Soldier's*Sweeties
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2009
- Messages
- 11,647
We just got home from our yearly Florida vacation. This year we included a 4 night, 3 day stay at the WDW(other half spent visiting family). I have been many times, but not recently. My husband, children(10 year old twins), and mother in law have never been. We were also joined by my mother and little brother(12).
We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Disney Springs and it was fabulous. I'll post a little review on the other board for that.
First night we walked to Disney Springs for dinner at Rainforest Cafe and shopping. There is so much new stuff since I was there last! It was rainy, so the crowds were pretty low. Loved all of the shops, especially the Lego Store. The prices weren't bad to fill a cup either, which made my daughter very happy! Dinner at Rainforest Cafe was okay. Not great, but not bad.
First full day was MK day. We got to the park entrance at about 8:30am. We had some photos taken on Mainstreet by the photopass people and i was kind of surprised by the line for it! Some families were treating it like their personal family photo shoot and taking FOREVER to get every shot, but hey at $200, whatever. Weather stunk for 3/4 of the day and it did nothing to thin crowds. With fastpasses were able to get a good amount done though. Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, It's a Small World, Buzz, Monster's Inc... We would have done more but a lot of the outside rides were closed for a while so we just moved on. We had lunch at Be Our Guest and it was SO GOOD. The cupcakes were delicious... MUCH better than Sprinkles at Disney Springs. We watched the new fireworks show from the flagpole entrance so that we could make a quick exit and it worked out great! We walked right out and onto a ferry back to the TTC and got to our car in about 25 minutes.
Day 2 we went to Hollywood Studios. This was kind of a miserable day for me. My kids were tired, my daughter cried about every ride and again, it rained for 3/4 of the day. My husband loved the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We did a few Star Wars meet and greets and rode Toy Story. Those were both good experiences. Kylo was hilarious. My daughter showed him her pin of him, but he was very unimpressed since she was wearing a R2D2 hat! LOL! We made it an early day that day. We were all wet and tired. We headed back to the hotel for a rest and to head to Disney Springs again.
After our rest we went to DS so the kids could make treats at Goofy's Candy Company and do the tasting trays at the Coke Store. This was a lot of fun! It was a great, relaxing evening at a stressful day at HS, but it was CROWDED as it got later, especially in the World of Disney store.
Our last park day was spent at Epcot and this was the best day! We walked right on Soarin' and Living with the Land in the morning. We got most of the Future World things done by 1pm and headed around the World Showcase. We really enjoyed just meandering around eating and shopping. It was a much more relaxed vibe than the previous days. Maybe that was my fault, I know better now
. We had a Frozen FP in the evening and right as we went to get on it broke down for a while. It was probably a good 45 minutes of downtime but we waited and I am so glad I did. It made my son's trip to get on this ride. That's a happy boy right there:
We left after that to get some swimming done before checkout the next morning.
Overall it was a great first trip. The kids loved it! I may have set my expectations a little high though. I mean, yeah it's Disney but we don't live in a fairy tale world and there were still a few breakdowns and arguments. Now I know better though, it was a good learning experience. BUT! My husband, who is notoriously grouchy(NEVER smiles) loved it so much that he suggested we spend our 10th anniversary trip at WDW next year(sans kids). How can I say no to that???
We stayed at the Holiday Inn at Disney Springs and it was fabulous. I'll post a little review on the other board for that.
First night we walked to Disney Springs for dinner at Rainforest Cafe and shopping. There is so much new stuff since I was there last! It was rainy, so the crowds were pretty low. Loved all of the shops, especially the Lego Store. The prices weren't bad to fill a cup either, which made my daughter very happy! Dinner at Rainforest Cafe was okay. Not great, but not bad.
First full day was MK day. We got to the park entrance at about 8:30am. We had some photos taken on Mainstreet by the photopass people and i was kind of surprised by the line for it! Some families were treating it like their personal family photo shoot and taking FOREVER to get every shot, but hey at $200, whatever. Weather stunk for 3/4 of the day and it did nothing to thin crowds. With fastpasses were able to get a good amount done though. Mine Train, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, It's a Small World, Buzz, Monster's Inc... We would have done more but a lot of the outside rides were closed for a while so we just moved on. We had lunch at Be Our Guest and it was SO GOOD. The cupcakes were delicious... MUCH better than Sprinkles at Disney Springs. We watched the new fireworks show from the flagpole entrance so that we could make a quick exit and it worked out great! We walked right out and onto a ferry back to the TTC and got to our car in about 25 minutes.
Day 2 we went to Hollywood Studios. This was kind of a miserable day for me. My kids were tired, my daughter cried about every ride and again, it rained for 3/4 of the day. My husband loved the Rockin' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We did a few Star Wars meet and greets and rode Toy Story. Those were both good experiences. Kylo was hilarious. My daughter showed him her pin of him, but he was very unimpressed since she was wearing a R2D2 hat! LOL! We made it an early day that day. We were all wet and tired. We headed back to the hotel for a rest and to head to Disney Springs again.
After our rest we went to DS so the kids could make treats at Goofy's Candy Company and do the tasting trays at the Coke Store. This was a lot of fun! It was a great, relaxing evening at a stressful day at HS, but it was CROWDED as it got later, especially in the World of Disney store.
Our last park day was spent at Epcot and this was the best day! We walked right on Soarin' and Living with the Land in the morning. We got most of the Future World things done by 1pm and headed around the World Showcase. We really enjoyed just meandering around eating and shopping. It was a much more relaxed vibe than the previous days. Maybe that was my fault, I know better now
. We had a Frozen FP in the evening and right as we went to get on it broke down for a while. It was probably a good 45 minutes of downtime but we waited and I am so glad I did. It made my son's trip to get on this ride. That's a happy boy right there: We left after that to get some swimming done before checkout the next morning.
Overall it was a great first trip. The kids loved it! I may have set my expectations a little high though. I mean, yeah it's Disney but we don't live in a fairy tale world and there were still a few breakdowns and arguments. Now I know better though, it was a good learning experience. BUT! My husband, who is notoriously grouchy(NEVER smiles) loved it so much that he suggested we spend our 10th anniversary trip at WDW next year(sans kids). How can I say no to that???
You say your expectations may have been too high, but reading your report, it sounds like you had a great attitude about everything. Glad you have such a fun first trip. Love the picture of your son's face on the ride!
