Just back!

[luvdisney999]

We had a wonderful trip!

The weather was beautiful - warm, but not too warm and nothing but SUNSHINE!!!

The crowds were really bad! You could barely walk through the parks on some days. Luckily, with a good plan, you can overcome any crowds.

Soarin' is a wonderful ride, but expect to FP it by 11:00 am or be prepared to wait a really long time.

Magical Express to POP was great! Love the Pop Century Resort! Bus service was a little mediocure this time.

So, who has questions? You guys were so wonderful helping me plan my trip that I would love to repay the favor. So anything you want to know?

aw: aw:

 

[ellyn2000]

Welcome back. Glad to see that you loved Pop. I'm considering it for a future trip. We've also been happy @AS's. Did you dine @ any table service? We're trying to choose some new places for next trip with dining plan. Thanks.

 

[Savin4Disney]

Was it Jersey week when you went? I am so looking forward to Soarin!

We are staying at POP too in 3 days.

 

[luvdisney999]

Yes, it was Jersey Week. Lots of people from there, I guess. I also heard people from Virginia and North Carolina had no school also. Could have been part of the reason. Wednesday was pretty good, Thursday a little worse, Friday and Saturday were just insane and by Sunday, the crowds had thined out a lot.

POP is the Best! The beds are so compfortable and I like the larger bathrooms (at least larger than most hotels that I usually stay in). Just make sure that you are out at the bus stops early. They fill-up quickly!

As far as table service, we went to a couple of places. Kona Cafe in the Polynesian is the BEST - gotta have the tonga toast. Also, Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge is a great restaurant with a great all you care to eat skillet. We also went to 50's Primetime in MGM - love their fried chicken and atmosphere! Finally, we also ate at Liberty Tree Tavern in MK, which was OK. The meal was great, just not a large selection. We mostly did a lot of counter service meals, as we were attempting to stay on budget. I'd saved my Disney points from my Visa and my birthday money to pay for all meals.

 

[sunkissed212]

Was it Jersey week when you went? I am so looking forward to Soarin!

We are staying at POP too in 3 days.

I must be out of the loop .... what is Jersey week?

 

[disneymoon0606]

Which counter service places did you eat at? Which did you like the most? Which seemed like the best deal? I'll be going to WDW in June and will also try to be on a budget, so I'm looking for great counter service places to plan on! Thanks, and I'm glad you had a great trip!

 

[HugsForEeyore]

I must be out of the loop .... what is Jersey week?

Jersey Week is when Disney has a big festival celebrating everything about New Jersey. It's really cool that they do this for our small state! They decorate the parks with things relating to New Jersey, and have famous Jersey food available in kiosks around the four parks. They have famous Jerseyans doing concerts at Epcot, like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi! At MGM, they have famous actors from New Jersey greeting people and doing autographs, like Susan Saradon and Meryl Streep. Many people from Jersey come for the festivities so it is more crowded than the weeks around it!



OK! OK! Just kidding! It's just a week when schools are off for two days in New Jersey so many folks here go to Disney! My version sounds far more interesting, though!

As a poster said above, my nephew is from NC and he had the same days off! Alot of schools were off for Veterans Day, so there were plenty of people there besides us Jerseyans!

 

[luvdisney999]

Electric Umbrella (at EPCOT) was my favorite counter service place. Both they and Cosmic Ray's (in the Magic Kingdom) have a great toppings bar! We mostly ate at those 2 places, just ordered different things each time we went. They both have a varied menu and most people can find something they like.

The best tip I can pass on is this - you can order anything off of the menu ala carte. As in, you can just get a cheeseburger minus the fries. They take almost $2 off of the price of the meal for no fries. You multiply that times 8 meals (2 people for each) that equals a savings of $32!

Also, either try to bring your own water or buy some at a local grocery store. It is way expensive in the parks and you will be drinking a lot. I was surprised - I went through 3 bottles most days and it wasn't even extremely hot.

Any other questions?

aw: aw:

 

[Cookie Princess]

We just got back as well from Jersey Week and felt that the only day that was really crowded was Veteran's Day at the MK. Other than that, the crowds were ok. I have seen much worse around Easter...never again.

 

[kschn3671]

Hi, Glad you had a good trip.

Was Carousel of Progress and timekeeper open?

 

[Star Wars Guy]

CoP was open everyday, but Timekeeper wasn't.

 

[ellyn2000]

Don't forget that you may request a "complimentary" cup of ice water at cs places for free. Thanks for the info on where you ate. I really want to try something more exciting than just a character meal on next trip.

 

[daveb]

hey were booked magic express to pop in jan and have to meet someone at check in.can you tell me if our plane lands at 12noon what time we would get to pop .thks daveb

 

[**mersee**]

Your "Jersey week" sound great! I was there and thought I missed something! We were at the park on the friday before Jersey week, through Monday, and the crowds were not bad at all. We did see alot of people we know from Jersey.

 

[shewelch]

We were there Jersey week and just happened to do the parks in a different order than the big crowds from what we heard at breakfast...

We did Epcot Sun, AK Monday, MK Tuesday, MGM/MK/ Downtown Disney Wednesday - we fast passed and made our way around quite nicely

Rumor had it that MK was a beast on Monday (or was it Sunday?), and Epcot was bad the next day...

 

[Donnask8pro]

Jersey Week is when Disney has a big festival celebrating everything about New Jersey. It's really cool that they do this for our small state! They decorate the parks with things relating to New Jersey, and have famous Jersey food available in kiosks around the four parks. They have famous Jerseyans doing concerts at Epcot, like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi! At MGM, they have famous actors from New Jersey greeting people and doing autographs, like Susan Saradon and Meryl Streep. Many people from Jersey come for the festivities so it is more crowded than the weeks around it!



OK! OK! Just kidding! It's just a week when schools are off for two days in New Jersey so many folks here go to Disney! My version sounds far more interesting, though!

As a poster said above, my nephew is from NC and he had the same days off! Alot of schools were off for Veterans Day, so there were plenty of people there besides us Jerseyans!

OMG, you had me going. I live in Jersey and had never heard about this part of Jersey week. Don't do that to me, I already had the phone in hand booking next years Jersey Week..

 

[Skroops]

Jersey Week is when Disney has a big festival celebrating everything about New Jersey. It's really cool that they do this for our small state! They decorate the parks with things relating to New Jersey, and have famous Jersey food available in kiosks around the four parks. They have famous Jerseyans doing concerts at Epcot, like Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi! At MGM, they have famous actors from New Jersey greeting people and doing autographs, like Susan Saradon and Meryl Streep. Many people from Jersey come for the festivities so it is more crowded than the weeks around it!



OK! OK! Just kidding! It's just a week when schools are off for two days in New Jersey so many folks here go to Disney! My version sounds far more interesting, though!

As a poster said above, my nephew is from NC and he had the same days off! Alot of schools were off for Veterans Day, so there were plenty of people there besides us Jerseyans!

Oh my! I couldn't believe I was missing this!

 

[swtnikki]

Welcome back! I'm glad that you had such a wonderful trip.

 

[luvdisney999]

I cannot predict what time you will exactly arrive, but I can give you an estimate. For the most part, POP seems to be the first stop most Magical Express busses stop at. There have only been a few reports of them not being the first stop, as they are one of the closest resorts to the airport.

For my trip, I made the BEST time! I arrived at 8:23 am (was supposed to be 8:40). Walked briskly to the ME counter and was on a bus by 8:30. We left MCO at 8:40 and was at POP by 9:05. In line for an MGM bus by 9:15 - who could ask for anything more? Definately had some pixie dust on me that day!

Plan on an hour - if you arrive early, all the better! You can always check-in awhile or wait if you are running late.

Hope this helps!

aw: aw: