sam_justice
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2010
- Messages
- 94
I'll constantly update this post instead of making new threads, and I'll update the post when I add new stuff. Photos were taken with my trusty iPhone 4S.
Day One - 21st April 2012
Hi guys, we've just arrived (Myself, the Mrs and the lil 3 year old boy), woke up at 3am UK time to check in early for our Monarch flight (they said check in was at 610am but we arrived at 530am, managed to get great seats due to this). After a day of me and the Mrs and the 3 year old flying (we were both surprised at how well behaved he was flying, only two stroppy mishaps) we arrived at Sanford.
A bit of quick background - we were looking at going in October but after checking Monarchs website and seeing some dirt cheap deals for this time (20th April - 5th May) we couldn't say no! A 3 week wait between booking and flying out was a nice non painful period!
Anyway - back on topic -
I usually fly into Orlando and this is my fast landing at Sandford, I really didn't like it, it felt like a cheap airport in Tenerife or somewhere! Anyway, that doesn't matter!
So we got the car and headed over to Westgate Lake Resort and Spa where we're staying. Let me start of by dispelling some rumours
1 - There was not one mention of Timeshare, free breakfast (timeshare meetings) or tour of the property. All of which online state is where they will try aggressive sales tactics. I had my "no money" speech ready to go when we arrived but I was so impressed by the staff member who booked us in and the way we were treated.
2 - We phoned a few days before asking to stay at the "500" section as that is meant to be the newer one. The lady at the desk stated that the 500 section is nice but the 100 section is newer and more spacious and got us booked in there free of charge. Absolutely flawless.
So far, even though we've just arrived, I cannot find a flaw with this place or the way we were treated. Admittedly, we haven't checked it all out and I doubt we'll use the on site facilities/pool etc. But if you're looking for a home away from home to enjoy the parks. Then this seems to tick all the boxes!
I will try to post as many updates and pics as possible along this trip!
Day Two - 22nd April 2012
So it's currently 5am and we're filled with excitement and an waiting for the parks to open.
I thought I'd post some photos of the room we're in as requested. But please note they are messy as we've just woken up and they don't do the room any justice. It is much large than the photos make out to be.
http://i.imgur.com/0y9eW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BGNip.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5ZYwy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/J7xWj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BSvrI.jpg
We decided to go straight the Magic Kingdom as we couldn't wait to see Mr Mouse. We arrived at 830 so were able to see the opening show for the first time. It's a nice touch and made me realize how well they keep the parks up to scratch, the train station looked as though it had just been painted! We went straight on Splash Mountain as it was 40" and we were worried that the lil one wouldn't be tall enough. I was so happy when he was allowed on it as it means he can go on most the rides at WDW, including Star Tours 2!!
It had been storming all night and had showers on and off so the queue for SM was next to none, we walked right on. After getting suitably soaked we went on PotC, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch and Speedway before the park started to get really busy. At this point it was about midday and we were pretty exhausted from being up at 4am. We went back to Westgate for a quick kip then decided to check out the resort pool.
The resort has a large number of pools and we went to the one nearest us (I forget the name) and had a nice time, it's not the best pool in the world but it is very well kept, warm and big. Don't really need much more!
After a quick wash we logged onto the dibb to search for the best resturants on I-Drive. Bahama Breeze was heavily recommended here so we went there and had some fantastic food, you don't get fries like that back in the UK!
http://i.imgur.com/vnTfn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Xi9Gc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RsAHG.jpg
After eating we headed back to the hotel and I began to write an update here! About to log off to go to sleep, so will continue tomorrow!
Day Three - 23rd April 2012
Woke up at 6am today, so we're getting there! After getting dressed and showered we headed over to Dennys on IDrive for a nice breakfast, lumberjack slam all the way. After a quick stop at WalMart to pick me up some sunglasses (as I had been blinded before) we headed over to Island of Adventure for 9am opening time.
http://i.imgur.com/qA0UU.jpg
The weather has been great so far, about 10-15degrees in the morning and about 28degrees in the day. So perfect really.
The car park was quite busy but I assumed it was the morning rush of people arriving for opening, we went into the park and walked on a lot of the rides initially (Hulk, Spiderman, Ripsaw Falls).
I must say though the newly refurbished Spiderman ride is great, the queue has a well needed lick of paint, the new glasses are a lot sturdier (they're a lot stricter about people taking them now as well, I can't blame them, they look like they would cost universal a fair bit more than the last) and the new HD rerendered footage is great. There are some variations to the old version, nothing much, some scenes are extended or slightly different. The one I noticed was the end of the ride when you're flying around the city then falling, there were some altered scenes and new movements there.
I got so wet on Ripsaw Falls I took off my shoes and poured out at least a couple of cups worth of water from them, I was soaked and had to walk barefoot for a while whilst it all dried. After this we went onto Jurassic Park (as I was already soaked, so it didn't matter).
http://i.imgur.com/P857J.jpg
Then we headed over to WWoHP which was rammed, it now made sense where the morning rush went to. Walking through Hogsmeade was impossible which was a shame since the Mrs really wanted to check out the shops (I'd seen them before so wasn't so fussed). We managed to get onto Hippogriff after a 20minute wait and the Forbidden Journey after an hour, I was surprised at how well behaved the little one was during the queue for FJ. After FJ I realized I had finally dried out.
http://i.imgur.com/pLcnS.jpg
After riding FJ we thought we'd go to Seuss Landing for the little one as he was so good waiting in line at FJ. We went on Cat in the Hat and the water spinning ride (I forget it's name) which he loved. Once this was done we decided to leave as our feet were really starting to hurt, we stopped off at a shop on the way out and the Mrs finally got her wand (I have my own opinions about spending $35 on a stick of plastic.. but she was happy).
We went back to Westgate for about 3pm and grabbed our swimming stuff and headed over to Blizzard Beach for a quick swim, it was really really nice and the first time the lil one was able to paddle with his armbands without holding onto us, so that was really nice (his confidence was doused when he was much younger and he hasn't been able to swim solo since). It then hit 5pm and the park closed so we drove back to Westgate where I am writing this! Tomorrow we are waking up early for a character breakfast at Tusker House, will post more!
Day Four - 24th April 2012
So we woke up this morning to go to Character breakfast at Tusker House.
Before I start - I know some people are against this, but if you're budgeting at Disney, seriously consider renting a parking pass from ebay. It cost us £30 to rent and parking at Disney is $14 a day, so after using it 3 times we've made our money back.
Let me quell a couple of rumours around this -
They do NOT ask for ID, as they do not want the parking lines backed up, you literally flash them the pass and you get through. You also get diamond parking which allows you to park literally next to the park entrance, so no tram ride at the end of a hot day or a long search for the car.
You also get 20% off in the park merchandise stores, this has saved us a bundle on gifts. Again, no ID needed, they just check the validity date on the pass.
We arrived at Animal Kingdom and went in, the food and the greetings were great! The food was absolutely fantastic, cannot fault it, so much variety and all tasted so good. I managed to tuck in 3 big doughnuts alongside a lot of fried food, I'm not looking to getting on those scales.
http://i.imgur.com/iM03w.jpg
The characters were great, they came around and did their thing. But where Tusker House really shines is the parade through the resturant where kids can grab shakers and dance along with the characters. Having an extremely active 3 year old, this was great for him, he got to dance and run around with his favourite characters and absolutely loved it.
After this we went on some rides. We went over to Dinosaur and explained to the little one that it is very scary and he doesn't have to ride if he doesn't want to. Of course he wanted to! So we went on it - I must say, it seemed a lot tamer, the volume was a lot lower than before which took away a lot of the scare factor. The little one came off a little shaken at first but as we were climbing up the steps I started to say "did the naughty dinosaur try and sneeze on you, you need to say naughty dinosaur", then as we left the shop he saw the big trex and start going "naughty dinosaur, don't sneeze on me" then ran outside and started saying he wanted to ride it again. So it seemed all good!
We then did baby swap on EE and went on River Rapids, after that we went on the safari, the wait was an hour long so after we came off of that it was about 1pm so we decided to leave AK and head back over to Blizzard Beach.
Not much to say there aside from the fact we had a lot of fun again! Now back at the hotel room, thinking about going to Fantasmic tonight even though we are very tired. I'm sure I will update if we do!
Day One - 21st April 2012
Hi guys, we've just arrived (Myself, the Mrs and the lil 3 year old boy), woke up at 3am UK time to check in early for our Monarch flight (they said check in was at 610am but we arrived at 530am, managed to get great seats due to this). After a day of me and the Mrs and the 3 year old flying (we were both surprised at how well behaved he was flying, only two stroppy mishaps) we arrived at Sanford.
A bit of quick background - we were looking at going in October but after checking Monarchs website and seeing some dirt cheap deals for this time (20th April - 5th May) we couldn't say no! A 3 week wait between booking and flying out was a nice non painful period!
Anyway - back on topic -
I usually fly into Orlando and this is my fast landing at Sandford, I really didn't like it, it felt like a cheap airport in Tenerife or somewhere! Anyway, that doesn't matter!
So we got the car and headed over to Westgate Lake Resort and Spa where we're staying. Let me start of by dispelling some rumours
1 - There was not one mention of Timeshare, free breakfast (timeshare meetings) or tour of the property. All of which online state is where they will try aggressive sales tactics. I had my "no money" speech ready to go when we arrived but I was so impressed by the staff member who booked us in and the way we were treated.
2 - We phoned a few days before asking to stay at the "500" section as that is meant to be the newer one. The lady at the desk stated that the 500 section is nice but the 100 section is newer and more spacious and got us booked in there free of charge. Absolutely flawless.
So far, even though we've just arrived, I cannot find a flaw with this place or the way we were treated. Admittedly, we haven't checked it all out and I doubt we'll use the on site facilities/pool etc. But if you're looking for a home away from home to enjoy the parks. Then this seems to tick all the boxes!
I will try to post as many updates and pics as possible along this trip!
Day Two - 22nd April 2012
So it's currently 5am and we're filled with excitement and an waiting for the parks to open.
I thought I'd post some photos of the room we're in as requested. But please note they are messy as we've just woken up and they don't do the room any justice. It is much large than the photos make out to be.
http://i.imgur.com/0y9eW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BGNip.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5ZYwy.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/J7xWj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BSvrI.jpg
We decided to go straight the Magic Kingdom as we couldn't wait to see Mr Mouse. We arrived at 830 so were able to see the opening show for the first time. It's a nice touch and made me realize how well they keep the parks up to scratch, the train station looked as though it had just been painted! We went straight on Splash Mountain as it was 40" and we were worried that the lil one wouldn't be tall enough. I was so happy when he was allowed on it as it means he can go on most the rides at WDW, including Star Tours 2!!
It had been storming all night and had showers on and off so the queue for SM was next to none, we walked right on. After getting suitably soaked we went on PotC, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch and Speedway before the park started to get really busy. At this point it was about midday and we were pretty exhausted from being up at 4am. We went back to Westgate for a quick kip then decided to check out the resort pool.
The resort has a large number of pools and we went to the one nearest us (I forget the name) and had a nice time, it's not the best pool in the world but it is very well kept, warm and big. Don't really need much more!
After a quick wash we logged onto the dibb to search for the best resturants on I-Drive. Bahama Breeze was heavily recommended here so we went there and had some fantastic food, you don't get fries like that back in the UK!
http://i.imgur.com/vnTfn.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Xi9Gc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RsAHG.jpg
After eating we headed back to the hotel and I began to write an update here! About to log off to go to sleep, so will continue tomorrow!
Day Three - 23rd April 2012
Woke up at 6am today, so we're getting there! After getting dressed and showered we headed over to Dennys on IDrive for a nice breakfast, lumberjack slam all the way. After a quick stop at WalMart to pick me up some sunglasses (as I had been blinded before) we headed over to Island of Adventure for 9am opening time.
http://i.imgur.com/qA0UU.jpg
The weather has been great so far, about 10-15degrees in the morning and about 28degrees in the day. So perfect really.
The car park was quite busy but I assumed it was the morning rush of people arriving for opening, we went into the park and walked on a lot of the rides initially (Hulk, Spiderman, Ripsaw Falls).
I must say though the newly refurbished Spiderman ride is great, the queue has a well needed lick of paint, the new glasses are a lot sturdier (they're a lot stricter about people taking them now as well, I can't blame them, they look like they would cost universal a fair bit more than the last) and the new HD rerendered footage is great. There are some variations to the old version, nothing much, some scenes are extended or slightly different. The one I noticed was the end of the ride when you're flying around the city then falling, there were some altered scenes and new movements there.
I got so wet on Ripsaw Falls I took off my shoes and poured out at least a couple of cups worth of water from them, I was soaked and had to walk barefoot for a while whilst it all dried. After this we went onto Jurassic Park (as I was already soaked, so it didn't matter).
http://i.imgur.com/P857J.jpg
Then we headed over to WWoHP which was rammed, it now made sense where the morning rush went to. Walking through Hogsmeade was impossible which was a shame since the Mrs really wanted to check out the shops (I'd seen them before so wasn't so fussed). We managed to get onto Hippogriff after a 20minute wait and the Forbidden Journey after an hour, I was surprised at how well behaved the little one was during the queue for FJ. After FJ I realized I had finally dried out.
http://i.imgur.com/pLcnS.jpg
After riding FJ we thought we'd go to Seuss Landing for the little one as he was so good waiting in line at FJ. We went on Cat in the Hat and the water spinning ride (I forget it's name) which he loved. Once this was done we decided to leave as our feet were really starting to hurt, we stopped off at a shop on the way out and the Mrs finally got her wand (I have my own opinions about spending $35 on a stick of plastic.. but she was happy).
We went back to Westgate for about 3pm and grabbed our swimming stuff and headed over to Blizzard Beach for a quick swim, it was really really nice and the first time the lil one was able to paddle with his armbands without holding onto us, so that was really nice (his confidence was doused when he was much younger and he hasn't been able to swim solo since). It then hit 5pm and the park closed so we drove back to Westgate where I am writing this! Tomorrow we are waking up early for a character breakfast at Tusker House, will post more!
Day Four - 24th April 2012
So we woke up this morning to go to Character breakfast at Tusker House.
Before I start - I know some people are against this, but if you're budgeting at Disney, seriously consider renting a parking pass from ebay. It cost us £30 to rent and parking at Disney is $14 a day, so after using it 3 times we've made our money back.
Let me quell a couple of rumours around this -
They do NOT ask for ID, as they do not want the parking lines backed up, you literally flash them the pass and you get through. You also get diamond parking which allows you to park literally next to the park entrance, so no tram ride at the end of a hot day or a long search for the car.
You also get 20% off in the park merchandise stores, this has saved us a bundle on gifts. Again, no ID needed, they just check the validity date on the pass.
We arrived at Animal Kingdom and went in, the food and the greetings were great! The food was absolutely fantastic, cannot fault it, so much variety and all tasted so good. I managed to tuck in 3 big doughnuts alongside a lot of fried food, I'm not looking to getting on those scales.
http://i.imgur.com/iM03w.jpg
The characters were great, they came around and did their thing. But where Tusker House really shines is the parade through the resturant where kids can grab shakers and dance along with the characters. Having an extremely active 3 year old, this was great for him, he got to dance and run around with his favourite characters and absolutely loved it.
After this we went on some rides. We went over to Dinosaur and explained to the little one that it is very scary and he doesn't have to ride if he doesn't want to. Of course he wanted to! So we went on it - I must say, it seemed a lot tamer, the volume was a lot lower than before which took away a lot of the scare factor. The little one came off a little shaken at first but as we were climbing up the steps I started to say "did the naughty dinosaur try and sneeze on you, you need to say naughty dinosaur", then as we left the shop he saw the big trex and start going "naughty dinosaur, don't sneeze on me" then ran outside and started saying he wanted to ride it again. So it seemed all good!
We then did baby swap on EE and went on River Rapids, after that we went on the safari, the wait was an hour long so after we came off of that it was about 1pm so we decided to leave AK and head back over to Blizzard Beach.
Not much to say there aside from the fact we had a lot of fun again! Now back at the hotel room, thinking about going to Fantasmic tonight even though we are very tired. I'm sure I will update if we do!
