High and lows from the most amazing trip ever

[tinks_1989]

We returned from the place where dreams come true on Friday. We had the most amazing trip ever. So much pixie dust and magical memories we will cherish for a life time.

Highs

Magic Bands loved them, FP+ worked fine for us.

Another upgrade to a 1 bedroom villa at Saratoga Springs

Talking Mickey was amazing. We saw him twice and DD was in love that he could talk to her, Playing hide and seek with Peter Pan and Wendy, Looking for pascal with Rapunzel, meeting Elsa and Anna from Frozen, Dug and Russell, the character dance party in Animal Kingdom (especially brer fox), character palooza at Hollywood Studios, Disney Junior dance party on PM EMH at Hollywood Studios. In general the characters were amazing.

We got a ferry all to ourselves from MK to TTC one morning DD received some pirate goodies and were announced as the royal family as we docked at TTC

Opening 1900 Park Fare for breakfast. DD was dressed as Mary Poppins, we all had to say supercalifragilisticexpialidious (sp?) and the doors opened and Mary Poppins was there waiting for us.

The family magic tour at Magic Kingdom. This is great for families with little ones. It was a scavenger hunt around the MK. You have to solve a riddle to find the next clue. We also met Wendy and Mickey during our adventure.

Our tour guide Damian was amazing. He was really good with DD and all the kids.

DD loving the rides. She is almost 3 and loved everything she went on. She had a slight tantrum that she was 12 inches short for tower of terror.

Being family of the day at Magic Kingdom on our last day. Getting to open the Magic Kingdom and getting to go up and down Main Street in the fire truck before the park opened for photos.


Lows

The only things I can think of really was our first day. It was very wet and windy which made it feel very cold. I ended up catching a fever and I wasn't much fun.

Chef Mickey. This was our second visit to Chef Mickey. our first visit was poor but decided to give it a second chance. We were there for 2 and half hours we only saw 3 characters. DD had enough and couldn't wait any longer. The food was poor even for a buffet. I certainty wouldn't pay OOP for it. The family next to us complained that they had only seen 3 out of the 5 characters and were told to wait and they would bring the characters to them. After 25 minutes they got fed up and left so we didn't bother complaining.

 

[Julia Ann]

Wow! welcome home. sounds like you had an amazingly magical time! so nice to hear that the characters were great, this is gonna feature huge in our trip in oct as it's our DD6 first trip.

how did you get picked for "family of the day" at MK? any tips or was it totally random?

sorry to hear you had a bad exp at chef mickey, we are not doing any character meals, i can't justify the spend, with a fussy eater.

Did you have to wait long to see Elsa and Anna? (at the top of our meet list, along with rapunzel!)

 

[wilma-bride]

Wow, sounds like you had a fantastic trip. Glad to hear the Magic Bands and FP+ worked well for you. I am looking forward to trying it out in 3 weeks

 

[married2mm]

Hi

Welcome home.
Sounds like you had a great time.

Can I ask about your upgrade?
Had you booked a studio through wdw-?
had you hade any requests prior to arriving?


And finally,have you had an upgrade previously?!

 

[tinks_1989]

Wow! welcome home. sounds like you had an amazingly magical time! so nice to hear that the characters were great, this is gonna feature huge in our trip in oct as it's our DD6 first trip.

how did you get picked for "family of the day" at MK? any tips or was it totally random?

sorry to hear you had a bad exp at chef mickey, we are not doing any character meals, i can't justify the spend, with a fussy eater.

Did you have to wait long to see Elsa and Anna? (at the top of our meet list, along with rapunzel!)

The only thing I can say is get there early. We were there before 8am. You get taken for a little tour and meet quiet a few CMs before even going to the train station to meet the cast who open the park that morning which took about 40 minutes.
We were all very excited and happy DD was twirling around attracting a lot of attention.
I always thought a very formal looking CM would ask but it was just a very normal looking CM in the same uniform as every one else. She was just asking about DD's dress she was dressed as Woody and asked if she could help make our day extra magical. I was fighting back the tears

Wow, sounds like you had a fantastic trip. Glad to hear the Magic Bands and FP+ worked well for you. I am looking forward to trying it out in 3 weeks

We loved everything about them and the app but we don't do the headline attractions apart from TSM and ETWB.

I highly recommend the FP for wishes and the parade though. The viewing ares were amazing.

 

[tinks_1989]

Hi

Welcome home.
Sounds like you had a great time.

Can I ask about your upgrade?
Had you booked a studio through wdw-?
had you hade any requests prior to arriving?


And finally,have you had an upgrade previously?!

Through Virgin holidays
Just block request the grandstand nearest the pool

Yes we did last year the exact same 2 weeks.

They had over booked all star value resort and had been upgrading their guest to SSR so then were upgrading SSR guests to villas.

The villa is so lovely having all the extra space and your own washing facilities. Well I though it was lovely I am sure some people don't want to do washing on holiday but it was lovely to only come home with half a load of dirty washing.

 

[Sam1]

Wow, you really did get the special treatment. I hope you're doing a trip report!

 

[married2mm]

Through Virgin holidays
Just block request the grandstand nearest the pool

Yes we did last year the exact same 2 weeks.

They had over booked all star value resort and had been upgrading their guest to SSR so then were upgrading SSR guests to villas.

The villa is so lovely having all the extra space and your own washing facilities. Well I though it was lovely I am sure some people don't want to do washing on holiday but it was lovely to only come home with half a load of dirty washing.

Some may call me strange,but after being on holidays with washing machines-
it's now a necessity!

Washing machine,space,WiFi,beds,bathrooms-can't imagine being in a "normal hotel" room for more than a couple of days-I love washing on hols-coming home with only a small backpack of dirty washing is wonderful.

 

[DLPDreams]

Welcome home!

I am so pleased to hear you all had such a great time (and can't wait to hear about the other bit of your hol too??).

I am not surprised you got picked for so much pixie dust - I would pick Elsie too - she's adorable. Can't wait to see photos of her little outfits .

So, when's the next trip then? I don't recommend school holiday prices at all

Look forward to hearing more when you get a mo xx

 

[Chilly]

Sounds like a wonderful magical holiday, please do a TR

 

[BudgieMama]

Oh yes, TR please!

Sounds like you had an amazing time! Welcome home!

 

[RDP]

Sounds fab! welcome home, look forward to a TR!

 

[peachiepie]

Sorry to hear about your Chef Mickey's experience...we're in two minds about making an ADR there for our next trip.

 

[pickers1982]

Food wise chef Mickey s is poor value for breakfast but we had a really good experience with the characters there so was worth it!

 

[pickers1982]

We went for breakfast and had a good experience with the characters but the rest wasn't good really.

 

[Julia Ann]

The only thing I can say is get there early. We were there before 8am. You get taken for a little tour and meet quiet a few CMs before even going to the train station to meet the cast who open the park that morning which took about 40 minutes.
We were all very excited and happy DD was twirling around attracting a lot of attention.
I always thought a very formal looking CM would ask but it was just a very normal looking CM in the same uniform as every one else. She was just asking about DD's dress she was dressed as Woody and asked if she could help make our day extra magical. I was fighting back the tears
.

thanks for the tip, gonna try and get there really early for first full day...i was filling up reading it! Defo need to buy some bigger sunnies

 

[scoobydooby]

Congratulations on opening the park. This is my DDs dream and we have been there very early loads of times but have never been chosen
Also well done on your room upgrade. That's really cool!

We have been to Chef Mickey's four times and have had excellent and really poor experiences with the characters. Seems to be quite random. The food has been okay every time. Nothing special but okay.

Glad you had such a great trip

 

[Fommt2]

Glad you had a great time. We returned in Friday as well. What did you think of the storm on the Thursday?
We loved the new fast pass and magic bands as well, they are so easy to use, although we did hear a lot if people moaning about them.
In lost now without having any planning to do and have the disney blues lol

 

[ROBEAR84]

Oh wow, what a trip, how amazing to be chosen?! Not sure we'll ever get there early enough to even be in with a chance!

Welcome home

 

[tinkerbells mum]

Wow family of the day that's so exciting I can't wait to read you TR and see all your photos. You do realise you'll never be able to take Elsie on holiday anywhere else don't you! I've been taking Holly to Disney since she was 5 (she's 13 now) and she won't ever discuss any other destination lol!! I agree about Chef Mickey we did Easter Sunday brunch last year and it was awful the food wasn't good and the characters weren't interested in coming to the tables! We were meant to be going to dinner the following week but cancelled it. Glad it didn't spoil your holiday though xx