klmrph
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2001
- Messages
- 321
My mom, my DD (Tori who is 2.5) and I went to WDW from 11/17 to 11/21. We booked it only 3 weeks ago after scoring RT tix for only $88 taxes included from Fort Wayne on Allegiant Air. We stayed at the AS Movies which we booked through Travelocity for $200 taxes included for the 4 nights (used a $75 off coupon from Travelocity). We then bought our 4 day park hopper through our local AAA and they were $271 each.
Day 1 - flew out on Allegiant Air - good experience overall. We didn't pay extra for assigned seats, but were seated together in row 9. We also chose to carry on all of our luggage plus a stroller, so it was a little much getting through security, but we made it. The only downfall, they didn't allow us to pre-board even though we had a child under 5 (on the way back we got too though).
Arrived at Orlando Sanford on time, picked up our rental from Dollar. We paid for a compact and were upgraded to a Grand Marquis. Our rental with toddler seat was $166 all taxes included. Keep this in mind when you book on Allegiant since you can't take advantage of Disney's Magical Express. It took us about an hour and we made it to All Star Movies. We arrived around 2pm and our room was ready. We didn't book a preferred room and were given a room in Fantasia 5 on the backside. It was still close to the pool, food courts and bus stops.
We then headed out to MK. It was just as magical as I had remembered it and all decked out with the Christmas theme. It's been about 6-7 years since I had taken my now 16 year old to Disney. We arrived and there was a show starting near the castle, so Tori has a nice intro to lots of the characters. She is 2.5 and knows almost all of them. We then headed to Fantasyland...rode the carasoul, teacups, Dumbo (longest wait - maybe 15 minutes) and then met our first character Donald Duck. We then headed back to the front and watched the Spectromagic parade and stayed for the fireworks. We headed back after that and didn't stay for the extra magic hours....to tired. We then went to the food court and both had a taco salad which was good.
Day 2 - We headed to Hollywood Studios.....enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, met Mickey, loved loved the Playhouse Disney show. Mickey's clubhouse is Tori's favorite show, so this was a huge thumbs up for us. We then had a small lunch and split the chicken caesar wrap (forgot the restaurant) and this was very good.
We then headed back to our room for a nap. Woke up and headed to MK for our dinner at Crystal Palace. Our reservation was for 6:45, but we checked in around 6pm and were seated within 5 minutes. The buffet was good as far as buffets go. Meeting Pooh and friends made it awesome. The characters came to our table within 5 minutes of sitting down and by the time we were ready to leave, we met them again.
After dinner, we saw parts of the parade again and then headed to Aladdin's carpet ride and we got to just stay on and ride as much as we wanted since there was no line. We rode it 4 times in a row. It was chilly. The temps were in the 40's.
Day 3 - After enjoying our character buffet dinner, I decided to call and see if we could get in to a character meal with Minnie (since Tori was wearing her Minnie custom that my mom made for her). We got lucky and got into Chef Mickey's. I had been trying to get in. So off to MK and then we took the monorail to Chef Mickey's. The breakfast was very good, loved the Mickey waffles. Character interaction was great.
We then headed to Epcot. We did another character meet - saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. The wait wasn't bad, maybe 15 minutes. We then headed to the new Nemo ride and visited the aquarium afterwards.
After this, Tori kicked back and fell asleep in the stroller while my Mom and I walked through the countries. My mom was born in Germany, so we always enjoy Germany.
Since Tori got a nap in, we headed from Epcot to MK to catch the 3pm parade. Got nice seats right on main street. We then did some more rides. Tori loved Goofy's roller coaster in Toontown. She is so brave for 2.5. We rode it 3 times. We then caught the train back to the front of the park and headed back.
Day 4 - We headed to AK - did the Safari tour, met Pooh and friends in their Christmas gear, went to Dinoland and rode the Dino ride a few times since once again lines were very short.
We then headed to Epcot for our lunch with the Princesses. We had booked it the day before. We had reservations for 1:25 and were called right on time. We headed in and the first stop was a picture with Belle. She was just gorgeous. We were then seated. My mom especially loved the salad bar here (some items were similar to what she grew up on being German). We both ordered the meat patty with the garlic mashed potatoes and this was very good. Dessert was good too. Before we ate, we met Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel and Snow White. This was our favorite character meal by far, especially since the photo package was included and Tori's photo turned out very good.
After lunch we headed to MK once again. We arrived around 3:45 pm and headed straight to see Tinkerbell. The wait time said 1 hour and it took about 45 minutes. They did seem to make a bigger deal out of this character greet. The fairies were very friendly. After, we saw the princesses one more time since Cinderella wasn't at lunch with us. Then we did some more rides - Goofy's rollercoaster, teacups, and Snow White. MK closed at 7pm since the MVMCP was going on that night.
Our flight was at 7:15, so we had to get up early (used a wake up call) and headed to the airport. All was well and we are now home. Overall the trip was excellent. Tori did so well for only being 2.5 and had a blast. I can't wait to go back again.
Day 1 - flew out on Allegiant Air - good experience overall. We didn't pay extra for assigned seats, but were seated together in row 9. We also chose to carry on all of our luggage plus a stroller, so it was a little much getting through security, but we made it. The only downfall, they didn't allow us to pre-board even though we had a child under 5 (on the way back we got too though).
Arrived at Orlando Sanford on time, picked up our rental from Dollar. We paid for a compact and were upgraded to a Grand Marquis. Our rental with toddler seat was $166 all taxes included. Keep this in mind when you book on Allegiant since you can't take advantage of Disney's Magical Express. It took us about an hour and we made it to All Star Movies. We arrived around 2pm and our room was ready. We didn't book a preferred room and were given a room in Fantasia 5 on the backside. It was still close to the pool, food courts and bus stops.
We then headed out to MK. It was just as magical as I had remembered it and all decked out with the Christmas theme. It's been about 6-7 years since I had taken my now 16 year old to Disney. We arrived and there was a show starting near the castle, so Tori has a nice intro to lots of the characters. She is 2.5 and knows almost all of them. We then headed to Fantasyland...rode the carasoul, teacups, Dumbo (longest wait - maybe 15 minutes) and then met our first character Donald Duck. We then headed back to the front and watched the Spectromagic parade and stayed for the fireworks. We headed back after that and didn't stay for the extra magic hours....to tired. We then went to the food court and both had a taco salad which was good.
Day 2 - We headed to Hollywood Studios.....enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, met Mickey, loved loved the Playhouse Disney show. Mickey's clubhouse is Tori's favorite show, so this was a huge thumbs up for us. We then had a small lunch and split the chicken caesar wrap (forgot the restaurant) and this was very good.
We then headed back to our room for a nap. Woke up and headed to MK for our dinner at Crystal Palace. Our reservation was for 6:45, but we checked in around 6pm and were seated within 5 minutes. The buffet was good as far as buffets go. Meeting Pooh and friends made it awesome. The characters came to our table within 5 minutes of sitting down and by the time we were ready to leave, we met them again.
After dinner, we saw parts of the parade again and then headed to Aladdin's carpet ride and we got to just stay on and ride as much as we wanted since there was no line. We rode it 4 times in a row. It was chilly. The temps were in the 40's.
Day 3 - After enjoying our character buffet dinner, I decided to call and see if we could get in to a character meal with Minnie (since Tori was wearing her Minnie custom that my mom made for her). We got lucky and got into Chef Mickey's. I had been trying to get in. So off to MK and then we took the monorail to Chef Mickey's. The breakfast was very good, loved the Mickey waffles. Character interaction was great.
We then headed to Epcot. We did another character meet - saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald and Pluto. The wait wasn't bad, maybe 15 minutes. We then headed to the new Nemo ride and visited the aquarium afterwards.
After this, Tori kicked back and fell asleep in the stroller while my Mom and I walked through the countries. My mom was born in Germany, so we always enjoy Germany.
Since Tori got a nap in, we headed from Epcot to MK to catch the 3pm parade. Got nice seats right on main street. We then did some more rides. Tori loved Goofy's roller coaster in Toontown. She is so brave for 2.5. We rode it 3 times. We then caught the train back to the front of the park and headed back.
Day 4 - We headed to AK - did the Safari tour, met Pooh and friends in their Christmas gear, went to Dinoland and rode the Dino ride a few times since once again lines were very short.
We then headed to Epcot for our lunch with the Princesses. We had booked it the day before. We had reservations for 1:25 and were called right on time. We headed in and the first stop was a picture with Belle. She was just gorgeous. We were then seated. My mom especially loved the salad bar here (some items were similar to what she grew up on being German). We both ordered the meat patty with the garlic mashed potatoes and this was very good. Dessert was good too. Before we ate, we met Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel and Snow White. This was our favorite character meal by far, especially since the photo package was included and Tori's photo turned out very good.
After lunch we headed to MK once again. We arrived around 3:45 pm and headed straight to see Tinkerbell. The wait time said 1 hour and it took about 45 minutes. They did seem to make a bigger deal out of this character greet. The fairies were very friendly. After, we saw the princesses one more time since Cinderella wasn't at lunch with us. Then we did some more rides - Goofy's rollercoaster, teacups, and Snow White. MK closed at 7pm since the MVMCP was going on that night.
Our flight was at 7:15, so we had to get up early (used a wake up call) and headed to the airport. All was well and we are now home. Overall the trip was excellent. Tori did so well for only being 2.5 and had a blast. I can't wait to go back again.
