10/20 Downtown Disney, Kennedy Space Center

[momtokendantom]

Family members:
Me- Mom to Ken, Dan, Tom
DH
Ken- 10
Dan- 8 1/2
Tom- 7 1/2

Today we slept in until 9am and then we headed for Downtown Disney. The boys wanted to check out the LEGO store... BIG MISTAKE!!! For the follwoing two days, they did not want to do anything but stay in the hotel room and play with their new LEGOS!

WARNING--- save LEGO store for end of vacation!

After staying at the LEGO store for an hour (what can I say, my kids are indecisive!), we were for lunch at Planet Hollywood. We were the first ones in the door when they opened at 11am and we were given a "private" room. This was great with three noisy boys! We had a great lunch (Chicken Crunch was awesome). The food was good and the service was great. The kids loved to see the movie memorabilia (especially Luke's medal from Star Wars and Indiane Jones' outfit).

After lunch, we headed for Kennedy Space Center. This was an unplanned side trip and took us about 50 minutes to get there. They are running a promo right now that kids get in free, so it only cost $50 for two adults and three kids. We spent about 4 hours there. The boys loved the Space Shop and Imax movie. Of course, they bought more LEGOs!!!

We drove back to the Wyndham Palace and stopped at McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. We took a walk to the pool and it was not very impressive... no one was there and it was not very clean.

We watched the fireworks from our balcony and went to bed early.

Tomorrow... Animal Kingdom and MGM

 

[Marla Hellwig]

LOL - thanks for the warning about the Lego Store. So far, we have happened to miss that store. A nice day. Thanks for posting!

 

[erikthewise]

When I looked at the KSC site recently I noticed the kids free promotion, but also noticed that some of the "attractions" were currently not available, so that it looked like you were getting considerably less than usual for your money. Any comments on this?

Currently closed: International Space Station Center, LC 39 Observation Gantry, Cape Canaveral Tour, KSC Wildlife Tour.

 

[swankybeth]

Sounds like a fun day. Thanks for posting....

Beth

 

[momtokendantom]

I'm sorry I cannot comment on the closed attractions. We visited the Imax movies, Astronaut encounter, and a new show Mission to Mars.
Not to mention to hour spent in the gift shop!!!

Mom to Ken, Dan, Tom

 

[Disneylunachic]

Hi: I was interested in your comment on the Wyndham Palace. You mentioned you went out by the pool which was not too clean etc. How long did you stay at the Palace. I have stayed at the Wyndham (when it was formerly the Buena Vista Palace-and was always enjoyable at that time). Curious to know if you enjoyed the rooms and service. Will be leaving on 11/23 and were planning on staying there again. Would you say the hotel rooms are nice and worthwhile to stay there? They are quoting me a price of $99 per night but I have heard that others got rooms for $50-$60. Has anyone stayed at the Best Western in the Disney Village. They have some great rates but I have never been there. Thanks and hope you enjoyed your trip we are counting the days until we leave from JFK and arrive at MCO.

 

[momtokendantom]

Hi Disneylunachic!

We stayed at the Wyndham for 3 nights. I did bid through Priceline and got a great rate. You said they quoted you $99... please be aware that there is a $8 resort fee and $10 for valet. We found self-parking to be very difficult and far away, so we did pay for valet. As I said, the valet service was great!

The rooms were okay. I guess I was expecting a higher quality of service & rooms. This may sound silly, but the towels there were so thin, they were practically useless! The room was average size.

Room service was pricey, as we expected, but it was good. We ordered once for dinner and once for a last night snack. We did not check out any restaurants on site, but CrossRoads is so close, you can eat at a variety of places.

My comment about the pool... the pool area was nice, but nothing spectaular. There were dirty towels left all around the pools and it just did not look kept-up. At 5pm, all the sanck bar was closer, as was the pool side bar. Granted, it was drizzling, so that may have played a role.

To sum it up, I have stayed at a few Wyndham hotels and this was a disappointment. The spa did look nice, but I did not have any time to check it out!!!

It you do stay, join Wynhdam by Request... it is located on their web site.

Reading over my reports, it could be that we were completely impressed by the Hard Rock! But, I have read other not-so-good report about HRH and we really liked it.

For $99. I would say go for it. Or try Priceline, but remember with Priceline, they will not allow you to cancel or modify your reservation AT ALL. There is allow the chane you might not get the Wyndham, but the Marrioitt Orlando World Center.

Whatever you decided, HAVE A GREAT TRIP. Considering the amount of time you will be spending in your room, the Wyndham would probably be good. The location is ideal!

Take care and please let me know if you have any other questions!

Mom to Ken, Dan, Tom

 

[slp87]

I'm curious about transportation from the Wyndham to the parks. Some friends are taking their first trip to WDW next month, but I wasn't sure how the buses from there work. What do you recommend?

 

[momtokendantom]

Hi,

We only used the bus transportation on one day to the Magic Kingdom. The buses run every 30 minutes (I belive...).

On the day we used it, we waited about 15 mintues to be picked up. We then stopped at 3 or 4 other DD hotels and picked up other passengers. The whole process once on the bus only took abot 30 minutes.

On the way back, we caught the bus right away. They park in a designated numbered spot at each park, so it is very easy to know which bus to take. Fortunately, on the way back to the hotel, we were the first stop!

I was satisfied with the transportation from the Wyndham. If we were not going to KSC and the HRH, we could have gotten away without getting a rental car.

Take care,
Mom to Ken, Dan, Tom

 

[slp87]

Thanks for the info! Am I right in assuming that the same bus takes you all the way to the designated park? Or do you go to the TTC and catch WDW transportation from there? My friend is going to be alone with her 4 yr old and a stroller. She will have a rental car, but wants to do what is easiest.

 

[Liz]

Erikthewise, we were at KSC in August. I believe the Wildlife Tour and Cape Canaveral Tour are not normally included in the $25 admission price anyway. Seems like those were two separate tours with separate admission prices. The International Space Station is normally included as part of the bus tour, which makes 3 stops. I can't remember what the Observation Gantry was. That may be part of the bus tour also. Hope this helps.

Momtokendantom, your boys sure must love Legos! Glad you're having fun and thanks for writing!