Feb 26th - Mar 2nd Trip - OKW

[cindy_k]

<B>The Location:</B>
Old Key West Studio - Disney World

<B>The Players:</B>

Me (29) - Devoted Disney Daughter.
Son (10) - My Son
Mom (51) - Devoted Disney Grandma.
Dad (53) - Devoted Disney Grandpa.

<B>Opening Act - Day 1 </B>
Date: Wed Feb 26th

<B>Traveling</B>
Mom, Son and I left NY from JFK. We had a 7:30am flight, and we landed around 10:30am. (Dad is coming down tomorrow.)
I had a reservation for a economy car from Alamo. I waited online at the Alamo counter for a good 10 minutes. They were the only car rental counter with a line. I guess its good to be the "Official" Disney car rental company.

Anyway, I noticed that they were being sneaky with the insurance question while waiting for my turn. Instead of asking if you need insurance they ask "Do you want Basic or Full coverage?". You have to tell them "No, you don't need insurance." If your insurance company already covers you.

When it was my turn, the man who helped me, try'd to get me to upgrade from an economy car to a compact. He told me all about how small it was, and that it had no power steering or brakes. I firmly explained that I drive a similiar car at home, and that I didn't want an upgrade. At that point, he gave up that tactic and asked me the sneaky insurance question. Which I firmly stated that I did not need insurance, that I was covered.
He went away for a minute to assign me a car, and came back with a free upgrade for me to compact. Seems they didn't have any economy cars left. Glad I stuck to my reservation... otherwise I would have been paying for that free upgrade.

Anyway with that done, We went out to garage, picked out a Cavalier and off to Old Key West we went.

<B> The Room </B>
First we needed to stop for grocery's. We have a studio with a small kitchenette in it, and we intended to save time in the morning by eating in the room. So we stopped in the Winn Dixie, just down the road from Crossroads, and then went to check in at OKW.

We were assigned room 3610. It was a corner room in building 36, on the ground floor, near both the bus stop and the Turtle Pond pool. The room was nice. We put away the grocery's and explored the resort a little. Found the pool and such.
I wouldn't recommend this room to someone sensitive to noise, you could definitely hear the busses as they went around the traffic circle but since that doesn't bother my family, we had no problem with it.

<B>EPCOT</B>
We had 2:50 Ps's for Coral Reef in Epcot. We hussled over to Epcot, because by this time it was 2pm, and we wanted to stop and upgrade our AP's to PAP's. By the time we got the passes straightened out, and entered the park, it was 2:30p.

We were Starving. We had only rolls for an early breakfast and hadn't eaten since. We got to Coral Reef and asked for a table near the tank. We waited about 10 minutes to be seated, but got the a table right in front of the glass.

My son was very happy. Eating here was his choice.

Mom had the Salmon which she said was very good. I had the Tuna which was also good. My Son got the kids Macoroni. Which was disappointing. It was basically a large bowl of macoroni noodles with some very boring red sauce. He only ate a little bit of it.
Mom and I ordered desserts. She got the sorbet and I ordered the Cheesecake. Both were beautifully presented and were good to eat. The service was speedy, and the fish were a wonderful show. I recommend this restaurant for Lunch, I think it is too pricey for dinner. Plus we got 10% off at lunch time with our AP's.

After Lunch we saw "Honey I shrunk the Audience", I had missed it the last couple of trips, so it was good to see again. Then we went on Imagination. I still like the Original the best.
BTW.. there were No crowds to speak of.
After that we crossed over and looked at M:S. *Sigh* I can't wait for this to open. We looked at the line for TT, but it was 30 min. It was the only line anywhere. We decided to ride Universe of Energy. We like this ride, and there was so few people in the preshow, almost everyone had a seat along the wall. A few people in the audience started talking back to Ellen, like they do in Rocky Horror. That was amusing and it was nice to see that I am not the only fan.

We slowly worked our way towards FW after that. I checked TT line again, and it was still a half an hour so we skipped it, and went to Mexico.

My Son stated that he wanted to make a mask. So we went inside and he started his mask there. We worked our way around to Italy, stopping at each country along the way for Son to work on his mask. We rode Norway too.

At Italy we stopped at the Coffee/Pastry stand for a snack and coffee. We found a bench and got the food.
We bought Canoli's, Latte's, a Moose and a Smoothie. The canoli's were ok. The Latte's weren't great (I was really missing Starbucks) and Son said the Moose and the Smoothie was great.

We waited on the bench for the parade to start. The parade was ending on Saturday, so we want to make sure we watched it.
The parade was good, I took a bunch of pictures. We rested on the bench a bit more after the parade. We were going to wait for Illuminations, but we were tired after traveling and all, so we decided to pack it in and go back to the resort.

When we got back, we decided to go over to the pool before bed and swim and soak in the hot tub a little. The Hot Tub was pretty Hot. Mom could only put her feet in. I could sit in it, but not for too long.

After that we went to bed.

(I hope this wasn't too much info.... More to come soon.)

Cindy_K

 

[Pig Pen]

Great report so far! I love starting out my trip at Epcot. It's so relaxing after the hassle of checking in. I'm going to miss TOD !

 

[pnelson]

Was this your son's first trip to Disney World? Did he collect autographs from the characters?

 

[cindy_k]

Originally posted by pnelson
Was this your son's first trip to Disney World? Did he collect autographs from the characters?

No it wasn't. We have been going every year since he turned 5. He collected autographs the first two times we went.

The last couple of time we'd get pictures with the characters if the lines aren't too long or its a character meal but he doesn't collect with the autographs anymore.

Cindy in NY

 

[cindy_k]

<B>Day 2 - Thursday</B>

<B>Morning</B>
We ate breakfast at Olivia's since we weren't rushing to a park for EMH.
Mom and I got 3 egg Omelets and Son got the Good Morning Donald breakfast (eggs and bacon) all the meals came with some delicious potatoes. Breakfast was good.

We left there and drove over to the Grand Floridian to drop Son off for his last shot at the Pirates Cruise. He's 10 now, so this is the last year he will be able to do this. We gathered at the boat dock. Son got his Life Vest, and his bandana. I gave him my small digital camera, with the hopes he would take a few pictures. He took two. After the kids left on the boat, we went over and caught the launch to MK.

<B> Magic Kingdom </B>
We walked up and down Main Street shopping, taking our time. We stopped to rest on the bench in front of Tony's Town Square Tavern. While we were sitting there, my cell phone rang (It plays When you wish upon a Star )
Dad had landed and was at OKW now. We agreed to meet in front of Tony's at 12:40p. It was about 11:30p by that time. We need to head back to GF to pick up my son.

We took the Monorail back to GF, collected Son, and took the Boat Launch back to MK. We met Dad and decide to eat lunch at Tony's, which we had never tried before.

<B> Lunch </B>
Dad and I ordered the Baked Ziti, which was really good.
Mom had the Bianca Pizza which was good.
Son had the Kids Pasta, which he liked much better that the stuff served at Coral Seas. He certainly ate more of it.

<B> The Barber </B>
After lunch we took Son over to the Main Street barbershop to get his haircut. He needed one, and I held off taking him so he could get it done here. There was about a 5 minute wait, and while we were waiting the barbers squirted my son with their water bottles while he wasn't looking. It was really funny.

Son has a really simple haircut, a buzz cut Number 2 all around. So the barber cut his hair and let me take a couple of shots that he posed for. When he finished cutting his hair, he asked if we were going on Buzz Lightyear later. When we said yes, the barber put a light green gel in my son's hair, and on his eyebrows, nose, chin, ears and upper lip. The barber put Glittery confetti in his hair. This looked really cool. I was putting away my camera when the barber snuck up behind me and threw a handful of confetti in my hair. Mom and Dad were outside the store laughing. So the Barber went out and got them too with the confetti. Needless to say we were a sparkly family for the rest of the day.

<B>Buzz Lightyear</B>
After the barber shop we did go over to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz Lightyear. We were on line when we realized that all the gel the barber put on Son's face made it glow. It looked so funny I had to get a picture. Here it is:
<img src="http://www.wincehelp.com/DisPages/GlowAlex1.jpg">

As you can see he really did glow. We rode around twice, because there was no line, and I didn't get enough firing time the first time, since I was trying to take a picture of my Son instead.

Then we went to Haunted Mansion and the Hall of Presidents.
We stopped for Ice Cream Sundaes on Main Street and then took the Monorail back to the GF to get the Car and go back to the resort for some R&R. It was around 3pm by this time.

<B>Back at OKW and Downtown Disney</B>
We went to pool, sat in the hot tub and then came back to the room to take a small nap.
Around 6pm or so, we went over to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping. We had to go the Lego Store. My Son insists that we get there at least once every trip.
It started to rain while we were there.
We decided to go to Crossroads for dinner. We chose Chevy's and had some yummy Mexican food. Then it was back to the resort to go to bed.

 

[cindy_k]

<B>Morning</B>
It's early entry at Animal Kingdom, so we ate breakfast in the room. Mom decided to stay and rest at the resort.

So Dad, Son and I took the car and drove to AK.

<B>Animal Kingdon</B>
We arrived at the gate about 2 minutes before they opened. So we didn't have a long wait before we walked in.

We did our usual... which means we headed straight for the Safari ride. It was a misty/drizzly morning, so all the animals were out in force. It was a great ride.

After we got of the safari ride, we hit the Bathroom, and looked in the store right there in Africa. Son saw a stuffed animal he wanted to buy. One of the real animal ones, in this case a Lion. But I didn't feel like buying it right there, so I told him would get it at the shop thats right outside the park gates on our way out. <I>(This was a mistake but I didn't know it at the time.)</I>

We did the Gorilla walking tour, and again almost all the animals were out and moving around so it was very entertaining.

We then headed over to catch the first showing for the day of the Lion King show. It was empty, we just walked in and choose which sections we wanted to sit in.
While we were in there it rained a bit outside.

Next we went over to Tarzan Rocks. Son requested that we see, since we had skipped it the last few trips. It was good, but the skaters didn't come down the middle aisle. (We think it was because of the wet weather)

We walked over to ride Dinosaur. I like this ride, it's a lot of fun!Dad doesn't like spinning rides so we skipped Primeval Whirl this trip.

<B>Lunch</B>
Ate Lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ. Son like the BBQ chicken salad and so do I, so he insists that we split one. We also got desserts, Chocolate Cake and a Key Lime Pie. The food was good! We sat in the area behind the Flame tree down by the water. Its a really nice peaceful spot to eat.

After Lunch we saw Its Tough to be a Bug, and then headed for the exit to go back to OKW and rest.

<B>The Stuffed Animal Dilemma</B>
Son reminds me as we are nearing the park exit that I owe him an animal. So we go out the gates and stop at the shop that is right there. Son goes one way, I go the other in the store... and guess what is no longer being sold there. That's right, real animal stuffed toys. All they had was Disney Characters. My son was very upset with me but there was no way I was going to walk all the way back to Africa. So I told him we would come back and get it another day.
<B>Moral:</B> Always buy the stuffed animal when you see it. Don't wait!

<B>Spirit of Aloha</B>
We had 5:15p PS's for the new Luau show at the Polynesian and we had tickets for E-Night. That means we have to go MK before it closes to get our wrist bands.

We drive over to the Polynesian, and park the car in the lot. Then we got on the Monorail and rode it around to MK to get our wrist bands. Then caught the resort launch back to Poly in time to get to the show. As we are pulling up to the Dock at Poly, it started to rain. We get out the ponchos and put them on so we don't get too wet.

It rained on and off all night. They have a covered area where you can wait for the show to start. The started seating people at 5:15p. We had a great table 24A. It was right in front of the stage. Our server named Cindy, was very nice. She took our drink order shortly after we were seated and came back with our appetizer tray. Since it was damp and rainy I ordered Coffee to drink. <b>The coffee was GOOD!</B> I had 4 cups before the show was over.

The show intro happens while you are munching on the appetizers. Aunt Winnie comes out and welcomed us to her house for a party. They are going to welcome some girl home from the mainland. The story was cute, there was some teasing between the players that my Son enjoyed.

Dinner is served after the intro. It was Roasted Chicken, BBQ Ribs, rice and vegtables. The Ribs were good, the chicken ok.
Food was plentiful though. About the time you are done eating the main part of the show starts.

The main show consists of showing us dances from the various polynesian islands.

The fire dancer really stood out. He was very good.

Dessert was two types of cake. They bring it out on trays with smoking volcanoes, which looks cool. Son liked the trays, but was uninterested in the cake.

<B>E-NIGHT</B>
After the show wrapped up, we got on the Monorail to head over to MK for e-night.
It was raining, but as we entered MK, it let up, which was nice.

I went to ride Space Mountain first. I had never rode SM before and I was determinned to do it this trip. Son was going to go with me, but he chickened out when we got to the front of the line. The CM there showed him where he could wait for me, where the ride ends. Mom and Dad waited outside on a bench for us.

I found SM scary. I was afraid I was going to hit my head on something but I did it. Now I know what it's like.

Next we went on Buzz again. Dad got 999,999 for the first time. He was really happy.

We headed over the Big Thunder Mountain, but stopped to watch the Country Bear Jamboree. I hadn't seen it in a while and I forgot about the old bear at the end who sings about "Blood on the ground" We were doing that for the rest of the trip.

Big Thunder was next... Mom waited for us. She doesn't like to ride these type of rides. They hurt her back. Dad came with us. I like BTMRR in the dark.

Because the weather wasn't that great and Mom was feeling it, we called it a night and headed for the gate.

When we got to the town square, we noticed that there was a few characters in front of Tony's including Mickey and Minnie!!
There were no lines for any of these characters. It was amazing. I got Son's picture with all of them.

After the photo stop we went back to OKW.

 

[Maria P]

Great report!!!
Looking forward to reading more....

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Really enjoying reading your trip report!

 

[cindy_k]

<B>Day 4 - Saturday</B>
March 1st

<B>MGM - EE</B>
We drove over to MGM for early magic hour. We entered the gates about 5 minutes after they opened and headed straight for the Rock N Rollercoaster. There was a cast member in the middle of the street handing out Fast Passes to Millionaire show. So we got a set for us.

This was my Dad's and my first time riding RnR. I couldn't get my son to come on and my Mom doesn't do this kind of ride. So they got a seat on a bench and Dad and I went on the Ride. We walked on there was no wait.
<B> It was Great!</B> I will definitely do RnR again. It was fast and smooth and didn't make my stomach flip.

We still had time before Millionaire so we headed over to Star Tours and rode that. Then we saw Muppet Vision 4-D. We really like these two attractions.

We still had a little bit of time before Millionaire, so we thought we would let my son play at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground but unfortunately it wasn't open yet.
We got a seat at one of the tables near there in the sun and hung out the 20 minutes we had to wait for the Fast Pass time.

Millionaire was fun, Mom was 2nd on the board one of the times.
After the show, Dad and I went to do the Animation Tour, and Son and Mom went back to let Son play in the Playground.

<B>Lunch</B>
We ate Lunch in the ABC Commisary. The food was Ok, but certainly nothing to write home about.

After Lunch we went back to OKW. Dad was flying out today. He had a shortened trip than the rest of us. He finished packing and we all hung out by the pool until it was time for Dad to leave. Very Relaxing.

<B>Dinner</B>
Shortly after he left for his evening flight home, Mom, Son and I went over to Goods to Go. This is the snack bar by the Main Pool at OKW. We got burgers and sat at a table there to eat. It was nice sitting next to the marina, except for the fact it started to rain. And even that didn't really bother us. It was just a passing shower and the tables all had Umbrellas over them.

After dinner the rain had cleared, so we decided to go back to MGM to catch Fantasmic. Mom hadn't seen it in a couple of trips.

Fantasmic was great as usual.

<B>Downtown</B>
After the show I drove Mom back to the room. Then Son and I went over to DTD Westside to play in Disney Quest. We love this arcade. We got to try Pirates of the Caribean for the first time. It was a lot of fun.

Also I discovered (and asked the CM to confirm it) that in the River Rapids game, the paddles don't really do anything. So if you want to have a fun trip through prehistoric rapids and don't feel like killing yourself trying to paddle the raft, just hold the oar on your lap. You will go in the same place you would have if you were trying to paddle.

Around 11pm we left DQ to go back to the room. We were more than ready for bed, but we had a really fun day!


<I>PS thanks for all the nice response... I have one more day to go </I>

 

[pumba]

I have lived your trip and can hardly wait for mine......I love buzz lightyear and always get a trigger finger just doing it....thanks again for the great report