Husband, 7 year-old son and I just got back from a week at Disney World. We had a great time. These trip reports were really useful to me in my planning so I wanted to share our experience as well. Maybe it will help someone! It won't be as detailed as others or include pictures but here goes:
RESORT
Loved the Port Orleans Riverside. Rooms were clean, beds comfy, hair dryer fine, housekeeping good. Didn't get any towel animals but 2 cute washcloth creatures were near the sinks when we checked in. Stayed in Mansion section (Oak Manor) and it was a close to pool, food court and lobby. Beautiful walkways, vegetation, etc. Buses were sometimes busy in the mornings when going to the parks and we had to stand sometimes. No big deal. Boat is available from the Riverside to Downtown Disney and that was fun to take. We did that on our first night there and a couple other times. We did not rent a car since we were staying on property never felt like we needed one. We ended up spending lots of time at the parks so didn't spend much time in the room. We did get to the pool one afternoon for a couple of hours and my son spent almost the whole time on the slide
The mug you can buy and use at the resort for free refills (soda, coffee, hot cocoa) easily paid for itself. Either my hubby or I used it almost every morning and night. I think with tax it ended up being around $13.
WEATHER & LINES
Weather was a little hotter than normal and it was humid (I'm not a fan of humidity) so we drank lots of water! LOL Lines were not too long at any of the parks. We got to the parks right when they opened and that seemed to be the best way to have waits of under 5 minutes. We also used Fast Pass which helped avoid waits.
We did not pay extra for park hopper tickets and that worked out just fine. Going to one park a day was just fine for us.
FOOD
We did the dining plan and it was great. Because of the changes coming in 2008 we'll probably not do it again, but we wanted to treat ourselves to some sit down meals and a character dinner so it paid off for us this time. Loved dinner at O'Hanas. Lots of food (ask for more shrimp and chicken wings and forgo the sausage!), fun activities for kids and a nice atmosphere.
Loved dinner at Jikos. We went to the resort early to visit the animal viewing points. Liked character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. Some of the meat was a little dry, but by that time I had filled up on salad and my favorites (yummy stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and green beans) so I was OK with that. Dinner at Wolfgang Pucks was tasty but the waiter was not very pleasant. Coral Reef meal was also good and the ambiance was fun. One tip I learned from this board that we used was to get the double cheeseburger at Pecos Bills and then buy an extra bun. I shared one of my patties with my son, so one counter service meal easily fed two people.
LUGGAGE
Disney Magical Express worked well. We checked in around 9 pm and a knock on the door at 1 am delivered the bags LOL I hadn't asked not to have them delivered but I thought they would call first. Either way it was nice to have our luggage right there when we woke up in the morning.
PIRATE ADVENTURE
Some of the resorts offer a 2 hour adventure for kids 4-12 that costs about $30 and includes pirate bandana, a sack lunch and some "booty". I had my son signed up for the one that departs at 9:30 am from the Yacht & Beach Club. While he was on that I enjoyed breakfast and exploring that resort. They took the boat to various "ports" to follow a treasure map. I would recommend looking into it (4 or 5 of the on-property resorts offer this) because my son really enjoyed it! I think I booked it through the same toll free phone number I used to make meal reservations.
RIDES
We hit almost every ride or attraction offered in the parks! Enjoyed everything we went on with one exception - Stich's Great Adventure in Magic Kingdom.... what's with that one?! Also Test Track in EPCOT did not live up to it's hype.
Turtle Talk in EPCOT was a hoot. We did it twice. Hubby and son did Expedition Everest several times by using the single rider line. My son's favorite? Mission To Mars!
RESORT
Loved the Port Orleans Riverside. Rooms were clean, beds comfy, hair dryer fine, housekeeping good. Didn't get any towel animals but 2 cute washcloth creatures were near the sinks when we checked in. Stayed in Mansion section (Oak Manor) and it was a close to pool, food court and lobby. Beautiful walkways, vegetation, etc. Buses were sometimes busy in the mornings when going to the parks and we had to stand sometimes. No big deal. Boat is available from the Riverside to Downtown Disney and that was fun to take. We did that on our first night there and a couple other times. We did not rent a car since we were staying on property never felt like we needed one. We ended up spending lots of time at the parks so didn't spend much time in the room. We did get to the pool one afternoon for a couple of hours and my son spent almost the whole time on the slide
The mug you can buy and use at the resort for free refills (soda, coffee, hot cocoa) easily paid for itself. Either my hubby or I used it almost every morning and night. I think with tax it ended up being around $13.WEATHER & LINES
Weather was a little hotter than normal and it was humid (I'm not a fan of humidity) so we drank lots of water! LOL Lines were not too long at any of the parks. We got to the parks right when they opened and that seemed to be the best way to have waits of under 5 minutes. We also used Fast Pass which helped avoid waits.
We did not pay extra for park hopper tickets and that worked out just fine. Going to one park a day was just fine for us.
FOOD
We did the dining plan and it was great. Because of the changes coming in 2008 we'll probably not do it again, but we wanted to treat ourselves to some sit down meals and a character dinner so it paid off for us this time. Loved dinner at O'Hanas. Lots of food (ask for more shrimp and chicken wings and forgo the sausage!), fun activities for kids and a nice atmosphere.
Loved dinner at Jikos. We went to the resort early to visit the animal viewing points. Liked character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. Some of the meat was a little dry, but by that time I had filled up on salad and my favorites (yummy stuffing, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese and green beans) so I was OK with that. Dinner at Wolfgang Pucks was tasty but the waiter was not very pleasant. Coral Reef meal was also good and the ambiance was fun. One tip I learned from this board that we used was to get the double cheeseburger at Pecos Bills and then buy an extra bun. I shared one of my patties with my son, so one counter service meal easily fed two people.
LUGGAGE
Disney Magical Express worked well. We checked in around 9 pm and a knock on the door at 1 am delivered the bags LOL I hadn't asked not to have them delivered but I thought they would call first. Either way it was nice to have our luggage right there when we woke up in the morning.
PIRATE ADVENTURE
Some of the resorts offer a 2 hour adventure for kids 4-12 that costs about $30 and includes pirate bandana, a sack lunch and some "booty". I had my son signed up for the one that departs at 9:30 am from the Yacht & Beach Club. While he was on that I enjoyed breakfast and exploring that resort. They took the boat to various "ports" to follow a treasure map. I would recommend looking into it (4 or 5 of the on-property resorts offer this) because my son really enjoyed it! I think I booked it through the same toll free phone number I used to make meal reservations.
RIDES
We hit almost every ride or attraction offered in the parks! Enjoyed everything we went on with one exception - Stich's Great Adventure in Magic Kingdom.... what's with that one?! Also Test Track in EPCOT did not live up to it's hype.
Turtle Talk in EPCOT was a hoot. We did it twice. Hubby and son did Expedition Everest several times by using the single rider line. My son's favorite? Mission To Mars!
