kellyf2626
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2005
- Messages
- 1,952
Hi everyone! DH, myself, my brother and his girlfriend just got back yesterday from our spur-of-the-moment 5 day trip down to Disney. We stayed off-site for the first time, which neither of us enjoyed. But, we still had a great time...I mean, we were at Disney, right? 
So we checked in late Tuesday night (around midnight) at the Royal Plaza in DTD. Overall, the hotel was just ok. Our room was decent. We are just really spoiled as DVC members with accomodations. We had used our allotment of points for this year, and were just looking for a cheap place to stay for a few nights. We booked the Royal Plaza for $79/night....so I would say we got what we paid for. Here are some pics....
Lobby
Disney store in the Lobby
Our room (Deluxe Tower Room)
The first day we woke up early and went to Animal Kingdom. DH and I had AP's, but my brother and his girlfriend needed to purchase a 4-day hopper. We got to AK around 9ish, and after purchasing tickets, went straight to the safari. We grabbed a fast-pass, and then headed over to Everest. It was crazy over there! We had learned when we went in June that the single rider line was often very short and moved quickly. So, we all got in that line, and were on the ride within 10min!! This is such a great ride...and I am not really fond of rollar coasters! When we were done, we went back over to Africa and ate breakfast at Tusker House before going on the safari. The safari was fun. My brothers girlfriend had never been on it, so it is always fun to see a first-timers reaction to all of the animals! When we got off, the park had really started to fill up. We decided to walk through the jungle trek, and got to see some huge hippos and gorillas - it was just unbelievable how big those hippos were up close!! We walked back toward Everest to attempt to ride it again, but the single rider line was extremely long, and the fast-passes were for five o'clock that night, and we had dinner ressie's for Canada for five. So....we headed on over to Dinasour. They had made a lot of progress on the former Tarzan Rocks theater...it is totally enclosed now (sorry, I didn't get a pic!). We decided to play all the carnival games in the dinasour area - and were good at them!! We won a whole bag full of toys, which my dogs are now enjoying playing with!!
Dinasour was great (as usual), and we also did Primeval Whirl (which DH refuses to ride...he doesn't do "spinny things"!). We decided we would just snack and forgo lunch, since we wanted to be ready to eat when we got to Canada for dinner!! We were a bit hot and tired by this point, so we headed over to It's Tough to Be a Bug, but the theater was broken ( 
), and we were told they did not know when it would be working again. I was bummed, b/c this is one of my favorite shows. But, we decided we would head out to have some relaxing time before dinner. We had a big night planned with dinner at Canada, drinking around the world, and then PI at night!! Here are some pics....
You can see DH and my brother and his girlfriend at the ticket window
Tree of Life
Expedition Everest
DH and I
DH, bro's girlfriend Leigha, and my brother Bryan
Huge hippo on the jungle trek
Up next...dinner in Canada and around the world at Epcot and late night at PI!
So we checked in late Tuesday night (around midnight) at the Royal Plaza in DTD. Overall, the hotel was just ok. Our room was decent. We are just really spoiled as DVC members with accomodations. We had used our allotment of points for this year, and were just looking for a cheap place to stay for a few nights. We booked the Royal Plaza for $79/night....so I would say we got what we paid for. Here are some pics....
Lobby
Disney store in the Lobby
Our room (Deluxe Tower Room)
The first day we woke up early and went to Animal Kingdom. DH and I had AP's, but my brother and his girlfriend needed to purchase a 4-day hopper. We got to AK around 9ish, and after purchasing tickets, went straight to the safari. We grabbed a fast-pass, and then headed over to Everest. It was crazy over there! We had learned when we went in June that the single rider line was often very short and moved quickly. So, we all got in that line, and were on the ride within 10min!! This is such a great ride...and I am not really fond of rollar coasters! When we were done, we went back over to Africa and ate breakfast at Tusker House before going on the safari. The safari was fun. My brothers girlfriend had never been on it, so it is always fun to see a first-timers reaction to all of the animals! When we got off, the park had really started to fill up. We decided to walk through the jungle trek, and got to see some huge hippos and gorillas - it was just unbelievable how big those hippos were up close!! We walked back toward Everest to attempt to ride it again, but the single rider line was extremely long, and the fast-passes were for five o'clock that night, and we had dinner ressie's for Canada for five. So....we headed on over to Dinasour. They had made a lot of progress on the former Tarzan Rocks theater...it is totally enclosed now (sorry, I didn't get a pic!). We decided to play all the carnival games in the dinasour area - and were good at them!! We won a whole bag full of toys, which my dogs are now enjoying playing with!!
Dinasour was great (as usual), and we also did Primeval Whirl (which DH refuses to ride...he doesn't do "spinny things"!). We decided we would just snack and forgo lunch, since we wanted to be ready to eat when we got to Canada for dinner!! We were a bit hot and tired by this point, so we headed over to It's Tough to Be a Bug, but the theater was broken ( ), and we were told they did not know when it would be working again. I was bummed, b/c this is one of my favorite shows. But, we decided we would head out to have some relaxing time before dinner. We had a big night planned with dinner at Canada, drinking around the world, and then PI at night!! Here are some pics....You can see DH and my brother and his girlfriend at the ticket window
Tree of Life
Expedition Everest
DH and I
DH, bro's girlfriend Leigha, and my brother Bryan
Huge hippo on the jungle trek
Up next...dinner in Canada and around the world at Epcot and late night at PI!
She said she re-applied a few years later, and was now there for the international program...and loving it! So dinner was excellent - DH got the salmon, and the rest of us got the filet. Leigha and I got the cheddar cheese soup, and Bryan and my DH got the ceasar salad. Everything was fabulous!
. We knew we wouldn't be at the resort much this trip, since it was only 5 days, so we didn't think we would mind it much. But, we really did end up missing hearing that "Welcome Home"!
