Me - 23, female
Jason - my husband, 27
April - friend, 24
Jenny - friend, 24
SUNDAY
We flew from Buffalo to Orlando via Newark. The flight was $131 via hotwire. When you want to fly on a weekend they always jack up the prices for "hot" destinations. Oh well. The savings from the hotel was worth the increase in airfare.
We rented a midsize car from L & M and had a weekly rate of $89.50 from Travelocity. The car was great and the company was just fine.
We stayed at Orange Lake, which we got for $234 a week through the Air Force vacation club. It was a 2 bedroom villa. It was really nice - kitchen facilities, washer/dryer, close to the hottub. And we didn't have to do a timeshare tour, either. They did offer to give us the tour for a free meal and $40 each towards park tickets, but we declined.
MONDAY
Since none of us had been to Animal Kingdom, we started there. We got into the ticket line. When we tried to explain to the woman that we wanted to buy the Armed Forces Salute tickets, she got confused, then angry, then told us to go to Guest Relations. The woman at guest relations was REALLY nice. She got us set up with 5 day park hopper plus tickets. Total cost for four people? $390 Woo hoo!
We went straight to Kilamanjaro Safaris. The standby line said a 15 min wait, so we got in line. It was chilly that day, so not TOO many animals were out. We were also not impressed with the Big/Little Red story line, but the animals made it worth it. We walked the Africa trail and enjoyed the drumming going on in the street. Incidentally, I own the CD set that was being used as background music in that center square in Africa - I knew all the songs. People looked at me strangely when I was singing along.
It was lunch time, and we went to check out Flame Tree, but alas it was closed that week. So we headed to Restaurantosaurus. We walked in, and saw it was a McDonalds!!!! We were angry, so headed to the counter service place in Africa, instead. It was OK. Healthy selections available. Typical Disney pricing. The only rain for the week happened while we were inside. We go a show with lunch, too. There was a very cranky girl who threw a funny fit at the next table. Then she came to join us. We picked up a lot of children throughout the week. I guess to them, adults all look the same.
We then did the Tree of Life. If you have back problems, you may not want to lean up against the benches during the show. MY husband's back was sore for about an hour afterwards. The DInosaur ride is a great use of dark. Did you know the Dueling Dragons coaster at US was supposed to go there? The builder pulled out of Disney at the last minute, so they "threw" Dinosaur together using some old animatronics and other things. I really enjoyed it and am glad it's there.
It was cold, so we decided to go to the grocery store, have dinner, and then go back to Epcot, since it was open until 9. We hit Publix and got all sorts of food that was yummier than disney and much cheaper.
We got to Epcot before future world closed, so we walked onto Spaceship Earth. Literally. We walked through the line and into the cars. We hit Body Wars and Cranium Command and had the hands on stuff in that building basically to ourselves. We also hit the Energy ride before it closed. That first HUGE room was almost empty. People were laying down on the ground, since they could. It was very surreal, but a whole lotta fun.
Let me say that the pastry shop in France is to die for. Not too pricey (cinsidering) and really yummy. We found it on a lark and it was sooooo good.
We ended the night by watching Illuminations, and y'know, that whole sequences with the globe would be better if it didn't go on for so long. I'd rather see some more fireworks, but that's just me.
Jason - my husband, 27
April - friend, 24
Jenny - friend, 24
SUNDAY
We flew from Buffalo to Orlando via Newark. The flight was $131 via hotwire. When you want to fly on a weekend they always jack up the prices for "hot" destinations. Oh well. The savings from the hotel was worth the increase in airfare.
We rented a midsize car from L & M and had a weekly rate of $89.50 from Travelocity. The car was great and the company was just fine.
We stayed at Orange Lake, which we got for $234 a week through the Air Force vacation club. It was a 2 bedroom villa. It was really nice - kitchen facilities, washer/dryer, close to the hottub. And we didn't have to do a timeshare tour, either. They did offer to give us the tour for a free meal and $40 each towards park tickets, but we declined.
MONDAY
Since none of us had been to Animal Kingdom, we started there. We got into the ticket line. When we tried to explain to the woman that we wanted to buy the Armed Forces Salute tickets, she got confused, then angry, then told us to go to Guest Relations. The woman at guest relations was REALLY nice. She got us set up with 5 day park hopper plus tickets. Total cost for four people? $390 Woo hoo!
We went straight to Kilamanjaro Safaris. The standby line said a 15 min wait, so we got in line. It was chilly that day, so not TOO many animals were out. We were also not impressed with the Big/Little Red story line, but the animals made it worth it. We walked the Africa trail and enjoyed the drumming going on in the street. Incidentally, I own the CD set that was being used as background music in that center square in Africa - I knew all the songs. People looked at me strangely when I was singing along.
It was lunch time, and we went to check out Flame Tree, but alas it was closed that week. So we headed to Restaurantosaurus. We walked in, and saw it was a McDonalds!!!! We were angry, so headed to the counter service place in Africa, instead. It was OK. Healthy selections available. Typical Disney pricing. The only rain for the week happened while we were inside. We go a show with lunch, too. There was a very cranky girl who threw a funny fit at the next table. Then she came to join us. We picked up a lot of children throughout the week. I guess to them, adults all look the same.
We then did the Tree of Life. If you have back problems, you may not want to lean up against the benches during the show. MY husband's back was sore for about an hour afterwards. The DInosaur ride is a great use of dark. Did you know the Dueling Dragons coaster at US was supposed to go there? The builder pulled out of Disney at the last minute, so they "threw" Dinosaur together using some old animatronics and other things. I really enjoyed it and am glad it's there.
It was cold, so we decided to go to the grocery store, have dinner, and then go back to Epcot, since it was open until 9. We hit Publix and got all sorts of food that was yummier than disney and much cheaper.
We got to Epcot before future world closed, so we walked onto Spaceship Earth. Literally. We walked through the line and into the cars. We hit Body Wars and Cranium Command and had the hands on stuff in that building basically to ourselves. We also hit the Energy ride before it closed. That first HUGE room was almost empty. People were laying down on the ground, since they could. It was very surreal, but a whole lotta fun.
Let me say that the pastry shop in France is to die for. Not too pricey (cinsidering) and really yummy. We found it on a lark and it was sooooo good.
We ended the night by watching Illuminations, and y'know, that whole sequences with the globe would be better if it didn't go on for so long. I'd rather see some more fireworks, but that's just me.
