Just Back. Any Questions?

[ceburto2]

Hello,

My wife and I + our 11 month old son just got back after staying from April 9 - 17 at both the Fairfield Resort at Bonnett Creek and Shades of Green. Some thoughts.

-Light crowds... we had a lot of PS's but probably didn't need them, short lines, wide open walkways, walked up to a prime Illuminations viewing spot 8 minutes prior to show

-Hong Kong Disneyland preview at China pavilion is really cool...concepts drawings, resort 2-d model and other fun info

-Ate all over the place: chefs de france (OK), bistro de paris (good but slow), trails end (fun), cali grill (as always our fav), 1900 park fair (1st charater breakfast..fun), grand floridian cafe(quiet and very tasty), Ohana's (yummy again)

-Meal Plus Certificate at Animal Kindgom is Great Deal(free ice cream )

-No more Ringnes beer at Norway Carlsberg instead

-Mickey Bars Rock, why did I wait so long?

-Express monorail station is under rehab at MK... one monorail loop running

-Did illumination cruise on the Breathless... highlight of trip

-Used Kid's Nite Out for two nights... happy with service (no flames please)

-heavy police presence on the WDW roads....plenty of people pulled

-Used Emerald Aisle at MCO... no cars available at 2:30pm.. given an Aztec

-Really fun trip and different as is our first trip with child. Didn't know how he would handle it but we were pleasantly surprised. People say that young children won't remember it so why bother. Well my wife and I will always remember it and the joy our baby was obviously experiencing was wonderful to watch.

 

[cocowum]

glad you had a wonderful trip How was SOG? How was your room? TIA

 

[baileybelle]

We're staying at SOG for the first time in October. Are the rooms as great as I've heard? How were the SOG restaurants? How was the bus service? Easy walk to Poly and monorail? Any any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[ceburto2]

We only stayed at SOG as our last night/pre-airport room. I have stayed at SOG prior to the refurb and I like the new resort alot. Room was nice and quiet. After spending a week in a one bedroom condo it seemed small, but compared to other Disney rooms I've stayed in (POR and All-Star) it is huge. Nice view of the a golf course green next to water. Lots of fun to sit on the balcony with a beer and watch all the golfers sail the green. The sleeper sofa is one of those that flips the back of the sofa down to become a single bed. Convenient as it doesn't take up floor space when being used as a bed and converts back to a couch easily for day time use. Sorry, didn't eat in restuarants, use buses, or walk to Poly. I did see SOG buses all over the property so I guess they have a few.

Hope this helps,
ceburto2

 

[june@imsarc.com]

What is Kids' Night Out?

 

[Wishing on a star]

More info on Kid's Nite Out, and The Grand Floridian Cafe please!!!

Did you have Lunch or Supper at the Grand Floridian. (We are considering this for a sit-down supper that will not empty our wallet!!!)

 

[ceburto2]

Kids Nite Out http://www.kidsniteout.com/home.htm is a in-room babysitting service. Walt Disney World does not have it's own in-room childcare program, so those with children under 4 years cannot participate in any of the on-site kid programs that provide activities for the kids while the parents go out. Disney recommends Kids Nite Out to guests that inquire about in-room sitting but it is not affiliated with WDW. Their website is very informative and they are also recommended by Tour Guide Mike. Search the forums for more info and people's experiences.

We had Cindy for both night's sitting. She is in her 20's and was very nice and attentive. We would not hesitate to use the service again.


We ate at the Grand Floridian Cafe (menu @ http://www.allearsnet.com/menu/men_gfcd.htm) for dinner around 5:15 on the way back into MK. We were looking for a new monorail resort restuarant as we had previously had O'hanas and would later have Cali Grill. Very pleased with the service, atmosphere and food. Wife had NY Strip and I had Pistachio crusted Grouper. The have mini desserts for $2.39 each so you can try 2 or 3. We just got the Key Lime Pie. I don't think this place gets as much mention as the other GF eateries but it was really good.

-ceburto2

 

[Deb in IA]

Good to hear the review of the Grand Floridian Cafe. We are thinking about booking it for dinner for our upcoming June trip, but had not heard much about it. We'll go and check it out . . .

 

[danny1649]

Sounds like you had a great trip,thanks for sharing.

 

[doodlenj4]

We were also in the parks last week. I was pleasantly surprised by the light crowds. We rarely needed fast pass, but still used it. Many rides were walk ons. I did not that this past Saturday was much busier at MGM and World Showcase. I think it was a "lull" week as there are many schools on break this week.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

Don't tell anyone about the Cafe in the Grand Floridian, no PS's, fabulous food, great prices. Keep this a secret please.

 

[bjakmom]

Sounds like a wonderful trip ! I agree, took my DGrD last year at 5 mos and DD and I wouldn't have missed one single minute of it - we'll just have to show her the pics when she's older and maybe she'll 'think' she remembers!

I would love to hear more about your Breathless cruise - I'm hoping to book this in October as a special treat for our FL friends - they are fanatic boat people - met and fell in love working on canal boats through europe - he as the captain, she as the gourmet chef - I thought this sounded like a perfect way for DH and I to show them Illuminations (they've never been to WDW even though they live in FL - not much for crowds).

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

I would love to hear any tricks/tips about how to keep your 11 month old happy! Like did he sleep through the night? Did you fly and if so, how did he do on the plane? What rides were you able to take him on? Glad you hear you had a good time!

 

[ceburto2]

The Illuminations cruise aboard the Breathless was fantastic. I let my wife know we had a cruise booked but she assumed it was a pontoon boat. Well when you arrive at the Y&BC marina the Breathless is hidden behind the lighthouse, so even upon arrival she didn't see it. Our driver Chad, 1 of 3 for this boat, introduced himself and said the boat was ready. The look on my wife's face when she realized I had booked this beautiful boat for us was priceless.

Anyway the cruise follows the route of the standard illumination boats. Only 4 Illumination boats total were out the night we went so we had a fab view of the fireworks. Chad mentioned that the Breathless books almost every night. I called right at the 90 day mark calling right at 7am and got it first try. After the fireworks, Chad took us on a few high speed runs which were really fun. Also, as it was cool that evening, Chad provided us with a thermal blanket to keep warm. Overall, a quite fun and entertaining experience. Chad was nice and talked alot about the boat and the sights we were seeing along the way.

-ceburto2

 

[bjakmom]

Thanks ! I'm so glad to know that the boat also tours the Epcot resort area - I want them to see it - it's my favorite area of WDW ! I'll be dialing early 90 days out and hoping for pixie dust !

 

[ceburto2]

Our child is a pretty happy kid anyway so we didn't do anything out of the ordinary. The basics...

-Flights: we were worried that the pressure change on the plane would cause problems but no problems. He did have a pacifier in for take off and landing so maybe the sucking helped. Also brought a few new toys he hadn't seen but he didn't pay them any more attnetion than he did to the older toys. I (dad) just sat beside him and did my usual baby entertaining routine. On the way back, I purchased a flight that I knew would be during his nap time, slept the whole way back.

-Parks: He (the baby) has never really been scared by groups of people, loud noises, darkness, or overstimulation. In fact, he really grooves on overstimulation. So the parks were a big thrill. As this was our first time with a child, we found baby-swapping took a long time. We took him on everything that did not have a height restriction. MK: Buzz, TTA, Teacups, Pooh, Small World (his fav), Peter Pan, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Railroad and others. Philharmagic is quite loud and water gets spritzed in your face and I don't think he liked that. Epcot: Imagination, Maelstrom, Mexico boat ride, Canada Film. AK: Triceratop Spin, Safari, Jungle Trek, and Festival of Lion King (LOUD) MGM: Great Movie Ride. Take your own stroller. Disney's don't recline and your can't take them out of the park. Offer water via sippy cup often. Sunscreen. We used a blanket to cover the stroller when he was sleeping. We tried to use the stroller shade and hats but he won't wear a hat and kept pushing the shade back to see what was going on. Baby care centers are wonderful, but in a big park like Epcot can be far away. We always took at least a 2.5 hour break in the afternoons to give him some crawling around time. Since he isn't walking we couldn't really set him down in the park so he was always either in the strooler or in our arms.

-Sleeping: He sleeps throught the night at home so I didn't expect any problems in the condo especially with all the stimulation during the day. We took our Pack-n-Play. We didn't know if he would sleep in the stroller as we have never napped him there. Luckily, he would crash after around 4 hours in the park. Sometimes we just continued touring while he slept. Other times we took him on the monorail to one of the monorail resorts and rested there until he woke up. If the monorail car is pretty empty you can just lift the stroller, with the sleeping child, into it without folding up the stroller.

Lastly, we took a bunch of smaller toys from home so he could have stuff to play with in the condo. We bought a feeding seat and changing pad when we arrived and mailed them back the last day (will send them to the grandmother's house to have extra).

Sorry so long. Hope this helps. Also, I wrote this note from memory without consulting my wife, so she might have stuff to add and we will edit later.

-ceburto2

 

[grimgrningghost]

Were there mickey waffles at your 1900 Park Fare Breakfast?

 

[Wishing on a star]

Thank you SO much for all the wonderful information!!!

 

[ceburto2]

Here's what I remember the 1900 Park Fare breakfast offering:fresh, hot Mickey waffles, corned beef hash(really good), bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, an omelet station, pastries(slightly stale), cereals, jello, fruit, biscuits and gravy, and rice krispy treats. I'm sure there was more than this, but that's all I can recall. Overall the food was very good and we enjoyed the experience.

 

[Texan Mouseketeer]

Thanks for all the info. That is a big help!