Back - highs & lows

[zippy99]

As tradition we are back from an amazing 15 nights so I thought I would post highs & lows.

Highs... So many!
Wilderness Lodge - loved it, amazing resort and one nice to relax at too
Surrey Bike ride - first time we have done this - great fun!
Weather - hot with very little disruptive rain
New fantasyland - despite having no little girls (Dd is 15) I LOVED the new area and the Little Mermaid - enchanted tales with Belle was excellent (I did it alone)
Antarctica at Seaworld - really enjoyed this
Boggy Creek Airboat - we saw a nesting mother gator!
Driving - my first time to drive - I am a convert, loved having the car so much easier to get to the parks, being able to pick up 18 cans of Bud and a 4litre bottle of wine from publix for $30
Chilli's - great recommendation fab food
Universal Express Pass - a benefit to saying on site but so handy, the difference between this and fast pass is that because people can pay for the express pass it is in Universal's interest to make sure they are efficient - as such the wait times really are minimal.

Lows..
Not much really - the rude runner at Be Our Guest ruined that experience for us - he tried to put our main plates on our appetiser plates I asked if they could clear the table first as there was no room for our mains but he carried on and put my chicken dish on top of my side plate! My husband asked a second time - please can you clear the table there us no room - rather than apologise and call for help the runner just answered back at my husband stating he only had two hands and they were full! Our server noticed a commotion and rushed over to try and smooth things over and was extra attentive after that but the moment had gone for me then - never experienced anything like that before at Disney

There was some sort of conference at the Royal Pacific Resort whilst we were there - whilst it did not affect the park or pool area we found that the public areas of the hotel were VERY busy and loud full of people talking about politics and due to a common interest everyone was talking to each other we got asked our thoughts on Syria and healthcare multiple times!

Overall though - best trip ever!!

Already planning next year and considering a 3night Cruise in the mix after meeting an older American couple who have been going to Disney since 72! The woman told us how she first cam when she was 19 with a bunch of girlfriends, they were not old enough to hire a car or drink and the park closed at 6pm so they had nothing to do but sit and ride round in circles on the Monorail all night! They told us all about Discovery Island and a River Country - they were delightful we chatted with them 3 or 4 times by the quiet pool at Wilderness Lodge.

I think many have seen this but I did to a live trip report packed with pictures in the form of a blog.

www.zowina.wordpress.com

Enjoy xxx

 

[wayneg]

Welcome home.
Glad you enjoyed having a car, we did almost 2,000 miles in ours last month, the type of holiday we enjoy wouldn't be possible without one.

My advise about cruising would be do 4 days not 3, on a 3 day you only get 2 days really, your first day is half over when you board then unpacking, getting to know the ship etc, last day you leave around 8am, 4 day cruises are short enough.

 

[Tony Bush]

Welcome home Zoe,

Fantastic blog

Tony

 

[zippy99]

Thanks Wayne - i did enjoy the driving despite the one mistake where i turned left into the left lane - panicked did a U-turn only to find i was now on the otherside but still facing the wrong way! fortunately it was on a quiet rode with no cars! We only drove 320 miles in total but the car suited our touring style of park hopping. We saved some mileage when we parked the car at publix and caught the shuttle to Busch!

I must thank Matt for his blog as he inspired me to try it and with the iPhone app and wifi in the parks it made it easy to write and upload phone pictures whilst in the park in a ride queue. Although I did have to remind myself that family and friends were following and I could not use abbreviations such as DTD or we rode ToT as they would not know.

The blog is also a great log to go back and read for memories!

I did forget one other low - when returning the car to Avis - we found they had charged us $10 a day for an upgrade - the guy told us he had upgraded our car but never mentioned an associated cost - very naughty! We did,however, go to the desk before we caught our flight to Miami and after discussing with a manager they removed the cost. Just as well we were in the ball and noticed!

 

[zippy99]

Oh and another high....

I only gained 3lbs whilst away - miraculous achievement considering the volume of food eaten!

 

[Tony Bush]

Crikey, I normally go for about 1/2 stone lol

 

[wayneg]

Crikey, I normally go for about 1/2 stone lol

Same here, more than half a stone. Thankfully after a week home I am almost back down to pre-trip weight. Karen didn't gain 1 pound this trip.

I struggle to drive properly on return to UK, find it easier to adjust to US driving.

You need to check the receipt when collecting a car and again when returning, its not just Avis unfortunately, they all do it.

Yes, a blog is a great way to look back at a holiday. Matt will be pleased he inspired someone else to do one

 

[Elise79]

I struggle to drive properly on return to UK, find it easier to adjust to US driving.

Glad I'm not the only one More than once have I found myself on the wrongs side of he road in the supermarket car park after coming home.

I gained 8lbs in July and still haven't lost it

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Great highs and lows. WL is a lovely resort

DD has always loved the Surrey bikes, I sit at the back but somehow they always know when I'm not pedalling

 

[wilma-bride]

Welcome home Zoe - and thanks for the lovely cocktail picture you posted on my FB page. I will be enjoying one of those myself in just a few weeks

I didn't follow along with your blog as much as I wanted to but did see some of your pictures. It did look like you had a ball.

Doing a cruise is a great idea - are you thinking Disney? Feel free to ask if you want any advice.

Well done on only gaining 3lbs - I managed to get away with only gaining 3lbs last year -(which wasn't bad for 19 days). I have lost 18lbs so far, in preparation for this holiday, so I'm hoping I don't put too much on this time. I tend to share a lot of meals with Daniel though so that helps.

Have fun planning the next one - any chance you might be there in October when we are

 

[Linda67]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip

 

[Shea&Van]

Thanks for the feedback. I loved reviewing your blog! The pictures were awesome and you have a lovely family.

I was disappointed to read about your BoG experience, what a bummer! I'd like to say that maybe he/she was just having a rough day, but darn it, I'd be upset!

Enjoy being back home and planning for next year's trip.

Have a happy Friday!!

 

[buzz25]

how was the weather and the crowds

 

[zippy99]

We did not find the crowds too bad at all - I suppose because we head to the parks early - do the main rides then head off else where.

The second week was quieter but then we had Labor Day weekend - as we were staying at Universal during this time we used the Express Pass which was great for Despicable Me that posted a 90minute wait - we were in straight away!

We visited Magic Kingdom on the Sunday (day before Labor day)- having already done early access to Harry Potter before driving over to MK we found it quiet - and we did not arrive till gone 11am Space Mountain had a 30 minute wait so we grabbed fastpasses that were valid 35 minutes later! Rode buzz as a walk on, got a drink to share and had family photos with Stitch before returning on the dot for our fast pass time. Little Mermaid stated a 30 minute wait - but we were in and out in 15 minutes. On a busier day in the Park enchanted tales with Belle said 40mins - but I waited 15 (admittedly I did get in a group earlier due to them looking for a 'Party of 1' and I had been abandoned by the family - but even so it was well under.

Many of the wait times seemed very over the top but interestingly we found by using the My Disney Experience app that the wait times do go up and down like yo-yos one minute BTM is at 10 - then it shoots to 30 then back down to 10 all within 30 minutes. I can't help but think that whilst they would never put lower times intentionally that perhaps increased times are used to crowd manage guests.

But for us nothing was ever a major wait - Toy Story remains as silly as ever queue wise and Epcot - with the combination of Soarin and the refurbed Test Track is also attracting silly queue times - I just don't get the appeal of Soarin - fine to ride once with a fast pass - but seriously 70minutes to watch a dated grainy video - surely they have the technology to update the video (the difference when Spiderman was remastered was huge) in the scale of costs it cannot be that expensive to update this ride.

Having stayed at the same time last year when Issac was close we found this year hot and much dryer - there were a few short storms - on one evening I think Labor Day - the Storm was in the area for such a long time that the Royal Pacific Pool remained shut from around 4pm to 9.30pm! Other than that we were only caught out twice with the rain - once in DTD and the other time late afternoon in Busch Gardens - the rest of the time it was lovely and hot.

 

[wiigirl]

Great highs and lows. WL is a lovely resort

DD has always loved the Surrey bikes, I sit at the back but somehow they always know when I'm not pedalling

 

[Shocking Hocking]

As tradition we are back from an amazing 15 nights so I thought I would post highs & lows.

Highs... So many!
Wilderness Lodge - loved it, amazing resort and one nice to relax at too
Surrey Bike ride - first time we have done this - great fun!
Weather - hot with very little disruptive rain
New fantasyland - despite having no little girls (Dd is 15) I LOVED the new area and the Little Mermaid - enchanted tales with Belle was excellent (I did it alone)
Antarctica at Seaworld - really enjoyed this
Boggy Creek Airboat - we saw a nesting mother gator!
Driving - my first time to drive - I am a convert, loved having the car so much easier to get to the parks, being able to pick up 18 cans of Bud and a 4litre bottle of wine from publix for $30
Chilli's - great recommendation fab food
Universal Express Pass - a benefit to saying on site but so handy, the difference between this and fast pass is that because people can pay for the express pass it is in Universal's interest to make sure they are efficient - as such the wait times really are minimal.

Lows..
Not much really - the rude runner at Be Our Guest ruined that experience for us - he tried to put our main plates on our appetiser plates I asked if they could clear the table first as there was no room for our mains but he carried on and put my chicken dish on top of my side plate! My husband asked a second time - please can you clear the table there us no room - rather than apologise and call for help the runner just answered back at my husband stating he only had two hands and they were full! Our server noticed a commotion and rushed over to try and smooth things over and was extra attentive after that but the moment had gone for me then - never experienced anything like that before at Disney

There was some sort of conference at the Royal Pacific Resort whilst we were there - whilst it did not affect the park or pool area we found that the public areas of the hotel were VERY busy and loud full of people talking about politics and due to a common interest everyone was talking to each other we got asked our thoughts on Syria and healthcare multiple times!

Overall though - best trip ever!!

Already planning next year and considering a 3night Cruise in the mix after meeting an older American couple who have been going to Disney since 72! The woman told us how she first cam when she was 19 with a bunch of girlfriends, they were not old enough to hire a car or drink and the park closed at 6pm so they had nothing to do but sit and ride round in circles on the Monorail all night! They told us all about Discovery Island and a River Country - they were delightful we chatted with them 3 or 4 times by the quiet pool at Wilderness Lodge.

I think many have seen this but I did to a live trip report packed with pictures in the form of a blog.

www.zowina.wordpress.com

Enjoy xxx

Hi , just wanted to ask about the Boggy Creek Airboat as I know my son who is 12 would love it . Did you book it before you went , how much is it (if you don't mind me asking) . How long long did it last and where about's is it . Hope I'm not being to cheeky . Thank you

 

[zippy99]

We had a free voucher for it as we booked direct through Disney UK that came with our Mickey Mail it was in our voucher book.

There are two sites - Southport and East Lake:
http://www.bcairboats.com/locations.html

We went to East Lake as it was slightly closer and also from a few reviews was recommended. The ride is around 30 minutes but it seemed longer to me - loved it, our driver did a few super turns on the main lake (which I believe is that big expanse of water you fly over coming in to MCO)

There are prices on their site but you can normally get vouchers from somewhere or another or special offers to avoid the full price.

Thing that shocked us most when we saw the nesting gator was the driver telling everyone they could stand on the chairs to get a better look - considering our proximity to what could be a very protective female it seemed 'elf and safety was not required as we all clambered up for a better look!!

Well worth the trip for us and no need to book - just turn up - I'd recommend getting there early though we arrived just before 10am on a sunday i think and just missed a boat that set off with only 2 people on it - our boat was full and there was quite a few people turning up as we left.

PS.. or DS13 loved it - he also loved the Disney Mini Golf that is included with the Disney Ultimate tickets - be sure to do that with him - makes a nice break from the parks and really good (competitive) family fun!

 

[Shocking Hocking]

We had a free voucher for it as we booked direct through Disney UK that came with our Mickey Mail it was in our voucher book.

There are two sites - Southport and East Lake:
http://www.bcairboats.com/locations.html

We went to East Lake as it was slightly closer and also from a few reviews was recommended. The ride is around 30 minutes but it seemed longer to me - loved it, our driver did a few super turns on the main lake (which I believe is that big expanse of water you fly over coming in to MCO)

There are prices on their site but you can normally get vouchers from somewhere or another or special offers to avoid the full price.

Thing that shocked us most when we saw the nesting gator was the driver telling everyone they could stand on the chairs to get a better look - considering our proximity to what could be a very protective female it seemed 'elf and safety was not required as we all clambered up for a better look!!

Well worth the trip for us and no need to book - just turn up - I'd recommend getting there early though we arrived just before 10am on a sunday i think and just missed a boat that set off with only 2 people on it - our boat was full and there was quite a few people turning up as we left.

PS.. or DS13 loved it - he also loved the Disney Mini Golf that is included with the Disney Ultimate tickets - be sure to do that with him - makes a nice break from the parks and really good (competitive) family fun!

Thank you , that's great . We are staying just off site at Hilton Bonnet Creek but have a car , so I will look into this . It's our first visit and I real think I can do everything !!! But know we can't, I am drained just doing Alton Towers . I know my DH and DS would also love the golf as they both play but I never go so they might feel threatened by me LOL . Thank you for the help
: )

 

[zippy99]

If they like the golf - you can do the Fantasia Gardens by the Swan & Dolphin - there is a free car park (it's the best in my opinion - not great for too young as it is quite challenging in places) if you have no car you can walk from Studios or Epcot International Gateway (the back entrance) or get the boat get to the Swan/Dolphin from either. The other course is located next to Blizzard Beach so can be tagged on to a trip there.