rcpalmerii
Texas Aggie & Jarhead
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2001
- Messages
- 27
We had a great time. The crowds were very light. We never had more than a 10 to 15 minute wait for any ride. With the single exception of Fast Track. Which seemed to consistently run 30 to 45 minutes. And no fastpass on it either. The CM told me they were upgrading the system. I am a Software Engineer and when we upgrade a system, we don't take down the existing working system until all of the bugs have been worked out and tested. Fast Pass was working everywhere else, so I think there are other factors at work there. But anyway, we arrived on Wed 10/24 and checked in at AS Movies (Buzz) This was the first time that we had been to the All Stars. We usually stay at the Swan/Dophin, but this was a budget trip. We loved the resort and will stay there again. My only complaint was with the bus service. It was slow. Since you can park for free at all of the parks anyway, we drove and shuttled in, or parked at the GF or YBC and monorailed/boated to the parks.
On Wed afternoon, we went to Typhoon Lagoon to swim with the sharks. Pretty cool! Cold actually, but it was fun. We went through it about 6 or 7 times. My DD (6yo) couldn't get enough of it.
On Thursday we went to MGM. Thanks to some thick soled shoes, my DD was just tall enough to ride RNR. She loved it! So we rode it again. No wait either time. Walked straight into the studio presentation each time. Then we went to TOT. One of our favorites. We rode it twice also. Again no wait. Straight into the study. From there we went into the Little Mermaid show with no wait. After leaving there we went into the Walt Disney special. That was really neat. Especially the museum leading up to the movie. From there it was lunch time, so we headed to the Sci-fi dine in. First time to eat there. Food was good. We had shakes, onion rings and a caesar salad for the DW and myself and DD had a chicken strip kids plate. After lunch it was off to Muppet 3d. By that time it was starting to get pretty hot and very humid. So we decided we would head over to Epcot for some Caffrey's Irish Ale in the UK. On the way by the theater next to the Backlot tour I noticed that Mickey was in there for pics. There was only about 10 people ahead of us in line. So we jumped in and had pics done for DD.
After we got over to Epcot we entered into the World Showcase and grabbed a beer at the Rose and Crown. Always one of our favorite stops. About that time the bottom dropped out of the sky for about 20 minutes. Which gave me just enough time for a second caffrey's. After leaving UK, we headed over to The Land to check out the sites there. This was our 4th trip and we had never been in there before. Don't really know why, just never did. Did the Living with the Land boat tour. What a great little ride. Truly a hidden treasure. Also did Food Rocks and the Lion King Circle of Life. Loved Food Rocks, but hated Circle of Life. I do not like to be preached to about anything. I think I am as environmentally concious as anyone, but the pretense that people and progress are bad really irritates me. I had a feeling going into The Land that all of it would be this way, and was extremely pleasantly surprised by LWL and FR only to be let down by COL. We did LWL 3 times with no more than a 10 minute wait each time. We also did FR twice, with no wait. From The Land we went over to The Living Sea. Always one of our favorites. The dolphins were in rare form as they were swimming all over their tanks and coming up close to the glass. By this time my wife's back was bothering her so we decided to make it an early night and go have dinner at the Garden Grille. Food was ok. Really liked the flank steak and potatoes. But the rest was average at best. But the atmosphere was really cool. Rotating around through the different parts of LWL tour was really neat. I had scheduled for us to eat there on Saturday to do the re-hitching ceremony but since we were already there, I had it done then. I thought they were going to forget, so I excused myself to the men's room and stopped by the check in desk to remind them. A few minutes later Chip/Dale and Pluto stopped by and pulled us out of the booth to re-hitch us. They made us kiss to 100 and gave us a certificate to take home, as well as a small cake. It was a blast and my DW was sooo embarrassed! She was turning beet red! What fun! Even my DD was giggling her little head off. Then it was back to the room. When we got to the room, the basket I had ordered for my DD and the flowers I had ordered for my DW had arrived and were in the room. Boy were they both shocked. The Disney Florist had signed the cards "Welcome back to Disney World! We sure did miss you. Signed The Disney Gang". My DD's basket was a small picnic basket with a Mickey and Minnie plush, box of Disney Truffles, Disney Shortbreads, Princess Plate and Bowl set. The flowers for my DW were a dozen white roses in a crystal vase that had Mickey and Minnie bride/groom etched onto the front of it. After kisses and hugs all around, it was time for bed. We had to get up early to get to AK before opening the next day.
Day 3 and 4 to come later.
On Wed afternoon, we went to Typhoon Lagoon to swim with the sharks. Pretty cool! Cold actually, but it was fun. We went through it about 6 or 7 times. My DD (6yo) couldn't get enough of it.
On Thursday we went to MGM. Thanks to some thick soled shoes, my DD was just tall enough to ride RNR. She loved it! So we rode it again. No wait either time. Walked straight into the studio presentation each time. Then we went to TOT. One of our favorites. We rode it twice also. Again no wait. Straight into the study. From there we went into the Little Mermaid show with no wait. After leaving there we went into the Walt Disney special. That was really neat. Especially the museum leading up to the movie. From there it was lunch time, so we headed to the Sci-fi dine in. First time to eat there. Food was good. We had shakes, onion rings and a caesar salad for the DW and myself and DD had a chicken strip kids plate. After lunch it was off to Muppet 3d. By that time it was starting to get pretty hot and very humid. So we decided we would head over to Epcot for some Caffrey's Irish Ale in the UK. On the way by the theater next to the Backlot tour I noticed that Mickey was in there for pics. There was only about 10 people ahead of us in line. So we jumped in and had pics done for DD.
After we got over to Epcot we entered into the World Showcase and grabbed a beer at the Rose and Crown. Always one of our favorite stops. About that time the bottom dropped out of the sky for about 20 minutes. Which gave me just enough time for a second caffrey's. After leaving UK, we headed over to The Land to check out the sites there. This was our 4th trip and we had never been in there before. Don't really know why, just never did. Did the Living with the Land boat tour. What a great little ride. Truly a hidden treasure. Also did Food Rocks and the Lion King Circle of Life. Loved Food Rocks, but hated Circle of Life. I do not like to be preached to about anything. I think I am as environmentally concious as anyone, but the pretense that people and progress are bad really irritates me. I had a feeling going into The Land that all of it would be this way, and was extremely pleasantly surprised by LWL and FR only to be let down by COL. We did LWL 3 times with no more than a 10 minute wait each time. We also did FR twice, with no wait. From The Land we went over to The Living Sea. Always one of our favorites. The dolphins were in rare form as they were swimming all over their tanks and coming up close to the glass. By this time my wife's back was bothering her so we decided to make it an early night and go have dinner at the Garden Grille. Food was ok. Really liked the flank steak and potatoes. But the rest was average at best. But the atmosphere was really cool. Rotating around through the different parts of LWL tour was really neat. I had scheduled for us to eat there on Saturday to do the re-hitching ceremony but since we were already there, I had it done then. I thought they were going to forget, so I excused myself to the men's room and stopped by the check in desk to remind them. A few minutes later Chip/Dale and Pluto stopped by and pulled us out of the booth to re-hitch us. They made us kiss to 100 and gave us a certificate to take home, as well as a small cake. It was a blast and my DW was sooo embarrassed! She was turning beet red! What fun! Even my DD was giggling her little head off. Then it was back to the room. When we got to the room, the basket I had ordered for my DD and the flowers I had ordered for my DW had arrived and were in the room. Boy were they both shocked. The Disney Florist had signed the cards "Welcome back to Disney World! We sure did miss you. Signed The Disney Gang". My DD's basket was a small picnic basket with a Mickey and Minnie plush, box of Disney Truffles, Disney Shortbreads, Princess Plate and Bowl set. The flowers for my DW were a dozen white roses in a crystal vase that had Mickey and Minnie bride/groom etched onto the front of it. After kisses and hugs all around, it was time for bed. We had to get up early to get to AK before opening the next day.
Day 3 and 4 to come later.