences at DLR and nearly 50 at DLP, if I were to spend $10000 again on DIsney, I am going to Tokyo!
Originally Posted By danyoung >If you are excited about being there and see a tram coming and run to catch the tram without thinking about anything else; well then you are hosed.< You are so right about that! I have to purposely take a beat as I'm getting out of my car to check my rental car's color and license plate, check the lot name, check the row number, etc. I've spent way too much time back in the olden days wandering around the park trying to find a rental car that I don't really remember that well anyway! >...to me there is nothing great looking about the scenery between the different sub resorts inside the World. I see cones, roadwork and roadwork equipment, barren space, trees, shrubs and water holes and even flashing security/police lights on some unlucky vacationer.< Seriously? Just compare the WDW property with anything surrounding it, and it will indeed become special. I'm a big fan of staying on site, but from time to time I have to go off site to a drug store or whatever. And the difference in the roads, the signage, the businesses crowded together is just staggering. I can't wait to get back to the well landscaped wide open spaces if the World.
Originally Posted By danyoung >...I just wish that going back to the hotel for a nap or swim wouldn't be such a 3-4.5 hr. deviation in the day(like when one is touring the MK but is staying at Boardwalk).< Well, now you're just hyperbolizing. Walk to the MK bus station, wait 10 to 20 minutes for the bus to Boardwalk, ride 15 to 20 minutes, get off. Not even close to 3 hours. Or if you wanted to be adventurous, you could take the MK monorail to the TTC (10 -15 minutes), take the monorail to Epcot (15 - 20 minutes), and walk through Epcot to the International Gateway and on up to Boardwalk (15 - 20 minutes). Again, nowhere near 3 hours.
Originally Posted By barboy I was talking about sleeping and/or swimmimg time as well as traveling time. Clearly, most of that 3-4.5 hr. diviation would be for activities at the hotel.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Yeah...like time for some good weed and a little TLC. ehh? ehh? ehh? ;-p
Originally Posted By barboy ///I'm a big fan of staying on site, but from time to time I have to go off site to a drug store or whatever. And the difference in the roads, the signage, the businesses crowded together is just staggering./// Ya, I'll give you that--- there most definitely is a difference. And I must admit I do appreciate the signage on property and the clean roads. I was just addressing the notion that there are worthy sights along the World's roads like going from MK to Pop or AK to Downtown Disney. The terrain is nothing special or noteworthy.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss <<I was talking about sleeping and/or swimmimg time as well as traveling time. Clearly, most of that 3-4.5 hr. diviation would be for activities at the hotel.>> So you're talking maybe a difference of an hour, yes? Because using Dan's example, even if they cut times in half, you'd still have a relatively lengthy deviation.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Speaking as someone who has been to both parks recently and more than once, I will admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to walk from Dl to DCA to DTD to the Hotels, B U T . . . There are just so many MORE guests at WDW (during the summer) than at DL that if you massed all those people so close together there would be logistical nightmares. Parking alone would be un-doable. I am thankful for the spread of WDW. Totally.
