WDW July 2009: Final thoughts

It was a month ago that I started getting ready for my trip to Walt Disney World. Wait, who am I kidding: I started researching the place for months, back on October 2008. I feared that due to the vast amount or land WDW occupied, that it would be more structured and less spontaneous then a trip to Disneyland.

And it was partly true. We barely park hopped, except for when we went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours at night about twice. The dining plan also made the vacation more structured. It seemed like sometimes people were to preoccupied with food to concetrate on the resort.

Oh, and about the resort- sure, it's nice that WDW is on it's own parcel of land, without anyone around for miles. But that's also part of the problem. The Magic Kingdom location, with the hotels around the Seven Seas Lagoon make that area indeed feel like a resort. But everything else is too far away. If things were closer to each other, then it would be better.

That's what makes Disneyland feel like a resort. Everything is right next to each other. Even though it's a little cramped, and a you're surrounded by a thriving city that can be seen from some rides, it feels more like resort in the proximity of everything.

I don't mean for this to sound like I'm trying to compare WDW to Disneyland. I've tried to stay clear of that for the most part. I hope it doesn't look like I hate WDW either, because I enjoyed it. Just to recap, my favorite parks in order were:
1). Epcot
2). Magic Kingdom
3). Animal Kingdom
4). DIsney's Hollywood Studios

Now, many hotels and all of the parks need work, especially DHS. I hope that when I go back there, all the parks, even Epcot will be improved.

Until then, I look towards Anaheim to become excited about my return to the Happiest Place on Earth. Until then, this blog will have to satisfy me.

Walt Disney World July 2009- Disney's Hollywood Studios

I went in to this park win low expectations. And it's a good thing I did.


DHS is in a state of disrepair. It has only a few rides (about 6) and a ton of short shows that don't constantly play ( around 15 of these). It's setup is also disorganized, with the two biggest rides- Tower of Terror and Rock'n'roller Coaster- are right next to each other, causing huge amounts of congestion.

They do have Toy Story Midway Mania there, but it's odd and with a Fastpass you don't even pass Mr. Potatoehead. Even though I think it fits DCAs theme better, this was my favorite ride in the park.
The Great Movie ride has to be updated. Most of those movies I have not seen and or heard of. I would suggest putting in just Disney movies into the ride. And it's such a shame that the beautiful building it's in is covered by that ugly hat, which is more or less just a merchandise stand.
Honestly, this park is worse then DCA. The only thing that saved the day was the 50s Prime Time Cafe, which I will discuss in a future post. DHS needs a lot of work. Unfortunately, Disney didn't fix it up before putting Animal Kingdom in, which not only causes problems for this park, but for that one, too.