Hi - we are back - the best bits! the lows and the tips!

[JanMary]

Hi

Arrived back on Saturday after 15 nights in villa with DH and 3 kids (including 15mth old) - great time had by all!

The best bits:

The Magic Kingdom - almost all of it - we spent 4 of our days there!

The parades - the 2 MK ones were our favourites

The fireworks - loved them all

Fantasmic Dinner Package - Holywood and Vine - worked great for us

CRT lunch for 'the girls' - lovely window seat overlooking carrousel

Lion King show at AK

All the 3D movies (only DH did the AK bugs one)

Sea World - especially feeding the dolphins (went 3 times to Sea World)

Sweet Tomatoes (what a salad bar!) and Olive Garden

The shopping - we loved Florida Mall and Premium Outlets

There were very, very few lows -

Our pool at Villa had a 'green cloudy' problem which they tried to resolve but didn't

15 mth old slept only 1 hour on flights out - but we survived!

Struggled a bit to get suitable food for 15 mth old in parks - in end we cooked some portions of veg in villa and added to baby jars from supermarket - which he ate with fruit and youghurts.

My tips:

Bring those clingy repositionable stickers / sticker books for toddlers - great for airplane windows and waiting in restaurants

Walkie talkies in parks - we really missed them the days we forgot to bring them!

Use Tour Guide Mike - it really worked well for us

All in all a great holiday - and my DH who has not been a great Disney fan wants to go back!

If anyone has any questions - ask away - not sure how long before I post a full trip report.

Thanks also to everyone who answered my questions before I went - the info was invaluable

 

[mandymouse]

Welcome home JanMary, glad you had a good time

 

[Girlsontour]

Welcome back - bet youre on a real "low" now. We always say this will be the last year but are only back 24 hours before we have booked again!

 

[wilma-bride]

Welcome back - glad you had a great time Were the crowds fairly low?

 

[gilld]

Welcome back. What was the weather like?

 

[traycie2201]

I also just got home on sat, absolutely jet lagged and trying to catch up on sleep and time difference, weather was great, we moaned when it was 70 F LOL and came home to 35F guess where i wish i was now !
All fab and olive garden is great ! did really well with the budget and spent $2500 not including flights / accom on food and any days out for me , DH and DS 14 , didn't use the credit cards and arrived home with $3 , a first for us i can tell you. am on the same low but back on the disboards to get my fix and start planning my next trip.

 

[disneyholic family]

welcome back!!...

 

[carolfoy]

All in all a great holiday - and my DH who has not been a great Disney fan wants to go back!

Well, a good job done then, by all accounts

glad you had a good time

 

[dor1]

Glad you had such a wonderful time,im looking into the fantasmic dinner package and would love your views on the hollywood and vine.
Is there plenty for the kids?
Cheers
Dave

 

[carolfoy]

Dave, we did the H&V on thanksgiving, my son is very picky but he loved their meatballs and spaghetti, their roast beef and mash and their desserts, he ate a really big dinner. Having said that the menus do change all the time, allearsnet.com give a fairly good idea of what may be on if you look under their dining section, then MGM then dinner packages.

 

[Miffy2003]

Welcome home!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time

My children really liked H&V Dave

 

[grannyed]

hiya glad you had good time

nine weeks from tomorrow for us

was your villa nice apart from the pool problem and did you use the pool whereabouts was your villa ?

 

[jns]

Thanks for posting

glad your holiday went well

 

[jockey]

Welcome back - did you use Continental from Belfast?

 

[florida sun]

Welcome back, sounds like you had a fab time.



Sue

 

[vicky1bfc]

Welcome back,sounds like you had a wonderful time!

 

[wideeyes]

Its really great to hear what your highlights where. I've never been before so i am picking up lots of tips!

Its also great to hear that people have had such a great time.
It makes me more excited about my own trip!

 

[Floridafriend]

Welcome back

We would like to take DS to see the fireworks when we go in May, but we were slightly worried how loud they might be. How were your children with them?

 

[Miffy2003]

Welcome back

We would like to take DS to see the fireworks when we go in May, but we were slightly worried how loud they might be. How were your children with them?

When we went in 2002 our 3 year old loved the fireworks! However our 6 year old was scared stiff. Actually even now at nearly 10 she still won't watch Illunimations from Epcot. What I am trying to say here is that every child is different! Hopefully your DS will not mind the bangs - but if he does, what about taking some earplugs "just in case"?

 

[JanMary]

Hi again

I will try to cover all the questions - just ask again if I have missed any.

Weather - great. Only one chilly windy day (Sat 14th). Only one brief shower which was over by time we arrived at park. Lovely warm days - a few were 80 or 81 - highest in Jan has been 83.

Crowds not a problem expect Sat 21st at AK - cast members all there to try Everest.

Yes - flew with Continental - one hour delay Belfast - Newark and still made connecting flight but bit of a rush - could not find buggy - eventually located abandonned on floor in corner of Baggage Reclaim. Great on way back at Newark - no need to collect luggage, and we arrived at Gate 75 and flew out from Gate 74! Announcements not very clear though.

Hollywood and Vine we really enjoyed - especially or waiter Bill from Co Cork (40 yrs ago). Good range of food to choose from - even our picky eater ate!

Villa was south on H27 - really nice and on a golf resort - Ridgewood Lakes. Propably a bit too far if you want to return to villa during day, or if traffic was heavier. We only either did early morn to mid afternoon, or early afternoon to fireworks (which are early at this time of year).

Fireworks - 8 and 6 yr old loved them all - but had been well warned about scary bits in Fantasmic - we sat up at the back and didn't find them too loud. When awake our 15mth old loved them. He slept through a few but did cry if they woke him - he settled quickly though and enjoyed the rest. Easier to watch Illuminations and Wishes with 15 mth old as he was in his buggy. We could walk him around while we waited. More energy required to contain him before Fantasmic - we found toddler reins great - don't usually use them but let him roam a foot or two while still being restrained. We also used the reins on the airplanes.

I think that covers it... oh yes.. another best bit - Soarin' . I am not into thrill rides at all so it was great to be able to do a 'biggie' and enjoy it.

Any more questions?