fa mulan
And I think to myself, "What a Wonderful World."
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2002
- Messages
- 267
Travelers:
Me- 39 y.o. planner; first real trip (last was 25+ years ago!)
Husband - 48, first trip ever
Daughters - 7 and almost 4 - first trip!
Resorts: Split stay between PO-FQ (4 nights) and AKL (4 nights)
Used Disney buses and thought they were great.
Departure (Fri. 2/7): Out of Atlantic City NJ on Spirit Airlines - first time flying this airline. It was an economy flight and wound up leaving an hour late but was a non-stop, inexpensive and got us there just fine. We felt lucky to have booked an afternoon flight, since we had just had 8 inches of snow that morning and crews had cleared main roads and runways. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. and were met by Yourride (who had been waiting there for our delayed flight) who got the car and waited while we went to baggage claim and waited some more since bags from a San Juan were off-loaded first. We finally checked into PO-FQ around 7:00, so we had no chance of making the 7:30 Chef Mickeys P.S. Ate at the Sassagoula Food court instead and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. (See Dining Report on Restaurant board).
Day one (Sat. 2/8) - MK day. Awoke at 7:00 a.m. to Mickeys voice! Had to call the front desk to ask them to have Mickey call us back so that my daughter could answer and hear him. Arrived at MK for a 9:15 CRT breakfast. Wonderful way to begin our trip. Low crowds, even though it was Saturday, so we spent the day instead of going to EPCOT as I had planned, road many rides (including Buzz 3 or 4 times - DH and my 7 y.o. especially loved this - since I knew it would be closed the next day for rehab) and even saw the Share a Dream parade before returning to PO-FQ for a quick rest and dinner (food court again, just for convenience and timing). Then we went back to MK to see the 8 pm FITS and the second, 9 pm Spectro parade (as TourguideMike suggests). The SaD parade was magical, because our girls got picked to join the parade to meet the princesses. They (especially my 3 y.o. princess) were thrilled and I was teary. My husband just laughed at me. Found more magic in one of the Tomorrowland stores where Push (the talking trashcan) spoke to my girls and later remembered their names when we saw him again (Hey, there are my friends, Meilin and Devon!). They couldnt stop talking about Push that day. First time they ever hugged a trash can! My 3 y.o. napped on the bus back from MK and woke up as soon as she was placed on the bed (of course!). Still, we all felt rested just by stretching out horizontally for a little while.
Day Two (Sun. 2/9) - MK a.m. EPCOT p.m. Drizzly & cool day. Quick breakfast of poptarts & milk & coffee. MK was uncrowded and wonderful, especially b/c of the drizzle. Road BTRR several times w/ our 7 y.o., Teacups and whatever else they wanted and ate an impromptu lunch at Crystal Palace (w/o P.S.). It was the perfect, delicious hot meal for a rainy day. We had a table next to the window, looking out at the castle. The girls enjoyed meeting Pooh and friends and parading around the restaurant w/ them. After lunch we returned to PO-FQ to dry off, warm up, stretch-out and rest, before heading for EPCOT for the evening. By about 4:30 we were in EPCOT and the weather had cleared: rode TestTrack, Spaceship Earth and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience (it was cute, but knowing all the surprises in advance took something away from it, I think). Ate dinner at Tangierine and met up w/ some wonderful DIS-ers on the Boardwalk for the Illuminations cruise. It was spectacular. The vantage from the cruise was well worth the $10 pp in my op.
Day Three (Mon.2/10) - Cloudy, threat of showers. MGM day - Seemed crowded to this Newbie, but CMs assured us that it was not. We were able to ride RnR 3 or 4 times w/ our DD7 (her favorite and ours too!!), ToT a couple times (FUN!!!), Muppet Movie (mildly entertaining) & Star Tours, saw Playhouse Disney. For lunch we ate at the outdoor food court under an covered area - we lucked out b/c it poured rain (the only rain during the day) while we lunched. After lunch, we saw Beauty & the Beast and the afternoon parade -it was priceless to see my 3 y.o.s eyes light up as she saw the princesses go by in the cars and waving and shouting to get their attention: Hi Jasmine! Hi!, Hi Mary Poppins! Hi!. Afterwards, DH and our 7 y.o. saw Indiana Jones while I pushed our napping 3 y.o. around the park. For dinner, we got the Fantasmic Pkg. at H&V and arrived at the theater about 20 minutes before the show. Seats were fine - we sat high up in the middle, saw everything and did not get wet (good thing, b/c it was chilly). And Fantasmic it was.
Day Four (Tues. 2/11) - The Sun, at last!!! Non-Park Day. Our check out day from PO-FQ. Baggage pickup and delivery to AKL went w/o a hitch. We slept in (our first day w/o a Mickey wake up call) till around 7:30, packed leisurely and went to breakfast/brunch at Boatwrights by about 11:00 (very leisurely!). Our walk over to Riverside made me wish we had more time at this resort; it was so lovely in the sun - like a day out of Song of the South - I think the girls and I were singing Zipidee-Do-Da as we walked. Riverside looked beautiful but indeed is very spread out. Maybe when our girls are older... Went to DD after breakfast and shopped and played at the Lego store. It was hard to pull DH away, he was having so much fun. I still dont know what he was making w/ the Lego, though.... The bus from DD to AKL was our longest wait - about 20 minutes. Arrived at AKL about 4:00, checked in and DH and the girls changed into swimsuits a and headed for the pool. I scoped out the resort and look-outs, since I fighting a cold. Had a wonderful dinner at Boma and spent some time in the lobby before tucking the girls into bed.
Day Five (Weds. 2/12) - Sunny! MK a.m., EPCOT p.m. Had breakfast on the go. Got croissants from Main St. Bakery for the girls. DH and I ate poptarts and coffee. Re-road a couple of DDs' favorites (Haunted Mansion, Teacups, Flying Carpets) and saw some of the attractions we had missed before (Fairytale Garden), Cinderellas Surprise Celebration. Ate lunch at Cosmic Rays and monorailed over to EPCOT. We road in the first car w/ the driver - the girls and DH got a kick out of that! Did Test Track w/ 7 y.o., Ice Station Cool, Living Seas and went to WS (3 y.o. napped in stroller) where we only had about an hour before dinner at Marrakesh. So we hung around in Japan watching Miyuki craft her amazing lollipops - and waited so our girls could get a pink unicorn and yellow giraffe. The belly dancer at Marrakesh was fun, but the girls did not want to join in. We stayed for the ToD parade, which was awesome. It was wonderful when the puppet people walked over to us to shake our girls hands and swirl their beautiful costumes above us. More magic. We took a quick bus back to AKL for a relatively early evening!
Day Six (Thurs. 2/13) - Sunny again - perfect weather! EPCOT all day, starting w/ 8:30 P.S. at the Princess Storybook Breakfast. I had intended to spend the day here and to leave for dinner at Calif. Grill (girls were to have gone to Neverland Club), but the weather was so beautiful that we opted to forego our adults only dinner (w/ $16 per kid penalty) and to stay to see Illuminations again. We spent the day in WS (after riding Test Track and seeing Journey to the Imagination and sending photo emails to family) - road Maelstrom (I thought it a bit corny) saw the Living Statues (the male statue was great!), Wonders of China, Chinese Acrobats, Impressions of France, the Chair Act and Mime Roland - these were all fun and amazing. Ate lunch in Japan, snacked and ate dinner in France. There was so much to see there, I know we missed a lot still. We (everyone but our 3 y.o. who was fast asleep and never woke up till the next a.m.) saw Illuminations not too far from England, but had a couple trees obscuring our view. It was wonderful, but more special from the boat. The music is very moving.
Friday (2/14) - AK am., MK p.m. and Valentines Day. Despite the late prior evening, our 7 y.o. awoke wide eyed and bushy tailed and was the first to greet us w/ Happy Valentines Day! The night before, she and her Dad had gone to the gift shop in AKL (Zawadi) and for V-day. I had also brought some V-day gifts for the girls and DH. It was a lovely way to start the day. We had breakfast in the room (cereal and croissants from Mara) before heading to AKL. We were there by about 9:00 (did not take advantage of EE day) and went straight to get a FP for the Safari before going to Dinoland. My 7 y.o. and DH road Primeval Whirl a couple times (DD loved it, I thought it was just ok - too jerky and too short!) while I went on Triceratop Spin w/ our 3 y.o. as many times. Then did the safari, and the Pagani Forest Exp. Trail - I was happy to talk to a castmember about the new babies born (elephants, gorillas, hippos....) - the animals must be happy in their environment. DH and our 7.y.o. went on Dinosaur 2x (my DH bribed DD7 to ride it a second time w/ him!!) while I played in Boneyard w/ our 3 y.o. and thought I lost her. After lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, we saw Festival of the Lion King and left for MK. This was our only other long bus wait (20 minutes +) to go to the Trans. Ctr. We had a lovely ferry ride to MK.
MK felt CROWDED! All I could think of was that I would not want to be at Disneyworld in the crowded hot summer. Ugh! We managed to ride the Teacups (girls choice) one last time, but everything else had long waits. The girls wanted to get their faces painted but even that had a long line. I could tell that the Pres. Day/Nascar crowds had arrived. DH and I didnt mind leaving for our 5:20 Ohanas P.S., although the girls were disappointed they couldnt ride more. Good thing we had been there earlier in the week! The most magical ending to our week was watching the fireworks from the Poly beach after dinner at Ohana. We found a swing where the four of us sat watching the castle change colors and the fireworks burst above the castle in the distance. They seemed even more spectacular and numerous than the first night we saw them at MK - maybe a special show b/c it was Friday or Valentines Day? It was very special. It took awhile to get back to AKL from the Poly. DD7 was asleep, but DD3 was wide awake and begging to go swimming at 9:30. We almost gave in, but common sense prevailed and we put her to bed instead, promising lots of swimming the next day.
Sat. 2/15 Last Day... AKL day. Sunny and beautiful - around 85. Packed and then swam all morning, had lunch from Mara by the pool, swam some more and showered at the pool facilities before we were picked up at 3:45 by Yourride. Our driver was waiting for us early. It was hard to leave. The girls loved the pool and the slide - even DD3 went down 3x (shes beginning to swim - goggles really helped her!). Back to Atlantic City airport and more snow! More luck was with us - it had snowed in the morning, and the second wave (a blizzard) was not due to hit til the next day (Sunday, today). From 80 and sunscreen to 20 and snow in one day..... WAAAAAH! At least the weather has allowed me to type this trip report and prolong the memories until I can get my photos developed.
Overall impressions: Expensive, but not overly so. Saved a lot just by having the Brita water bottles and sharing a resort mug. Staying on-site is fabulous and buses were great. I wouldnt mind trying Swan & Dolphin (esp. if I got a Priceline deal!) They looked awesome. Disney is over the top. DH and I never thought of ourselves as Disney people and probably had expectations of cheesiness and fake cutesiness. All that changed with this trip. It was just a delight. We will be back.
Thanks for reading this!
Me- 39 y.o. planner; first real trip (last was 25+ years ago!)
Husband - 48, first trip ever
Daughters - 7 and almost 4 - first trip!
Resorts: Split stay between PO-FQ (4 nights) and AKL (4 nights)
Used Disney buses and thought they were great.
Departure (Fri. 2/7): Out of Atlantic City NJ on Spirit Airlines - first time flying this airline. It was an economy flight and wound up leaving an hour late but was a non-stop, inexpensive and got us there just fine. We felt lucky to have booked an afternoon flight, since we had just had 8 inches of snow that morning and crews had cleared main roads and runways. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. and were met by Yourride (who had been waiting there for our delayed flight) who got the car and waited while we went to baggage claim and waited some more since bags from a San Juan were off-loaded first. We finally checked into PO-FQ around 7:00, so we had no chance of making the 7:30 Chef Mickeys P.S. Ate at the Sassagoula Food court instead and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food. (See Dining Report on Restaurant board).
Day one (Sat. 2/8) - MK day. Awoke at 7:00 a.m. to Mickeys voice! Had to call the front desk to ask them to have Mickey call us back so that my daughter could answer and hear him. Arrived at MK for a 9:15 CRT breakfast. Wonderful way to begin our trip. Low crowds, even though it was Saturday, so we spent the day instead of going to EPCOT as I had planned, road many rides (including Buzz 3 or 4 times - DH and my 7 y.o. especially loved this - since I knew it would be closed the next day for rehab) and even saw the Share a Dream parade before returning to PO-FQ for a quick rest and dinner (food court again, just for convenience and timing). Then we went back to MK to see the 8 pm FITS and the second, 9 pm Spectro parade (as TourguideMike suggests). The SaD parade was magical, because our girls got picked to join the parade to meet the princesses. They (especially my 3 y.o. princess) were thrilled and I was teary. My husband just laughed at me. Found more magic in one of the Tomorrowland stores where Push (the talking trashcan) spoke to my girls and later remembered their names when we saw him again (Hey, there are my friends, Meilin and Devon!). They couldnt stop talking about Push that day. First time they ever hugged a trash can! My 3 y.o. napped on the bus back from MK and woke up as soon as she was placed on the bed (of course!). Still, we all felt rested just by stretching out horizontally for a little while.
Day Two (Sun. 2/9) - MK a.m. EPCOT p.m. Drizzly & cool day. Quick breakfast of poptarts & milk & coffee. MK was uncrowded and wonderful, especially b/c of the drizzle. Road BTRR several times w/ our 7 y.o., Teacups and whatever else they wanted and ate an impromptu lunch at Crystal Palace (w/o P.S.). It was the perfect, delicious hot meal for a rainy day. We had a table next to the window, looking out at the castle. The girls enjoyed meeting Pooh and friends and parading around the restaurant w/ them. After lunch we returned to PO-FQ to dry off, warm up, stretch-out and rest, before heading for EPCOT for the evening. By about 4:30 we were in EPCOT and the weather had cleared: rode TestTrack, Spaceship Earth and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience (it was cute, but knowing all the surprises in advance took something away from it, I think). Ate dinner at Tangierine and met up w/ some wonderful DIS-ers on the Boardwalk for the Illuminations cruise. It was spectacular. The vantage from the cruise was well worth the $10 pp in my op.
Day Three (Mon.2/10) - Cloudy, threat of showers. MGM day - Seemed crowded to this Newbie, but CMs assured us that it was not. We were able to ride RnR 3 or 4 times w/ our DD7 (her favorite and ours too!!), ToT a couple times (FUN!!!), Muppet Movie (mildly entertaining) & Star Tours, saw Playhouse Disney. For lunch we ate at the outdoor food court under an covered area - we lucked out b/c it poured rain (the only rain during the day) while we lunched. After lunch, we saw Beauty & the Beast and the afternoon parade -it was priceless to see my 3 y.o.s eyes light up as she saw the princesses go by in the cars and waving and shouting to get their attention: Hi Jasmine! Hi!, Hi Mary Poppins! Hi!. Afterwards, DH and our 7 y.o. saw Indiana Jones while I pushed our napping 3 y.o. around the park. For dinner, we got the Fantasmic Pkg. at H&V and arrived at the theater about 20 minutes before the show. Seats were fine - we sat high up in the middle, saw everything and did not get wet (good thing, b/c it was chilly). And Fantasmic it was.
Day Four (Tues. 2/11) - The Sun, at last!!! Non-Park Day. Our check out day from PO-FQ. Baggage pickup and delivery to AKL went w/o a hitch. We slept in (our first day w/o a Mickey wake up call) till around 7:30, packed leisurely and went to breakfast/brunch at Boatwrights by about 11:00 (very leisurely!). Our walk over to Riverside made me wish we had more time at this resort; it was so lovely in the sun - like a day out of Song of the South - I think the girls and I were singing Zipidee-Do-Da as we walked. Riverside looked beautiful but indeed is very spread out. Maybe when our girls are older... Went to DD after breakfast and shopped and played at the Lego store. It was hard to pull DH away, he was having so much fun. I still dont know what he was making w/ the Lego, though.... The bus from DD to AKL was our longest wait - about 20 minutes. Arrived at AKL about 4:00, checked in and DH and the girls changed into swimsuits a and headed for the pool. I scoped out the resort and look-outs, since I fighting a cold. Had a wonderful dinner at Boma and spent some time in the lobby before tucking the girls into bed.
Day Five (Weds. 2/12) - Sunny! MK a.m., EPCOT p.m. Had breakfast on the go. Got croissants from Main St. Bakery for the girls. DH and I ate poptarts and coffee. Re-road a couple of DDs' favorites (Haunted Mansion, Teacups, Flying Carpets) and saw some of the attractions we had missed before (Fairytale Garden), Cinderellas Surprise Celebration. Ate lunch at Cosmic Rays and monorailed over to EPCOT. We road in the first car w/ the driver - the girls and DH got a kick out of that! Did Test Track w/ 7 y.o., Ice Station Cool, Living Seas and went to WS (3 y.o. napped in stroller) where we only had about an hour before dinner at Marrakesh. So we hung around in Japan watching Miyuki craft her amazing lollipops - and waited so our girls could get a pink unicorn and yellow giraffe. The belly dancer at Marrakesh was fun, but the girls did not want to join in. We stayed for the ToD parade, which was awesome. It was wonderful when the puppet people walked over to us to shake our girls hands and swirl their beautiful costumes above us. More magic. We took a quick bus back to AKL for a relatively early evening!
Day Six (Thurs. 2/13) - Sunny again - perfect weather! EPCOT all day, starting w/ 8:30 P.S. at the Princess Storybook Breakfast. I had intended to spend the day here and to leave for dinner at Calif. Grill (girls were to have gone to Neverland Club), but the weather was so beautiful that we opted to forego our adults only dinner (w/ $16 per kid penalty) and to stay to see Illuminations again. We spent the day in WS (after riding Test Track and seeing Journey to the Imagination and sending photo emails to family) - road Maelstrom (I thought it a bit corny) saw the Living Statues (the male statue was great!), Wonders of China, Chinese Acrobats, Impressions of France, the Chair Act and Mime Roland - these were all fun and amazing. Ate lunch in Japan, snacked and ate dinner in France. There was so much to see there, I know we missed a lot still. We (everyone but our 3 y.o. who was fast asleep and never woke up till the next a.m.) saw Illuminations not too far from England, but had a couple trees obscuring our view. It was wonderful, but more special from the boat. The music is very moving.
Friday (2/14) - AK am., MK p.m. and Valentines Day. Despite the late prior evening, our 7 y.o. awoke wide eyed and bushy tailed and was the first to greet us w/ Happy Valentines Day! The night before, she and her Dad had gone to the gift shop in AKL (Zawadi) and for V-day. I had also brought some V-day gifts for the girls and DH. It was a lovely way to start the day. We had breakfast in the room (cereal and croissants from Mara) before heading to AKL. We were there by about 9:00 (did not take advantage of EE day) and went straight to get a FP for the Safari before going to Dinoland. My 7 y.o. and DH road Primeval Whirl a couple times (DD loved it, I thought it was just ok - too jerky and too short!) while I went on Triceratop Spin w/ our 3 y.o. as many times. Then did the safari, and the Pagani Forest Exp. Trail - I was happy to talk to a castmember about the new babies born (elephants, gorillas, hippos....) - the animals must be happy in their environment. DH and our 7.y.o. went on Dinosaur 2x (my DH bribed DD7 to ride it a second time w/ him!!) while I played in Boneyard w/ our 3 y.o. and thought I lost her. After lunch at Flame Tree BBQ, we saw Festival of the Lion King and left for MK. This was our only other long bus wait (20 minutes +) to go to the Trans. Ctr. We had a lovely ferry ride to MK.
MK felt CROWDED! All I could think of was that I would not want to be at Disneyworld in the crowded hot summer. Ugh! We managed to ride the Teacups (girls choice) one last time, but everything else had long waits. The girls wanted to get their faces painted but even that had a long line. I could tell that the Pres. Day/Nascar crowds had arrived. DH and I didnt mind leaving for our 5:20 Ohanas P.S., although the girls were disappointed they couldnt ride more. Good thing we had been there earlier in the week! The most magical ending to our week was watching the fireworks from the Poly beach after dinner at Ohana. We found a swing where the four of us sat watching the castle change colors and the fireworks burst above the castle in the distance. They seemed even more spectacular and numerous than the first night we saw them at MK - maybe a special show b/c it was Friday or Valentines Day? It was very special. It took awhile to get back to AKL from the Poly. DD7 was asleep, but DD3 was wide awake and begging to go swimming at 9:30. We almost gave in, but common sense prevailed and we put her to bed instead, promising lots of swimming the next day.
Sat. 2/15 Last Day... AKL day. Sunny and beautiful - around 85. Packed and then swam all morning, had lunch from Mara by the pool, swam some more and showered at the pool facilities before we were picked up at 3:45 by Yourride. Our driver was waiting for us early. It was hard to leave. The girls loved the pool and the slide - even DD3 went down 3x (shes beginning to swim - goggles really helped her!). Back to Atlantic City airport and more snow! More luck was with us - it had snowed in the morning, and the second wave (a blizzard) was not due to hit til the next day (Sunday, today). From 80 and sunscreen to 20 and snow in one day..... WAAAAAH! At least the weather has allowed me to type this trip report and prolong the memories until I can get my photos developed.
Overall impressions: Expensive, but not overly so. Saved a lot just by having the Brita water bottles and sharing a resort mug. Staying on-site is fabulous and buses were great. I wouldnt mind trying Swan & Dolphin (esp. if I got a Priceline deal!) They looked awesome. Disney is over the top. DH and I never thought of ourselves as Disney people and probably had expectations of cheesiness and fake cutesiness. All that changed with this trip. It was just a delight. We will be back.
Thanks for reading this!
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! Thanks so much for taking the time to share it with us.
