A skeptical family of First-Timers take on WDW Nov 15-22** NOV 28 update

[Chicago Mo]

i am hopping on! i love this!! your doing a fantastic job!!
our first family trip was the poly, there is NOTHING better then sitting out there watching the castle, day or night, with the wishes music piped threw the resort!!! talk about MAGICAL!!! Nothing can beat the Poly.
Along with the masses on her we too will be going November 13-19th!!! unfortunately we can't swing the poly this time and staying at POR.

I hope to run into you at the Christmas party on November 15!!! our first time as well!!!
i might do a TR as well.. just trying to get up the nerve...

 

[FosterA]

i am hopping on! i love this!! your doing a fantastic job!!
our first family trip was the poly, there is NOTHING better then sitting out there watching the castle, day or night, with the wishes music piped threw the resort!!! talk about MAGICAL!!! Nothing can beat the Poly.
Along with the masses on her we too will be going November 13-19th!!! unfortunately we can't swing the poly this time and staying at POR.

I hope to run into you at the Christmas party on November 15!!! our first time as well!!!
i might do a TR as well.. just trying to get up the nerve...

You're sweet! Thanks so much
I am soooo excited about the Poly which could be bad because then I'll never want to stay anywhere else. But...if I had a second choice I'd go w/ the Port Orleans because my Cajun husband would probably really feel at home there.

That would be crazy to run into each other at MVMCP! I hope you guys have a wonderful time too! I'm most excited about the parade!

Do a trip report! I love people to read it but mostly do it because it's for my own fun and I can kind of "document" it for myself and keep all my plans straight in my head. Plus, my husband will have NONE of me discussing the plans with him so I need an outlet!!

 

[Oliquig]

I just read your PTR, and it looks like you had a great time on your "research" trip! My BFF is also a hair stylist/colorist and she too would not do a spread sheet.

 

[AnnieEMT]

Just found this today & I am so hooked! It sounds like your test-run went fantastic - I swear, Disney just hugs you when you arrive & then never lets go ever again
I'm taking my 15 year old out of school for a week this September & trying to figure out how to hang my head in shame when I let them know lol - because I am just too excited! He's been to Magic Kingdom once (we did a weird little day trip) & my twins who will be 22 when we go have never been - I am SO over the moon about getting to show them everything, so I totally get your excitement about this!
Can't wait to read more!!

 

[FosterA]

I just read your PTR, and it looks like you had a great time on your "research" trip! My BFF is also a hair stylist/colorist and she too would not do a spread sheet.

That's funny, maybe it's cause they don't teach spreadsheets in beauty school My husband tries to show me how and gets completely frustrated but it's just so much easier to grab paper and pencil. haha

 

[FosterA]

Just found this today & I am so hooked! It sounds like your test-run went fantastic - I swear, Disney just hugs you when you arrive & then never lets go ever again
I'm taking my 15 year old out of school for a week this September & trying to figure out how to hang my head in shame when I let them know lol - because I am just too excited! He's been to Magic Kingdom once (we did a weird little day trip) & my twins who will be 22 when we go have never been - I am SO over the moon about getting to show them everything, so I totally get your excitement about this!
Can't wait to read more!!

Thanks for stopping by! You are going to have such a great time with having older kids! I was excited to go to Disney once I started researching it and reading guide books but when I went alone on my little "preview" trip, I ended up thinking it was 20x better than I had imagined and now it's so much harder to wait! The wait was easier before I knew how great Disney was! You are so lucky that you are going in September, right around the corner!!

 

[FosterA]

Ok, I'm going to try to wrap up my little report about my 2-day quickie trip in this segment.

So, I did a couple things at Epcot alone and then Julie showed up and as soon as I saw her, I had my doubts she walked like a little old lady and was sooooo sore from just doing the marathon (like I said she's not THAT athletic and didn't train a whole lot ahead of time. lol). But she insisted that she wanted to do a "bunch" of stuff with me. So...she was most excited about Soarin because she loves that ride. We got in line for that with our passes. It was very cool BUT....don't hate me, Soarin' is not nearly as cool as I had expected. A lot of hype that I just didn't get. It's a funny thing though because Julie travels alot and goes to Disney a ton and has had way more "experiences" than me and she ADORES Soarin'. I am a country bumpkin that's very easy to please, and I wasn't impressed So...I guess it just either is your "thing" or not. I think I just felt like I was in a porch swing watching an Imax movie. But....don't get me wrong, I am soooo looking forward to doing it again and giving it another chance. Part of the problem may have been that we were in the bottom row and I was a little distracted by the feet?

And then....here's the funny thing, Julie suggests we go over to Spaceship Earth (the big golf ball) and do that ride. I expected this to be a big huge bore and I LOVED IT!! I thought it was really fun and loved the realistic scenes and the interactive screens in your "car". So super cool. You just never know with Disney attractions, that's why you need to do them all! What everybody else loves, you may not "get" and visa versa.

So we only did those 2 attractions together at Epcot and I had already done Nemo and "living with the land" by myself. Did not do Test track unfortunately. So really, we didn't do alot at Future World.

NOW GET THIS: Julie, who has been to WDW maybe 30x in her lifetime, really never has done World Showcase!!!what?? Yes...it's just the weirdest thing ever. I mean, she said she did it when it first opened or something but they are really just MK people when they go. I literally knew WAAAAAAY more about World Showcase than she did and I'd never been before! I insisted we go over there and dragged her (literally) along. She didn't have the foggiest idea what the Norway or Mexico rides were or that they were even there Yep, she's one of those that has been a million times and doesn't know how fastpasses can be used after the return time either. Anyhoo, we first went and had nachos at the Mexico CS place and then went into the pyramid and I was like . Now, I live in TX and go to the Riverwalk in San Antonio alot and am no stranger to this "look" but talk about impressive! I just adored the inside of the pyramid. We wandered around and did the boat ride. It reminded me alot of San Antonio Julie was like "huh? how come you know all this stuff is here". I'm like, "I'm a planning freak and learned everything on the Dis". We then went to Norway and did that ride and looked around the little gift shop. That's it! Just "did" those 2 countries. Julie was too sore and I was honestly pretty dang tired too and looking at that big lake and how huge the circle around the countries looked, we just weren't up to it. I CAN'T WAIT to go back though because I barely got my feet wet at Epcot!

Julie was pretty anxious to get to MK, so off we went. As expected, it's marvelous there. I had already been to Mk the night before for an hour or two so I really had a lot to see still. We hit Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mt and maybe another one or two attractions together before Julie just got way too tired and said she had to go back and soak in a hottub and put her feet up. I sent her off to the buses and then I went back and did Pirates, Splash, and Jungle Cruise. I loved Haunted mansion the very most but all the other attractions were wonderful!! I still have alot left to do at MK obviously but I got a pretty good feel for it.
Here's a pic from Thunder Mt.

Somehow I got trapped by the Electric Parade at one point and had to watch that for the second time. Not a bad thing, but I kind of wanted to do some of the stuff I hadn't done yet. I then ended up over in the Liberty Square area and got a big ol' funnel cake with powdered sugar on it. I took that thing and stood in front of the castle, I mean right smack in front, and watched Wishes. I'm not into fireworks THAT much but this show brought tears to my eyes. Amazing is all I can say. I really can't describe it. The music was so clear and it was just over-the top!

Remember how I said I had a funnel cake? Well, since I was standing there with mouth gaping open looking at fireworks, I wasn't paying attention that I was spilling VERY WHITE powdered sugar all down the front of my VERY DARK shirt. Like a total dork, I walked out of MK to go back to resort and when I got in the bright lights of main street, I see the front of my shirt all covered in powdered sugar. I'm probably in some photo somewhere of the "people of MK" looking like a complete idiot

I guess I can't finish this little mini-report (inside the real trip report) tonight after all. Whipped from working all day! But, I'll do a little summary and wrap up tomorrow with a final segment.

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Jumping into your report! Finally caught up! Great mini report.

So the "older kids" things....

I'm almost 23 and my brother is almost 18... There is no where on this earth that the two of us would rather go than Disney. We're going with my mom in December to take my 2 year old on her first trip.

My mom out of the blue asks " So for Christmas this year how would you two feel about not getting any presents and going to Disney for like 4 days?"
We looked at each other and said "How soon can we leave?"

Like I said my brother is almost 18. He's a 6'2" 285 Offensive Lineman on his high school football team in his senior year. He turns into a 8 year old again when we roll through that WDW arch.

 

[FosterA]

Jumping into your report! Finally caught up! Great mini report.

So the "older kids" things....

I'm almost 23 and my brother is almost 18... There is no where on this earth that the two of us would rather go than Disney. We're going with my mom in December to take my 2 year old on her first trip.

My mom out of the blue asks " So for Christmas this year how would you two feel about not getting any presents and going to Disney for like 4 days?"
We looked at each other and said "How soon can we leave?"

Like I said my brother is almost 18. He's a 6'2" 285 Offensive Lineman on his high school football team in his senior year. He turns into a 8 year old again when we roll through that WDW arch.

Thanks for popping by!
That's great about how much ya'll love Disney and so cute how a huge football player turns into a little kid at Disney
I'll have to go check out your report!
Have a great trip!!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

I'm glad you liked Spaceship Earth - the giant golf ball! That's one of our favorites, too!
Too bad you just gotta taste of WS. But at least you get to go back and will hopefully do it up right! Have you heard of the Kim Possible thing? (I'm sure you have) Just incase the kiddos aren't feeling WS it gives them something to do in each country. I actually want to try it out with Johnny this trip!
That's awesome about your powdered shirt! We've all been there!
Can't wait to read about the rest of your day!

 

[FosterA]

I'm glad you liked Spaceship Earth - the giant golf ball! That's one of our favorites, too!
Too bad you just gotta taste of WS. But at least you get to go back and will hopefully do it up right! Have you heard of the Kim Possible thing? (I'm sure you have) Just incase the kiddos aren't feeling WS it gives them something to do in each country. I actually want to try it out with Johnny this trip!
That's awesome about your powdered shirt! We've all been there!
Can't wait to read about the rest of your day!

I know, I can't wait to really check out the World Showcase! I think my husband will like it alot, maybe even be his favorite. We shall see. It's going to be fun to report back after the trip with what everybody's favorite thing was. They may just surprise me!

We may do the Kim Possible, I guess that depends on how wired the kids are and if they want to make time for that.

 

[toontownnutter]

My kids are the same age as yours and from what I've read Kim Possible is very much enjoyed by kids around that age. I think if you're allowing time at world showcase you may as well do it, I guess if you get a few minutes into it and the kids are claiming its boring you can just not complete it and hand the communicators in.

 

[swwake]

We did Kimpossible last September when it was just my husband and me. You can take as much or as little time as you'd like to do a mission, even taking breaks in the middle to shop, do an attraction, or eat. I think your kids will love it, and I highly recommend it. It shows you things you'd otherwise probably just walk by and never notice, and it's a little bit educational too. We had to find water, fire and ice (I think?) at Japan on our mission. And it's super interactive and sometimes draws a crowd. I remember after we got our Kimmunicator, we could recognize the "beep beep be-beep" when others nearby had Kimmunicators. Such fun!

 

[disneylovin24]

Hi, I havent been around in a couple weeks so here I am checking in again.

I loved reading your TR in your PTR. I can't wait to hear about how much your whole family and yourself enjoy it all when you go

 

[guitarob]

I took that thing and stood in front of the castle, I mean right smack in front, and watched Wishes. I'm not into fireworks THAT much but this show brought tears to my eyes. Amazing is all I can say. I really can't describe it. The music was so clear and it was just over-the top!

Wishes will do that to you. It gets me every time. Just wait until you get to see Illuminations over at Epcot; it is truly an amazing spectacle.

 

[FosterA]

Wishes will do that to you. It gets me every time. Just wait until you get to see Illuminations over at Epcot; it is truly an amazing spectacle.

oooooh, I can't wait to see Illuminations I just have no idea what to expect with that one!

 

[disneylovin24]

oooooh, I can't wait to see Illuminations I just have no idea what to expect with that one!

Illuminations It is truly amazing! You will love it!!!!

Its funny though, people ask all the time if I like that or Wishes more. I really can't compare the two, they are two different types of shows. Both are absolutely amazing in their own rights.

 

[FosterA]

Ok, I'm really really going to finish this "mini trip report inside a trip report" in this segment.

So I left off saying how I watched Wishes smack dab in front of the castle and it blew my mind. Wow! I was a little sad after it though because I knew my 2-day commando trip had come to an end. I was soooooo tired though because I barely slept at all on this trip.

Like I said, I left MK covered in powdered sugar from my funnel cake and made my way to the bus. Once I got on the bus, Julie started blowing up my phone telling me to come join her at the All-Star Music pool bar for drinks. I told her I was on my way but very very tired so I probably wouldn't hang out much. I wanted to soak in the bathtub and get to bed and be depressed since my Disney trip was almost over. I could tell she'd already had a few drinks at this time Since I was so busy going Commando at the parks, I had never really paid that much attention to our resort and really didn't even know where the bar was. I told her I'd text her once the bus parked to get directions. Well.....Julie is soooo loud so once I got off the bus and started walking towards the pool, I heard her No need for directions....just follow Julie's big mouth! I ended up sitting there with her and had maybe 2 drinks. I tell ya, even the All-Stars are perfectly fun and relaxing because it was a beautiful night and we sat out at the bar by the pool and met some people and had a great time! Julie had a bunch of drinks and had met some people and was doing just fine. The drinks are pretty darn expensive but that didn't stop her I had some yummy lemonade drink and it was sooo good. I finally realized that I might just drop dead from exhaustion so I excused myself and shuffled off to our room. Whew!! my 2-day "preview, commando, sleep-less trip" had come to an end.

We got up the next morning and ate breakfast for the first time in the All-stars food court. It was pretty crowded but we found a seat pretty quick. We had biscuits and gravy with a side of bacon and a drink for about $12 bucks. Funny thing was that this was only the second "sit down" meal I had the whole trip! I did a counter-service Yak and Yeti lunch and then the rest of the time I just ate pretzels and cookies and junk like that. After that we checked our bags at the resort and got on the Magical Express and hit the road. I think we flew out around noon. waaaaah.

So....Final Thoughts:
1. I figured Disney would be cool after reading Dis and the guide books but it was WAY BETTER than I expected.
2. The Value resorts (or at least Music) was perfectly clean and nice and acceptable
3. AK was spectacular, I have no idea why people don't like it?
4. Soarin and Toy Story are VERY over-rated. Cool and I'd do again, but WAY NOT the best attractions at Disney.
5. One of the biggest surprises was that I usually miss my family dreadfully when I don't see them for a day or two, but I didn't even think about them because I had sooooo much fun I might have only called or texted hubster 2 or 3 times!
6. The biggest surprise of all though was that I honestly went into this "preview" trip to scope out the locations of rides and such for my kids and I HONESTLY didn't think I'd "ride" anything. After riding my first attraction I knew this was no Six-Flags and I WANTED to do all the rides. I really really thought it would be like Six-Flags types of rides but cleaner.
7. I LOVED WDW, all 4 parks, and I can't wait for November!!!!! WDW was way cleaner, friendlier, and much more magical than I had ever imagined!


As far as regrets:
I really wish I had done more of World Showcase since I only saw two countries but...hey, so much to discover when I go back!

I also wish I had browsed around the Poly alot longer. I really just wandered out to the pool and that's about it. I wish I had looked at some of the longhouses so I could figure out which one I wanted to stay in or which one to try to request anyway.

The other regret was that I didn't fit in Fantasmic on this trip. I really wanted to "preview" that because Fantasmic is such a pain for planning purposes since it's not every night. I thought I'd check it out so I'd know if I should bother with it for our Nov. trip or not. But...never made it to Fantasmic at any point on this trip. boo hoo. BUT...realistically, it didn't really matter because I KNOW I would have loved it (like I loved everything else I saw) so I'm sure we'll do it in November.


Ok. So we're all caught up now. My next little chapter will be more about the here and now and what ADRs I've picked for our trip and how I scored KILLER plane tix and all that good stuff.

 

[swwake]

Loved your mini trip report! I think you will come to find that your regrets aren't really regrets. I don't think November will be your last time at WDW. I think your family will love it and you will go back, so anything you miss, you'll be able to see "the next time".

Fantasmic - I would say see it and get the dining package. That takes about 1 hour of waiting and a lot of stress out of your day. We did Brown Derby (but you don't have to go that expensive). They make the dinner reservations early so you'll have plenty of time to enjoy the rest of DHS before the Fantasmic show. You don't have to get to the arena until 30 minutes before (rather than 90 minutes, just to ensure a seat). You get pretty much prime seating (ours was a little to the right, mid-ways up). And it really is a must-see Disney show. Do it!!

 

[lilpixiebabe101]

Ok, I'm really really going to finish this "mini trip report inside a trip report" in this segment.

So I left off saying how I watched Wishes smack dab in front of the castle and it blew my mind. Wow! I was a little sad after it though because I knew my 2-day commando trip had come to an end. I was soooooo tired though because I barely slept at all on this trip.

Like I said, I left MK covered in powdered sugar from my funnel cake and made my way to the bus. Once I got on the bus, Julie started blowing up my phone telling me to come join her at the All-Star Music pool bar for drinks. I told her I was on my way but very very tired so I probably wouldn't hang out much. I wanted to soak in the bathtub and get to bed and be depressed since my Disney trip was almost over. I could tell she'd already had a few drinks at this time Since I was so busy going Commando at the parks, I had never really paid that much attention to our resort and really didn't even know where the bar was. I told her I'd text her once the bus parked to get directions. Well.....Julie is soooo loud so once I got off the bus and started walking towards the pool, I heard her No need for directions....just follow Julie's big mouth! I ended up sitting there with her and had maybe 2 drinks. I tell ya, even the All-Stars are perfectly fun and relaxing because it was a beautiful night and we sat out at the bar by the pool and met some people and had a great time! Julie had a bunch of drinks and had met some people and was doing just fine. The drinks are pretty darn expensive but that didn't stop her I had some yummy lemonade drink and it was sooo good. I finally realized that I might just drop dead from exhaustion so I excused myself and shuffled off to our room. Whew!! my 2-day "preview, commando, sleep-less trip" had come to an end.

We got up the next morning and ate breakfast for the first time in the All-stars food court. It was pretty crowded but we found a seat pretty quick. We had biscuits and gravy with a side of bacon and a drink for about $12 bucks. Funny thing was that this was only the second "sit down" meal I had the whole trip! I did a counter-service Yak and Yeti lunch and then the rest of the time I just ate pretzels and cookies and junk like that. After that we checked our bags at the resort and got on the Magical Express and hit the road. I think we flew out around noon. waaaaah.

So....Final Thoughts:
1. I figured Disney would be cool after reading Dis and the guide books but it was WAY BETTER than I expected.
2. The Value resorts (or at least Music) was perfectly clean and nice and acceptable
3. AK was spectacular, I have no idea why people don't like it?
4. Soarin and Toy Story are VERY over-rated. Cool and I'd do again, but WAY NOT the best attractions at Disney.
5. One of the biggest surprises was that I usually miss my family dreadfully when I don't see them for a day or two, but I didn't even think about them because I had sooooo much fun I might have only called or texted hubster 2 or 3 times!
6. The biggest surprise of all though was that I honestly went into this "preview" trip to scope out the locations of rides and such for my kids and I HONESTLY didn't think I'd "ride" anything. After riding my first attraction I knew this was no Six-Flags and I WANTED to do all the rides. I really really thought it would be like Six-Flags types of rides but cleaner.
7. I LOVED WDW, all 4 parks, and I can't wait for November!!!!! WDW was way cleaner, friendlier, and much more magical than I had ever imagined!


As far as regrets:
I really wish I had done more of World Showcase since I only saw two countries but...hey, so much to discover when I go back!

I also wish I had browsed around the Poly alot longer. I really just wandered out to the pool and that's about it. I wish I had looked at some of the longhouses so I could figure out which one I wanted to stay in or which one to try to request anyway.

The other regret was that I didn't fit in Fantasmic on this trip. I really wanted to "preview" that because Fantasmic is such a pain for planning purposes since it's not every night. I thought I'd check it out so I'd know if I should bother with it for our Nov. trip or not. But...never made it to Fantasmic at any point on this trip. boo hoo. BUT...realistically, it didn't really matter because I KNOW I would have loved it (like I loved everything else I saw) so I'm sure we'll do it in November.


Ok. So we're all caught up now. My next little chapter will be more about the here and now and what ADRs I've picked for our trip and how I scored KILLER plane tix and all that good stuff.

So glad you enjoyed your mini trip!
We've always stayed Value because we were
a.) never in the rooms really to begin with and
b.) we got to stay longer because the resort was cheaper. Normally 2-3 days longer. That's a lot of Disney!