Disney World Trip 8/10/11-8/27/11

[chach]

Disney World Trip 8/10/11-8/27/11
Travelers: Dad (John) trip report writer Mom (Nancy) Son (16) Johnny Daughter (19) Amber Amber’s Friend (19) Maddi
Intro- We weren’t going to take a Disney trip this year but I needed to use 2 weeks of Timeshare and I usually have very good luck with the Timeshare exchanges in Florida, so we decided to go this route. By my standards this was a last minute trip. I usually like to plan my vacations out in advance but because of jobs, school and sport commitments I threw this together in a couple of months. To make matters worse I had a tough time getting the 2 weeks of Timeshare I needed. After numerous phone calls and emails (with RCI) I was able to get 2 weeks at the Vistana Resort. We would be spending the first week with just the four of us and joined for the second week by Maddi.
Day 1 (8/10/11) Wednesday – This was my son and mothers Birthday. On several occasions we have been able to spend the actual birthday in Disney World but this year we would be driving down. While Amber was at work we packed the car and took a 2 hour nap. Amber got home at 4pm, she changed her clothes, we finished packing and then left Rindge, NH at 6pm. Our previous record for driving down was 28 hours. We were hoping it would take us about 30 hours to get to Florida.
Day 2 (8/11/11) Thursday – We got into Orlando a day early. The total trip was exactly 24 hours. We had a chance to stop at the Florida Tourist Center before it closed, had our OJ and got lots of information. We were then able to get to Orlando by 6pm. We got a coupon at the Tourist Center for $60 a night at the La Quinta Inn on International Drive and checked in. We were planning on going out to eat but were too tired, so we ate some of the food from the car, showered and went to bed at 10pm.
Day 3 (8/12/11) Friday – We woke at 7:30am. The hotel supplied a complimentary breakfast which included waffles, hard boiled eggs, cereal, pastries, fruit, breads, juices,ect. We filled up on the delicious breakfast and left the hotel to do an early checkin at the Vistana. I had booked a surprise excursion for the family to “Discovery Cove”. Part of this package is a 14-day ticket to Sea World. We checked in at the Vistana Resort at 10:30am and then were at Sea World by 11am. We covered the “Aquarium” and most of the exhibits and then did the “Arctic Adventure” which is a helicopter simulator attraction. Johnny really enjoys roller coasters so we rode the “Manta Ray Coaster” twice before leaving the park. We left the Park at 2pm and went to the “Golden Corral” at 3pm. After a filling meal we checked into the Vistana Resort at 4pm. We like the Vistana Resort which we have stayed at before. It is located within a mile of Disney property and very convenient to everything. We had a 2-bedroom unit on the 3rd floor overlooking a pond. Several pools and many activities were a short walk away. We were in the “SPA section, building #21, unit 526”. We loved the view but there were no elevators, so if you have young children you may want a lower unit. We had a Washer/Dryer (very handy), full kitchen, slept 8/6, 3 LCD TVs and a screened balcony. We got maid service mid-week. The resort is very convenient to Disney World (5 minutes), Sea World(15 minutes), Discovery Cove(15 minutes) and the airport(25 minutes). My only complaint about the resort is that they charge for everything. We unpacked and went out to Publix Grocery Store at 7:30pm. We got back to the condo and unpacked the food and then took a walk at 8:30pm. We got back to the unit, watched a little TV and then went to bed at midnight. (We walked 1.5 miles today)
Day 4 (8/13/11) Saturday – We slept a little later this morning and then went down to the pool. We swam in the pool, played some shuffleboard, played some basketball and then went back to the condo at 1pm. We had lunch in the condo. The kids went back to the pool and Nancy and me took a walk around the resort. It was getting late in the day so we had dinner in the condo and then headed back to Sea World. Several of the shows at Sea World were ending their Summer performances on Sunday so this would be our only opportunity to see them. We walked around the Park and looked at some of the exhibits that we hadn’t seen yet. We went to the “Alure Show” which is Sea Worlds version of a Cirque du Soleil. We then went to the a special version of the Shamu show which was called “Shamu Rocks”. This was a different version of the day-show which was choreographed to rock music with some live music. We were going to stay for the last night of fireworks but thought it best to get a good night’s sleep for our Discovery Cove day tomorrow.
Day 5 (8/14/11) Sunday – “Discovery Cove” is a separate park that is run by Sea World. They only allow 1000 people a day and it is set up like a day on a tropical island. There are several areas set up for activities. There is a huge Lagoon where you snorkel with lots of fish and can actually touch them. There is another large lagoon that is actually a freshwater swimming pool. From this pool you can enter and exit the long lazy river. This river is extremely slow and the water depth varies. One of the neat things is that the river goes through the bird aviary. In the Bird Aviary you can hold and feed many types of birds. You can also just relax on one of the lawn chairs or on the soft beach sand. One of the highlights of the day is the Dolphin Swim. All food, snacks, slushes, ice cream, pretzels, drinks, alcoholic frozen drinks and beer is included. They have a prepared breakfast and lunch served at select times but snacks are included all day. We got a lot of information online which helped us make the right decisions. We arrived at “Discovery Cove” at 8am. We checked in and got our lanyards and badges without any wait. We went directly to the buffet breakfast and then headed over to get our lockers and wet suits. You have a choice of using a complete wet suit or just a vest but must wear one or the other when in the water. You are also given a bag with suntan lotion, a mask and a snorkel. You keep the suntan lotion and snorkel but must return the mesh bag with the mask. As soon as we were all in our vest we headed into the “Grand Reef”. We went back to this Reef many times. The water is varying depths with fish everywhere. There were Stingrays that ranged from small to enormous in size. You are constantly surrounded by colorful fish all the time. We left the Grand Reef and took a swim in “Serenity Bay”. It was 10:30am and now time for the “Dolphin Swim”. You are escorted into a hut where you watch a very short film. Once the film is complete and waivers signed you are escorted into the water where you go through several interactions with the dolphins before you take a short ride holding onto the Dolphin fin. The whole experience takes about 30-40 minutes. After waving goodbye to the dolphins we headed over to the lunch buffet. There are several options for both the main meals and side dishes. Some of the foods we had were pulled pork sandwich, cold cut sandwich, fish, chicken, salad, fries and desserts. After lunch we visited the Aviary and fed/held many birds. We then took the long journey around the “Wind-away River”. After we finished the Lazy River Nancy and I went back to the “Grand Reef” while the kids did the Lazy River again. Once we were done swimming we decided to go eat an early dinner before they stopped serving the lunch. We finished eating and as we were going to take a last swim in the “Grand Reef” the skies opened up. Since it was 5pm and the Park closed at 5:30pm we decided to go to the front of the park and get our complimentary picture. We showered, changed into our dry clothes, picked up our 10th slush, got in a long line for our picture and then headed out of the Park at 6pm. We got back to the Vistana Resort by 7pm and went to bed around 10pm.
Day 6 (8/15/11) Monday – We woke at 8am and had breakfast in the condo. After breakfast, around 11am we headed to “Downtown Disney”. It had been a while since we had been here so we walked from one end of Downtown Disney to the other. We did our traditional stop at “Goofy’s Candy Co.”. My daughter usually gets a couple of caramel apples and we get a few other treats here every vacation. We got back to the condo by 2pm and ate lunch in the condo. After lunch we went to the pool from 3-5pm. After getting into dry clothes we went to Walmart and then some outlet stores and got back to the condo at 9pm. (We walked 3.5 miles today)
Day 7 (8/16/11) Tuesday – We headed out to Sea World right after breakfast, getting there at 9:30am. Johnny and I went on the “Mantra Coaster” while Nancy and Amber headed over to the “Dolphin Show”. When our ride was over we ran over to watch the show 5 minutes late. The Dolphin show was very good. After seeing “Shamu Rocks” we wanted to see the traditional “Shamu show” so this was our next stop. After the show we went on the “Atlantis Ride” which is a water coaster and Johnny and I rode the “Kraken coaster” twice. This now passes the Rock’N Roll Coaster (at Disney) as my favorite Orlando Area Coaster. We left the park at 2pm and ate lunch and then rested at the condo. Around 5pm Amber went to the pool and the rest of us returned to Sea World. Our intent was to let Johnny ride the coasters but it started to rain and they closed them. We looked at the last exhibits that we had missed previously. At 7pm they opened up the rides again. From 7-8pm Johnny rode the coasters many times while Nancy and me walked the Park for the last time. We left when the park closed and were back to the condo by 9pm and in bed at 10pm. (We walked 6 miles today)
Day 8 (8/17/11) Wednesday – This was the day that Amber’s friend Maddi would join us for the remainder of the vacation. We would be concentrating the remainder of our trip on Disney. We found out that the flight was landing 30 minutes early. We ate breakfast and then headed to the airport to pick Maddi up at 9:30am. We were able to go to the airport and back to the condo by 11am. We gave Maddi a short tour of the Resort and then went out to “Golden Corral” for lunch at 12:30. This was Maddi’s first time in Florida/Disney so we decided to use this day to tour parts of Disney. After eating we headed toward the Polynesian Resort at 2pm. We took pictures, got our leis, toured the resort grounds and then got on the monorail. We got off the monorail at the Magic Kingdom stop and took a walk to visit our brick. We got back on the monorail and changed monorails at the Ticket Center to take the monorail to Epcot. After touring Epcot we got off the monorail at the Poly and took our car to the Boardwalk. We walked the Boardwalk from the ESPN Club to the Dolphin Resort. After leaving the Boardwalk we stopped at Downtown Disney for a short time and then got back at the condo at 6pm. We ate dinner, relaxed and went to bed. (We walked 3 miles today)
Day 9 (8/18/11) Thursday – This was the beginning of our park visits. We woke at 7am, ate breakfast and were standing at the Animal Kingdom rope-drop at 8:15am. We watched the official opening of the Park by Mickey, Minnie and Pluto. As soon as the Park was opened Johnny and me headed over to “Everest” to get 5 fast-passes. There was no line yet so we got 5 fast-passes and then jumped on Everest for a quick ride before our group caught up with us. This would be Maddi’s first coaster ever. She would do many coaster rides during this trip. This would also be the first time that Maddi, Amber and Nancy would ride Everest. Using the combination of fast-passes, single-line and stanby lines we were able to ride Everest 5 times before Noon. Next we went over to the Kilimanjaro Safari and got a fastpass. Our fastpass was in 40 minutes so we used the time to walk the “Maharajah Jungle Trek”. After the Safari we headed over to Dinosaur. Our timing was incredible this vacation. We were walking by the “Nemo Stage Show” just as they were closing the doors so we took this opportunity to watch the show without any wait. After the show we headed over to get a fastpass to “Dinosaur”. While waiting for our Dinosaur fastpass we passed the “Tough to be a Bug” attraction which was suppose to be closed for rehab. Again, we caught the attraction as they were closing the doors and got in with no wait. Once this was over we used a fastpass to ride “Dinosaur”. After riding Dinosaur we passed a “Pooh character spot” that was just opening up, so without any wait we posed with pictures with Pooh and Eeyore. We thought we would see how long the lines were at the character greeting spots, so we went over to the “Character Greetings Spots in Camp Minnie-Mickey” . The lines were long but as we were walking out of the area we were prompted to go into the “Festival of the Lion King” just as they were closing the doors, we were the last ones in. We enjoyed the show and decided to do the only major ride that was left, “Kali River Rafts”. Since fastpasses were gone for the day and this was our last ride we decided to wait in the standby line. We waited 50 minutes for the attraction with Nancy, Maddi and Amber getting wet. After the raft ride we left the Park at 4:45pm. We went back to the condo to eat and then went to the pool for an hour. We showered, relaxed and then went to bed. (We walked 5.5 miles today)
Day 10 (8/19/11) Friday – We got up at 7am and got to “Disney Studios” at 8:30am. Maddi, Amber and Johnny ran to get a Fastpass for “Toy Story Mania”. Because of a fluke they were put at the front of the Fastpass line. Fastpasses were gone before Noon and the standby line was always over an hour all day. There was no wait for the new “Star Tours” so we rode this twice. I liked the new version very much. Next we went to “Muppets 3D”, a family favorite. While waiting for our Toy Story Mania fastpass we spent some time walking through “Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream”. It was now time for our Toy Story Mania fastpass. We rode Toy Story and then the “Great Movie Ride” (20 minute wait). We decided to leave the park for lunch. On the way out we grabbed 5 fastpasses for “Rock ‘N Roll Coaster” for 4pm. We left the Studios at 1:30pm and headed to Walmart for groceries. We took the food back to the condo and had lunch. After eating and taking a short break we were back in the studios at 3pm. Again our timing was perfect. As soon as we walked into the Studios the “Character Parade” was coming down the street. After the Parade we took our seats for the 4:30pm car stunt show “Lights, Motors, Action”. As we left the Car Stunt Show we passed the “Indiana Jones Stunt Show” which was just about to begin their last show (5:30pm) of the day. We were the last group allowed in before the show started. After the show it began to rain which cleared a lot of people out of the park. Johnny and me were able to ride the “Tower of Terror” 3 times with no wait. We then walked across the park and rode “Star tours” for the 3rd time. We were originally planning on going to the 10:30pm “Fantasmic Show” but were lucky enough to get into the 9pm show. We ended the night by taking the last “Rock’N Roll Coaster” ride of the evening and then taking pictures as we exited the park. We got back to the condo by 11pm. (We walked 7 miles today)
Day 11 (8/20/11) Saturday – This was planned as a non-park day. We started the day by going to one of the local Gift Stores and then went to a new restaurant called “Ichiban”. This restaurant served oriental food. The highlight was a Hibachi Grill that would prepare fresh plates for no additional fee. After lunch we went back to the condo. We spent the afternoon swimming and playing basketball. At 3pm it started to pour so we went back to the condo where we showered and napped. At 6pm we went to Downtown Disney which was extremely crowded. We stopped to watch a Yo-Yo demonstration and a Dance Party. We got some treats at “Goofy’s Candy Co.” and then were back at the condo in bed by 11pm. (We walked 2 miles today).
Day 12 (8/21/11) Sunday – Today was our EPCOT day. We started our day by running with everyone else in the Park to “Soarin” for a fastpass. We got our fastpass and then went over to Ride “Test Track” with no wait. After our first ride on Test Track the Standby time jumped to 40 minutes which is stayed at all day. We then went over to “Soarin” to use our fastpass. After flying above California we rode the “Living with the Land” boat ride. Next we rode the “Nemo ride” in the Clamshells and then explored the “Living Seas”. We then walked over to the Imagination Pavilion where we rode the “Imagination Ride” and watched “Captain EO”. At 1pm we headed back to the condo for lunch. We finished our lunch and were back in EPCOT by 3pm. Our first stop was for a ride on “Spaceship Earth”. We left the EPCOT ball and went to Innovations for our “Disney VISA” complimentary photo. After posing with Mickey and Pluto we headed to “Universe of Energy” stopping on the way to get a fastpass for “Mission Space”. After saying goodbye to “Ellen” we rode “Mission Space” twice with no wait. We then quenched our thirst with several soda drinks in “Club Cool”. It was getting late in the day so we decided to go to the “World Showcase”. We rode the boat rides in Mexico and Norway. We explored the pavilions and finished the night by watching “Illuminations”. We were home in bed by 11pm. (we walked 7 miles today)
Day 13 (8/22/11) Monday – After breakfast we headed to Magic Kingdom. As in previous days, we got to the Park by opening. We watched the Opening Ceremony and then followed the masses up Main Street. Johnny and me headed to “Space Mountain” to get fastpasses. We met everyone else at “Thunder Mountain” which we rode twice without any wait and then “Splash Mountain” (no wait). As we headed over to Tomorrow Land to use our Space Mountain fastpass we took a quick detour and went on the “Haunted Mansion Ride”. On our way to Splash Mountain we got a fastpass to the “Winnie the Pooh Ride”. After our ride on “Space Mountain” we used our fastpass to ride “Pooh”. We got another Space Mountain fastpass and then rode “Buzz Lightyear”. Next we rode the “People Mover”, “Space Mountain” (using fastpass) and then finished the first part of our day with a show in the “Comedy Laugh Floor”. We headed back to the condo for lunch at 2pm. After eating and taking a short rest we were back in the Magic kingdom by 4pm. The first ride we went on was “Peter Pan” which had a standby time of 55 minutes. Fortunately, we had a fastpass which got us on in less than 5 minutes. Next we took a ride on “It’s a Small World” and then took a second trip through the “Haunted Mansion”. After exiting the Mansion we watched “Mickey’s Philomagic Show” and then went on “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Just as we walked out of “Pirates” the “Electric Light Parade” was going by. This is one of the few things we had never seen. As soon as the Parade ended we headed to Main Street to watch “Wishes”. Once the “Fireworks” ended we lingered and moved very slowly toward the front of the Park. We were back in the condo by 11pm. (We walked 8 miles today)
Day 14 (8/23/11) Tuesday – We woke at 8:30am. This was the day that we would use our last Park ticket. The girls wanted to spend the early part of the day at the pool and then go to the Magic Kingdom later in the day. Nancy, Johnny and I didn’t want to waste the day so we decided to go to EPCOT while the girls hung out at the condo. We decided to walk in the back entrance today. We parked at the Boardwalk and walked in the back entrance. We arrived at EPCOT at 11am. We walked around the “World Showcase” and looked at the countries. Nancy and Johnny had a couple of Canollis. We worked our way to “Future World. The lines were long today so we did the small things. We had several sodas in “Club Cool”. My son played some games in Innovations and Mission Space. We decided to get another complimentary Disney VISA picture. At 3pm, in the pouring rain, we went to the International Gateway and played the “Kim Possible game” which was located in the U.K.. This is a very fun “scavenger-hunt type game” that can be played by adults and kids. At this time we were soaking wet and needed to get back to the condo to bring the girls to the Magic Kingdom. We walked from EPCOT through the Boardwalk and back to our car. We got back to the condo at 5pm. After changing our wet clothes we dropped Amber and Maddi off at the monorail at the Polynesian Resort. We proceeded to Wendy’s and stuffed ourselves with fastfood. We then went back to the Poly and planned on taking the monorail to the Contemporary Resort. As we reached the Magic Kingdom stop we noticed Amber and Maddi heading out of the Park so we all went to the Contemporary Resort and walked around. We checked out Chef Mickey’s and talked to a DVC salesman for a while before riding back to the Poly. It was now 9:30pm so we decided to watch the 10pm “Fireworks” from the Polynesian Resort Beach. We got back to the condo at 11pm and went to the resort office to print out Maddi’s Boarding Pass. (We walked 6 miles today).
Day 15 (8/24/11) Wednesday – This was the day that Maddi would be flying home. We got up, had breakfast and headed to the pool. We stayed at the pool until Noon, showered, changed and went out to the “Golden Coral” at 1pm for lunch. After lunch we drove Maddi to the airport at 4:30pm for her 6:30pm flight. We went back to the condo and relaxed. From 8-10pm we hung out at the pool and listened to karaoke.
Day 16 (8/25/11) Thursday – We have been following Hurricane Irene for the past several days to determine when we should head home. We decided it would be wise to leave very early Friday morning to beat the storm up the coast. We headed over to “Golden Coral” for their extensive breakfast. We would get on and off downpours all day that were blamed on Irene. We had a break in the weather and went to the pool from Noon-2pm. We set out for our last visit to Disney property. We decided to do one more visit to get a few gifts and a few snacks. After finishing our shopping we got a couple of rice krispy treats, a caramel apple and a slush. We got back to the condo at 5pm. The kids took a last swim in the pool while we started to pack the car. We all attempted to get to bed early.
Day 17 (8/26/11) Friday – The alarms went off and we got up at 3am. We ate a small breakfast and finished packing the car. We left our condo at 4:30am, about 10 hours ahead of the storm.
Day 18 (8/27/11) Saturday – We arrived home at 9:30am. The total ride home took us 29 hours. The storm arrived about 10 hours after us.
Summary- This was another wonderful trip. For the first time we got to see the Parks from the eyes of a newbie. This was the first time that we compressed Disney into one week. We usually spread the Disney Parks over the whole vacation but because of Discovery Cove and Sea World in the first week we loaded all the Disney Parks in the second part of the trip. We got our daily dose of rain but for the most part the weather

 

[TLinden16]

I'm going to move this to our trip report board.

 

[pattyw]

Wow! That was a great trip report. It was fun to see how far you walked each day. I've always wondered exactly how much we walked each day. Glad you had a great trip!