MagicKingdom05 Feb 25-March 7 Trip report

[MagicKingdom05]

Well first of all I wanted to say that I had a great time at WDW this time around and enjoyed staying at CBR. I was able to spend lots of time at all the parks and still have time left to do stuff at CBR and that worked out great. The crowds really weren’t all that bad and the weather was great, so I was able to and see everything I wanted and some stuff more than once. I had fun on the water mice and thought it was great fun riding them. Also, I got a bunny and a bird towel animal the first two nights I was there.

As some of you know, I made PS arrangements at Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey’s and a couple other ones, but only did Crystal Palace and Chef Mickey’s. The food was outstanding, but they just seem to be more geared to the families and younger crowds. Plus I went stands and got a hotdogs and stuff like that most of the time anyways, so the sit down type things really isn’t my cup of tea. I’m sure I will eat at Chef Mickey’s again since I’m staying at Contemporary in May.

Also, I was very excited to find out what WDW had left in my room. I got one of the WDW red/white/blue baseball caps, a fanny pack that said WDW on it and some WDW pins. Also, I found out at check in, that they arranged it so I could have a free upgrade to a water view room at CBR, but had to wait until the 5th night there, for availability. This was nice because I went from staying at Barbados, to North Trinidad which is so close to the food court area. Also when I was moved, at night, I could see some of the Illumination fire works from the back of Port Royal which was very cool.

Here is a list of things I liked and did at each park:

Magic Kingdom

1. Cinderella’s Surprise show at the Castle (saw the last show and
new castle looks great).
2. Mickey's Philharmagic (first time seeing it and loved it)
3. Wishes (this was great)
4. Haunted Mansion
5. Jungle Cruise
6. Peter Pan's Flight
7. Pirates of the Caribbean
8. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain & Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
9. Walt Disney World Railroad
10. Swiss Family Robinson Tree house
11. Spectromagic (very cool)
12. Carousel of Progress

Animal Kingdom

1. Dinosaur
2. Festival of the Lion King
3. It's Tough to Be a Bug
4. Kilimanjaro Safaris
5. Tarzan Rocks!
6. Conservation Station - Rafiki's Planet Watch
7. Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade

Epcot

1. Ellen's Energy Adventure
2. Mission: SPACE (10 times)
3. Spaceship Earth
4. Test Track
5. The Living Seas
6. Maelstrom
7. Illuminations: Reflections of Earth
8. World Showcase (I ate my way through this)

MGM Studios

1. Beauty and the Beast
2. Great Movie Ride
3. Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular
4. Muppetvision 3-D
5. Star Tours

I really don’t have much to complain about since it was such a great trip, but I did have one problem with charging on my room card. I went ahead and put down $1000 in TC on my room card and they were happy to do that. However the lady who did this, put it in as a negative balance so I had a real hard time using it. Sometimes it worked sometimes it didn’t. Twice I had to come back from MK to get it worked on, and the second time finally decided to have them cash it out and I would just pay cash for it. Also I had to replace my AP twice, because it wouldn't work and I had to show my DL the parks to get in. After the last replacement, it worked great.

I must say that overall, this was one of the best vacations I have ever taken and can’t wait to go back in May (Memorial Day weekend).

 

[debbiedoo]

I am happy to hear that you had a great time!!

thanks for the tips about leaving TC with the front desk--I thought about maybe doing that--now I may think again.

I will be down for memorial day too---YAHOO!!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

debbiedoo,

I'm not sure it really had anything to do with me using TC as more about it being entered into the system as a neg balance instead of a pos balance. The reason I finally decided to get my money off the card, is that they couldn't seem to fix the issue after they said it was taken care of.

 

[debbiedoo]

Thanks Jason---I am still deciding what I want to do--cash balance/TC/or CC.

 

[Rootskate]

Glad to hear you had a nice trip Jason! Welcome back

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Rootskate,

Thanks. Like I said, I had a great time. I was able to do all the parks and everything I wanted in 7 days so I had 3 days to spend at CBR. Next time (next year) when I take a week long vacation to WDW, probably will only do 7 days instead of 11 days. You would be surprised at how fast you can see and do things at WDW when your going solo. I took it at a very relaxing pace and still have lots of time to spare.

 

[dreamflight99]

Jason~Glad to read you had a great time on your trip!

*Mission space is the BEST!!!

*Philharmagic is right there with MS...

Thanks for posting.

DF99

 

[MagicKingdom05]

dreamflight99,

Thanks. I was worried about MS because of all the issues with people getting motion sickness on it, but once I was on it and new I would be just fine, I got off went out the door and went back to the single line and went again. As far as Philharmagic goes, is it me or does the 3D stuff in Philharmagic seem better then the Muppets 3D show at MGM as far as quaility goes.

I would say that my top 5 favorites are:

1. Mission Space (first time riding it)
2. Philharmagic (first time seeing it)
3. Wishes (first time seeing it)
4. Spectromagic (first time seeing it)
5. Festival of the Lion King (could see this over and over)

 

[Shells9]

Sounds like you had fun! You went on M:S 10 times???

 

[LindaR]

Jason! So nice to read your trip report. I'm glad that you had a great time. If you enjoy character meals........then GO! We (dd16 and I) feel kinda strange sometimes, too. We've learned over the years which places we feel more comfortable with (for us, Chef Mickey's, Garden Grill, and 1900 Park Fare), so we tend to stick with these for our character meals.

We leave for CBR in less than 2 weeks! Did you do any early mornings or late nights at the parks?

Well, now you can get all excited about your UPCOMING trip!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

LindaR,

I will definately be eating breakfast at Chef Mickey's since I will already be there. Actually I did get the arm bands at MGM and AK for those two extra hour times, but since I got everything I wanted done during the normal hours, I usually just stuck around for a little while to let the bus crowds clear out.

I think that I have a huge advantage by going solo, because I can get lots of stuff done in a short period of time. Also some of the rides like TT and MS have single rider lines and you basically can ride it over and over and not wait more than 5 minutes.

My May trip is basically just an extra trip to see the new 50th attraction at WDW and basically try out a monorail resort.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Shells9,

I had never rode Mission Space before I was worried about it because of all the talk about motion sickness on it. However, I knew that I was going to be ok, was the take off happened. I actually looked around and had no problems either. Thanks to the single line they have, I never had to wait more than 2 or 3 minutes to get on MS. I think MS is one of the best rides at any of the WDW parks.

 

[dreamflight99]

As far as Philharmagic goes, is it me or does the 3D stuff in Philharmagic seem better then the Muppets 3D show at MGM as far as quaility goes.

No, it's not you Jason. It's DEFINITELY BETTER than the muppets, and is actually a 4~D experience! SCENT...is added to this one. The chocolates, and the PIE "SMELL" so delicious!! I could see this again, and again...without tire.

Also, MS is one of the top rides in all the parks (IMHO)! I rode it again, and again...at least 8 times in a row! No problems here either. I have SO much fun with the different positions (changed seats to experience each!), and LOVE the weightlessness of zero gravity. Awesome attraction.

Festival of the Lion King is incredible. Just one more reason DISNEY WORLD is at the top of the theme park game!

Have you planned anything special for your upcoming visit? Anything you missed, or enjoyed enough to experience again (aside from the attractions)?

DF99

 

[MagicKingdom05]

dreamflight99,

Actually, I was able to see everything I wanted to and still have time to go back and do some of the things 4 or 5 times. There really isn't much that I didn't see on this trip that I will do again in May except for:

MS, Festival of the Lion King, Mickey's Philharmagic, Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, Wishes. This is on top of the new things like Soarin, Lights, Motors, Action!
Extreme Stunt Show and Cinderellabration.