Hi everyone. Ive been lurking on these boards while planning a quick weekend trip to Disney World and finally decided to post a brief trip report!
My boyfriend and I met up with six old friends in Florida for a brief weekend getaway. The trip was fast and sweet: a day at Animal Kingdom (4/22), a day of relaxation outside the parks, and a day at the Magic Kingdom (4/24). We stayed at the Days Inn right next to the Crossroads shopping center. While it certainly wasnt thematic or gorgeous, the price was right! And we were hardly there except to sleep. If youre looking for a no-frills hotel, I recommend this Days Inn. If youre looking for a hotel with a pool that is enjoyable to sit next to for an afternoon, youre probably best off elsewhere.
With such a short trip, we knew we had to plan wisely. So we bought the Unofficial Guide and followed their touring plans almost to the letter. They worked perfectly, getting us in and out of the attractions without a line.
Animal Kingdom was fantastic. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it. We made it in time for the opening ceremony, which was darling, and then went on Kilimanjaro Safari. The animals were truly awesome, especially the elephants, who were quite active. The CM on our vehicle may have had a rough night, thoughshe was really phoning it in. (The guide on the Jungle Cruise two days later was far more entertaining, and those werent even real animals!) I didnt mind the lack of enthusiasm, but it did make it difficult to figure out the storyline. We loved Dinosaur and also really enjoyed Primeval Whirl.
Lunch, at the Flame Tree Barbecue, was great and very relaxing. We sat in the shade and enjoyed a really lovely moment of respite from the park. But I should say that generally, the gorgeous trees in Animal Kingdom made it an easy day of touring. We were blessed by relatively short lines for everything. We spent the rest of the middle of the day in showsLion King (awesome!) and Tarzan (oh my goodness, what were they thinking when they came up with that one?)
The parade was a highlight. I thought it was far better than the MK afternoon paradeso inventive and wonderful. I just thought it was brilliantly done and so creative. And heres the one tip I figured out: position yourself during the parade right at the turnoff into Asia. Everyone standing in line at Kali River Rapids makes it through the line by the time the parade is over, but the main access into that area is blocked off. The minute the parade is over, turn around and run for the Kali line. The standby line said something like 60 minutes, but we walked onto the ride. The line itself was gorgeous and beautifully themedbut the ride itself was a bit disappointing, especially given how short it was and how wet you got!
Finally, I wanted to highlight how much we enjoyed the safari walks. While these are in some ways the most zoo-like elements of Animal Kingdom, we found them to be fascinating. I could easily have spent more time there.
We enjoyed dinner that night at Downtown Disney, where the Portobello Yacht Club provided us with great food and adequate service. They were just really slow. But the food almost made up for it. We are relatively sophisticated New York City diners and we were still impressed by the quality of our food. And dessert was terrifica birthday cake for me just sealed the deal.
On Saturday, we spent the morning in Celebration. I have some background in urban planning and was very curious to see this new urbanist city. We lucked outit was the weekend of the Great American Pie Festival! There was a $7 pie buffet, activity booths all around, and live entertainment. We also walked around the Celebration lake, where I saw a tiny alligator! Celebration hosts live entertainment and events about once a month, so if youre interested, I would definitely recommend looking into whats going on while youre there. It was a wonderful diversion. We then went over for a late lunch at Beaches and Cream. We loved the Boardwalk and the Beach/Yacht resortsif I had kids and a fortune, Id definitely stay there and let the kids take over Stormalong Bay. And the banana split at Beaches and Cream was spectacular.
On Sunday, we hit the Magic Kingdom. We were probably within the first 100 people in line and followed the Unofficial Guides adult touring plan slavishly for the morning. As a result, we stayed just ahead of the crowds until about 12:30. As we walked through the lines to the rides, we could see the CMs opening new queuing areas and adding new line patterns behind us. We felt smart for beating the crowds. And it was crowdedmuch more so than the only other time Id been to MK, nearly five years ago.
Lunch was at Pecos Bills. I thought it was great, but we also had gotten great seats together and many people were unable to find a place to sit. Dinner was at the Crystal Palace, which was terrific. Reasonably priced, decent food, lovely servers, and charming characters. My group of 8 adults oohed and aahed both at the Pooh characters and at the adorable children playing with them.
During the afternoon, the park was so crowded that we needed to escape. Philharmagic (using FP) was wonderful. Once it let out, we headed straight to Tom Sawyers Island, where we walked around, explored the caves (man, those are DARK!), and sat on rocking chairs. This was, I think, a highlight for us, in part because it was so unstructured and gave us a chance to watch the attractions in motion.
I loved the rides and everythingwe even went on the Carousel of Progress. However, I did have two comments. First, I was really disappointed in SGE. It just wasnt fun OR funny. Second, while I appreciated the cast of Cinderellabration, I would not recommend it for anyone but the most ardent princess-o-phile. The most disappointing element, I think, was the musicit just isnt particularly good.
But Wishes was truly extraordinary. Ive never seen fireworks so lovely and impressive. And then Spectromagic (at 11pm) was uncrowded and beautiful. We sat on Main Street and just relished the lights.
It did seem to me that some of MK was in need of some refurbishing. Especially after Animal Kingdom, parts of the park looked a bit worn down. And we also noticed how harried and busy many of the CMs were. Part of this was, I think, our agewe are the same age group as many of the CMs (20s) and several of them struck up conversations with us in line about how tired they were or how little Disney was paying them. This caused great internal struggleI was one quarter disappointed in losing the magic, but three quarters fascinated by hearing about how such an enormous corporation runs. For me, understanding how Disney World works is half the fun. (Yes, Im a big dork.)
While we got mowed down by our share of strollers, I was surprised at how few tantrums and unhappy children we actually saw. It may have been crowded, but most kids were taking it in stride and having a wonderful time.
Ultimately, there was plenty of wonder and awe at Animal Kingdom and while there were disappointing elements at MK, the fireworks and parades (not to mention my all time favorite ride, Peter Pan) more than made up for it. I still wish that the character experiences could be less regimented, but I certainly understand why that is the case.
Thanks for providing so much inspiration for our trip in all of your trip reports, which I've been devotedly reading!
My boyfriend and I met up with six old friends in Florida for a brief weekend getaway. The trip was fast and sweet: a day at Animal Kingdom (4/22), a day of relaxation outside the parks, and a day at the Magic Kingdom (4/24). We stayed at the Days Inn right next to the Crossroads shopping center. While it certainly wasnt thematic or gorgeous, the price was right! And we were hardly there except to sleep. If youre looking for a no-frills hotel, I recommend this Days Inn. If youre looking for a hotel with a pool that is enjoyable to sit next to for an afternoon, youre probably best off elsewhere.
With such a short trip, we knew we had to plan wisely. So we bought the Unofficial Guide and followed their touring plans almost to the letter. They worked perfectly, getting us in and out of the attractions without a line.
Animal Kingdom was fantastic. It was my first time there and I really enjoyed it. We made it in time for the opening ceremony, which was darling, and then went on Kilimanjaro Safari. The animals were truly awesome, especially the elephants, who were quite active. The CM on our vehicle may have had a rough night, thoughshe was really phoning it in. (The guide on the Jungle Cruise two days later was far more entertaining, and those werent even real animals!) I didnt mind the lack of enthusiasm, but it did make it difficult to figure out the storyline. We loved Dinosaur and also really enjoyed Primeval Whirl.
Lunch, at the Flame Tree Barbecue, was great and very relaxing. We sat in the shade and enjoyed a really lovely moment of respite from the park. But I should say that generally, the gorgeous trees in Animal Kingdom made it an easy day of touring. We were blessed by relatively short lines for everything. We spent the rest of the middle of the day in showsLion King (awesome!) and Tarzan (oh my goodness, what were they thinking when they came up with that one?)
The parade was a highlight. I thought it was far better than the MK afternoon paradeso inventive and wonderful. I just thought it was brilliantly done and so creative. And heres the one tip I figured out: position yourself during the parade right at the turnoff into Asia. Everyone standing in line at Kali River Rapids makes it through the line by the time the parade is over, but the main access into that area is blocked off. The minute the parade is over, turn around and run for the Kali line. The standby line said something like 60 minutes, but we walked onto the ride. The line itself was gorgeous and beautifully themedbut the ride itself was a bit disappointing, especially given how short it was and how wet you got!
Finally, I wanted to highlight how much we enjoyed the safari walks. While these are in some ways the most zoo-like elements of Animal Kingdom, we found them to be fascinating. I could easily have spent more time there.
We enjoyed dinner that night at Downtown Disney, where the Portobello Yacht Club provided us with great food and adequate service. They were just really slow. But the food almost made up for it. We are relatively sophisticated New York City diners and we were still impressed by the quality of our food. And dessert was terrifica birthday cake for me just sealed the deal.
On Saturday, we spent the morning in Celebration. I have some background in urban planning and was very curious to see this new urbanist city. We lucked outit was the weekend of the Great American Pie Festival! There was a $7 pie buffet, activity booths all around, and live entertainment. We also walked around the Celebration lake, where I saw a tiny alligator! Celebration hosts live entertainment and events about once a month, so if youre interested, I would definitely recommend looking into whats going on while youre there. It was a wonderful diversion. We then went over for a late lunch at Beaches and Cream. We loved the Boardwalk and the Beach/Yacht resortsif I had kids and a fortune, Id definitely stay there and let the kids take over Stormalong Bay. And the banana split at Beaches and Cream was spectacular.
On Sunday, we hit the Magic Kingdom. We were probably within the first 100 people in line and followed the Unofficial Guides adult touring plan slavishly for the morning. As a result, we stayed just ahead of the crowds until about 12:30. As we walked through the lines to the rides, we could see the CMs opening new queuing areas and adding new line patterns behind us. We felt smart for beating the crowds. And it was crowdedmuch more so than the only other time Id been to MK, nearly five years ago.
Lunch was at Pecos Bills. I thought it was great, but we also had gotten great seats together and many people were unable to find a place to sit. Dinner was at the Crystal Palace, which was terrific. Reasonably priced, decent food, lovely servers, and charming characters. My group of 8 adults oohed and aahed both at the Pooh characters and at the adorable children playing with them.
During the afternoon, the park was so crowded that we needed to escape. Philharmagic (using FP) was wonderful. Once it let out, we headed straight to Tom Sawyers Island, where we walked around, explored the caves (man, those are DARK!), and sat on rocking chairs. This was, I think, a highlight for us, in part because it was so unstructured and gave us a chance to watch the attractions in motion.
I loved the rides and everythingwe even went on the Carousel of Progress. However, I did have two comments. First, I was really disappointed in SGE. It just wasnt fun OR funny. Second, while I appreciated the cast of Cinderellabration, I would not recommend it for anyone but the most ardent princess-o-phile. The most disappointing element, I think, was the musicit just isnt particularly good.
But Wishes was truly extraordinary. Ive never seen fireworks so lovely and impressive. And then Spectromagic (at 11pm) was uncrowded and beautiful. We sat on Main Street and just relished the lights.
It did seem to me that some of MK was in need of some refurbishing. Especially after Animal Kingdom, parts of the park looked a bit worn down. And we also noticed how harried and busy many of the CMs were. Part of this was, I think, our agewe are the same age group as many of the CMs (20s) and several of them struck up conversations with us in line about how tired they were or how little Disney was paying them. This caused great internal struggleI was one quarter disappointed in losing the magic, but three quarters fascinated by hearing about how such an enormous corporation runs. For me, understanding how Disney World works is half the fun. (Yes, Im a big dork.)
While we got mowed down by our share of strollers, I was surprised at how few tantrums and unhappy children we actually saw. It may have been crowded, but most kids were taking it in stride and having a wonderful time.
Ultimately, there was plenty of wonder and awe at Animal Kingdom and while there were disappointing elements at MK, the fireworks and parades (not to mention my all time favorite ride, Peter Pan) more than made up for it. I still wish that the character experiences could be less regimented, but I certainly understand why that is the case.
Thanks for providing so much inspiration for our trip in all of your trip reports, which I've been devotedly reading!
