Annie'sMom
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 65
We just returned from 2 glorious weeks in Florida. We spent 5 nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, drove down to Sanibel for 3 nights and then returned to Port Orleans French Quarter for 6 nights. We (DD (9) and I) had an awesome time. I am no good at trip reports, but here are some observations. Take them for what they're worth!
Animal Kingdom Lodge was awesome! We booked with the AP rate and when we arrived on 5-24 at around noon, we found out we had been upgraded to a pool view (no charge!) and the room was ready. My DD is an animal lover, and we felt like we became close personal friends with a huge Eland that was always outside the window near our elevator. We found the transportation from AKL to be excellent. The bus is not shared with other resorts, and was rarely crowded. We also never waited very long for a bus to arrive. We would stay here again in a second!
I was a little apprehensive about staying at POFQ after staying at AKL. You know what? We loved it, too. The resort is small. We arrived at around 1:00 on 6-1 and our room was ready. We were in Building 1, which is probably the furthest away from the pool, bus stops, etc., but POFQ is such a small resort, it didn't really matter. We had excellent Mousekeeping while we were there, including a thank you note from one person. The good thing about POFQ is that there is only 1 bus stop and we were always first on the bus and first off (all PO resorts share bus service.) The pool at POFQ was great. It has an awesome slide into relatively shallow water, so my DD, who is not a strong swimmer, felt very secure going on it over and over and over! I swear she went down that slide 50 times over the course of our stay!
The parks were relatively uncrowded our first week but noticeably more crowded our second week. However, we get to the parks early and use Fastpass, so we didn't wait in lines. We rode Soarin' twice. I have a new favorite ride at WDW. It is exhilirating! The Land has been revitalized with its addition. Use Fastpass and visit other attractions. Even early in the morning, by the time we walked from the gate to the attraction, the stand by line read 30 minutes.
We managed to see all the new additions to the theme parks. We loved Soarin' and Lucky, the Dinosaur. We liked Cinderellabration and Lights, Motors, Action was just OK. We're really not into stunt shows, but we were glad we did it. The theater is huge and be aware that if you are in stand by, you will have to wait in the sun. I am surprised that WDW didn't build a cover over the line for this attraction.
We noticed loads of foreign tourists in the parks. I guess the weak dollar has made a trip to Disney cheaper for them. I was astounded, however, by the number of children of all nationalities who appeared to be "in charge" of the adults with them. My DD is a good child, but had her moments of stubborness when she was younger. However, if she had ever behaved like I saw some kids behaving, we would have immediately gone back to the room and she would have a nice, long time out! I don't consider myself a "harsh" disciplinarian, but those kids were way out of control. I never got so tired of hearing screaming kids--not crying, mind you, screaming! Rant off, sorry!
This was our first "non commando" trip and it worked like a charm. Using TourGuide Mike and the Touring Plans website, the most planning I did was to figure out which park we were going to each day...after that, we went with the flow. We were both much less tired and much less cranky.
We only eat about 1 meal a day out....so I can't really speak to restaurants. Liberty Tree Tavern is a must for us for lunch. It's quiet and cool. We love it, but wish they would expand their menu just a little.
I am glad to answer any questions. This was probably our last trip to Disney for a couple of years. There are other places we want to visit in this huge country. We'll see if we can manage to really stay away!
Animal Kingdom Lodge was awesome! We booked with the AP rate and when we arrived on 5-24 at around noon, we found out we had been upgraded to a pool view (no charge!) and the room was ready. My DD is an animal lover, and we felt like we became close personal friends with a huge Eland that was always outside the window near our elevator. We found the transportation from AKL to be excellent. The bus is not shared with other resorts, and was rarely crowded. We also never waited very long for a bus to arrive. We would stay here again in a second!
I was a little apprehensive about staying at POFQ after staying at AKL. You know what? We loved it, too. The resort is small. We arrived at around 1:00 on 6-1 and our room was ready. We were in Building 1, which is probably the furthest away from the pool, bus stops, etc., but POFQ is such a small resort, it didn't really matter. We had excellent Mousekeeping while we were there, including a thank you note from one person. The good thing about POFQ is that there is only 1 bus stop and we were always first on the bus and first off (all PO resorts share bus service.) The pool at POFQ was great. It has an awesome slide into relatively shallow water, so my DD, who is not a strong swimmer, felt very secure going on it over and over and over! I swear she went down that slide 50 times over the course of our stay!
The parks were relatively uncrowded our first week but noticeably more crowded our second week. However, we get to the parks early and use Fastpass, so we didn't wait in lines. We rode Soarin' twice. I have a new favorite ride at WDW. It is exhilirating! The Land has been revitalized with its addition. Use Fastpass and visit other attractions. Even early in the morning, by the time we walked from the gate to the attraction, the stand by line read 30 minutes.
We managed to see all the new additions to the theme parks. We loved Soarin' and Lucky, the Dinosaur. We liked Cinderellabration and Lights, Motors, Action was just OK. We're really not into stunt shows, but we were glad we did it. The theater is huge and be aware that if you are in stand by, you will have to wait in the sun. I am surprised that WDW didn't build a cover over the line for this attraction.
We noticed loads of foreign tourists in the parks. I guess the weak dollar has made a trip to Disney cheaper for them. I was astounded, however, by the number of children of all nationalities who appeared to be "in charge" of the adults with them. My DD is a good child, but had her moments of stubborness when she was younger. However, if she had ever behaved like I saw some kids behaving, we would have immediately gone back to the room and she would have a nice, long time out! I don't consider myself a "harsh" disciplinarian, but those kids were way out of control. I never got so tired of hearing screaming kids--not crying, mind you, screaming! Rant off, sorry!
This was our first "non commando" trip and it worked like a charm. Using TourGuide Mike and the Touring Plans website, the most planning I did was to figure out which park we were going to each day...after that, we went with the flow. We were both much less tired and much less cranky.
We only eat about 1 meal a day out....so I can't really speak to restaurants. Liberty Tree Tavern is a must for us for lunch. It's quiet and cool. We love it, but wish they would expand their menu just a little.
I am glad to answer any questions. This was probably our last trip to Disney for a couple of years. There are other places we want to visit in this huge country. We'll see if we can manage to really stay away!
