July 29 to Aug 14 Disney World trip report, primarily for Canadians

[Reepicheep]

I'm sitting in the Orlando airport at the moment, with 30 minutes to kill, so thought I'd get an early start on a trip report.

First, some preliminary comments.

I just turned 67, and historically I haven't been very picky when buying shoes. I've been having severe problems for the past year with foot pain, hip pain, and more, and my older brother has been trying to convince me to buy a pair of Skechers. A good pair of walking shoes at the mall "Skecher concept stores" started at $140, so on a hunch I went to the Edmonton location of the Sketcher warehouse store. Not only were prices much lower, I was able to take advantage of a buy one pair, get a 2nd pair for half price sale. So, I ended up buying two pairs for $130. Making this investment has changed my life for the better. Despite putting in at least 20k steps/day for the past 16 days, I had no foot pain whatsoever.

On this trip and my previous two trips to Disney World, I have been smitten with a condition known as "Disney rash" or "golfers rash". Do a google image search if you want to see some horrible looking photos of the condition. The big problem for me is the itching, so if you find yourself suffering from this condition, go to one of the theme park First Aid centres for some very effective anti-itch ointment, and for some excellent advice on how to treat the condition each evening.

I heard lots of British accents this trip, and encountered many French speaking park guests. I assume the French speakers were from France, but I suppose many could be from Quebec. I also heard many other languages being spoken, which my ear isn't good enough to identify, but my guess would be Portuguese, Italian, and some Eastern European languages. I also encountered many Chinese and Japanese speaking guests.

I didn't encounter any guests that I know were Canadian, but I'm sure there were lots of them (despite the American belief to the contrary, we don't all walk around saying "how's it goin' eh?" and "can anyone bum me a smoke?"). My wife and daughters did pass three groups of people wearing the following t-shirt, so they were undoubtedly Canucks:

Don't make me go all Maple on you

As a special bonus, below is my favourite Molsen's Canadian beer ad, which is definitely worth repeated viewings:

So, I hear you're from Canada

Westjet just announced the first boarding call, so to be continued...

 

[I Run Long]

Following - can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip. Hello from Victoria, BC

 

[ottawamom]

Thanks for the first installment. Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip. I'm from Ottawa as my name would imply (but not the political part).

It's alway hard going home. It is going to be particularly hard for me when I go in December as I'm not going back after that until things change for the better. I'll broaden my horizons to Japan and Europe for my Disney fix.

 

[PandaBear & Boo]

Following along looking forward to hearing about your trip!

 

[Reepicheep]

I heard lots of British accents this trip, and encountered many French speaking park guests. I assume the French speakers were from France, but I suppose many could be from Quebec. I also heard many other languages being spoken, which my ear isn't good enough to identify, but my guess would be Portuguese, Italian, and some Eastern European languages. I also encountered many Chinese and Japanese speaking guests.

In Toronto now, and will be boarding my flight to Edmonton in a few minutes. My wife pointed out that I made a gross oversight in my previous post, when I failed to mention all the Spanish speaking guests. I've heard it said that most Spanish speakers living in Orlando are of Cuban ancestry, while in California they are of Mexican ancestry, but I have no idea if this claim is true.

My instincts are telling me that many of these Spanish speaking tourists are from Spain (to go along with the many British and (I assume) French tourists I have encountered).

I have seen statistics saying that Europeans are also boycotting travelling to the US, but I don't have those numbers in front of me at the moment. In one months time, when I post an update on Canadian boycott statistics, I'll try to include some numbers on some European countries.

Time for a 2nd installment of my favourite Molson's Canadian ads:

Free beer for tourists with a Canadian passport

EDIT: link corrected.

 

[dis_guy]

I'd be interested in your impressions and your experience doing CBP pre-clearance and if it seemed to you that they're being more aggressive at the border. I'd also like to hear about what you thought the crowds were like during your stay. Had no idea that Disney Rash was an actual thing...

 

[Debbie]

I'd be interested in your impressions and your experience doing CBP pre-clearance and if it seemed to you that they're being more aggressive at the border. I'd also like to hear about what you thought the crowds were like during your stay. Had no idea that Disney Rash was an actual thing...

Absolutely it is. I have one sister who gets it every single trip! And it can be painful as all get out for her.

 

[dis_guy]

Absolutely it is. I have one sister who gets it every single trip! And it can be painful as all get out for her.

I'm sure it is truly terrible, it certainly sounds like it. I had a Google for it and it seems to largely affect women over 50 which seems pretty unfair...but luckily neither my wife nor I have been afflicted with this- maybe it's because we've never gone during the hottest months?

 

[White Cat]

In Toronto now, and will be boarding my flight to Edmonton in a few minutes. My wife pointed out that I made a gross oversight in my previous post, when I failed to mention all the Spanish speaking guests. I've heard it said that most Spanish speakers living in Orlando are of Cuban ancestry, while in California they are of Mexican ancestry, but I have no idea if this claim is true.

My instincts are telling me that many of these Spanish speaking tourists are from Spain (to go along with the many British and (I assume) French tourists I have encountered).

I have seen statistics saying that Europeans are also boycotting travelling to the US, but I don't have those numbers in front of me at the moment. In one months time, when I post an update on Canadian boycott statistics, I'll try to include some numbers on some European countries.

Time for a 2nd installment of my favourite Molson's Canadian ads:

Free beer for tourists with a Canadian passport

EDIT: link corrected.

Most Spanish people in Central Florida are Puerto Rican. South Florida, Cuban.

 

[White Cat]

I'd be interested in your impressions and your experience doing CBP pre-clearance and if it seemed to you that they're being more aggressive at the border. I'd also like to hear about what you thought the crowds were like during your stay. Had no idea that Disney Rash was an actual thing...

Cross the border very often both land and airport. There is no difference and nothing to be afraid about.

 

[ExcitedForWDW]

Cross the border very often both land and airport. There is no difference and nothing to be afraid about.

Yep. Crossed this week. Absolutely no difference at the border or south of the border.

 

[toesmom]

I'm sitting in the Orlando airport at the moment, with 30 minutes to kill, so thought I'd get an early start on a trip report.

First, some preliminary comments.

I just turned 67, and historically I haven't been very picky when buying shoes. I've been having severe problems for the past year with foot pain, hip pain, and more, and my older brother has been trying to convince me to buy a pair of Skechers. A good pair of walking shoes at the mall "Skecher concept stores" started at $140, so on a hunch I went to the Edmonton location of the Sketcher warehouse store. Not only were prices much lower, I was able to take advantage of a buy one pair, get a 2nd pair for half price sale. So, I ended up buying two pairs for $130. Making this investment has changed my life for the better. Despite putting in at least 20k steps/day for the past 16 days, I had no foot pain whatsoever.

On this trip and my previous two trips to Disney World, I have been smitten with a condition known as "Disney rash" or "golfers rash". Do a google image search if you want to see some horrible looking photos of the condition. The big problem for me is the itching, so if you find yourself suffering from this condition, go to one of the theme park First Aid centres for some very effective anti-itch ointment, and for some excellent advice on how to treat the condition each evening.

I heard lots of British accents this trip, and encountered many French speaking park guests. I assume the French speakers were from France, but I suppose many could be from Quebec. I also heard many other languages being spoken, which my ear isn't good enough to identify, but my guess would be Portuguese, Italian, and some Eastern European languages. I also encountered many Chinese and Japanese speaking guests.

I didn't encounter any guests that I know were Canadian, but I'm sure there were lots of them (despite the American belief to the contrary, we don't all walk around saying "how's it goin' eh?" and "can anyone bum me a smoke?"). My wife and daughters did pass three groups of people wearing the following t-shirt, so they were undoubtedly Canucks:

Don't make me go all Maple on you

As a special bonus, below is my favourite Molsen's Canadian beer ad, which is definitely worth repeated viewings:

So, I hear you're from Canada

Westjet just announced the first boarding call, so to be continued...

also from Canada, appreciate that you take the time to write this

 

[Reepicheep]

I was planning on doing a couple of long posts this past Friday, but I ended up catching a bad cold during my return to Edmonton. On past trips, I typically get sick on the way TO Disneyland or Disney World, so at least I wasn't sick on my vacation. I'm still quite sick, but should be able to add a post or two to my trip report each day from now on.

I'll cover topics in chronological order, from the start of the trip to the end. A few weeks ago, in another thread, I did a post about going through customs in Montreal, and I'll post a modified version of that post below.


GOING THROUGH CUSTOMS IN MONTREAL

We (me, my wife, and my oldest daughter, who is starting a one year work term at the Epcot Canadian Pavilion) caught a red-eye flight from Edmonton to Montreal early on Tuesday July 29. I've never flown through Montreal before, but the path from the gate to customs was clearly marked, so no problem there. I've never had an easier time going through customs than on this trip.

There were maybe ten people in front of us in the customs lineup (7:30 AM). My wife and I went through together, and the customs agent said "bonjour", scanned our passports, took our photos, and then said "merci". That was it, the agent said two words total.

My daughter went through customs separately, and had a similar experience. Since she is starting a one year work term at Epcot, she had some visa related paperwork in her hand, but the agent still waved her through. My daughter had to mention that she was entering the US on a visa and hand him the paperwork. He scanned the paperwork without comment and sent her on through. Her agent also said bonjour and merci, and nothing else.

On two of three previous occasions when my daughter entered the US on a visa for a summer job at either Disney World or Disneyland, she was sent to a special room for an interview. I have no idea why it was so easy for her to enter the US this time.

(ASIDE: while going through customs, I had a flashback to a conversation I had with my grandfather forty years ago, when he was telling me about a trip he took to France. Near the start of his trip report, he said, "did you know that those crazy buggers don't speak English"? Makes me wonder the types of stories our grandchildren will be telling about us in forty years time).


FLYING AIR CANADA ROUGE FROM MONTREAL TO ORLANDO

Our plane was in the air by 9 AM. I noticed a card in the pocket in front of me saying that Air Canada Rouge serves free beer. so my breakfast consisted of a package of pretzels and two beer (I assume it is one beer per person, but my non-drinking wife also ordered a beer and gave it to me). Kind of early in the day to start drinking beer, but as a frugal beer drinking ethnic German Lutheran, I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste. The flight was uneventful. After landing, it took less than 20 minutes to pick up our luggage and walk to the Mears terminal.

"It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the ale-house in church." - Martin Luther

****************

To be continued...

 

[Reepicheep]

To continue...

MEARS CONNECT

As mentioned in my previous installment, it took only 20 minutes from getting off the plane to being at the Mears terminal with our luggage. We were directed to the far lineup, the only lineup which had any people in it. By the time our bus arrived (around 15 minutes later), the line had grown considerably, but everyone was able to fit onto the bus. There was quite a bit of luggage, so it was at least ten minutes before we started off. We stopped at the other terminal, where we picked up another ten people, which pretty well filled up the bus. Before leaving for Disney World, the driver listed off all the stops, to make sure he hadn't missed anyone. There were around 8 stops, which is more than I'm used to when taking a Mears bus. We were stop number 3 (Art of Animation).

There are two interesting things to report about the bus trip. Our first stop was at a hotel called Gaylord Palms Resort, which is located just outside of Disney World. This was the first time I've had a Mears bus stop at a non-Disney resort. The Gaylord looks very fancy and may be worth further investigation, although I don't think I'd ever stay at a non-Disney resort while visiting Disney World (I'd maybe stay at the Swan and Dolphin, if the price was right).

The other interesting thing is that I'm 90% sure that I saw our Mears bus driver being interviewed in a news report about ten days after we arrived. The video was about the steps the City of Kissimmee is taking to attract Canadian tourists. I posted a link to the video in another thread, but for completeness I'll include it below. The video is quite short and, speaking as a Canadian, quite interesting.

Kissimmee seeks to attract Canadian tourists to Central Florida


ARRIVING AT ART OF ANIMATION

When me, my wife, and my older daughter (who would soon be starting a one year work term at the Canadian Epcot Pavilion - Cultural Representative Program, or CRP) arrived at The Art of Animation, we were met by my younger daughter, who was nearing the end of her summer job at Hollywood Studios (Cultural Exchange Program, or CEP) and had just finished checking into the hotel. While in Edmonton, I had booked a fifteen day stay at All-Star Sports at an excellent rate, but a couple of weeks before we arrived my CEP daughter made two Cast Member Rate room reservations at Art of Animation and All-Star Sports at an even better rate. I'll be posting more about cast member discounts in a later installment of this trip report.

We had a Little Mermaid standard room (i.e., a non-suite room), which are all located at the far end of the resort. So, we had a fairly long hike starting from Animation Hall and walking between the Lion King buildings before reaching the Little Mermaid buildings. The outdoor decorations at the resort are excellent, especially the Cars section, and are not to be missed.

SUGGESTION: I realized after a couple of days that, while the Little Mermaid buildings had no internal hallways, all other buildings did. The heat was oppressive at all times of the day, so when walking from our room to Animation Hall (or vice versa), we would cut through one of the (air conditioned) Lion King buildings (during the day, the doors to the Lion King buildings normally didn't require a key card to open, but on occasion they did). And, when walking to the Skyliner, we would cut through one of the Lion King buildings, then take a sharp left turn and walk through a Finding Nemo building, at which point we would be at Hourglass Lake and near the entrance to the Skyliner.

I'll do a comparison between our Art of Animation Room and our All-Star Sports room in a later installment of this trip report.


MAKING A BEER RUN

As a beer loving Saskatchewan-born Lutheran of German ancestry, the first thing I do when arriving at either Disneyland or Disney World is stock the fridge with beer. On previous trips to Disney World, the resort gift shop/store always had cold six packs of Bud and Coors, both regular and light, available for around $18. Kind of expensive, but not expensive enough to complain about. Alas, at Art of Animation, the store did NOT sell beer, which I was told was only available in the food court, starting at $9/bottle for Coors or Bud and going up from there for more exotic beer.

I knew from past trips to Disneyland that the three Disneyland resorts only sold beer by the bottle in their stores, so I feared that Disney World had introduced that same policy. When I returned to the room, I did a search of the Disboards forum to see if there were any threads about beer and, sure enough, I found a thread from July 12th where the poster complained that Saratoga Springs only sold individual bottles of beer.

Fast forward to 8 pm, when I developed the theory (which turned out to be false) that only value resorts sold six packs of beer. I took the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios, and then caught a bus to All-Star Music, which happened to be the first All-Star bus to appear. Sure enough, the cooler in the store at All-Star Music was stocked full of beer, so I bought a couple of six packs of Bud for $18 each plus tax. The trip back to Art of Animation was quite eventful, more on that below.

The next day, it occurred to me that, before making the trek to All-Star Music to check for beer, I should have first checked at the adjacent Pop Century resort. I walked over to Pop Century, where there was a cold wine fridge which only employees can access (no beer), but there was also a room temperature wine section, in the open, which had a tiny section at the bottom for beer. There were only 4 six packs total, so not great, but better than nothing. The price for a warm six pack was the same as the price of a cold six-pack at All-Star Music.

So, the stores at the All-Star resorts each have a cooler full of cold six packs of beer, Pop Century had four room temperature six packs, and Art of Animation had no six packs. A gold star to anyone who can explain this discrepancy (a week later, while wandering through the Polynesian resort, I noticed that they also sold cold six packs for $18, so my theory that only value resorts sold six packs was proven false).


MY INTERESTING TRIP FROM ALL-STAR MUSIC TO ART OF ANIMATION

After paying for my beer at All-Star Music, I went outside to the bus stop to wait for a bus to Hollywood Studios, where I planned on taking the Skyliner back to Art of Animation. The TV screen said the next bus would arrive in 20 minutes but, curiously, a bus pulled into the Hollywood Studios slot two minutes later. There was only a family of four on the bus, and while the mother stepped off the bus with two young kids, the father profusely thanked the bus driver for the trip. I would shortly learn why the father was so pleased with the bus trip.

When I got on the bus, the driver asked me where my final destination was, and I told him Art of Animation via the Skyliner at Hollywood Studios. He said that the Skyliner lineup would be very long at that time (it was just past 9 pm), and he offered to give me a ride directly to Art of Animation. Naturally, I accepted his offer, and had a nice conversation with the driver as he took me to my resort. He explained that he was a "floater", and was spending that portion of his shift driving random people directly to their destinations. He said that the Art of Animation would be the ninth resort he had visited since 6 pm, when he started "floating". He said his plan, after dropping me off, was to immediately head over to Hollywood Studios, find a long lineup of people, and take them to their destination. I jokingly offered him a beer just before he dropped me off, and he politely declined. Anyway, a nice bit of Disney Magic to end my first day at Disney World.

to be continued...

 

[podgirl]

Ok, I absolutely LOVE the story about being driven by the floater bus driver. That right there is one of the many reasons I keep going back to Disney World.