eeyoregon
I have DDD: Disney Destination DISorder
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2006
- Messages
- 5,336
We just completed our first free dining trip to the World. LOVED IT!
WHO: Me (36), DS (14), DS (11), oldest sons friend (14 and 1st visit), my friend (30ish), friends daughter (14) and friends Mom (50ish and 1st visit).
WHERE: Disney's All Star Movies resort two rooms (connecting) in Buzz Lightyear Building. Loved our close location to the bus stop.
WHEN: August 25 thru September 1.
This was our first time during the summer season and free dining period. I have to say that I have NEVER experienced such heat/humidity in my life. It was just plain miserable!
We spent 1 day at each of the 4 parks and 1 day at each water park.
We had never been to Typhoon Lagoon (TL) before so I will start there. Gonna have to give my water park vote to Blizzard Beach (BB). TL had lot's of nice shady spots but was lacking when it came to the attractions. The family raft only lasted seconds and was not worth the long line and I could not believe you had to carry those ginormous rafts up all those stairs! Wave pool was awesome and we took advantage of the photopass photographers and got some great shots with the tidal wave coming up behind us. Lazy river seemed boring compared to BB.
Crush n' gusher was fun but the ride was WAY too short!!! Too many "body" slides for my taste at this park.
We had a great day at BB as usual. Love Teamboat springs family raft ride. The line was always short and the ride was a blast...especially the ending! Put 6 people in one raft and you make quite the splash at the end! Both 14 yr old boys did Summit Plummit for the 1st time and loved it but the line was very long.
We ate counter service at both water parks and liked the fact that you could come back later with your receipt and get your ice cream.
We have been to WDW before so I'm not going to go into great detail for each park but will high lite things that stood out.
Magic Kingdom (MK) was our 1st park. We stayed for the late magic hours which were awesome! You can do more in those 3 hours after the park closes than you could do all day! It rained, poured and rained some more for about 3 hours...it felt great!! I couldn't stop laughing at the folks that wore ponchos!
Why on earth would you want to trap all of that heat/humidity under a plastic poncho??? 
1st time to the Laugh Factory and I would never wait in line again for that attraction. It was NOT funny and was barely entertaining. At least it was air conditioned!
We ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and it was great!! The food was fantastic...boy those comfort foods sure taste good after a long day in the park! The characters were great and very interactive and came around twice.
2nd park was MGM. The "new" stunt show was fantastic. I was chosen as an extra for the Indiana Jones show = big mistake!!! It was SOOOOOO hot/humid and I had to wear a hooded costume on top of my clothes plus the stage lights = thought I would die! Still fun.
We stayed for late magic hours and the teens rode Tower and Rockin over and over. Dinner was at Mama Melroses'. The food was Ok but our waiter was HORRIBLE!! He began by telling me that I wouldn't like the appetizer I tried to order and recommended something else which ended up being bad too!
Then he forgot my sons side of noodles. Didn't give us a flavor choice of Gelatto and literally threw our dishes on the table each time a course was brought out. DS 11 steak was supposed to be medium but it was burnt black and tough as leather. Only refilled our soda's after we asked. Glad the tip was included cause' he wouldn't have gotten a penny from me! Would not eat there again.
Animal Kingdom: Character breakfast at Donald's was awesome as usual. Our waiter, Neil, was a hoot!! Took advantage of fast passes and late magic hours. LOVED the new Nemo show although the lines were out of control and only 3/4 the folks in line actually made it into the show. Some nice folks randomly chose and gave us their Dream Fast Passes (4 total) which was awesome. The 4 kids used them to ride everything a second time.
EPCOT was our last park. Rained on and off and out came those thousands of ponchos so I had my laugh for the day!
Lunch was at Coral Reef and the food was fantastic!!! Our server was great and we had a nice table facing the aquarium.
LOVED the new Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush was funnier than ever.
We hopped over to the Yacht and Beach club for dinner at the Yacht Gallery. The food was fantastic as was the service. I had the grilled pork chop and it was delicious!! We stayed for late hours and enjoyed the big attractions again. The line for Soarin was out of this world long so we used fast passes. Spaceship Earth looks so naked without the hand/wand!
3 of the folks in our group went to La Nouba at DT Disney and loved it. Thursday night was our dinner at Ohana's. We were thrilled to get the round table in the corner overlooking the castle. Dinner was fantastic!!! I have never seen so much food in my life! The chicken wings were to die for as was the shrimp appetizer! Loved the grilled pork and steak too! Soooo yummy! After dinner we walked out onto the dock at the Poly and had a fantastic view of the Wishes fireworks.
We had a great trip and survived the heat. The bus system seemed to have some major flaws this time but I suppose that is to be expected. We missed our Magical Express back to the airport because our bus from Downtown Disney back to the Movies was a nightmare!!! Usually a 30 minute jaunt but it took 1 hour and 41 minutes to get from the Marketplace to our hotel! Luckily there was room on the next ME bus but boy did we cut it close for our flight which made me a nervouse wreck!
In addition to our close call flight, I got a spider bite the night before on my thigh. By the next day my foot was 3 times it's normal size and I couldn't get it in any of my shoes!! Not so fun. Lot's of bug bites this time around = not the kind of souvenir I had hoped for!
Let me just say that the only reason I would ever visit the world during August heat would be for the free food! It saved my family of 4 over $900!!
WHO: Me (36), DS (14), DS (11), oldest sons friend (14 and 1st visit), my friend (30ish), friends daughter (14) and friends Mom (50ish and 1st visit).
WHERE: Disney's All Star Movies resort two rooms (connecting) in Buzz Lightyear Building. Loved our close location to the bus stop.
WHEN: August 25 thru September 1.
This was our first time during the summer season and free dining period. I have to say that I have NEVER experienced such heat/humidity in my life. It was just plain miserable!
We spent 1 day at each of the 4 parks and 1 day at each water park.
We had never been to Typhoon Lagoon (TL) before so I will start there. Gonna have to give my water park vote to Blizzard Beach (BB). TL had lot's of nice shady spots but was lacking when it came to the attractions. The family raft only lasted seconds and was not worth the long line and I could not believe you had to carry those ginormous rafts up all those stairs! Wave pool was awesome and we took advantage of the photopass photographers and got some great shots with the tidal wave coming up behind us. Lazy river seemed boring compared to BB.
Crush n' gusher was fun but the ride was WAY too short!!! Too many "body" slides for my taste at this park.
We had a great day at BB as usual. Love Teamboat springs family raft ride. The line was always short and the ride was a blast...especially the ending! Put 6 people in one raft and you make quite the splash at the end! Both 14 yr old boys did Summit Plummit for the 1st time and loved it but the line was very long.
We ate counter service at both water parks and liked the fact that you could come back later with your receipt and get your ice cream.
We have been to WDW before so I'm not going to go into great detail for each park but will high lite things that stood out.
Magic Kingdom (MK) was our 1st park. We stayed for the late magic hours which were awesome! You can do more in those 3 hours after the park closes than you could do all day! It rained, poured and rained some more for about 3 hours...it felt great!! I couldn't stop laughing at the folks that wore ponchos!
Why on earth would you want to trap all of that heat/humidity under a plastic poncho??? 1st time to the Laugh Factory and I would never wait in line again for that attraction. It was NOT funny and was barely entertaining. At least it was air conditioned!
We ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern and it was great!! The food was fantastic...boy those comfort foods sure taste good after a long day in the park! The characters were great and very interactive and came around twice.
2nd park was MGM. The "new" stunt show was fantastic. I was chosen as an extra for the Indiana Jones show = big mistake!!! It was SOOOOOO hot/humid and I had to wear a hooded costume on top of my clothes plus the stage lights = thought I would die! Still fun.
We stayed for late magic hours and the teens rode Tower and Rockin over and over. Dinner was at Mama Melroses'. The food was Ok but our waiter was HORRIBLE!! He began by telling me that I wouldn't like the appetizer I tried to order and recommended something else which ended up being bad too!
Then he forgot my sons side of noodles. Didn't give us a flavor choice of Gelatto and literally threw our dishes on the table each time a course was brought out. DS 11 steak was supposed to be medium but it was burnt black and tough as leather. Only refilled our soda's after we asked. Glad the tip was included cause' he wouldn't have gotten a penny from me! Would not eat there again.
Animal Kingdom: Character breakfast at Donald's was awesome as usual. Our waiter, Neil, was a hoot!! Took advantage of fast passes and late magic hours. LOVED the new Nemo show although the lines were out of control and only 3/4 the folks in line actually made it into the show. Some nice folks randomly chose and gave us their Dream Fast Passes (4 total) which was awesome. The 4 kids used them to ride everything a second time.
EPCOT was our last park. Rained on and off and out came those thousands of ponchos so I had my laugh for the day!
Lunch was at Coral Reef and the food was fantastic!!! Our server was great and we had a nice table facing the aquarium.
LOVED the new Nemo ride and Turtle Talk with Crush was funnier than ever.
We hopped over to the Yacht and Beach club for dinner at the Yacht Gallery. The food was fantastic as was the service. I had the grilled pork chop and it was delicious!! We stayed for late hours and enjoyed the big attractions again. The line for Soarin was out of this world long so we used fast passes. Spaceship Earth looks so naked without the hand/wand!
3 of the folks in our group went to La Nouba at DT Disney and loved it. Thursday night was our dinner at Ohana's. We were thrilled to get the round table in the corner overlooking the castle. Dinner was fantastic!!! I have never seen so much food in my life! The chicken wings were to die for as was the shrimp appetizer! Loved the grilled pork and steak too! Soooo yummy! After dinner we walked out onto the dock at the Poly and had a fantastic view of the Wishes fireworks.
We had a great trip and survived the heat. The bus system seemed to have some major flaws this time but I suppose that is to be expected. We missed our Magical Express back to the airport because our bus from Downtown Disney back to the Movies was a nightmare!!! Usually a 30 minute jaunt but it took 1 hour and 41 minutes to get from the Marketplace to our hotel! Luckily there was room on the next ME bus but boy did we cut it close for our flight which made me a nervouse wreck!
In addition to our close call flight, I got a spider bite the night before on my thigh. By the next day my foot was 3 times it's normal size and I couldn't get it in any of my shoes!! Not so fun. Lot's of bug bites this time around = not the kind of souvenir I had hoped for!
Let me just say that the only reason I would ever visit the world during August heat would be for the free food! It saved my family of 4 over $900!!
