Just got back and had another great time!

[cdnmickeylover]

Just got back a couple of hours ago! We flew Southwest out of Buffalo which was great and would do this again in a heartbeat. We stayed at Comfort Suites the night before the flight -- the shuttle was great both getting to the airport and being picked up today.

Stayed at Pop Century and had nothing to complain about there. Had the Disney Dining Experience email (still waiting for the card) and ate ourselves silly while saving lots of money.

The biggest thing was that there seemed to be no one there! We didn't have to use fastpass once -- not even for Mission Space or Test Track (which was about a 10 minute wait!). The only rides that had waits were Pooh and Peter Pan in MK but we went to the Extra Magic Hours at night to go on those. The weather was ok -- hot when we arrived and gradually cooled down during the week although we did wear shorts except for Friday as it was downright cold then. It rained Wednesday night so we didn't see Fantasmic although we did see "A Taste of Fantasmic". Ironically as soon as we left MGM it stopped raining so we went to the extra magic hour at MK and had a great time.

Ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe, Cinderella's Royal Table for dinner, Ohana's for dinner, Chef Mickey's for breakfast, Flame Tree BBQ, Hollywood & Vine, Chefs de France, Earl of Sandwich, Pop Century and Beaches and Cream. The only one that we wouldn't go back to, ever, is Whispering Canyon Cafe.

Am now going to look at the calendar and decide when to go back! These AP's have to be used!

 

[Scratch42]

Welcome Back!

About Whispering Canyon, it's the "Pulled Pork" isn't it? DD won't go back there because of it!LOL

Scratch

 

[maryliz]

Welcome home, Fiona! Glad you had such a great time. We loved SWA in January and would do it again ... although we really DO like to drive down

I gotta say that Earl Of Sandwich is such a great deal! It'll be my trump card to get DH to go back to downtown Disney


Mary-Liz

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Actually it was the service at WCC -- it was awful. We had a PS and although I realize it isn't a reservation, we waited 50 minutes and then I asked about where we were in the line. I was told that they had paged us and obviously we didn't respond. I told the CM that the pager hadn't gone off and we'd been close to the restaurant the entire time. She just kept saying that we'd been paged and hadn't responded. They did seat us very quickly afterwards though as I think another CM noticed that I wasn't too thrilled with the answer I'd been given. We were even more shocked when we were seated and realized that there were at least 6 empty tables within eyeshot of us that needed to be cleaned. During the entire time that we were there (about 45 minutes) one table was never cleaned off and new people were never seated at it. It became very obvious why there were tons of people waiting to get seated. Everyone was complaining about the wait. There was a family that checked in before us with their PS and they were finally seated as we left! This was after the man was told that they would be seated next just as we were being seated. It was extremely poorly run. The food wasn't that great either.

O'Hana and Chef Mickey's was just as crowded and yet we waited no more than 10 minutes at each of them.

The only good thing about WCC is that we had DDE and saved 20%.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Maryliz - loved Southwest. Now if I could find a pilot to marry I'd fly for free!

Since we only paid $26 one way to fly it was amazingly cheap too although I still like to drive as well. If we'd driven I'd have purchased a Mickey Popcorn Popper but it was just too big to fly with.

I would love to have an Earl of Sandwich here. Absolutely love them and Jim does too so it makes it easy to go there.

 

[cottontail]

Hi: Glad you had such a great time. Can you tell me if you felt that the disney dining saved you money on meals. Also what is the DDE that saved you 20% off a restaurant.

I can't believe you guys would rather drive than fly, I am terrified to fly so I make my hubby drive, but after 6 visits he wants to fly to get there quicker. I still think the drive is part of the trip and I look forward to it and actually enjoy it.
I am from years ago when long car rides and picnics/coolers, is what we did to get places when I was a kid with my parents and I guess I got used to it.

Thanks,

Deb.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Welcome back Fiona and glad to hear that you had such a great time. I'll look forward to seeing your pictures in a couple of weeks.

I'll be there next weekend (flying on SWA!) and I hope I'm lucky to have lower crowds, too!

 

[Sandyincanada]

Welcome back! I was soooooo glad to hear of the low crowds, hope it stays that way for a few more weeks, lol.

 

[Snowwark]

Welcome home, Fiona!

Except for your experience at WCC, it sounds like you had a great time! I wonder if they had some staff people who never showed up for work?

How nice that you didn't have to wait in any lineups!!

Yep, those APs can burn a hole in your pocket!

 

[PoohBWV]

Welcome back. So glad you had a great time.

Was the dining package easy to use? It sounds like an excellent deal.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We didn't actually have the dining package that comes with the new tickets since we have AP's and thus only get a room only reservation. New this year with the AP is a discount on the Disney Dining Experience (it costs $50 for a year rather than $75). Previously it was only available to Florida residents but this year they've opened it up to AP holders too so I signed up before we left. We don't have the cards yet but they sent us an email to use which we didn't have a problem with. It gives you a 20% discount on most sit down restaurants on all meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was well worth it for us. It also gives you the 20% discount on the foods courts in the All Star resorts and Pop Century and the counter service restaurants in AK. This trip we saved around $80 using the card so got back our $50 and saved some more. It's good for a year so our next trip will be an even bigger savings. It's good for up to 10 people at the table as well. It's also a 20% savings on alcoholic beverages with your meal as well.

Lineups were non-existent. We kept saying that there was no one there. It was truly amazing. Buzz Lightyear was a walk on!

 

[maryliz]

A Mickey Popcorn Popper ??? !!! Must've missed that one! Something else to look for when we go in October!

I love AP's! Yep, they sure do burn a hole in the 'ole pocket ... pocketbook that is! And it's not just the cost of the passes ... it's the way that I can convince DH that "since we already have the passes, it's just stupid for us NOT to go 3 times in a year ... Disney is practically PAYING US to go the extra times"! DH only has one week off this summer because of our Jan and October trips ... and yep, keep thinking that I wouldn't mind going that week in August too! Oh how the Disney-at-heart mind never stops working

MaryLiz

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Yup a Mickey Popcorn Popper -- I didn't see it in October so I figured it must be new. Really wished we'd driven because even Jim wanted it and it wouldn't have been tough to talk him into it -- it was $50 but so cute.

Our AP's expire in October so will have to get another trip in before then. Will be watching for AP rates for the rest of the year. Am thinking September/October though to go to MNSSHP again and the Food and Wine Festival but summer might be fun too. Jim also said to look for cheap fares on Southwest at dinner so I think he's game.

 

[maryliz]

We've gone the very end of Aug several times. As long as you're prepared for rain, it's a great time to go because the parks are dead. We'll be there, along with Susan-Ontario's family Oct 16-29th ... when do your passes expire ... we could do a Cdn Dis Meet

Oh, and it's our celebration trip 'cause of Susan's DH and myself turning the big 40 this year ... so you can join in THAT celebration with us, Fiona

Mary-Liz

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Oh, and it's our celebration trip 'cause of Susan's DH and myself turning the big 40 this year ... so you can join in THAT celebration with us, Fiona

Mary-Liz[/QUOTE]

Yeah well I was trying to forget about that particular celebration.

I think our AP's expire October 18th?? It's somewhere around the middle of the month so it might be possible to overlap with you guys. I can't go for 2 weeks this October though as it was too busy here at work last time I went. One week I might be able to squeeze in though.

It would be great to have a dismeet at WDW. So has Susan already passed the great milestone??

Need another meet in London soon or are you coming to Hamilton?

Fiona

 

[cottontail]

Hi Maryliz:

I guess it is pretty hot and humid that last week of august. Are there no waits on the popular rides then?


Deb.

 

[maryliz]

Hi Deb. Yes, it's very hot and humid at end of August ... but the parks are about as busy as they would be end of September. Always been able to get lots done as far as the parks go.

Ummm ... Fiona, you didn't really think that I would let you forget that milestone did ya? After all, you're a whole 10 days older than I am! Susan passed that particular milestone years and years ago OK, so it was only 3 years ago, but believe me, I took way more abuse as the "baby" growing up than I could ever dish back to them now!

Mary-Liz

 

[Dolphin_Girl008]

We didn't actually have the dining package that comes with the new tickets since we have AP's and thus only get a room only reservation. New this year with the AP is a discount on the Disney Dining Experience (it costs $50 for a year rather than $75). Previously it was only available to Florida residents but this year they've opened it up to AP holders too so I signed up before we left. We don't have the cards yet but they sent us an email to use which we didn't have a problem with. It gives you a 20% discount on most sit down restaurants on all meals - breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was well worth it for us. It also gives you the 20% discount on the foods courts in the All Star resorts and Pop Century and the counter service restaurants in AK. This trip we saved around $80 using the card so got back our $50 and saved some more. It's good for a year so our next trip will be an even bigger savings. It's good for up to 10 people at the table as well. It's also a 20% savings on alcoholic beverages with your meal as well.

Hi Fiona,

Did you order your DDE card over the web or by phone? Do you happen to have the website address or phone #? Thanks!