Picture-heavy Trip Report WDW October 2010 - Completed

[marcus.ka]

Picture-heavy Trip Report WDW October 2010 Part 1

As I was not in the mood in the last months to write a trip report it took me a while to complete this one. I hope you don’t mind reading a trip report of a 5 month old trip.

On Monday 27th September 2010 we flew from Frankfurt to Miami. We had 4 great days in Miami although there was a tropical storm for two days. But during these two days we went shopping and so this storm was not a big issue for us.





I was happy that it was only a tropical rain storm and not a hurricane but as you can see in these two pictures we had a lot of rain and also a lot of wind. But after two days we had perfect weather and so we could take our one-day trip to the Everglades.





We also had an Airboat tour and we had luck because we saw many alligators during our ride. Afterwards we also could have tried an alligator burger but we refused.









On Thursday we had perfect weather and so we spent the afternoon at the beach and in the evening we went to the Ocean drive.


Oh yeah it was hot on that Thursday evening at Miami.


Is this a hidden Mickey? But we are not at WDW yet…





I really like Miami. It is a great city, and especially the atmosphere at the Ocean Drive is great. I could have spent days there watching beautiful people and soaking up the beach atmosphere.





On Friday we left Miami early and hit the road for WDW. At 4pm we arrived at The Old Key West. Last year we spent our 10 days at WDW at the Port Orleans Riverside and we really liked this hotel. But this year we even liked the Old Key West more. The rooms are bigger and as we have been to Key West during our 2009 Florida trip I really liked the theming of the hotel.



After checking in we don’t wanted to waist more time and so we drove with our hired car to the Magic Kingdom parking lot and there we took the Monorail to Epcot. I always wanted to ride with the Monorail through Epcot and so we decided to take this journey from the MK parking lot as this is the only way to do this.


What a sweet scene this was. The little girl got ready for her MK day.



Yeah, the first park on our 10 day trip was again Epcot.



I really like Epcot. It is a great park with a great atmosphere. Especially World Showcase has a great atmosphere after sunset. And Illuminations is such a great fireworks show. I love the music and the effects with the “earth” ball.


There was one thing during these 10 days at WDW which was kind of annoying. Every day we had such a sky writer. And as we had every day a blue sky we could read every day massages like: Jesus loves u, God + U = love, God 4gives and so on and so on.

 

[darthtatty]

Its always great to read reports, esp those with lots of pictures..

Yeah its great to ride the monorail to Epcot, the views are fab

 

[cherjp]

looking forward to the rest of your trip now , I love lots of photos in trip reports.

so far so good!

 

[marcus.ka]

Picture-heavy Trip Report WDW October 2010 Part 2

On Saturday 2nd October 2010 we had our first Magic Kingdom day for this trip. On this Saturday the Magic Kingdom had evening Magic Hours and so we were prepared for a long day at this beautiful park.


I really love this opening ceremony every morning. And also the song “Good Morning, good Morning” is just perfect for this. It really sets the mood for a day at the Magic Kingdom.

After the opening of the park we headed straight to Splash Mountain. This is one of my favourite attractions at the MK. I love the whole thing: the water, the length of the ride, the story, the drop and even the waiting area is great.










As we were alone in the first boat of the day I dared to take pictures inside the attraction.




Oh yes this is true. I always have this mood if I am at Disney.

We had a great day at the MK. We did almost all rides (including my favourite Philharmagic). We saw the 3pm parade, we had tears in our eyes during wishes and we saw the second run of the Main Street Electrical parade in the evening. I always loved this parade when it was at Disneyland Paris, and it was great to see it once again after 15 years.








What a sweet boy. He was waiting in line before us and he even took this blanket with him for taking the picture.


That is me (the one in the middle) ;-) I bought this cool shirt in Miami.




Tired people at Disney. (I took a lot of sleeping guest pictures during this visit)



[IMG=http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/2362/1001735j.jpg][/IMG]



On Sunday 3rd October (National German Holiday) we had our first Disney’s Hollywood Studios day, and as always we headed (like everyone else) to Toy Story Mania. And while waiting in line we saw this lovely lady. She was so proud of her carriage with all the Halloween decoration that she was very happy when I took a picture of her and telling her how much I like her decoration.





This is one of our all time favourite attractions; especially at WDW with the 5th dimension.


THE best dessert I ever had in my whole live. 5000 calories but who cares. Eaten at the 50’s Prime Time Café.


Hey little girl, why are you crying? You are at WDW!!!

 

[marcus.ka]

Picture-heavy Trip Report WDW October 2010 Part 3

On Monday the 4th October we visited Universal Studios Florida. I was so curios to see the Harry Potter Land. And what we have seen there was just breathtaking. I really love Disney for their theming but what the Universal guys have created here is just a whole new world. The Forbidden Journey ride is THE best ride I have ever done in any theme park. If someone would fly from Europe to Florida just to do this ride I would not call this person crazy.

















And also the rest of the Universal Studios is great. As the two parks were not very crowded we could do all rides we wanted and we even have done The Forbidden Journey three times.
But we also enjoyed our other favourites like The Simpsons, ET; Spiderman, Jurasic Park. And we also had two very good fast food meals in both parks. I was surprised about the quality.


Our Hotel in the morning.

On Tuesday 5th October we have done Animal Kingdom. Although this is a great park it is for both of us our least favourite one. Don’t get me wrong the park is amazing (especially with all the animals and the nature they created there) but we just like the other 3 Disney parks much more.



But The Animal Kingdom has a ride which is in the Top 3 of our all time favourites. Expedition Everest. We just love it, although the Jedi is not working properly. But we like the fact that it is so fast and wild.









As The Animal Kingdom closes early we spend the evening at Downtown Disney and when we returned to our room we found these lovely Towel-Animals. I requested them in the morning by the Mousekeeping team and they did a great job.

 

[marcus.ka]

Picture-heavy Trip Report WDW October 2010 Part 4

Wednesday the 6th October we had our relaxing day. And so we started the day with a breakfast at the Beach Club Resort Hotel. I loved this hotel from the moment I first saw it. It reminded me a lot of the Newport Bay Club Hotel at DLRP which is also one of my favourite hotels.
We soaked up the atmosphere inside the hotel and after 10 minutes it was time for our Character breakfast. The character interaction was great but at this point (after 10 days in the US) we missed European breakfast a lot. After 10 days I could not see scrambled eggs and fried potatoes for breakfast anymore. And we also had enough of Mickey waffles, sausages and breakfast-pizza.








This is one of my favourite pictures from our vacation in the USA.





After breakfast we explored the outside of the hotel and we also went to the beach. If I could afford it I would love to stay at this hotel for two weeks.

Afterwards we continued our relaxing day at one of the two water parks. We choose again Typhoon Lagoon and had a very nice and relaxing day at this water park.








We just loved, loved loved this lazy river. We have done three rounds during this one day.







In the afternoon I had a reservation for the Grand Floridian Café at THE most beautiful hotel in the world the luxurious Grand Floridian.
And when we entered the lobby my boyfriend started shouting: “I go crazy, I go crazy!!!”
And after asking “why” he told me that there in the lobby is the same old crazy looking women we saw exactly one year ago during our first trip to WDW.
And so we started guessing if she maybe is part of the hotel, or if she might be an Audioanimatronic? After our vacation we found out in a Disney board that she is a fan of the hotel and that she stays there very often, and that she always had here suitcase with the stuffed animals.






After a nice dinner at the Grand Floridian Café we wandered a bit through the hotel and soaked up the atmosphere and then we spent the rest of the evening at the Magic Kingdom.




It is great if you are able to take the Monorail to the Magic Kingdom. I wish I could afford a two weeks stay at this hotel. I would be the most happy person in the world.

 

[tony64]

Hi Marcus
The parks look like they were very quiet.

 

[disney_princess_85]

Great pics Marcus, looking forward to more! Miami looks lovely.

 

[almcg]

Wow, your pictures are wonderful!

 

[SusanEllen]

Photo journaling is a wonderful way to create a trip report. I appreciate you sharing the memories of what looks like a very successful trip.

 

[martinacris]

Marcus...I absolutely LOVe your photos...ALL OF THEM !!!

The photo of the Lady in the lobby of the Grand Floridian...was also there when we went in Dec 2008. Every night she was at the lobby near where the piano is. One of the cast members told me she and her husband used to go there, but since he passed away she goes there alone. Ever since , they allow her to be there !

I remember my daughters spoke with her and she was very sweet.

Can't wait to read more and see more photos !

 

[Rachey_101]

.

 

[petals]

luvin your trip pics

 

[jjk]

love your pictures of Miami

 

[dixonsontour]

Fantastic photos - you have a really good 'eye' for a picture.

The photos of Miami including the one of the flooded road brought back lots of memories for me. We used to love a few days in miami on our trips when it was just the two of us.

 

[cannp123165]

Great photos! Looks like a brilliant trip!

 

[marcus.ka]

PART 5

On the 7th October we had our second full day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. But this day we did something we have not done before. We took a break and went back to the hotel for a nap. But in the afternoon we retuned to the park and enjoyed the evening hours and we saw of course a second time Fantasmic. I just love this show because it is more than perfect. And especially the end witch Mickey is just wonderful.




We had so much fun with these two ladies from Japan. They were standing with us in the waiting line of Tower of Terror. And they had so much fun. And they were dressed in Disney from tip to toe. And we were wondering if they would know what Tower of Terror really is. But they did know and they had so much fun in the elevator that we almost only watched them.












More tired people at Disney.






THE most expensive strawberry we ever ate. One of them costs 3.50$!!! (OK we had them as a snack on the Dining Plan and they were delicious but I would have never paid 3.50$ for one Strawberry covered in Chocolate.



On Friday 8th October we had our first and only full Epcot day. We arrived early in the morning and stayed of course until Illuminations was over.










More tired people at Disney


More tired people at Disney


More tired people at Disney (Why are there so many tired people at Epcot. We have not seen so many in the other parks. Is it true that EPCOT stands for Every Person Comes Out Tired?)


I have never eaten before a Mickey Ice Cream and I felt guilty to eat Mickey’s ears and then his head.

 

[marcus.ka]

I like Epcot’s version of Germany although no place and no city in Germany looks like this…

 

[marcus.ka]

Part 6 (Last Part)

On Saturday we spent the second full day at the Magic Kingdom and again we have done it all as the park was not too crowed for a Saturday. And of course we have seen Wishes and the parades once again.










I have heard so much about the Pineapple Float and so we tried one. It was OK, and it was also very refreshing but not as good as I expected it to be.


Sexy People at Disney. ;-)









Sunday 10th October was our last full day at WDW and we split this day in Hollywood Studios (morning) and EPCOT in the evening.




Disney Weather!







And as our flight back to Germany was in the evening we had the morning of the 11th October for a last short visit to the Magic Kingdom.




This is me in the last row. During our first day at Magic Kingdom we got so soaked in Splash Mountain that my boyfriend only rode it two more times with me. And so I had 2 or 3 rides where I had to ride alone.




I just love the CMs at WDW. They are all so friendly and nice.




Are you ever ready for the Magic to end? I am not; definitely. I want to stay at Disney forever. PLEASE!!!

 

[marcus.ka]

Thank you for the nice comments. I am glad that you like my pictures and my TR.

We had a great time in Miami and also of course in WDW and at Universal.