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Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

calisota
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby calisota » Sun Sep 18, 2016 4:21 pm

Thanks for the great reports Keith and I'm looking forward to the photos. :-)


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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby DisneyKaren » Sun Sep 18, 2016 6:11 pm

Thanks Keith & Della, I've enjoyed following your travels and look forward to the photos.  Safe flight home.

Karen
1996: Disneyland & Epcot | 2001: EuroDisney | 2014: DLR & DLRP | 2015: WDW | 2017: DLR, Aulani, TDR | 2018: DLR | 2020: SDR & HKDL | 2023: WDW

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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Mon Sep 19, 2016 10:30 am

Thanks everyone. We are safely home and had a wonderful time. I'll do some last day updates later this week as well as some general thoughts on changes at WDW.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby calisota » Tue Sep 20, 2016 3:20 pm

Just posted a news story about mosquito prevention kiosks at WDW. Did you see or use one? Did zika figure in your thoughts?


Greg
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:25 pm

Day Fifteen – 17 September 2016
So this is it – our final day in Walt Disney World.  Of course, that doesn’t mean no more park days as our bus wasn’t until 2:30pm or so.
 
First of course, we grabbed a quick breakfast in the food court before going back to the room and finalising our packing.  There was no need to see the front desk to check out, as there are no room keys to hand in and Disney had already emailed me the final bill for our stay, so once we’d packed, we just called Luggage Services to pickup and store our bags and we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.
 
There was only one thing we really wanted to accomplish this morning and that was our traditional last ride around the park in the train, so we headed up on to the station and waited for it to come around.  It was very hot this morning and we were sweating buckets, but we got a good seat on the train and did the full circle tour.  When we got off we said a goodbye to Town Square before leaving the park for the last time.
 
We caught the bus back to the resort and had lunch in the food court there – despite and noise and the screaming kids, we knew we were going to miss it! Once we’d eaten, we got our bags out of storage and I got changed out of my sweaty clothes – Della planned to change in Dallas.  Soon enough, it was time for the bus to come, so we loaded our bags on and waved goodbye to the Art of Animation Resort and Walt Disney World.
 
Of course, once at the airport, we had to visit The Disney Store, but we didn’t buy anything more – we only had a short time to our flight so we went straight to the gate.  In Dallas, we had a couple of hours to wait, so we went to the Qantas Club and had a bite to eat before boarding the plane at 9:30pm.  It was a long flight and we landed at dawn in Sydney – it was a relief to have that cool air after the heaviness of Florida!  A quick taxi ride and we were home – no the countdown begins for our next trip!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Tue Sep 20, 2016 5:33 pm

General Observations
What follows is a bunch of random thoughts of mine from the visit - if I think of others, I'll add them here (Greg, this will answer your mosquito question above!) 

Security
It is much more visible at WDW now.  There were police dog units, marked cars, more thorough bags checks, and random metal detector screening – I was picked more times than Della, probably because I had cargo shorts with phone, camera, sunglasses, wallet etc which made my pockets bulge.  We also saw armed police inside the Magic Kingdom – something I didn’t think we’d ever see. In the past, police were always confined to backstage, but now you’ll see Orlando Troopers in the MK (we saw a pair of them in Town Square with one resting his hand on his firearm as he strolled past!).
 
Art of Animation
Fantastic – it is just like it was in 2013.  I thought we’d see the paint chipped, the gardens messy or something different – but it looked brand new still!  The food court still had real cutlery and the food there was very good too – can’t recommend this place enough.
 
Mosquitos
Here is something new – when we got to the resort, we found a can of insect repellent in our room with a mosquito safety brochure.  The zika virus is big news in Florida at the moment as it begins to spread from the Miami area northwards through the state.  In Disney Springs on our first day, we also noticed the mosquito stations manned with cast members providing free repellent there too.  This was also repeated in the parks.  Universal was doing the same thing.
 
Refill Mugs
This is a big negative for us – the refill mugs are now handleless…which is a big shame.  The handles made carrying multiple mugs easy for one person.  The change was only made in August – so this is a new thing and I expect that public opinion will be heard loudly. It didn’t affect us too much, but imagine if you were getting drinks and some snacks for a family of four?  In the past, you could carry the drinks in one hand and everything else in the other – now it is not so easy.  It smells of a cheap cost saving measure – the same as our the mugs are no longer personalised for each resort – remember when they were a great keepsake of where you were staying? I miss those days!
 
Cast Members
Also remember the old days when we thought WDW cast members were the best? Well we noticed a general decline in that on this trip.  Nothing bad happened directly – it is just a general vibe. In the past, if you walked through a resort, cast members would often say ‘Good Morning’ or something like that – on this trip though, more than half of them wouldn’t respond even if you initiated a good morning…it was very noticeable and suggests a morale problem at the resort.  We also met a few downright grumpy cast members including a photopass guy who just didn’t want to be there.  Maybe it had been a long-hot summer and they were over it, but they have to remember that for the guests there now, that is not the case.
 
We did meet lots of nice ones too – don’t get me wrong, however it was not like the old days – standards had definitely slipped a long way in the parks and resorts – I’ll be interested to hear from Mel and Lisa when they return.
 
Memory Maker
Now this is an awesome product – we pre-bought the Memory Maker package for our room which is linked to the Magic Band.  It allows you to get your digital photos from Photopass and attractions for $169 USD for the length of your stay.  We did a stack of meet and greets and other photo opportunities and it was as simple as scanning your Magic Band and the photos appeared in the My Disney Experience within about 20 minutes. They also included small videos and other little pieces of ‘magic’ which were cool.  Highly recommended.
 
Magic Bands
We love these! These should be everywhere! From getting into the park, taking photopass pictures, opening your resort room, fastpasses, buying stuff or even getting special things happen like your name appearing on posters in rides – they just work and work flawlessly. Sure, Disney are tracking you etc – but they already know everything about you anyway…
 
Food Service
Gee – this has always been bad, but during the free-dining plan period it is even worse. It always takes a long time to get served and then the guest starts to divide up their meals and snacks across their plan…it is such a pain. Once when we went to a counter and said we weren’t on the dining plan, the cast member said “thank god…!”
 
And what is it with American’s who wait in a food service line for 15 minutes then when they finally get served, they then turn to their family and ask them what they want – they had 15 minutes to think about! Argghhhh.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby ElissaB » Tue Sep 20, 2016 10:02 pm

Welcome home Keith and Della and thanks for the updates! Interesting to hear your observations too! My pet peeve is the decision making on the food once reaching the top of the queue! Why waste the queue time planning your order? Seriously?! Wow, the armed police in the park must have been an interesting sight. Fingers crossed the weather has cooled a little by the end of October for our trip, the heat sounds like it was pretty intense! Looking forward to catching up with you at the Christmas meeting.
E :D

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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:15 pm

I thought I'd better post some photos :)

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Della at Disney Springs

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More of the new Disney Springs

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Art of Animation Resort still looks great

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Pandora construction at Animal Kingdom

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New seating for "Rivers of Light" - we were told that they've just about sorted the tech issues out...

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Tree of Life at night - the new light show was AMAZING although you can't really tell from this!

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Meeting Mickey at Tusker House - great food too.

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Lion King meet and greet during the DVC anniversary party.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:30 pm

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Epcot Food and Wine Festival

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Hmmm...doesn't seem like we've progressed far since the Paul Hogan days...

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The actual festival itself though was fun and tasty and well set out.

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Head to the Boardwalk for Ice Cream

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And bump into Rapunzel on the way back into Epcot

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Good night Spaceship Earth
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:35 pm

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Quick trip to London...errr Universal...to see the new Harry Potter additions.

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Della trying to hitch a ride on the Knight Bus

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Welcome to Diagon Alley

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Gringott's Bank and their 'security' system on the roof...

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Hogwart's Express arriving to take us to Hogsmeade.

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Still looks as good as three years ago.
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:46 pm

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A day at NASA and a meeting with the Atlantis Space Shuttle!

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Former Shuttle mobile launch pad

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Former Apollo and Shuttle Launch Pad 39A - now in use by Space-X

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Former Apollo and Shuttle Launch Pad 39B - now being converted for the new NASA Space Launch System (SLS)

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We finished the day eating at the 4-Rivers Smokehouse in Kissimmee - it was yummo!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 2:51 pm

Time for some Magic Kingdom photos

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Halloween Time in the Magic Kingdom

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The new castle show was cute and a lot of fun

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And the newish parade was good too...especially this Maleficent float...

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...roawrrrrrr...

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Della enjoying her cocktail in Be Our Guest

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Cool shot down Main Street on the night of the MNSSHP

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Creepy Main Street Station - MNSSHP night
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:15 pm

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Increased security at Disney's Hollywood Studios...

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This seems to be their manager...

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I think they were trying to crack down on behaviour such as this.

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Dinner at the Hollywood and Vine was great.

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We also had a meeting with our friend Olaf.

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And on our last night - it was dinner at the Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios with our great friends, Brian and Patti who looked after us for the two weeks we were over there - thank you friends!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015

calisota
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby calisota » Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:17 pm

Great photos!

Close enough to a Space Shuttle to touch it!!

I want to go...anyone able to lend me some money? :-)


Greg
Chiang Mai Pickleball Club Play Pickleball in paradise

KeithS
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Re: Keith and Della's WDW 2016 Short Trip

Postby KeithS » Fri Sep 23, 2016 3:24 pm

I wanted to touch it too, but it is just out of reach!

The Shuttle is almost complete - only the Canadian arm is a fake (the Canadians wanted the original back for their own museum) and the ISS docking collar is also a copy in the payload bay as the Russians wanted that back for ongoing operational use. Everything else is original. Also the main engines were removed because they are being used elsewhere, but everything else is intact - you can still see all the flight controls etc through the cockpit window. I'd love to go inside!
Keith

Trip history:
DLR: 2005, 06, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
DLRP: 2006
HKDL: 2006 (Mar & Sept), 11 (Apr & Dec), 14, 19
SDR: 2017
TDR: 2008, 10, 17
WDW: 2006, 13 (Mar & Sept), 16, 19
DCL: 2013, 15 (Alaska & Hawaii), 18
Aulani: 2015


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