Trip 8/7-8/17 Disney, 8/18 - 8/22 Universal
I had considered canceling based on all of the negative reviews. So glad I didn't. It was a great trip.
We didn't miss Fast Pass at all. The first part of the trip lines were longer than we were used to but the lines moved. And ...I don't know... the fact that everyone was in the same line, that the line wasn't a result of poor planning on my part or my inability to get a fast pass, the fact that everyone was in the same line, just made it more tolerable. The back half of the trip, the crowd just disappeared. FOP was almost a walk one at 1:40pm. The posted wait was 15 minutes, but we walked straight through the queue, waited for one group and then it was our turn. For the last 3 days of the trip we didn't even rope drop; it just wasn't necessary.
I am so glad that the new system..Genie & Lightning...wasn't in place for our trip. It doesn't sound at all appealing to me and I am glad that I wasn't trying to figure out something new at the last minute.
I missed the characters. I don't understand why more aren't available for for distanced photos. Over 10 days, I saw Buzz at MK once, and Mary Poppins at Epcot once.
Despite the low waits, fireworks at MK were mobbed on the 3 nights we were there. It was insanely crowded. We saw them once, 8/12, in the garden in front of Casey's, arriving at 730 mostly because we were tired. Great view. On 8/17, a day that had very low wait times all day, my daughter and I headed to the hub around 820...just looking for any spot. It was the biggest crowd I had ever seen. I don't know where all of these people came from. Since it was so empty that day, I didn't think we would need to stake out a spot early. We approached from Tomorrowland and the employees just screamed at us to leave the park via the route behind the Main St stores, over and over again. They wouldn't let anyone try to find a spot. It was overwhelming. We ended up watching the fireworks from the Tomorrowland bridge which is a rather bad view.