Just Got Back 15 Days Any Questions?

[cfewell]

We just got back from a 15 day trip from Disney, Oct. 18-Nov. 1

We did lots and if you have any questions I would love to answer them.

Here are some of the things that we did/saw/stayed at etc. etc.....

SO FEEL FREE TO ASK ME ANYTHING - I am bursting with info LOL

Mickeys BYBBQ
MNSSHP Oct. 19
Stayed at All Stars Movies (1 night)
Stayed at Wilderness Lodge (13 nights)
Rented Mouse boats
Road Ferry Boat/monorail/buses and even drove
Blizzard Beach
Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, MGM (of course LOL)
Collect Character autographs (got more than what we expected!!)
Did Epcot Mask & Passport
There during Food and Wine Festival
We drove (so no flying or airport information, although we flew last time we went so could probably answer some)
Pleasure Island (we are big Adventurers Club fans so we spent most of our time there Kongaloosh!)
My son did Cubs Den at Wilderness Lodge (he called it Mickeys Daycare)
Did character Meals
DisneyQuest
Did almost every ride/show in every park
most meals in park but did do a couple of out of park eating
Downtown Disney
I am a scrapbooker so if you have any questions concerning that & pictures

we did so much.... so bring on the questions LOL

 

[Peg]

Sounds like you were very busy. Glad you had a good time Can you tell me about the crowds and the weather? We usually go in September or December. Kind of got side lined this year. Thanks
Peg

 

[cfewell]

Crowds were okay..... worst was usually Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. Epcot was a little more crowded in the world showcase then I am used to, but that is because of the Food and Wine Festival. I had never been there for that before. We rarely waited in any lines. Mission to Space and Test Track were crowded one of the days we were there.. so much that the fast pass on Test track was for 4 hours later LOL. All the shows we went to were not full, you know when they tell you to scoot all the way to the end of the row... not so while we were there, we got middle seats on all the shows, the only exceptions were Mickeys Philharmagic and Its Tough To Be A Bug. Those shows were pretty full each time.

As for the weather, it was just beautiful. Swimming most everyday. It only rained once while we were there. But only for a little while.

The only time I got really hot was the day we went to Sea World. I was so hot and my face got pretty red. I think it is due to the lack of shading? There just did not seem to be as much shade there as there is at all the parks at Disney, even the waterparks at disney seemed to provide more shade and places to cool off then Sea World. Dont get me wrong we loved Sea World and had a great time and maybe it was just me but it just seemed over hot that day LOL.

Anyway, I think you will be fine as far as the weather and the crowds. You might run into a crowd now and then or a congestion of people that make you think the park is WAY to over crowded for your taste, but we found that if you moved to a different part land/pavillion or went to a completely different park the crowds were a lot more tolerable. We do have one tip. I know there are a lot of early risers out there that love the extra early entry hour, but if you are like us, we usually did not have breakfast and to the bus stop before 9 a.m. DO AN OPPOSITE PARK THEN WHERE THE EARLY ENTRY PARK IS FOR THE DAY.

ALSO PLEASE TAKE YOUR CHILDREN BACK TO THE HOTEL FOR THE AFTERNOON TO LET THEM TAKE A NAP!!! We saw so many familys getting into fights and arguments and yelling at their kids for not having a good time. If you want to see everything that is fine, take your kids to one of the daycares or have a fairygodmother come to your hotel room, your child will love you for it and it gives you a breather. My son LOVED Mickey Mouse Daycare (Cubs Den at Wilderness Lodge). He wanted to go back every night. We had only scheduled him for 2 nights while we were there but he ended up going 4 cause he liked it so much. Even if you take the nap idea go to the hotel and take a nap with them. There were a lot of adults at the parks that looked like they needed a good nap.

I know everyone wants to ride every ride and see every show, but what is the use of it if you are miserable the whole time. We were there 15 days and we didnt see and do everything. But we had a great time and took our time and brought home a lot of memories (OH & Pictures, dont forget about pictures.... LOL.... we took over 40 rolls of film)

Anymore questions???? PLEASE I LOVE TO SHARE!!!

 

[ILuvTinkerbelle]

I would love some info about the mouse boats? Where to get them, what they are and how much?
THANKS We leave so soon and I am bursting to get there.

Also how were the mosquitoes? Someone else said they were bad, what was your experience?

 

[QJ411]

Hi!

WOW, sounds like you had a blast and you packed in so much to do!

I did have a question regarding Mickey's BYBBQ...how was the food/crowd and was it worth the price?

Also, at WL, which room did u stay at and what's the view like? This Dec. we're going back to WL also and we have a woods view...and don't know if its ok.

Thanks and WELCOME BACK!!!

 

[cfewell]

we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge so the mouse boats were available there, but you can get them at a lot of different places, most if not all of the resorts on the main lake have them to rent. I believe the cost was 34 dollars per hour.

BYBBQ - this was our 2nd time that we have gone - YES it is worth it!!!! Our 4 year old loved it!! He loved it when he was 2!
Food is great! and unlike the Hoop Dee Do where they have 2 shows everynight. There is only one BYBBQ per night and you do not feel rushed to eat. The food is left out most of the evening. The characters are there most of the evening and the entertainment is good. As far as crowded, there are a bunch of people there, but we have never felt like it was crowded. When the characters first get there, the kids all rush to them in a big massive mob LOL, so it gets a little conjested on the dance floor. But since you are there so long - 6:30 - 8:30 and the characters are there most of the evening, everyone gets to see them! Mickey, Goofy, Minnie, Chip and Dale.

As for our view, we had a standard view, it overlooked the service area - HOWEVER I want to let everyone know THIS IS NOT A BAD THING!!!! We were on the 5th floor and didnt even notice the service area below, when you sat on our balcony we just saw tops of trees when looking straight out....

AND THE ADDED BONUS - WE SAW ALL THE FIREWORKS FROM THE MAGIC KINGDOM EVERY NIGHT!!!!!!

This added bonus is not available to the people with pool and woods views unless you are fortunate enough to get the few rooms that are available on the one side of the lodge for woods view.

Seeing the fireworks everynight was worth the whole idea that 5 stories below us there was a few trucks parked LOL.

KEEP ALL THOSE QUESTIONS COMING.. anyone interested in where you can see the characters or cost of restaurants or anything else?

 

[snowgooseltd]

Carol....I remember you being involved in the discussion about food vouchers, a couple of months back. Did you use them and, if so, how did you find them to be?
Sounds like you had a great time. We leave in a few short weeks.....

 

[cfewell]

no we did not purchase any.

I know a lot of people swear by them, but I found, in our case that they would be a waste of money.

They offer a lot of things that I would not normally get with my food.

I know that Disney food is expensive, however, the portions are huge.... for instance. A 1/4 pound cheeseburger with fries is 5.69 (give or take a dime) I could never finish all the fries. My husband would get the same thing and then we would share a large coke 2.99 (give or take a dime). My son, 4 years old, would get the PBJ or corn dogs 3.49 (give or take a dime) and the kids meal would come with a drink. For the three of us we could almost always eat under 20.00 (including tax), usually was around 17-19 per meal, except when we went to a couple of the character meals, and the vouchers would not have been accepted there, nor the other places we ate, like the House of Blues, Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe... etc.

Like I said, I know a lot of people swear by them, however they come with a dessert (I believe in most cases an ice cream sandwich or something) and each voucher comes with a drink (we always just split a large coke and that was more than enough for the two of us) we would not have been able to eat an ice cream sandwich and finish each of our drinks so it would have just been a waste, Most of the time I could not finish my fries LOL.

I read that a lot of people were going to buy just one meal and split it, well I believe if we would have done that, we would have been hungry an hour later and munching on popcorn... which would have ended up costing us more money.

I also know that a lot of people mentioned that the gratuity and tax was included. Well a most of the places we ate in the parks, were counter service so gratuity is not given anyway and the places were gratuity is given that we ate at, didnt accept the vouchers. The small amount of tax didnt make up the difference.

This is just my opnion, and from staying there this is what we found.

 

[QJ411]

Hi Carol, and thanks for all the info!

I see ur counter is getting close too....will you be returning to WL? We'll be there and we hope to meet/greet you there! Thanks again for the info!

 

[snowgooseltd]

Carol...thanks for answering so quickly. I purchased six of the lunch vouchers just to see if they make a difference. We usually eat very lightly during the day so I'm hoping that splitting a meal is going to serve us. We leave in a few short weeks for a sixteen day trip. It's our longest time so far, we're usually there for 11 or 12 days, at the most. When do you arrive? I'd love to be able to put faces to the posts that I've participated in over the years. We'll be at three different locations during our trip, the last being the Swan for six days. Hope to see you.......

 

[cfewell]

you know, since we just got back we havent even noticed that we are going to be returning in a couple of months LOL.

We are staying off property and only going to Magic Kingdom once. We are mostly going down to do Universal, Gatorland... stuff that we did not do while we were there. Mostly the upcoming vacation is a real vacation where the last two weeks were so tiring LOL

 

[sammi6]

Carol I noticed you stayed at the All Star Music, What was it like? Also does anyone Know when the Cheerleader or Football thing is that the children crowd the hotel for? Carol how is Pleasure Island and the transportation?

 

[cfewell]

I really enjoyed the movies hotel. My son loved it, in fact he liked it better then the Wilderness Lodge... go figure, huge size statues of Woody and Buzz... nothing can compete with that.

The cheerleading thing I have no idea about, I hope someone else can answer that for you.

PLEASURE ISLAND IS A BLAST!!!!!
We spend most of our time at The Adventurers Club, When you go, make sure you go downstairs and stick around for a couple of shows. We actually stay the whole time, each one of the shows is different and you can even stay in the main lobby and have a great time. The characters are great and each night they play different parts so each night is never the same either.

We also like 8Trax. But mostly we just stay at the Adventurers Club. Kongaloosh!!!!

 

[alphaGeek]

how much did you pay for them? I'm thinking of giving them to our kids for Christmas (we're going to DW in February). Thanks!

jeff

 

[JLitfin]

Carol,
Did you eat at the "50's Prime Time Cafe" or "Chief Mickey" during your stay? How was the food and your experience? I heard the Prime Time Cafe is a fun experience for everyone. These are the only two restaurants we have PS for Christmas week. Where do you suggest the best place to eat fast food at while visiting the MK, we decided not to do PS at the MK and just do fast food.

Thanks and glad you had a great trip.
Jean

 

[diznee25]

Carol,

My fiancee' and I are going to WDW for honeymoon and plan on hitting Disney Quest just one day.

Can you please share your experience? Did you stay all day? Did you get to experience everything? What day did you attend Disney Quest? And what were the crowds like?

Sorry so many questions!

Thanks,
Michelle