pwdebbie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2007
- Messages
- 4,104
Ok, I don't know what I'm doing so bear with me.
Dh (54) and I (52) made our first (and probably only) trip to Disney World. We left southcentral PA on Sunday, Sept.30 and drove to FL. My plan was to spend two nights on the road and arrive for our reservation at POFQ on Tuesday, Oct. 2. As it is, we only spent one night on the road and arrived at POFQ a day early -- and they were able to give us a room for one night prior to our actual scheduled reservation, so we checked in then and switched rooms the next day to our king-bed room. That was such a nice thing to be able to stay at POFQ that night and not have to go hunting up a room somewhere else.
We are very happy that we decided to stay at POFQ and are grateful to the TA and everyone else that recommended it to us. IF we ever go back, this is where we will stay. The minute we pulled through the gate for the first time, we felt peaceful (the last part of the drive had been horrible) and didn't want to have to go look for a room anywhere else. The resort is clean, well-manicured, and just has a restful and refreshing feel to it.
We arrived in the rain and were told that it had been "unseasonably rainy" throughout the previous week. Wonderful! First time ever going to WDW and we get rain! By Thursday though, the rain was gone for the most part (at least it didn't affect us much) and in its place was "unseasonably warm" (and may I add, humid?). The whole reason I planned a trip in October was to avoid the hottest of the hot FL temps, and then we end up with "unseasonably warm." The heat didn't stop us, though. Just gave me a perpetually red glistening face.
I'm not going to try to go day-by-day, just not good at that kind of stuff. We did do all four parks. We did not like Disney Studios very much, it was definitely our least favorite, went there on Sunday, Oct. 7. We did enjoy Beauty and The Beast, the Movie Ride, and the Backlot Tour. Other than that, we were trying to figure out how to get from one place to another most of the time (and many cast members here gave us wrong directions also, which didn't help). And the crowds were bad, in my opinion, although when we left we saw that only one parking lot was being used and it wasn't full. Five hours here was more than enough time for us. We didn't go back for a second visit. Now, that I've got that out of the way . . .
We really liked the other three parks -- but we liked them each in their own way and really can't pick a favorite.
MK was whimsical fun for us almost-senior-citizens. We did most of the tame rides (i.e., no roller coasters, no spinning) except for the ones that were definitely kiddie rides. Mickey's Philharmagic was wonderful. I think it may be my favorite 3-D show of the four available in WDW. Our first day there was Friday, Oct. 5 (my birthday -- yes, I got a birthday button). The park was empty, we walked right on to most attractions. By early afternoon, we had done everything that was on my list of to-dos. We returned to MK twice in the evenings, once just to see Wishes and then again on our last night there (Oct. 9) to do the few things we had missed the first time and to watch Wishes one last time. We were right under Tinker Bell's rip line that night. A little girl in front of us asked her mom, "If Tinker Bell can fly, why does she need that wire?" Smart kid! Made us laugh.
I had planned to spend a good bit of time at Epcot. I sure am glad I did! The first morning, we never got beyond Future World. Thoroughly enjoyed Turtle Talk and the 3-D show. We did Soarin', but dh (who has equilibrium problems) did not do too good with it. We did ask to be seated in the third row (as suggested here and on other boards) but we were treated extremely rudely by the CM when we did. (I think I've read here about other people being treated rudely at Soarin'.) Put it this way, when we "took off" and I heard dh say "Oh, dear Jesus," I knew it was bad -- he's a preacher and he was praying the whole time! When he got off his color was bad and he could hardly walk. The only other time he had equilibrium problems while we were there was in The Seas. And do you know how hard it is to find a seat in there? You would think there would be lots of benches for people to sit on to watch the fish, but there aren't. It must have been a combination of the lighting and the water movement in there that affected his balance and vision, because once we got back outside, he was fine.
We did World Showcase in bits and pieces and really enjoyed visiting each of the countries. I would have liked to have spent more time and explored each country more thoroughly, but dh was always eager to move on to the next country rather than linger in one country. Even though we were there for the Food and Wine Festival, we really didn't take much advantage of it. We ate several meals in Epcot. Dinner at Le Cellier was outstanding! We tried to get back in a second time but they had no room for walk-ins.
Animal Kingdom was crowded both times we were there (but when we left each time, we saw that the parking lot was not completely full and other lots were not even in use). I can't imagine being there when it is more crowded than it was! The Safari is fun. I'm not sure why they say pregnant women shouldn't go on it, because I didn't see anything about the ride that would have been bad for a pregnant woman. We also did several of the walking trails and enjoyed them. But, dh and I have always enjoyed zoological parks, so it was a natural for us to like this park. We only saw about half the park even though we were there two different times for about five hours each time. It was very hot both times we were there, which surprised me because I expected the trees would help keep things cooler.
Can I give a word of advice to you parents with small kids in strollers? Please don't use the stroller as a way to "plow" your way through the crowds. I can't tell you how many times my toes were run over, my heals were run up on, and my calves were banged by parents shoving their way through the crowds with their strollers. This was really a low-light of our trip. It happened in every park every time we were there without fail. I guess I'm from a rural area of PA and not used to people acting so rudely. Some people in ECVs or pushing wheelchairs were just as bad. 'Nuf said on that!
We were on the DDP and found that while we had plenty of food at each meal, we still paid for a few meals. The Snack Credits let you get a lot of carb-type food which we tend not to eat much of. So to get protein at every meal, we paid for a few breakfasts OOP and used the counter-sevice credits for lunch. We did have the beignets at POFQ twice, but by mid-morning we were needing something more substantial. But I would do the DDP again, if given the option. The last night we were frantically trying to use up 10 snack credits left of the 16 we originally started with. And, I never thought I'd say this, but I got tired of getting desserts with every dinner!
We had a few "Magical Moments" to tell about. Our first was on Tuesday at the Monorail Station at the Contemporary. This was our first full day there and we didn't plan to do parks this day (since I hadn't actually expected to be there that early). We decided to ride the Monorail and "get the lay of the land." While standing there waiting for our first trip, a little girl, about 4, suddenly started saying, "I see the castle! I see the castle!" Her dad was videotaping her. She was just so cute and enthusiastic and it brought tears to our eyes, watching her innocent joy at seeing the castle for the first time. (Ok, it made us miss our five grandchidlren too.)
Another one was seeing LGMHs on the windows of a room just down from ours. Just kind of made this board more human, not just words on a screen, but actual people nearby. I never did meet Thunderbird1, but she left us a gift of ponchos and water and powerade and, of course, 4 LGMHs. Sadly, I never "attracted" any other DISers while I was there. But, Thunderbird1, if you are reading this, I was able to pass on your LGMHs to someone else, so your gift continues on!
Also, my husband was given a pin with Tinker Bell on it, that we were told was a special pin that could not be bought. All he did was pick up some trash that the server at LeCellier had dropped while bussing a table, but the next thing we knew the hostess came over and gave him the pin because she "caught him doing something nice that he didn't have to do." It also came with another pin that we were to pass on to someone else, which we did a few days later, to a lady who offered to take some pictures of a young couple together.
I'm not so sure how "magical" this moment was, but on my last day at work prior to vacation, I found out that the owner of the company I work for was also going to be in Orlando for the exact same days we were. I joked with him about maybe we would run into each other there. On Monday at Epcot, he spotted us! So we stopped and chatted for a bit. It's amazing to me that with all the people there and with all the places to go in WDW and the Orlando area, that we just happened to end up on the same walkway (actually between FW and WS) at Epcot at the same time. We were heading back to our room for a break and they were just arriving.
We had a great trip and dh came home and told one of his closest friends that he really needs to take his wife there. I would love to go back someday, but, since it took us 30 years to get there the first time, I'm not holding any expectations of getting there again very soon. When I planned the trip, I kept telling people that this was our once-in-a-lifetime frivolous vacation. However, that won't stop me from entering all those Disney vacation contests that are out there. Who knows, maybe we'll get blessed and win a trip some day!
Thanks for reading. I hope I did this right. And I hope I didn't bore you!
Deb
Dh (54) and I (52) made our first (and probably only) trip to Disney World. We left southcentral PA on Sunday, Sept.30 and drove to FL. My plan was to spend two nights on the road and arrive for our reservation at POFQ on Tuesday, Oct. 2. As it is, we only spent one night on the road and arrived at POFQ a day early -- and they were able to give us a room for one night prior to our actual scheduled reservation, so we checked in then and switched rooms the next day to our king-bed room. That was such a nice thing to be able to stay at POFQ that night and not have to go hunting up a room somewhere else.
We are very happy that we decided to stay at POFQ and are grateful to the TA and everyone else that recommended it to us. IF we ever go back, this is where we will stay. The minute we pulled through the gate for the first time, we felt peaceful (the last part of the drive had been horrible) and didn't want to have to go look for a room anywhere else. The resort is clean, well-manicured, and just has a restful and refreshing feel to it.
We arrived in the rain and were told that it had been "unseasonably rainy" throughout the previous week. Wonderful! First time ever going to WDW and we get rain! By Thursday though, the rain was gone for the most part (at least it didn't affect us much) and in its place was "unseasonably warm" (and may I add, humid?). The whole reason I planned a trip in October was to avoid the hottest of the hot FL temps, and then we end up with "unseasonably warm." The heat didn't stop us, though. Just gave me a perpetually red glistening face.
I'm not going to try to go day-by-day, just not good at that kind of stuff. We did do all four parks. We did not like Disney Studios very much, it was definitely our least favorite, went there on Sunday, Oct. 7. We did enjoy Beauty and The Beast, the Movie Ride, and the Backlot Tour. Other than that, we were trying to figure out how to get from one place to another most of the time (and many cast members here gave us wrong directions also, which didn't help). And the crowds were bad, in my opinion, although when we left we saw that only one parking lot was being used and it wasn't full. Five hours here was more than enough time for us. We didn't go back for a second visit. Now, that I've got that out of the way . . .
We really liked the other three parks -- but we liked them each in their own way and really can't pick a favorite.
MK was whimsical fun for us almost-senior-citizens. We did most of the tame rides (i.e., no roller coasters, no spinning) except for the ones that were definitely kiddie rides. Mickey's Philharmagic was wonderful. I think it may be my favorite 3-D show of the four available in WDW. Our first day there was Friday, Oct. 5 (my birthday -- yes, I got a birthday button). The park was empty, we walked right on to most attractions. By early afternoon, we had done everything that was on my list of to-dos. We returned to MK twice in the evenings, once just to see Wishes and then again on our last night there (Oct. 9) to do the few things we had missed the first time and to watch Wishes one last time. We were right under Tinker Bell's rip line that night. A little girl in front of us asked her mom, "If Tinker Bell can fly, why does she need that wire?" Smart kid! Made us laugh.
I had planned to spend a good bit of time at Epcot. I sure am glad I did! The first morning, we never got beyond Future World. Thoroughly enjoyed Turtle Talk and the 3-D show. We did Soarin', but dh (who has equilibrium problems) did not do too good with it. We did ask to be seated in the third row (as suggested here and on other boards) but we were treated extremely rudely by the CM when we did. (I think I've read here about other people being treated rudely at Soarin'.) Put it this way, when we "took off" and I heard dh say "Oh, dear Jesus," I knew it was bad -- he's a preacher and he was praying the whole time! When he got off his color was bad and he could hardly walk. The only other time he had equilibrium problems while we were there was in The Seas. And do you know how hard it is to find a seat in there? You would think there would be lots of benches for people to sit on to watch the fish, but there aren't. It must have been a combination of the lighting and the water movement in there that affected his balance and vision, because once we got back outside, he was fine.
We did World Showcase in bits and pieces and really enjoyed visiting each of the countries. I would have liked to have spent more time and explored each country more thoroughly, but dh was always eager to move on to the next country rather than linger in one country. Even though we were there for the Food and Wine Festival, we really didn't take much advantage of it. We ate several meals in Epcot. Dinner at Le Cellier was outstanding! We tried to get back in a second time but they had no room for walk-ins.
Animal Kingdom was crowded both times we were there (but when we left each time, we saw that the parking lot was not completely full and other lots were not even in use). I can't imagine being there when it is more crowded than it was! The Safari is fun. I'm not sure why they say pregnant women shouldn't go on it, because I didn't see anything about the ride that would have been bad for a pregnant woman. We also did several of the walking trails and enjoyed them. But, dh and I have always enjoyed zoological parks, so it was a natural for us to like this park. We only saw about half the park even though we were there two different times for about five hours each time. It was very hot both times we were there, which surprised me because I expected the trees would help keep things cooler.
Can I give a word of advice to you parents with small kids in strollers? Please don't use the stroller as a way to "plow" your way through the crowds. I can't tell you how many times my toes were run over, my heals were run up on, and my calves were banged by parents shoving their way through the crowds with their strollers. This was really a low-light of our trip. It happened in every park every time we were there without fail. I guess I'm from a rural area of PA and not used to people acting so rudely. Some people in ECVs or pushing wheelchairs were just as bad. 'Nuf said on that!
We were on the DDP and found that while we had plenty of food at each meal, we still paid for a few meals. The Snack Credits let you get a lot of carb-type food which we tend not to eat much of. So to get protein at every meal, we paid for a few breakfasts OOP and used the counter-sevice credits for lunch. We did have the beignets at POFQ twice, but by mid-morning we were needing something more substantial. But I would do the DDP again, if given the option. The last night we were frantically trying to use up 10 snack credits left of the 16 we originally started with. And, I never thought I'd say this, but I got tired of getting desserts with every dinner!
We had a few "Magical Moments" to tell about. Our first was on Tuesday at the Monorail Station at the Contemporary. This was our first full day there and we didn't plan to do parks this day (since I hadn't actually expected to be there that early). We decided to ride the Monorail and "get the lay of the land." While standing there waiting for our first trip, a little girl, about 4, suddenly started saying, "I see the castle! I see the castle!" Her dad was videotaping her. She was just so cute and enthusiastic and it brought tears to our eyes, watching her innocent joy at seeing the castle for the first time. (Ok, it made us miss our five grandchidlren too.)
Another one was seeing LGMHs on the windows of a room just down from ours. Just kind of made this board more human, not just words on a screen, but actual people nearby. I never did meet Thunderbird1, but she left us a gift of ponchos and water and powerade and, of course, 4 LGMHs. Sadly, I never "attracted" any other DISers while I was there. But, Thunderbird1, if you are reading this, I was able to pass on your LGMHs to someone else, so your gift continues on!
Also, my husband was given a pin with Tinker Bell on it, that we were told was a special pin that could not be bought. All he did was pick up some trash that the server at LeCellier had dropped while bussing a table, but the next thing we knew the hostess came over and gave him the pin because she "caught him doing something nice that he didn't have to do." It also came with another pin that we were to pass on to someone else, which we did a few days later, to a lady who offered to take some pictures of a young couple together.
I'm not so sure how "magical" this moment was, but on my last day at work prior to vacation, I found out that the owner of the company I work for was also going to be in Orlando for the exact same days we were. I joked with him about maybe we would run into each other there. On Monday at Epcot, he spotted us! So we stopped and chatted for a bit. It's amazing to me that with all the people there and with all the places to go in WDW and the Orlando area, that we just happened to end up on the same walkway (actually between FW and WS) at Epcot at the same time. We were heading back to our room for a break and they were just arriving.
We had a great trip and dh came home and told one of his closest friends that he really needs to take his wife there. I would love to go back someday, but, since it took us 30 years to get there the first time, I'm not holding any expectations of getting there again very soon. When I planned the trip, I kept telling people that this was our once-in-a-lifetime frivolous vacation. However, that won't stop me from entering all those Disney vacation contests that are out there. Who knows, maybe we'll get blessed and win a trip some day!
Thanks for reading. I hope I did this right. And I hope I didn't bore you!
Deb
