Trip Report - Day 8 - Last minute holiday

dave7819 · 24 Jun 19, 03:57 AM

Trip Report - Day 8 Saturday 22nd June - Last minute holiday

Today we had late FP's for MK, with a plan of getting there around 4pm for our first FP splash mountain, we didn't have any plans before the park so went to bed, bath and beyond around 1pm to have a look about.

For anyone who's not been to bed bath and beyond it basically sells everything you would need for your home, literally everything, we bought some nice bath towels as they were better quality than Walmart's but were also more expensive, they also had some of the big Yankee candles at 9.99 each so got 2 of those.

Ross's dress for less was next door so we had a look in there too, I wasn't looking for clothes myself I got kitted out at the premium outlets in Vegas in January, so I awkwardly followed the wife around the handbag section.

She found a guess handbag at only 19.99 so bought that, she also spotted the same sunglasses she had bought in January on the ship to the Caribbean for only 9.99, she paid 85 dollars in a duty free shop on the ship, to say she was gutted was an understatement, you can get some serious bargains in Ross's.

Time was ticking and I needed to fill the car before we left for MK for the first time this holiday, the hire car is a kia soul, nice small compact car big enough for us 2, back seats fold flat for the luggage too so very practical.

Just so our American friends know the difference in gas prices we pay, at home I own a Kia Sportage, and before I left home I filled it from empty, it cost �70 which is what, 90 ish dollars... The hire car cost me 25 dollars to fill, I couldn't believe it! No wonder you guys drive around in v8's and muscle cars, we have to look at fuel consumption in the UK to decide what car to go for lol.

It was now 3pm and we were getting hungry, we had only had our cereal on the morning, we spotted a five guys nearby and went in, they are really tasty burgers and there milk shakes are good too, we were stuffed and made the short journey to MK.

The i-4 was busier than I'd anticipated and it was a slow journey to MK, we arrived at the ticket and transportation at around 4:30, our FP ended at 5:10 so we had to get a move on, the monorail que was small thankfully so we were in main Street by 4:45.

The heat was intense and we headed to splash mountain, we were boiling and uncomfortable on arrival and we were greated by a broken down splash mountain, gutted! We really needed a cool down at this point and my plan had been turned upside down. It was 5pm and our next FP to seven dwarfs mine train wasn't until 6:15, what do we do now we're the conversations that followed.

We took shade in a shop and looked at the app, wait times were rediculous on everything, we decided to do country bear jamboree in frontierland and also Mickey's philamagic in Fantasyland, both indoor attractions that had little wait.

We then sat down with a cup of iced water in a restaurant near seven dwarfs mine train and went on it once the FP opened.

The standby queue was 110 minutes for this ride and I feel so sorry for young children having to stand that long, I'm not sure Walt Disney would of expected kids to wait that long for rides, it was very tame and disappointing, how can they have a ride like thunder mountain which is years old, and is still fun, then with all the modern technology and money create the seven dwarfs mine train, it's underwhelming and must be for children aswel.

We had a bit of time to kill before our FP for thunder mountain, unfortunately splash mountain was still down so we went over to tomorrow land and rode the people mover, as it was the shortest queue at the time in the park... 20 minutes.

Walked back to frontier land for thunder mountain and to our delight splash was running now, we rode thunder first and then looked for the fast pass queue for splash, I don't know how long the ride had been down for but the FP queue was reaching as far back as peco bills, our plan was not going to plan, at all!

We got in line and queued for 45 minutes in FP,≈ standby was 130 minutes. We both love splash mountain it's a great ride and it minutes feel too short like most rides do, we got front row by luck and got that much needed soaking we both longed for.

After taking a short break sat down in frontierland we wandered back over to tomorrow land, we went via infront of the castle and bodies were all over the pavement waiting for the fireworks which was still over an hour away, I don't really get why people do that as you can view the fireworks from most places in the park.

We rode most rides there apart from space mountain again as the standby was 95 minutes and we done it on Thursday previously.

We timed it so we were in the astro orbiter queue for the fireworks and you see most of it from there, the fireworks finale happened whilst we were on the ride so had a perfect view.

Once the fireworks finished there were hoardes of people running towards space mountain, I've never seen anything like it lol.

By 9:30 we had done most of the rides over the 2 days there apart from the small rides in Fantasyland like it's a small world and Peter Pan, which we were happy to pass on.

The bodies had left Infront of the castle and there were lots of space for the 10pm show, which was fantastic.

Once that finished the crowds were really big on leaving so we stayed sat down near the castle and we decided to buy a churros as we didn't know what they were lol, first and last time we'll do that.

We waited for another 30 mins or so and around 11 we got up and made our way down main Street for the last time in many years, taking it all in.

The queue for both the ferry and monorail were both horrendous, so we sat down again for another 30 minutes or so, for them to calm down a little, then we got in the ferry queue and waited around 20 minutes.

We both love Disney and had some conversations whilst we were sat about, even though we had no kids with us, we planned our FP's the best we could, planned our days there so they weren't too long and tiring, it was still hard work to enjoy the experience.

Whilst waiting for the ferry two men started arguing who didn't know eachother and had to be separated by other strangers, it was embarrassing, then walking to the monorail a young boy tripped over and his poor mam fell on top of him, both needed medical attention.

I know Disney is a business but I just feel it's losing its magic for me, it's getting too busy and in my opinion need to have a cap on how many they let in to the parks.

It was 12:30am when we eventually got to our car, a mixed feelings night at MK but I know we're both ready for a day off tomorrow.

Animagus · 12 Jul 19, 10:19 PM

Your comments echo those I�ve seen elsewhere regarding crowds, wait times, people�s attitudes etc.

Add the heat and humidity into the mix and patience wears rather thin.

We have a trip next year in the planning stages which is a non-Disney trip. Costs are too high for us to do Disney plus other parks now. We definitely won�t miss the crazy crowds. That�s for sure!

24 Jun 19, 03:57 AM	#1
	24 Jun 19, 03:57 AM dave7819 Getting to know the DIBB
dave7819 Getting to know the DIBB Join Date: Jun 19 Location: Stockton on Tees	Trip Report - Day 8 - Last minute holiday Trip Report - Day 8 Saturday 22nd June - Last minute holiday Today we had late FP's for MK, with a plan of getting there around 4pm for our first FP splash mountain, we didn't have any plans before the park so went to bed, bath and beyond around 1pm to have a look about. For anyone who's not been to bed bath and beyond it basically sells everything you would need for your home, literally everything, we bought some nice bath towels as they were better quality than Walmart's but were also more expensive, they also had some of the big Yankee candles at 9.99 each so got 2 of those. Ross's dress for less was next door so we had a look in there too, I wasn't looking for clothes myself I got kitted out at the premium outlets in Vegas in January, so I awkwardly followed the wife around the handbag section. She found a guess handbag at only 19.99 so bought that, she also spotted the same sunglasses she had bought in January on the ship to the Caribbean for only 9.99, she paid 85 dollars in a duty free shop on the ship, to say she was gutted was an understatement, you can get some serious bargains in Ross's. Time was ticking and I needed to fill the car before we left for MK for the first time this holiday, the hire car is a kia soul, nice small compact car big enough for us 2, back seats fold flat for the luggage too so very practical. Just so our American friends know the difference in gas prices we pay, at home I own a Kia Sportage, and before I left home I filled it from empty, it cost �70 which is what, 90 ish dollars... The hire car cost me 25 dollars to fill, I couldn't believe it! No wonder you guys drive around in v8's and muscle cars, we have to look at fuel consumption in the UK to decide what car to go for lol. It was now 3pm and we were getting hungry, we had only had our cereal on the morning, we spotted a five guys nearby and went in, they are really tasty burgers and there milk shakes are good too, we were stuffed and made the short journey to MK. The i-4 was busier than I'd anticipated and it was a slow journey to MK, we arrived at the ticket and transportation at around 4:30, our FP ended at 5:10 so we had to get a move on, the monorail que was small thankfully so we were in main Street by 4:45. The heat was intense and we headed to splash mountain, we were boiling and uncomfortable on arrival and we were greated by a broken down splash mountain, gutted! We really needed a cool down at this point and my plan had been turned upside down. It was 5pm and our next FP to seven dwarfs mine train wasn't until 6:15, what do we do now we're the conversations that followed. We took shade in a shop and looked at the app, wait times were rediculous on everything, we decided to do country bear jamboree in frontierland and also Mickey's philamagic in Fantasyland, both indoor attractions that had little wait. We then sat down with a cup of iced water in a restaurant near seven dwarfs mine train and went on it once the FP opened. The standby queue was 110 minutes for this ride and I feel so sorry for young children having to stand that long, I'm not sure Walt Disney would of expected kids to wait that long for rides, it was very tame and disappointing, how can they have a ride like thunder mountain which is years old, and is still fun, then with all the modern technology and money create the seven dwarfs mine train, it's underwhelming and must be for children aswel. We had a bit of time to kill before our FP for thunder mountain, unfortunately splash mountain was still down so we went over to tomorrow land and rode the people mover, as it was the shortest queue at the time in the park... 20 minutes. Walked back to frontier land for thunder mountain and to our delight splash was running now, we rode thunder first and then looked for the fast pass queue for splash, I don't know how long the ride had been down for but the FP queue was reaching as far back as peco bills, our plan was not going to plan, at all! We got in line and queued for 45 minutes in FP,≈ standby was 130 minutes. We both love splash mountain it's a great ride and it minutes feel too short like most rides do, we got front row by luck and got that much needed soaking we both longed for. After taking a short break sat down in frontierland we wandered back over to tomorrow land, we went via infront of the castle and bodies were all over the pavement waiting for the fireworks which was still over an hour away, I don't really get why people do that as you can view the fireworks from most places in the park. We rode most rides there apart from space mountain again as the standby was 95 minutes and we done it on Thursday previously. We timed it so we were in the astro orbiter queue for the fireworks and you see most of it from there, the fireworks finale happened whilst we were on the ride so had a perfect view. Once the fireworks finished there were hoardes of people running towards space mountain, I've never seen anything like it lol. By 9:30 we had done most of the rides over the 2 days there apart from the small rides in Fantasyland like it's a small world and Peter Pan, which we were happy to pass on. The bodies had left Infront of the castle and there were lots of space for the 10pm show, which was fantastic. Once that finished the crowds were really big on leaving so we stayed sat down near the castle and we decided to buy a churros as we didn't know what they were lol, first and last time we'll do that. We waited for another 30 mins or so and around 11 we got up and made our way down main Street for the last time in many years, taking it all in. The queue for both the ferry and monorail were both horrendous, so we sat down again for another 30 minutes or so, for them to calm down a little, then we got in the ferry queue and waited around 20 minutes. We both love Disney and had some conversations whilst we were sat about, even though we had no kids with us, we planned our FP's the best we could, planned our days there so they weren't too long and tiring, it was still hard work to enjoy the experience. Whilst waiting for the ferry two men started arguing who didn't know eachother and had to be separated by other strangers, it was embarrassing, then walking to the monorail a young boy tripped over and his poor mam fell on top of him, both needed medical attention. I know Disney is a business but I just feel it's losing its magic for me, it's getting too busy and in my opinion need to have a cap on how many they let in to the parks. It was 12:30am when we eventually got to our car, a mixed feelings night at MK but I know we're both ready for a day off tomorrow.