MareSINY
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2005
- Messages
- 2,150
We were scheduled to leave around 6pm on Halloween night, but we were so excited to get going and the kids were done trick or treating so we hit the road around 3:30 instead. We drove straight through to Disney and arrived around 7am the following morning (time change or it would have been 8am!) We went straight to Saratoga Springs and checked in, got our room keys and were told we would be text messaged when our tree house was ready. We went to Shades of Green and picked up our military park passes (Thank you Disney for this great offer!) and then to TTC to get our MNSSHP tickets (again, thanks to Disney for the great military discount!) So far no text, so we headed to Perkins for breakfast and then to Walmart to pick up supplies
. Still no text! So we drove around for a bit and eventually went back to Saratoga Springs to see when we might be able to get into our room (remember, we drove all night, so we were tired and needed showers! LOL) Finally a little after 1:00 we got the text message and headed to our tree house!
We stayed in THV 7326, which was BEAUTIFUL!! We had a great location, right across from the pool and with views of DTD, Saratoga Springs and LBC golf course. The only downside was having to duck the golf balls didnt realize how badly some people golf! LOL
That evening (11/1) we went to MNSSHP, which was the last night of the party. We arrived early, rode a couple of rides and had dinner at Cosmic Rays. After we did some trick or treating, rode some more rides and watched the parade near Splash Mountain, we had a great spot right at the rope and LOVED seeing the headless horseman!!
The next day we were all tired and decided to do a pool / DTD day. We had dinner ressies that night at Planet Hollywood, so we headed to DTD on the boat and did some shopping before dinner. My sister decided to see about BBB with my 6 year old niece and found that they had immediate availability, so they got all dolled up in their dos before dinner. It was pretty funny, we all got a big kick out of it and took lots of pics. Dinner was great, love Planet Hollywood! After dinner we did some more shopping and then headed back to THV on the boat.
Tuesday (11/3) we had an 8am breakfast at Hollywood & Vine (Little Einsteins character breakfast). The food wasnt very good, not much to choose from. My youngest niece, who we had done the breakfast for, wanted nothing to do with the characters and so it was me and my older nieces (6 and 8) who spent the most time with the characters. After breakfast we waited for rope drop and got to high tail it over to TSM. I am proud to say I got the highest score out of the family, I cant remember my exact score but it was over 100,000. Not bad for my first time!! We spent the morning and early afternoon riding the kids favorite rides and watching some shows. Afterwards we went back to the resort and relaxed the rest of the day. I went over to Saratoga Springs with my 6 yr old niece on the bus, we had dinner there and hung out at the arcade for a bit.
Wednesday (11/4) we went to Magic Kingdom. Goodbye Halloween, hello Christmas! What a difference a couple of days make! LOL The park had very light crowds, which was great! We got to ride everything we wanted to and had dinner at Crystal Palace which was fun. After dinner we rode some more rides and watched Wishes from behind the castle near Dumbo. There were only a few other people there, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. This was the day we saw Buddy Valastro and the Cake Boss crew. They were filming around the park all day and that night they were in the Rose Garden with a giant cake with the castle on top, we saw them carving up the cake after Wishes when we were making our way out of the park.
Thursday (11/5) we started the day with breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café in WL. We all got the skillet breakfast which was really good! Probably one of Disneys best values too, it was a lot of food, all you can eat, and only $14.99 per adult. Cant beat that! Afterwards we went to Animal Kingdom, it was HOT and getting crowded, the Jersey Week people really seemed to be making a show finally. Between kids melting down and the heat we made it an early AK day and headed back to the resort to go swimming. That night we headed back to DTD and had dinner at Earl of Sandwich. OMG I cant believe in all my past trips Ive never tried this restaurant before! The sandwiches were so good!! I would recommend EoS to anyone who likes a nice sandwich!
Friday (11/5) was our last day, we started off with breakfast at the Beach Club at Cape May Café. The characters were great, loved their old fashioned bathing suits. The food was tasty, we had a good time. After we headed to Magic Kingdom. Definitely the most crowded day of the week for us. We got to ride everything we wanted to, and then we headed back to the resort for more swimming and packing. That night we actually went back to DTD to EoS for more sandwiches. LOL They really were excellent!!
Friday night we realized that there was a mix up with our counter service credits, we should have had 2 remaining, but for some reason we had 7!! So we ended up going back to Saratoga Springs to get some sandwiches for the trip home. We also used up the rest of our snack credits that night, more goodies for the ride home!
We left for home Saturday around 9:30am and arrived back in New Jersey Sunday at 2am. Now Im thinking about planning my next trip and even considering DVC! I think Im seriously losing my mind. LOL
In all it was a very good trip. The tree house was amazing, very quiet and big, plenty of room for everyone to stretch out and feel comfortable. A couple of downsides to the THVs if you get stuck behind a bus on the road in (which happened to us more often than not) you cant get around them and they move slowly and stop at the bus stops for several minutes. If you dont have a car its a pain in the butt having to take the internal shuttle at THV to SSR to get on another bus to whatever park you want to go to. Unlike staying in a hotel that has a never ending supply of hot water THVs have a water heater like you would find at home so between baths and showers we ran out of hot water a few times. Now for the positives, which far outweigh the negatives no matter who your closest neighbor is, you truly feel isolated and in the wilderness. The spa tub in the master bedroom was to die for, HUGE and great after a day at the parks. The hot tub at the pool was also amazing, loved it! The pool itself was nice, most days we were the only people there. The mousekeepers we had were super friendly and did a great job of keeping the room clean. They even wrote us a note on our last day on one of the coasters; they told us they hoped we had a great time with our family on our vacation. Very sweet!
At the beginning of our trip we went to guest relations and got a guest assistance card for my youngest niece which allowed her to use her stroller as a wheelchair. We didnt use it often because she really didnt like the rides, but it was good to have. We were able to bring her stroller in to the restaurants and shows, so she was able to remain in her stroller, which gave her a sense of security, and we were able to see the shows and eat in restaurants where she otherwise might not have sat for. I recommend the GAC for anyone with a special needs child, the CMs were understanding and very helpful.
I think my family needs to make Jersey Week a regular part of Disney itinerary!!
We stayed in THV 7326, which was BEAUTIFUL!! We had a great location, right across from the pool and with views of DTD, Saratoga Springs and LBC golf course. The only downside was having to duck the golf balls didnt realize how badly some people golf! LOL
That evening (11/1) we went to MNSSHP, which was the last night of the party. We arrived early, rode a couple of rides and had dinner at Cosmic Rays. After we did some trick or treating, rode some more rides and watched the parade near Splash Mountain, we had a great spot right at the rope and LOVED seeing the headless horseman!!
The next day we were all tired and decided to do a pool / DTD day. We had dinner ressies that night at Planet Hollywood, so we headed to DTD on the boat and did some shopping before dinner. My sister decided to see about BBB with my 6 year old niece and found that they had immediate availability, so they got all dolled up in their dos before dinner. It was pretty funny, we all got a big kick out of it and took lots of pics. Dinner was great, love Planet Hollywood! After dinner we did some more shopping and then headed back to THV on the boat.
Tuesday (11/3) we had an 8am breakfast at Hollywood & Vine (Little Einsteins character breakfast). The food wasnt very good, not much to choose from. My youngest niece, who we had done the breakfast for, wanted nothing to do with the characters and so it was me and my older nieces (6 and 8) who spent the most time with the characters. After breakfast we waited for rope drop and got to high tail it over to TSM. I am proud to say I got the highest score out of the family, I cant remember my exact score but it was over 100,000. Not bad for my first time!! We spent the morning and early afternoon riding the kids favorite rides and watching some shows. Afterwards we went back to the resort and relaxed the rest of the day. I went over to Saratoga Springs with my 6 yr old niece on the bus, we had dinner there and hung out at the arcade for a bit.
Wednesday (11/4) we went to Magic Kingdom. Goodbye Halloween, hello Christmas! What a difference a couple of days make! LOL The park had very light crowds, which was great! We got to ride everything we wanted to and had dinner at Crystal Palace which was fun. After dinner we rode some more rides and watched Wishes from behind the castle near Dumbo. There were only a few other people there, so we felt like we had the place to ourselves. This was the day we saw Buddy Valastro and the Cake Boss crew. They were filming around the park all day and that night they were in the Rose Garden with a giant cake with the castle on top, we saw them carving up the cake after Wishes when we were making our way out of the park.
Thursday (11/5) we started the day with breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café in WL. We all got the skillet breakfast which was really good! Probably one of Disneys best values too, it was a lot of food, all you can eat, and only $14.99 per adult. Cant beat that! Afterwards we went to Animal Kingdom, it was HOT and getting crowded, the Jersey Week people really seemed to be making a show finally. Between kids melting down and the heat we made it an early AK day and headed back to the resort to go swimming. That night we headed back to DTD and had dinner at Earl of Sandwich. OMG I cant believe in all my past trips Ive never tried this restaurant before! The sandwiches were so good!! I would recommend EoS to anyone who likes a nice sandwich!
Friday (11/5) was our last day, we started off with breakfast at the Beach Club at Cape May Café. The characters were great, loved their old fashioned bathing suits. The food was tasty, we had a good time. After we headed to Magic Kingdom. Definitely the most crowded day of the week for us. We got to ride everything we wanted to, and then we headed back to the resort for more swimming and packing. That night we actually went back to DTD to EoS for more sandwiches. LOL They really were excellent!!
Friday night we realized that there was a mix up with our counter service credits, we should have had 2 remaining, but for some reason we had 7!! So we ended up going back to Saratoga Springs to get some sandwiches for the trip home. We also used up the rest of our snack credits that night, more goodies for the ride home!
We left for home Saturday around 9:30am and arrived back in New Jersey Sunday at 2am. Now Im thinking about planning my next trip and even considering DVC! I think Im seriously losing my mind. LOL
In all it was a very good trip. The tree house was amazing, very quiet and big, plenty of room for everyone to stretch out and feel comfortable. A couple of downsides to the THVs if you get stuck behind a bus on the road in (which happened to us more often than not) you cant get around them and they move slowly and stop at the bus stops for several minutes. If you dont have a car its a pain in the butt having to take the internal shuttle at THV to SSR to get on another bus to whatever park you want to go to. Unlike staying in a hotel that has a never ending supply of hot water THVs have a water heater like you would find at home so between baths and showers we ran out of hot water a few times. Now for the positives, which far outweigh the negatives no matter who your closest neighbor is, you truly feel isolated and in the wilderness. The spa tub in the master bedroom was to die for, HUGE and great after a day at the parks. The hot tub at the pool was also amazing, loved it! The pool itself was nice, most days we were the only people there. The mousekeepers we had were super friendly and did a great job of keeping the room clean. They even wrote us a note on our last day on one of the coasters; they told us they hoped we had a great time with our family on our vacation. Very sweet!
At the beginning of our trip we went to guest relations and got a guest assistance card for my youngest niece which allowed her to use her stroller as a wheelchair. We didnt use it often because she really didnt like the rides, but it was good to have. We were able to bring her stroller in to the restaurants and shows, so she was able to remain in her stroller, which gave her a sense of security, and we were able to see the shows and eat in restaurants where she otherwise might not have sat for. I recommend the GAC for anyone with a special needs child, the CMs were understanding and very helpful.
I think my family needs to make Jersey Week a regular part of Disney itinerary!!
