Hello,
I have found this forum very helpful so I thought I would post a quick trip report now that we have returned home. I have not been to Disney in 20 years. My DH and I traveled with our two daughters (9 &5).
Hotel:
Wilderness Lodge. We stayed in a woods view bunk bed room. The room was a bit small but I was prepared for that. The hotel is very nice...our room had a great location right off of the elevators near the Roaring Fork, pool, and laundry. We purchased the mugs and found it to be worth the cost. The pool is really nice and they do some nice games for the kids in the afternoon. Transportation was fine. The boat to MK was easy...the buses were fine as well. I'm sure it's not quite as easy to get around if it is a busier time. We only ate at Roaring fork and found the food to be very good.
Crowds:
The crowds were very low on Wed-Friday. I'm sure it helped that the weather was terrible. We walked on a lot of rides during that time. We had a very short wait to meet most characters as well. The crowds really seemed to pick up on Sat-Monday. The crowds waiting for the wishes fireworks on Monday night were crazy. We were just trying to get out but there were strollers and scooters every where. It wasn't easy!
Weather:
It poured on Wed, Thurs, Friday night, and Saturday morning. It was very warm and sunny after that. The rain helped with the crowds but it was kind of a bummer when we had planned on having rest time at the hotel pool mid-day. It was so nice once the sun came out!
Food:
We had the following character meals:
CP breakfast - food was fair but exactly what I was expecting. It is so pretty in there and brought back many memories from when I ate there as a kid. The really move the characters right along.
Tusker House lunch: Food was really good! Lots of healthy options. The characters took forever to come around. We had our drinks, lunch, and dessert and still hadnt seen anyone. We ended up taking up a table just to wait for characters.
1900 park Cinderella dinner - the food was very good (I was happy since I had read many bad reviews). The characters were great and really funny. It was a cafeteria type setting and the tables are very close together to it's diffucult to get in and out of your seat.
Other than these meals we ate at Roaring Fork quite a bit and some counter service places which were all fine.
Magic Kingdom:
The longest waits we had were for Tinkerbelle's nook but it was totally worth it. Great character interaction. We also waited a long time for Belle and I wouldn't do that again. The show was kind of silly, in my opinion.
Epcot:
I wasn't able to visit as much as I would have liked there because it was always pouring when we arrived. The grounds were beautiful from the F&G. I highly recommend getting a stroller for kids 5 & under. I never use a stroller anymore for my 5 year old but we got on there and it was a great idea. it is a lot of walking...and it made it so much easier to zip towards the exit from the world showcase once it started pouring.
Animal Kingdom:
People are right - it does get really hot there! Our lunch ran long so we didn't get to see the shows but we enjoyed the jungle trek and safari ride.
discovery cove:
This was the best day! We got a cabana and I really recommend that. Ours was right on the reef. the kids could play and snorkel right in front of us while we relaxed in our chairs. We did the dolphin swim and it was so much fun. The place is super clean, beautiful, and the service is fantastic.
I think that is everything! We used the Magical express and I was worried that it would take too long (and almost booked a car instead) but it was perfectly fine. Everyone is so friendly at Disney. The service was wonderful. Now, I need a nice long nap!!
I have found this forum very helpful so I thought I would post a quick trip report now that we have returned home. I have not been to Disney in 20 years. My DH and I traveled with our two daughters (9 &5).
Hotel:
Wilderness Lodge. We stayed in a woods view bunk bed room. The room was a bit small but I was prepared for that. The hotel is very nice...our room had a great location right off of the elevators near the Roaring Fork, pool, and laundry. We purchased the mugs and found it to be worth the cost. The pool is really nice and they do some nice games for the kids in the afternoon. Transportation was fine. The boat to MK was easy...the buses were fine as well. I'm sure it's not quite as easy to get around if it is a busier time. We only ate at Roaring fork and found the food to be very good.
Crowds:
The crowds were very low on Wed-Friday. I'm sure it helped that the weather was terrible. We walked on a lot of rides during that time. We had a very short wait to meet most characters as well. The crowds really seemed to pick up on Sat-Monday. The crowds waiting for the wishes fireworks on Monday night were crazy. We were just trying to get out but there were strollers and scooters every where. It wasn't easy!
Weather:
It poured on Wed, Thurs, Friday night, and Saturday morning. It was very warm and sunny after that. The rain helped with the crowds but it was kind of a bummer when we had planned on having rest time at the hotel pool mid-day. It was so nice once the sun came out!
Food:
We had the following character meals:
CP breakfast - food was fair but exactly what I was expecting. It is so pretty in there and brought back many memories from when I ate there as a kid. The really move the characters right along.
Tusker House lunch: Food was really good! Lots of healthy options. The characters took forever to come around. We had our drinks, lunch, and dessert and still hadnt seen anyone. We ended up taking up a table just to wait for characters.
1900 park Cinderella dinner - the food was very good (I was happy since I had read many bad reviews). The characters were great and really funny. It was a cafeteria type setting and the tables are very close together to it's diffucult to get in and out of your seat.
Other than these meals we ate at Roaring Fork quite a bit and some counter service places which were all fine.
Magic Kingdom:
The longest waits we had were for Tinkerbelle's nook but it was totally worth it. Great character interaction. We also waited a long time for Belle and I wouldn't do that again. The show was kind of silly, in my opinion.
Epcot:
I wasn't able to visit as much as I would have liked there because it was always pouring when we arrived. The grounds were beautiful from the F&G. I highly recommend getting a stroller for kids 5 & under. I never use a stroller anymore for my 5 year old but we got on there and it was a great idea. it is a lot of walking...and it made it so much easier to zip towards the exit from the world showcase once it started pouring.
Animal Kingdom:
People are right - it does get really hot there!
Our lunch ran long so we didn't get to see the shows but we enjoyed the jungle trek and safari ride. discovery cove:
This was the best day! We got a cabana and I really recommend that. Ours was right on the reef. the kids could play and snorkel right in front of us while we relaxed in our chairs. We did the dolphin swim and it was so much fun. The place is super clean, beautiful, and the service is fantastic.
I think that is everything! We used the Magical express and I was worried that it would take too long (and almost booked a car instead) but it was perfectly fine. Everyone is so friendly at Disney. The service was wonderful. Now, I need a nice long nap!!
I hadn't even thought of that when I booked it! We had been in the rain all day so the last thing we wanted to do was sit on a boat in the rain but we would have had to pay for it if we canceled.
