I'm back.....

[maleficent_man]

:sad2:

:wizard: Had a superb time!! Have tons to tell you all about - will make a start on the trip report tonight and get them going soon. I'll bore you with lots of detail!

Seems the weather spoiled it for some people recently but it didn't bother me too much as I'm not there to soak up the sun (more the fun!!). So many highlights:

Segway tour
Illuminations Crusise
Cindy's for Breakfast
Keys to the Kingdom Tour
Wishes from California Grill (the music was playing from the observation deck)
AKL - it is stunning
So much more......cast members, food, atmosphere

Only down side was getting there - had an 8 hour delay going. Thankfully it was all uphill from there. If anyone has any questions then fire away.

Nick

[maleficent_man]

Oh and Star Wars Weekends and Sheikra.......don't worry there will be plenty more!!

[gilld]

Welcome home - glad you had a great trip. I'm dying to hear about the Keys to the Kingdom Tour (as well as everything else), as we're planning on doing that in September - did you need to book far in advance?

[maleficent_man]

It is really good and provides so much detail on the way in which the park is constructed and how much thought goes into even the smallest detail - the stuff that makes Disney stand out. It was kind of weird going backstage and to the utilidors - the operation is huge. I can highly recommend it - we were in the first group of the day and only had 8 of us (including me and my Mum) - the next group seemed to have about 20. Our guide Doug was superb and is one of a number of CM's I'm going to be contacting Disney about to praise highly. I booked a good bit in advance but I know it wasn't 90 days out or anything - I think you should be okay booking this reasonably close to the time (although the sooner the better!)

Nick

[marias]

Welcome back, so glad you had a fab time.

Looking forward to your trip reports (once you get over the jet lag).

[carolfoy]

Hi Nick sounds like an amazing trip, please hurry with the report, want to hear about the KTTK tour and segway as well :earsboy:

[Bexx]

Welcome back Nick - so glad you had such a wonderful time!! :goodvibes

[daveyoghurt]

Welcome back Nick, hope you've got some Star Wars snaps or you'll just have to turn right back and go get some!

[Ware Bears]

Welcome back Nick,:wave:, glad you have had such a fantastic time. Was it your mum's first time to WDW or had she been before?

[Mumof2]

Welcome back Nick. Glad you had a great time. Looking forward to reading your trip reports.

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

:) Welcome back sounds like you had a wonderful time

[maleficent_man]

Welcome back Nick, hope you've got some Star Wars snaps or you'll just have to turn right back and go get some!

You'll be sorry you asked! I was a bit unsure about it as I ain't the biggest SW fan but it was amazing! So much so I went back again on Saturday on our last day. Got an autograph from Amy Allen who apparently plays a blue jedi (showing my ignorance!) - she was stunning!!

Highlight of it was on the first visit the guys who are guards for Jabba (Gamorrean Guard). It was raining heavily so there was a group of us under cover just beside Who wants to be a Millionaire. He was there with us and was hilarious - at one point he moved a Mum aside and started pushing a child in a stroller - the child knew nothing about it but to see this guard doing it was so funny!

I'll get the pics done a.s.a.p.!

[maleficent_man]

Welcome back Nick,:wave:, glad you have had such a fantastic time. Was it your mum's first time to WDW or had she been before?

We were there together in 1986 when I was but a lad so it has changed quite a bit since then! Plus I had so much planned in for while we were there - she seemed impressed though! She deliberately tried to provoke me by stating (jokingly!) that Fantasmic, Wishes and Illuminations were all just fireworks shows - once you'd seen one you'd seen them all!! Thankfully, she was joking!

Nick

[vicky1bfc]

Sound's like you had a great trip Nick.


Looking forward to hearing more about it.

[slinky101]

Hi nick, welcome back, glad you had such a great time, we loved the star wars weekend too, I'm not a mega mega fan but was surprised how many characters I knew, great fun! :cheer2:

[natalielongstaff]

welcome back nick :cheer2: come on then don't keep me in suspense tell me all about the food !!

[maleficent_man]

welcome back nick :cheer2: come on then don't keep me in suspense tell me all about the food !!

I delibrately left them out to frustrate you!!!

Food was marvellous throughout with degrees of enjoyment. I wouldn't say we had a bad meal, just different levels of enjoyment.

CRT - Stunning - the whole experience maybe tinted it somewhat but I thought it was great.
Donald's - a really good buffet - yes it is busy but we didn't feel rushed or like we didn't get good value.
Princess Storybook - probably the least enjoyable of the breakfasts we did - perhaps because we did it after CRT. Food was still okay but not great.
California Grill - expensive but spectacular - and I am a fussy eater.
H&V Fantasmic Dinner Buffet - was okay. I didn't really enjoy the choices on offer - still had a hearty meal out of what I could have. Probably wouldn't do it again.
Jiko - lovely meal - we got put into the Wine Room as I had my Birthday badge on but to be honest I think we would have prefered to be amongst the rank and file!! Meal and service were great.
Boma - again, good selection just not my taste - if you like to try lots of different things then it is great. Thought the restaraunt was a litte dark - I like to see what I'm eating!
Sci-Fi Diner - superb - typical Disney class in terms of theming - again a little too dark but the meal was lovely.
50's Prime Time Cafe - lovely meal, fab milkshakes! Would recommend highly!
Chef Mickeys - awesome - the best buffet selection we had the whole trip and the characters were ace - Chip had great fun torturing my Pal Mickey!

I'll give you more detail and pic or two in the trip reports to come! (which reminds me - what is the best way to include a pic in a post?)

If you have any questions Natalie let me know.

Nick

[florida sun]

Hi Nick

Hope you dont mind me asking what was the Sci - Fi like, we have booked this for August, how many of you are sat in the car?? Was it expensive?? What did you have??

Cheers

Sue

[maleficent_man]

Hi Nick

Hope you dont mind me asking what was the Sci - Fi like, we have booked this for August, how many of you are sat in the car?? Was it expensive?? What did you have??

Cheers

Sue

Not at all - the place is incredible in the way it is setup. It's more expensive than a McDonald's but the food is good. For me and my Mum it was about $40-50, I can't remember exactly - that was main courses each, I had a milkshake and my Mum had some kind of Oreo Alcholic mix complete with glowing ice-cube! I had Chicken something or other and my Mum had the Pork Sandwich. It was nice and I would definitely do it again.

Only down side was the lighting - I realise because of the theme it can't be too bright but I still prefer it to be bright when I eat! We were in the back row of a car and it was great. They do have other seating which isn't in rows so if there is something specific you could always ask.

Hope this helps!

[natalielongstaff]

thanks nick.....your choices sounded lovely, i have to agree that crt is better than psb ( did you have the french toast at crt??)
looking forward to seeing your pics and enjoying the trippie :)

[KayleeUK]

Welcome Back

Look at this thread for posting piccies

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=4886029#post4886029

[Miffy2003]

Welcome back, Nick!

It sounds like you had an incredible time. I can't wait to hear all about it - particularly AKL :)

[florida sun]

Thanks Nick for your reply about Sci Fi , we are really looking forward to eating here and I had heared some bad reports, so it's good to see you sounding so positive about it.

Thanks Again

Sue :wave:

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Can't believe you're back already Nick!!
Sounds like you had a fantastic time!! :goodvibes

[londonpenguin]

How was the Segway tour? BF and I are booked for a Friday morning in September. Really looking forward to it, but I'm a bit nervous as there is a picture of me next to the definition of "klutz" in the dictionary. :rolleyes:

P.S. I had the pleasure of a day in Stirling in July of 1998; what a lovely place! I found out a few years later that my great-great-grandmother was born at Stirling Castle, though I don't know any of the details.

[mumloveseeyore]

we loved sw weekend in may too ds got photo with clone troopers dd got photos with alien band fron mos eisley we only got a tad peeved by american woman infront at parade who said she would only watch if there were sw characters then stood in front of ds who is auristic and has better manners than she did !!! gill

[maleficent_man]

Welcome back, Nick!

It sounds like you had an incredible time. I can't wait to hear all about it - particularly AKL :)

AKL was stunning! There was so much to see and do in the hotel and the cast members were awesome. I'll let you know more in the trip report.

[maleficent_man]

Can't believe you're back already Nick!!
Sounds like you had a fantastic time!! :goodvibes

It certainly was - if only I could have brought back the large Maleficent statue they have for sale at a reasonable $150 - it is huge - it would have been the only luggage I could have brought home!!

[maleficent_man]

How was the Segway tour? BF and I are booked for a Friday morning in September. Really looking forward to it, but I'm a bit nervous as there is a picture of me next to the definition of "klutz" in the dictionary. :rolleyes:

P.S. I had the pleasure of a day in Stirling in July of 1998; what a lovely place! I found out a few years later that my great-great-grandmother was born at Stirling Castle, though I don't know any of the details.

The Segway tour is amazing. I was a wee bit nervous as was my Mum but once you are on the platform, you are going to have to do something really really really stupid to fall off it - they are so cool - having to walk around World Showcase later in the day was a real downer! Once you've had 10 minutes on it in the training room you'll be itching to get out and about in the park.

Yeah Stirling's not a bad place - I can think of a certain part of central Florida I'd rather be in just now though!! :rotfl:

[wicket2005]

Glad you had a great time.

Did you manage to get down to Busch Gardens? We fancy going but recently read on another forum it took somebody 3 hours to get back because of roadworks on the I4, which is a bit off putting. :)

[maleficent_man]

Glad you had a great time.

Did you manage to get down to Busch Gardens? We fancy going but recently read on another forum it took somebody 3 hours to get back because of roadworks on the I4, which is a bit off putting. :)

Yeah we drove down - left just at 8am and was there more or less for opening @ 9.30 - didn't experience any problems - on the other side of I-4 it was solid for about 4 or 5 miles which made me a bit apprehensive about coming back - we left at 8pm when the park was open until 9pm and it was a fine run right through without any problems.

I also got to ride Sheikra and it was amazing. Early in the morning the queues were quite big. There was quite a bit of rain the afternoon that cleared quite a few from the park and by the end of the day I was able to walk straight on it without wait - I did three rides back to back in 25 minutes. They are able to load this so fast. It is worth travelling to Busch alone for!!

[wicket2005]

Thanks for that. :) We were intending to go on Sheikra, if I can be brave enough. It sounds like the traffic will not be as bad if we leave early evening.

[maleficent_man]

Thanks for that. :) We were intending to go on Sheikra, if I can be brave enough. It sounds like the traffic will not be as bad if we leave early evening.

Be brave - it is well worth it. The worst part is the lift-hill!! Once you drop over the edge it is stunning and also very smooth. I'd recommend front row the first time but I also loved the back row and you get pulled down the drop - Mum wasn't so keen!! :crazy:

[wicket2005]

Do you fall into your harness when you are looking down?

[maleficent_man]

Do you fall into your harness when you are looking down?

I thought I was going to be pressed against it but was pleasantly surprised when I wasn't - after going up the lift hill I was checking it was tight like crazy as I couldn't get it to click to a comfortable level but as you drop you are more or less travelling weightless with the power of the coaster so don't slam into it. Put it this way, it is 100000% times smoother and more comfortable than Python!

[wicket2005]

Sounds good to me. Just have to hope Newcastle Airport doesn't strike on 16th July otherwise I might not be getting there as planned. :sad2:

[sunminnie]

Hi, pleased you had a fab time. We fly out tomorrow and are wondering what the weather is really like. Was is still possible to sunbathe each day.

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

[maleficent_man]

Hi, pleased you had a fab time. We fly out tomorrow and are wondering what the weather is really like. Was is still possible to sunbathe each day.

:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2:

You'll have a fab time I am sure. The first week was hit and miss - we did get the odd prolonged rain with one or two torrential downpours - didn't affect me as Mum threw on a poncho and we went about our theme park strategy as normal or else went for lunch.

The second week was the more traditional bake-fest with the set your clock by it thunderstorm for 10 minutes in the afternoon. I suspect you'll get plenty of opportunity to sunbathe.

[MazdaUK]

Glad you're back with a trippie in the offing :goodvibes