Disney! Wheeee!

[tifosi77]

The negative feedback I've seen on Contemporary is mostly due to a lack of theming. The rooms are modern and the theming is very understated. They felt more like a nice modern hotel room than a Disney resort. I liked that though. I can see how some wouldn't.

That's............ fine? I mean, there aren't a lot of relevant theming options that apply at a place like that, even less so with the hotel first opened. I mean, it's a combination of YMMV and WYSIWYG, I guess. We are grown-ass adults, we don't need overboard theming. lol

[nocera]

Yeah I agree. We were very happy there. Most Disney resorts are theming overload. Even the other monorail resorts are super themed (Poly and the Grand). If somebody associates Disney with extreme theming, I can see how the Contemporary would be disappointing for them.

[DigitalGypsy66]

We did WDW in June 2014. Absolute misery with the heat and thunderstorms. I was 9 years younger, and had trouble with it lol. And I've been in the south since 1990, so I thought I was acclimated to heat and humidity. That and the strollers/wheelchairs almost sent me over the edge.

I wonder if with the way things are getting hotter and more severe storms, if they will expand hours into the night/early morning? Maybe even close the parks during the hottest part of the day? I'm not sure how that would work, clearing it out for a few hours, but that might be the way to go.

[tifosi77]

That would be tough, because after hours is prime time for special (*ahem* paid) events.

[nocera]

There was one extended evening hours at MK until 12 last week. Every park had extended morning hours, opening a half hour early for resort guests. There were two paid after hour events at Hollywood and Epcot that we skipped out on. The key is to hold off on doing the shows until mid day to escape the worst of the heat. Some people recommend returning to your resort for a break but **** that.

[Shyster]

Because I grew up with a divorced mother and an absentee father who tried very hard to pay a minimum of child support, a single trip Disney World was pretty much the only major vacation we took when I was growing up. I was maybe around 12 or so. Old enough that there was no "magic" for me in the characters or setting, although I was interested in technological aspects of how the whole place was run. Like, I would have liked a tour through the underground infrastructure more than actually going on any of the rides. We went in August, and it was hot and humid as all balls. I thought the restaurants we picked out that were outside of Disney World/Epcot were better than the ones in, and I've never seen any reason to go back. If I'm going to Florida, I'm going to eat Cuban food in Miami, not going to a crowded theme park that costs a fortune.

The only these park I might be interesting in going to would be Ghibli Park in Nagoya, Japan. But I'd still rather go to a nice museum than just about any theme park. Plus, the museum will be air conditioned.

[DigitalGypsy66]

I would imagine Disney World in August would be absolute misery. I don't blame you for not wanting to go back there.

[nocera]

Also assuming you’re around my age, you were in Disney World in the early-mid 90s. That’s before even the paper fast pass system. A lot has changed since then and I wonder if you’d enjoy it more that you don’t have to stand in lines. The food has also greatly improved.

That said, I have a feeling you’d still hate it. Which is fine. It’s obviously not everybody’s idea of a good time.

[RonnieFranchise]

My parents were both teachers and we had to go during the summer. My grandparents lived in Ocala so we had a place to stay. We went every third year from 1980-1992.

Maybe part of my current Disney aversion is that I just remember it being miserably hot every time (I was 9 in 1980). My kid sister who was 2 then is a huge disneyhead, though.

[nocera]

Yeah my wife is a teacher so we’re unfortunately limited to summer and spring break (which is insanely busy and wouldn’t be worth the trip). I’d love to go in February or early November.

[meow]

We went the last week in January and it was perfect. We won’t be able to do that anymore because mini meow is old enough for standardized testing so we don’t want to pull him for a week. We thought about doing the week before or after Christmas, but assume it would be bonkers there

[nocera]

We went the last week in January and it was perfect. We won’t be able to do that anymore because mini meow is old enough for standardized testing so we don’t want to pull him for a week. We thought about doing the week before or after Christmas, but assume it would be bonkers there

Yep. Holidays and spring break are the absolute worst times to visit. Much busier than summer. In fact, Magic Kingdom often reaches capacity during spring break/Christmas and has to turn people away.

[tifosi77]

The Disney parks are quite obviously ridiculous things for childless adults to indulge. Which is exactly why they're so fun, if you're willing to give in to it.

[NAN]

Well be doing 2 days at Disney in August before our cruise. Not looking forward to the heat and humidity. But we love disney.

[nocera]

Man I had a hard time squeezing everything in with 4 days. What are your park plans?

[NAN]

Man I had a hard time squeezing everything in with 4 days. What are your park plans?

We are doing epcot and magic Kingdom. We've been there like 5 times with our kids already so it's just more of a "casual" visit. We aren't trying to hit up everything.

[nocera]

Are you doing the Castaway Cay cruise?

[NAN]

Are you doing the Castaway Cay cruise?

Yep!

[Shyster]

Also assuming you’re around my age, you were in Disney World in the early-mid 90s. That’s before even the paper fast pass system. A lot has changed since then and I wonder if you’d enjoy it more that you don’t have to stand in lines. The food has also greatly improved.

That said, I have a feeling you’d still hate it. Which is fine. It’s obviously not everybody’s idea of a good time.

Would have been maybe 1990 or so. We went to the Typhoon Lagoon water park on one day, and I remember that being pretty much brand new, and Wikipedia says that opened in 1989. It was certainly still in the era where the various attractions at EPCOT were still supposed to be educational and futuristic. I thought the Mexican restaurant in the pyramid was mediocre even though it was one of the hardest to get into, and the Norway restaurant was by far the best. I see that restaurant is now some sort of Disney princess thing, but when we were there is was all hardcore Norwegian cuisine with all of the cheese and rye bread and pickled fish you'd ever want. I remember feeling kinda bad for the people working there because it was mostly empty while other restaurants were jammed, but the food was superb. I recall the waitress was kinda "You sure?" when my brother and I both went nuts ordering all the herring, but my mother said, "Don't worry, they'll eat it." And we did.

[shoeshine boy]

The Disney parks are quite obviously ridiculous things for childless adults to indulge. Which is exactly why they're so fun, if you're willing to give in to it.

I have a few friends that are Disney fanatics. they go multiple times a year. they all have kids but I swear, they use the kids as the excuse to go to WDW, not that the kids are constantly nagging them to go.

[nocera]

Disney World is no place for children.

[LITT]

There was one extended evening hours at MK until 12 last week. Every park had extended morning hours, opening a half hour early for resort guests. There were two paid after hour events at Hollywood and Epcot that we skipped out on. The key is to hold off on doing the shows until mid day to escape the worst of the heat. Some people recommend returning to your resort for a break but **** that.

two questions on the extended hours for deluxe:
- which parks have extended hours and on what days
- how do they confirm that you are supposed to be there? asked another way, the day we were at MK and staying at the Grand we just walked in to tomorrowland and went crazy. could anyone stay if they just knew what days were extended?

[nocera]

There was one extended evening hours at MK until 12 last week. Every park had extended morning hours, opening a half hour early for resort guests. There were two paid after hour events at Hollywood and Epcot that we skipped out on. The key is to hold off on doing the shows until mid day to escape the worst of the heat. Some people recommend returning to your resort for a break but **** that.

two questions on the extended hours for deluxe:
- which parks have extended hours and on what days
- how do they confirm that you are supposed to be there? asked another way, the day we were at MK and staying at the Grand we just walked in to tomorrowland and went crazy. could anyone stay if they just knew what days were extended?

So every park had early morning hours for all resort guests. I believe they were all a half hour early entry. Doesn't seem like much, but it'll get you a quick rope drop ride plus another super short queue for your second ride. It's not just Deluxe but it's definitely worth it.

Evening hours on our week for Deluxe only: EPCOT was Monday, Magic Kingdom was Wednesday. It ran from 9 pm - 11pm at EPCOT and 10 pm - 12 am at MK. There are cast members standing at the entrance of every ride who will scan your ticket/magic band before allowing you access. We saw a lot of people turned away after scanning. Queue times were definitely shorter than usual, but not nearly as short as the After Hours event we did in 2018. Speaking of... the ticketed After Hours were Wednesday at Hollywood Studios and Thursday at EPCOT but we did not attend. They're expensive but if you're looking to do a lot of rides with walk on waits, that's the way to go.

[LITT]

interesting. when we did the evening extended hours, they werent checking naything. it was also pouring way so they probably dgaf

[nocera]

The Deluxe only evening hours were new to us this time. I believe last time we were there it was for all resort guests. But yeah, they were really strict with checking before the rides. There were a lot of confused and angry people getting turned away.