andy_fish
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2006
- Messages
- 51
OK
I am going to start my very first Disney trip report. My family (Me, Wife, 9 year old son, 8 year old daughter, and 6 year old daughter) traveled from Seattle to Disney World to Nags Head back to Disney World from 8/13 until 8/31. 7 days of Disney sandwiched around 10 days in the outer banks
5106 miles of flying 2100 miles of driving. The trip started with the "liquid bomb" terrorist threat right before we left and finished with us scrambling to rebook flights and find a room with Ernesto was aiming to hit us the day we were supposed to leave.
My kids had never been to Disney World but my wife and I had our anniversary there in August of 1995
. We spent 4 nights at Saratoga Springs 
, then drove to nags head 
, then spent 3 nights at Worldmark in Orlando.
Anyway here is day 1 I was so tired that some of the details are probably missing and I didnt take any notes on this day when I got back to the room since I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
8/13-8/14: This is two days but to me it seemed like one very very long day. We left our house 7:30 for our 10:40 Flight. With the new airport rules we were worried about long lines through security. Of course check-in and security took about 11 minutes leaving us two hours or so to kill at the airport. Fortunately the service at Anthonys was ridiculously slow so dinner took up just about all of the time. Before we left I printed our boarding passes snagging 4 seats in row 6 and an aisle in row 8. DS9, DD8, and DD6 took A, B, and C and I took D. DW took row 8. Anthonys took long enough for me to gulp down two 22 ounce beers so I was ready to actually sleep through the red eye to Orlando. DW had a glass of wine actually she had a half a glass of wine which I cleaned up as we left the table. The flight was uneventful but I didnt get much sleep. The kids were remarkably well behaved on the plane likely because they were asleep most of the flight.
We land at MCO at around 7:30 AM. All of us exhausted we do the red-eye zombie walk though the airport looking for magical express. We follow the pointing arms of the magical express cast members until after walking for 17 miles we reach the launch zone for the ME busses. Once aboard we all seem to get a second wind the reality that we were now going to Disney World has woken us up.
The bus pulls into Saratoga Springs wow we are actually here
. I cant believe it. After all this planning and the years of saying next year we will take the kids to Disney World we are finally here. It is still early
about 9:30 AM. We figured we would check-in and then head to MGM until our room was ready but it turns out our room is already ready. Fantastic! So we get a golf cart ride to our building and head to the room. It was a nice room
didnt blow us away but definitely nice. Boy did those beds look comfortable
I just had to test them out and rest my eyes for just a minute
two hours later we were off to MGM.
We chose MGM for this day because they were having the evening magic hours. Most of this day is a blur since I was operating on about 60 minutes or beer induced sleep. We walk into the park and I am immediately hit with Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan ugghh. I dont remember how much they cost but at the time I thought they were way too expensive I guess the drugs that Disney adds to the water that makes you attempt to spend money as fast as possible hadnt taken effect yet (although the next day the drugs clearly had taken effect because among many many other things we bought two fans).
We decided to head to thelft as we entered which seemed away from the crowds who were probably heading toward the bigger rides. On the way we walked by the sci-fi theater where my wife and I had once eaten on our honeymoon and we thought the kids would enjoy having dinner there so we walked up to the podium and asked about any available tables for dinner. The CM at the podium stared blankly at me it was probably not for more than a second or two but in that time and recognizing the meaning of the expression on his face I realized something that my tired brain had not yet comprehended everyone is getting the DDP for free I have no reservations for any meals holy crap
. We are totally booked up all night including the Magic Hours. That line was repeated to me at every other restaurant in the park. So not only am I paying for the DDP when everyone else is getting it for free but because EVERYONE is getting it for free there are no restaurants available at which we can use our DDP to eat. Wife made some comment to the effect of...how is the DDP a bargain if we can't actually eat the meals... 
So trying not to let this get us down we set off to enjoy the park.
The first thing we did was hit the 3D movies
since fatigue started to catch up to us and our Sammamish, WA bodies were not adjusted to the weather. The kids absolutely loved the Muppet show
even more than Honey I shrunk the Audience (which we saw next). We hit the movie ride (which oddly enough the kids also enjoyed even though they hadnt seen most of the movies). Now you have to remember that we were a step slow and our brains were adjusting to Disney
but we totally blew it and never got fast passes for Tower of Terror or Rockin Roller Coaster
the only two good rides in the park and we were going to miss them. At the time we figured that we could just stand-by on them during the magic hours. Well when the magic hours started the park was about 10x more crowded than it was all day. I sat down on the curb and did something I should have done weeks or months ago
I called advanced dinner reservations 
. I sat on hold for a few minutes and glanced at the family
wife looked spent
girls seemed in a daze
my son was hopped up on whatever natural amphetamines kick in when he gets really tired which means a major crash was around the corner
I really needed to find us a place to eat. ADR CM was very helpful
she checked every park and every resort and found nothing
finally she managed to get us in to the Turf Club at our resort. This was actually perfect since we were all ready to call it a day anyway. Not a great start to our trip
we didnt plan our park very well and we totally skipped the magic hours which was why we came here first
but we are here and is there really a bad day at Disney?
Turf Club was running late but that worked out. It gave us time to have a drink and let the kids settle down in front of the TV outside of the restaurant. My wife took my son to the gift shop because he really wanted a Sorcerers Apprentice Hat. He was really excited when he had it on when he came back
. My wife told me that she felt really bad because some older boys (age 12 or 13...my wife pointed them out later on a bus from one of the parks) in the gift shop were making fun of him when he was wearing it. My son is extremely intelligent but he can sometimes seem a little bit odd to other kids
so this wasnt the first time something like this happened and to his credit he didnt let it affect him what so ever (I dont know if he even noticed
he usually doesnt). When we got back he said he wants to be the sorcerers spprentice for halloween 
. My girls just sprawled out on the couch the whole time managing to stay awake watching some Nick cartoon that I hate and they love.
Dinner was awesome so much wonderful food I finally won my big points for getting the DDP even if we did have to pay for it. In fact every meal we had on the trip was fantastic except for our final table service meal (which I will talk about in a later installment). After dinner we took the loooooong walk back to our room and were all asleep within minutes tomorrow at the Animal Kingdom would be a much better day and we would actually check out our resort.
My kids had never been to Disney World but my wife and I had our anniversary there in August of 1995
. We spent 4 nights at Saratoga Springs , then drove to nags head , then spent 3 nights at Worldmark in Orlando. Anyway here is day 1 I was so tired that some of the details are probably missing and I didnt take any notes on this day when I got back to the room since I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.
8/13-8/14: This is two days but to me it seemed like one very very long day. We left our house 7:30 for our 10:40 Flight. With the new airport rules we were worried about long lines through security. Of course check-in and security took about 11 minutes leaving us two hours or so to kill at the airport. Fortunately the service at Anthonys was ridiculously slow so dinner took up just about all of the time. Before we left I printed our boarding passes snagging 4 seats in row 6 and an aisle in row 8. DS9, DD8, and DD6 took A, B, and C and I took D. DW took row 8. Anthonys took long enough for me to gulp down two 22 ounce beers so I was ready to actually sleep through the red eye to Orlando. DW had a glass of wine actually she had a half a glass of wine which I cleaned up as we left the table. The flight was uneventful but I didnt get much sleep. The kids were remarkably well behaved on the plane likely because they were asleep most of the flight.
We land at MCO at around 7:30 AM. All of us exhausted we do the red-eye zombie walk though the airport looking for magical express. We follow the pointing arms of the magical express cast members until after walking for 17 miles we reach the launch zone for the ME busses. Once aboard we all seem to get a second wind the reality that we were now going to Disney World has woken us up.
The bus pulls into Saratoga Springs wow we are actually here
. I cant believe it. After all this planning and the years of saying next year we will take the kids to Disney World we are finally here. It is still early
about 9:30 AM. We figured we would check-in and then head to MGM until our room was ready but it turns out our room is already ready. Fantastic! So we get a golf cart ride to our building and head to the room. It was a nice room
didnt blow us away but definitely nice. Boy did those beds look comfortable
I just had to test them out and rest my eyes for just a minute
two hours later we were off to MGM. We chose MGM for this day because they were having the evening magic hours. Most of this day is a blur since I was operating on about 60 minutes or beer induced sleep. We walk into the park and I am immediately hit with Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan Dad can we get a fan ugghh. I dont remember how much they cost but at the time I thought they were way too expensive I guess the drugs that Disney adds to the water that makes you attempt to spend money as fast as possible hadnt taken effect yet (although the next day the drugs clearly had taken effect because among many many other things we bought two fans).
We decided to head to thelft as we entered which seemed away from the crowds who were probably heading toward the bigger rides. On the way we walked by the sci-fi theater where my wife and I had once eaten on our honeymoon and we thought the kids would enjoy having dinner there so we walked up to the podium and asked about any available tables for dinner. The CM at the podium stared blankly at me it was probably not for more than a second or two but in that time and recognizing the meaning of the expression on his face I realized something that my tired brain had not yet comprehended everyone is getting the DDP for free I have no reservations for any meals holy crap
. We are totally booked up all night including the Magic Hours. That line was repeated to me at every other restaurant in the park. So not only am I paying for the DDP when everyone else is getting it for free but because EVERYONE is getting it for free there are no restaurants available at which we can use our DDP to eat. Wife made some comment to the effect of...how is the DDP a bargain if we can't actually eat the meals... So trying not to let this get us down we set off to enjoy the park.
The first thing we did was hit the 3D movies
since fatigue started to catch up to us and our Sammamish, WA bodies were not adjusted to the weather. The kids absolutely loved the Muppet show
even more than Honey I shrunk the Audience (which we saw next). We hit the movie ride (which oddly enough the kids also enjoyed even though they hadnt seen most of the movies). Now you have to remember that we were a step slow and our brains were adjusting to Disney
but we totally blew it and never got fast passes for Tower of Terror or Rockin Roller Coaster
the only two good rides in the park and we were going to miss them. At the time we figured that we could just stand-by on them during the magic hours. Well when the magic hours started the park was about 10x more crowded than it was all day. I sat down on the curb and did something I should have done weeks or months ago
I called advanced dinner reservations . I sat on hold for a few minutes and glanced at the family
wife looked spent
girls seemed in a daze
my son was hopped up on whatever natural amphetamines kick in when he gets really tired which means a major crash was around the corner
I really needed to find us a place to eat. ADR CM was very helpful
she checked every park and every resort and found nothing
finally she managed to get us in to the Turf Club at our resort. This was actually perfect since we were all ready to call it a day anyway. Not a great start to our trip
we didnt plan our park very well and we totally skipped the magic hours which was why we came here first
but we are here and is there really a bad day at Disney?Turf Club was running late but that worked out. It gave us time to have a drink and let the kids settle down in front of the TV outside of the restaurant. My wife took my son to the gift shop because he really wanted a Sorcerers Apprentice Hat. He was really excited when he had it on when he came back
. My wife told me that she felt really bad because some older boys (age 12 or 13...my wife pointed them out later on a bus from one of the parks) in the gift shop were making fun of him when he was wearing it. My son is extremely intelligent but he can sometimes seem a little bit odd to other kids
so this wasnt the first time something like this happened and to his credit he didnt let it affect him what so ever (I dont know if he even noticed
he usually doesnt). When we got back he said he wants to be the sorcerers spprentice for halloween . My girls just sprawled out on the couch the whole time managing to stay awake watching some Nick cartoon that I hate and they love. Dinner was awesome so much wonderful food I finally won my big points for getting the DDP even if we did have to pay for it. In fact every meal we had on the trip was fantastic except for our final table service meal (which I will talk about in a later installment). After dinner we took the loooooong walk back to our room and were all asleep within minutes tomorrow at the Animal Kingdom would be a much better day and we would actually check out our resort.
. Once I hung up the phone I rolled out of bed to wake the kids. They of course were wide awake watching something on Nick again (dont they realize that we are in Disney?). I got on the phone to the ADR line while my wife took a shower. I got a great cast member
she worked with me forever. Nothing I wanted was available but we did manage to get a character meal at Epcot and dinners at the Grand Floridian Café and Key West. She actually found a dinner open at Cinderellas Castle but between the time she found it and I decided to use 2 meal credits for it it was taken 
. I was a little disappointed that none of the places I wanted were available but just knowing that we had places to eat lifted a big weight from my shoulders. The Groceries arrived around 8 with Milk, soy milk, rice milk (dont ask
each kid drinks a different milk) cereal, sausage, fruit, snacks, soda, water, and Gatorade. The kids ate their cereal and DW and I ate some kind of pig meat and we were off to the bus stop. We chose today to go to AK because we had the Epcot Character meal tomorrow and the extra morning magic hours for the MK were the following day. 
. This was partly due to the fact that we actually had a plan going in instead of misadventure at MGM. We arrived at the park just after it had opened and headed immediately to get a fast pass at Everest. I was just amazed when we entered the park
wow
Disney did a wonderful job. It is a great amusement park built into one of the best Zoos that I have ever seen. Wife navigated and we made a bee line to EE. By the time we got there the return time was 1:20 PM and we did the Olympic fast walk from the entrance right after it opened. Our next fast pass was available at 11 AM which we figured we should use for the safari
on the way we went stand by to the Kali River Rapids which at that time of the day was very quick. We had a great ride
we didnt even get very wet. My son does not like scary rides
and by scary ride I mean anything that has any kind of warning sign causes him agitation in line. This was no exception
he was worried the whole way but he sucked it up and we had a great ride. We had him take off his shirt which might have been a Disney faux pa but it seemed to make sense at the time and the CM said it was ok.
. No big deal
we stood around waiting until she calls out 11:45 and away we go. It was a good ride...great feel and lots of amazing animals
I kind of wanted the Disney story part of it to end a little differently though. After the ride we headed over to DinoLand to kill some time before the EE fast pass time. Dinoland was HOT
whoever designed it should have realized that it can get very warm in Orlando and an all blacktop section might not be the greatest of ideas. The kids loved the time machine roller coaster
even my son who hates roller coasters
we rode it several times. We wasted zero dollars on the midway games but we did spend lots of money at the gift shop and we bought each girl a squirt bottle fan 
