"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." Walt Disney
Honestly, if someone had told me a few years ago that I would be planning my 3rd trip to WDW, I probably would have laughed at them. I had always dreamed of visiting this magical place that I had only heard about. My desire to make my dream a reality became more intense after we had our two boys because I wanted to share my dream with them. Our first trip to the world was of course just as magical as I had always dreamed it would be. We felt alot of pixie dust was sent our way on that trip, as it was a wonderful vacation!! It wasn't really in our plans to return this year in April but after coming back and being hit hard with the Disney Blues, we finally decided to book again last fall. The only problem was trying to decide when to go. We fell in love with going in April because as I mentioned at the beginning of this TR, the weather was beautiful and it was so nice to be able to escape the dark, gloominess of winter that we had dealt with for many months beforehand. So right away I began looking into possible dates for the trip. I really wanted to go when the boys were on vacation, but after pricing airfare to leave the day after Easter.
We settled on leaving a few days later because the flights were much cheaper and the boys would only end up missing a couple days of school. We ended up booking for 6 days/5 nights, and decided to add the Quick Service Dining Plan as you already know...So there's the background and here are my final thoughts on how I think the trip went--
JetBlue
We love flying JetBlue!!! I think what we liked most about them is that they offer non-stop flights to Orlando. We love the TV's and the snacks that they provide and for a bunch of nervous flyers like ourselves--trust me all those little distractions help!!!
Pop Century
We were extremely pleased w/ Pop Century. Now, of course I would love to stay at a Deluxe or even a Moderate someday. But for now the boys are at the perfect age to enjoy the value resorts. They are colorful, fun and very family-oriented. We didn't find the rooms that small, but we are staying with two young boys. I'm sure as they get older we will need more room. I really like the decor in the value resorts because they just seem so Disney to me, with Disney pictures on the walls and Mickey Mouse on your bed spread. I mean how much more Disney can you get. It definitely makes you feel like you are in the middle of the magic!! Despite hearing that the food court is always so busy and not enough places to sit..etc., etc. We never had a problem finding a seat, the place it huge!! Yes, it can busy but the only time we found it so busy was in the morning around 7:30-8:00 before everyone was getting ready for the parks and about that time at night as everyone was coming back. The only thing that sometimes caused a problem was when you had to get your food and because sometimes we all wanted something different and from different food stations, the food would be lukewarm when we got back to the table. The gift shop was super convenient and had most of the stuff we found at the bigger gift stores. The arcade was great!! The boys had a blast!! They were able to use the 30 minute voucher that we got with our resort package. But..we ended up getting another card and loading it up with credit because only one of them was able to use the card at one time. We quickly realized that this wouldn't work as it just isn't as fun to watch your brother play while waiting patiently for your turn.
Best Meal-Greek Salad!! I didn't get to try the famous Shrimp LoMein that everyone talks about so we'll see it may change next time.
Best Beverage--Frozen Coke!!! I'm so sad it's not there anymore.
Best Dessert-- Tye-dye cheesecake!!
Best Icons-- of course Lady and the Tramp
Best Building-- 80's--Then again we've only stayed in the 80's and 90's so far but we liked being closer to the Classic Hall this time and the fireworks view was very cool also!!
Magic Kingdom
Ahhh....what can I say about Magic Kingdom.
We love everything about this park!! There is just something about seeing the castle that always puts a smile on my face and tear in my eye--very magical. This trip as I've said before I wish we would have slowed down and just soaked up everything, especially in Magic Kingdom where there are so many hidden treasures in every corner of the park.
Best Ride-- BTMR! Even with the whole getting stuck thing. It just so much fun watching the boys faces on this ride!! They love it!!
Biggest Surprise on a ride-- Definitely getting Soaked on Splash Mountain! Everything I read said you would get a little wet...hmmm...
Ride we didn't expect to enjoy so much-- Jungle Cruise! After reading how dated the ride was and how corny the jokes are, we almost skipped it. Glad we didn't though because it was a lot of fun!
Best Counter-Service-- Columbia Harbour House!! I thought it was definitely the best of the trip!! Probably because it was such a change from burgers and fries
.Oh..and the upstairs seating is the best!!
Best Snack-- Mickey bar ice cream! Then again I haven't tried the Dole Whip yet so that may change!
Okay, no worst in this parks...well.. maybe except all the crowds while watching SpectroMagic.
EPCOT
We had a great time in Epcot this trip. I'm really glad we were able to spread it out over 2 days though because this park really seems to do us in.
This time we have come up with a plan!! We are going to only do Future World in the morning and just WS at night! Hmmm....I don't know why I didn't think of this before. Oh well.. Maybe we won't get so tired out trying to conquer everything at once...
Best Ride-- Soarin'!! I love this ride!! So much better than I expected, however I'm sure if I asked the boys they would say Test Track.
Most Unexpected Moment-- Figment (big puff of air at the end) For a fairly tame ride, that part really freaked the boys out!!
Sad we missed-- Spaceship Earth!! I mean we only passed by this ride a ton of times but just never went inside.
Biggest Disappointment-- Well....actually none!! We love this park too! I guess I was just disappointed that I didn't take more pictures in this park.
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Last year, when we visited this park I have to say it wasn't my most favorite park and we actually almost skipped it this year!! WHAT!!?!
I know...I know.. but last year we didn't arrive until late afternoon, it was so crowded and so hot and the lines were too long!! We spent maybe a couple hours looking around and then left. This year I did more research on the park and decided we would definitely try to get there at park opening to ride as many rides as we could. Our original plan did actually include TOT and Rock-n-Roller Coaster but DS9 chickened out
(poor kid) and DS6 decided he didn't want to ride without his big brother
ahhh
.But despite that minor disappointment...we were off to change our mind about this park...and it worked!!
Best Ride-- Toy Story Mania!! Too short but such a fun ride!!
Best Show-- Lights, Motor, Action!! Definitely fun for the boys, with all the explosions and cars.
Best experience-- Okay..maybe not an experience but we had some pretty awesome rain karma at this park.
But, seriously I would say it was seeing Block Party Bash..
Worst thing about this park-- Worst?? Well..just that the layout seems kind of strange to us.. since I seem to have no sense of direction anyways we seemed to get lost a lot in this park!!
Animal Kingdom
Finally Animal Kingdom....I'm so glad we were able to spend more time in this park this year. Especially being able to explore all the trails around the Tree of Life--something I think you should definitely do at least once!! Glad to have finally located the Boneyard for the boys!!We enjoyed seeing more animals on Killimanjaro Safaris. (although I didn't get the best pictures.
or at least not as good as on other's TR's.) Oh well.... I will do better next trip!!!
Best Ride-- Killimanjaro Safaris---hmmm...is this considered a ride?? I'm sure the boys will say Primeval Whirl!! (Can't wait until EE in August!!)
Best Show-- Finding Nemo the Musical!! We love this show but...with all the good things I hear about FOTLK. Who knows how I will feel when we come back in August?
Favorite Animal that we saw!! Giraffe!! w/ the Lion a very close second!!
Worst Animal The snake we saw or umm...I saw at Conservation Station.
Biggest Disappointment Not for the food which was yummy!! But for the experience with the birds while we were eating, would be Flame Tree Barbecue. It was just hard to enjoy our meal when they were always lurking around
..
April Crowds
We actually didn't find the crowds any bigger than last year when we there during Spring Break, few weeks after Easter. Of course you have to go knowing to expect larger crowds and prepare yourself. But, honestly we have nothing to compare this time of year to than any other time, so to us it wasn't bad. I actually thought our last morning at MK the crowds seemed larger with longer stand-by lines. So who knows....
Quick Service Plan
I'm very confused about this.
After reading back through my report it seems like I am saying I liked the plan but then the next time I'm saying I didn't. It's just that there was alot we did like about the plan, mostly the convenience, and all the snack credits you get-wow!! But, then looking over last year's pictures I was sad that we didn't get to experience more Character meals, or even just sit-down meals after a busy day at the parks. Would we use it again...hmmm....I honestly don't know? I guess it would depend how much park touring we wanted to do?
Next Trip-
As you all know, our next trip is....next month!!YAY!!
I can't believe it!! I would have never thought it a million years we would be going back again so soon!! But when my father agreed I knew I had to say Yes!! My father changes his mind so quickly!! (sorry dad
) My parent's have had some health problems in the past so this was really important for us do and they are so excited!! Well....if they can get over their fear of flying for the first time!! They are both a nervous wreck!! I've been trying to calm their fears and hopefully it's been working
. So anyways, we can't wait to go back!! Truly a dream come true for them too.
So that's it, my final thoughts....all in all it was a great trip and we were able to bring home lots of wonderful memories with us. I'm glad that we are able to do this for our boys.
They are now just as Disney crazy as I am!!
Thanks for listening to all my ramblings....
I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have enjoyed writing this TR!! It's been so much fun and one thing I learned while doing it is to take more pictures!!! I seem to take pictures in spurts....a lot here and little there...but I'm working on it!!
Thanks again for reading!!! Bye
.....so many great memories. I'm glad the boys got a chance to check out the TV/waiting room in the lobby before we left. It's really cute in there and a nice way to keep the kids occupied while you are waiting for the bus.
...
DS6 was so excited!! He sat down with me this afternoon and pointed out everything he wanted to do.
Loving the Toy Story ideas so far... let's see, how about 'Pin the tail on Sid"! 
It would be great if I could keep going into a PTR---hmmmm....but that might get a little confusing.
Although, sad because I have really enjoyed looking back at all the memories from our trip in April, I am excited and ready to start our next adventure!! Yay!! But this time it will be much different because we are taking some additional family members along!! It's going to be so much fun to able to show my family why we all love Disney sooooo much!! 
Your trip report is over. Thanks for the final thoughts. Disney is such a magical place
I'm so excited for your upcoming trip and hope you'll share all of the details with the rest of us.
