Sir Robin Hood
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 390
Greetings everyone,
Here is my trip report from the 2nd week in January, which should have been posted about a month ago. I'm finally getting around to posting the report, but better late than never. Nothing too elaborate, considering I only spent one day at Disney. And away we go...
Drove all day on Monday, Jan 12 from Knoxville to Orlando. Arrived in the Orlando area around 10:30pm. Due to the economy and me penny pinching & such, I did not stay on Disney property this time around. This time I stayed at a nice Days Inn on Hwy 192 just 4 miles from WDW. The weather was superb considering it was around 2 degrees in Knoxville that week where I am from.
After checking-in to my unorthodox, yet cost efficient motel, I headed over to Boardwalk. This was actually my first time visiting Disney's Boardwalk complex. Very impressed! Most shops had closed down except for the ESPN bar & Jelly rolls. I pretty much walked around and took pictures of the beautiful place. Considering that I was a solo traveler ("Lone Wolf") walking around with a camera like I was casing the place out, I'm sure security was just thrilled. It was a beautiful (warm) evening, and I had never seen Boardwalk before, nonetheless lit up at night. Once again...beautiful! And now it's time for a visual:
That goofy looking fellow is yours truely.
One of my favorite shots of BW at night; looking across the water.
Day 2: 1/13/09
I drove over to the St. Pete & Sarasota area, and spent Tuesday down in visiting relatives and going to the Gulf. So since there is nothing related to Disney whatsoever in this day, let us jump to Wednesday.
Day 3: 1/14/09...EPCOT
I spent the entire day of Jan 14 at Epcot. The weather was ideal during the day, and became light jacket weather at night. But as far as rain and such...perfect. The crowds were nice and heavy, but not too overly crowded. I FastPassed Soarin' twice. The stand-by time for Mission & Test Track were anywhere from 20-35 minutes. Not bad.
And now a picture break:
Me at the Canadian pavillion
Spaceship Earth around early afternoon
I went on:
-Spaceship Earth (Twice). At first I did not care for the ending as much as previous versions of this ride. But the 2nd time around it started to grow on me. By the laughter and reactions from other passengers in earshot, it seems to go over well. Amusing.
-Soarin' (Twice). This is now my all-time favorite Disney attraction at any park. Not sure why. But I love it. In another thread I also mentioned this, but has anyone else ever noticed how while you are in the waiting line for this ride, just before you hit the pre-movie area, they are playing musical scores from An American Tail, Hook, and Apollo 13? Not exactly Disney, but beautiful waiting music which fits the overall theme of the attraction. Listen carefully next time, you'll hear it.
Anyhow, I went on Soarin' twice; could have gone even more. Had to FastPass both times. Did I mention that this is my favorite Disney ride?
-Mission: Space (Once). The guy in line behind me apparently lost his lunch after. I overhead the conversation after the ride. (???)
-Test Track: (Three times) I used the single-riders line every time, which helps.
-Ellen's Energy Adventure: (Zero times) Was closed for rehab.
-Imagination: Once. Not as good as the original with Dreamfinder (I miss that character), but still a lot of fun.
-Maelstrom (Twice) One of my favorites
-Gran Fiesta Tour (Once) When the boats start piling up in the end, towards the exit, this becomes the bumpiest ride on Disney property.
Stayed through and watched Illuminations ROE. Very comfortable weather...and yet another picture:
China at night.
Epcot is still my favorite park, had a great time, even though it was for one day.
This was also my first time walking from Epcot to Boardwalk via the exit between UK and France. I've walked passed that entrance a million times but never used it before.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell. My next trip will consist of more days & more parks. This was kinda a spur of the moment thing.
End
Here is my trip report from the 2nd week in January, which should have been posted about a month ago. I'm finally getting around to posting the report, but better late than never. Nothing too elaborate, considering I only spent one day at Disney. And away we go...
Drove all day on Monday, Jan 12 from Knoxville to Orlando. Arrived in the Orlando area around 10:30pm. Due to the economy and me penny pinching & such, I did not stay on Disney property this time around. This time I stayed at a nice Days Inn on Hwy 192 just 4 miles from WDW. The weather was superb considering it was around 2 degrees in Knoxville that week where I am from.
After checking-in to my unorthodox, yet cost efficient motel, I headed over to Boardwalk. This was actually my first time visiting Disney's Boardwalk complex. Very impressed! Most shops had closed down except for the ESPN bar & Jelly rolls. I pretty much walked around and took pictures of the beautiful place. Considering that I was a solo traveler ("Lone Wolf") walking around with a camera like I was casing the place out, I'm sure security was just thrilled. It was a beautiful (warm) evening, and I had never seen Boardwalk before, nonetheless lit up at night. Once again...beautiful! And now it's time for a visual:
That goofy looking fellow is yours truely.
One of my favorite shots of BW at night; looking across the water.
Day 2: 1/13/09
I drove over to the St. Pete & Sarasota area, and spent Tuesday down in visiting relatives and going to the Gulf. So since there is nothing related to Disney whatsoever in this day, let us jump to Wednesday.
Day 3: 1/14/09...EPCOT
I spent the entire day of Jan 14 at Epcot. The weather was ideal during the day, and became light jacket weather at night. But as far as rain and such...perfect. The crowds were nice and heavy, but not too overly crowded. I FastPassed Soarin' twice. The stand-by time for Mission & Test Track were anywhere from 20-35 minutes. Not bad.
And now a picture break:
Me at the Canadian pavillion
Spaceship Earth around early afternoon
I went on:
-Spaceship Earth (Twice). At first I did not care for the ending as much as previous versions of this ride. But the 2nd time around it started to grow on me. By the laughter and reactions from other passengers in earshot, it seems to go over well. Amusing.
-Soarin' (Twice). This is now my all-time favorite Disney attraction at any park. Not sure why. But I love it. In another thread I also mentioned this, but has anyone else ever noticed how while you are in the waiting line for this ride, just before you hit the pre-movie area, they are playing musical scores from An American Tail, Hook, and Apollo 13? Not exactly Disney, but beautiful waiting music which fits the overall theme of the attraction. Listen carefully next time, you'll hear it.
Anyhow, I went on Soarin' twice; could have gone even more. Had to FastPass both times. Did I mention that this is my favorite Disney ride?
-Mission: Space (Once). The guy in line behind me apparently lost his lunch after. I overhead the conversation after the ride. (???)
-Test Track: (Three times) I used the single-riders line every time, which helps.
-Ellen's Energy Adventure: (Zero times) Was closed for rehab.
-Imagination: Once. Not as good as the original with Dreamfinder (I miss that character), but still a lot of fun.
-Maelstrom (Twice) One of my favorites
-Gran Fiesta Tour (Once) When the boats start piling up in the end, towards the exit, this becomes the bumpiest ride on Disney property.
Stayed through and watched Illuminations ROE. Very comfortable weather...and yet another picture:
China at night.
Epcot is still my favorite park, had a great time, even though it was for one day.
This was also my first time walking from Epcot to Boardwalk via the exit between UK and France. I've walked passed that entrance a million times but never used it before.
That's pretty much it in a nutshell. My next trip will consist of more days & more parks. This was kinda a spur of the moment thing.
End
Nice trip report. 
I'm glad you had a great time at Epcot. Soarin' is one of my favorite attractions, too! 
