Here's my first trip report ever. Hope I don't bore you all

[goofy4prez]

Ok everyone. After reading so many great trip reports I guess I can try and give one myself.

First off there is three of us. My DW(40 something), DD(11) and myself(45).

We had to be one of the oldest WDW virgins around. Neither my dw or myself had ever been to WDW until Aug. 08. We stayed at the WL and were in awe of the place. What made it even more magical is that we were upgraded to concierge. That’s all it took, 5 nights(way to short), concierge, an awesome resort, and being at Disney. We were hooked. Which now leads me to this Trip Report.

After our first visit in August we knew we had to feed our addiction. In November I booked 7 nights at the GF. After a few days I changed my mind and changed resorts to the YC with club level. I had some concerns about the GF and being too stuffy. I’m sure they were unfounded, but we also wanted concierge and it was not available for the GF.

Now leading up to the day we flew out. None of us slept very well the night before. My dd was up and ready to go at 4:30am(ughh can’t we sleep another hour). By 5:00 we stopped fighting it and all got ready. We left Cleveland at 9:20am on Jan. 25th(yahoo Orlando here we come). I should add that the temperature here was -1 degree. We arrived at the YC about 1:00PM and were excited to see the resort. Did I make the right choice? Should I have stayed with the GF? Or should we have gone back to the WL.

We were greeted by a pleasant cm who already knew who we were.(how do they do that) and escorted us up to the club level 5th floor. Now we were excited. We could not wait to see our room. Ok here’s one of the few not so magical moments at WDW(yes there were a few). When we got to our room it looked great. However, when I looked out the balcony window we had a glorious view of the parking lot and where the ME bus drops everyone off. You can smell the diesel fuel big time. What happen to the garden view room?

I did go to the front desk and politely asked about our room. The cm at the desk described garden views as a view of trees or the garden or landscape. However, the manager told us our room was a garden view and there was nothing that can be done.Boy was I very disappointed, but I kept my cool. Now I promise there is good news but that will be tomorrow. There was some pixie dust in our future.

To keep this short, we kept close to the resort. We made a quick walk over to Epcot and rode Spaceship Earth, hit Test Track(twice), and then caught a boat over to DHS and rode Rockin Roller Coaster twice. Then it was back to the resort for dinner at the Captains Grille. Without going into much detail, the restaurant was a pleasant surprise. The food was good, the dessert was excellent, and the service was pretty good as well.

Well enough of this report. Next update will be our first full day there on Monday Jan. 26th.

 

[dort]

Hi I'm signing on, bring on more. Can't wait to hear what happened.

 

[MinnieLove]

I love a man's perspective of WDW, thanks Goofy4prez! And a virgin at that.
I am subbing.

Next month I am taking 4 male virgins to WDW so want to hear the mans view!
Cant wait for more.

 

[OhMari]

We stayed at the Beach Club, and I never walked over to the YC.
Nice pictures, I hope you smiled in other ones.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

I'm signing on too. I'd love to hear as much about concierge as you can dish out. I'll never get my Dh to splurge for it so I'll have to live vicariously through your report.

 

[goofy4prez]

Hi I'm signing on, bring on more. Can't wait to hear what happened.

I hope I won't dissapoint.

I love a man's perspective of WDW, thanks Goofy4prez! And a virgin at that.
I am subbing.


Next month I am taking 4 male virgins to WDW so want to hear the mans view!
Cant wait for more.

I should say that Aug. 08 was my first. This last trip was my second time.

We stayed at the Beach Club, and I never walked over to the YC.
Nice pictures, I hope you smiled in other ones.

We walked over to the BC and loved the smell of that place. I didn't like the decor as much as the YC at first but after seeing it several times I really liked it. I have a feeling we'll stay there sometime soon.

As for smiling, that was a smile.
I smile in a few of them.

I'm signing on too. I'd love to hear as much about concierge as you can dish out. I'll never get my Dh to splurge for it so I'll have to live vicariously through your report.

If it were not for the 4 and 3 deal I may not have done it either. There are some things nice about it and there are some things that will leave you disappointed.

I'll try and get day two up later this evening.

 

[nessz79]

I also like hearing from a man's perspective! Look forward to hearing more.

 

[tinawv]

Can't wait to hear about the future pixie dust.

 

[goofy4prez]

Deleted. Don't know how I did a double post.

 

[goofy4prez]

Ok, here we go with DAY 2

Our second day in WDW was a Monday. Instead of hitting the MK for our first full day we decided to get our least favorite of the parks done first. That would be the Animal Kingdom. However, at the AK our favorite ride in Walt Disney is Expedition Everest.

Here's a couple of pics as we are approaching it for the first time on this visit.

After hitting Everest 3 times in a row it was off to Kilimanjaro Safaris. Last year in August we didn't get on this ride until around noon and overall we were disappointed. There really was not much going on as far as animals. We decided to give it another try and get there early. We ended up getting on the ride around 9:00AM(the park had early extended hours this day). All I can say is I'm glad we did. It was much better the second time around.

I know it's hard to see, but there are a pair of lions out there.

And this little guy is a real cutie

Our first trip in the summer we were able to watch the Lion King play(can't remember the exact name) but we were not able to watch Finding Nemo-The Musical. This time we made sure we watched. And we are sure glad we did. The performance was awesome!

(forgive the poor photo quality, photography is not one of my talents. LOL)

After this we caught lunch at a CS restaurant Flame Tree BBQ. The DW and DD had the chicken and of course me being the "burly man" had the ribs. No pictures here but for a CS it was very good.

OK are you ready for the pixie dust that I promised??

As I mentioned we were very disappointed in the view that we had and the smell of bus fumes from our balcony. We were just content that we were not going to let it bug us and just have a great week.

I should back up and say that when we went to Epcot just to unwind the night before my dw's pass did not work at the gate. No big deal we thought.We'll it happened again this morning at AK. After several attempts to swipe the card the cm let her thought the gate. It dawned on us after the fastpass did not work with her card that we needed to get it taken care of.

After the day at AK we went back to the resort to relax a bit and let my dd hit the pool. The temps were in the mid 70's and she just couldn't wait. We stopped back up at the front desk and mentioned the key so they could issue another one.

The cm at the desk was awesome. She was a newby just in from her native country of Mexico and was in training. She remembered us from the night before and got the general manager(or a higher up than the one on Sunday). She preceeded to tell the manager about last night. This manager was awesome. She gave us 6 fast passes, which we told her that was not necessary but she insisted. In addition she said let me get you a room that I feel you will like much better.

So here we are. We go up to the 5th floor, pass the friendly cm's at the concierge desk and walk down the hall to look at our new room.

Room looks the same.(that's ok). I then go to the balcony to take a look outside.

Oh yea, quite and no bus fumes.

But wait, if that was all there was to the view it still would have been awesome. But over to the left and very easy to see from our balcony without leaning over was an awesome view.

Not bad, what do you think?

Now that we are just thrilled with the new room and the little magic that we just received we were ready to hit dinner. (after my dd's hour in the pool that is)

We had an adr at 6:50 for Ohana's. I almost cancelled this reservation after reading a terrible review of this place. All I can say is that I'm glad I did not. The food was excellent. The service was excellent. and we had an excellent view of the MK and was able to watch the fireworks as well.

Here's a pic of Ohana's. I will make this a must eat stop everytime we go to WDW.

Well, that is all for this day. I will try and get day three up tomorrow.

 

[LAH LAH]

Tuning in! Your view was beautiful!

 

[KimmyDisneyNerd]

Hi there.
I'm also from NE Ohio (Willoughby). TR sounds great so far. I'm so happy you got the room you deserved. Can't wait to read more.

 

[wvdisluv2]

Enjoying your report! (We were at Pop Century 1/22-1/29) So glad for your pixie dust!! Can't wait to hear more...

 

[goofy4prez]

Tuning in! Your view was beautiful!

Thanks for tuning in. I have enjoyed reading your TR. Our American Idol report will be day 4 in my report.

Hi there.
I'm also from NE Ohio (Willoughby). TR sounds great so far. I'm so happy you got the room you deserved. Can't wait to read more.

My grandparents lived out that way in Eastlake for years. I'm on the other side of N.E. Ohio in Brunswick.

Enjoying your report! (We were at Pop Century 1/22-1/29) So glad for your pixie dust!! Can't wait to hear more...

I hope you had a great time when you were there. It's been two weeks and I'm ready to go back. We are going back for Christmas this year but I also received an offer for the free dining at WDW and were thinking of a quick 4 or 5 day retreat.

 

[Luna_Lovegood]

Those pictures are gorgeous! We are also in the "40 year old virgins" club. We took our first trip ever last March/April. I was 40 and my husband was 45. WDW affected us the same way--the day we left, we called and booked a bounceback for Aug/Sept.! So far, I'm not bored at all.

 

[aceys_h0ney]

Tuning in! That is great that they took care of you guys. WE love Ohana's also and cannot wait for our dinner there in June. We have only done breakfast but decided that was a must do every trip.

 

[goofy4prez]

Those pictures are gorgeous! We are also in the "40 year old virgins" club. We took our first trip ever last March/April. I was 40 and my husband was 45. WDW affected us the same way--the day we left, we called and booked a bounceback for Aug/Sept.! So far, I'm not bored at all.

I'm glad to see we aren't the only ones. LOL We also booked for Christmas this year, but I also just received a bounceback with free dining and am actually thinking of taking a mini 4 or 5 day trip and take advantage of it.

Tuning in! That is great that they took care of you guys. WE love Ohana's also and cannot wait for our dinner there in June. We have only done breakfast but decided that was a must do every trip.

You have to try dinner. There is a review on one of these forums that just blasted Ohana's. I have to think the reviewer drank one to many of those tripical drinks at the bar before actually sitting down to eat.

 

[CruisingCamper]

Just tuning in..looking forward to more!

 

[goofy4prez]

Day 3

I actually tried to post this last night but once I cut and pasted I must have done something wrong because I lost it all. Oh well I'll try it again. It's slow here in my office right now and since I own the business I don't have to worry about the boss catching me.

We decided for day 3(Tuesday) that the crowds should be a little smaller at the MK. We woke up early hit the concierge for our morning ritual of bagels and other goodies and hit the front door out to the bus stop so that we could finally make it to one of the parks at rope drop.

Here is a view of the YC from the front.

Now when I told you that our view was of the parking lot facing the area where the buses turned around this will give you a better idea of where we were. I guess that potted plant out front counts as a garden view.

We did get to the park before the rope drop and we were able to witness a little of the pixie dust being tossed just before the park opened.

I should say that we were blessed with great weather. Little did I know that later this day back home in Cleveland we had one of the worst snow storms in the last 30 years. And trust me that is saying a lot when you live up here. Even still the weather was great but it was still around 60 degrees and what do you think my DD wanted to ride first. Oh well off we went to Splash Mountain.

We all know that real men don't wear ponchos on this thing. I got soaked. But hey, I did keep my man card.

I also should back up real quick. How can I forget the most magical street in this whole world. Every time I see Main Street for the first time that day it's incredible.

Here is my favorite attraction in the MK. How in the world do they do some of those things in there?

We also ran into this fellow while there. For you moms out there my dd says that Capt. Jack Sparrow is so hot that you can bake cookies on his chest. This is not something any father is prepared to hear from his little princess.

Here's a few pics of some of the other rides that we missed our first time around in August that we(or I should say dw & dd did) missed. Sorry I don't do spinning rides.

After all of this we did end up going to Cosmic Rays for a cs lunch. For those of you who have not been there as a quick lunch it really was not that bad.

After lunch we ran around and hit Thunder Mountain several times(crowds were great), Space Mountain several times, and by now it was in the upper 70's and did Splash Mountain again.

After all this running around we decided to grab an ice cream sit down and wait on mainstreet for the parade. We didn't do this in August because my dd is much like me and don't care much for parades but we were pretty tired and we also didn't want to leave the park because we had a magical dinner reservation that we kept a secret from my dd. You'll find out shortly.

The parade as a whole was nice. Would we do it again? If we were tired yes, otherwise probably not. Here are a few pics of the parade.

Why Ariel? I like red heads. Well you did want a mans perspective from this tr. To bad she turned her head as I took the pic

After the parade we did a few of the rides that were slower and what we also missed again in August. These would include It's a small world after all, Peter pans ride(forget the name) and the ride that goes under Space Mountain(again forgot that name as well).

After this it was time to take my daughter to her surprise dinner. Back in August we couldn't get in and this time we were fortunate with our ADR. So where is this place?

This picture should tell you where we were heading.

I will say that if you are looking for a great dining experience then CRT is not it. The food was good but it was not what I would call great. However, they do give you a neat little picture package and life time of memories. My dw and dd both got the chicken. And me still carrying my man card after not wearing a poncho at Splash Mountain ordered what else, The Prime Rib.

Here's a few interesting things that happened in CRT while we were there. One of the tables next to us was celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary and their granddaughter was with them and her new husband celebrating their honeymoon.(hopefully the newlyweds were smart enough to get their own room)

Also, there was an older couple(ok in their 50's so not that old) sitting behind us. The gentleman asked the server if he could film him with his camcorder. He preceeded to stand up reach into his pocket, pulled out a little red box, opened it, dropped to his knee, and he proposed. Ahh geez the 50 year married couple were crying, my dw was crying, my dd was crying, the lady he asked was crying. Dang I almost cried. But if I didn't lose my man card at Splash Mountain I sure wasn't going to lose it here in CRT.


After all that we played around in the park a little longer then decided to head back to the resort hit the pool for a few minutes and then head up to the concierge and enjoy a couple of Heinekens(man card thing again) while my dw had a glass of wine.

A little note here. My dw thought that 65 degrees was cold and changed to a warmer top and a jacket. You'd think she was a Floridian instead of a Clevelander.

Tomorrow will be day 4 at DHS and my dw's experience with American Idol.

 

[nessz79]

Awww- what a great experience at CRT! I'd like to eat there sometimes, but I'm surrounded by boys...a Dh and 2 DS's. One day I'll convince them.