Elk Grove Chris
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2011
- Messages
- 5,807
We just got back from a magical Disney World vacation (3 am this morning-so I may ramble). We visited from December 13th through the 23rd, 8 Disney days, 2 Universal Days. Nothing, no matter how much you plan (thanks DIS), or look at pictures, can truly describe the size of this land, it is vast compared to our two little parks in California. We did almost everything we had planned to do, with one major exception, we just could not find a way to stay up for Illuminations, for which I am truly sad, but we had a fantastic time.
We did 2 ½ days at the MK (including a Xmas party), 2 ½ days at Epcot (including Candlelight Processional), 1 day at HS, and two ½ days at AK (wish I would have scheduled more time there (we loved it). Crowds the first week were not bad, second week, MK and Epcot were packed. Touring is so different than Disneyland, with fewer rides per park, but we found plenty to do, just a little more walking.
The Magic Bands worked almost perfectly, minor adjustments to biometrics a few times were the only glitches. We stayed three nights at Saratoga Springs (ok), two days at Loews Royal Pacific Resort (very nice), and then our last five days at Animal Kingdom Lodge (outstanding). Renting points for the two Disney Resorts was very simple and very cost effective-highly recommended (we saved around 50% of rack rates).
Minor travel rant-pretty disappointed in both American and United Airlines-5 ½ hour flights from Sacramento and not even a bag of peanuts-wow. Wish Jet Blue had a straight flight. Second rant-cell reception a bit spotty in the World-we took some pretty circuitous routes to some of the parks via Google/Bing/Apple maps and AKL lodge is a bit out by its lonesome (we used a rental car for most of the trip).
We found all of the parks to be pretty darn clean and cheery, all CM’s seemed very friendly and eager to help. The ride queues for the most part are superior to Disneyland, the rides are generally the same or a little inferior. I give a slight nod to the WDW HM and BTMRR. One thing I would say, and sorry about this, but general attention to details is a bit lower than what we are accustomed to through our rosy-colored Disneyland goggles. Photo pass photographers were not as abundant as we had hoped, especially at Epcot, but overall a good value (340 pics in 7 actual park days-with some nice added magic shots and videos).
The restaurants were all pretty good, much better selections than we are accustomed to. We ate at all three AKL restaurants and they were all outstanding-best bread service-Sanaa, best desserts-Boma, best entrees-Jiko. I think overall, Narcossee’s just edged out Jiko as our best overall meal (amazing views of fireworks and electric water pageant a deciding factor-food slightly better at Jiko).
Two days was plenty for Universal for us (with front of the line). The Harry Potter stuff, especially Diagon Alley were purely amazing-wow.
Ok, I have rambled on a bit. I will do a real trip report in a few weeks after I go through the 4,578 photos I took (which is actually fairly restrained for me for this many days) to find some good ones. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
We did 2 ½ days at the MK (including a Xmas party), 2 ½ days at Epcot (including Candlelight Processional), 1 day at HS, and two ½ days at AK (wish I would have scheduled more time there (we loved it). Crowds the first week were not bad, second week, MK and Epcot were packed. Touring is so different than Disneyland, with fewer rides per park, but we found plenty to do, just a little more walking.
The Magic Bands worked almost perfectly, minor adjustments to biometrics a few times were the only glitches. We stayed three nights at Saratoga Springs (ok), two days at Loews Royal Pacific Resort (very nice), and then our last five days at Animal Kingdom Lodge (outstanding). Renting points for the two Disney Resorts was very simple and very cost effective-highly recommended (we saved around 50% of rack rates).
Minor travel rant-pretty disappointed in both American and United Airlines-5 ½ hour flights from Sacramento and not even a bag of peanuts-wow. Wish Jet Blue had a straight flight. Second rant-cell reception a bit spotty in the World-we took some pretty circuitous routes to some of the parks via Google/Bing/Apple maps and AKL lodge is a bit out by its lonesome (we used a rental car for most of the trip).
We found all of the parks to be pretty darn clean and cheery, all CM’s seemed very friendly and eager to help. The ride queues for the most part are superior to Disneyland, the rides are generally the same or a little inferior. I give a slight nod to the WDW HM and BTMRR. One thing I would say, and sorry about this, but general attention to details is a bit lower than what we are accustomed to through our rosy-colored Disneyland goggles. Photo pass photographers were not as abundant as we had hoped, especially at Epcot, but overall a good value (340 pics in 7 actual park days-with some nice added magic shots and videos).
The restaurants were all pretty good, much better selections than we are accustomed to. We ate at all three AKL restaurants and they were all outstanding-best bread service-Sanaa, best desserts-Boma, best entrees-Jiko. I think overall, Narcossee’s just edged out Jiko as our best overall meal (amazing views of fireworks and electric water pageant a deciding factor-food slightly better at Jiko).
Two days was plenty for Universal for us (with front of the line). The Harry Potter stuff, especially Diagon Alley were purely amazing-wow.
Ok, I have rambled on a bit. I will do a real trip report in a few weeks after I go through the 4,578 photos I took (which is actually fairly restrained for me for this many days) to find some good ones. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.
