GaDisneyDad
07-02-2002, 08:40 AM
Cast:
Norm (me) (39); husband, father, trip planner, scribe and photographer
Robin (39); wife and mother with veto power over trip plans, wants a more relaxed Disney trip this time (Ha!)
Kent (14); teenage son, not interested if it’s not fast, loud, or scary (preferably all three)
Whitney (13); teenage daughter, into thrill rides like her brother, but will do the others with less complaining (usually)
Setting:
7 days at Port Orleans Riverside, plus 1 offsite at Islands of Adventure (son’s favorite, of course). This is our second straight year at POR, and third WDW trip in four years. Due to finding a discounted resort rate back in January, we decide to stay longer than our usual 4 or 5 days to have more time to “stop and smell the roses”.
Scene 9 – Saturday, June 22 – “Homeward bound…and final thoughts”
I had my watch set for 7:30, but woke up before that to the sound of thunder. Very loud, and very close. I don’t think this is going to work. Islands of Adventure is my son’s favorite park, and as much as I hate to miss it myself (Spiderman ranks right up there at the top of my list with anything at Disney), I just don’t think we can handle another day sloshing through a park in ponchos. We decide to pack it in, and save our passes for another day. We roll over and go back to sleep. Good choice – we find out when we get home that Orlando got almost 3 inches of rain on Saturday, bringing the 8 day total for our visit to over 9 inches. Incredible.
Finally about 9:30, we get up and hit the road. We make a quick stop at McD’s for breakfast and then hop back on the freeway home. Somehow in getting off the exit for McD’s, I missed the exit for the turnpike and wind up going 15 or 20 minutes out of our way on I-4 before I figure out what went wrong. We turn around and head back. We’re not off to a very good start so far. Got off on the turnpike – traffic was HORRIBLE. Stop and go for several miles. I never saw any accidents, so I have to assume it was just heavy volume and the toll booths. It took over 2 hours to make it past the last toll booth and get back on I-75. Rest of trip home was uneventful.
Some final thoughts –
- Despite the rain, we still enjoyed ourselves. We pretty much managed to fit in everything we wanted to do; it just took more energy to do it than we had planned. The original plan with a 7 day stay was to have time to relax, and while that didn’t work out, I’m still glad we had 7 days; otherwise with the rain, we wouldn’t have been able to do much.
- Disney is still Disney. Overall, we were very pleased with the CM’s we met (with a few notable exceptions), with the cleanliness and maintenance of the resort and the parks, and with the general quality of our stay. The magic is still there.
- It is CRITICAL that you start your day early. Even on the days it rained a lot (and there were several of them), the rain didn’t move in until early afternoon so we still had time to get several rides in because we got up early. Even if it doesn’t rain, you are just asking for trouble (and crowds, and long lines, and empty FP machines, etc.) if you don’t get there early. Disney is not the place to sleep in.
- Crowds were still big – even with the rain. We have always gone to Disney in June, but after this trip, I am seriously considering trying another time of year. I know the hours will be shorter, but it may be worth it to get cooler (and drier) weather, and smaller crowds. I don’t know – just something to think about.
- Favorite attractions (by park, in no particular order):
o MK – Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear
o MGM – Rock-n-roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Millionaire
o Epcot – Test Track, Honey I Shrunk the Audience
o AK – It’s Tough to be a Bug, Festival of the Lion King Show
- Favorite food/snacks:
o Ghiradelli’s sundae’s
o Strawberry fruit bars
o Nestle’s Toll House cookie ice cream sandwiches – we found these at all the parks, except MK for some reason. They look like a couple of chocolate chip cookies with a slab of ice cream in the middle, but instead of cookies, it’s cookie dough so it’s nice and soft. Delicious!
- Favorite after vacation activity:
o Planning our next trip! I can’t wait!
Norm (me) (39); husband, father, trip planner, scribe and photographer
Robin (39); wife and mother with veto power over trip plans, wants a more relaxed Disney trip this time (Ha!)
Kent (14); teenage son, not interested if it’s not fast, loud, or scary (preferably all three)
Whitney (13); teenage daughter, into thrill rides like her brother, but will do the others with less complaining (usually)
Setting:
7 days at Port Orleans Riverside, plus 1 offsite at Islands of Adventure (son’s favorite, of course). This is our second straight year at POR, and third WDW trip in four years. Due to finding a discounted resort rate back in January, we decide to stay longer than our usual 4 or 5 days to have more time to “stop and smell the roses”.
Scene 9 – Saturday, June 22 – “Homeward bound…and final thoughts”
I had my watch set for 7:30, but woke up before that to the sound of thunder. Very loud, and very close. I don’t think this is going to work. Islands of Adventure is my son’s favorite park, and as much as I hate to miss it myself (Spiderman ranks right up there at the top of my list with anything at Disney), I just don’t think we can handle another day sloshing through a park in ponchos. We decide to pack it in, and save our passes for another day. We roll over and go back to sleep. Good choice – we find out when we get home that Orlando got almost 3 inches of rain on Saturday, bringing the 8 day total for our visit to over 9 inches. Incredible.
Finally about 9:30, we get up and hit the road. We make a quick stop at McD’s for breakfast and then hop back on the freeway home. Somehow in getting off the exit for McD’s, I missed the exit for the turnpike and wind up going 15 or 20 minutes out of our way on I-4 before I figure out what went wrong. We turn around and head back. We’re not off to a very good start so far. Got off on the turnpike – traffic was HORRIBLE. Stop and go for several miles. I never saw any accidents, so I have to assume it was just heavy volume and the toll booths. It took over 2 hours to make it past the last toll booth and get back on I-75. Rest of trip home was uneventful.
Some final thoughts –
- Despite the rain, we still enjoyed ourselves. We pretty much managed to fit in everything we wanted to do; it just took more energy to do it than we had planned. The original plan with a 7 day stay was to have time to relax, and while that didn’t work out, I’m still glad we had 7 days; otherwise with the rain, we wouldn’t have been able to do much.
- Disney is still Disney. Overall, we were very pleased with the CM’s we met (with a few notable exceptions), with the cleanliness and maintenance of the resort and the parks, and with the general quality of our stay. The magic is still there.
- It is CRITICAL that you start your day early. Even on the days it rained a lot (and there were several of them), the rain didn’t move in until early afternoon so we still had time to get several rides in because we got up early. Even if it doesn’t rain, you are just asking for trouble (and crowds, and long lines, and empty FP machines, etc.) if you don’t get there early. Disney is not the place to sleep in.
- Crowds were still big – even with the rain. We have always gone to Disney in June, but after this trip, I am seriously considering trying another time of year. I know the hours will be shorter, but it may be worth it to get cooler (and drier) weather, and smaller crowds. I don’t know – just something to think about.
- Favorite attractions (by park, in no particular order):
o MK – Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear
o MGM – Rock-n-roller Coaster, Tower of Terror, Millionaire
o Epcot – Test Track, Honey I Shrunk the Audience
o AK – It’s Tough to be a Bug, Festival of the Lion King Show
- Favorite food/snacks:
o Ghiradelli’s sundae’s
o Strawberry fruit bars
o Nestle’s Toll House cookie ice cream sandwiches – we found these at all the parks, except MK for some reason. They look like a couple of chocolate chip cookies with a slab of ice cream in the middle, but instead of cookies, it’s cookie dough so it’s nice and soft. Delicious!
- Favorite after vacation activity:
o Planning our next trip! I can’t wait!