I hope I finish this one....Trip Report!!***updated 04/09/08***

[Dav2205]

It's that time again. Time to get excited for another trip to Walt Disney World :lmao: .

Now I did start a trip report for my trip last September, but due to illness/uni starting back and general forgetfullness of what we did (I didn't take notes - shame on me!!) I kind of gave up after day 2 or 3. Having learned my lesson though, I'm back and more organised than ever :thumbsup2 .

Lemme just make a quick recap of our trip last September. We went for a week to the AKL with free dining. It's probably easy to work out that we had a total blast!!! The dining plan was great, we're usually a family that would mostly eat counter service meals and would generally go in June/July. Having the opportunity to try so many great eating places and not having it really interfere with our park time as it was a slower part of year was so refreshing :) . We knew that we would have to do it again!

So when the Free Dining package was announced again for this year, we snapped it up. Unfortunately our first choice of AKL was unavailable when we booked for the package so we went for POFQ instead. We already visited this hotel in 2001. It was our first on site stay and it holds a special place in our hearts as it was also our first trip away without my dad (my mum and dad separated in 2000) and after a bit of nervousness on my mum's part we had an unforgettable trip.

You may think that this trip is pretty much going to be a carbon copy of our trip last year? Well you'd be quite wrong, because there was one major difference. This year we would be joined by my Stepdad, and he is not what you would call a Disney fan :rotfl: .

So without further ado, the cast for the trip -

Me - 19 years old. Is dreading turning 20 so I have taken to telling everyone I'll be 19+1. Currently at University studying Maths + Computer Science and having a blast. There's no place I'd rather be than WDW :D .

DB - My wee brother, 15 years old. HE's the thrill seeker. Will try anything and usually drags me with him whether I like it or not. Likes getting his own way, so teenage hormones can sometimes be an issue ;) .

DM - My mum, 25 years old (;) ). Loves Disney World, said the happiest place on earth is more than a simple marketing campaign. Likes to plan but leaves the research up to the more computer literate me :surfweb: .

DSF - My stepdad. Huge cynic of this holiday. Is really only going to please my mum, and I'll explain in the next chapter (which will probably be up tonight) where his cynicism came from and how we managed to convince him this trip was a good idea.

So that's the four of us. I'll be posting info about our itinerary, ADRs and other random stuff in the next 5 months till the trip. I'm sure I can find loads to talk about Disney wise. What will be told? Well you just have to wait and see ;) :rotfl2: .


Index

Background Info - Post #1
How we convinced the Disney cynic - Post #10
ADRs and our basic itinerary - Post #15
International Program thoughts - Post #19
Some small ramblings - Post #25
Random stuff/My Favourites - Post #30
Day 1!! - Post #36
Day 2- Post #40

[jjk]

great start,looking forward to reading more:goodvibes

[natalielongstaff]

Fab start :thumbsup2 looking forward to more !

[Strommie]

Great start:thumbsup2

[jen_uk]

Looking forward to hearing more :goodvibes

[The Fetherstons]

:thumbsup2 Good start, Looking forward to the next:thumbsup2

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Looking forward to hearing how you all lured your Stepdad over to the dark side:darth:

[DisneyJo]

Sounds great, what are your dates? We're at POR from 14th to 28th August :thumbsup2

[mark&sue]

can't wait to read more


susan

[Dav2205]

Thank you for all the kind comments :) . I'm going to try and update this every couple of days, either with some info about the trip, our fav Disney things, amusing stories about our Disney experiences or just stuff about my life to keep this going :goodvibes .

Sounds great, what are your dates? We're at POR from 14th to 28th August

We'll be there from the 23rd to 30th August. We very well may share a bus one day :lmao: .

How we got a Disney cynic to agree to go to the world

A bit of background is needed here first of all. DB and DM have been to Florida 4 times between 1997-2007. I have been 5 times (I went with 3 of my friends in August 2006 - best holiday ever!). DSF has never been to Florida, heck he has never visited the US.

His perfect holiday could be summed up in one that he took in summer 2006 when the rest of us went to Florida (I know I went twice in a year, how lucky am i? :cool1: ). DSF went to the Alps for two weeks and by the end he had climbed Mont Blanc with a group of complete strangers he had only just met. He is an avid climber, and while he can't understand our love for Florida we can't understand his love of climbing a mountain :lmao: . It throws up some interesting conversations, a classic being me or DB claiming that we have climbed four mountains in Florida the last few trips and at least we've been to Everest ;) . He has always viewed WDW as very commercial and even described it as 'too fake' for his liking to our total horror.

Getting him on this trip took multiple tactics -

Tactic 1 - Good old fashioned bribery DM had possibly the best tactic. It wasn't total bribery, there was a bit of good old fashioned guilt thrown in there as well. Hints of "Why won't you just come once?" "It's our favourite family holiday. Why won't you come with us?" and "Just think of all the things I do for you that I'd rather not?" chipped away at him for many weeks and surely contributed to his agreeance.

The bribery part was simple - if he agreed to come to Florida, DM said she would go on a holiday he wanted to go on in June while I'm on holiday with friends in Spain and DB is away with his friend's family to Holland both for two weeks. So literally last week they booked to go away to the French alps for a week to do some walking and sightseeing. DM never tires of bringing up what she had to do for this holiday to us :rotfl: .

Tactic 2 - Do some stuff he'd be interested in DSF has actually been to Disneyland Paris with us. I'll just have to say, he hated Disneyland Park but funnily enough enjoyed the Studios park much more! This was only a year after it opened as well and there was barely anything there. So it was clear that we needed to point out things he would enjoy. I went onto the WDW website, and started showing him Epcot (specifically Soarin, Test Track and World Showcase), MGM (Both stunt shows) and Animal Kingdom (Safari, Festival of the Lion King and the trails.). I didn't really bother showing him what was in the Magic Kingdom as this was the exact stereotype of Disney he didn't enjoy but he'll just have to deal with it when we get there.

He's also hugely interested in space travel, so he and DM will be visiting Kennedy Space Centre as this was the one thing he said that if he went he REALLY wanted to do, and who are we to deny him of it? DB and I will be visiting Universal Orlando on this day as we're old enough to be let loose for at least a day and will just meet up later. A visit to the much-hyped-in-our-family Cirque du Soleil was also promised ;) .

Tactic 3 - FREE FOOD!!!!! This was an easy one. DSF loves to exercise and eat healthily, but the minute we step off a plan on holiday he becomes a greedy sod :rotfl2: . I swear when we visited Canada he didn't stop eating for the two and a half weeks we were there! He even put DB and I to shame which is no mean feat!

When we came home from our free dining trip last year, DM broke it down and explained that we were paying ~£80 per person per night (I may be slightly wrong on this) which included flights, accommodation to a deluxe hotel, tickets into the Disney theme parks and basically all our meals and snacks. Even DSF had to admit that it was an impressive deal! I'm sure he was also licking his lips at the prospect of Le Cellier and Califoria Grill after our glowing reviews last year :) . I realise that this year due to the dining plan changes it isn't quite as good a deal, but we still thought it was good enough to hold off til the end of August to go. I'm also hoping that the mega summer crowds have at least died down a little. Wishful thinking? I sure hope not :lmao: .

Anyway, it appears that a combination of these three factors resulted in DSF relenting and agreeing to join us on this trip! This is merely phase one of my bigger plan. By the 30th August I fully intend to have him scouting for hidden mickeys and be sporting his own highly fashionable Mickey ears! :rotfl: . And hey even if he decides WDW isn't for him at least he tried it and got to stuff his face for 7 days :laughing: .


Well, that's it for this second installment. I will most likely post another update tomorrow as Uni is slow at the moment. Will either be an ADR post, Itinerary post or simply something about my favourite Disney stuff :thumbsup2 :thumbsup2 .

Until then, I hope you are enjoying my Pre Trip Report and will stay with me for the long haul :) .

[jjk]

fully intend to have him scouting for hidden mickeys and be sporting his own highly fashionable Mickey ears! . And hey even if he decides WDW isn't for him at least he tried it and got to stuff his face for 7 days .


excellent,this had me laughing out loud good luck:goodvibes

[Minniespal]

Looking forward to reading more:thumbsup2

[arieljasmine]

Enjoying your trip report, especially hearing about how you convinced your stepdad to go on the trip. You can't beat free food :goodvibes

Laur's princess:

[wicket2005]

Excellent start, looking forward to reading more. I hope your stepdad ends up loving his holiday.

[Dav2205]

ADRs and basic itinerary

The ADRs are booked :cool1: . DM did it yesterday and we got everything we wanted. Below are the places we'll be eating and a basic idea of what we'll be doing each day.

Saturday 23rd August

Flight from Glasgow-Orlando Sanford with MyTravel. We depart Glasgow at 11am and will land in Orlando around 3pm.
Transfer to Port Orleans French Quarter. We need some advice here. Last year we transferred by coach and HATED it. It was uncomfortable, took ages and the pickup time coming back was horrid. We want to preferably go by towncar this year, and need some recommendations of companies to transfer with from Sanford :).
Anyway we're hoping to have checked in at POFQ and in the room for realistically 5:30-6:00. Then it will be a q quiet first night. We hope to hit House of Blues in DTD tonight as I've always wanted to eat here :goodvibes . Then it will be a short look around DTD and hopefully an early night.

Sunday 24th August

Our first full day in Disney - YAY!!!! :cool1:

It's sort of a family tradition to go to Animal Kingdom on our first day, and this trip is no exception. We love this park, and have spent 2 days at it in the past. I don't agree at all that it is a park to bomb round and get out by lunch. We'll hit all our favourite attractions, which is pretty much everything but the fairground attractions in Dinoland. Our plan for lunch will be to cash in a Counter Service credit at Pizzafari. We were one of the mourners when Tusker House changed, and don't like the look of Flame Tree BBQ so Pizza it is.
We'll head to Epcot at night for an 8:05 ADR at Le Cellier. Last year we only managed to get a lunch reservation here so we're looking forward to see what the dinner menu holds in store :).

Monday 25th August

The plan of today is to go to DHS. This is another park we can definitely spend the whole day on, riding everything except from TOT (What can I say, we can be wusses sometimes :rotfl: ) DB and I love RnRC though, but my all favourite attraction at DHS is still Muppetvision 3D. IT may be old and perhaps even a little outdated, but it's as charming and really funny. I also think it's different enough to Philharmagic that it can coexist with it.

As we dislike pretty much all the DHS counter service options bar Pizza Planet, we'll be going to the Sci-Fi for lunch. This gets mixed reviews on the DIS, but we love it. I think you just have to take it for what it is, a burger joint with a great atmosphere. We kept it simple with what we ordered and had a great meal.

We'll then wrap up the rest of our attractions and either have a CS at Pizza Planet before Fantasmic or hold off til we get back to the hotel. I have to say that Fantasmic is my all time favourite thing at WDW. The first time I saw it I was completely blown away and mesmerised by it. Repeat viewings have not affected the magic at all :) .

Tuesday 26th August

We'll start today with a character breakfast at Chef Mickeys. We always do one character breakfast per trip. Chef Mickey lets us meet the big 5 in the best comfort possible with OK food to boot. The atmosphere may be chaotic but we feel that just serves to wake us up :rotfl: .

Today's our Magic Kingdom day. Well I say day, it never really turns out that way. You see with what will be a 16 year old and a 20 year old male in tow, quite a few MK attractionsare eliminated automatically. Some are done through sheer enjoyment (Buzz, Splash, Pirates, BTM, Philharmagic), others through nostalgia (Space, Peter Pan). The Haunted Mansion never bothered us before but I want to see what it's like after the rehab.

I'm also thinking of subjecting my stepfather to one of the following 3 attractions - Carousel of Progress, Hall of Presidents or American Adventure. Your answers on a postcard :P .

We will probably be done in MK by 3pm,well we hopefully will, as we wanted to get a quick late lunch at RFC. This is another place that gets varying reviews, but we've never had a bad meal and feel that if we can get there around 4:30 wait time will be minimal compared to later on that night.

This is where we'll split up for the first time on the trip. We decided to let the adults have a little alone time, so they'll be doing Cirque du Soleil tonight while DB and I will go to Disney Quest for a few hours :) . DB will entertain himself with the arcade games and I hope to get some internet time to catch up with friends etc.

We'll then meet up and head to Wolfgang Puck Express, our favourite counter service, before heading back to the hotel and calling it a night :).

Wednesday 27th August

Today is our day of (partial) rest ;). There's a few things we like to do on our quieter days. The first thing is mini golf. DB is supremely competitive and does not like to lose, but hey I can't help being so good at mini golf now can I :lmao: . We usually go to the Fantasia course, as it is within walking distance of the boardwalk. We'll most likely go to ESPN for an OOP lunch here. I love their chicken wings and nachos :love: .

It's not a very exciting day, after lunch we'll head back to the hotel so DB can go for a swim and the rest of us can relax and have a drink or two (non alcoholic for myself of course :rolleyes: , seriously 21 to drink? That is a rant for another day though :rotfl2: ).

We have a 7:15pm resi for Jiko this evening. There was two major reasons for this booking - first of all we really wanted to go back and visit AKL as it was incredible last . Secondly, we'd looked at Jiko a few times while staying at the lodge but didn't have enough credits left over so went to Boma instead. This time we made sure to keep credits so we could try this out :) . We have nothing planned after Jiko, probably just head back to the hotel and relax and prepare for a busy next day.

Thursday 28th August

This is our split day for the group. DM and DSF are heading on a joint Kennedy Space Centre Tour and Alligator Boat Ride. This will mean they are gone from around 8am to 7pm.

On this day DB and I will head to USF for a 2 park marathon day. Our aim is to hit every attraction we want to ride AND stop in for a burger at lunchtime at Margaritaville. The plan is to first head to IOA - we'll try and hit (in this order) Hulk, Spiderman, Popeye, Dudley do Rights, Jurassic Park, Duelling Dragons. We hope that we have enough time for a short walk to hopefully dry out before lunch.

As we'll be paying for it, Margaritaville will be a nothing fancy burger and soft drink affair :rotfl: . It's amazing what happens when we have to pay for something ourselves isn't it ;) .

After Margaritaville we'll head to USO. There are a few attractions here we aren't too bothered about, for example Twister and Jaws. Hopefully we have enough time to go on Mummy, Men in Black and also try out the new Simpsons and renovated Earthquake rides.

If we make it back before the others, we've agreed to go to Disney Quest for a bit and meet DM and DSF in DTD for another dinner at WPE (what can I say, we can't get enough of it :rotfl: .)

Friday 29th August

Our last full day :( . We'll be going to Epcot today, doing all the main attractions in Future World first using the old get there early and run to Soarin tactic before doing Test Track etc. I will admit that I tried Mission Space Orange last time and didn't care for it at all so we will be giving that one a miss. I hope to have lunch in either the UK or Japan's counter service options :) .

The rest of the day will then be spent touring world showcase before heading back to the hotel to freshen up for our 8:00 res at California Grill. We did this last year and loved it, and thought that it would be a great way to finish our stay. The greatness of the food will hopefully help keep our minds off the long day we have ahead the next day.

Saturday 30th August

Our leaving day :( . We won't have to do much more than have breakfast in the hotel then another quick look around before we are picked up for our 5pm flight home :(.

So that's our basic itinerary. It'll probably change a bit before we go, and we're not that commando in that we schedule everything we do. As long as we have an idea of where we're going and some dining plans we'll be fine.


So, to recap, our dining plans -

Saturday 23rd August

Dinner - House of Blues

Sunday 24th August

Breakfast - Snack at POFQ
Lunch - Counter Service at Pizzafari (AK)
Dinner - Le Cellier at Epcot

Monday 25th August

Breakfast - Snack at POFQ
Lunch - Sci Fi Diner at DHS
Dinner - Pizza Planet or POFQ Food Court

Tuesday 26th August

Breakfast - Chef Mickey at Contemporary
Lunch - Rainforest Cafe DTD
Dinner - Counter Service WPE DTD

Wednesday 27th August

Breakfast - Snack at POFQ
Lunch - ESPN cafe
Dinner - Jiko at AKL

Thursday 28th August

Breakfast - Counter Service at POFQ
Lunch - Margaritaville
Dinner - Counter Service WPE DTD

Friday 29th August

Breakfast - Snack at POFQ
Lunch - Counter Service at World Showcase (Epcot)
Dinner - California Grill at Contemporary

Saturday 30th August

Breakfast - Counter Service at POFQ


Up next - I'm applying for the WDW International Program :eek: . All my thoughts on it :)

[DisneyJo]

We're at AK on Sunday 24th and Tuesday 26th at MK so yeah we may share a bus, look for my LGMH's :rotfl:

[arieljasmine]

Sounds like you a have great trip planned, loads of excitement and great food. Looking forward to hearing all about the international program :thumbsup2

Laur's princess:

[jjk]

sounds like a great trip:thumbsup2

[Dav2205]

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't updated this in a while after trying to commit to regular updates :) .

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Loads of nights out (I love the Uni social life :lmao: ) and just general business have meant I literally haven't had the time to update this. I also got some good news today. My university has just relaunched their radio station and my friend and I applied. Lo and behold today I got a reply saying we have a trial run next week with a look to a permanent slot :goodvibes . Definitely looking forward to it to say the least!

Anyway, I was going to talk about something Disney related, and I think it'll have to be the international program as it's on my mind CONSTANTLY at the moment :rotfl2: .

The first time I became really interested in the IP was my trip last year. I had noticed a LOT more British people scattered all over the world and not just located in the United Kingdom pavilion at Epcot. Two examples I can remember is a guy from Glasgow loading at Pirates of the Carribean and the man checking us in at California Grill was from Aberdeen. This got me thinking, not all of these people can actually be living in Florida permanently can they?? My head was literally buzzing for the rest of the holiday thinking about this.

My original plan was to try and go this summer, but I soon came to the conclusion that I'll only be 20 and I'd wait a year so I can go to the bars and clubs and get y'know the full experience :lmao: .

I looked up a few sites -

disneyinternationalprograms.com
wdwip.com

to get some more info. I first of all thought that if you're only going over for a limited amount of time that I could only work in the UK pavilion in Epcot. This didn't thrill me because I didn't particularly want to work there, mostly because I really wanted to work in attractions and of course the UK pavilion doesn't have any! My mind was put to rest though on the DIS college boards when I found out that the International College Program allows candidates to work anywhere on property :thumbsup2.

So, I've been giving a lot of thought to where I'd like to end up if I did get through (even though I've not even to apply til September!) and I came up with these. I'd love your opinions on them, and I tried to put in my absolute favourite attractions with one or two of my 'loved but not so obvious' picks. This is mainly because I know with the obvious attractions they're likely to be requested by a lot of people, and I really don't want to end up on It's a Small World or something like that if it's avoidable :rotfl: .

Pirates of the Carribean - Has been my absolute favourite attraction since the first time I went to Disneyland Paris and rode it close to 20 times in 3 days. It's just a totally immersive attraction.

Haunted Mansion - I'm mostly intrigued by it because if you're in the right role it appears that you have to play in character which sounds brilliant!

Splash Mountain - obvious reasons really. Great attraction, one of the busiest on property and looks like it would be great fun.

Muppetvision 3d - right this is the wild card. It's getting on a bit now so I'm guessing it wouldn't be the most obvious of choices?? But I love, love, love it even though it doesn't have the technical brilliance of say Philharmagic. I also think it still has one of the absolute best pre shows around!

So that's pretty much it for my choices, I'd still have loads to sort out if I got in and the thought of it is a tad overwhelming! But I won't get a chance like this again like ever so I'm going to go for it and hope for the best. I'm in absolutely no doubt that I'll love it if I get in :) .

I'll try and update again soon, have no idea what I'll be posting about but it's Disney so it's all good :thumbsup2 .

[2ScottishPrincesses]

If I were you I'd definately try for Haunted Mansion '*** as yous say it would be :cool1: to be one of the creepy characters:thumbsup2

[Morgstar]

Dav2205,

Thought id voice an opinion or two as my DGF did the international Programme before we met. We now go back at least once a year and she regularly meets up for weekends with the people she met over there.:cool1:

First of all, whilst it might seem cool to work on one of the attractions im not sure how much you can request them and the great majority of Brits working out there are in the uk Pavillion or in a resort. I know friends of my DGF who have managed to get another Visa and go back out and they have been placed on attraction or in resorts because it is very unusual to allow you to work in the UK Pavillion twice rather then them requesting it.

Also from what i know you really want to be a server or in the bar in the rose and crown because thats where all the money is, TIPS!:thumbsup2

I know that the servers earn enough to go out every night and take short trips. Where as others struggled to make ends meet while enjoying a great lifestyle. My DGF was a server and she always goes on that she has never been as well off as she was in disney.

I can tell you that if you do make it out there you will really enjoy yourself and make friends for life form all over the UK.

Good luck with getting a place on the programme.

[Minniespal]

Great start ~ Looking forward to reading more:thumbsup2

[Tammy Stringer]

What an interesting pre-trip report - loads of great detail.

Can't wait to hear if your DSF actually buys into the whole Disney thing - ears, Tshirt etc., before you leave - have you tried hypnotism:rotfl:

Tammy

[arieljasmine]

Loved reading your thoughts on the college program - I love Muppets 3D too! I think it definitely has the best pre-show - sometimes I am the only person laughing :rotfl: Lots of luck with your application.

Laur's princess:

[Dav2205]

Thanks for all the feedback folks :) .

Dav2205,

Thought id voice an opinion or two as my DGF did the international Programme before we met. We now go back at least once a year and she regularly meets up for weekends with the people she met over there.:cool1:

First of all, whilst it might seem cool to work on one of the attractions im not sure how much you can request them and the great majority of Brits working out there are in the uk Pavillion or in a resort. I know friends of my DGF who have managed to get another Visa and go back out and they have been placed on attraction or in resorts because it is very unusual to allow you to work in the UK Pavillion twice rather then them requesting it.

Also from what i know you really want to be a server or in the bar in the rose and crown because thats where all the money is, TIPS!:thumbsup2

I know that the servers earn enough to go out every night and take short trips. Where as others struggled to make ends meet while enjoying a great lifestyle. My DGF was a server and she always goes on that she has never been as well off as she was in disney.

I can tell you that if you do make it out there you will really enjoy yourself and make friends for life form all over the UK.

Good luck with getting a place on the programme.

Thanks very much Morgstar, some great info there :thumbsup2 .

To be honest, I don't really care where I'd end up because well I'm at Walt Disney World for Pete's sake :lmao:! I wish just thinking of what would make it quite simply the best experience ever, and to me that would be attractions. The differences in pay does make me think about applying for server work though, I'll definitely put it down as one of my other choices if I get the option :) .

***Short Update - for I have a spare 20minutes and can't seem to sleep :lmao: ***

I'm off University til a week on Monday, then it's nearing exam time once again :( . Can't believe after these exams I'm halfway through my course, scary stuff!


The next few months are going to fly by methinks. My last exam is on the 30th of June, then I head to Spain with 15(!) friends for two weeks from 19th June to 3rd July. Got T in the Park 11th-13th then only 6 weeks or so till I get to go 'home' to WDW :lovestruc .

I was talking to my mum earlier, and she's a little disappointed we didn't hang back and book free dining through the American WDW site. Main reasons for this are -

- We stayed at AKL last year and we absolutely ADORE the resort but couldn't seem to book it on the UK offer?
- I'm assuming the weak dollar may have made it slightly cheaper than normal.

Anyways there's no use crying over it, we're going to POFQ so I'm hardly going to complain :rotfl: . I love this resort because it just seems more intimate than some of the other moderates, probably due to it's size. I really enjoyed my brief stay at CSR a few years ago but found it rather daunting in size at times.

I think I'm going to write something more in depth tomorrow, possibly at work ;) . I work as a call centre rep for Virgin Media part time at the weekends, which can be rather soul destroying at times and lord knows the DIS can help me through the day! :rotfl2:

Till then,adios! :)

[jockey]

Your plans look great :)

[natalielongstaff]

I think I'm going to write something more in depth tomorrow, possibly at work ;) . I work as a call centre rep for Virgin Media part time at the weekends, which can be rather soul destroying at times and lord knows the DIS can help me through the day! :rotfl2:

Till then,adios! :)

:lmao: we are with Virgin, the call centre staff ive spoken too are very helpful :thumbsup2

im really enjoying your trippie :)

[jtlover]

Your trip sounds great - you are going to love Jiko - it was our best meal and the service there is the best on wdw site!:thumbsup2

[mandymouse]

Your plans sound great, have fun with the rest of your planning :thumbsup2

[Dav2205]

Has it been over a month already? Jeezo, time sure flies. Sorry I've been neglecting this, had a mound of Uni exams which are thankfully almost out the way now :).

Got my 20th birthday on Thursday, exciting and scary at the same time. Fells like I'll be a proper adult, but I don't think I'm ready yet :lmao: .

I don't know how much this is going to have to do with my trip in August, I'lltry to think of something to put in.

Basically a few friends and I managed to get a cheap holiday to Paris for August 4th-6th, so you know what that means? Yes, Disneyland Paris! :) It's been a good few years since I was there, WDS was just open and looking very sparse and I hear it's already much improved so I'm looking forward to seeing what the changes are like. I also prefer some of the DLP versions of rides, namely Pirates, so it should be fun to compare them especially when I'm going to both so soon after each other.

Just thought of something to write about,

Favourite Attractions!

Me - Picking a favourite attraction at WDW is like asking me to pick my favourite flavour of ice cream :rotfl2: , and I'm afraid there's three that I just can't choose between. Two are at MK, one at DHS. Can you guess what they are?

The first is a common choice, Splash Mountain. I realise that there are more thrilling water rides in Florida (at IOA for example), but none of them have the character of Splash. It's theming is fantastic, it tells a story, and has a good drop with a fantastic view at the top, especially at night! I also like it because while I usually get wet on it, I won't normally get soaked to the skin :) .

Next is at MK also, probably not such a typical choice. I'm talking bout Mickey's Philharmagic. When I first experienced this in summer 06 I really didn't know what to expect as I hadn't read up on it at all. I was actually apprehensive before I went in, as I thought it may be something based at small children given it's placement in the park. Oh how wrong I was, this attraction is Disney at it's very best and is a great nostalgia trip in the process. It has songs from all my favourite Disney films in there. I feel it is missing a few (Jungle Book anyone?), but they did a great job and it's a great addition to MK.

And the final, from DHS -

I don't know if this really counts but Fantasmic for me is the perfect way to end a perfect day at WDW. IMO none of the other night time schows quite measure up. I get a shiver down my spine every time I see Sorcerer Mickey atop the rock near the end of the show. It's just, bliss!

That'll do for now, I need to quiz my family on their favourites!

I'm also thinking on buying a guide book. Any recommendations?

[irongirlof12]

great trip planned. we did free DDP and loved it:thumbsup2.

good luck with the job thing...is it too early to put down DD11's name as she is desperate to work in WDW.:lmao:

have fun in DLP.

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for the update, sounds like you have a great trip planned to DLRP. We are off there next month and haven't visited for nearly five years, so can't wait to see how it has changed.

As for guidebooks (I have loads!) I think these ones are really good, depends what sort of thing you are looking for:

A Brit's Guide to Orlando - Simon Veness (great take on things from British point of view)

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - Bob Sehlinger (very informative and never fails to make me laugh)

Birnbaum's Walt Disney World (the official take with detailed ride descriptions and great pics)

Passporter Guide to Walt Disney World (this is great for planning as it has loads of sections to fill in and places to keep notes whilst on your trip)

Hope this helps :goodvibes

Laur's princess:

[Shazzie B]

The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World - Bob Sehlinger (very informative and never fails to make me laugh)

I'd recommend this one too, lots of great tips and info even for experienced Disney fans. Good luck in your exams and have a fantastic holiday-I'm sure DSF will enjoy it:rotfl: We're eating at Le Cellier too on 24th August-my DS favorite, DD loves the Chocolate 'Moose'. Might see you there!

[LORNA ANN]

I Love Carousel Of Progress And Have Never Missed It On A Trip Unless It Has Been Closed I KNOW ITS A LITTLE CHEESEY BUT I LOVE ALL THAT DAYS GONE BY STUFF! We Have Been Going Every Yr For 10 Yrs Sometimes Twice A Year . Love Disney So Much We Became Dvc Members 2005 !

[Lizzybear]

Sounds like a great trip you have planned.. We really liked POFQ and the CG is a great place for dinner, get a window seat if you can :thumbsup2
I sympathise on the call centre thing, my bf works in one and some of the calls he tells me about make ME want to bang my head on the nearest hard surface!! :bitelip:

[Dav2205]

So I'm back, and apologies are in order for not updating this at all in a good few months! Anyway, I'm here not with my TR, and will do it asap while it is all fresh in my mind.

We're not really a family that takes lots of photos, but I'll update with what we have when DSD has uploaded them from the camera.

So here goes....

Day 1 (Saturday 23rd August) - Flight and Arrival Night

I must preface that I was in zombie mode for the majority of this day, due to me not being able to say no to a pub night with my friends the night before we travelled. So getting in at 2 and then getting up at 5 meant that I was in daze mode for most of the day.

As I was saying, we were up and out by 6:30 onto one of those Park Safe things near Glasgow Airport which was painless and then onto check-in in the shed that is Terminal 2. Check-in was quick and simple, and we then made our way through to the airport to 'enjoy' probably the most expensive breakfast known to man. Seriously, like £7 and they don't even substitute if you don't like something, come on. I know I know, captive audience and all that.

We were unsure of what to expect for the flight, because we'd never travelled with Thomas Cook before. The previous year we flew with MyTravel who had since become part of Thomas Cook (I think :confused: ), but hoped that we would have a different plane as last years was very old. Luckily we had, and for the first time on a long haul flight I didn't feel like I was crammed in (I'm 6 feet tall with LONG legs), and we had seat back TV's and the flight left on time. I'll also say that the food was pretty decent, and we ended up arriving early. So big thumbs up for Thomas Cook Airline :thumbsup2 .

Warning - Tangent - I couldn't help but notice that the flyGlobespan flights were delayed for at least 9 hours both going and coming back from Orlando on the dates we travelled. Is there something going on with them? We used them in 2006 when they were really good value but over the years the prices have gone up and the service seems to have gone down. Glad we chose not to book with them this year.

Tangent over

Back to the main TR. We were through the joy of US Immigration and out the baggage hall at Sanford by ~3:30pm. We were greeted by our driver from Tiffany Town Cars who I must say were WONDERFUL to deal with. We have had bad experiences in the past with various bus companies picking us up at excruciatingly early times (Last year we were picked up at 10am for a 6pm flight!) and it was a joy this year to be able to choose when we wanted picked up.

We arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter about 5pm, as a torrential Thunder Storm had slowed down traffic making the journey much longer. I must say, having stayed at the Coronado Springs and seen the Carribean Beach and POR resorts, POFQ is definitely my favourite Moderate resort. There's just something so vast about the others they would mean knowing our luck we would be stuck miles away from anything, which wasn't an issue in POFQ as we were given a room in building 6 (just a few minutes walk from the main building, pool and the boat launch).

After a quick unpack and freshen up we were off to Downtown Disney. As this was our first bus ride I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here -

The bus service this year was for the most part a complete and utter shambles. There wasn't nearly enough buses to cater for the amount of people either going to or coming back from the parks at anything but the quietest times of day. Also the bus allocation was ridiculously inconsistent, for example while waiting for a bus to DTD one night, in the 45 minutes we waited (It was aroung 7pm) - We saw 1 MK bus, 2 HS and 7(!) EPCOT buses. Now this wouldn't bother me if the EPCOT buses were all packed, but 4 or 5 were totally empty. Disney need to reevaulate their bus system, although I will say I never noticed issues like this in previous years so I don't know if it's a recent thing or we were just unlucky.

Rant over :rotfl: .

Our first choice for dinner was RFC, but as is usual down there the wait time was about 2 hours and we were ravenous so gave it a miss. I tried to convince the folks House of Blues would be a good option but as we were going there for the Gospel Brunch in the morning we ended up at Planet Hollywood instead. This place gets a bad rep but we've always found the food to be fine. Being the first night and we were all hungry, we ordered a starter each. BIG MISTAKE :rotfl: .

DM got the Parmesan Spinach Dip, DSD the Potato Skins, DB the Chicken Wings and myself the Chicken Tenders. For mains DM and DSD got the Classic Cheeseburger, DB got the BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger and myself the Chicken Fajitas.

As I said above, we found the food to be fine verging on pretty good at points, and it achieved what it needed in that it filled a big hole in our stomachs after a long day of travelling :) .

Last port of call that night was to the "Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory" or the POFQ food court to you and I. One of my aims this holiday was to try the Beignets, and without really knowing what to expect I used the first Snack credit to get half a dozen. From what I can tell they were simply deep fried pastry with lots and lots of icing sugar? But at the end of the day, they were amazing. The USA can sure do brilliant pastries :cool1: .

After that it was back to the room for some King of Queens before bed with our refillable mugs. We had a big day planned for Sunday...:) :)

Next - House of Blues Gospel Brunch and Epcot with Le Cellier Dinner (Finally)

[2ScottishPrincesses]

Luvin' it so far:thumbsup2 . I can't wait to hear about the Gospel Brunch as it's something I've wanted to do for a few years and was hoping to schedule in for next years trip. :surfweb:

[arieljasmine]

Great start to your report. I love that first night feeling with all the holiday stretched out in front of you. I am looking forward to hearing about the Gospel Brunch too, something we have always been meaning to get around too.

Laur's princess:

[raph_b]

£7 for breakfast?!!? I hate airports! lol :rotfl2:

Looking forward to the Le Cellier review....

[Dav2205]

Day 2 - Gospel Brunch and Epcot

We had booked the 10:30 seating for the Gospel Brunch which I think suited the whole family as it meant we got to get up a wee bit later than we normally would here (by that I mean we got up at 8:30 :lmao: , it's usually around 7am).

After getting ready we headed to the bus stop for Downtown Disney at around 9:30. I can't be the only one in thinking that the Downtown Disney buses come with alarming irregularity, I started to wonder if they're on lower priority to the park buses. Anyway. I digest. We got to the House of Blues about 10:15 and collected our tickets. DTD is so very peaceful in the morning :) .

The HOB Gospel Brunch is held in the 'Dance Hall' at HOB, so not in the normal restaurant. It is quite pricy @ $33.50 for adults and $17.25 for kids, and bear in mind that you may be sat at a table with other families so if that's not your bag you may want to rethink this. If that doesn't bother you though, you are in for a treat because the Gospel Brunch is FANTASTIC :thumbsup2 . I'm probably the least religious person you'll meet but while there was obviously religious undertones to the songs it was never uncomfortable and the music is just so fun and upbeat that it's never an issue. The band and the singers were all great, and they had us all up on our feet clapping our hands and dancing about like madmen (which was funny as my family are quite restrained! :rotfl: ). Then there was the food which may have been the best buffet food I've ever tasted. The selection was great (you can see all the items on allears if you want, far too much to list here :rotfl2: ). I stuffed myself and still ended up missing out two or three of the stations, and the food was all great. I especially recommend you try the chicken, it was so tasty and tender. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

My recommendation is if you haven't done the Gospel Brunch before I urge you to do it. In all the show last 45 mins to an hour and started about 11:00 so you have half an hour to get some food and get settled before the show starts. You can still go and get food and juice while the show is taking place as well.

We wanted to give DSD his first experience on the monorail, so took the rather convulted route of Bus from DTD > Contemporary > Monorail to TTC > Monorail to EPCOT. We weren't in much of a rush so this was a nice route to take, and I love how you get to see into the park before you even got off the monorail :lovestruc .

First port of call was as always Soarin to see if there was any fastpasses left (It was 1:30 at this point). Luckily there was, for 4:30-5:30. Perfect, as it gave us enough time to do Test Track, Spaceship Earth (none of us had experienced it since it was re-done) and have a wee browse in Innoventions. That's exactly what we did. The Test Track had a wait time of 40 minutes, and because we didn't have much else to do we just waited in the standby line. This was some kind of record for us because every other time we've went on Test Track it has broken down at some point :lmao: . As always it was a fun ride, especially the last bit as it's great fun!

Our return time for Soarin was still a few hours away, so we had a quick browse around Innoventions which imo has seriously decreased in quality over the years. I remember from my very first trip in 1997 that it had all the latest video games and loads of fun stuff to do. Now it just seems to be a mixture of marketing for Disney's video games and educational things. This may appeal to others, but no so much to us so Innoventions took a lot less time to do than we anticipated :lmao: . Spaceship Earth had been a 5 minute wait all day so after a relaxing Diet Coke or two (and a quick trip to Club Cool...got DM and DSD to try the Beverly :rotfl: I warned DB about it though. Some of those drinks are really really sweet! I kind of enjoyed the Fanta that was sugar cane and water though!) we headed over. I can't really remember what it was like before the change as I haven't been on it since my very first trip, but it was good fun and I found the humour quite quirky sometimes which certainly appeals to my sense of humour :thumbsup2 . Soarin was the last thing we had planned before we headed over to World Showcase, and I don't think I can say anything about Soarin that hasn't been said already, except that we all thought it was fantastic and it got two huge thumbs up DSD (The Disney sceptic).

By now it was around 5pm, which left us 3 hours before our 8:05 ADR at Le Cellier. The plan was to make our way leisurely around the countries, but as always it didn't really go to plan. It was that kind of weather where the rain seemed ominous, and the rest of the family were hungry so we made our way quickly to Lotus Blossom Cafe and DB got a counter service meal. DM and DSD had grabbed a snack from the Bakery in Norway and brought it with them. We sat there a bit (we chose China because we wanted to see the acrobats in the theatre, didn't want to be too far away if the heaven's opened! :lmao: ), and the rain never really came to be so we went into the theatre to see the acrobats. From what I remember it was Chinese boys last time I saw them but this time it was girls. They were brilliant as always. Next we went to the always 'entertaining' American Adventure. We just love to laugh at the Scottish accents in it :lmao: .

The rain had finally begun but thankfully the walk to Canada wasn't too far, and the rain was surprisingly light so with a quick stop at the pub in the UK we made our way to Le Cellier. We had only been there for lunch before and it was great so we greatly looked forward to our dinner. Our server (whose name I cannot remember! :lmao: ) was attentive and knowledgable. Even though with the Free DDP we only got the entree + dessert, DM let us off the leash so we each had an appy as well :thumbsup2 . DM and myself both got the Tomato Stack which we had last year and loved it. DB had the Duck Two Ways, also as last year and thought it was great. DSD had soup, it wasn't the cheese soup but I can't remember exactly what it was :rotfl: . Said it was good though!

For Entree DB, DSD and myself had the Mushroom Filet Mignon. We all thought it was great. The flavours complimented each other perfectly and the steak was also cooked to perfection. DM had the New York Strip Steak which she also really enjoyed. For Dessert I had the Cheesecake, which was nice but a little unconventional (the biscuit was separate from the cake part if you know what I mean, I'm used to it being on the bottom of the cake :confused3 ). DM and DSD both had the Creme Brulee which they both thought was lovely, and DB had the Smores and ate every bit which probably says all that's needed. We settled up the OOP amount and the tip and made our way back out of a very peaceful EPCOT (It was about 10pm and the park closed at 9) and made our way back to our hotel as we had an early start tomorrow for DHS.

Le Cellier was one of our favourites last year when we tried it for lunch, and after this meal it remained as one of our favourites. A great dining experience and well worth the 1TS credit :thumbsup2 .

Up next...Hollywood Studios, Sci Fi Cafe and Rain Rain Rain!!!

Just as a quick aside, I sent my application away for the International College Program for Summer 09. Apparently I'll hear back in 6-8 weeks, so all going well I'll be spending next June, July and August working at WDW :goodvibes .

[arieljasmine]

What a great day. The Gospel Brunch sounds really good. We love Le Cellier too, I especially love those smores! Good luck with your application, and let us know how it goes.

Laur's princess: