LisaZoe
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jul 1, 2004
- Messages
- 2,937
This is my first trip report so bear with me if I go long. My DD, almost 3, and I made our first WDW trip 9/14-9/22. Here's an overview of our experiences:
09/14: An early wake-up at 4:00 AM PST for me - not that I was sleeping well anyway.
I let DD sleep until 5:00 and had everything ready to go and we were out the door by 5:30. The drive to the Porltand airport is about 45 miles so I wanted to leave plenty of time for the drive, in case of traffic, plus to park and ride the shuttle to the terminal for our 8:05 AM departure. Everything went smoothly and we were on our way on time.
A short layover in Denver allowed us to get lunch and stretch our legs before the next flight took us to Orlando (MCO), which landed on time. I had arranged for a towncar to meet us at the airport so, after getting our checked luggage, we went outside to look for the car - the driver was supposed to be waiting with a sign showing our last name. Unfortunately, there was no such car and driver. After 15 minutes, I called the service. The man didn't know what had happened but assured me he'd have another car there ASAP and would not charge for the first leg of the RT service. The other car arrived within 20 minutes and we were on our way to the AKL.
Checkin went smoothly and we were soon in our Savannah view room - and saw giraffes, much to the delight of DD! I'd considered trying Boma for our first night but since we didn't get to our room until a bit after 8PM EST, I was too hot and tired to want to deal with a sit-down meal so we opted for The Mara. I have to say I wasn't impressed with the pizza I got but at least I was able to eat in the comfort of our room.
09/15: Knowing we'd get in late and be tired from the time difference, I had scheduled us to go to AK our first morning. We got up and going by 9AM and had a nice, leisurely morning at the park. Because it was so hot and humid and we were tired, we really enjoyed the shows there were inside - and air conditioned. My DD especially liked the Festival of the Lion King. The only rides we did we rode twice, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Triceratops Spin.
Lunch was at the Tusker house, roast chicken and veggies. DD wasn't very hungry so just picked at the food. I was about the same and something in the seasoning wasn't appealing to me in my state. We left the park early, around 3PM, to rest in our room so we'd be ready for dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Chef Mickey's didn't work out as I'd hoped. My DD did not want to talk to, let alone get near, any of the characters. She'd walked right up to Minnie at AK earlier that day so I was surprised by this change. I let DD know that she didn't have to even look at the characters if she didn't want to. I'd just wave at thema and say "Not today, thanks" which seemed to reassure her. All the characters came by our table and seemed to sense immediately that she wasn't comfortable with their presence. Most just waved, mimed a few "comments" and moved one. The food was OK but I still didn't have much of an appetite nor did DD. DD did enjoy the monorail ride from the TTC to CR and back. We also were able to see some of the MK fireworks as we rode.
09/16: PSB was first on our agenda. Being the somewhat over-indulgent mom that I am, I'd made a dress for DD to wear for this breakfast.
Again, DD wasn't happy to see the characters in the restaurant - even if they were princesses! Luckily, though, when one came to our table, DD was willing to talk and pose for a pitcure. She later commented that the princesses could talk but not Mickey and friends. The food was just OK again but that's not why we went there.
After breakfast, we walked balk to the main entrance so we could start at the right spot. Also, we were able to be there when the characters arrived to greet the guests. Again, DD walked right up to Minnie but would have nothing to do with the other characters. Thinking back now, it seems like we didn't do much at Epcot but we had fun. DD most liked the bands playing - and had a ball dancing with a band in Mexico. We were able to catch most of a show by Off Kilter and liked that. I was afraid DD would be impatient to go somewhere else but she was content to sit and listen - only moving to a new seat a couple of times. DD also enjoyed the water jet areas... and I enjoyed the chance to sit down and relax for awhile.
After a break back at our room, we did a few repeat rides then had dinner at the Cantina de San Angel. The food was great and, except for the rain, we enjoyed the meal a lot - DD even ate most of her burrito. I must express some irritation with other guests who grabbed tables with umbrellas to escape the rain which left those of actually trying to find a table at which to eat "out in the cold" - almost literally. Of course, this was the one time I had not brought our umbrella or ponchos - I left the stroller in the room and forgot to grab rain gear.
We walked around a bit until time for Illuminations. One mistake I'd made was to stop "on the farside of the world" which made for a long walk balk to the exit. Because I didn't want to deal with the crowds waiting for buses, not there was really that many people at the park compared to regular season, I let DD play in another of the water jet areas with 2 other kids. We had a very short wait for the bus once we got to the stop. Both of us were very ready for bed once we were back in our room.
09/14: An early wake-up at 4:00 AM PST for me - not that I was sleeping well anyway.
I let DD sleep until 5:00 and had everything ready to go and we were out the door by 5:30. The drive to the Porltand airport is about 45 miles so I wanted to leave plenty of time for the drive, in case of traffic, plus to park and ride the shuttle to the terminal for our 8:05 AM departure. Everything went smoothly and we were on our way on time.A short layover in Denver allowed us to get lunch and stretch our legs before the next flight took us to Orlando (MCO), which landed on time. I had arranged for a towncar to meet us at the airport so, after getting our checked luggage, we went outside to look for the car - the driver was supposed to be waiting with a sign showing our last name. Unfortunately, there was no such car and driver. After 15 minutes, I called the service. The man didn't know what had happened but assured me he'd have another car there ASAP and would not charge for the first leg of the RT service. The other car arrived within 20 minutes and we were on our way to the AKL.
Checkin went smoothly and we were soon in our Savannah view room - and saw giraffes, much to the delight of DD! I'd considered trying Boma for our first night but since we didn't get to our room until a bit after 8PM EST, I was too hot and tired to want to deal with a sit-down meal so we opted for The Mara. I have to say I wasn't impressed with the pizza I got but at least I was able to eat in the comfort of our room.
09/15: Knowing we'd get in late and be tired from the time difference, I had scheduled us to go to AK our first morning. We got up and going by 9AM and had a nice, leisurely morning at the park. Because it was so hot and humid and we were tired, we really enjoyed the shows there were inside - and air conditioned. My DD especially liked the Festival of the Lion King. The only rides we did we rode twice, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Triceratops Spin.
Lunch was at the Tusker house, roast chicken and veggies. DD wasn't very hungry so just picked at the food. I was about the same and something in the seasoning wasn't appealing to me in my state. We left the park early, around 3PM, to rest in our room so we'd be ready for dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Chef Mickey's didn't work out as I'd hoped. My DD did not want to talk to, let alone get near, any of the characters. She'd walked right up to Minnie at AK earlier that day so I was surprised by this change. I let DD know that she didn't have to even look at the characters if she didn't want to. I'd just wave at thema and say "Not today, thanks" which seemed to reassure her. All the characters came by our table and seemed to sense immediately that she wasn't comfortable with their presence. Most just waved, mimed a few "comments" and moved one. The food was OK but I still didn't have much of an appetite nor did DD. DD did enjoy the monorail ride from the TTC to CR and back. We also were able to see some of the MK fireworks as we rode.
09/16: PSB was first on our agenda. Being the somewhat over-indulgent mom that I am, I'd made a dress for DD to wear for this breakfast.
Again, DD wasn't happy to see the characters in the restaurant - even if they were princesses! Luckily, though, when one came to our table, DD was willing to talk and pose for a pitcure. She later commented that the princesses could talk but not Mickey and friends. The food was just OK again but that's not why we went there.
After breakfast, we walked balk to the main entrance so we could start at the right spot. Also, we were able to be there when the characters arrived to greet the guests. Again, DD walked right up to Minnie but would have nothing to do with the other characters. Thinking back now, it seems like we didn't do much at Epcot but we had fun. DD most liked the bands playing - and had a ball dancing with a band in Mexico. We were able to catch most of a show by Off Kilter and liked that. I was afraid DD would be impatient to go somewhere else but she was content to sit and listen - only moving to a new seat a couple of times.
DD also enjoyed the water jet areas... and I enjoyed the chance to sit down and relax for awhile.After a break back at our room, we did a few repeat rides then had dinner at the Cantina de San Angel. The food was great and, except for the rain, we enjoyed the meal a lot - DD even ate most of her burrito. I must express some irritation with other guests who grabbed tables with umbrellas to escape the rain which left those of actually trying to find a table at which to eat "out in the cold" - almost literally. Of course, this was the one time I had not brought our umbrella or ponchos - I left the stroller in the room and forgot to grab rain gear.
We walked around a bit until time for Illuminations. One mistake I'd made was to stop "on the farside of the world" which made for a long walk balk to the exit. Because I didn't want to deal with the crowds waiting for buses, not there was really that many people at the park compared to regular season, I let DD play in another of the water jet areas with 2 other kids. We had a very short wait for the bus once we got to the stop. Both of us were very ready for bed once we were back in our room.
Great report and your daughter is DARLING!
