Aurora63
<font color=0066CC>I do look ravishing, don't I?<b
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2003
- Messages
- 3,739
One of the joys of living in South Florida is the proximity to Disney. Only a three hour drive along the usually fairly placid FL Turnpike and I am there. We get hurricanes, but were close to Disney. Its a trade off.
We took advantage of our proximity this weekend to go up for a two day visit. My DH and I went, with two of our friends and our friends eight year old daughter.
First, the hotel mainly, I am an on-site kind of gal. DH prefers to stay off site. He thinks he is getting more for the money off site, he doesnt mind driving to the parks (in fact, he prefers it to being tied to a Disney bus) and he thinks if he is staying off site, he will be more likely to try off site things. But mostly, he likes to gamble with Priceline.
I gave in this time actually, I was outnumbered. We stayed off site at the Marriot Orlando World Center. One of our friends had a 10% off coupon, so each room was only $111 per night. We got there at 10:30 pm on Friday night, and the girl checking us in apologized that she couldnt give us three rooms next to each other. But we were all in the same hallway, so we didnt care. She also gave us two free coupons for the buffet breakfast in the morning, so two of us could eat there free.
Our rooms were in the West Tower of the hotel, fourth floor. They were all very clean, with down comforters and white bedding, and large balconies. There is no fridge in the room, but you can request one and they will bring it to your room free of charge. There was also a desk and loveseat, which pulled out into a full sized bed. And of course a TV armoire, which included a minibar. There were nice toiletries in the bathroom, and it had granite counters and was just very nice overall.
All in all I was very satisfied with the hotel in general. The only negative was with housekeeping. The first night, when we arrived, there was no coffee, and the package containing cream and sugar was open (from a previous guest?) We did not call about it that night, as we were very tired, and when we came back from the park on Saturday, it had been taken care of. The other thing was that housekeeping was knocking on our door at 8:30 every morning. You would think after the first time I would have thought to put out the privacy sign, but I didnt! So it continued. Other than that, they did a fabulous job.
After checking in Friday night, we basically went to bed, and slept until 8:30 when housekeeping woke us up. After getting ready, we headed down to their breakfast buffet, which is called Solaris. It was phenomenal. They had an omelet station, all manner of fruits (strawberries, blueberries, mango, papaya, apricots, watermelon, etc.) plus your standard breakfast fare (eggs, sausage, bacon, cereals, baked stuff, waffles) and lots of cheeses and sliced meats. It was an amazing spread, and with the two free coupons we got to eat very well fairly cheaply.
We decided to spend Saturday at Epcot. If you ever stay at this hotel, just turn right from the main entrance, pass the entrance to I-4, and you are on Disney property. It was an incredibly quick drive.
I was bracing myself for crazy crowds, because 1. It was Labor Day weekend, and 2. We didnt get there till 11:00, well after park opening. But it wasnt bad at all. Our strategy is always to get a fast pass for Soarin first, then stand in line for Test Track. It worked out perfectly. Test Track had an advertised wait of 40 minutes, I timed it and it was actually only about 20. We then rode Nemo, watched the manatees and fish being fed, and headed over to Soarin. It was only about 1pm by this point but it was pouring now, glad we got in T.T. before the rain. PS Buy those garbage bag ponchos at the dollar store before your trip, they are a great investment.
Before Soarin we ate at Sunshine Seasons, which was only ok this time. A little bland, choices, I felt, were not exciting. However, the strawberry shortcake here was incredible!
We then rode Soarin using our fast passes, and decided to get another fast pass for this after we rode. Then we headed over to Ellens Universe of Energy, a ride I usually skip, but my friend and her daughter really wanted to ride, so we did. Then we were off to the World Showcase, starting in Canada and working our way around. By the time we finished England, the rest of the group had decided they did not want to walk all the way back to Soarin again, which bothered me because I did, but I decided to stay with the group instead of ride by myself (what fun is that?)
So we worked our way around the entire World Showcase, stopping for extended periods in Morocco (MoRockin), Japan (Hello Kitty), and Norway (Maelstrom). By this time it was 7pm, we were all tired and decided not to stay for Illuminations. Instead we headed off property to a Lebanese restaurant called Cedars on Sand Lake Rd. and Dr. Philips Rd. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. By the time we were done it was close to ten, so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
Day two (Sunday of the Labor Day Weekend) coming up next...
We took advantage of our proximity this weekend to go up for a two day visit. My DH and I went, with two of our friends and our friends eight year old daughter.
First, the hotel mainly, I am an on-site kind of gal. DH prefers to stay off site. He thinks he is getting more for the money off site, he doesnt mind driving to the parks (in fact, he prefers it to being tied to a Disney bus) and he thinks if he is staying off site, he will be more likely to try off site things. But mostly, he likes to gamble with Priceline.
I gave in this time actually, I was outnumbered. We stayed off site at the Marriot Orlando World Center. One of our friends had a 10% off coupon, so each room was only $111 per night. We got there at 10:30 pm on Friday night, and the girl checking us in apologized that she couldnt give us three rooms next to each other. But we were all in the same hallway, so we didnt care. She also gave us two free coupons for the buffet breakfast in the morning, so two of us could eat there free.
Our rooms were in the West Tower of the hotel, fourth floor. They were all very clean, with down comforters and white bedding, and large balconies. There is no fridge in the room, but you can request one and they will bring it to your room free of charge. There was also a desk and loveseat, which pulled out into a full sized bed. And of course a TV armoire, which included a minibar. There were nice toiletries in the bathroom, and it had granite counters and was just very nice overall.
All in all I was very satisfied with the hotel in general. The only negative was with housekeeping. The first night, when we arrived, there was no coffee, and the package containing cream and sugar was open (from a previous guest?) We did not call about it that night, as we were very tired, and when we came back from the park on Saturday, it had been taken care of. The other thing was that housekeeping was knocking on our door at 8:30 every morning. You would think after the first time I would have thought to put out the privacy sign, but I didnt! So it continued. Other than that, they did a fabulous job.
After checking in Friday night, we basically went to bed, and slept until 8:30 when housekeeping woke us up. After getting ready, we headed down to their breakfast buffet, which is called Solaris. It was phenomenal. They had an omelet station, all manner of fruits (strawberries, blueberries, mango, papaya, apricots, watermelon, etc.) plus your standard breakfast fare (eggs, sausage, bacon, cereals, baked stuff, waffles) and lots of cheeses and sliced meats. It was an amazing spread, and with the two free coupons we got to eat very well fairly cheaply.
We decided to spend Saturday at Epcot. If you ever stay at this hotel, just turn right from the main entrance, pass the entrance to I-4, and you are on Disney property. It was an incredibly quick drive.
I was bracing myself for crazy crowds, because 1. It was Labor Day weekend, and 2. We didnt get there till 11:00, well after park opening. But it wasnt bad at all. Our strategy is always to get a fast pass for Soarin first, then stand in line for Test Track. It worked out perfectly. Test Track had an advertised wait of 40 minutes, I timed it and it was actually only about 20. We then rode Nemo, watched the manatees and fish being fed, and headed over to Soarin. It was only about 1pm by this point but it was pouring now, glad we got in T.T. before the rain. PS Buy those garbage bag ponchos at the dollar store before your trip, they are a great investment.
Before Soarin we ate at Sunshine Seasons, which was only ok this time. A little bland, choices, I felt, were not exciting. However, the strawberry shortcake here was incredible!
We then rode Soarin using our fast passes, and decided to get another fast pass for this after we rode. Then we headed over to Ellens Universe of Energy, a ride I usually skip, but my friend and her daughter really wanted to ride, so we did. Then we were off to the World Showcase, starting in Canada and working our way around. By the time we finished England, the rest of the group had decided they did not want to walk all the way back to Soarin again, which bothered me because I did, but I decided to stay with the group instead of ride by myself (what fun is that?)
So we worked our way around the entire World Showcase, stopping for extended periods in Morocco (MoRockin), Japan (Hello Kitty), and Norway (Maelstrom). By this time it was 7pm, we were all tired and decided not to stay for Illuminations. Instead we headed off property to a Lebanese restaurant called Cedars on Sand Lake Rd. and Dr. Philips Rd. The food was excellent and reasonably priced. By the time we were done it was close to ten, so we headed back to the hotel and called it a night.
Day two (Sunday of the Labor Day Weekend) coming up next...
