4 Parks, One day, Yea we did that!

[jdtopgun71]

Just wanted to share a great trip that we just returned from.

The crew:

ME (41) The official Disney nerd of the family. My mom has pictures of me at Magic Kingdom in 1972 not too long after MK opened and we went again in the early 80's. Went back one more time to MGM with DW in 1989, the year MGM opened, but didn't really catch the bug until a spring break family trip in 2005. We have been back almost every year since.

DW (45) Slowly but surely falling in love with the whole Disney/Orlando thing. I have been working on her for the past 7 years and she is starting to appreciate the whole experience. Her favorite thing to do is walk around World Showcase.

DS (22) Did the Disney College program at our urging and really enjoyed his experience. Loves all the thrill rides that Disney and Orlando has to offer and shares my desire to learn more about the history of Disney and the parks.

D (16) Tinkerbell fan whose favorite thing to do is hang at the pool at the resort.

DD (15) Mickey Mouse fan who you will usually find hanging with her big brother hitting all the thrill rides or playing air hockey in the arcade.

I wanted to share a short trip report from our "quick" whirlwind trip to the World. We got back last Monday from our "quick trip". The "quick trip" part only applies to me and my DW because we actually didn't get to stay for an entire week because of our work schedule. We actually booked this trip for my oldest DD (22) as a honeymoon because she got married on June 15th. We used our timeshare points and booked the Wilderness Lodge Villas for her and her new spouse to use from June 17th to June 24th. Shortly after we booked the room, my daughter got cold feet. Not from getting married, but she bailed on the honeymoon. Long story short but they were still going to have out of town guests to deal with and then packing to move 2 short weeks later and they just didn't feel like they could pull off a honeymoon too. Obviously when you have a week booked at Disney you have to find a use for it, so we decided that we'd find a way to get the other kids down to enjoy it. My DW and I could not get off work so we made a difficult decision to let the kids go by themselves. At the last minute we decided we did not want them driving the 12 hours by themselves (although my DS had made the trip during the college program), so the plan was to leave early am on June 16th (after DD's wedding) and drive the kids down and DW and I would fly back home Sunday night.

We arrived in Orlando at 4pm on the 16th (Saturday) and since check in was not until the 17th we booked a room at the Wyndham on Lake Buena Vista. We really liked the Wyndham and would stay there again. We were actually surprised to find that most of the Wyndham rooms were exterior rooms, but they were nice and they had a really nice pool.

I had called on Saturday to see if we could book a character breakfast and we got a reservation at Cape May for Sunday morning. We really enjoyed the characters, but this was the first time dining at a Disney restaurant when we weren't on the dining plan (and also the first time at a Disney restaurant period in about 4 years), so the bill was quite a shock. We had the equivalent of a Golden Corral buffet for about 4 times the price. But we were on Disney property and Mickey Mouse was there, so it was worth it??!!! Actually we had a really good time, so we enjoyed splurging.

After breakfast we hung out at the pool for awhile until it was time for our flight, and then sadly we left the kids and headed back to reality. This was the first time we could remember in 22 years that we would be apart from all the children at once, so it was kind of surreal when we got home to a quiet house.

I am getting really long winded on this "short" trip report, so I am going to sign off now and will return later with our return to pick up the kids.

 

[jdtopgun71]

I am not going to do too much reporting on the week that the kids had, suffice to say they had a great time. We got them each 3 days park hoppers, and they decided to save them for using towards the end of the trip. On day 1 sans parents, the DS and DD (15) drove to Tampa and did BG. Because of our proximity to BG in Williamsburg, VA we all have seasons passes that are good at BG Tampa and SW. They love BG Tampa and rode all the coasters and had a great time. I almost forgot but the two of them also went to SW on the Sunday before we left and hit all the main attractions there. DD (16) stayed at the Villas soaking in the sun and reading. I was envious of her mostly getting to relax and read. Sometimes those types of days are best when on vacation.

On Tuesday all three of them used their credits at the mini golf courses and Disney Quest. They really liked the Fantasia Mini Golf and the girls especially loved Disney Quest.

Wednesday and Thursday they finally hit the Disney Parks. They saved one day to wait for us to come down. Originally DW and I were not going to buy a ticket for just one day. It just doesn't seem cost effective but we were really itching to go so we told them to save a day and we'd make Saturday a marathon Disney park day.

We flew in Friday night, just making it out of Norfolk due to severe storms. There were many people left at the airport whose flights were canceled so we were really fortunate to get out only 30 minutes late.

We arrived late and headed directly to the Orlando Ale house, our favorite off property restaurant ever. If you haven't eaten at the Ale House it's a must do when in Orlando. The prices are the best we've found and if you are a sports fan, it's the place to be. The DW got a lobster dinner for around $12 a few years back and got a 1 pound lobster and fixings. They also have the infamous Big Red buffalo chicken sandwich. The first time we got one, the piece of chicken was the size of the plate and extended two inches on all sides of the bun. We have eaten there at least 20 times now and have not had a bad meal yet.

I have to get for now but will get to the 4 parks in one day marathon next.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I've never done four parks in one day. I'm looking forward to hearing just how you did that.

 

[jdtopgun71]

I've never done four parks in one day. I'm looking forward to hearing just how you did that.

Thanks for reading Mrs Grumpy. Will be back shortly to get to the parks.

 

[jdtopgun71]

The reason my DW and I were hesitant to buy park tickets was because after reading the DIS for so many years, we've bought into the "more you play, less you pay" theory, and have always tried to maximize our dollars when it comes to tickets. It cost us over $250 for the two of us to get one day park hoppers, so we decided that we were going to get our monies worth! We made the decision to attempt to do all four parks in one day.

DHS had extra magic hours for the morning but unfortunately no parks had late EMH. We were surprised at that, considering it was Saturday and also the middle of June but we were going to make the best of it. We arrived at the gates of DHS about 20 minutes before opening and once they opened immediately headed for TSM. DS is the only one in the family who had ever ridden it so we were all pretty excited. We each got fast passes and then hit the standby line which was pretty much a walk on. We quickly realized why this ride has such long lines. What a great attraction! After that we found some characters and stopped to get some pictures. This would be our last opportunity to get character pictures because the lines the remainder of the day were outrageous. We hit the Great Movie Ride before heading over to TOT and RNR. This was my first time on TOT and it did not disappoint. We only walked onto TOT and only waited about 15 minutes for RNR. We had wanted to do the Indiana Jones show, which none of us have ever done, but the show started at 11am and we didn't want to get too far behind on our quest, so we headed out of the park. We did a little shopping because DS (16) wanted another trading pin starter set which was on sale if you showed receipts of $75 spent on property. She was on a mission to collect some of the hidden mickey pins and needed more trade bait. We have made it kind of a ritual to purchase the items that they have on sale each time we've visited. We have bought all sorts of throws, duffel bags, beach towels etc. and it is normally a pretty good deal. We showed the cast member a pile of receipts we had accumulated, and we were told that they receipts must be from the same store. We were dumbfounded as we've always been able to use any receipt that we had obtained anywhere on property. We left and went to the store next door, showed that cast member our receipts and had no issue at all making the purchase. For the most part we have always had very good experiences with cast members, but I was surprised by this. If indeed you must have receipts from the same store, than we've been really lucky on about 7 or 8 ocassions, but if not I am surprised they all do not know the policy. No harm, no foul. The devious part of me wanted to run back over to the lady and say "see you were wrong" but that may have gotten someone in trouble so I thought better of it. Anyway about this time I asked my wife to hand me my glasses that she had been holding for me as we exited the park. The next thing I know three of us are outside the gate and DW and DS(16) are missing. After about 10 minutes of standing around waiting, here they come. It was at this point they show up and inform me they'd been at lost and found. What in the world were you doing at lost and found?? My glasses had somehow "hopped" out of my DW's bag. We are pretty sure it happened on TOT because she had "thought" something had come out of the bag but wasn't sure. We are told to check with lost and found near the TTC tomorrow. TOMORROW?? At that point I decided that I wasn't going to let this ruin the day, and starting mapping out a plan in my head to get me some new glasses for the drive home. Later that day while sitting in Animal Kingdom taking a break, I called my doctor and have them fax my prescription to the local Lens Crafters in Kissimmee for pick up the next day at 1pm. By the way, we did check the lost and found the next morning and sifted through about 40 pairs of prescription glasses to no avail. At least I know we are not the only ones losing things in the parks! Well can't let that keep us down, so on to the next park.

Next stop, Animal Kingdom!

 

[jdtopgun71]

We hopped on a bus heading to Animal Kingdom and immediately heading to the Lion King show. This is another attraction that none of us had seen so we were all pretty excited. We had seen Nemo last time and all of us loved it, and I've heard Lion King was as good or better. After seeing it, I still can't make up my mind which one is best, but they are both outstanding productions. I like the fact they interacted with the crowd, and the acrobatic monkeys were amazing. We then headed towards Everest. DW and I were getting hungry and the kids wanted to ride EE so we headed in that direction. DW and I stopped and had some boneless chicken wings that were pretty good. After we ate I made my phone calls and got the glasses situation straight. By this time of the time, most of the wait times were pretty high. It took the kids over an hour to knock out EE, and we really didn't want to eat up too much more time. Part of our plan was to go back to the resort to rest and maybe hit the pool to refresh. MK closed at 10pm this night and we really wanted to spend some time walking world showcase which my DW really likes, so we made our way to the exit. The worst part of the whole AK experience on this day was the wait for the WL bus. We waited for over 30 minutes. Once we hit the resort, the kids grabbed a bite to eat and DW, DS (16) and I hit the pool for about 45 minutes. This was one of the first and best pieces of advice I ever read on Disboards and I highly recommend it. I found a nice WDW t-shirt at the WL store so I changed into it, and swapped my flip flops for some sneakers and headed to the bus stop. The best thing I did all day was change into those sneakers. Flip flops at Disney are only good in small doses.

Next stop, Epcot!

 

[3timesmom]

Wow, 4 parks in one day... ( with pool time!).I want to read more!!!

 

[jdtopgun71]

After our rest, we headed to the bus stop to make our way to Epcot. We arrived and had some photopass photos taken and then the kids hit Spaceship Earth while DW and I headed to Club Cool. We have made a ritual of hitting this place and trying the sodas out. The exception of course being Beverly. Not sure who they are marketing this stuff towards, but it's awful. People who like this mess must be absent of taste buds. We do have fun watching the other people try the drinks, especially the newbies who aren't familiar with Beverly. Once we left here we headed to Captain EO. I never came to Epcot during the initial run of this movie in the 80's and 90's so I have really wanted to see this ever since they announced it's return. And of course what person in their 40's didn't like Michael Jackson? The man is a legend. DS had headed to Mission Space so we waited for the girls to join us at Captain EO. This quickly became one of my favorite attractions at WDW. The only regret I have is that they do not have the in theater effects that they had during the original run. They said that the seats vibrated, but I must have been so engrossed with the movie, I didn't even notice that part. But it was still a great production and the audience gave a rousing ovation once it was over. It is a real shame that we lost such a great performer so young. But glad WDW brought this back so we can keep his memory alive.

After this we headed towards WS. After maneuvering through the throng of people at the "Brave" games, we were in Canada and headed to the O' Canada movie. This was another first for all of us, and we really liked it. Off Kilter was playing so we listened to them for a few minutes and then we heading to England where we grabbed some fish and chips to share. We wandered around for awhile really just looking at things we have missed before. It's amazing how much is at WDW that you overlook because you are focused on heading to this ride or that attraction. Sometimes it's good just to stop and look around. There really is a lot to see and the Imagineers spared no details.

We grabbed a crepe in France and DW had an Orange Bellini. Not sure what that is but I am quite sure it killed a $10 bill. They had a Billy Joel tribute band playing and this guy was amazing. If you didn't know any better, you'd of thought the Piano Man himself was playing. We peeked into Italy and breezed on through America and Morocco. Not sure what is is about these two, but we have never spent much time here. Maybe it's because we know margaritas are getting closer. Maybe if they would just put Mexico just inside the main gates, we wouldn't feel so rushed through WS! Anyway we made our way into Germany because we wanted a german bratwurst. We got a brat and a pretzel and DW had a shot of Apfekorn. Again, not sure what this was, but I think it's German for "$10 in a thimble". There was a group of guests and one German cast members who had formed a circle and were kicking a soccer ball around. Naturally as a sports loving American male, when I see a ball I have to participate so I joined the circle. Just five minutes in I managed to drive a ball into the face of one of the other adult males in the circle knocking his glasses to the ground. Actually he managed to duck but not quickly enough to avoid it knocking his glasses off. I felt really bad, but the guy straightened up his now seemingly damaged bifocals and continued in the fun. I apologized and played for a few more minutes and then made my way into to join DW and the kids. We ate our brat and pretzel and then made our way over to Norway. I really wanted to do the ride here because we've never done it before but there was a 30 minute wait, so we got a chocolate chip cookie and a Voss water. Norway is where we first discovered Voss water a few years ago. Water is water as far as I am concerned, but there is something about Voss that we really like. Maybe it's the cool bottle. Anyway next stop was Mexico where I got a margarita. Nothing like a margarita to quench your thirst in 90 degree heat. It was getting past 6pm now we started to make our way towards the exit. Just before we left we hit one of the stores next to the big golf ball and my DW found me a really cool, old school Epcot Center shirt. We only did two attractions and both were movies, but we had as much fun as I can remember this time. The more we visit the world, the more we appreciate everything there is to enjoy and not just rides and such. Can't wait until next time Epcot!

Next stop, Magic Kingdom!

 

[jdtopgun71]

Wow, 4 parks in one day... ( with pool time!).I want to read more!!!

Good to see a Disney fan from Brazil!

 

[jdtopgun71]

Trying to get back to finishing this thing. Working on it today!