kidd_freeper
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 28, 2004
- Messages
- 1,038
Myself, wife, son (age 5), daughter (age 12), nephew (age 14) went to WDW on October 29 and returned on November 2. Left our 2 and 3 year old children with family with absolutely zero ill-effects. Left the 17 year old home as well with no problems - he had gone to WDW in April with a friend's family.
We suprised my son and daughter with the trip. They thought we were going to an engineering conference in Rochester, NY. The 12 year old was quite pleased. The 5 year old didn't know the difference.
Flew on Delta (Songs). Very enjoyable flight - they have TV screens for every seat with 24 live channels, a trivia game, flight status, and a couple of movies.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Main Gate East. Used the BOGO code for a two room suite ($65 a night). Price included free breakfast. Rooms clean, comfortable, but nothing special. Breakfast also good, but nothing special. Pool clean, uncrowded, but nothing special. I would recommend this if you were travelling to spend most of your time at the area attractions rather than at a resort. Easy access to WDW.
Went to Chef Mickey's for dinner. Had a PS, but had a 45 minute wait. The 5 year old was scared of the characters and the older kids didn't eat much. Food was very very good, but not worth the $140. Rode the monorail to get in the mood.
Saturday at MK - got there at 9:30 am. Used the AAA Diamond lot parking - in my opinion its not worth using at MK (but its worth it for Epcot). Lines were all less than 10 minutes up until about noon. The big fence around the old 20,000 Leagues area was obtrusive, and we missed not being able to go on IASW, but otherwise a perfect day. Temps in the high 80s and dry. The Plaza restaurant in Tommorrowland is a great place to feed fussy kids. Nice seating and good food. I noticed that the Fastpass line for Splash Mountain merges with the Standby line much earlier than it did a year ago, thus the Fastpass wait for that ride is at least 10 minutes. The Fastpass/Baby Swap combo works well at Space Mountain for two quick rides. My wife, who doesn't like roller coasters, tried BTMR and loved it. At Mickey's Philharmagic, we had to sit on the floor because there weren't enough seats - so the CM let us have the best seats for the next show and gave us a pass that allowed us to go to the front of the line on any ride that we wanted - even those without Fastpass lines. We used it for Space Mountain. Turns out my 5 year old was exactly at the 44 inch height requirement - he went on the ride and liked it. We chose to go on rides rather than watch Wishes (it seemed like a very short show anyway). The park stayed open until 11 pm, an hour longer than the scheduled closing.
Sunday at MGM - got there at 10 am, after going to early mass at Mary Queen of the Universe. Parked at AAA Diamond lot (very long walk with no trams - really not woth it). Light crowds, temps in the high 80s and dry. I lke MGM a lot, but the kids didn't think there was enough rides. TOT was great, but it scared my 5 year old, and he was too short for RARC. Millionaire show was lots of fun for all, even the 5 year old. Ate at Mama Melrose for Fantasmic Dinner Package. Food very good and service was excellent, but this is definitely NOT a restaurant for kids. The kids menu did not offer kids food for fussy eaters (the pasta sauce was good, but it wasn't the "Ragu-quality" that kids like). Fantasmic was great.
Monday morning at MK, evening at Epcot - parked in regular area rather than AAA - much quicker. Temps in the high 80s and dry. Crowds moderate. We used the hotel monorail loop to get to MK - really much quicker than waiting for the express line or the ferry boat. MK lots of fun. Drove to Epcot, this time the AAA Diamond pass was well worth it - very short walk to the gates. Moderate crowds in Futureworld and heavy crowds in World Showcase (Food and Wine festival). We spent most of our time in Futureworld. One sad change from last year - the exhibits at the exit of Spaceship Earth are all gone, leaving just an empty room and some barricades. The kids liked it more than I thought they would - they liked Innovations and Imagination. I'd never been on Test track before. It was fun, but no big deal. Universe of Energy was a hit with everyone. Ate at San Angel Inn. Very good food and a good kids menu. We had a half hour wait even with a PS. Unfortunately, the live music stops around 7 pm. The noise at Illuminations frightened my 5 year old, but my 12 year old rated it the best thing in all the parks.
We suprised my son and daughter with the trip. They thought we were going to an engineering conference in Rochester, NY. The 12 year old was quite pleased. The 5 year old didn't know the difference.
Flew on Delta (Songs). Very enjoyable flight - they have TV screens for every seat with 24 live channels, a trivia game, flight status, and a couple of movies.
Stayed at the Holiday Inn Main Gate East. Used the BOGO code for a two room suite ($65 a night). Price included free breakfast. Rooms clean, comfortable, but nothing special. Breakfast also good, but nothing special. Pool clean, uncrowded, but nothing special. I would recommend this if you were travelling to spend most of your time at the area attractions rather than at a resort. Easy access to WDW.
Went to Chef Mickey's for dinner. Had a PS, but had a 45 minute wait. The 5 year old was scared of the characters and the older kids didn't eat much. Food was very very good, but not worth the $140. Rode the monorail to get in the mood.
Saturday at MK - got there at 9:30 am. Used the AAA Diamond lot parking - in my opinion its not worth using at MK (but its worth it for Epcot). Lines were all less than 10 minutes up until about noon. The big fence around the old 20,000 Leagues area was obtrusive, and we missed not being able to go on IASW, but otherwise a perfect day. Temps in the high 80s and dry. The Plaza restaurant in Tommorrowland is a great place to feed fussy kids. Nice seating and good food. I noticed that the Fastpass line for Splash Mountain merges with the Standby line much earlier than it did a year ago, thus the Fastpass wait for that ride is at least 10 minutes. The Fastpass/Baby Swap combo works well at Space Mountain for two quick rides. My wife, who doesn't like roller coasters, tried BTMR and loved it. At Mickey's Philharmagic, we had to sit on the floor because there weren't enough seats - so the CM let us have the best seats for the next show and gave us a pass that allowed us to go to the front of the line on any ride that we wanted - even those without Fastpass lines. We used it for Space Mountain. Turns out my 5 year old was exactly at the 44 inch height requirement - he went on the ride and liked it. We chose to go on rides rather than watch Wishes (it seemed like a very short show anyway). The park stayed open until 11 pm, an hour longer than the scheduled closing.
Sunday at MGM - got there at 10 am, after going to early mass at Mary Queen of the Universe. Parked at AAA Diamond lot (very long walk with no trams - really not woth it). Light crowds, temps in the high 80s and dry. I lke MGM a lot, but the kids didn't think there was enough rides. TOT was great, but it scared my 5 year old, and he was too short for RARC. Millionaire show was lots of fun for all, even the 5 year old. Ate at Mama Melrose for Fantasmic Dinner Package. Food very good and service was excellent, but this is definitely NOT a restaurant for kids. The kids menu did not offer kids food for fussy eaters (the pasta sauce was good, but it wasn't the "Ragu-quality" that kids like). Fantasmic was great.
Monday morning at MK, evening at Epcot - parked in regular area rather than AAA - much quicker. Temps in the high 80s and dry. Crowds moderate. We used the hotel monorail loop to get to MK - really much quicker than waiting for the express line or the ferry boat. MK lots of fun. Drove to Epcot, this time the AAA Diamond pass was well worth it - very short walk to the gates. Moderate crowds in Futureworld and heavy crowds in World Showcase (Food and Wine festival). We spent most of our time in Futureworld. One sad change from last year - the exhibits at the exit of Spaceship Earth are all gone, leaving just an empty room and some barricades. The kids liked it more than I thought they would - they liked Innovations and Imagination. I'd never been on Test track before. It was fun, but no big deal. Universe of Energy was a hit with everyone. Ate at San Angel Inn. Very good food and a good kids menu. We had a half hour wait even with a PS. Unfortunately, the live music stops around 7 pm. The noise at Illuminations frightened my 5 year old, but my 12 year old rated it the best thing in all the parks.
