Impromptu quick trip 2/2/13 - 2/5/13

[Jamieann77]

Last February we took our first family trip to WDW. What a perfect time to go! Nice weather, very few crowds. Our school district always has a 3 day break in early Feb.
So last weekend I decided we should do it again this year. Honestly, I was looking for a smaller nearby trip (we're in TX) but I couldn't decide on anything, and since we have a lot of frequent flyer miles, I started looking at flights and hotels elsewhere. And what bargains I found! Last year we stayed on site at POFQ and said that we would stay offsite next time and rent a car.
So.. We head out tomorrow morning! Staying three nights at Fantasy World Resort.

More later...

 

[BellaBaby]

We are thinking of staying there for our first 3 nights of a 2 week trip coming up in June. We can get those 3 nights for free with points earned from our credit card. Then we head to WH for 11 nights. We love all the extra room for our family of 5!

So I will be interested to see how you like it. The new waterpark looks fantastic and it gets good reviews on TR.

 

[Jamieann77]

So far Fantasy World Resort is great! We arrived this afternoon. The pool and waterpark area is super nice! Heated water is especially nice in February. Tall waterside, large pool, lazy river, outdoor bar, large hot tub, and even a huge outdoor fireplace with gas logs. I'm really impressed. The 'apartment', as I call it, is roomy... 2 bedroom, 2 bath, washer/dryer, newly renovated kitchen. The rest of the interior is a bit dated, but clean and the beds seem comfy so far. Oh, and our parking spot is right outside our door! No long walk, as you would likely experience at any other hotel or resort. All for $95/ night in our case. I'm sure the busier season is more expensive. There is a Publix grocery store about a half mile away, and all kinds of restaurants and fast food nearby. So anyway... It's WAY better than being on-site at Disney in my opinion. Again, we stayed on-site at Disney's Port Orleans French Quarter a year ago. These conveniences far outweigh the Disney resorts, for us.



Especially with the food situation!

 

[Jamieann77]

Our tentative plan for tomorrow:

Leave the resort around 7:30am. Drive the 5 (or less) miles to Disney, park at the ticket/transportation lot, buy our park tickets (or buy them here at the resort before we leave), take the monorail to MK, and ideally be there by about 8:30, before rope drop. This timeline may seem unrealistic if you've only visited WDW during busier seasons. But early Feb is one of the best times of year to be here! Oh, and being Super Bowl Sunday reduces the crowds even more. (Until Monday, when the Super Bowl MVP makes his obligatory quick visit to Disney World!) It's exactly when we were here last year.

We'll first head straight to the new Fantasyland area and hit the popular new rides and attractions there. Then we'll do whatever we want to do from there, picking up fastpasses as we go. After a few hours, if it starts getting really crowded, we'll come back to the resort for a while.... Swim, eat, rest, etc.. Then we'll head back to the parks by late afternoon or so and figure out which park to go to at that time. We'll want to be at MK in time to get a good spot for Wishes and fireworks. We may very well just do MK tomorrow. We're going to just buy regular tickets in the morning, and then we can upgrade to park-hopper at any ticket counter if we decide to do so.

We'll try to catch some parades. I have advance notifications set up on my iPhone app.

This agenda may not go at all as planned, but that's OK! I just need to have some kind of agenda to start with.

 

[BellaBaby]

Sounds great!! Have fun!!