disneychik21
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2009
- Messages
- 150
Every other year my whole family (mom and dad, oldest brother, middle brother with wife and 4 kids, and myself) packs up and heads out on a trip to Disney World. This was our third trip going. We were kind of nervous for a few reasons: 1. We were staying at a new resort that we usually do (the 4 kids LOVE AKL). 2. We were going for a much longer time than we usually do (10 days vs. 6 days). 3. We were going in March, during Spring Break....loads and loads of people.
Everything that we were unsure about turned out to make the trip 10x better than we could have ever imagined.
First of all, DVC is the best thing I could have ever purchased. I was a college program kid, so I got a discount on my own points AND my dad's points. It is because of these points that we are able to go on these whole family trips and make memories with my nephews. 100% worth it!
Day 1: We arrived midday to MCO and took DME to Boardwalk. We were on a bus and on our way to the resort within 10 minutes, not a bad wait at all. Our room was ready and man was it breathtaking! It was a Grand Villa and was 1 story. We were hoping for the 2 story, but those were under renovation at the time. Our room really could not have been more perfect! From my college program days, I had a few friends there that I wanted to go see. I headed to EPCOT to hangout at Flower and Garden while my parents and brother took an Uber to COSTCO and we waited for the other half of the party to arrive. I made sure to be back at the resort before everyone arrived home, it was a family vacation after all. The insane amount of groceries arrived with my parents and brother and pretty soon after my other brother and his family arrived. We all went down the the Boardwalk Bakery for snack and to get our mugs and then we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the view. From our balcony, we could see some of the Illuminations fireworks and the reflection of the Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood Studios. We didn't stay up too late because it was a long day of travel and we had an early morning of family pictures with Disney Fine Art Photography.
Day 2: I naturally wake up way too early, as do most of the members of my family. I cannot express enough how beautiful the sunset was over the boardwalk. It was fun to see the Friendship boats coming out for the day as the sun came up. As people woke up and ate breakfast, we really had to get going. Family pictures were at 8:30, lucky enough, they were at our resort so we just had to get to the lobby.
Our family pictures will become a tradition will every trip from now on. We got a discount through Disney Fine Art Photography because we were DVC members, 20%. It made the pictures very reasonably priced and the pictures are AMAZING! Our photographer was very open to suggestions and different pairings of people and different poses. We even suggested to her to take some candid photos of the kids and they turned out to be some of the best pictures! After our pictures we went to Hollywood Studios for the day. This is a park that I had previously dismissed as my least favorite park, but after this trip (even with so much closed) I loved it so much! My nephews are 9, 5, 2, and infant. This park had SO MUCH for the 2 year old to do. He is obsessed with Disney Jr. and we were able to meet the characters and watch the show. We were also able to see Indiana Jones which he also loved. We of course did the big rides with the big kids, but there is something so precious about seeing the enjoyment of the 2 year old. We took a midday break but came back later in the day for dinner and Fantasmic. Dinner was at Hollywood Brown Derby. It was good, but in my opinion, not worth the 2 dining credits on the dining plan. The service was excellent but the food was really mediocre. After dinner, it was time for Fantasmic. The kids loved the show and it was the perfect end to the day. We walked back to our resort, sat on the balcony, and people slowly trickled into bed.
Day 3: We got to sleep in a little this day, which was nice. We are not the rope drop type of family and our extended trip allowed that to happen. We may wake up early, but we like to relax and take our time in the mornings. It was Animal Kingdom day and my parents 37 year anniversary dinner at Narcoosees. This is a restaurant I had always wanted to go to, but had never been, so I was beyond excited! I have to say, there is nothing particularly memorable about our time at Animal Kingdom that day. The one thing that was really exciting was getting to meet Flick. My nephews had brought this Disney character encyclopedia and they were trying to meet as many characters as possible. They were so excited to meet Flick, who isn't always around to meet. Otherwise, this day was just okay. We took a midday break and then met back up at Narcoosee's for dinner. This dinner was THE BEST dinner we've ever had! Each and every member in my family, including the kids, has requested that we go back for every trip. I got the filet with mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were totally unbelievably amazing. We all had something different and we were all very satisfied with our dinners. At this restaurant, we swapped our desserts for entrees because we had a special surprise dessert for my parents. I got the cheese plate, a few got the lobster bisque, and the others got salads. SO AMAZING! For dessert, we had ordered an anniversary cake for my parents anniversary from the Grand Floridian Wedding Bakery. It was a white cake with passion fruit mousse. It was so good too! On top of an unforgettable meal, we had an amazing server. His name was Tom. We complimented him to his manager and wrote in to guest relations about him. We finished our night with watching Wishes from the deck of Narcoosees and it was beautiful!
Day 4: This was EPCOT day! This was a big day because we got to meet many characters incuding Baymax! All of my nephews love Baymax. We rode test track, Imagination, and Nemo and Friends. We met characters, saw turtle talk, and participated in a magical moment with a scuba diver. It was such a great day. Dinner this day was at Biergarten. Normally at this restaurant, you eat with other people, but we are such a large party that we had our own table. At this restaurant, we love the food. It was SO amazing! The downside to this restaurant was the service. It was very slow. We ended up being in there for close to 3 hours all because we waited on our check for 30 minutes and then waited for them to take our dining plan and pay for our beers for another 45! It was crazy.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom!!!!!! We started this day with an early breakfast at Chef Mickey's. It was so magical and wonderful! The characters spend a perfect amount of time with us and even said hi to the kids AND adults. The food was fantastic and the food was fantastic. This meal was so worth it! When we got to Magic Kingdom, we headed straight for Fantasyland. We rode the train per the request of the 9 year old and he loved it (as did the other kids)! We rode Barnstormer first and we were so exited that our tall 2 year old was able to ride his first roller coaster! He loved it so much and couldn't wait to ride more "big kid" rides. Next we went to Dumbo. The play area inside the wait area is so awesome for all of the kids and adults. There were play things for the various ages of my nephews and seating areas for the adults close to the play areas to keep and eye out. It made the wait time seem like nothing at all. Dumbo was a big hit too! Next we went to 7DMT. The 2 year old was also tall enough to ride this and LOVED it! Our video is priceless! We rode a few more rides before it was time for lunch at Be Our Guest. We preordered and it made it super easy to get in, sit, and get our food. The food here was very good except no one remembered what they ordered 30 days before. This was also the location of our first major meltdown. The 9 year old thought we ordered for him and were treating him like a baby, so he was pretty mad. He likes to be independent and thought we were taking that from him (and he was tired), haha. We spent the rest of the day riding rides and watching the Festival of Fantasy Parade.
Day 6: EPCOT part 2. It was St. Patricks Day and we had lunch planned at Rose and Crown. We started a little early so we could meet the characters again. We also got to see the Pixar Shorts and that was pretty funny. Lunch was very good. The server was quick to serve us and kept the kids entertained. He truly went above and beyond to help us out. The restaurant was packed, given that it was St. Pat's Day and he had no problem serving us quickly since nap time for the kids was quickly approaching. The rest of the day was a free day and we split up and did our own thing.
Day 7: Magic Kingdom day 2. This day started with breakfast at Be Our Guest. I have to say out of the two meals at Be Our Guest, breakfast was so much better! We avoided the meltdown this time by reading him the menu and having him pick what he had already picked 30 days before, haha. We had preordered this meal too but didn't want the same problem. This time we rode the rides that we missed the first time. Midday here was where our trip took an unfortunate turn. The 5 year old started to get really tired at lunch time. We didn't think anything of it at first, but it got worse. That night we had dinner at Kona Cafe. This meal was just ok. I ordered the coffee crusted pork chop and it was WAY over cooked and hard to chew. I will say the bread at this restaurant before the meal was crazy good. The poor 5 year old slept through the entire meal. He had been asleep the whole afternoon. After dinner, since he wasn't feeling good, we went straight back to the resort. He unfortunately got sick on the monorail ride back to EPCOT (we always took the monorail to MK and then walked to Boardwalk from EPCOT). We were all convinced that he was sick from the heat and so we were pushing water on him to try and re-hydrate. He continued to sleep. We got a thermometer and he had a 102 degree temp! He was just monitored all night by his mom (who didn't sleep at all).
Day 8: This was the unfortunate day when we had a sick kid and were changing resorts. We had originally planned on leaving on this day, so when we decided to add more time, Boardwalk was no longer available. We were moving to a smaller 2 bedroom at Old Key West. We called the front desk and asked to speak to a manager about out sick kid situation. His fever was holding strong and we didn't want to sit at a bus stop in the heat with a sick kid. They ended up letting us check out late and then sent a car to transfer my SIL and nephew to Old Key West. Now we were originally told that we could stay at Boardwalk until Old Key West called to say they had a room ready. It was so perfect and thoughtful. We got a call that the room was ready, so we got checked out, and Boardwalk brought a car up to transfer the sick one and my SIL. The rest of us continued on to Hollywood Studios. We obviously wanted to keep the other kids and ourselves away from the sickness, especially moving to a smaller room. My SIL and nephew arrived at OKW and found out that in fact, the room was not ready. We had been told the roomw was ready which is why we called to leave Boardwalk, but it wasn't. It ended up taking 5 HOURS to get a room. A 5 year old with a 102 fever stuck in a lobby sleeping on a bench for 5 hours. The only reason they ended up getting a room when they finally did was because she went to the counter and made it known that she wasn't happy. It was pretty pitiful. My SIL and brother had worked out that they would switch places with him the next day. That night, we went to dinner at Garden Grill with my SIL. It was so good! The characters were wonderful here just like they were at Chef Mickey's. Our service was also wonderful. They even packed up a box of all the food to take back to my brother for dinner. It was so nice! I was worried about the credit card guarantee, but they were wonderful and understanding about the sick kid.
Day 9: We went to the beach on this day (well most of us). It ended up being just my parents, my oldest brother, and myself that went. The sick kid was STILL running a fever so they decided to take him to urgent care. Once again, the called the front desk and they were happy to provide vouchers so they could go. My brother took my nephew and found out he had influenza A. Such a bummer! We got back from the beach and went to dinner at Cape May Cafe. This time my brother came to eat with us and the other kids. The food and service was great here as well. This restaurant said they could not send a box of food back, which was a bummer. We ended up going to Disney Springs and got my SIL Earl of Sandwich. We got back to the resort that night and found out that unfortunately my 2 year old nephew now had a fever.
Day 10: With 2 sick kids now, it was even more important to keep the infant and 9 year old away. We headed to MK and rode a few more rides. My flight home was later that night, so I had a time limit. They were extending the trip to hopefully get the kids healthy before having to board a flight. The last day was great, even with 2 sick kids. Later that day, both kids ended up breaking their fever and they were able to enjoy their last day at WDW the next day.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip, regardless of the sickness that came upon my nephews.
Hollywood Brown Derby....4/10
Narcoosees....10/10
Biergarten....7/10
Chef Mickey's....10/10
BoG Lunch....8/10
Rose and Crown....8/10
BoG Breakfast....9/10
Kona Cafe....6/10
Garden Grill...10/10
Cape May Cafe....9/10
Boardwalk Resort...10/10
Old Key West...8/10
Everything that we were unsure about turned out to make the trip 10x better than we could have ever imagined.
First of all, DVC is the best thing I could have ever purchased. I was a college program kid, so I got a discount on my own points AND my dad's points. It is because of these points that we are able to go on these whole family trips and make memories with my nephews. 100% worth it!
Day 1: We arrived midday to MCO and took DME to Boardwalk. We were on a bus and on our way to the resort within 10 minutes, not a bad wait at all. Our room was ready and man was it breathtaking! It was a Grand Villa and was 1 story. We were hoping for the 2 story, but those were under renovation at the time. Our room really could not have been more perfect! From my college program days, I had a few friends there that I wanted to go see. I headed to EPCOT to hangout at Flower and Garden while my parents and brother took an Uber to COSTCO and we waited for the other half of the party to arrive. I made sure to be back at the resort before everyone arrived home, it was a family vacation after all. The insane amount of groceries arrived with my parents and brother and pretty soon after my other brother and his family arrived. We all went down the the Boardwalk Bakery for snack and to get our mugs and then we sat on our balcony and enjoyed the view. From our balcony, we could see some of the Illuminations fireworks and the reflection of the Star Wars fireworks at Hollywood Studios. We didn't stay up too late because it was a long day of travel and we had an early morning of family pictures with Disney Fine Art Photography.
Day 2: I naturally wake up way too early, as do most of the members of my family. I cannot express enough how beautiful the sunset was over the boardwalk. It was fun to see the Friendship boats coming out for the day as the sun came up. As people woke up and ate breakfast, we really had to get going. Family pictures were at 8:30, lucky enough, they were at our resort so we just had to get to the lobby.
Our family pictures will become a tradition will every trip from now on. We got a discount through Disney Fine Art Photography because we were DVC members, 20%. It made the pictures very reasonably priced and the pictures are AMAZING! Our photographer was very open to suggestions and different pairings of people and different poses. We even suggested to her to take some candid photos of the kids and they turned out to be some of the best pictures! After our pictures we went to Hollywood Studios for the day. This is a park that I had previously dismissed as my least favorite park, but after this trip (even with so much closed) I loved it so much! My nephews are 9, 5, 2, and infant. This park had SO MUCH for the 2 year old to do. He is obsessed with Disney Jr. and we were able to meet the characters and watch the show. We were also able to see Indiana Jones which he also loved. We of course did the big rides with the big kids, but there is something so precious about seeing the enjoyment of the 2 year old. We took a midday break but came back later in the day for dinner and Fantasmic. Dinner was at Hollywood Brown Derby. It was good, but in my opinion, not worth the 2 dining credits on the dining plan. The service was excellent but the food was really mediocre. After dinner, it was time for Fantasmic. The kids loved the show and it was the perfect end to the day. We walked back to our resort, sat on the balcony, and people slowly trickled into bed.
Day 3: We got to sleep in a little this day, which was nice. We are not the rope drop type of family and our extended trip allowed that to happen. We may wake up early, but we like to relax and take our time in the mornings. It was Animal Kingdom day and my parents 37 year anniversary dinner at Narcoosees. This is a restaurant I had always wanted to go to, but had never been, so I was beyond excited! I have to say, there is nothing particularly memorable about our time at Animal Kingdom that day. The one thing that was really exciting was getting to meet Flick. My nephews had brought this Disney character encyclopedia and they were trying to meet as many characters as possible. They were so excited to meet Flick, who isn't always around to meet. Otherwise, this day was just okay. We took a midday break and then met back up at Narcoosee's for dinner. This dinner was THE BEST dinner we've ever had! Each and every member in my family, including the kids, has requested that we go back for every trip. I got the filet with mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were totally unbelievably amazing. We all had something different and we were all very satisfied with our dinners. At this restaurant, we swapped our desserts for entrees because we had a special surprise dessert for my parents. I got the cheese plate, a few got the lobster bisque, and the others got salads. SO AMAZING! For dessert, we had ordered an anniversary cake for my parents anniversary from the Grand Floridian Wedding Bakery. It was a white cake with passion fruit mousse. It was so good too! On top of an unforgettable meal, we had an amazing server. His name was Tom. We complimented him to his manager and wrote in to guest relations about him. We finished our night with watching Wishes from the deck of Narcoosees and it was beautiful!
Day 4: This was EPCOT day! This was a big day because we got to meet many characters incuding Baymax! All of my nephews love Baymax. We rode test track, Imagination, and Nemo and Friends. We met characters, saw turtle talk, and participated in a magical moment with a scuba diver. It was such a great day. Dinner this day was at Biergarten. Normally at this restaurant, you eat with other people, but we are such a large party that we had our own table. At this restaurant, we love the food. It was SO amazing! The downside to this restaurant was the service. It was very slow. We ended up being in there for close to 3 hours all because we waited on our check for 30 minutes and then waited for them to take our dining plan and pay for our beers for another 45! It was crazy.
Day 5: Magic Kingdom!!!!!! We started this day with an early breakfast at Chef Mickey's. It was so magical and wonderful! The characters spend a perfect amount of time with us and even said hi to the kids AND adults. The food was fantastic and the food was fantastic. This meal was so worth it! When we got to Magic Kingdom, we headed straight for Fantasyland. We rode the train per the request of the 9 year old and he loved it (as did the other kids)! We rode Barnstormer first and we were so exited that our tall 2 year old was able to ride his first roller coaster! He loved it so much and couldn't wait to ride more "big kid" rides. Next we went to Dumbo. The play area inside the wait area is so awesome for all of the kids and adults. There were play things for the various ages of my nephews and seating areas for the adults close to the play areas to keep and eye out. It made the wait time seem like nothing at all. Dumbo was a big hit too! Next we went to 7DMT. The 2 year old was also tall enough to ride this and LOVED it! Our video is priceless! We rode a few more rides before it was time for lunch at Be Our Guest. We preordered and it made it super easy to get in, sit, and get our food. The food here was very good except no one remembered what they ordered 30 days before. This was also the location of our first major meltdown. The 9 year old thought we ordered for him and were treating him like a baby, so he was pretty mad. He likes to be independent and thought we were taking that from him (and he was tired), haha. We spent the rest of the day riding rides and watching the Festival of Fantasy Parade.
Day 6: EPCOT part 2. It was St. Patricks Day and we had lunch planned at Rose and Crown. We started a little early so we could meet the characters again. We also got to see the Pixar Shorts and that was pretty funny. Lunch was very good. The server was quick to serve us and kept the kids entertained. He truly went above and beyond to help us out. The restaurant was packed, given that it was St. Pat's Day and he had no problem serving us quickly since nap time for the kids was quickly approaching. The rest of the day was a free day and we split up and did our own thing.
Day 7: Magic Kingdom day 2. This day started with breakfast at Be Our Guest. I have to say out of the two meals at Be Our Guest, breakfast was so much better! We avoided the meltdown this time by reading him the menu and having him pick what he had already picked 30 days before, haha. We had preordered this meal too but didn't want the same problem. This time we rode the rides that we missed the first time. Midday here was where our trip took an unfortunate turn. The 5 year old started to get really tired at lunch time. We didn't think anything of it at first, but it got worse. That night we had dinner at Kona Cafe. This meal was just ok. I ordered the coffee crusted pork chop and it was WAY over cooked and hard to chew. I will say the bread at this restaurant before the meal was crazy good. The poor 5 year old slept through the entire meal. He had been asleep the whole afternoon. After dinner, since he wasn't feeling good, we went straight back to the resort. He unfortunately got sick on the monorail ride back to EPCOT (we always took the monorail to MK and then walked to Boardwalk from EPCOT). We were all convinced that he was sick from the heat and so we were pushing water on him to try and re-hydrate. He continued to sleep. We got a thermometer and he had a 102 degree temp! He was just monitored all night by his mom (who didn't sleep at all).
Day 8: This was the unfortunate day when we had a sick kid and were changing resorts. We had originally planned on leaving on this day, so when we decided to add more time, Boardwalk was no longer available. We were moving to a smaller 2 bedroom at Old Key West. We called the front desk and asked to speak to a manager about out sick kid situation. His fever was holding strong and we didn't want to sit at a bus stop in the heat with a sick kid. They ended up letting us check out late and then sent a car to transfer my SIL and nephew to Old Key West. Now we were originally told that we could stay at Boardwalk until Old Key West called to say they had a room ready. It was so perfect and thoughtful. We got a call that the room was ready, so we got checked out, and Boardwalk brought a car up to transfer the sick one and my SIL. The rest of us continued on to Hollywood Studios. We obviously wanted to keep the other kids and ourselves away from the sickness, especially moving to a smaller room. My SIL and nephew arrived at OKW and found out that in fact, the room was not ready. We had been told the roomw was ready which is why we called to leave Boardwalk, but it wasn't. It ended up taking 5 HOURS to get a room. A 5 year old with a 102 fever stuck in a lobby sleeping on a bench for 5 hours. The only reason they ended up getting a room when they finally did was because she went to the counter and made it known that she wasn't happy. It was pretty pitiful. My SIL and brother had worked out that they would switch places with him the next day. That night, we went to dinner at Garden Grill with my SIL. It was so good! The characters were wonderful here just like they were at Chef Mickey's. Our service was also wonderful. They even packed up a box of all the food to take back to my brother for dinner. It was so nice! I was worried about the credit card guarantee, but they were wonderful and understanding about the sick kid.
Day 9: We went to the beach on this day (well most of us). It ended up being just my parents, my oldest brother, and myself that went. The sick kid was STILL running a fever so they decided to take him to urgent care. Once again, the called the front desk and they were happy to provide vouchers so they could go. My brother took my nephew and found out he had influenza A. Such a bummer! We got back from the beach and went to dinner at Cape May Cafe. This time my brother came to eat with us and the other kids. The food and service was great here as well. This restaurant said they could not send a box of food back, which was a bummer. We ended up going to Disney Springs and got my SIL Earl of Sandwich. We got back to the resort that night and found out that unfortunately my 2 year old nephew now had a fever.
Day 10: With 2 sick kids now, it was even more important to keep the infant and 9 year old away. We headed to MK and rode a few more rides. My flight home was later that night, so I had a time limit. They were extending the trip to hopefully get the kids healthy before having to board a flight. The last day was great, even with 2 sick kids. Later that day, both kids ended up breaking their fever and they were able to enjoy their last day at WDW the next day.
Overall, it was a fantastic trip, regardless of the sickness that came upon my nephews.
Hollywood Brown Derby....4/10
Narcoosees....10/10
Biergarten....7/10
Chef Mickey's....10/10
BoG Lunch....8/10
Rose and Crown....8/10
BoG Breakfast....9/10
Kona Cafe....6/10
Garden Grill...10/10
Cape May Cafe....9/10
Boardwalk Resort...10/10
Old Key West...8/10
