My First Trip Report Part 1

[Kindigo]

Two Canucks Walt Disney World Adventure!

2 Magic Your Way Tickets, Park Hoppers Pass with the Water Parks and more option for 5 days!

Motel: Super 8, Buffalo

Airline: JetBlue non stop to MCO

Resort: All Star Movies

Dates: August 27th-Sept 6th 2012

Parks Visited: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom,
Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, Downtown Disney and Sea World​

Well we are finally back from our 10 stay at WDW. It was quite a build up to the vacation. At first we were not sure whether we were going to drive or fly down. In the end, we decided to drive to Buffalo, stay over night at the Super 8 Motel and fly out the next morning. Now not all of this trip report is going to be good. I have a few complaints about some things. But I figure that it what a trip report is for. To help other learn from our experiences. So they can make their vacations as magical as possible.

The drive to Buffalo was okay. There was about an hour and a half wait at the US border. Which we were expecting, since it was close to the Labour Day holiday.
We made to the Super 8 Motel in Buffalo and the receptionist there tried to argue with me that we had not booked a long term parking room. When in fact I had book the room well in advance. And I also called prior to leaving just to make sure.
Needless to say from the look, stay and atmosphere of the Super 8 Motel, we would not stay there again. I cannot complain too much because the price was right. But I think next time we will look else where and pay a bit more.

So the morning after our motel stay we were up very early because we were excited to leave and get started on our Disney vacation. The motel did offer a breakfast bar of cereals, yogurts, juices, milk, make your own waffles and other foods. We took the complimentary shuttle to the Buffalo airport, and went through security with no problem.
Our flight was with JetBlue. Only 2 hours non stop to MCO. We boarded easily. The staff was polite and friend. The snacks were great and the trip was smooth.

When we got to the Orlando airport, we went straight to the Magical Express and were disappointed to find that we did not get a chance to board the big blue bus like we had expected. Instead they were using bright yellow Mears buses. Now this wouldn't have been a problem, except for the fact the bus was dirty, smelly and over all disgusting. The arrival video you get on the bus still played, but it was choppey and in black and white. Not at all what I expect from starting our Disney vacation.
To top off this first impression of Mears....the drive got -lost- on Disney property... completely disregarding the signs the directed him to our resort. And adding an extra 40 minutes to the drive while he tried to figure out where he was going.
So we finally make it to the All Star Movie Resort after our drive stopped to ask for directions.

I had done the pre-online check in. As well as called to book our preferred room. So I go stand in the empty line area for the online check in and get ignored for 10 minutes but the more then enough receptionist standing around. It wasn't so much that I minded waiting if they were busy. It was the fact that they saw me standing there, looked right at me, looked away and turned to serve someone else in another line. Finally I spoke up and was able to get us checked in.

We were in the Mighty Duck building. Room 3721, on the ground floor. It was a much quieter area away from the main pool. My husband and I were also very happy to see that this resort was not as large as the Pop Century(which we had stayed in previously). Less walking which was great. Opening the door to our room though, we find two beds. Not the one king sized bed I had requested and payed the preferred room fee for. We called the front desk and they said there was nothing they could do since all of the king bed rooms were booked. "Call back in the morning." was their answer. At this point we were just so tired and so frustrated since we had never had this back of an experience with Disney that we just let things be for the night and stayed in the room.

With everything that had happened so far, we decided to make the best of things and hit Downtown Disney to look around. We got on Disney's free transportation to DTD and walked around three stores and then of course with weather being like it was during Aug 28th, it rained. And when I say rain, I mean poured. We had brought umbrella with us, but it wasn't helping. We got soaked, but laughed it off and headed back to the resort for some much needed sleep!

Part 2 to follow soon.

 

[Kindigo]

After a whirlwind first few days of our trip, we were up bright and early the next morning, Aug 29th, to visit Animal Kingdom. We had a great time at this park, despite the muggy heat. But it's Florida and the weather was to be expected. The park attendance was not too high that day and we managed to get on all of the ride we wanted without much of a wait.
I forgot to mention that we had booked the trip with the Free Dinning Plan promotion and had the Quick Service Dinning plan.
For lunch we ate at the Flame Treehouse in AK. The ribs and chicken were good. I just would have preferred a better side dish then baked beans and cole slaw.

We still had lots of time that day after lunch so we decided to hit Blizzard Beach. A first for both my husband and I since we had never been to a Disney's water park before. The water slides were a great way to cool off. and we enjoyed ourselves. After that we headed back to our resort for dinner. The food court at the All Star Movie resort had lots of selection and also the refillable mugs that came with our stay were great.

Back at our resort that morning I had called to try and get us another room and was met with the same response. I was not impressed and finally asked to speak to a supervisor and indeed was able to get us a proper room for the next morning. We just had everything packed up(which wasn't much since we didn't really unpack in a room we didn't want) and left our stuff by the door while we went to the park the next morning.

The weather after the hurricane scare during this trip was great. It was hot and sunny. Maybe a few clouds and only rained in the evening but by that time we were usually in the pool so it didn't matter.

The next morning we went to check out Hollywood Studios and got to ride the new Star Tours ride. We are both avid Star Wars fans and that was a huge highly. No lines so we rode it a few times.
While we were gone, the resort moved out stuff into our new room 3715, with a king sized bed! Finally we were able to unpack fully and I was able to decorate my window and door!

I only saw one other door decorate while we were there. >.< But that didn't stop me. I had planned on decorating and I was gonna do it!

That night we headed to Epcot and were able to see Illuminations Reflections of Earth. It was an amazing show and I would recommend it to anyone visiting the park!

Part 3 Coming soon!

 

[Kindigo]

Adding some more pics.

Our first room at the All Star Movie Resort

The room we were able to change too.

My Stitch pillow pet being naughty while were at the arks all day.

Together at the happiest place on earth!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Together at the happiest place on earth!

Great photo .

 

[hcoker1]

Thanks for your trip report! I love being able to visit WDW through other people's photos and TRs

I hope the resort was able to compensate you for the nights you weren't in a king room, that is brutal that they messed it up, especially when you called to confirm. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[pooksma]

Love Canadian TRs!

ASMo was our first resort. Still has a special place in my heart

 

[CanadianPaco]

Love Canadian TRs!

ASMo was our first resort. Still has a special place in my heart

I agree - it is fun to see a Canadian TR and ASMo was our first too!

 

[Kindigo]

Thank you so much for the great comments.

Too answer some questions and comments, no we did not get any compensation or even an acknowledgement about the room mix up. >.< But we tried to brush it off since we were trying to enjoy our vacation no matter what.

And here is Part 3 of our trip report.

One thing I forgot to mention about at Hollywood Studios in my last part, was the Drawing Studio class. We got to try drawing Tinkerbell. Loved this so much! I will post a pic of my attempt. Getting to walk through One Man's Dream was also so sweet. Tears up some at the movie they showed us. Walt Disney has always been one of my hero's! And over near the drawing class we found Sorcerer Mickey and the Incredibles for some great photo opportunity. We found so many characters for pictures this trip.

Anyways the morning after catching Illuminations at Epcot we decided to sleep in, take our time and relax by the Fantansia pool. It was starting to get busy since it was close to the last holiday weekend of the summer.

We pretty much stay at the pool until about noon. Then we decided to hit Typhoon Lagoon. Another first for us. We had a great time, loved the slides and the lazy river was so relaxing. The wave pool was huge! And the waves really can knock you right over. Hubby had a great time laughing his bum off at me running from them. Great way to beat the heat. My husband is a huge fan of water parks and slides. He prefers them to roller coasters. Where as I am the opposite. I am like a cat when you stick me in water. So I was in the lazy river much of the time.
We did however brave the Shark Reef, the snorkel attraction with the sharks and tropical fish. Were we ever shocked to find out how -cold- the water was. For two people who have never snorkled or really swam much in the ocean before it was a bit of a shock. Thankfully the life guards were very patient and kind.
Lockers were a bit of a necessity while at both of the water parks. and I would recommend them to anyone. It just helped give me a piece of mind that our stuff was safe. We did leave out towel, sunscreen, flip flops and other less expensive beach items at our lounge chairs. And come to find out they were safe and sound even after going around the whole park for a couple hours. Sun screen was a must for that day and most days while we were on this trip. It was -hot- and as you can see from the pics, I am pretty fair skinned. Unlike my lovely tanned husband.

Please excuse the awful pic. Sun was in my eyes! lol

After our day at the water park we headed back to the resort. One thing we have found that e love about Disney was the transportation around the property. We love not have to worry about driving anywhere. Most of the bus drivers are quite friendly and fun to talk to as well.

That night we went to the Magic Kingdom for dinner at our all time favorite Quick Service dinning location. Cosmic Ray's Intergalatic Cafe. We found this place last trip and the food there has always been great for us. We did work up an appetite all day!

This is usually what we order. Yummy mashed potatoes and green beans with my chicken and ribs. My husband went for the french fries instead. And the most ridiculously decadent chocolate cake for dessert.

Before dinner I grabbed a Fast Pass for Space Mountain. Still had some time left until it was my turn so we rode the People Mover which is hubby's fav ride in all of Disney. As I stated before he does not like roller coasters. So a slow easy ride is perfect for him. Then it was off to Space Mountain for me on my own. I have not been on this ride for at least five years. I skipped out on it last visit because we were doing other rides in the park. I forgot how jerky and sharp the turns were on the ride. Since this was my first real coaster of the trip it shocked me. Must be a sign I am getting older because I hurt a bit afterwards. Nothing too seriously afterwards, but it really did make me rethink going on it again. Which saddens me because as a youngster, I -loved- that ride.

The whole purpose of going to MK for the night was to catch The Magic, The Memories and You projection show on the castle. We had not seen that before. Followed by our Wishes! the fireworks show which we love. Found a great spot off to the left in front of the castle and it is a good thing we did. It became very crowded for both shows. I still get tears up with the music from the fireworks shows. And I have seen it several times. After the show we found an empty bench and just relaxed while the crowds headed out. It was so peaceful and quiet when we did finally leave. Kind of a treat to get to see MK like that. Waiting like that also made sure we found a seat on our bus and it wasn't crowded. Something I would recommend to anyone.

Coming soon Trip Report 4. We venture off property to Sea World on the bright pink Lynx bus Route 50.

 

[Kindigo]

So adding more to this report, the Free Wifi at the resorts and certain parks. We brought our laptops, cell phones and my iPod Touch with us on this trip. We had heard the Disney now offered free Wifi at the resorts and at MK and Epcot. I found the WiFi at MK to be very spotty at best. The new mobile app for their park maps and information kept locking up. Don't get me wrong, I think that the app is a great and fun idea. I don't know if it was just because it was a busy day or because it was somewhat new.
Now as for the free WiFi in the rooms at the resort. We stayed in the Mighty Duck building and our WiFi only stayed online in 10 minute intervals. We had to keep reconnecting and accepting the terms on the abc.com website they instructed us to try. Now I have been to other hotel before that offer free WiFi and the experience was great. Thought I hope Disney can somehow make their connection a bit stronger. I know this is a relatively new perk for guests. And don't get me wrong, we were not in our rooms a lot. I just wished the connection could have been a bit more reliable.
I did however find that the connection at all three Deluxe Resorts around MK was spot on. I will talk about my resort tour later on in my report. But when I visited these resorts my iPod jumped online and never faltered. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[hockey mom]

Loving hearing about your trip. Keep it coming

 

[Kindigo]

Hello again! Sorry it has taken me so long to post this next part. Getting back to the real world after Disney is never fun. Just keeping thinking to myself, the more I work, the more I can save up for our next trip.

So without further stalling here is the next part of my trip report.

Saturday morning we got up very early. I had purchased our Sea World Tickets only from home about a month earlier. So we had the print outs and everything ready to go. The reason we were up so early was because we weren't exactly sure how to get to Sea World from Disney property. Thanks to the Dis forum though I was able to do a bit of research before leaving and also the night before to learn about the Lynx buses that leave from the TTC at the MK.

Had a good breakfast at our resort's food court. Filled our drink mugs. And we were away. We took the bus from our resort to the Magic Kingdom main entrance and were going to take the monorail back to the TTC. But as we got there the ferry was just docking. My husband and I have never been on it, so we gave it a shot. It was us and another couple on the huge boat. Quiet and perfect!

It was a lovely ride across the lagoon. And once we reach the TTC, we headed straight to the Bus information counter to and the drivers pointed us in the right direction to a bright pink bus that was already there. Bus number 50 was $2 USD a person and was actually pretty comfy. We ready the posts about telling the driver that we were going to Sea World. He smiled and said that wasn't a problem. So we were off. Our first and only adventure off Disney property this trip.

The bus ride was a little long, and we did get to see that there was a stop at Downtown Disney that I hadn't been sure of, so we decided to use that stop on our way back. We picked up more Disney guests going to Sea World and the driver told them the same thing that he would stop there. He had also told them and us that it was the -third- bus stop on the street. We all nodded and listened. Making a point to get off on the third stop in case he got busy or distracted.

We finally reached the street, could see Sea World across the parking lot and waited for our stop...then went past Sea World. All of us cried out and he stopped at the third stop... it was huge walk away from the main gate. His response was "Oh you should have got off at the last stop." Laughing at us, after he had told us to wait for the third stop. Needless to say none of us we impressed with his humor over the situation as we now had to walk even further in what was turning out to be a very scorching day.

Couldn't get off the bus fast enough. We walked the long way to the main gate. Got into the park with not problem with out Etickets. It was a weekend and also a holiday so the park was pretty steady and busy. We went straight to one of our favorite places in the park first. Dolphin Cove. We love getting to try and touch and see these amazing creatures. Got to see a training session that some people had paid extra for. Giving them a chance to feed, touch and give commands to the dolphins. I took a lot of video of this area. Not so many pictures.

Sea World for us has never been about the rides. We have never gone on any of their coasters and didn't this time. When we go to this park it is to see the animals and just relax and not rush anywhere. Unfortunately that day was almost the worst we could have picked. The sun was just blazing and wore us down pretty quick. We were also half way through our vacation and our feet were killing us. Taking things slow was a must.

Turtle Trek was a new attraction we did get to experience. Loved the 3D dome movie experience. Just wished we could have sat down while watching it.
Shark Encounters was fun. My husband loves this park of the park. He is fascinated by sharks and could go through that tunnel several times.

And of course we went to the One Ocean show. I have loved orcas/killer whales since I was a child and this has always been a highlight of the trips for me. But I did notice that the show has changed a lot since past events. We absolutely -loved- the Believe show and were sad to see it go. The new show is cute...but is lacking the real interaction the trainers used to have with the animals. And no we did not sit in the "splash section". We tried to sit in the very top of the front splash section where there were seats available. But an usher came and told us we had to move because we were not with someone that was disabled. So we were banished to pretty much as far back in the stadium as you could get. And force to sit in front of a very rude family that let their child kick my in the back the whole show and them spill his drink down the back of my shirt. When I looked back to see what the parents were going to do about it. The father (I assume he was the father) got made at me and yelled "He's just a kid!"
Now I am sorry. I am not a parent. But I do believe when taking ones child out to something like this there is a proper way to act. And all I was looking for was an "Oh sorry about that". Guess I was asking too much.

While we were waiting for the show, I did notice that had a fun way of keeping people busy. Texting a name to a certain number could get it put on the huge screens to say "Hi Bob". We did not have the texting option on our phones for this trip. But I thought it was fun and quirky.

After see One Ocean we did go over to the Artic Trek walking tour. For some reason there was no Beluga whales in the tank. And of course the polar bear was cuddled up sleeping soundly. But at least the building was out of the sun and had great A/C.

The last time we had visited the park was a year before the big accident. And when we went to the viewing tank for the whales we say Tilikum just relaxing and sunning himself. Not moving around very much.
This time they had several whales there including the new baby who was adorable and very playful. I could have stayed there all day and watched them swim around.

As for food at the park. We brought snacks and drinks from Disney because of the free dinning plan we had. I know it sounds cheap. But even at Sea World the food was expensive.

Getting back to the bus station was a very long hot walk across the parking lot again. And it was back onto Bus 50 and safely back to Downtown Disney.

To sum everything up. We were less then impressed with our day off Disney property at Sea World. The park has changed greatly since we were there last. And in our opinion not for the better. I think next time we will either save our money. Or possible try out one of the Universal parks. We will see what happens.

Stay tuned for my next trip report. Our first full day at the Magic Kingdom!

 

[SmileDisney]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us...can't wait to hear more!!

 

[pooksma]

In spite of the bus driver's attempt at humour, looks like you had another great day!

Keep it coming!