Meagansmom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2001
- Messages
- 629
Well I am finally getting this done. Sorry for the wait! After getting through vacation and the fourth of July, I thought I better get at this. Our vacation started June 7 - 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel. I will put a report up on that board. This will just include our visit to Disney June 10-17. I hope everyone enjoys this!
Cast members:
Meagansmom
Husband
Meagan
Father in law
Mother in law
We have always gone the latter part of April, beginning of May so I was alittle skeptical of June. It was great. No hotter!
Tuesday, June 10 - we moved to Disney. Staying at Caribbean Beach. We were in Jamaica, Rooms 4425 & 4426. Couldn't get into anything closer but I am thinking this is really great. 2 steps to the quiet pool and not much of a walk to everything else. I would ask for these rooms again. We kind of took a leisure day, hung around the pool and went to Downtown Disney. Lunch was at Rainforest Cafe, no wait! We ate a few dinners at the food court. No complaints! I really like the new set up in the food court. It is more room than the last time we stayed there. Most breakfasts were in the room.
Wednesday, June 11 - EE Epcot - I want to mention this, we always did EE in the past years when it was available. It was nuts this time, very busy. I will probably pass it up on our next visit, or use it a few times. We walked in at opening and headed right for test track. The fast pass was already 1 hr and 20 min. The line was all the way back and 1 hr long wait. My husband and father in law hopped on the single rider and did not have too long of a wait. I wasn't about to wait that long. We did luck into the rest of the shows and rides. We ate lunch in the variety of spots in the Land. We would take breaks in the afternoon to get out of the heat for awhlie and head back to the parks. With only two nights scheduled for Spectromagic and the fireworks, tonight was it. We knew we better get there early. After a swim and grabbing something to eat , we headed for the Magic Kingdom. We staked out our spot about 1 and a half hours before. Along with the other 40,000 people. It sprinkled for alittle while, there for a minute I did not think we would get to see either. The rain held off. Actually the rain held off for us just about every day. The parade and fireworks haven't changed abit but still excellent shows. Now for the fun of the day! The lines for the bus back to the resort was soooo long, we waited for an hour. It was not just our resort! They finally called in buses and at one time three buses lined up to take us back - just for our hotel. Other buses could not get around our buses. This was alittle to be desired. People were very annoyed. Now I guess I just go with the flow, and I know that this should not have happened, but some people will scream at cast members for waiting for a bus.
Thursday, June 12 - EE Magic Kingdom - Busy again! We did get alot of the major things done in Fantasyland before opening. We did get alot of fastpasses today. We did utilize the fast passes alot more on this visit in each of the parks. We would work around them. Alot of the shows were walk in. ex: Hall of Presidents and Country Bears. We would get a fast pass and stay around that area. Worked really good! We really did things alot different then on other visits. We also had grandparents along. Father in law loves to ride rides, mother in law will ride most. They really took the heat and humidity well. We snuck into alot of gift shops. We did not push ourselves. Lunch was at Cosmic Ray's. The park closed at 7:00 so we got as much done as we wanted. We would come back again later in the week.
Friday, June 13 - EE Animal Kingdom - Tons of people but very manageable today. We walked on the Safaris, Pangori Forest, and Rafiki's Planet watch. 50 minute wait for Kali River Rapids and we got a fast pass for Bugs Life. All of the shows we walked in and had excellent seats. The area of Dinoland was very busy. We had lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Husband took daughter on Primeval Whirl and headed back to the hotel to swim. I took inlaws to most of the shows. They had never been to Animal Kingdom, so I wanted them to see as much as we could and wanted.
Saturday, June 14 - EE The Studios - It seemed that one thing would be really busy and another the opposite. Lots of people again but husband walked on Tower of Terror 3 times in a row but Rock n Roller Coaster was an hour wait for fastpass. I walked over to get him a fastpass while he rode Tower of Terror so it wasn't going from one to another wait time. I thought everything was very manageable today. We lucked into a couple of walk ons at the last minute. Lunch was at the 50's Prime Time. This is a every visit must. I had a wrap, in laws had chicken - they said it was excellent!!!! Daughter had mac n cheese and I can't remember what husband had. This is the best place. We took a break back at the hotel and returned for Fantasmic. In laws have been to MGM in the past but Fantasmic was new, they absolutely loved this show.
Sunday, June 15 - Happy Fathers Day - This is going to be a leisure day. Actually we poured ourselves into the parks the last four days so the next two days we will return to what we want. We had scheduled a breakfast with the princesses at Epcot. This was ok. The atmoshpere was great! They really rushed the princesses I thought. Compared to the other character breakfasts. My only complaint was the food. The food was good but for 5 people they brought out one pan of food. And what I noticed, it was one pan per table. It took awhile to get another pan. They only put 4 of everything in one pan. IMHO they had the wait people waiting on too many tables. Just the service was lacking. After breakfast we hung around Epcot, now this is where I might think about skipping EE. This place was empty. We walked around and finished our daughters mask in the nations. Not a sole in the area. Our daughter literally walked up to all of the characters to get autographs. We went back up front and rode everything without a wait at all. This was this way until we left around 2:00 in the afternoon. We headed back to the hotel to rest and clean up for the HDDR. We had reservations for 7:15 p.m. We went over to the Magic Kingdom for a few rides and then catch the boat over to Fort Wilderness. The show and food is as good as in the past. Now this is my only other complaint about the bus service. In the past the parks were open later so we could hop back to the parks to catch a bus. Now they tell you that you have to catch a bus to the main terminal for the camp grounds. So we hopped on a bus, a 5 minute ride. This was good. But now we are at the main terminal and we are told that we have to catch a bus to Downtown Disney and then transfer to our hotel. Ok but there are NO buses coming to Downtown Disney. We waited for an HOUR. There were two guys that I thought were going to take over one of the other buses. Now they finally call in four buses to take all of the people. Now I am talking about 300 people waiting. We got on one bus that I thought everyone was going to kiss the bus driver, everyone starting singing. We only had two situations of all the buses that we rode. Not bad but they were long waits!!!! Finally got back to the hotel.
Monday, June16 - Our last full day. - We had scheduled a character brunch at Chef Mickeys. This is another must for every visit. We love this place! We went to the Magic Kingdom for awhile. Our reservation is for 11:00 a.m. We rode a few rides, this was not an EE for the Magic Kingdom and you could tell it. We walked on everything again. We hopped on the monorail to eat and then we would return back to the Magic Kingdom. We also went back to the Studios for awhile. Went back to the hotel for a break and back to Downtown Disney. This day and our first day in Florida is really the two days we had to deal with rain. We arrive at Downtown Disney and after 30 minutes it starts to pour. We thought we would grab something to eat. The rainforest cafe is an hour and 40 minute wait. The only other place not busy and without running through the downpour is Mc Donalds. Oh well! Got to go back to Downtown Disney for our souvenirs. We shipped alot home this time. This is great! We did buy alot more different souvenirs this time a/c we probably wont go back for awhile. We have been going every year for some time and thinking of taking a break for a few years. We had such a great time!!! I will get a report of our first 3 days at US/IOA up on the other board. Thanks to everyone here with such great ideas and opinions on things. We have been to Disney so many times and you still learn or see something different each time. I know this is long!!!I will shut up now!
Tuesday, June 17 Fly Home!!!
Cast members:
Meagansmom
Husband
Meagan
Father in law
Mother in law
We have always gone the latter part of April, beginning of May so I was alittle skeptical of June. It was great. No hotter!
Tuesday, June 10 - we moved to Disney. Staying at Caribbean Beach. We were in Jamaica, Rooms 4425 & 4426. Couldn't get into anything closer but I am thinking this is really great. 2 steps to the quiet pool and not much of a walk to everything else. I would ask for these rooms again. We kind of took a leisure day, hung around the pool and went to Downtown Disney. Lunch was at Rainforest Cafe, no wait! We ate a few dinners at the food court. No complaints! I really like the new set up in the food court. It is more room than the last time we stayed there. Most breakfasts were in the room.
Wednesday, June 11 - EE Epcot - I want to mention this, we always did EE in the past years when it was available. It was nuts this time, very busy. I will probably pass it up on our next visit, or use it a few times. We walked in at opening and headed right for test track. The fast pass was already 1 hr and 20 min. The line was all the way back and 1 hr long wait. My husband and father in law hopped on the single rider and did not have too long of a wait. I wasn't about to wait that long. We did luck into the rest of the shows and rides. We ate lunch in the variety of spots in the Land. We would take breaks in the afternoon to get out of the heat for awhlie and head back to the parks. With only two nights scheduled for Spectromagic and the fireworks, tonight was it. We knew we better get there early. After a swim and grabbing something to eat , we headed for the Magic Kingdom. We staked out our spot about 1 and a half hours before. Along with the other 40,000 people. It sprinkled for alittle while, there for a minute I did not think we would get to see either. The rain held off. Actually the rain held off for us just about every day. The parade and fireworks haven't changed abit but still excellent shows. Now for the fun of the day! The lines for the bus back to the resort was soooo long, we waited for an hour. It was not just our resort! They finally called in buses and at one time three buses lined up to take us back - just for our hotel. Other buses could not get around our buses. This was alittle to be desired. People were very annoyed. Now I guess I just go with the flow, and I know that this should not have happened, but some people will scream at cast members for waiting for a bus.
Thursday, June 12 - EE Magic Kingdom - Busy again! We did get alot of the major things done in Fantasyland before opening. We did get alot of fastpasses today. We did utilize the fast passes alot more on this visit in each of the parks. We would work around them. Alot of the shows were walk in. ex: Hall of Presidents and Country Bears. We would get a fast pass and stay around that area. Worked really good! We really did things alot different then on other visits. We also had grandparents along. Father in law loves to ride rides, mother in law will ride most. They really took the heat and humidity well. We snuck into alot of gift shops. We did not push ourselves. Lunch was at Cosmic Ray's. The park closed at 7:00 so we got as much done as we wanted. We would come back again later in the week.
Friday, June 13 - EE Animal Kingdom - Tons of people but very manageable today. We walked on the Safaris, Pangori Forest, and Rafiki's Planet watch. 50 minute wait for Kali River Rapids and we got a fast pass for Bugs Life. All of the shows we walked in and had excellent seats. The area of Dinoland was very busy. We had lunch at Restaurantosaurus. Husband took daughter on Primeval Whirl and headed back to the hotel to swim. I took inlaws to most of the shows. They had never been to Animal Kingdom, so I wanted them to see as much as we could and wanted.
Saturday, June 14 - EE The Studios - It seemed that one thing would be really busy and another the opposite. Lots of people again but husband walked on Tower of Terror 3 times in a row but Rock n Roller Coaster was an hour wait for fastpass. I walked over to get him a fastpass while he rode Tower of Terror so it wasn't going from one to another wait time. I thought everything was very manageable today. We lucked into a couple of walk ons at the last minute. Lunch was at the 50's Prime Time. This is a every visit must. I had a wrap, in laws had chicken - they said it was excellent!!!! Daughter had mac n cheese and I can't remember what husband had. This is the best place. We took a break back at the hotel and returned for Fantasmic. In laws have been to MGM in the past but Fantasmic was new, they absolutely loved this show.
Sunday, June 15 - Happy Fathers Day - This is going to be a leisure day. Actually we poured ourselves into the parks the last four days so the next two days we will return to what we want. We had scheduled a breakfast with the princesses at Epcot. This was ok. The atmoshpere was great! They really rushed the princesses I thought. Compared to the other character breakfasts. My only complaint was the food. The food was good but for 5 people they brought out one pan of food. And what I noticed, it was one pan per table. It took awhile to get another pan. They only put 4 of everything in one pan. IMHO they had the wait people waiting on too many tables. Just the service was lacking. After breakfast we hung around Epcot, now this is where I might think about skipping EE. This place was empty. We walked around and finished our daughters mask in the nations. Not a sole in the area. Our daughter literally walked up to all of the characters to get autographs. We went back up front and rode everything without a wait at all. This was this way until we left around 2:00 in the afternoon. We headed back to the hotel to rest and clean up for the HDDR. We had reservations for 7:15 p.m. We went over to the Magic Kingdom for a few rides and then catch the boat over to Fort Wilderness. The show and food is as good as in the past. Now this is my only other complaint about the bus service. In the past the parks were open later so we could hop back to the parks to catch a bus. Now they tell you that you have to catch a bus to the main terminal for the camp grounds. So we hopped on a bus, a 5 minute ride. This was good. But now we are at the main terminal and we are told that we have to catch a bus to Downtown Disney and then transfer to our hotel. Ok but there are NO buses coming to Downtown Disney. We waited for an HOUR. There were two guys that I thought were going to take over one of the other buses. Now they finally call in four buses to take all of the people. Now I am talking about 300 people waiting. We got on one bus that I thought everyone was going to kiss the bus driver, everyone starting singing. We only had two situations of all the buses that we rode. Not bad but they were long waits!!!! Finally got back to the hotel.
Monday, June16 - Our last full day. - We had scheduled a character brunch at Chef Mickeys. This is another must for every visit. We love this place! We went to the Magic Kingdom for awhile. Our reservation is for 11:00 a.m. We rode a few rides, this was not an EE for the Magic Kingdom and you could tell it. We walked on everything again. We hopped on the monorail to eat and then we would return back to the Magic Kingdom. We also went back to the Studios for awhile. Went back to the hotel for a break and back to Downtown Disney. This day and our first day in Florida is really the two days we had to deal with rain. We arrive at Downtown Disney and after 30 minutes it starts to pour. We thought we would grab something to eat. The rainforest cafe is an hour and 40 minute wait. The only other place not busy and without running through the downpour is Mc Donalds. Oh well! Got to go back to Downtown Disney for our souvenirs. We shipped alot home this time. This is great! We did buy alot more different souvenirs this time a/c we probably wont go back for awhile. We have been going every year for some time and thinking of taking a break for a few years. We had such a great time!!! I will get a report of our first 3 days at US/IOA up on the other board. Thanks to everyone here with such great ideas and opinions on things. We have been to Disney so many times and you still learn or see something different each time. I know this is long!!!I will shut up now!
Tuesday, June 17 Fly Home!!!
