akdeputydog
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2008
- Messages
- 192
Hi -
I just want to say thanks to all the folks who contribute to the board because my reading the board for the last year really paid off. So I'm giving back to in hopes of helping others like me. We had an absolutely perfect trip. If anyone has questions please contact me because I cannot cover everything in this review.
Overview and Hotels
H and I (47) and DD almost 5 just returned from our 1st trip to WDW (and the Universal Parks). Our dates were April 26 to May 8. We spent 12 days in Orlando. The first 2 nights at Universal at the Royal Pacific, then 4 nights at Coronado Springs Resort (2nd floor cabanas 8B) and then 7 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge (club level - rm 4519 zebra trail arusha savanna). We really enjoyed all the hotels. Royal Pacific was so lovely and convenient. If you are going to Universal and can stay on property DO...then Front of the Line Pass which is your room key was AWESOME. wouldn't go to Universal without it. CSR at WDW was great too. Quiet, lovely grounds, renovated room and fantastic slide at the pool and a hot hot tub. We loved AKL too. Pool slide not as good as CSR but the detail/art/atmosphere is wonderful. Rooms a tad small but LOVED the balconey and just sitting watching the animals. The club level was worth the money for us. We would be happy to stay at any of these again and probably would. For our tastes AKL out does the Floridian, Poly and Contemporary. Never saw the beach club or Wilderness.
Parks: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
Tickets: had a 10 day park hopper and a single day one park (part of 4/3 promo pkg) for WDW and a 2-day 7 day for Universal. Loved teh park hopper - way to go if you can because we hopped a fair amount.
Transport: we tried out the buses while at AKL and they worked fine esp for MK but we had a rental from Alamo and drove most of the time. We also had the AAA preferred parking - awesome - always got a very close space.
Crowds: We picked the time frame last year based on tourguide crowd estimates. I was so happy with our choice until the crowd estimates came out in April that they predicted crowds of 7-8 most of our stay. I paniked at first and then said no - they are wrong. They were wrong. I have no way of knowing what the levels really were having never been but I asked some CMs and they said it was pretty dead. There were people don't get me wrong but not unbearable. Some rides we just walked on. Longest wait for a ride was probably 15 min. Used Fastpass a few times but only a few times and that was for Toy Story, Everest, Soarin, Test Track and splash mt. The fastpass is great and we usually used it for our 2nd ride at that attraction.
More on crowds: We did get to the parks most days at RD. Basically our first day in a park we were there at RD and then return visits to that park maybe late morning. We did the headliners on the RD days to make sure we got to ride without much wait. Being there at RD REALLY PAYS OFF.
What we did at the parks: everything (all rides, shows and parades EXCEPT afternoon street party at DHS and yes Fantasmic...wanted to see but just too tired to go to the late show and did not want to deal with all teh early show crowds. Saw Wishes several times and on our first night in Orlando saw both Spectromagic and Wishes. We had dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Arrived at MK at 8:40 for 9 Spectromagic. Walked up at Town Square and got a great spot about 8:45p. Then worked thru the corwd and found a great spot for Wishes on the Tomorrowland side of the hub. Fantastic. The park was crowded esp because a EMH night (10p-1a) but things moved well.
Eating/Character events: I had a bunch of ADR but we also did some walk-ins at Epcot for both lunch and dinner. Off WDW ate at Bahama Breeze, Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ, Margaritaville, Rainforest Cafe at DTD (walkin) and T-Rex at DTD (wlak in). At WDW resorts and parks: 1900 Park Fare dinner, Cindrellas's Royal Table lunch, Akershus breakfast, Ohana dinner, Boma dinner, Jiko dinner, California Grill dinner, The Mara lunch, Pinocchio's MK lunch, Aloha Isle dole whip, Tokyo Dining Epcot lunch, Marrakesh Epcot dinner, lunch in France at Epcot, Sci Fi at DHS, Star Rolls at DHS, and Yak and Yeti (sit down walk in) at AK. Actually we enjoyed every place but Sar Rolls. Biggest disappointment was 1900 Park Fare food wise. Characters were great but I'm pooh sized and really ate little. The desserts were good thou. We had booked at Kona and Prime Time but cancelled - just getting too much food.
Other special events: Bippity Boppity Boutique (8:15a - perfect time) at Castle, Sunrise Safari at AK since club level at AKL and the Wonderland Tea at GF for my daughter
Also: had 2 down days by the pool at AKL and played putt-putt at Winter Summerland, did pin trading, face painting, Kim Possible mission at Epcot, lots of character meets and autographs and the Disney Visa photo meet (very fun) as well as utilized Photopass.
Weather - gorgeous, sunny and 80s (except in 90s and more humid our last 2-3 days) the whole time. Very few bugs and only a random love bug seen.
Well - still a long post but those are the highlights. Have a magical time planning and experiencing WDW - we sure did.
I just want to say thanks to all the folks who contribute to the board because my reading the board for the last year really paid off. So I'm giving back to in hopes of helping others like me. We had an absolutely perfect trip. If anyone has questions please contact me because I cannot cover everything in this review.
Overview and Hotels
H and I (47) and DD almost 5 just returned from our 1st trip to WDW (and the Universal Parks). Our dates were April 26 to May 8. We spent 12 days in Orlando. The first 2 nights at Universal at the Royal Pacific, then 4 nights at Coronado Springs Resort (2nd floor cabanas 8B) and then 7 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge (club level - rm 4519 zebra trail arusha savanna). We really enjoyed all the hotels. Royal Pacific was so lovely and convenient. If you are going to Universal and can stay on property DO...then Front of the Line Pass which is your room key was AWESOME. wouldn't go to Universal without it. CSR at WDW was great too. Quiet, lovely grounds, renovated room and fantastic slide at the pool and a hot hot tub. We loved AKL too. Pool slide not as good as CSR but the detail/art/atmosphere is wonderful. Rooms a tad small but LOVED the balconey and just sitting watching the animals. The club level was worth the money for us. We would be happy to stay at any of these again and probably would. For our tastes AKL out does the Floridian, Poly and Contemporary. Never saw the beach club or Wilderness. Parks: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom
Tickets: had a 10 day park hopper and a single day one park (part of 4/3 promo pkg) for WDW and a 2-day 7 day for Universal. Loved teh park hopper - way to go if you can because we hopped a fair amount.
Transport: we tried out the buses while at AKL and they worked fine esp for MK but we had a rental from Alamo and drove most of the time. We also had the AAA preferred parking - awesome - always got a very close space.
Crowds: We picked the time frame last year based on tourguide crowd estimates. I was so happy with our choice until the crowd estimates came out in April that they predicted crowds of 7-8 most of our stay. I paniked at first and then said no - they are wrong. They were wrong. I have no way of knowing what the levels really were having never been but I asked some CMs and they said it was pretty dead. There were people don't get me wrong but not unbearable. Some rides we just walked on. Longest wait for a ride was probably 15 min. Used Fastpass a few times but only a few times and that was for Toy Story, Everest, Soarin, Test Track and splash mt. The fastpass is great and we usually used it for our 2nd ride at that attraction.
More on crowds: We did get to the parks most days at RD. Basically our first day in a park we were there at RD and then return visits to that park maybe late morning. We did the headliners on the RD days to make sure we got to ride without much wait. Being there at RD REALLY PAYS OFF.
What we did at the parks: everything (all rides, shows and parades EXCEPT afternoon street party at DHS and yes Fantasmic...wanted to see but just too tired to go to the late show and did not want to deal with all teh early show crowds. Saw Wishes several times and on our first night in Orlando saw both Spectromagic and Wishes. We had dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Arrived at MK at 8:40 for 9 Spectromagic. Walked up at Town Square and got a great spot about 8:45p. Then worked thru the corwd and found a great spot for Wishes on the Tomorrowland side of the hub. Fantastic. The park was crowded esp because a EMH night (10p-1a) but things moved well.
Eating/Character events: I had a bunch of ADR but we also did some walk-ins at Epcot for both lunch and dinner. Off WDW ate at Bahama Breeze, Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ, Margaritaville, Rainforest Cafe at DTD (walkin) and T-Rex at DTD (wlak in). At WDW resorts and parks: 1900 Park Fare dinner, Cindrellas's Royal Table lunch, Akershus breakfast, Ohana dinner, Boma dinner, Jiko dinner, California Grill dinner, The Mara lunch, Pinocchio's MK lunch, Aloha Isle dole whip, Tokyo Dining Epcot lunch, Marrakesh Epcot dinner, lunch in France at Epcot, Sci Fi at DHS, Star Rolls at DHS, and Yak and Yeti (sit down walk in) at AK. Actually we enjoyed every place but Sar Rolls. Biggest disappointment was 1900 Park Fare food wise. Characters were great but I'm pooh sized and really ate little. The desserts were good thou. We had booked at Kona and Prime Time but cancelled - just getting too much food.
Other special events: Bippity Boppity Boutique (8:15a - perfect time) at Castle, Sunrise Safari at AK since club level at AKL and the Wonderland Tea at GF for my daughter
Also: had 2 down days by the pool at AKL and played putt-putt at Winter Summerland, did pin trading, face painting, Kim Possible mission at Epcot, lots of character meets and autographs and the Disney Visa photo meet (very fun) as well as utilized Photopass.
Weather - gorgeous, sunny and 80s (except in 90s and more humid our last 2-3 days) the whole time. Very few bugs and only a random love bug seen.
Well - still a long post but those are the highlights. Have a magical time planning and experiencing WDW - we sure did.
