Live From Old Key West

[DisneyFed]

Not sure where to put this, but I thought I'd fire up a quasi Live Trip Report. I am going to do my best to keep this thing updated, but as any of you guys know, my ADHD periodically kicks in and I get behind.

Background: I've been in serious need of a vacation for a while. Three people's job and one "people" and it's been stress central in the Lake Household. This trip has been booked for a while, and seriously, can't come at a better time.

We are staying at Old Key West...and are doing Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party Tuesday Night. Right now it's just me, my wife Dama, 4 year old son Garreth and my mom. Dad is coming later.

We arrived yesterday afternoon, and our room wasn't ready, so we went over grocery shopping. While we were out, I got a text saying the room was ready...we are staying in 4512.


First off, this place is awesome. This is by far the nicest "hotel room" (and I really hesitate to call it that...so I'll pretty much call it a condo from here on out) I've ever stayed in. We're in a two bedroom and this place is HUGE. First impresson is WE LOVE THIS PLACE.

We hit the pool yesterday evening, and after G man went down the waterslide no fewer than 895, 644 times, he finally got tired, so grabbed a hot dog at the snack bar and came back to the room to crash.

The resort is very nice and very quiet. Pretty spread out, but I don't think it's excessively so.

Ok, we're going to get ready to head to destination #1, Magic Kingdom.

Will post pics and keep you guys posted.

Fed

 

[dmdelight]

hope you have a great time.

we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at okw also-it was fantastic-our fave resort by far

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Hi Michael!

While you are having a Great Time, I think I'll do a ride along with you.

I'll let Dave know what room you're in so he can send you a "care package".

 

[theduck619]

FED, glad you are enjoying it. It's hard to go from a DVC back to a "regular" resort room. Glad you are having a good time

Can't wait to read more

 

[scott2997]

Sounds awesome Fed - have a great time!!

 

[cj9200]

Have a great time Fed. Good way to decompress.

 

[wasnotafan]

Have a great time Fed!

 

[mm1971]

Enjoy the time, sounds like you need it! Will follow along with you. We really miss being there and we will live through you for a while.

 

[Cinderella's Fella]

Hey 5-O, how your day going?

 

[twokids0204]

Twokids reporting for duty captain!

 

[Wherem I Now]

I'm following! Looking forward to hearing all about your vacation Fed.

So far I have made the following observations:
Old Key West = Awesome!
Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party = Awesome!
Spending time with family = Awesome!
Disney World = Awesome!

This may all equal up to Vacation = Awesome!

I just noticed what building that you are in. Enjoy watching the boats go by!

 

[dvczerfs]

Not sure where to put this, but I thought I'd fire up a quasi Live Trip Report. I am going to do my best to keep this thing updated, but as any of you guys know, my ADHD periodically kicks in and I get behind.

Background: I've been in serious need of a vacation for a while. Three people's job and one "people" and it's been stress central in the Lake Household. This trip has been booked for a while, and seriously, can't come at a better time.

We are staying at Old Key West...and are doing Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party Tuesday Night. Right now it's just me, my wife Dama, 4 year old son Garreth and my mom. Dad is coming later.

We arrived yesterday afternoon, and our room wasn't ready, so we went over grocery shopping. While we were out, I got a text saying the room was ready...we are staying in 4512.


First off, this place is awesome. This is by far the nicest "hotel room" (and I really hesitate to call it that...so I'll pretty much call it a condo from here on out) I've ever stayed in. We're in a two bedroom and this place is HUGE. First impresson is WE LOVE THIS PLACE.

We hit the pool yesterday evening, and after G man went down the waterslide no fewer than 895, 644 times, he finally got tired, so grabbed a hot dog at the snack bar and came back to the room to crash.

The resort is very nice and very quiet. Pretty spread out, but I don't think it's excessively so.

Ok, we're going to get ready to head to destination #1, Magic Kingdom.

Will post pics and keep you guys posted.

Fed

FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!

im sicker then a dog but cant miss out on this!!!!!
glad your having a great time and love okw!!! ive stayed there a few times.
if the thermostat is driving you nuts, on the left side of the t-stat there is a c/f button. push and hold the c/f button till BP flashes on the screen. now the the thermostat will keep the temp at what you have it set for. you have to do it every 24 hours.

now, mission #2!!! okw is disneys best kept secret!!!! we dvc, okw lovers would like if you wouldnt blab to the world how great it is there!!!!!next thing you know the place will be over run by canadians!

mission #3 you have to take the boat over to dtd!!! its a nice ride. dont worry, they will make sure your seated before the boat leaves the dock so you dont go swimmimg. (again)

keep us posted!!!!!

 

[dvczerfs]

pictures????

anyone see any pictures????


geez, we havnt seen a picture of the gator wrestler in a few years? how old is now?

 

[twokids0204]

now, mission #2!!! okw is disneys best kept secret!!!! we dvc, okw lovers would like if you wouldnt blab to the world how great it is there!!!!!next thing you know the place will be over run by canadians!

Anyone have any DVC points they are looking to rent...

 

[Emma's Dad]

What?!? Fed does a LIVE trip report?? I am so IN! Glad to hear you are enjoying OKW. g-man must be having loads of fun. Enjoy!

 

[baseballmickey]

Have a great trip, Fed!!!

 

[Hidadsoup]

8 of us will be down next Sunday from NH for our 1st OKW experience. Glad to hear nice things about it. We'll be reading.

 

[Emma's Dad]

Any bets on where they are today? I'm guessing Epcot

 

[DisneyFed]

FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!

im sicker then a dog but cant miss out on this!!!!!
glad your having a great time and love okw!!! ive stayed there a few times.
if the thermostat is driving you nuts, on the left side of the t-stat there is a c/f button. push and hold the c/f button till BP flashes on the screen. now the the thermostat will keep the temp at what you have it set for. you have to do it every 24 hours.

now, mission #2!!! okw is disneys best kept secret!!!! we dvc, okw lovers would like if you wouldnt blab to the world how great it is there!!!!!next thing you know the place will be over run by canadians!

mission #3 you have to take the boat over to dtd!!! its a nice ride. dont worry, they will make sure your seated before the boat leaves the dock so you dont go swimmimg. (again)

keep us posted!!!!!

Nim...Nemese....Nemmis....YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

Sorry man, the mere fact that you're my Nimisi...Nimes...whatever...means I have to blab about this place

What?!? Fed does a LIVE trip report?? I am so IN! Glad to hear you are enjoying OKW. g-man must be having loads of fun. Enjoy!

You're a riot....you know that

 

[DisneyFed]

So we went to Magic Kingdom yesterday, since it was going to be open until 2300 (that's 11 pm)

We actually got there at Rope Drop (which shocked me because that usually doesn't happen). The crowds were pretty heavy. As a matter of fact, it was a lot more crowded than the past couple of times I've been here this time of year--but taking into consideration that it was a Saturday with a late closing time, we sort of expected it. Crowds weren't excessive, but Fast Passes were certainly the order of the day.

G Man is finally tall enough for Space Mountain and had been bouncing off the walls since the night before to get on it, so guess where we went first

Verdict? Well...the jury was out for a while. He did the same thing at Six Flags this summer with the Great American Scream Machine...dying to get on it, and then when it was over (in my best 4 year old angry voice) "I am never get on that again"...well guess, what, I ended up back on the Scream Machine about 14 more times that day. Later in the day he would demand to be taken back to Space Mountain, only to find it had a 75 minute wait and Fast Passes were out (this was after Wishes)....maybe when we go back tomorrow

Splash Mountain was down most of the day, without even water running through it. It came up about 1700 or so (thats 5:00 PM), but had a 120 minute wait all the way until closing. So we're saving that to another day too.

Oh, and in case you're wondering...."Somebody" maxed out Buzz Lightyear...again...

We pretty much got on everything we wanted to ride, even though the minimum wait times we saw averaged 40 minutes.

We ate lunch at Pecos Bill's, and they are back to closely monitoring the dining room. They won't let you sit down unless you're carrying a tray of food. They also will not let your family go in and sit down even if you are in line to get your stuff...so keep that in mind if you go there. I actually kind of view that as a positive. A host or hostess will escort you to an empty table for the number in your party. Good if you only have 4, might be bad if you have 17...which I saw yesterday.

We took a break in the middle of the day and went back to the resort for a Nap. G man had been in the pool for a long time the day before and had wore himself out, but had gotten in bed in late, and was, of course, up early, so he was smoked. He slept for about 2.5 hours while I watched College Football....my wife and mom snoozed on the couches!

Can't say enough about the layout of this resort for this. He was snoozing comfortably while I could watch TV....I'll post some pics later, but this place has the best layout I've ever seen. (and yes Dave, I will get some pictures up).

We went back to Magic Kingdom for the evening/night hours (not EMH), just open late.

We got in the old Tune Town Area which has been rethemed---couple of heads up that I didn't learn "at the right time"

Fast Passes for Barn Stormer (which is in tact, and only slightly rethemed--no chicken house, and you load from the old off load side) and Dumbo (which has Fast Pass now) are all the way back to the left of the train station. They have some posts covered by those canvass coverings and we thought the Fast Passes were all gone, so we waited 45 minutes for BarnStormer (which is 44.5 minutes too long). It wasn't until we were exploring that we found the fast passes.

Also, for Dumbo the Fast Pass line is to the left, regular line to the right...both lines go around both Dumbos (there are two now) and into a Big Top in the back. The lines meet in the middle and an Attendant will send you right or left depending on the line length of either side.

Now the tricky part...If you are NOT using a Fast Pass, they give you a pager for a pretty cool playground area INSIDE the big top, which you cannot see from the outside. The kiddies can play on that playset area until the pager goes off telling you it's time to ride. It's a brilliant way to run a line, HOWEVER, you don't get to do that if you're using a Fast Pass--they send you directly through the line. Needless to say, the play area was spotted by the Eagle Eyed member of my party (G Man, and he WAS NOT happy he couldn't go in, but had to go directly to the ride

I also saw a couple of meltdowns (it was late) because some little guys had to come out of the play set and ride.... Just something to keep in ind

From there we rode Michael's Future Indoor Shooting Range (Small World) and a few other things before Wishes...which was expectedly packed--but no worries. I had gone to Starlight Ray's to grab dinner, and found they'll give you a box to put your food in to sit and watch Wishes--I had no idealy they'd do it.

We left at closing and pretty much just crashed when we got back.

Headed to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic today....will try to get pics up later (DAVE)