Just got back!

[Lil'Simba]

Where do I begin?
Our cast includes me, Diane (mom), DH, Bill, and DD Nici - 11 yo.
Let me preface this by saying I do not mind the heat, I hate the cold. I'd rather be warm than cold. DH, not so much! LOL We left on August 6th and returned on the 12th. It was hot, humid, in the 90's the whole week. We are from CT. If you just stood in the sun, you would be dripping with sweat within 2 minutes. DH was not thrilled but he wasn't a downer either. It just drained him and his energy level was not very high. (Yes, we knew about the heat going in, but timing wise, this was the only time for us to go - trust me, the arguments and discussions on when to go is a whole other post).

It's been 9 yrs since we have been to WDW (refer to Paragraph 1 for a possible reason - we could never agree on when to go). Anyway, no major changes from what I remember.

I will try to do this by commenting on the stuff we did and saw rather than give you a play by play.

The highlight of our trip: Our anniversary lunch at the Coral Reef. I had the personalized menus done and the diver was there on cue, much to the surprise of my dh. We were seated in a booth across the aisle from the aquarium. So when the diver put the sign to the window, it took dh a couple of seconds to figure out what it said, and then a few seconds more to realize it was for us! I started to cry - it was so cool! The food was fantastic! They don't give you much, but it was delicious. Our server, Jose, excellent! He brought us dessert, "the chocolate wave", as an anniversary gift.

My thoughts on:

CM - They were fantastic! I wasn't sure what to expect because I had read a thread about how the quality of the cm's was down. Not my experience at all! In fact, for 96% of them. We had one grumpy, one sleepy, and a couple of dopeys, but the rest (which was probably around a couple hundred or so) were incredible. Nice, pleasant, knowledgeable...I can't say enough about them.

CSR - Incredible! The staff, the grounds, the service were all incredible. Beautiful place to stay. Now it is a very large resort and we ended up in the Ranchos section which is directly across from the Lobby. It wasn't my first choice. I did request the buildings closer to the lobby. From our room, it was a good 10-15 minute walk to the lobby. We were about a 5 minute walk to the pool. However, we were only in the pool once and the lobby almost everyday. DH would rather go get a cup coffee in the a.m. rather than use the coffee maker, so for him, being that far away from the lobby was a bit of a hassle. On the other hand, the walk from our room to the lobby was beautiful. The grounds were gorgeous.

Steam Train Tour- I gave this to DH as his anniversary gift. It was a surprise. Getting him up early was a task, but he loved it. We all did. He is very much into trains and history and that is what you get from this tour. DD liked it because she got to go 'behind the scenes' and be in the park before everyone else. Frankly, I liked it for the same reason. LOL Walt Disney was very much into trains and it was great to learn how all of that part of his dream came about.

I have to go make dinner. Be back later with more.

 

[vdarrell]

Glad you had good CM's.

So happy that your DH finally fiqured out the sign was for him.
What a wonderful anniversary gift to your DH.(train tour)

Will be waiting to read more.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Where do I begin?
Our cast includes me, Diane (mom), DH, Bill, and DD Nici - 11 yo.
Let me preface this by saying I do not mind the heat, I hate the cold. I'd rather be warm than cold. DH, not so much! LOL We left on August 6th and returned on the 12th. It was hot, humid, in the 90's the whole week. We are from CT. If you just stood in the sun, you would be dripping with sweat within 2 minutes. DH was not thrilled but he wasn't a downer either. It just drained him and his energy level was not very high. (Yes, we knew about the heat going in, but timing wise, this was the only time for us to go - trust me, the arguments and discussions on when to go is a whole other post).

It's been 9 yrs since we have been to WDW (refer to Paragraph 1 for a possible reason - we could never agree on when to go). Anyway, no major changes from what I remember.

I will try to do this by commenting on the stuff we did and saw rather than give you a play by play.

The highlight of our trip: Our anniversary lunch at the Coral Reef. I had the personalized menus done and the diver was there on cue, much to the surprise of my dh. We were seated in a booth across the aisle from the aquarium. So when the diver put the sign to the window, it took dh a couple of seconds to figure out what it said, and then a few seconds more to realize it was for us! I started to cry - it was so cool! The food was fantastic! They don't give you much, but it was delicious. Our server, Jose, excellent! He brought us dessert, "the chocolate wave", as an anniversary gift.

My thoughts on:

CM - They were fantastic! I wasn't sure what to expect because I had read a thread about how the quality of the cm's was down. Not my experience at all! In fact, for 96% of them. We had one grumpy, one sleepy, and a couple of dopeys, but the rest (which was probably around a couple hundred or so) were incredible. Nice, pleasant, knowledgeable...I can't say enough about them.

CSR - Incredible! The staff, the grounds, the service were all incredible. Beautiful place to stay. Now it is a very large resort and we ended up in the Ranchos section which is directly across from the Lobby. It wasn't my first choice. I did request the buildings closer to the lobby. From our room, it was a good 10-15 minute walk to the lobby. We were about a 5 minute walk to the pool. However, we were only in the pool once and the lobby almost everyday. DH would rather go get a cup coffee in the a.m. rather than use the coffee maker, so for him, being that far away from the lobby was a bit of a hassle. On the other hand, the walk from our room to the lobby was beautiful. The grounds were gorgeous.

Steam Train Tour- I gave this to DH as his anniversary gift. It was a surprise. Getting him up early was a task, but he loved it. We all did. He is very much into trains and history and that is what you get from this tour. DD liked it because she got to go 'behind the scenes' and be in the park before everyone else. Frankly, I liked it for the same reason. LOL Walt Disney was very much into trains and it was great to learn how all of that part of his dream came about.

I have to go make dinner. Be back later with more.

Welcome back. Glad you had a good trip. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Lil'Simba]

Ok - back for the next round

Water - we spent about $16 - $20 per day on water. Most of the fountains we walked by were warm water. So we had to pay. On the bright side, water not only hydrates you but helps keep you full, therefore, I don't think I ate as much food!

Food - Wow! this was an unexpected surprise! Not the cost, but the quality. I thought it was great. Much better than it was 9 years ago!
Great choices too! The bakery on Main Street USA had this wonderful fruit and yogurt parfait bowl. I got grilled veggie sandwiches from DHS which were delish. The only sub par food I had was a breakfast sandwich from the abc commissary at DHS. It was what I would equate to park food - edible, but not spectacular. I loved that fact that you have the choice of apple slices rather than french fries. Don't get me wrong, I usually chose the french fries , but it was nice to have the option. We also ate at the ESPN club and thought it was great..food and service.

Transportation - I think we took all the different modes WDW has to offer. For the most part, the wait times were fine...5 - 20 minutes. We have to wait 30 minutes for a bus once. I guess someone had gotten sick on the bus and threw them off schedule.


Must see - Fantasmic! Excellent show.

Photopass Photogs - hard to come by. The only place they were abundant were at the park entrances. They were sporadic at the character meeting places. On two occasions, we had waited in line for the character, one being Mickey, for about 45 minutes. The photog left after the family in front of us. Ugh! that was a bit upsetting, but, oh well! As far as photopass goes, it's a great option. But when I got home and entered my codes, it said I had 107 photos. I was like "wow! that's great! didn't think I had that many" . go to find out, a lot of the pictures were the same picture just different distances (far away, a little closer, and close-up). On Main St, I was able to pull a photog over to the sidewalk and have him take a pic of dd near one of the buildings.

I have to get back to work - I'm sure I'll think of more.