Just Back- Observations for those who want to know!

[lauris87]

Okay, so I just got back from my trip with my fam- 11 of us (age range from 1 to 56). I had so much fun planning and loved reading everyone's experiences on these boards, and now I get to share!

Here's the low down:

Celebrating a B-Day: Awesome! Everyone was so nice! I think I had 250 CM's wish me a happy b-day, and I never got sick of it! A few of sang their own version of happy birthday, which was sweet. And I also got a complimentary cake at Garden Grill, and a complimentary chocolate birthday treat sent to my room at GF. That was delicious! Chocolate covered strawberries and a solid chocolate Mickey! I also chose the birthday fun card (gift card) worth 79 bucks. So easy to use! I used it at my resort shops.

Photo-Pass- I was very excited to pre-order a CD before my trip... and afterwards... I guess I'm just "okay" with the experience. Not dissapointed, but not super ecstatic about it either. Decent pics..... not stellar quality... probably could have got better quality from my own camera.... but it was just nice to not have to ask strangers to take our picture. I was with 11 people as well... and with the heat... they all didn't want to stop for a pic as often as me. Only one photographer offered to do "magic" shots... I know I could have asked... but I think they are cheesy anyways, so it wasn't a big deal to me. Would have liked to see more photographers... it would have been easier to get my group to stop if there weren't three families waiting for every photographer.

Morning EMH- Fabulous! Did it every day. Magic Kingdom was by far our most successful days of touring on early EMH days. I would never skip morning EMH. Then we went back and took naps, and headed to a different park for evening.

Evening EMH- AK was great... but would avoid evening EMH parks for future summer trips. Just my opinion. Parks were packed (except AK), and wait times were over an hour for major rides.

Fantasy Land- Love it! With three boys aged 5 and under in our group... we wanted to cater to them first... so we did all of fantasy land in the morning.... and it was great! Everything is so close together... and virtually no wait times in the morning! We completed everything there in 1.5 hours or so.

Move-It- Shake-It Street Party/Parade thing- LOVED IT! A total pick-me-up. And we walked right up to the rope when it started. So much fun. It was the hottest part of the day... and I was dripping sweat... but I didn't care... I was dancing and singing!

Heat- It was Hot Hot Hot! I was jealous of my husband because he doesn't sweat... but I do! By the time we got off the monorail and made it to the park entrance, my face was dripping sweat and my shirt was wet. Oh well.. I expected this... but... I wasn't going to let that get me down!

Garden Grill Character Dinner- Great food! Yummy. But... I didn't like that 11 of us had to sit in a really long booth. It makes it virtually impossible to get out and take pictures with the characters. But we made the most of it. Also... it must not have been that busy, because each character made it around to our table about 4 times. That was nice.

Fast Pass- Great in the morning.. but I was a bit dissapointed in the evening. I was hoping that at least some rides would have fast passes available during evening EMH... but I didn't find any.

Grand Floridian- Beautiful! Fabulous resort. Everyone was so nice. Grounds were perfect. Rooms are large. And the best part I thought, was that the main pool was open 24 hours! That was awesome! We got back from the parks at night and swam. Is it like this at other resorts?

Best purchase before trip- Pacifier attachment with metal clasp. So glad I bought this for my 17 month old son! We never ONCE chased down a pacifier, and he never ripped it off his shirt (because the clasp was really tight)... we only used ONE pacifier all week! And we came stocked with about 8 of them because of what others had said.

Didn't do it all- With a group of 11... and we stayed together a lot of the time....there was a lot we DIDN"T get to do... it's hard to get everything in with the heat with only a 5 day hopper pass! So.. next time... we'll make sure we see the Indiana Jones show... Nemo show at AK, Beauty and Beast show at HS, and we'll make it around to the countries at EPCOT (with three toddlers, we skipped it, and we didn't have time for it anyways)... and we'll get Fantasmic in next time... we just couldn't do those waits in the heat with the little ones....

Disney Magic- Someone gave us Vacation Club fast pass cards in our hotel lobby. They weren't going to use them because it was their last day. That was so nice of her!


Looking back at the trip... there was a bit of stress during the trip... with 11 of us.... we had our moments!.... but overall... it was very rewarding... my mom swears she'll never go back in the heat of August again... but I'm glad that we'll have these memories forever!

Let me know if you have any questions!

[torsie24]

Wow, thanks so much for sharing! Sounds like you had an amazing trip, and with 11 of you it must have left you with extra special memories!!

Glad you loved the GF I know the AKL pool is 24hrs also.

[torsie24]

Double post - sorry

[mariepapa]

Wonderful! Great trip report too. Glad you were able to survive the heat. Thanks for the details

[kaliope]

Sounds amazing! I love GF--it's Disney and peaceful too. Great report!

[UncleOrville]

Sounds like you had a great trip despite the heat! We love the GF too! Thanks for sharing!