laurajetter
Mouseketeer<br><Font color="red">The Tag Fairy thi
- Joined
- May 19, 2004
- Messages
- 2,225
DH and I just got back from a great stay at WDW. There were so many things I learned from the DIS which we benefitted from, so I thank you all!
We decided to very nicely ask the CM who was checking us in at the WL if there was any possibility of getting an upgrade since it was a slower time of year. After looking in to it, we were pleased to find out that he upgraded us from a standard view to a courtyard view. We were so grateful he was able to do this for us; the view was awesome! WL is a wonderfully themed hotel, and it made us feel like we were in Yellowstone (that's where we went on vacation last year).
MGM- Rode the Great Movie Ride for the first time (don't know how I avoided it on past trips) and thought it was fun. Sounds Dangerous was kind of a dissapointment, but I thought the individual sound booths in the exit area were much better; definitely try them if you haven't already. We ate at the 50's PrimeTime Cafe and had a fun experience, although our waitress was very forgetful. She was fun though, so we overlooked her lack of good waitressing skills. Fantasmic was very unique.
Magic Kingdom- Keys to the Kingdom Tour was VERY informative and fun. Our tour guide was great, and we ended up going on 3 rides during this tour, PoC, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion. We were lucky to go on PoC because the only reason we did was because Jungle Cruise hadn't opened yet and there were low crowds. We saw Wishes, which was awesome (never seen it before), and we got to see Tink fly (this was on 9/23).
EPCOT- We took the Segway tour and now I can officially agree with every poster who has reviewed this tour to say it is AWESOME! Soooo much fun! It was overcast and comfortably breezy, which the CM said was perfect weather for riding the Segways. We were so happy it didn't rain and that we were able to take the outside portion of the tour through the WS. By the end, riding the Segway seemed like second nature, and now my DH and I keep talking about when will we purchase one. (we can dream can't we?)
We loved Test Track and even found the Hidden Mickey in the frost room (although I had many others we couldn't find!). We found the talking water fountain, ice station cool (loved watching others reactions to 'Beverly'!), the twinkling sidewalks (2 different places), and the area in Innoventions East and West where you can email a photo or 10 second video of yourself to someone. In the WS, which we've always seemed to just walk the outer perimeter, we actually explored a lot more (thanks to tips from DISers). In Canada we took the winding trail that passes the waterfalls, found the butterfly garden in UK, saw the living statues in Italy, the candy lady in Japan as well as the Japanese drummers. We found some Hidden Mickeys in France, Germany, and in the Viking mural for the Maelstrom in Norway. We ate a light lunch in Mexico (San Angel Inn) and dinner in Morocco (Marrakesh); Both were good.
We saved Mission Space for the very end of the night because we didn't want any potential queasiness to ruin the rest of the day if we did it too early. My husband can't do spinning rides like teacups or tilt-a-whirls. I've never had a problem with spinning rides, but we didn't know what to expect because of the mixed reactions we had read about. I've read that people who normally never get sick have gotten sick and those who normally do get sick were perfectly fine. Well I am proud to say we both went on it and loved it! Neither of us got sick at all! My DH did say he could slightly feel a little dizziness for a second or two after getting off the ride, but that was it! We actually came back the next night to ride it again because we really liked it!
Animal Kingdom- Went to the Safari ride first thing and we seemed to see a good number of animals. ITTBAB was fun; Kali had great theming, but I was a little dissapointed. I thought there would be more opportunities to encounter more waterfalls. We enjoyed Dinosaur, but then again we were prepared for it to be dark, loud and jerky. We did notice that there are plenty of signs prior to getting on the ride that blatently describe the ride effects so I'm sort of puzzled why so many DIS'ers seemed to be surprised by the jerkiness and darkness of the the ride. It tells you beforehand what it will be like! If you don't like that sort of thing, then turn around and get out of line!
Typhoon Lagoon- I love this waterpark but we got there so early there were no lines for anything. Even with relaxing in the lazy river and on the beach, we were done by 1pm.
HURRICANE JEANNE- We were forced to extend our stay by two days at the Wilderness Lodge because of the storm. They couldn't have possibly been more accommodating!! I was completely amazed to find a schedule in the lobby of the day's activities; musical entertainment, simon says for the kids as well as other games, how to make towel animals, etc. They had planned activities from morning until night. They had a variety of movies they rotated. We watched Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Armageddon and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. They updated us at regular intervals via phone messages and flyers stuck under the door. We felt completely safe during the storm. The only problem they seemed to be having were numerous leaks in the lobby and surrounding area which they seemed to be constantly trying to deal with. At one point one of the lobby hallways was completely covered with towels to help people safely walk. Anyway, I think Disney did a great job acommodating everyone.
Thanks again to all of you for helping to make our trip a very memorable one!
-Laura
We decided to very nicely ask the CM who was checking us in at the WL if there was any possibility of getting an upgrade since it was a slower time of year. After looking in to it, we were pleased to find out that he upgraded us from a standard view to a courtyard view. We were so grateful he was able to do this for us; the view was awesome! WL is a wonderfully themed hotel, and it made us feel like we were in Yellowstone (that's where we went on vacation last year).
MGM- Rode the Great Movie Ride for the first time (don't know how I avoided it on past trips) and thought it was fun. Sounds Dangerous was kind of a dissapointment, but I thought the individual sound booths in the exit area were much better; definitely try them if you haven't already. We ate at the 50's PrimeTime Cafe and had a fun experience, although our waitress was very forgetful. She was fun though, so we overlooked her lack of good waitressing skills. Fantasmic was very unique.
Magic Kingdom- Keys to the Kingdom Tour was VERY informative and fun. Our tour guide was great, and we ended up going on 3 rides during this tour, PoC, Jungle Cruise, and Haunted Mansion. We were lucky to go on PoC because the only reason we did was because Jungle Cruise hadn't opened yet and there were low crowds. We saw Wishes, which was awesome (never seen it before), and we got to see Tink fly (this was on 9/23).
EPCOT- We took the Segway tour and now I can officially agree with every poster who has reviewed this tour to say it is AWESOME! Soooo much fun! It was overcast and comfortably breezy, which the CM said was perfect weather for riding the Segways. We were so happy it didn't rain and that we were able to take the outside portion of the tour through the WS. By the end, riding the Segway seemed like second nature, and now my DH and I keep talking about when will we purchase one. (we can dream can't we?)
We loved Test Track and even found the Hidden Mickey in the frost room (although I had many others we couldn't find!). We found the talking water fountain, ice station cool (loved watching others reactions to 'Beverly'!), the twinkling sidewalks (2 different places), and the area in Innoventions East and West where you can email a photo or 10 second video of yourself to someone. In the WS, which we've always seemed to just walk the outer perimeter, we actually explored a lot more (thanks to tips from DISers). In Canada we took the winding trail that passes the waterfalls, found the butterfly garden in UK, saw the living statues in Italy, the candy lady in Japan as well as the Japanese drummers. We found some Hidden Mickeys in France, Germany, and in the Viking mural for the Maelstrom in Norway. We ate a light lunch in Mexico (San Angel Inn) and dinner in Morocco (Marrakesh); Both were good.
We saved Mission Space for the very end of the night because we didn't want any potential queasiness to ruin the rest of the day if we did it too early. My husband can't do spinning rides like teacups or tilt-a-whirls. I've never had a problem with spinning rides, but we didn't know what to expect because of the mixed reactions we had read about. I've read that people who normally never get sick have gotten sick and those who normally do get sick were perfectly fine. Well I am proud to say we both went on it and loved it! Neither of us got sick at all! My DH did say he could slightly feel a little dizziness for a second or two after getting off the ride, but that was it! We actually came back the next night to ride it again because we really liked it!
Animal Kingdom- Went to the Safari ride first thing and we seemed to see a good number of animals. ITTBAB was fun; Kali had great theming, but I was a little dissapointed. I thought there would be more opportunities to encounter more waterfalls. We enjoyed Dinosaur, but then again we were prepared for it to be dark, loud and jerky. We did notice that there are plenty of signs prior to getting on the ride that blatently describe the ride effects so I'm sort of puzzled why so many DIS'ers seemed to be surprised by the jerkiness and darkness of the the ride. It tells you beforehand what it will be like! If you don't like that sort of thing, then turn around and get out of line!
Typhoon Lagoon- I love this waterpark but we got there so early there were no lines for anything. Even with relaxing in the lazy river and on the beach, we were done by 1pm.
HURRICANE JEANNE- We were forced to extend our stay by two days at the Wilderness Lodge because of the storm. They couldn't have possibly been more accommodating!! I was completely amazed to find a schedule in the lobby of the day's activities; musical entertainment, simon says for the kids as well as other games, how to make towel animals, etc. They had planned activities from morning until night. They had a variety of movies they rotated. We watched Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Armageddon and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. They updated us at regular intervals via phone messages and flyers stuck under the door. We felt completely safe during the storm. The only problem they seemed to be having were numerous leaks in the lobby and surrounding area which they seemed to be constantly trying to deal with. At one point one of the lobby hallways was completely covered with towels to help people safely walk. Anyway, I think Disney did a great job acommodating everyone.
Thanks again to all of you for helping to make our trip a very memorable one!
-Laura
