Hello All,
I just wanted to say thank you for providing all the wondeful trip reports and information on the Dis. I used these boards exclusively for planning our trip and you all have been fabulous. I though I would do my part and give a little (or alot-this is a long report-sorry!) love back. Here is our trip report of our January 7 day 6 night trip.
The Players: Me (34 year old mom), my DH (37 year old dad), and our little girl (2 year old DD)
RESORT: Board Walk Villas. LOVED THEM. We rented points from a very nice DVC owner and our whole trip went wonderfully because of her! 2 bedroom villa, first floor overlooking the Luna Park pool. Pros:Loved the first floor-just quick stroller ride out the door to the boardwalk and all of it's fun. Cons: The pool was being redone so we overlooked a ton of construction barriers. However-this ended up being a great BONUS to us since they allowed us to use the BCV pool at Stormalong bay and beach pool at the Yacht club due to the construction. We loved the beach pool. Sand pails and shovels are available for use and my DD loved burying her toes in the sand and making sand castles.
GROCERIES: We used Garden Grocer. They were on time, the fruit and food was fresh and they called us when we arrived to let us know that our groceries were waiting at Bell Services. They also went shopping and purchased our adult beverages for us. Everything went smoothly with our grocery order and delivery. I highly recommend them.
PARKS: Ok if you are traveling to Disney with a child under 5-you must pick up a brochure called Disney for under 5 at the concirge desk. I am so sorry I didn't bring it home to upload and share with you all. We stuck to this brochure and did only the rides, shows, and activities that it recommended. We found it very helpful. We were able to accomplish everything suggested in the brochures for each park and still make it back to hotel for naptime after lunch. BTW-we never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride, show, or attraction in any of the Parks. January is the time to go people! NO lines-No waiting-no oppressive humidity-we loved it!
-Magic Kingdom-2 days. Our DD loved IASM, Dumbo, the Bear Jamboree in Frontierland, and most of all the Parades.
-Hollywood Studios-1 day-DD loved Muppet Vision and the Fantasmic-that is all we did in DHS. We didn't try to find other attractions on DHS-we found there is not a lot for a 2 yr old there.
-Epcot-1 day- Spent almost the whole day in the Living Seas. Magical, Fantastic. Loved every minute. She loved the Nemo ride but said she wanted to ride in Spaceship Earth again and again. Funny! It was very special.
-Animal Kingdom-1 day-We did the driving Animal Safari and the walking tour-we loved them both. DD especially loved the Festival of the Lion King show. We were amazed. There are so many talented performers at Disney!
TRANSPORTATION: We used Disney's Magical Express. Enjoyed it!
Arrival day: We arrived at MCO at 10:30am and were checking into the BWV at 12:00pm.
Departure Day: We departed BWV at 7:20am and arrived at MCO at 8:20. We had no problems with the ME. We found it comfortable and easy to use.
We used Disney Transportation exclusively.
BUSES-We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus except for one morning when we were heading to Magic Kingdom for an 8:30am ADR and we waited 25 minutes. We always allowed for an hour of travel time to get to any destination in Disney from BWV and almost the entire time we showed up at our destination in less than 30 minutes. Except for the morning of the 8:30am ADR in MK when we running behind to begin with and where we waited for the bus for 25 minutes and ran to the Libery Tree Tavern apologizing to the hostess for being late and they were super nice about it.
BOATS-we must have hit the boats to Epcot, DHS, and to Campground from MK just right every time because we always seemed to be strolling up to the dock when a boat was pulling in. We really enjoyed taking the boats. DD asked to use the boats alot to and from parks. it was very pretty at night on them too. We walked to DHS and we walked to Epcot alot too-the walk to DHS was about 15 minutes using the stroller-the walk to Epcot was about 10 minutes using the stroller.
BABYSITTING SERVICE: We used Kids Nite out which is recommended by Disney World for sitter services. We would highly recommend them. I am a very nervous mom but I wanted to give my DH a nice vacation as well as my DD and I know a little alone time was much needed-We hadn't been on vacation in over a year and a half. We used them one night for one dinner alone-and then for a second night for us to go and walk around Downtown Disney after our little munchkin went to bed. Please-please don't flame me for using a sitter service twice in one week. We have used our sitter at home only about 4 times this past year. We hardly ever have mommy and daddy time alone. OK I am done apologizing. We loved Kids nite out. Our sitter, Ava, was prompt, pleasant and totally made me feel safe leaving our DD with her. She brought activities for DD to do with her and we was grandmotherly and caring. The second night-DD was in her PJS and she kissed us goodbye and pushed us out the door so Ava could read her night time story to her. I will definitely be using them on our next trip too!
FOOD: We used the Disney Deluxe Dining plan for me and DH. Our 2 year old shared our meals. There was more than enough food for all 3 of us. We did a dinner show, a signature restaurant, and 4 character breakfasts too. We couldn't use more than 3 or 4 of our 24 snacks since we were so full from Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We used every on of our 36 meal credits but we ended up using about 17 snack credits at Goofy's candy company to bring home treats for our family and friends. Next time-we are going to try the DDP instead of the deluxe plan.
RESAURANT REPORT:
Day 1: Lunch at Big River Brewing on BW: Burgers and sodas and a yummy desert-Everything was fine-not spectacular but it was cool to eat outside and have a microbrew while watching the boats come in and out of the lake.
Dinner: Hoop Dee Doo Review-Favorite Dinner Show-DD loved the fried chicken and DH loved the ribs-I loved the cornbread-I dream about that butter on that cornbread. So good. Strawberry shortcake was enjoyed by DD-I had a bite but was so full of cornbread! Hahaha-Service here was excellent.
Day 2: Breakfast at Kouzzina: Good Waffles. Good coffee-we love coffee-and besides this place-we enjoyed our own homemade coffee in our room because Disney coffee is severly lacking most of the time.
Lunch: At BCV at Stormalong Bay. Veggie wrap (soooo good) and Hot dog(DD ate it in 3 bites)
Dinner: Fantasmic Package at Brown Derby. Was soooo nervous-heard some bad reviews of Brown Derby. Tried to change it to Mama Melrose several times-However-we really enjoyed it! Service was great too. We had the Cobb Salad for 2(fab!) I had the pork and DH had the filet. We loved the Spaetzle with the pork and my DH's Steak was excellent! Creme Brulee and cheesecake was yummy and DD loved the biscotti! This was a signature restaurant and felt it lived up to its signature status. BTW-Fantasmic Package is totally worth it. We walked into the show at 6pm for the 6:30pm show and sat in our prereserved seats and heard that people had waited 3 hours to get into it. I totally recommend booking this package.
Day 3: Breakfast: Cinderella's Royal Table lived up to its expectations. DD loved meeting Cindy, we loved being in the castle-so beautiful! We loved the pictures we got with the breakfast and DD loved her magic wand and the sparkles and little decorations all over the table. DD loved seing Cindy, Jasmine, Belle, Snow White. We decided this breakfast food was not our favorite. It was eggs, sausage, potatoes-standard american breakfast. It was fine-but not outstanding.
Lunch: We made our one planning mistake and took DD to lunch at Tonys Place in MK after playing in MK all morning. It was about 2pm. She had a complete meltdown. If you happened to be dining in Tonys place last week and heard and saw a little Cinderella having a complete tantrum -I am sorry-I am SO sorry! The waiter was obviously a little annoyed with us but he could have been a little nicer. The hostess/manager was fantastic, she brought over little toys and things to cheer DD up while we were trying to get the bill and get out of there but really-all DD needed was a nap. From that point on-we made it a POINT to always be back in the room between 1-2pm for naptime. We cancelled any lunch plans that interrupted with that schedule. DD was her normal angelic self the rest of the trip. Don't fight the nap people.
Dinner: Le Cellier: We had a 7:20pm adr-however we had to wait 30minutes for our table. We had the Cheddar Cheese Soup which lives up to its great name and the caesar salad. I had the filet mignon (minus the truffle oil-and the chef didn't mind me asking to remove it) which I liked-I didn't love the mushroom risotto, and DH had a nice steak. Our waiter was overworked and forgot to bring our bottle of wine. This was our only dinner alone and we were disappointed that that the service here was not as good as elsewhere. Our food was fine. Our deserts were yummy. We just weren't impressed with the service. I was expecting more here since they were so highly reviewed.
Day 4: Breakfast: Liberty Tree Tavern: Breakfast was standard american breakfast but it seemed better than CRT. Characters were great-Goofy, Chip and Dale, Minnie, Pluto.
Lunch: We skipped lunch and did snacks. Pretzels, ice cream(auntie gravity's icecream was the best!, turkey legs (my favorite snack in Disney is the turkey leg but this is not on DDP-I paid out of pocket)
Dinner: Biergarten: We loved the selection of the German Food at Biergarten DD loved her sausages-DH did too. I loved all the potato salads and macaroni salads and my sausage too! I did a beer tasting-and loved that too-they give you 4 little glasses to try- DD and I danced all night together to the German band playing and we loved sitting with the other family at our table-we really loved Biergarten-I highly recommend it. We got there at 5:45pm for our adr and didn't leave til 8:45pm-we really loved it!
Day 5:Breakfast: Akershus in Norway -Princess breakfast. DD loved the food at this breakfast as did I. You had a nice selection at this buffet. We ate granola (DD ate two bowls!) and yogurt and Hard boiled eggs-such a nice change from fried eggs and sausage. DH loved the eggs and sausage again-but that is my DH
I am going to risk it and say this: We could have done Akershus and not done CRT. We saw Cinderella at Akershus too. And Jasmine, and Belle, and Ariel, and Snow White. The food was better, the princesses were the same. And we got pictures to take home. Only difference was the location was prettier at the Castle and DD got a wand at CRT. If you are wavering on CRT and Akershus and don't want to spend the 2 TS per person on CRT-I would go with Akershus. Just my own opinion. Please don't flame me.
Lunch: Coral Reef: Fantastic location-we got a seat right next to the Glass of the underwater Aquarium-DD spent the whole time watching the fish and the divers-However-this was the worst meal of our trip. Don't-repeat-Don't get the crab cakes-I couldn't even swallow the first bite-they were awful.
DH had mixed greens salad which was fine. DH had short rib which was fine but I had Strip steak which was tough. Almost all the deserts have alcohol in them which is not ideal for a 2 year old to share so we ordered an icecream sundae from kids menu but it was just ok. DH had a mousse in a cup thing but it had booze in it and i didn't care for the taste. We were at Coral Reef for over 2 hours. It took forever for our meals to come out and to get the bill. The waiter was nice-but the service was very slow.
Dinner:Teppan Eddo: We all loved this meal. We eat at hibachi restaurants all the time at home too. Teppan lived up to our standards. DD loved the edamame and rice and DH and I had steak and chicken. We had the the tempura appetizer too-fabulous. Service was out of this world good.
We again loved sitting with other families and sharing Disney experience with other people.
Day 6: Breakfast: Tusker House Character Breakfast in AK with Donald Duck. Hands down, this was our FAVORITE character breakfast. Characters were awesome-we danced in a mini parade around the retaurant with noisemakers, and the selection at this buffet was AMAZING. I couldn't believe it was only 1 TBS. DD, DH, and I ate and ate and ate. Our waitress was so helpful and so nice too. I highly recommend this breakfast.
Lunch: We were still stuffed from breakfast but we stopped at the Tamu Tamu burger shack in Africa at AK and had the best cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes in Disney World. It says alot about how good the food is at Tamu that we finished those burgers and shakes after the huge breakfast we had.
Dinner:Captains Grille-The Yacht Club Resort. I don't know if it was because this was a our last dinner-but this was my favorite restaurant. DH and I shared the Captain's tasting for two-the shrimp were excellent-the bruschetta was so good and the onion tart was incredible. DH and I had steaks. They were perfectly cooked. My rib eye steak had an herb butter on it to die for and my garlic mashed potatoes were the best I have ever eaten!
DD loved the Homemade Gelato and we loved the chocolate cheesecake. Service was excellent. Again, I was surprised that this was only a 1 TBS dinner. It was totally signature in my book. The Yacht Club was so nice too-having dinner there made me definitely want to stay there at some point.
So that is my very long report. Thank you to all of you for your recommendations and help planning our trip. I hope my report helps someone out there
I just wanted to say thank you for providing all the wondeful trip reports and information on the Dis. I used these boards exclusively for planning our trip and you all have been fabulous. I though I would do my part and give a little (or alot-this is a long report-sorry!) love back. Here is our trip report of our January 7 day 6 night trip.
The Players: Me (34 year old mom), my DH (37 year old dad), and our little girl (2 year old DD)
RESORT: Board Walk Villas. LOVED THEM. We rented points from a very nice DVC owner and our whole trip went wonderfully because of her! 2 bedroom villa, first floor overlooking the Luna Park pool. Pros:Loved the first floor-just quick stroller ride out the door to the boardwalk and all of it's fun. Cons: The pool was being redone so we overlooked a ton of construction barriers. However-this ended up being a great BONUS to us since they allowed us to use the BCV pool at Stormalong bay and beach pool at the Yacht club due to the construction. We loved the beach pool. Sand pails and shovels are available for use and my DD loved burying her toes in the sand and making sand castles.
GROCERIES: We used Garden Grocer. They were on time, the fruit and food was fresh and they called us when we arrived to let us know that our groceries were waiting at Bell Services. They also went shopping and purchased our adult beverages for us. Everything went smoothly with our grocery order and delivery. I highly recommend them.
PARKS: Ok if you are traveling to Disney with a child under 5-you must pick up a brochure called Disney for under 5 at the concirge desk. I am so sorry I didn't bring it home to upload and share with you all. We stuck to this brochure and did only the rides, shows, and activities that it recommended. We found it very helpful. We were able to accomplish everything suggested in the brochures for each park and still make it back to hotel for naptime after lunch. BTW-we never waited more than 10 minutes for any ride, show, or attraction in any of the Parks. January is the time to go people! NO lines-No waiting-no oppressive humidity-we loved it!
-Magic Kingdom-2 days. Our DD loved IASM, Dumbo, the Bear Jamboree in Frontierland, and most of all the Parades.
-Hollywood Studios-1 day-DD loved Muppet Vision and the Fantasmic-that is all we did in DHS. We didn't try to find other attractions on DHS-we found there is not a lot for a 2 yr old there.
-Epcot-1 day- Spent almost the whole day in the Living Seas. Magical, Fantastic. Loved every minute. She loved the Nemo ride but said she wanted to ride in Spaceship Earth again and again. Funny! It was very special.
-Animal Kingdom-1 day-We did the driving Animal Safari and the walking tour-we loved them both. DD especially loved the Festival of the Lion King show. We were amazed. There are so many talented performers at Disney!
TRANSPORTATION: We used Disney's Magical Express. Enjoyed it!
Arrival day: We arrived at MCO at 10:30am and were checking into the BWV at 12:00pm.
Departure Day: We departed BWV at 7:20am and arrived at MCO at 8:20. We had no problems with the ME. We found it comfortable and easy to use.
We used Disney Transportation exclusively.
BUSES-We never waited more than 10 minutes for a bus except for one morning when we were heading to Magic Kingdom for an 8:30am ADR and we waited 25 minutes. We always allowed for an hour of travel time to get to any destination in Disney from BWV and almost the entire time we showed up at our destination in less than 30 minutes. Except for the morning of the 8:30am ADR in MK when we running behind to begin with and where we waited for the bus for 25 minutes and ran to the Libery Tree Tavern apologizing to the hostess for being late and they were super nice about it.
BOATS-we must have hit the boats to Epcot, DHS, and to Campground from MK just right every time because we always seemed to be strolling up to the dock when a boat was pulling in. We really enjoyed taking the boats. DD asked to use the boats alot to and from parks. it was very pretty at night on them too. We walked to DHS and we walked to Epcot alot too-the walk to DHS was about 15 minutes using the stroller-the walk to Epcot was about 10 minutes using the stroller.
BABYSITTING SERVICE: We used Kids Nite out which is recommended by Disney World for sitter services. We would highly recommend them. I am a very nervous mom but I wanted to give my DH a nice vacation as well as my DD and I know a little alone time was much needed-We hadn't been on vacation in over a year and a half. We used them one night for one dinner alone-and then for a second night for us to go and walk around Downtown Disney after our little munchkin went to bed. Please-please don't flame me for using a sitter service twice in one week. We have used our sitter at home only about 4 times this past year. We hardly ever have mommy and daddy time alone. OK I am done apologizing. We loved Kids nite out. Our sitter, Ava, was prompt, pleasant and totally made me feel safe leaving our DD with her. She brought activities for DD to do with her and we was grandmotherly and caring. The second night-DD was in her PJS and she kissed us goodbye and pushed us out the door so Ava could read her night time story to her. I will definitely be using them on our next trip too!
FOOD: We used the Disney Deluxe Dining plan for me and DH. Our 2 year old shared our meals. There was more than enough food for all 3 of us. We did a dinner show, a signature restaurant, and 4 character breakfasts too. We couldn't use more than 3 or 4 of our 24 snacks since we were so full from Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We used every on of our 36 meal credits but we ended up using about 17 snack credits at Goofy's candy company to bring home treats for our family and friends. Next time-we are going to try the DDP instead of the deluxe plan.
RESAURANT REPORT:
Day 1: Lunch at Big River Brewing on BW: Burgers and sodas and a yummy desert-Everything was fine-not spectacular but it was cool to eat outside and have a microbrew while watching the boats come in and out of the lake.
Dinner: Hoop Dee Doo Review-Favorite Dinner Show-DD loved the fried chicken and DH loved the ribs-I loved the cornbread-I dream about that butter on that cornbread. So good. Strawberry shortcake was enjoyed by DD-I had a bite but was so full of cornbread! Hahaha-Service here was excellent.
Day 2: Breakfast at Kouzzina: Good Waffles. Good coffee-we love coffee-and besides this place-we enjoyed our own homemade coffee in our room because Disney coffee is severly lacking most of the time.
Lunch: At BCV at Stormalong Bay. Veggie wrap (soooo good) and Hot dog(DD ate it in 3 bites)
Dinner: Fantasmic Package at Brown Derby. Was soooo nervous-heard some bad reviews of Brown Derby. Tried to change it to Mama Melrose several times-However-we really enjoyed it! Service was great too. We had the Cobb Salad for 2(fab!) I had the pork and DH had the filet. We loved the Spaetzle with the pork and my DH's Steak was excellent! Creme Brulee and cheesecake was yummy and DD loved the biscotti! This was a signature restaurant and felt it lived up to its signature status. BTW-Fantasmic Package is totally worth it. We walked into the show at 6pm for the 6:30pm show and sat in our prereserved seats and heard that people had waited 3 hours to get into it. I totally recommend booking this package.
Day 3: Breakfast: Cinderella's Royal Table lived up to its expectations. DD loved meeting Cindy, we loved being in the castle-so beautiful! We loved the pictures we got with the breakfast and DD loved her magic wand and the sparkles and little decorations all over the table. DD loved seing Cindy, Jasmine, Belle, Snow White. We decided this breakfast food was not our favorite. It was eggs, sausage, potatoes-standard american breakfast. It was fine-but not outstanding.
Lunch: We made our one planning mistake and took DD to lunch at Tonys Place in MK after playing in MK all morning. It was about 2pm. She had a complete meltdown. If you happened to be dining in Tonys place last week and heard and saw a little Cinderella having a complete tantrum -I am sorry-I am SO sorry! The waiter was obviously a little annoyed with us but he could have been a little nicer. The hostess/manager was fantastic, she brought over little toys and things to cheer DD up while we were trying to get the bill and get out of there but really-all DD needed was a nap. From that point on-we made it a POINT to always be back in the room between 1-2pm for naptime. We cancelled any lunch plans that interrupted with that schedule. DD was her normal angelic self the rest of the trip. Don't fight the nap people.
Dinner: Le Cellier: We had a 7:20pm adr-however we had to wait 30minutes for our table. We had the Cheddar Cheese Soup which lives up to its great name and the caesar salad. I had the filet mignon (minus the truffle oil-and the chef didn't mind me asking to remove it) which I liked-I didn't love the mushroom risotto, and DH had a nice steak. Our waiter was overworked and forgot to bring our bottle of wine. This was our only dinner alone and we were disappointed that that the service here was not as good as elsewhere. Our food was fine. Our deserts were yummy. We just weren't impressed with the service. I was expecting more here since they were so highly reviewed.
Day 4: Breakfast: Liberty Tree Tavern: Breakfast was standard american breakfast but it seemed better than CRT. Characters were great-Goofy, Chip and Dale, Minnie, Pluto.
Lunch: We skipped lunch and did snacks. Pretzels, ice cream(auntie gravity's icecream was the best!, turkey legs (my favorite snack in Disney is the turkey leg but this is not on DDP-I paid out of pocket)
Dinner: Biergarten: We loved the selection of the German Food at Biergarten DD loved her sausages-DH did too. I loved all the potato salads and macaroni salads and my sausage too! I did a beer tasting-and loved that too-they give you 4 little glasses to try- DD and I danced all night together to the German band playing and we loved sitting with the other family at our table-we really loved Biergarten-I highly recommend it. We got there at 5:45pm for our adr and didn't leave til 8:45pm-we really loved it!
Day 5:Breakfast: Akershus in Norway -Princess breakfast. DD loved the food at this breakfast as did I. You had a nice selection at this buffet. We ate granola (DD ate two bowls!) and yogurt and Hard boiled eggs-such a nice change from fried eggs and sausage. DH loved the eggs and sausage again-but that is my DH
I am going to risk it and say this: We could have done Akershus and not done CRT. We saw Cinderella at Akershus too. And Jasmine, and Belle, and Ariel, and Snow White. The food was better, the princesses were the same. And we got pictures to take home. Only difference was the location was prettier at the Castle and DD got a wand at CRT. If you are wavering on CRT and Akershus and don't want to spend the 2 TS per person on CRT-I would go with Akershus. Just my own opinion. Please don't flame me.
Lunch: Coral Reef: Fantastic location-we got a seat right next to the Glass of the underwater Aquarium-DD spent the whole time watching the fish and the divers-However-this was the worst meal of our trip. Don't-repeat-Don't get the crab cakes-I couldn't even swallow the first bite-they were awful.
DH had mixed greens salad which was fine. DH had short rib which was fine but I had Strip steak which was tough. Almost all the deserts have alcohol in them which is not ideal for a 2 year old to share so we ordered an icecream sundae from kids menu but it was just ok. DH had a mousse in a cup thing but it had booze in it and i didn't care for the taste. We were at Coral Reef for over 2 hours. It took forever for our meals to come out and to get the bill. The waiter was nice-but the service was very slow.
Dinner:Teppan Eddo: We all loved this meal. We eat at hibachi restaurants all the time at home too. Teppan lived up to our standards. DD loved the edamame and rice and DH and I had steak and chicken. We had the the tempura appetizer too-fabulous. Service was out of this world good.
We again loved sitting with other families and sharing Disney experience with other people.
Day 6: Breakfast: Tusker House Character Breakfast in AK with Donald Duck. Hands down, this was our FAVORITE character breakfast. Characters were awesome-we danced in a mini parade around the retaurant with noisemakers, and the selection at this buffet was AMAZING. I couldn't believe it was only 1 TBS. DD, DH, and I ate and ate and ate. Our waitress was so helpful and so nice too. I highly recommend this breakfast.
Lunch: We were still stuffed from breakfast but we stopped at the Tamu Tamu burger shack in Africa at AK and had the best cheeseburgers and chocolate shakes in Disney World. It says alot about how good the food is at Tamu that we finished those burgers and shakes after the huge breakfast we had.
Dinner:Captains Grille-The Yacht Club Resort. I don't know if it was because this was a our last dinner-but this was my favorite restaurant. DH and I shared the Captain's tasting for two-the shrimp were excellent-the bruschetta was so good and the onion tart was incredible. DH and I had steaks. They were perfectly cooked. My rib eye steak had an herb butter on it to die for and my garlic mashed potatoes were the best I have ever eaten!
DD loved the Homemade Gelato and we loved the chocolate cheesecake. Service was excellent. Again, I was surprised that this was only a 1 TBS dinner. It was totally signature in my book. The Yacht Club was so nice too-having dinner there made me definitely want to stay there at some point.
So that is my very long report. Thank you to all of you for your recommendations and help planning our trip. I hope my report helps someone out there
