From Caracas to WDW. Our September '08 Trip: A (small) report.

[Luis Rodriguez]

Luis,

Based on your review of The Wave, our family plans to go there for lunch on our trip in May! We are very much looking forward to it!

Happy belated 6th Birthday to Valeria!

Hi Alan,

I hope not have set the bar too high with my review . Also, someone else on these boards wrote about The Wave having the best Reuben Sandwich he had ever eaten .

I told Valeria yesterday about your “Happy Birthday” greetings and her answer was “Really?” I think that she is, in her own way, thrilled and proud that someone so far away, that she even doesn’t know (although she has seen some of your photos) wishes her well.

great updates and pics.

I have not been to US in 8 years. Plan on going back once Harry Potter opens. Best ride there is Spiderman.

Thanks for the review fo the Wave. Might give it a try. I leave 2 weeks from today.

Hi Scottny,
As I said before, the IOA side IS, IMHO, better than the Universal Studios side. As per the Harry Potter land, I guess we’ll have to wait a little bit for the crowds to subside once it opens

Two weeks!! That’s a wonderful time to visit!! Al the Xmas decorations are up, the crowds are reasonably low and the weather is good. Sigh… Hope you have a wonderful trip.


Best Regards to all (and a belated Happy Thanksgiving!!)

Luis

 

[englishrose47]

Luis Excellent review ! Sorry a bit late in reading it Thanxgiving here and all the shopping the day after(another American Tradition, called Black Friday)I haven't tried the Wave yet but will definately add it to my future lists !! We did eat at the Contemporary before it closed and it was excellent !!Another Happy Belated Birthday to Valeria ! She is such a cutie !!

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Luis Excellent review ! Sorry a bit late in reading it Thanxgiving here and all the shopping the day after(another American Tradition, called Black Friday)I haven't tried the Wave yet but will definately add it to my future lists !! We did eat at the Contemporary before it closed and it was excellent !!Another Happy Belated Birthday to Valeria ! She is such a cutie !!

englishrose,

Thanks for your comments and wishes toward Valeria. Hope you have had a good shopping day (good bargains, low crowds). I plan to take part in a (new) American Tradition myself tomorrow (CyberMonday)

Best Regards,

Luis

 

[englishrose47]

GoodLuck with Cyber Monday!!

 

[Thadine]

Hi Luis,

Here a note from your neighbour

I am truly enjoying your report. I have been a lurker for a long time on the DIS since I "belong" to another board.
And your TR is the first one I am commenting on.
Your English is indeed very good, and it's a pleasure reading your TR.
Seems like you guys had a great time and I am enjoying the non-Disney trips too.
We have been to Disney 4 years in a row (since 2005 up till now) and although the fact that I love Disney very much, I make it a point to see other things too. Like next year we will go to Kennedy Space Center for the first time, and we will go iceskating on Int'l Drive.
Coming from a small island my two boys really look forward to that iceskating experience.

I am off to read your Universal part, I am wondering who is hating who

Take care
Thadine

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Hi Luis,

Here a note from your neighbour

I am truly enjoying your report. I have been a lurker for a long time on the DIS since I "belong" to another board.
And your TR is the first one I am commenting on.
Your English is indeed very good, and it's a pleasure reading your TR.
Seems like you guys had a great time and I am enjoying the non-Disney trips too.
We have been to Disney 4 years in a row (since 2005 up till now) and although the fact that I love Disney very much, I make it a point to see other things too. Like next year we will go to Kennedy Space Center for the first time, and we will go iceskating on Int'l Drive.
Coming from a small island my two boys really look forward to that iceskating experience.

I am off to read your Universal part, I am wondering who is hating who

Take care
Thadine

Thadine,

Thanks for your kind comments. As it was in the middle of the hurricane season, I wondered about the wisdom of going to Florida's coast, so KSC was off the list for us. That being said, as a small kid growing up in the 60's and 70's, I was a fan of the American space program (and still am). KSC is a wonderful experience (at least for me) and I hope you be able to see a launch (still on the wish list for me).

On the other hand, I'm sure that your boys will like the ice skating experience. It can be a lot of fun, particularly when trying not to fall over .

Regards,

Luis

P.S. If I'm not intruding too much, Would you care to tell me which island do you come from? I'm intrigued by the "neighbour" part....

 

[meeko_33785]

Great report and pics. You guys really seemed lucky on finding characters since Wendell and Marie are both normally so rare to see in the parks. Nice job.

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Great report and pics. You guys really seemed lucky on finding characters since Wendell and Marie are both normally so rare to see in the parks. Nice job.

Thanks Meeko,

Yes, we were lucky in a) Finding lot of characters (Wendell, Marie, Jiminy Cricket are some that stand out) and b) as the crowds were low (most of the time) the kids were able to enjoy some "quality" time with them, and the character's interaction was (again, most of the time) very good.

Regards,

Luis

 

[Thadine]

I am from Curacao.
Both my grandma's (mother and fatherside) are from Venezuela though.
My mother has family living in Caracas and Valencia and my father has family in Coro. But my parents were born here.
Unfortunately my dad lost contact with his family in Coro.
But my mom has contact now and then with her family in Valencia.
Both my grandma's passed away a few years ago

When we were little we used to travel a lot to Venezuela. But my last visit was in 1992 shortly before my wedding. And then I never returned.
I have fond memories though and I think it's a beautiful country.

Thadine

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

I am from Curacao.
Both my grandma's (mother and fatherside) are from Venezuela though.
My mother has family living in Caracas and Valencia and my father has family in Coro. But my parents were born here.
Unfortunately my dad lost contact with his family in Coro.
But my mom has contact now and then with her family in Valencia.
Both my grandma's passed away a few years ago

When we were little we used to travel a lot to Venezuela. But my last visit was in 1992 shortly before my wedding. And then I never returned.
I have fond memories though and I think it's a beautiful country.

Thadine

Hi Thadine!

It's a Small World after all! I, too, have nice memories from my visits to Curacao and, in fact, we are planning a visit in the next few months (our last visit was about 12~14 years ago).


Best Regards,

Luis

 

[Thadine]

Wow, that's a long time ago. You will see many changes.
Let me know when you are coming to our island

Thadine

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hi Alan,

I hope not have set the bar too high with my review . Also, someone else on these boards wrote about The Wave having the best Reuben Sandwich he had ever eaten .

I told Valeria yesterday about your “Happy Birthday” greetings and her answer was “Really?” I think that she is, in her own way, thrilled and proud that someone so far away, that she even doesn’t know (although she has seen some of your photos) wishes her well.

Best Regards to all (and a belated Happy Thanksgiving!!)

Luis

Oh, I think we will really enjoy The Wave. The menu looks terrific, and I think it will be a great lunch getaway from the MK. We'll take the monorail from MK and then back for the afternoon!

Through your trip report, we feel like we know you and your family!! Tell Valeria that your family definitely has friends in the states! (Alabama, specifically!)

Also, your report really makes me want to drive over to Sea World one day. We'll have to see how the budget looks before our May trip!

Alan

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

Oh, I think we will really enjoy The Wave. The menu looks terrific, and I think it will be a great lunch getaway from the MK. We'll take the monorail from MK and then back for the afternoon!

Through your trip report, we feel like we know you and your family!! Tell Valeria that your family definitely has friends in the states! (Alabama, specifically!)

Also, your report really makes me want to drive over to Sea World one day. We'll have to see how the budget looks before our May trip!

Alan

Hi Alan,

Thanks for your comments. I think you would like Sea World, although you should plan to spend a whole day in it. Just don't expect the same service level as you can find in WDW and, at least on this trip, we had a bad experience with the counter restaurant we went to (more on that later).

Wow, this is crazy. Two (grown-up?) guys writing about WDW past midnight

Regards,

Luis.

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

The Big Day – Valeria Turns six!!

In September 10th, 2002, early in the morning, I saw with a lot of emotion as a small infant girl was wheeled into the newborn’s nursery of the clinic I work for:

It seems unreal that she was ever so small…


Now, six years later, this “bundle of joy” has grown up into a little girl, very articulate, with a strong character and, as always, very much loved by her parents. From mom she has learned to be a very independent person, strong willed (as mom is) and with an excellent attention to detail. From Dad? Love of animals and, of course, love of Disney .

So, in this particular day, our family had the fortune of celebrate our princess’ birthday in, of all the places, Walt Disney World. This had been a trip planned since April, with almost every single day refining schedules, doing ADRs, wondering about the vagaries of September weather, etc., all to arrive to this single, most important day.

As the activities of the past days took their toll, the kids, and Valeria in particular, woke up a little late. After the extra hugs, kisses and congratulations due to her birthday, out we went for our first ADR of the day, the Crystal Palace (again!).

Checking out some of her gifts…


It was late when we arrived to the MK’s TTC so, in order not to lose the ADR I ran straight to the monorail, while Mercedes and the kids decided to do a short Disney Cruise (ferry). Arriving at MK, they found this wonderful character:

Is that really your birthday button?


That one is a nice smile…


I was able to secure our reservation, although the rest of my party arrived almost at the end of the breakfast time slot. It didn’t matter, we had a good time, our server brought Valeria a nice cupcake and she even sang “Happy Birthday” for her, along with our family. As soon as I joined her in the song, I saw that most of the guests were suddenly leaving the restaurant. I suppose there was a parade or something else important going nearby… .

Although this was something of a “repeat” meal, having eaten here on our first day, the fact that it was Valeria’s day made it special. Tigger made as if going away with her cupcake and Valeria still speaks about it.

That is MY cupcake!!


Piglet, thanks for coming to my birthday…


Maybe we were getting more comfortable with character meals, as this time our experience was a lot easier going…

We left CP quite content and walked towards the castle, where the “Dream Along with Mickey” show was about to begin. Just in front of the castle we found a Photopass photographer, and decided to have our “official” trip photo taken.

Yep, we are at Disney World…


“Dream Along with Mickey” was a new show for us, and the first time we had the opportunity to see the characters “blink” their eyes and move their mouths. It is an interesting feature and I’m sure that it must contribute a lot to the “realism” of the characters on an unconscious level.

“Dreams come true”. Some times, they sure do…




How many times do you really STOP to enjoy these views?


After the show, we left for Frontierland, and a meeting with the Haunted Mansion. Amazingly, this was one of the most expected rides for Valeria, as she had good memories of the time she had rode it in February 2006, as a three years old child. At that time, we had explained to her (before going in) that it was a “ghost’s” house. For months afterwards, she talked about the time she had visited “Casper’s house” .

Ghosts done, we made a line to the other end of the park, as the kids wanted to ride Splash Mountain. On the way, we found these little bits of Old West:

Is this really in Florida?

Donald Crockett !

Yiiihaaa!!

After observing how these guys and gals enjoyed Florida’s sun and warmth, we continued toward one of Valeria’s most anticipated rides: Splash Mountain.

One of Valeria's favorite attractions

Neither Daniel nor Valeria had been able to ride this attraction before, as they had been too small during their former visits to WDW (1999 and 2006, respectively). As you can imagine, they liked it, especially Valeria who, appropriately, laughed a lot at the scenes before the drop (Remember? Brer’ Rabbit calls this his “Laughing Place”). And, of course, the drop received its correspondingly high marks. The ride was done twice.

After Splash Mountain we saw that the clouds were getting a little dark and menacing, so went straight to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. And when I say straight I mean it, as we did not find any lines. In fact, I think that some of the sections of the pre-show were roped off, as they did not need to have them open for long lines.

I hadn’t see the new additions before (Jack Sparrow, Barbarossa, etc.) and found them a good way to keep the attraction fresh.

For this trip, I had wanted to see the Jungle Ride. I know it is a little bit outdated, but as one of the original Disneyland / WDW attractions it has a lot of charm for me. Unfortunately, while we were inside Pirates of the Caribbean there was one of those wonderful thunderstorms, with lots of rain and thunder, and the ride was closed .

Well, there is always next time. Daniel found Timon and Rafiki, nearby. Me? I had read a lot on these boards about the Dole Pineapple Whip and, having never had seen one, much less tasted one, decided to put an end to this serious gap in my education. Result? I recommend it wholeheartedly and wonder how I could be so ignorant all this time…

I think these guys would be more at ease in Animal kingdom.

Having done most of this area of the park, we decided to go (again!) to Fantasyland (Yes, we do walk a lot around while we are in the parks. It does wonders for our physical conditioning).

In Fantasyland we did almost all of the rides, as the crowds weren’t so big. I think that the only ride with big lines was, as always, Peter Pan, for which we choose to go the Fastpass route.

I would gladly accept 0.001% of the ponchos’ sales during summer…

An old favorite…

Who needs a kingdom when you are already a Princess?

Dumbo!!

We had an 8pm ADR at Frontierland, so the kids decided to do Tomorrowland again (my legs twinge just as I’m writing this). In 2006 Valeria had done the line to the Astro Orbiter, just to find that she did not meet the height requirements. This time she did and, braving the weather (it was raining a little bit), she was able to fulfill a long time wish.

At Last!!

After Astro Orbiter the kids did Space Mountain one more time, just before the skies opened up with a big thunderstorm and we had to take refuge at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café.

After some fifteen minutes we were able to leave to our ADR, at Liberty Tree Tavern.

Whew! Another long post! Let’s break it here, so I can tell you later a little bit about our dinner.


Next: The Liberty Tree Tavern and the end of a wonderful day

 

[scottny]

great update and pics.

looks like a fun birthday

can't wait for LTT.

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

The Liberty Tree Tavern and the end of a wonderful day
Having walked MK up and down several times, it was time for us to rest our weary feet and, what better way to end this day than with a Character Dinner in the Liberty Tree Tavern (LTT)? Besides being in Frontierland, one of my favorite places at MK (I grew up watching Davy Crockett’s TV series and to this day, as a subscriber to Smithsonian Magazine, the first articles I read are those concerning the earliest years of the U.S. as a nation), it also featured Goofy, one of Mercedes’ favorite characters, so this site had something for everyone (the kids, as always, would be happy with any characters showing up).

The LTT earlier in the day…


At the hour we arrived (about 8pm) the place was a little crowded, so we had to wait in the foyer. The place is wonderfully done, with a lot of those small touches that make Disney so special.

The wait was worth it, as we were assigned a table in the upper floor. If you visit this place, try to get an upper floor table, as it feels less crowded and more relaxed than the first floor.

It is my understanding that next year there won’t be any more character dinners at the LTT. This is, I believe, a sad development. The character’s interaction with guests, quality time, their costumes, etc. is (IMHO) unsurpassed by any other of the WDW character dining experiences. Even Valeria, when she heard me commenting about this change, expressed her regret that next year would not be more any “actors” at this place (her words).

That being said, the Dining menu is, as in the Garden Grill, a fixed meal course. In this case it consists of a mixed greens salad, turkey, beef and pork, along with vegetables and mashed potatoes. IIRC the kid’s menu is about the same, with the added option of Mac & Cheese.

I’m of two minds about this kind of meal. On one hand, we found it always a good option, fresh and good tasting, and the fact that is the same menu for everyone makes for a quicker service. On the other hand, I suppose that some people would prefer to have more choices in their menu. Me? I’m a very accommodating guy, this is a character dinner and, with names like “Declaration Salad” and “Patriot’s Platter”, I felt just like David Crockett at a (clandestine) town meeting. Never mind the fact that I could not hunt even if my life depended on it, as I prefer my food neatly packed from the supermarket .

As I said, the character’s interaction was superb. Although Valeria had used her birthday button since the beginning of the trip, I always made a point of making clear her real birthday’s date to everyone we met, in order to avoid any misconceptions (and, of course, to keep things honest). But today was her day, and she got a lot of attention.


“Martha” Mouse? “Minnie Washington”, “Minnie Ross?”


Valeria loves the Chipmunks.


An old pal…


As we were ending our meal, Goofy “borrowed” a space toy gun from a table nearby and began to play with Chip. They were at it for several minutes, giving a wonderful show.

The star of the show… Check out the plaque on the column


They day ended, we made our traditional exit thru the emporium shop. Mercedes did not remember having seen the Roy Disney and Minnie statue before, so I made a point of showing it to her. I find it a lovely idea, and a homage to someone that sometimes gets a little forgotten by the people who visit the parks.

Best Friends: Roy, Minnie, Mercedes and Valeria…


The plaza was decorated with these strange characters….


All to soon it was time to leave, and we headed off to the resort very tired but, at the same time, very content with having enjoyed this special day at WDW.

Sigh...I Love this Place!

Next: Dolphins at Sea World, and a Dinner with Cinderella.

 

[alan_renfroe]

Luis, your trip report is TERRIFIC!! Every picture is just priceless, and your trip was truly magicaly. Nice job in putting this report together!

Alan

 

[mymainmouse]

Your pictures are beautiful, your family is beautiful and your writing great! Keep up the good work.
We were at WDW from Sept. 13th-20th and were surprised at how blue and clear the skys were most of the time.
Great trip report!

 

[englishrose47]

What an awesome review !! That pix of the casle and Main St is the best I have ever seen !!

 

[Luis Rodriguez]

great update and pics.

looks like a fun birthday

can't wait for LTT.

Scottny,

Thanks again for your comments. It was really a fun birthday. This trip had been postponed several times. In fact, originally Mercedes wanted to do it in March, on time for my 50th birthday. It could not be, alas, so I did it by proxy, thru my daughter . It was really nice hearing the CMs wishing her a "Happy Birthday, Princess!!. That always brought a smile to her face, along with the corresponding "Thank you!!".

Luis, your trip report is TERRIFIC!! Every picture is just priceless, and your trip was truly magicaly. Nice job in putting this report together!

Alan

Alan,

Thank you! There are, of course, a lot more pictures than the ones you see here, but I agree with you that they are priceless, as they bring back part of that "time of your life" you wrote about in your first trip report.

That said, when I get done with the report, I plan to print it and put it inside this trip's photo album. Maybe in the future, when she looks at her photos again and reads the report, she'll remember better this "time of her life".

Your pictures are beautiful, your family is beautiful and your writing great! Keep up the good work.
We were at WDW from Sept. 13th-20th and were surprised at how blue and clear the skys were most of the time.
Great trip report!

Thanks, mymainmouse!!

We only had rain problems two or three days, and they didn't really impact much on our trip. I, too, was surprised at the clear skies we got, moreover with two hurricanes nearby (Hannah and Ike).

Regards,

Luis