Part 1: Hot Days and Endless Queues or...

...observations of visit to WDW in the autumn when crowds used to be low.

 I've talked about transportation.  I've talked about resorts.  Now it's time to get down to the nitty gritty:  the parks.  It's what you go for right?  (I don't know after this last trip, I could see myself just spending some time at the Boardwalk...  Of course I've said that before and it never has happened.)  For me this trip was shorter than I usually would take (oh, the days when we stayed for a full week or more) and as the title of this post says it was much hotter than I had expected (and previously experienced) in September.  (On our honeymoon in 1996, I actually wore a light long sleeve shirt and was comfortable.)  It was also more crowded than I have previously seen.  (I am used to "low times" in Disney, which apparently no longer exist.)  I TRIED not to be the cranky old lady, but let's face it...I am and I am not used to long lines and 100 degree temperatures.  With that in mind, here are some of my thoughts and observations.

• Animal Kingdom (Saturday afternoon): 
  
  
  This is my least favorite park.  Nothing "wrong" with it, but I just can't get my pace to match what it should be while I am there.  (Slow and taking everything in).  It was extremely hot that day and the park was PACKED.  We waited 40+ minutes for Dinosaur (because it was open and I know it's going away). 
  
  
  I had never been to "Avatar land" (I have never seen the movies and [don't shoot me] have no desire to see them.)  I wanted to check out the area and experience Flight of Passage, but with a nearly 2 hour wait, it wasn't going to happen.  (Disappointed, but this didn't break me).  We DID wait for nearly an hour to Na'vi River Journey, which was okay, but didn't wow me.  (Although the audio animatronic was incredibly impressive and I suppose that alone was worth the wait?)  It was so hot and crowded PLUS I was exhausted from being up since 1 that we decided to call it a day.  We were there for 2-1/2 hours and only accomplished two rides.  There was more that I would have wanted to do (including checking out the animal trails, but what animal would be out and about on a day like this?)  We had thought that we might come back in the morning later in the week, but as the days progressed I decided to be honest with myself.  I am NOT a huge fan of the park and I would be happier if I spent my time in places that I enjoy more.  So I never did go back.  Maybe next time?  (Or do I just give up on AK completely, knowing that it's just not for me?)

•  Epcot:
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  Is probably my favorite park (I really try NOT to declare a favorite.)  Despite saying that I would rest after AK, we ended up going to Epcot Saturday evening.  We stayed away from World Showcase (where all the people were and where all the drinking was being done) and instead took in the World of Celebration and World of Nature.  (Formerly [and in my heart] Future world...and yes I had to look up their new names.)  With the crowds in World Showcase we were able to enjoy Journey Into Imagination (it was a walk on), Living With the Land (which had a short wait; love this gentle ride, but do long for the times when there was a live narrator), Soarin' (about a 25 minute wait which is nothing), Journey of Water, Inspired by Moana (which is a great addition to the park, in my opinion as it lends itself to the original park where learning could be fun and this walk through attraction is informational and fun...perfect for the park) and Spaceship Earth.  All of which was accomplished in less time than 2 attractions in AK.  While I used to know this park like the back of my hand, with all of the changes in the center of what was formerly Future world (including the destruction of my beloved Fountain of Nations), I often did not know what the most direct route to something was.  
• We returned to Epcot on Monday for the half hour early entry which is, in my opinion totally useless.  What can you accomplish in 30 minutes?  Our goal was to get to Remy's Ratatouille Adventure, which was apparently the goal of EVERYONE who decided to take advantage of 30 minutes in Epcot.
  
  
    Nutshell:  we waited for over an hour for the ride.  Was it worth it?  Not so sure.  It was cute, but I didn't think the 3D worked well for me.  We headed towards the UK pavilion and saw that the Millennium village gate was open (does anyone else remember that) and there were photo ops with characters such as Mr. Smee and Rabbit. 
  
  
  We continued on through Canada and into Mexico
  
  
  where there was a brief wait for the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros so we enjoyed that.  (I always do.) We then walked over to the Norway pavilion to check out Frozen Ever After, which had about a 40 minute wait.  (This attraction had just opened the last time I was in Disney and back then had a 3+ hour wait.)  While I miss Maelstrom (I really did love that ride), this was very clever and (kind of) worth the wait.  We continued around the world before heading back to our room for a break.  At 1 PM exactly my friend (MAC) to get us in the virtual queue for Guardians of the Galaxy.  The slotted time for our group was around 7:10, so we made sure we were back in the area before then.  Around that time we were allowed to get in line along with THOUSANDS of other people (I am not kidding) and slowly made our way to the ride.  (It was about another hour wait...some of the queue was entertaining/interesting, but there was also a lot of boring nothingness.  We finally got on and...Well...thrill rides are not necessarily my thing, but I wanted to give this a try.  I guess I can say I'm glad I did, but I don't think it was worth the wait and I am glad that the ride was only about 3 minutes long (MAC said it was 90 seconds...she was WRONG) and that "Conga" was "our song" so that I could focus on that.  By the time we got out of the attraction it was dark and we had to search for a spot to watch Luminous.  We managed to squeeze into a space near Mexico and enjoyed the show.  (It is not Illuminations, but pretty darned good and I would see it again.)  The park was then closed to all except those eligible for extra evening hours:  those staying in deluxe resorts (didn't it used to be for everyone staying on property), so we had two more hours to enjoy the park.  We did the Gran Fiesta (walk on),
  
  
  
  
  
  Frozen (20 minutes) and Soarin' (5 minutes). 
  
  
  We were going to try Remy again, but it was getting close to 11 and the wait was still over 40 minutes, so we bagged it. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
•  We did one more brief round at Epcot on our last day to experience the Voices of Liberty and the American Adventure (yes, I cried...I always cry.)  Because my vacation was shorter than usual and crowds were larger, I didn't' to wander around as much as I would have liked, but... (Yes, I never checked out the Seas with Nemo, O Canada, and Reflections of China.  Nor did I get the opportunity to take in all the wonderful performances around the world.)  You'll also notice that other than Guardians of the Galaxy, we did not spend any time on the World of Discovery (Future world East?) because I wasn't that fond of GotG (and the wait times!), Mission:  Space I've done twice and I don't need to feel that way again and Test Track (which I do or did adore) was down for rehab.  Wonders of Life (Buzzy, I do miss and worry about you) is forever closed, which makes me sad and angry as its wasted space.  I won't even talk about the loss of Horizons (yes, I'm that old), one of my all-time favorite attractions at Disney!

That covers half of the parks that I visited over my 5 days.  Stay tuned for more!  (Feel free to give me your thoughts on the parks and what I should or should not have done.)