carleesmom
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 30, 2002
- Messages
- 58
Characters:
Myself - 41yo, went to WDW in '72, '74 & then '92.
DH - 42yo, once in '92
DS 9y & DS 7yo - never been
We drove straight through 11/1 from North Carolina & stayed 2 nights at Clarion Maingate (nice, clean, convenient). Went to AK on 11/2 around noon & walked on to all the rides, thoroughly loved the parade. Checked in to Wilderness Lodge 11/3 at 7am. Was able to catch the boat to MK for EE & was there at rope drop at 8am. No crowds at all, walked on to Space Mtn (DS 7 said he didn't like it but that was the first ride he wanted to do when we came back on Wed), also did Splash Mtn x2 (what a great ride), Buzz Lightyear, HM(my favorite from when I was a child), & managed to ride almost everything by 3p, saw the parade & then headed back to check in to our rooms, unpack & head for GF as we had PS 5p for character dinner - great food, good character interaction but expensive (glad we did it, but not sure if we would do a character meal again - was budgeted in to our food budget though). Decided to ride the monorail, boarded there at GF & asked to ride up front - boys were thrilled to have their 1st monorail ride being a co-pilot! Monday we went to Epcot, not crowded at all, loved Test Track. Tip - ride as a single if the stand by line is long & fast pass is several hours (did this one night & was able to have both myself & DS in the same car, less than 5 min wait). Also did Universe of Energy, Innoventions, Spaceship Earth. Getting warmer, DH & DSs getting grumpy, so left & went swimming at WL, ate at Roaring Forks for late lunch/early dinner. Food was good - boys ate chicken tenders which were good.
Tuesday - Blizzard beach (crowded) & Illuminations at night. Ate dinner at Beaches n Cream, used Connections Vouchers. Food was great, went at 6p, not crowded at all, had too much food so took it home & did order the kitchen sink - DS 7yo made all of it w/ help & he loved it (hope the pictures turn out!)
Wed - Returned to MK to repeat some of our favorite rides & do Jungle Cruise (was a line Sun afternoon). We ate lunch at Kona Cafe (Poly) - food was good but not sure if we'd go back.
Had dinner in our room - the benefit of driving & bringing food w/ us.
Thurs - MGM. Crowded, not sure if it was because of Super Soap Week, NJ week, Veterans day or all of the above. Rode TOT (I was having second thoughts after reading posts here about it, but did it & rode it again - I would probably rank this as my all time favorite at WDW), boys loved it as well. Muppets in 3d, Indiana Jones, DH did RNRC (boys didn't want to go upside down), , backlot tour, great movie ride. DH 9yo ranked this as his 2nd favorite park (behind MK). Ate dinner at WCC - had a blast! Jeffro was our waiter - DS 7yo was playing w/ the Lincoln logs when dinner came - he just yelled his name for him to come to dinner & he came - wish he'd respond to me that way - ha ha.
Drove home Friday, long drive as traffic was bad in Orlando & again around Raleigh/Cary area (glad I live in a small town, that traffic would kill me every day!).
Hope this trip report helps someone as I did so much reading before our trip & it did help! Please ask if you have questions,
Pam
Myself - 41yo, went to WDW in '72, '74 & then '92.
DH - 42yo, once in '92
DS 9y & DS 7yo - never been
We drove straight through 11/1 from North Carolina & stayed 2 nights at Clarion Maingate (nice, clean, convenient). Went to AK on 11/2 around noon & walked on to all the rides, thoroughly loved the parade. Checked in to Wilderness Lodge 11/3 at 7am. Was able to catch the boat to MK for EE & was there at rope drop at 8am. No crowds at all, walked on to Space Mtn (DS 7 said he didn't like it but that was the first ride he wanted to do when we came back on Wed), also did Splash Mtn x2 (what a great ride), Buzz Lightyear, HM(my favorite from when I was a child), & managed to ride almost everything by 3p, saw the parade & then headed back to check in to our rooms, unpack & head for GF as we had PS 5p for character dinner - great food, good character interaction but expensive (glad we did it, but not sure if we would do a character meal again - was budgeted in to our food budget though). Decided to ride the monorail, boarded there at GF & asked to ride up front - boys were thrilled to have their 1st monorail ride being a co-pilot! Monday we went to Epcot, not crowded at all, loved Test Track. Tip - ride as a single if the stand by line is long & fast pass is several hours (did this one night & was able to have both myself & DS in the same car, less than 5 min wait). Also did Universe of Energy, Innoventions, Spaceship Earth. Getting warmer, DH & DSs getting grumpy, so left & went swimming at WL, ate at Roaring Forks for late lunch/early dinner. Food was good - boys ate chicken tenders which were good.
Tuesday - Blizzard beach (crowded) & Illuminations at night. Ate dinner at Beaches n Cream, used Connections Vouchers. Food was great, went at 6p, not crowded at all, had too much food so took it home & did order the kitchen sink - DS 7yo made all of it w/ help & he loved it (hope the pictures turn out!)
Wed - Returned to MK to repeat some of our favorite rides & do Jungle Cruise (was a line Sun afternoon). We ate lunch at Kona Cafe (Poly) - food was good but not sure if we'd go back.
Had dinner in our room - the benefit of driving & bringing food w/ us.
Thurs - MGM. Crowded, not sure if it was because of Super Soap Week, NJ week, Veterans day or all of the above. Rode TOT (I was having second thoughts after reading posts here about it, but did it & rode it again - I would probably rank this as my all time favorite at WDW), boys loved it as well. Muppets in 3d, Indiana Jones, DH did RNRC (boys didn't want to go upside down), , backlot tour, great movie ride. DH 9yo ranked this as his 2nd favorite park (behind MK). Ate dinner at WCC - had a blast! Jeffro was our waiter - DS 7yo was playing w/ the Lincoln logs when dinner came - he just yelled his name for him to come to dinner & he came - wish he'd respond to me that way - ha ha.
Drove home Friday, long drive as traffic was bad in Orlando & again around Raleigh/Cary area (glad I live in a small town, that traffic would kill me every day!).
Hope this trip report helps someone as I did so much reading before our trip & it did help! Please ask if you have questions,
Pam
