Hurricane Dodging and Other events

[Explodo]

So we are just back from out Sept 3-7 trip to disney. We stayed at the GF and used the DDP + wine. Just me and the Wife...It was our 5th wedding anniversary, My Wifes birthday and My 40th birthday.

DAy 1: We arrived at the GF and were compeltely overwhelmed by the service and attention to detail. They met us at the bus and took us to the frint desk. We were met at the desk by Cinderella andMAry Poppins (It was my wife's birthday and They said they would try and get a character or two to meet us...they came through) Cindy was wonderful and MAry Poppins was absolutely gorgeous (Black hair blue eyes...about 5'10) But I digress

We had booked concierge rooms in the grand palm, but had also requested that we get a MAgic Kingdom view AND a king sized bed...Which led us to the clarendon level with a perfect view of the CAstle and a wonderful overlook of the marina. The room was magnificent. One bad item, they had had a water leak last week on this level and the hallway smelled somewhat musty...no big deal.

We got unpacked and took off for the magic kingdom. The park was completely uncrowded...we never waited more than 5 minutes for ANY ride...we did the mountains...Peter pan, Dumbo, Philharmagic...I think we rode everything in the park in about 3 hours. No kidding. We then set off for main street and watched wishes...The wife cried while they were going off....it truey was magical...I love disney.

The fireworks ended (10:15 pm)and we walked out of the park with the mass of people. We started to head for the monorail but noticed the line was horrid...so we waltzed over to the boat service...only to miss the outgoing boat by about 1 minute...the guy told us it would only be about 20 minutes until the next one. so we pulled p a seat on one of the benches and watched the people milling about. 30 minutes pass and a CM comes up to the group of us heading back to the grand floridian and says "There has been a problem at the Polynesian and the boat is being delayed by another 30 minutes. The monorail is completely open if you want to take that...Ok, says we, off to the monorail. We get there to find a train in the station and about 6 CM's scrammbling about trying to get the doors shut on the train. It took them about 5 minutes but they got the doors shut. About 5 minutes after that, the next train comes in the staion and we board. We got about halfway to the comtemporary and the train stops moving and they come on the speaker and say we have been delayed due to technical problems. We proceed to wait for 30 minutes with a car load of overtired kids...Smelly tired parents...and a group of downs syndrome adults out on a field trip. after about 15 minutes all the kids were screaming...the parents were trying to calm them down...and the Field trip folks had one person that was clausterphobia...and had started having a adult sized fit. It was rather scary.

At about 11:15 the train starts moving and we get to the contemp...people get off, and we head out...and are promptly stopped again and are treated to another 30 minute wait. Everyone was completely shellshocked by this point...the field trip folks had their hands full with their charges...

We finally got back to the hotel at 12:30am...I found a manager and explained we were not happy at all with the transportation system and it was almost a crime to keep people on a monorail for an hour and a half.

He apologized profusely and said he would make it up to us. And he did, they sent up a Nice bottle of wine and a whole tray of cheeses.

The Grand floridian Staff was incredible. They turned our not so magical ending night into some thing more than magical.

 

[Explodo]

Oh we ate dinner on the first night at Narcossee's. Wonderful resturant. The Wife had the Filet, I had Surf and turf...BOth were expertly prepared and were served with a flair that was completely suprising. Be sure to try their cheese cake dessert...marvelous!

DAy 2: We got up and had a light breakfast on the consierge level at the GF...The Cinnamon rolls and cheeses were excellent. We took off for Epcot arrived in no time flat (About 20 minutes by monorail...yeah, we're trusting souls)

We got there and hit Soarin...no wait time...It is an incredible experience...The ride finished and they looked at us and said "There's only about 5 people here for the next ride...you can stay on if you want" so we rode again...and again! HOly BUckets!

We then hit MIssion Space and NEmo's adventure (The wife got vertigo riding Mission Space *snicker* poor girl) We had reservations for Cinderella's Royal table for lunch so we took back off to the MK...lunch was great...the princesses came by our table and were extremely nice to my bubbling and completely in awe wife...She started laughing like she was flipper the dolphin.

After lunch we rode space mountain and Pirates then went back to the hotel to rest and get out of the heat.

about 4pm we headed back to epcot for our dinner reservations (Coral Reef) Our rezzies were at 7pm so we wandered for a couple of hours. A couple of Notes: Who ever came up with the imagination ride with figment needs to be forbidden to come up with rides ever again...When you have the likes of Eric IDle to work with and come up with that experience...you aren't doing the disney magic kind of thing...neddless to say we were underwhelmed.

We went and got a couple of MArgarita's at the mexico site and wandered through the norway area (The Wife is Norwegian)...We bought a bottle of Aquaveit, had it sent to the GF, then went back to the coral reef for dinner.

 

[Explodo]

DAy 2: Coral reef dinner

They seated us at a great table right next to the aquarium...The resturant looks marvelous...and has a great atmosphere, but that about where the good part ends...We waited for 30 minutes to get a glass of water...then another 20 minutes to to get menus...only to find out the coral reef doesn't have a wine list they can show us...NOr can they tell us what wines they do have...We settled on a decent cab the manager reccomneded...only to have the waiter bring out another bottle and tell us this bottlke is the only thing they have left. To be honest, we were a little taken back. We weretold the Coral reef has an excellent wine list and we would be immpressed...WEll, we got a very bad bottle of wine AND we had waited an hour and 10 minutes before they took our order...they then brought out appatizers, and main course all at once because they needed to move our table along...Thanks...not. I got the steak...the wife got the salmon...My steak was tougher than a boot and was cooked within an inch of its life...the wifes salmon was raw...I'm not exageratting one bit...it was raw.

We took a couple of bites...asked for the manager...and were told "We're sorry, but we've tried our best to make you happy and it's obvious we can't"

Serious folks, we weren't overbearing...nor pushy...and we definately didn;t deserve that comment given the food was truely horrible.

We sat down for dinner at 7pm and got out of dinner just in time to see illuminations...Which is Spectacular!!!!

We went back to the GF after the show and hit the pool...ordered some cocktails and enjoyed the night. The grand Floridian is reall a special place.

 

[Explodo]

DAy 3: Animal Kingdom

We got up and hit the Concierge snacks for breakfast. the nheaded off for the AK. It was our first time there and let me say this "WOW". the theming and attention to detail here were amazing. The whole place was just perfect in terms of it being a animal park and a disney creation. WE went immdiatley to the safari thing...walked in to the ride and immediately were on a Truck headng out to see the animals. It was a little rainy so we didn;t expect to see much in terms of the animals moving about...we couldn't have been more wrong...all the animals were up and moving...the GIraffes came right up to the truck with their baby...the ostriches decided they needed to check out the humans...and the lions were all out with one lioness all the way up on top of a big rock looking over the territory...truely a neat experience.

We then went over to Expedition Everest. There was about a 10 minute wait to get on the ride...no big deal as the lines are jsut about as entertaining as the ride...well, almost We looked at all the equipement, the Yeti Musuem and before you know it, it was time to get on the ride. The Coaster is a blast...We rode in between a family of 6 (MOm Dad, 2 girls 2 boys) We all screamed and hooted like a pack of Apes...What a great ride.

Then we hit the Dinosaur Ride...Again, well done...and scary..Ok, suprising.

We then went over and ate at the tusker house...Very good marks from us...Decent food...nice selection....Great staff.

After lunch We were a little tired so we rode Expedition Everest again and did the safari again, then HEaded back to the GF and a well deserved nap. We woke up around 4pm and went over to the MK for shopping excursion and to try and get a picture of JAck Sparrow for our Daughter. Not only did we find JAck...we found him INSIDE the Piratesof the CArribean Ride to which he rode the ride with us. How magical is that! I've got picture of DW sitting next him in the boat. We left MK and headed back the the GF for dinner at Citrico's.

We dressed up in our finest and headed over. We got there and they set us necxt to the windows. Great table. We asked our waiter for a wine selection and what was good on the menu that night. He gave us GREAT suggestions and we had a EXCELLENT meal (I had the bone in Ribeye, the Wife had the Veal) The wine he sellected was called Magnificat...and it was superb!

This meal might have been the best meal we had on the vacation. The service was excellent...the food was stellar and the atmosphere was perfect. I suggest this palce to anyone wanting an above avergae experience.

After dinner we went up to the concierge area had some brandy then wnet to watch wishes from the balcony of our room.

What a wonderful day! The most magical day of the vacation.

 

[Explodo]

Day 4: Epcot

We went to epcot on day after going to the Crystal Palace for breakfast...Quick note on the CP event. Our little ones will enjoy this to no end...We enjoyed it and we're old farts We got to see al lthe crew from the 100 acre wood and we hada tastey breakfast ta boot. NOthing really to say about it other than it's worth the time to do it.

After breakfast, we took off for epcot and our tour of the world. We started with mexco and worked our way around (of course after riding soaring...twice)

I'll say this about the epcot world thing...While it's brilliantly themed and is interesting to a degree...we had both been to most of these countries in our travels...to us it felt like we had flown into a country and then proceeded to shop at that countries souvenier shops. After we got to Itlay...we were a little let down...guess we expected to much. We ate luch at TAppan Edo (Excellent BTW) then finished the walk around the world. It was ok...but not magical in that suspend your disbeleif way the MK does so easily.

So after luch we went back to the MK and were suprised to see that everyone had heard there was no one at the MK. The place was quite busy...with rides having an average 30 minute wait...So we got our fast passes and started through the MK again...we love this place.

We had dinner reservations at Chefs Du PAris, which we called our consierge guy and had him cancel it. We At at the CAfe at the GF which was completely Acceptable. After dinner we went back to the MK, rode the mountains...The haunted mansion...It's a small world...and finished up with the MOnsters Inc LAugh Floor. We then went to the train station on main stereet and watched wishes. IMO, this may be the best place to watch the Fireworks...We've watched them from all angles...and this provided a perfect vantage point to see everything without being squshed by the crowd...

After the fireworks we went back to the GF, got a bottle of wine and relaxed by the pool until about 1am...then we went to the room and went to bed.

What a great vacation!

 

[butiflfeet]

Thanks for taking the time to put this together for us! It sounds like you had an amazing vacation!

 

[Explodo]

Some final Notes

1. I can't say enoguh good things about the GF consierge accomodations. The room was great. The Staff was helpful and easy to interact with.

2. We were dissapointed with epcot. We were expcting so much more. Guess that's the danger of expectations...they can be hard to satisfy. Overall epcot wasn't as magical as the MK.

3. The animal Kingdom is spectacular...We were really suprised at how well it was done.

4. It's Extremely easy to get to the MK...but it sems to be a bear to get home after you're done. Even when you are staying on the monorail loop it takes a minimum of 25 minutes to get back to the hotel.

5. The coral reef resturant has serious problems. The facility is top notch...the service and food leave a lot to be deisred. I got the feeling from our consierge person that disney knows about the problem but can't figure out a way to fix the issue.

6. Our favorite Resturants in order: Citrico's, Narcosee's, Tusker House, Crystal Palance.

7. The DDXP provides you more than enough food to eat. In fact it may be to much.

8. The wine add on is an excellent value. We'll do that one again.

9. After doing the math...Staying at the GF as opposed to POFQ(our normal resort) only resulted in us paying about 25% more. After you add up all the costs and services...The Deluxe resort is worth the money. We've decided we'll just save a little longer so we can do the deluxes.

10. WE missed our kids something fierce...it was nice to be on our own for a couple of days, but on day three, we were talking to anyone with kids just so we could interact with little ones. We'll most likely never go to disney without them again...

And thanks for reading...Feel free to pepper me with questions!

 

[Explodo]

AND ONE LAST THING...and I really mean it this time....

What does one have to do to win one of the million wishes! We even had one of the Wishes guys walk with us for about 5 minutes...telling us how much fun it was to give people things to make them happy...then he just wanders off...2 minutes last we saw him handing out dream fast passes to a family of four...

Oh well...maybe next time!

 

[Explodo]

I forgot an amazing event...While we were eating at Cinderella's Royal Table, a young gent proposed to his beloved...at the table right next to us. They brought the ring out in a glass slipper. He got on one knee and proposed...She started crying and said yes...We all cheered!

Magical I say!