Rather than give a detailed accounting, I'll just hit the important stuff :
Weather was good part of the time, cold or wet the other part. We had one really awful most-of-the-day rain and so we went to Kennedy that day, and got soaked. Between the cold and wet, coupled with the time of year, the parks were in general, very managable, especially if you got there at opening. The biggies could be done, sometimes a couple of times, and a lot was accomplished well before the crowds began to arrive, sometime around 11-11:30.
We didn't find the Extra Magic Hours to be a big deal, except for perhaps the Magic Kingdom. We were at Epcot for the Princess Breakfast when there was early entry (we were off-site) and it didn't have much of an impact at all.
You can pay for your stroller rental for the entire trip, up-front, which is nice. It saves time and 10%. They give Disney dollars when you return the stroller at the end of the day.
Had a dinner at Chef Mickey's with the characters. It was good food, but I just don't care for the atmosphere there. With the same characters, we had a much nicer breakfast at the Polynesian on the morning we were to leave. In fact, we enjoyed that more than the Princess breakfast in Epcot. Talk about a great way to end the trip, and not have to use a ticket...
We took the same strategy on the day of arrival, even though the MK was open until 11PM that night by going to Downtown Disney for dinner, allowing us to have an early bedtime. We were ready for the parks the next day because we were well rested. Of course, that was the only time we were the entire trip!
The Fantasmic! dinner package was well worth the minor extra planning. The only problem with that night was that it was COLD. Preparing ahead of time would have been good, like bringing a blanket or something. There were big towels (I think they were towels) for sale, if you wanted to go that route though. I elected for hot chocoloate and a bit of shivering instead. We all loved Fantasmic! and were glad we managed it this time. The apparent hassle has always prevented us from seeing it in the past.
We had a Wishes Cruise scheduled for after Chef Mickey which we ended up cancelling because it looked unlikely that it would be a pleasant trip (cold, windy) but as it turns out, it could have taken place. Weather! Who needs it!!!
What else? Ate dinner in Epcot at the Rose & Crown and were seated outside. They had plastic "windows" down, enclosing the area and keeping it toasty, but they remove them for Illuminations. That was truly pleasant. While you can't ask for that seating anymore, they appeared to be sitting people with children out there as a rule, which I thought was a nice touch.
Now while a lot of people go to MGM on rainy days, we elected Animal Kingdom and found it excellent. With a light rain, a lot of the plants provide adequate cover, and the animals were quite happy. Got to meet Stanley at Rafiki's Conservation Station (or whatever it is called). BTW, JoJo from JoJo's Circus is at MGM now. Totally freaked my 3 YO out and took her a while to get back into meeting characters again. She didn't expect Jo Jo to be soooo biiiiiiggggggg!
Had lunch at the Rainforest (btw, I called directly and was able to make a reservation) and then on the way out of the park mid-afternoon, stopped in for a drink. We really could have spent a lot more time in AK this time as we were having a blast. My only negative comment about AK is that cheesy midway area. It just doesn't fit in with the style of the rest of the park.
OH! BEFORE I FORGET... Forgive my shouting but we were talking to a cast member and a duckling passed by us. She started to tell us that they are losing a LOT of babies due to people feeding them FRENCH FRIES. Please pass it on that the animals, especially the babies, CANNOT HAVE JUNK PEOPLE FOOD.
Don't be afraid to comment to moms and dads if their kids are doing this as you may be saving a life. (Not to mention the moron parents who let their kids chase the birds.)
While I'm in gripe mode -- moron parents who let their kids jump in the plants to get a closer picture of their child with a topiary are also on my hit list.
OK. Gripe mode off. Other than those things, people were really excellent. I love how if someone drops something, everyone is jumping to pick it up for them. In one case, we were at Epcot and a mom dropped something as she was entering a shop. I picked it up and started to follow and a fellow inside, who witnessed it, met me at the door for a hand-off. If a kid lost a toy, someone would pick it up and put it somewhere it'd likely be found. This is the kind of thing that really makes Disney extra magical.
MK Spectromagic parade comment -- it was raining Thursday evening, but they didn't cancel the parade. They waited for a break, which did happen, and ran it 15 or so minutes late. We had decided to eat in Cindy's because it looked like there wouldn't be a parade, but I couldn't stand it anymore, so I took my younger daughter outside and there it was!!! While I don't like the parade as much as the Electrical Parade (my brain is off, can't remember the real name) probably because of the music, it was still excellent. I didn't get to see that parade or the fireworks at MK the entire week, and I didn't care about getting wet. I didn't want to leave w/o seeing it.
Extra nice moment -- my older daughter has a crush on Peter Pan from our last trip. We had been watching the parade from the castle (they let us stand there since we had just left Cindy's) and I suggested we move down to the street since it wasn't very crowded. The kids were standing there and Peter Pan walked up to my younger daughter, with her blinky light sneakers, and said, "Did you know you have pixies in your shoes? Are you gonna let 'em out?" Then he shook my older daughter's hand, got happy to see her Peter Pan pin on her lanyard, and then commented that he liked her green jacket. Totally made her day.
Wishes that night had some issues as the clouds were rather low and the fireworks were popping higher than the clouds. They lit up very nice though. By the end, there was a bit of a break, and we got to see some nice stuff. I'd love to see it again in normal weather though. Some of the presentations were really clever. (Younger daughter fell asleep and missed the entire thing. Woke up in the car and said, "We didn't see the fireworks!")
All-in-all, an excellent trip. My husband is thinking about a cruise next time, maybe a land and sea. I'm not wholly convinced as I think I'd get seasick. Plus, I'd rather be in the parks. If I could have, I'd have stayed another week.
Oh, forgot to mention where we stayed off-site. Sheraton Vistana. We got the Cascades section and it was probably the nicest timeshare swap we've ever gotten. Too bad we spent almost zero time there! LOL! Proximity to the parks was excellent. It was close to everything and made driving each day no problem at all. If the parks had had longer hours, it would have made an ideal site for taking an afternoon break (we only did that once.)
If I think of anything else important, I'll let you know. All of the planning advice and good vibes here makes planning a trip fun and takes a lot of the worry (well, some of the worry for those of us who tend to worry anyway) out of the equation.
Weather was good part of the time, cold or wet the other part. We had one really awful most-of-the-day rain and so we went to Kennedy that day, and got soaked. Between the cold and wet, coupled with the time of year, the parks were in general, very managable, especially if you got there at opening. The biggies could be done, sometimes a couple of times, and a lot was accomplished well before the crowds began to arrive, sometime around 11-11:30.
We didn't find the Extra Magic Hours to be a big deal, except for perhaps the Magic Kingdom. We were at Epcot for the Princess Breakfast when there was early entry (we were off-site) and it didn't have much of an impact at all.
You can pay for your stroller rental for the entire trip, up-front, which is nice. It saves time and 10%. They give Disney dollars when you return the stroller at the end of the day.
Had a dinner at Chef Mickey's with the characters. It was good food, but I just don't care for the atmosphere there. With the same characters, we had a much nicer breakfast at the Polynesian on the morning we were to leave. In fact, we enjoyed that more than the Princess breakfast in Epcot. Talk about a great way to end the trip, and not have to use a ticket...
We took the same strategy on the day of arrival, even though the MK was open until 11PM that night by going to Downtown Disney for dinner, allowing us to have an early bedtime. We were ready for the parks the next day because we were well rested. Of course, that was the only time we were the entire trip!
The Fantasmic! dinner package was well worth the minor extra planning. The only problem with that night was that it was COLD. Preparing ahead of time would have been good, like bringing a blanket or something. There were big towels (I think they were towels) for sale, if you wanted to go that route though. I elected for hot chocoloate and a bit of shivering instead. We all loved Fantasmic! and were glad we managed it this time. The apparent hassle has always prevented us from seeing it in the past.
We had a Wishes Cruise scheduled for after Chef Mickey which we ended up cancelling because it looked unlikely that it would be a pleasant trip (cold, windy) but as it turns out, it could have taken place. Weather! Who needs it!!!
What else? Ate dinner in Epcot at the Rose & Crown and were seated outside. They had plastic "windows" down, enclosing the area and keeping it toasty, but they remove them for Illuminations. That was truly pleasant. While you can't ask for that seating anymore, they appeared to be sitting people with children out there as a rule, which I thought was a nice touch.
Now while a lot of people go to MGM on rainy days, we elected Animal Kingdom and found it excellent. With a light rain, a lot of the plants provide adequate cover, and the animals were quite happy. Got to meet Stanley at Rafiki's Conservation Station (or whatever it is called). BTW, JoJo from JoJo's Circus is at MGM now. Totally freaked my 3 YO out and took her a while to get back into meeting characters again. She didn't expect Jo Jo to be soooo biiiiiiggggggg!
Had lunch at the Rainforest (btw, I called directly and was able to make a reservation) and then on the way out of the park mid-afternoon, stopped in for a drink. We really could have spent a lot more time in AK this time as we were having a blast. My only negative comment about AK is that cheesy midway area. It just doesn't fit in with the style of the rest of the park.
OH! BEFORE I FORGET... Forgive my shouting but we were talking to a cast member and a duckling passed by us. She started to tell us that they are losing a LOT of babies due to people feeding them FRENCH FRIES. Please pass it on that the animals, especially the babies, CANNOT HAVE JUNK PEOPLE FOOD.
Don't be afraid to comment to moms and dads if their kids are doing this as you may be saving a life. (Not to mention the moron parents who let their kids chase the birds.)While I'm in gripe mode -- moron parents who let their kids jump in the plants to get a closer picture of their child with a topiary are also on my hit list.
OK. Gripe mode off. Other than those things, people were really excellent. I love how if someone drops something, everyone is jumping to pick it up for them. In one case, we were at Epcot and a mom dropped something as she was entering a shop. I picked it up and started to follow and a fellow inside, who witnessed it, met me at the door for a hand-off. If a kid lost a toy, someone would pick it up and put it somewhere it'd likely be found. This is the kind of thing that really makes Disney extra magical.
MK Spectromagic parade comment -- it was raining Thursday evening, but they didn't cancel the parade. They waited for a break, which did happen, and ran it 15 or so minutes late. We had decided to eat in Cindy's because it looked like there wouldn't be a parade, but I couldn't stand it anymore, so I took my younger daughter outside and there it was!!! While I don't like the parade as much as the Electrical Parade (my brain is off, can't remember the real name) probably because of the music, it was still excellent. I didn't get to see that parade or the fireworks at MK the entire week, and I didn't care about getting wet. I didn't want to leave w/o seeing it.
Extra nice moment -- my older daughter has a crush on Peter Pan from our last trip. We had been watching the parade from the castle (they let us stand there since we had just left Cindy's) and I suggested we move down to the street since it wasn't very crowded. The kids were standing there and Peter Pan walked up to my younger daughter, with her blinky light sneakers, and said, "Did you know you have pixies in your shoes? Are you gonna let 'em out?" Then he shook my older daughter's hand, got happy to see her Peter Pan pin on her lanyard, and then commented that he liked her green jacket. Totally made her day.
Wishes that night had some issues as the clouds were rather low and the fireworks were popping higher than the clouds. They lit up very nice though. By the end, there was a bit of a break, and we got to see some nice stuff. I'd love to see it again in normal weather though. Some of the presentations were really clever. (Younger daughter fell asleep and missed the entire thing. Woke up in the car and said, "We didn't see the fireworks!")
All-in-all, an excellent trip. My husband is thinking about a cruise next time, maybe a land and sea. I'm not wholly convinced as I think I'd get seasick. Plus, I'd rather be in the parks. If I could have, I'd have stayed another week.
Oh, forgot to mention where we stayed off-site. Sheraton Vistana. We got the Cascades section and it was probably the nicest timeshare swap we've ever gotten. Too bad we spent almost zero time there! LOL! Proximity to the parks was excellent. It was close to everything and made driving each day no problem at all. If the parks had had longer hours, it would have made an ideal site for taking an afternoon break (we only did that once.)
If I think of anything else important, I'll let you know. All of the planning advice and good vibes here makes planning a trip fun and takes a lot of the worry (well, some of the worry for those of us who tend to worry anyway) out of the equation.
