AAR: In which public bathrooms become scarier than Expedition Everest...

[Princesca]

Part 1

We just returned at 5 AM this morning from our week-long stay at WDW, so I thought I'd share a few of our lessons learned with you guys in the hopes that others will benefit from our hard-earned wisdom.

So it was me, DH, DM, DS, DNiece, and DS's boyfriend. As official trip coordinator, I began planning this trip months ago, and have been dreaming of it just as long. It had been almost twenty years since I last went to Disney, so a lot of time and effort were spent trying to make this the most magical trip ever. Yeah - same story, different family, right? So we booked our two connecting rooms at Pop Century and reserved our rental van and drove all the way from Louisville, KY to Orlando, FL, straight through, no overnight stay, which leads me to lesson learned #1:

1) Never, ever, ever do that drive again. I know some people can swing it, but lord have mercy... I'm pretty sure that I was stuck in a particular level of hell reserved exclusively for people who have committed whatever karmic atrocity I have clearly committed to deserve to be subjected to that drive. Toward the end, on our return trip, I am pretty sure I was hallucinating.

2) Related to renting the van, though... since a credit card number isn't required to hold the van, book as soon as you see a price you like, even if you aren't sure of your dates. You can always cancel and rebook when the price drops, or your dates change, and keep checking the price up until the day before you leave. This little tidbit saved us, I kid you not, $250 on our rental.

3) Pop Century is not the hotel for us. It was cute, but even on days when the resort crowd level was 5/10 per Touring Plans, it was a madhouse. We took the time to visit some other resorts, and think that our next trip might be to POFQ. Much more our scene. Not to mention that Pop does not have a jacuzzi/whirlpool for the grownups (at least not that I noticed) and there aren't words to describe how much I would have appreciated one of those. This sort of relates to point four...

4) Keep your trip group demographics in mind and seriously consider the consequences of vastly disparate age groups. We had five adults (one in a scooter) and a preschooler, which often resulted in weird splits. My DH and I had no interest in standing in line for character meets, which was almost exclusively what my sister and DN wanted to do. If you split up, it's difficult to find each other again... either logistically or mentally. Once we split up, the third or so day in, that became the norm for subsequent days.

5) Related to knowing your group, understand that even though you make plans, and talk about them ad nauseam to everyone in the group, there will certainly be curveballs thrown your way. I had planned on two connecting rooms from the beginning, but when we actually got there, DH and I nearly ended up in marriage counseling over having to live in such close proximity to the others, with not much in the way of a barrier in between. I could have handled it, but he wasn't having it and demanded that we get our own room. Fortunately, we were able to, and the extra expense was really worth it.

Of all the lessons learned, this one was probably the hardest for me. I've vacationed with this same group before, when my DN was younger, but I saw sides of people during this trip that I'd never seen before. I kept it all in perspective, but be prepared that, on this safari to the happiest place on earth, there will be times that you will want to look at your family members and pretend you don't know them... I dote on my DN, but yiiiiiikes there were days that I went to bed shocked at what a little snot she was! I think Disney can bring out the worst AND the best in people, depending on the day's circumstances... so a healthy spoonful of perspective is a must-have at all times.

So expect curveballs, but also expect that your younger party members (and even your older ones ) may suddenly develop unexpected neuroses. My DN decided on the trip down that she was terrified of automatic flush toilets and public restrooms, even though she has had plenty of experience with both. We lost so much time sitting there waiting while she had her periodic meltdown over this subject. We tried everything - bribery, blackmail, blocking the auto flush, offering to go back and flush it after she'd left... nothing worked.

In retrospect, I personally would not bring an almost-four-year-old to WDW again unless I was going for myself, or for some other reason. My DN enjoyed the character interaction, but was really too young to "get" it, so I think the overall experience was a little lost on her. That said, we were all in tears our first night at Chef Mickey's, seeing her jump up to hug Goofy. So maybe there's something in the experience there for the grownups, too.

More random and specific tips in post #2...

 

[Princesca]

Part 2

1) We had seven-day passes, and we spent only ONE day in Magic Kingdom. I was floored by this. Some of my fondest memories from the last time I went were Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion... but the first four days, we went to AK, EP, DHS, and MK in that order, and honestly, MK was, by comparison, really pretty... dare I say it... lame. At the end of our day in MK, though there were some bright points with Wishes, the terrace dessert party (MUST DO - it was AWESOME), Philharmagic, and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, neither my DH nor I wanted to spend another day there. We rode Pirates once, and just about everything else at least once, but it paled in comparison to the other parks, both in attractions and food, and was far more crowded and far more unshaded. This was really disappointing to me. I don't think my tastes have changed so much since I was eighteen, but when you stack Pirates of the Caribbean up against Star Tours (which was freaking AWESOME) or Mission Space, even taking into account that it's a different kind of ride, it just doesn't pass muster. I left feeling that MK -really- needs updating.

2) Did I mention Star Tours was AWESOME? We rode it five times, and I'm not even a huge Star Wars fan. I'd have ridden it five more if my DH would have agreed to it.

3) Towel Animals are not "pixie dust-ish" anymore, at least not at Pop Century. Everyone gets one at check-in. And DN took one look at it and shrugged it off. I don't think she really got what it was supposed to be.

4) Of all the places we ate, the Pop Century food court and Cosmic Ray's were the worst. The food was just tasteless. Everything else was terrific, though, and I can't recommend Jiko enough. Yes, they will still make your filet with the mac and cheese if you ask them nicely.

5) I think we, as a culture, really need to make sure that all our little princesses understand that being a princess isn't just about pretty dresses, sparkly glitter, and a profound sense of entitlement. I apply this to my DN as well. Just from casual observation, it seems we are giving little girls the idea that they are super precious unique little snowflakes, without giving them part two of the lesson, which is that being a princess comes with certain expectations - that you will be kind, gracious, and thoughtful. We let them get wrapped up in 'Oh my gosh look how beautiful Belle is' without helping them understand the characteristics that make Belle so beautiful on the inside. YMMV, of course... just my observation... and kudos to people who are indeed working on this with their DDs.

6) Wow, I was floored by how rude the cast members at Morocco were, and how contemptuous people can be when you request tap water, specifically. I liked the food at Tangierine Cafe, but it will be awhile before I want to go back there. I get that there are cultural differences, and you can't expect everyone to be effusive, but that does not excuse practically throwing food at the customers and looking at them like they're morons for asking simple questions. By contrast, the cast members at Animal Kingdom were by far the most pleasant... we really loved that park!

7) We didn't have any issues with people in scooters at all, except when my DM was learning how to use hers and nearly ran us over in the elevator. I highly recommend getting the scooter the day before you use it in the parks and getting some practice time in. She got really good at it pretty quickly. But we did have issues with people and STROLLERS. In EPCOT, this woman pushing a stroller was RUNNING straight at us, and I seriously had so little time that I had to dive out of the way, causing my DH to trip over me and step on the back of my shoe, which almost flew off. And then another day at EPCOT, a man pushing a stroller rammed it right into my DH's calf, right at his Achilles tendon, which could have been much worse than it was. Yikes. Seriously, people - a little situational awareness? And for heaven's sake, don't walk one direction and look another. It's enough to make you wish human beings weren't biologically capable of doing that.

 

[Princesca]

I have to go pick up the dog at the kennel - but a few last points before I forget...

Sometimes it's the unexpected things that are the most fun. I usually pick rides over shows, but the shows at WDW are not to be missed. We never could work out the timing for the Little Mermaid show, but we did see Beauty and the Beast, Festival of the Lion King, and Finding Nemo. The last two knocked our socks off, and all were great.

We had some time to kill at one point, so we went to the Animation Academy presentation where they teach you how to draw a character... you get to keep the paper/drawing as a souvenir, so that was unexpectedly awesome. The paper has the DHS logo on it, so it makes a nice memento.

I mentioned it before, but the Wishes fireworks dessert party is more than worth the price of admission. It left me with such a profound sense of wonder. And to me, that's what WDW is all about.

More later, as I think of things, but thanks to all for reading... I'm now going to go soak in a Basin-bath-bomb-infused tub and then go pick up my puppy.

 

[Princesca]

Oh yeah - and if you're staying at Pop Century, don't count on satellite TV or a strong wi-fi connection. Our satellite channels almost never worked, which meant you were pretty much limited to resort TV.

Best snack for DH: jalapeno pretzel at AK and swirl Dole Whip at MK
Best snack for me: Dark chocolate salted caramel from the Germany pavilion

Best words I heard all week: "Next time we come..." This from DH who was as grumpy about Disney as they come, and didn't want to go, or hear me talk about it. So after dragging him kicking and screaming, hearing him say, "The next time we come..." about made my year! Honestly, I can't remember what he said after that, the shock was so great. LOL.