Disney Dolphin - June 1-June 8

[cookpr]

7 day trip report to Disney Dolphin, with Carter (4) and Connor (5).

Day 1 (of 7)

6:00 AM flight meant rolling out of the house by 3:45. Had told the kids we would be waking them up at “night”. All it took was a “its time to go to Disney” at 3:00AM and they popped up instantly. Timed it right, as we drove to Midway, parked and had all the luggage at the Southwest gate within 1 hour of leaving the house, so started the day out strong. Everyone grabbed a McMuffin (a rare McGriddle for myself) and it was on to Orlando right on time (much better than our 5 hour delay on our trip last November to Playa). Uneventful flight and we were on the ground within 2.5 hours (9:30 Orlando time). Quickly grabbed the luggage and headed over to the oversize bin to pick up the strollers we checked in. However, after waiting 20 minutes or so, no strollers in site. A visit to the Southwest customer service booth turned up nothing. Turns out they were mistakenly placed on another flight headed to NY…so we were basically SOL until they got back to Orlando. All things considered, Southwest handled it flawlessly, and they hand delivered them to the bellhop at our hotel by midnight that night. We just had night one at Magic Kingdom without strollers.

The Budget car rental counter was jammed – which seemed odd at that time of morning – but we probably killed another 30 minutes just getting to the rental counter. Luckily, once there it went smooth and we were handed the keys to a Jeep Patriot (got a 7 day small SUV rental for $170 – cheaper than a compact car). However, between the stroller fiasco, and the lengthy car rental process, probably burned 1.5 hours at the airport.

The time wasted was not too big of a deal, as the plan for the day was to just pick up some groceries, hang at the hotel/pool, and then head over to Magic Kingdom at night (as they had extended hours to 1AM). Weather was crap when we landed, on and off down pours – so we headed over to the Super Wal-Mart just south of Disney (no, Orlando Wal-Marts are not much fun). Despite wanting to get out of there as quick as possible, for $80 we picked up enough groceries (PB&J’s, teddy grahams, nutria-grain bars, etc) that probably ended up saving us hundreds of dollars over the course of the week, as the kids (as well as us) were content with granola bars, etc. for breakfast some mornings, and PB&J’s for lunch some days.

We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to the Walt Disney World Dolphin resort to see if we could check in early. Early check in was a breeze, and we were given 4 keys to 11167 (11th floor), which I think was a top 5 highlight of the trip for the kids…multiple times every day the boys fought over who pushed the buttons in the elevator, and when asked if Connor liked Disney better than Mexico, his response was, “Disney, because they have elevators” (and in essence, he’s right, when we go to Playa, the buildings are capped at 3 stories, hence, no elevators).

We headed on up to the room and given we were all up at 2:30 am, and it was “wet” outside, the boys and mom took a snoozer, and I headed out to explore the Dolphin/Swan (massive, to say the least).
We headed over to Magic Kingdom and in hindsight, thank god we did, as typically (according to multiple web services), the first week in June is the slower portion of the summer high season, and Friday night proved that out (maybe the rain that afternoon helped clear the park out) – come Monday, it seemed to getting massively more busy. However, that night we were basically walking on rides – maybe 10-15 minute wait tops (later in the week, that would be unheard of).

Unlike me when I was their age, Connor and Carter are pretty fearless – as during the trip (as we will see), they did every ride their height allowed, and loved every one of them. Connor quickly became a fan of Space Mountain, Carter loved Goofy’s Barnstormer – later they would discover Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain (the freshly unveiled Big Thunder), Expedition Everest, Tower of Terror. I think we must have rode the Barnstormer 10 times on Friday night.

Friday night also confirmed three things...the boys blossoming love affair with the Disney Parking Trams, the fact that they do better (and love) being at the parks at night, and that they want absolutely nothing to do with any of the Disney World attractions that aren't "rides" - they called BS on any stage show, skit, or otherwise (which was fine by me).

While to me the ride seems very dated and un-Disney - what 5 year old doesn't love driving their own car?

Carter loved driving his own car.

Teacups. I am not a fan. I can ride the biggest coasters in the world at Cedar Point, going 0-120 mph in 5 seconds, then 400 feet straight up, but the flippin' teacups- no thanks, its like an instant headache.

Getting ready to board Winnie the Pooh ride. It's been a favorite of Carter both times we have gone to Disney. Sadly, I doubt it will be next time we return.

Connor getting ready to board Space Mountain. This photo is evidence of his desire to ride in the very front (note the 1 on the ground).

The new Dumbo ride - the second Dumbo was not open yet. However, the picture does not do it justice...the amount of money Disney poured into this little ride is phenomenal. The level of detail is really something.

Riding Dumbo...

Another example of a "revamped" ride. The detail on this little coaster is again, phenomenal...

More Barnstormer detail.

Getting ready to ride, you guessed it, first row.

More of my fascination with the theming of the Barnstormer.

Gas tank running low on night 1...

But still time for another run around the Tomorrowland Speedway.

 

[HeadintheClouds]

Your boys are adorable. The Barnstormer looks like fun! Did they really get on ToT? You have some pretty brave kids!

 

[cookpr]

Yes, Tower of Terror 4 times. I was amazed on how much they no longer wanted to do the tame Disney rides...they have quickly developed into thrill seekers.

Expedition Everest would become my 5 year old's favorite by the time we got to Animal Kingdom.

Barnstormer is a cute little ride - wish they would have doubled the track length though.

His lack of being 48" is the only thing that kept him off of RnR.

I will say though, we kind of tricked them onto Splash Mountain. Both really did not want to ride...but we fibbed, and did not tell them what we were boarding. In the end, it became one of their faves and we rode it 5 or 6 times. They loved the falling sensation

 

[cookpr]

Day 2

Before we left, I had mapped out a pretty detailed itinerary of what we would be doing each day, what park we would visit, places we would try to eat, etc. In the end, we followed it pretty much word for word, only having to back off some plans due to simply not having the time to get to all of it. When we went 18 months ago, we had no plan. This time we were better prepared.

Either way, Epcot was front and center on Saturday. Plan was to hit Epcot in the morning, walk back to hotel midday for pool time, and head back to Epcot at night, as we were able to snag the near impossible to get reservation (at least according to internet lore) at Le Cellier – basically a top notch steakhouse in the Canadian pavilion at Epcot. Internet lore has it that most Disney guests never have the chance to dine there – as it is under constant reservation. It appeared to be that way for us as well, but I logged into the Disney reservation system about 72 hours before, and wouldn’t you know it, a reservation slot had opened up (one and one only). Worked out perfectly, as was Bridget’s birthday and options were looking slim.

Anyways, back to earlier in the day. The Dolphin is basically a hop, skip and a jump away from Epcot, so plan was to walk over to the gate asap and head over to Soarin’ to ride it and pull fastpasses (we would become near fastpass experts by weeks end). With Test Track down (Connors’s favorite ride) down, there is not exactly a deep roster at Epcot for rides…its basically Soarin’ and Mission Space. While I love walking around all the countries – that isn’t exactly top of mind for 4 and 5 year olds.

Either way, the plan worked and we rode Soarin twice, never waiting more than 15 minutes. Later in the day, wait times would exceed 100 minutes (suckers). Further, the kids hated the ride…they had no interest in going on a 3rd time – and to some degree I agree, I don’t get the draw of the ride…it’s basically a 4-D IMAX movie with motion – Disney can do better. Get a Florida theme, or add something special.

Carter was too short for Mission Space, and Connor braved the more intense “orange” boarding version (the one with the spinning, g-forces) – but I think the inability to pull your head off the back of your seat because of the force being exerted spooked him a bit (even though he never admitted it), and he wanted nothing to do with a second ride. Probably did not help that as we were exiting the ride, paramedics were administering care to an older English lady who seemed to have passed out during the ride. So either way, he got the gold medal for trying it.

We next headed over the Nemo (which I think is a travesty of a ride compared to what I remember of the Living Seas when I was there in the 80’s). Kids had no interest in a repeat ride either.

Next it was on to “Crush”, the talking turtle from Nemo, which on the other hand, I think is a really creative, unique little diversion. Carter, however, did not see it that way and started crying as soon as we sat him and Connor in the front row (kids are separated from their parents if desired, most kids love it, as they can be part of the show and be up front, not so much for Carter). Needless to say, no second viewing needed.

Given all that was really left for the kids was Maelstrom, the world showcase, and a ride up into the big Epcot ball – we went back to the hotel for pool time – which I think the kids actually liked the most. The pool, or I should say pools at the Dolphin are large. The large 3 ft depth pool was nice, as Connor could navigate that without us paying attention to him every second. Carter had his floaties, so that helped there as well. The slide, hot tubs, and waterfall all ended up being popular throughout the week.

We had 4:30 (yes, senior hour) reservations at Le Cellier, so we departed the Dolphin on foot at 4:00 to make sure we got there in time. Given it was 1 million degrees, taking the ferry over probably would have been wise – but both kids passed out in the stroller on the way there, which in the end, turned out to be a godsend, as Carter never woke up and slept in my lap at Le Cellier – so we did not have to worry about the boys jerkin’ around, trying to see who can be dumber. Rather, we had a pleasant, $150 meal for 2 (given Connor’s meal cost about $7, and Carter never ate, $0).

In the end, Le Cellier was very good – no complaints, food was great, service was great. However, I can’t vouch for the rave reviews and its status as a near impossible place to get a table. Maybe it’s because a lot of these reviewers are coming from smaller towns, I don’t know. Being from a bigger metro area, I can think of 5 or 6 places better than Le Cellier without much thought. Again, very good food…just not worth the price of admission. I’ll take Gibsons, McCormick & Schmicks – or even Morton’s, Sullivans or Hugos right here in Naperville.

Wondering around the world showcase after dinner, we hit the “tigger” jackpot in Great Britain…and despite some trepidation, Carter warmed up to actually meeting Tigger – which has up until this point, been his lifelong stuffed animal buddy.

The rest of the night was fairly relaxing, as all were content to just hang around epcot and do whatever came up. We caught the illuminations show and then headed back to the Dolphin on foot (which is awesome compared to trying to board a monorail, ferry, or bus), stopping by a jam packed Beaches and Cream Ice Cream Shop at the Boardwalk for a couple sundaes. Rolled back in about 11 and day 2 came to a close.

Fun at the pool.

Zooming up to the top of the Dolphin from the pool.

By the end of the trip, Connor was retrieving 4 dive sticks in one dive, and had developed the ability to swim from the end of the water slide to the ladder on his own (big leaps for him).

A shot of the Swan from the pool. Pool area is much much closer to the Dolphin side...it would have been a PIA to be on the Swan side in terms of distance.

The hard to get reservation at Le Cellier.

While I did not think the filet was anything that I can not easily get in Chicago/Naperville, the sourdough pretzel bread was awesome - as was the Canadian beer.

How Carter spent his entire time at Le Cellier - it was great!!

Finally meeting the "real" Tigger.

More Tigger - we would seem him again for breakfast at the Crystal Palace on Day 5.

On the way back - trying various night settings on the Nikon.

Can't beat WDW at night...

Our "budget" room was one floor above where the rectangle part of the building meets the pyramid - floor 11. While I am assuming we got that floor, as we were only paying $150 night...the view was directly into Hollywood Studios - pretty cool. Why I took no photos of the view is beyond me.