PinkBudgie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2008
- Messages
- 7,205
I've been a little absent on the DLR side of the boards for the past year as I crammed for all I would need to know for our WDW trip. It was just DH and I celebrating our 25th anniversary. We are in our 40's and left our 20 year old boys at home to watch the house. 
We spent 13 nights at Port Orleans French Quarter. It was actually recommended to me several years ago by someone from the DLR side of the boards. The resort is beautiful and peaceful and small. Loved it! We both agreed it was way nicer than walking down Harbor to our room at Candy Cane Inn (which we love!). However, we didn't love the ridiculous amount of time it takes to go anywhere. No free breakfast included like at CCI, so we brought bars and ate them at the bus stop while we waited.
I could not believe the huge roads and freeways on WDW property you had to take to get everywhere! We had no car so took the bus to the parks and the boat to DTD.
The Parks- the main thing that stood out to us was once you were at a park, you had limited choices. Each park really doesn't have all that many rides. At DLR, you have all the rides available to you each day. Once we did all the rides, the ones we would want to go back to usually have very long lines and limited FPs.
The Shows-They seem to have more shows, so went to see all of those too. The Lion King show was excellent but many had just so-so acting. F! was a huge let down and I feel sorry for east coasters that have to watch that one instead of DL's. DL's F! is so over the top amazing like I've come to expect at Disney. No pirate boat, and the paddle boat at the end was so plain. But I did appreciate not having to camp out on a blanket for 5 hours. Having that huge stadium is nice.
The new parade at Magic Kingdom is excellent and reminds me of the parades here. Over the top with the floats and costumes.
Theming- What WDW does great is theming. We loved the themed restaurants like Sci-fi Drive In and 50's Prime Time. We also love the themed lines. Their TSMM is way better. It is air conditioned and has giant toys all over like you are in Andy's room. I've always thought our TSMM line is the most boring and hottest on property. Animal Kingdom is the hottest park but it was the best themed. The details on the village buildings and the different areas are amazing!
Roller Coasters- What is it with WDW and bumpy, jarring coasters? We found Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Rockin Roller Coaster to be very rough. And Space Mountian had no music while you ride.
But I must say Everest was so fun and the new 7 Dwarves Mine Train ride is extremely smooth, but really more of a beginner coaster. Fun and cute but I wish it was longer. I'd only ride that with a FP. Not a coaster but I loved ToT there better.
The classics- WDW has Carousel of Progress, Country Bears, People Mover (which was closed- so disappointing!) no longer at DLR. I also enjoyed Space Ship Earth because it reminded me of a classic Disneyland type ride.
The Food- loved the TS places we went. With my food seafood allergies it was easier to eat at those and speak to the chef about my choices. We didn't find a lot of variety in CS choices though. It seemed to be the same old hamburger at all the places. Reminds me of DL about 20 years ago. And most importantly, I could never find a mint chocolate chip waffle cone.
I found soft serve in a waffle cone or mint choc chip in a regular cone or cup, but never the two together. 
That's one of my favorite snacks at DLR!
Anyway, we really did have an amazing time and it was so fun to see some different parks, rides, and shows. One of my most favorite things was seeing the big ball at Epcot. It is so huge! I just couldn't get enough pictures of it!
Oh, on our last park day we felt like WDW pros- we ate breakfast at The Contemporary, then hopped to three parks in one day!
But we'll be back at DLR, probably next July and it will be nice to have the short distances between DTD, both parks, and the room. Oh yeah, and no humidity. I'd go back to WDW someday, but not for at least 5 years, maybe more.
Now I have to catch up on all the DLR news!
We spent 13 nights at Port Orleans French Quarter. It was actually recommended to me several years ago by someone from the DLR side of the boards. The resort is beautiful and peaceful and small. Loved it! We both agreed it was way nicer than walking down Harbor to our room at Candy Cane Inn (which we love!). However, we didn't love the ridiculous amount of time it takes to go anywhere. No free breakfast included like at CCI, so we brought bars and ate them at the bus stop while we waited.
I could not believe the huge roads and freeways on WDW property you had to take to get everywhere! We had no car so took the bus to the parks and the boat to DTD.
The Parks- the main thing that stood out to us was once you were at a park, you had limited choices. Each park really doesn't have all that many rides. At DLR, you have all the rides available to you each day. Once we did all the rides, the ones we would want to go back to usually have very long lines and limited FPs.
The Shows-They seem to have more shows, so went to see all of those too. The Lion King show was excellent but many had just so-so acting. F! was a huge let down and I feel sorry for east coasters that have to watch that one instead of DL's. DL's F! is so over the top amazing like I've come to expect at Disney. No pirate boat, and the paddle boat at the end was so plain. But I did appreciate not having to camp out on a blanket for 5 hours. Having that huge stadium is nice.
The new parade at Magic Kingdom is excellent and reminds me of the parades here. Over the top with the floats and costumes.
Theming- What WDW does great is theming. We loved the themed restaurants like Sci-fi Drive In and 50's Prime Time. We also love the themed lines. Their TSMM is way better. It is air conditioned and has giant toys all over like you are in Andy's room. I've always thought our TSMM line is the most boring and hottest on property. Animal Kingdom is the hottest park but it was the best themed. The details on the village buildings and the different areas are amazing!
Roller Coasters- What is it with WDW and bumpy, jarring coasters? We found Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Rockin Roller Coaster to be very rough. And Space Mountian had no music while you ride.
But I must say Everest was so fun and the new 7 Dwarves Mine Train ride is extremely smooth, but really more of a beginner coaster. Fun and cute but I wish it was longer. I'd only ride that with a FP. Not a coaster but I loved ToT there better.The classics- WDW has Carousel of Progress, Country Bears, People Mover (which was closed- so disappointing!) no longer at DLR. I also enjoyed Space Ship Earth because it reminded me of a classic Disneyland type ride.
The Food- loved the TS places we went. With my food seafood allergies it was easier to eat at those and speak to the chef about my choices. We didn't find a lot of variety in CS choices though. It seemed to be the same old hamburger at all the places. Reminds me of DL about 20 years ago. And most importantly, I could never find a mint chocolate chip waffle cone.
I found soft serve in a waffle cone or mint choc chip in a regular cone or cup, but never the two together. That's one of my favorite snacks at DLR!Anyway, we really did have an amazing time and it was so fun to see some different parks, rides, and shows. One of my most favorite things was seeing the big ball at Epcot. It is so huge! I just couldn't get enough pictures of it!
Oh, on our last park day we felt like WDW pros- we ate breakfast at The Contemporary, then hopped to three parks in one day!
But we'll be back at DLR, probably next July and it will be nice to have the short distances between DTD, both parks, and the room. Oh yeah, and no humidity. I'd go back to WDW someday, but not for at least 5 years, maybe more.
Now I have to catch up on all the DLR news!
