Our first WDW trip: 8/23-8/27

[eatntae]

Wow, that humidity sucks! I pretty much knew what to expect, but my girlfriend wouldn't take my warnings seriously, and was suffering as soon as we got there. She was not prepared at all. Now that I've got that out of the way...

Arrived at MCO on 8/23 around 11am, and had a little bit of trouble finding the Disney's Magical Express CM to direct us where to go. We got off the shuttle to Side A of the airport, and looked for the CMs with Mickey hands, just like the DME booklet said, but we could not find them. So we roamed around the first floor of the airport, just like the book said, and after about 10 minutes, we finally found the check in desk. Oddly enough, the CMs with Mickey hands were already in that area. Maybe I just didn't see them upstairs, but I figured that's where they should've been, instead of in front of the desk area. Anyways, as soon as we were done checking in, we were directed to board the bus. We didn't time the ride to the resort, since we were just so excited to be there, but the trip lasted just about as long as the video shown in the bus. Arrived at All Star Sports, checked in around 12:30ish, and luckily our room was ready for us. We arrived inside our room around 12:45 (got a little lost navigating our way there ).

I'll post my parks report in that forum, but for the most part, we found the Disney bus transportation to be excellent. There was only one day we had to wait more than 10 minutes for a bus, which was a 30 minute wait for the Magic Kingdom bus to pick us up from the resort.

My dining reviews will be posted in the dining forum, but I must say, my girlfriend and I loved the dining plan, and not just because it was free. We are almost sure that we'll get it on our next trip, even if we have to pay for it.

As far as the weather was concerned, like I said, extremely humid. It didn't rain on our first day there, but it rained everyday from 8/24-8/27. As most people already know, it's not constant rain, just scattered rain for 5-10 minutes. The only day when wind was any kind of factor was on Friday 8/26. It wasn't anything major, but it delayed our boat trip from MK to Polynesian.

That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. Oh, and one last thought... Disney World is huge! I mean, I knew there were multiple parks and such, but you just don't know until you see it. Needless to say, we had a magical time on our first (and hopefully not last) trip.

 

[mas6010]

Ok, you said if any questions ask !!! So here it goes. When you gt to the airport who or what are you suppose to look for the the Disney shuttle service ??? Do you pick up your own luggage or do they get it for you ??? Do you have to wait on the bus long, that is before it leaves ??? Where the lines LOOOOONNNGGGG ??? We are going Sept 17 -22 and I am hoping for shorter lines. Thanks for your help this is 1st trip and a bit overwelming.

 

[eatntae]

Ok, you said if any questions ask !!! So here it goes. When you gt to the airport who or what are you suppose to look for the the Disney shuttle service ??? Do you pick up your own luggage or do they get it for you ??? Do you have to wait on the bus long, that is before it leaves ??? Where the lines LOOOOONNNGGGG ??? We are going Sept 17 -22 and I am hoping for shorter lines. Thanks for your help this is 1st trip and a bit overwelming.

I assume you're going to be using Disney's Magical Express, and if that's the case, you should've received that booklet in the mail with the yellow luggage tags. Well, in that booklet there is a section/page that says "When you arrive at Orlando International Airport" or something like that, and after reading that we figured it meant that as soon as we got to Side A of the airport off the shuttle, we would easily find a Disney CM with Mickey hands, either right next to the shuttle exit, or in the middle of the room somewhere. However, no CM was to be found. We had to make our way to the first floor, and just kept walking until we found the counter that said Disney's Magical Express. Again, assuming you're using DME, you don't have to worry about your checked in luggage, only your carry on luggage. For us, there wasn't a long line at all, both at the counter and to get on the bus. As soon as we got on the bus, we left within a matter of 5 minutes. But maybe that's because we were lucky, or just the time we arrived. Lines at the parks weren't very long at all, but I'm not sure how it'll be in September when you go, especially after the free dining will have been in effect for almost a month.

I was a bit nervous about our first trip, too. But I followed the advice of people on these boards, and just tried to have fun. I had a definite plan for our trip, but also allowed myself to be flexible. We tried to keep our worrying to a minimum, and we believe that everything worked out wonderfully. I hope this helps, and that you have a magical trip.