Our first WDW trip plan - feedback welcome

[jdrasin]

Okay, here are a few days packed together. Lots of change of plans and adjustments, but all for the best and most mirroring comments suggested here.

Day 2 was Hollywood studios which we ended up getting to near open time. Again, several audibles were called and we learned to split the kids up more (my son really doesn't like singing and my daughter is under 40"). He went the RnRC (I thought it was pretty good, though I'm not a roller coaster fan) while she did a M&G, then we did the great movie ride (seemed more branded then I remembered – yes, I get it, TCM has movies, we should watch them…on TCM). We then did the TSMM which I thought was pretty good for what they were trying to accomplish, but I really don't get the fanatisism for it. I guess if your child is under 40" there are really limited options. After that we did the little mermaid, which I thought was well done. Daughter loved it, son did not (though he said it was well done, just didn't like the singing). Learning from day 1, we planned another and he and I did the Indiana Jones Stunt Show (fantastic in my mind and my son rates it the best thing in Disney – seriously, give me more ‘how movies work’ stuff) and Star Tours (really good, pretty much what I remember with new scenes – I remember when I rode this for the first time about 20 years ago it blew my mind) while daughter and wife did Beauty and the Beast (they said it was very good). We then did Muppet 3D (this used to be my favorite, and it's still fun, but the 3D does not seem to have aged well). After that we came home and did pool time. We then snuck out to MK for fireworks.


I can really see why people say HS is a small park. We were first timers so did almost everything, and still were done by 2-3. I loved the original idea of the park (teaching people about movies) and that seems to almost completely gone other than the great movie ride and the stunt show. Now it’s about movies, not giving a back-stage pass to a movie studio…oh well, I’m old.


Day 3 - Magic Kingdom. We did rope drop (I thought the welcome show was a perfect setup), but changed the plans to be an early day and other than our FPs, just hit whatever had short waits on our ride time apps.. We started with Peter Pan. I liked what they did with the line, but I guess I just lack the nostalgia gene to see why people regularly wait an hour for this...We waited 20 minutes. Son didn't care for it, so instead of more fantasy land, we did another audible and moved over the haunted mansion (I think this is a great ride) and then hit Pirates (5 minute wait).


Again a split with my son and wife hitting BTMRR (he loved it, I remember it being solid) while I took my daughter to the Ariel ride. I thought there were some neat effects, but the anamitronics did not stand up to other Disney rides. We then had our QS lunch at Be Our Guest....I'm mixed on this (and the family did like it). I thought the theming was well done, but why oh WHY do they serve such mediocre food. Either don't charge me a lot and give me mundane or charge me a premium and give me something decent - don't charge me a lot and give me the finger. I guess for theme park food it was above average. Okay, rant done.


We then went to Enchanted Tales with Belle, which I think might be the most well designed experience for what it is trying to accomplish. My daughter was enthralled and my son was even paying attention. She was chosen as the beast and the pictures of her dancing with Belle and the look on her face is really amazing. i guess that's what people refer to as the 'magic'. After that 7 Dwarves Mine Train (I liked the idea and it was a fun ride, and the tilting mechanism made it smooth, but the anamotronics seemed half-assed, nothing like Splash Mountain - just a short scene in the middle and dancing at the end). Again, I don't see the fascination with this ride, other than 38-40" can ride it and not the other bigger rides. Then it was Dumbo (very clever to have a playground in the wait) and I took my son to space mountain while my wife and daughter went to meet Ariel. Space Mountain was down, so we grabbed a 4th FP and did the laugh floor (so close to being great, but I found the difference between almost being great and really being great vast) and then back to space mountain (stands up well). We then hit the 3pm parade and went home to swim and relax. Disney does great parades, though it did seem a bit short.


Magic Kingdom still has a pretty special feel to it, especially around fantasyland. It could still really do with some decent dining.


Day 4 - Today we hit Animal Kingdom. Overall, I thought it was so much better when we first went 15 years ago, but again it really suffers from HS’s 'not enough to do'. We did everything by 3ish. Everything was good to very good, but there just wasn't enough. Quick run-down: Safari (very good, so much better than 15 years ago), Treks (well done, though we are in the DC zoo regularly so this wasn't that different), Expedition Everest (excellent, very impressed), Tough to be a Bug (good, not great), Flame tree BBQ (pretty good - if all QS was this good, I wouldn’t complain AS much), Festival of the Lion King (family loved it, I did not care of it. That's mostly me, I struggle when too much is going on, my OCD brain explodes), then all the rides in Dino-Land (Dinosaur was neat, but lacked something and I'm not sure what), finally we did Nemo which was really well done. We then hopped over to HS and my son got to do tower of terror (a really clever ride IMO and fun) then Fantasmic (again, Disney knows production, it was great) and the new Star Wars fireworks (impressive).


So, being up late, we threw another audible. Tomorrows MK will now start at 1 and the morning is a late breakfast at Kona Cafe (we both remember it from 15 years ago) and then swimming until around 12:30. MK plans are Jungle Cruise (FP) maybe a splash mountain) and then the shows (country bear, hall of presidents, and Phillharmonic) with space mountain and mine train for the son, frozen princesses and Cinderella for daughter while we finish up with dinner at CRT 7:15.


There are lots of thoughts I have about other things that I'll barf out at some point. Overall, some things seem really well done and others seem kinda poorly done and/or cash maximizing. We have no had line issues at all. I think we did very well planning our fast passes, park days, park hours, and then using the Disney and Lines app to just find whatever has a short wait. The fears I had about lines have not been realized.


More to come


Joseph

 

[ArielSRL]

Following! Interesting take on things.

 

[jdrasin]

Yawn, kids get up WAY too early when in one room. So I figure I'll write a bit about the resort we're staying in.

Again, I caveat this all as someone who A) Doesn't have any affinity for Disney B) Is kind of a grinch So take it all from that.

So...Wilderness Lodge Villas....again, we saved a ton buying these rooms through a person. It came to about $210/night for the room. There is major construction going on right now, which I'm sure bothers people who are used to certain amenities, but we really don't know what we're missing. I can see outside our window a construction site which during the day makes some noise, but not much. They have removed a ton of trees which means we've seen the electrical water pageant at night. The little Villas pool is closed and the kids club and elevator in the main lodge are closed. You can see all the details in the Wilderness lodge forum. I was very worried about the construction given the overly generous compensation they offered us, but apparently that was unfounded.

I really like the theming of the building and I think they did a good job giving the feel of a western lodge. I’ve spent time in several National Parks out west and this really does feel a lot like the Lodge we stayed in at Glacier National Park. My kids love the pool, and there is more to it than I expected. The landscaping is great on it, the river flowing from inside the lodge into the pool looks great, two hot tubs, and a little splash park. No complaints at all, I give it a solid very good with the Caveat that I’ve only really been to one other pool – The Swan and Dolphin on a work trip 13 years ago – so my bar may be set low.

The dining is really expensive, and we’ve not ventured into much of it. I’ve been to roaring forks for some kids breakfasts (good deal) and refilled our mug, that’s about it. Given my experience with Disney food quality, I doubt this will change.

Transportation is good. We drove to Epcot, AK, and HS, but we’ve used both the bus and boat to get to the MK and they were very quick. The boat trip in particular stood out.

The Villa room is fine, a pretty standard working hotel room with microwave, fridge, toaster, etc… There is some theming which is nice, but really the room is no more than okay. The beds are crap, especially if you are used to a firm mattress. My back and neck hurt badly every morning. Seriously, why do hotels think soft beds are luxurious.

So, overall, I’m happy with the hotel at the rate we paid. Had we paid rack rate of $400-550 a night I would be furious. It blows my mind that they charge so much for some of their hotels. I’ve stayed in $500/night hotels and they are on a different level. If I were to ever come back to Disney, I would buy points again in a heart beat and stay here again or try out one of the others.

Joseph

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm very envious of your comped tickets. I know you said you didn't ask but I wonder what led up to it. The reason I ask is because we were booked at VWL for several weeks before we decided to change to a suite at AoA, mostly because of the construction but also finances (AoA is about $500 cheaper with the spring discounts of 20% off AoA, vs the Disney visa promotion of 35% of VWL). In any case, we received a letter from the general manager of VWL apologizing in advance for the construction but nothing offered in place of it. You don't have to answer my question if it makes you uncomfortable, obviously, but any details you could provide about it, I'd be interested to hear. I'm just wondering if we had kept our ressie there, would we have eventually received some sort of offer.

I've definitely thought about renting points before but just haven't gotten into it because I've heard the deposit is non-refundable and we wanted the option to bow out if necessary. Was this your experience?

Is it all of you in a studio or a 1 bedroom?

 

[jdrasin]

I'm very envious of your comped tickets. I know you said you didn't ask but I wonder what led up to it. The reason I ask is because we were booked at VWL for several weeks before we decided to change to a suite at AoA, mostly because of the construction but also finances (AoA is about $500 cheaper with the spring discounts of 20% off AoA, vs the Disney visa promotion of 35% of VWL). In any case, we received a letter from the general manager of VWL apologizing in advance for the construction but nothing offered in place of it. You don't have to answer my question if it makes you uncomfortable, obviously, but any details you could provide about it, I'd be interested to hear. I'm just wondering if we had kept our ressie there, would we have eventually received some sort of offer.

I've definitely thought about renting points before but just haven't gotten into it because I've heard the deposit is non-refundable and we wanted the option to bow out if necessary. Was this your experience?

Is it all of you in a studio or a 1 bedroom?

I'm happy to answer your question, but honestly, we didn't do anything. I'd had asked the DVC owner back in May/June about moving because of the construction rumors and she offered to go elsewhere, but said it was probably no big deal and we'd be happiest at WL. Then one day in late July (as we were driving to the beach) she called my cell and said Disney called about the construction and offered various comps. So it's possible she haggled with Disney, but I would be really surprised. I don't think the construction in any way justifies the tickets they gave us. My brother thinks we should have taken the unlimited fast-pass offer since that's something you can't buy, but he also lives on a very different budget than I.

As for the points, we found a person on a message board who had a long history of posts and renting points. She asked for half up front when she reserved the room and half a few months before the trip. She had a standard contract and it all worked out well. Certainly loss of flexibility is a big draw-back. I think some of the companies that do it do sell change of plan insurance, but we didn't look into it.

Does that help?

Joseph

 

[jdrasin]

Oh, two minor comments:
I have no idea how people eat through the dining plan. We didn't get one, but I've been tracking our eating and there is just no way we'd have had that many sit down meals or snacks. We've been eating 1-2 meals a day and snacking on food we brought. Maybe if our kids were teens and we wanted to make eating a focus of the trip.
Wi-Fi in the hotels is pretty crummy.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm happy to answer your question, but honestly, we didn't do anything. I'd had asked the DVC owner back in May/June about moving because of the construction rumors and she offered to go elsewhere, but said it was probably no big deal and we'd be happiest at WL. Then one day in late July (as we were driving to the beach) she called my cell and said Disney called about the construction and offered various comps. So it's possible she haggled with Disney, but I would be really surprised. I don't think the construction in any way justifies the tickets they gave us. My brother thinks we should have taken the unlimited fast-pass offer since that's something you can't buy, but he also lives on a very different budget than I.

As for the points, we found a person on a message board who had a long history of posts and renting points. She asked for half up front when she reserved the room and half a few months before the trip. She had a standard contract and it all worked out well. Certainly loss of flexibility is a big draw-back. I think some of the companies that do it do sell change of plan insurance, but we didn't look into it.

Does that help?

Joseph

Talking with a friend who is also a DVC owner, she said it isn't uncommon for there to be comps offered to those staying on points. Not sure why that makes a difference. I wonder how many guests were offered comps and if we would've eventually been offered something.

In any case, thanks for replying.

As far as the dining plan, I think it just depends on the situation. We have sometimes done it and sometimes not. Last trip in 2012, my oldest (and only at the time) son was 9.5m old. We did not purchase the dining plan because we pretty much winged that whole trip based on him. This time, however, we wanted to try it because we knew we wanted to do several character sit down meals for the kids. It would allow us to skip many character M&G during touring time and it would give us several breaks throughout the day (my boys will be 4.5 and 2 on this trip). We aren't big dining people (rarely go out at home due to loud, young boys) so it will also be nice to try some new places and eat at some of our favorites. We also knew we would need to eat on a regular basis because of our young kids, so scheduling it during our touring plan would help us stick to that.

 

[jdrasin]

Talking with a friend who is also a DVC owner, she said it isn't uncommon for there to be comps offered to those staying on points. Not sure why that makes a difference. I wonder how many guests were offered comps and if we would've eventually been offered something.

In any case, thanks for as replying.

As far as the dining plan, I think it just depends on the situation. We have sometimes done it and sometimes not. Last trip in 2012, my oldest (and only at the time) son was 9.5m old. We did not purchase the dining plan because we pretty much winged that whole trip based on him. This time, however, we wanted to try it because we knew we wanted to do several character sit down meals for the kids. It would allow us to skip many character M&G during touring time and it would give us several breaks throughout the day (my boys will be 4.5 and 2 on this trip). We aren't big dining people (rarely go out at home due to loud, young boys) so it will also be nice to try some new places and eat at some of our favorites. We also knew we would need to eat on a regular basis because of our young kids, so scheduling it during our touring plan would help us stick to that.

That theory makes sense, and they may be willing to be much more generous for points guests. It seemed from the threads that the compensation offerings were all over the place.

I think we're kinda the opposite for dining. We do eat out a reasonable amount at home (and our kids are very loud - you have my sympathies) but wanted to be flexible at Disney in terms of when we eat because our kids can be very unpredictable. We've only had a couple set meals, doing that daily would have really been tough on us. I did the calcs a few times on some of the sites and we really would have had to eat out a ton to even make it break even.

Joseph

 

[ArielSRL]

That theory makes sense, and they may be willing to be much more generous for points guests. It seemed from the threads that the compensation offerings were all over the place.

I think we're kinda the opposite for dining. We do eat out a reasonable amount at home (and our kids are very loud - you have my sympathies) but wanted to be flexible at Disney in terms of when we eat because our kids can be very unpredictable. We've only had a couple set meals, doing that daily would have really been tough on us. I did the calcs a few times on some of the sites and we really would have had to eat out a ton to even make it break even.

Joseph

Funny thing, you have renewed my interest in renting points...not for anything comped but because we wanted a 1 bedroom at Old Key West this whole time and haven't been able to get it...so now we are pursuing points rental as a way of actually getting it!

Yeh, on the dining plan, I think everybody tours differently so it just depends on your family and your priorities for each trip. Its good we all have those choices though!

 

[lynzi2004]

I would love to hear how your experience at CRT went. Trying to decide if it is worth the money or not, your posts sound very similar to our thoughts on eating expensive meals at the parks with kids. I know our DD would love it, but it is currently scheduled for the last day of our trip. If all goes according to plan, our daughter would have already met all the princesses so trying to decide if its worth another $200 bucks to see them again! Thanks in advance!

 

[jdrasin]

Day 5 MK Round 2 -So today became a late starting day due to the late night at HS last night. Breakfast of Kona Cafe as it's one place both my wife and I remember from our childhood (not together). As far as I can tell, it's pretty much what I remember, just twice as much (as my wife likes to tell me, that's a sign I'm getting old). Then the pool until after lunch (in our room) when we went to do TMRR and M&G with A&E (I wasn't there for it, so I can't really comment, my daughter was very happy). Then it was a string of shows. Country Bear Jamboree (my wife's favorite memory from her childhood). It's good for what it is, but just isn't 'me'. Tiki Room (ditto), Jungle Cruise (it was cute), Hall of Presidents (good, though a little light on content, animatronics were very good), I took my daughter to Cinderella M&G while my son and wife did the Mine Train. I have noticed that the Meet & Greets are very hit and miss. Sometimes there is a good rapport and my daughter would really click and the princess seemed to be very engaged, other times it was hi-bye.

Then we wound down the day with Phillharmagic - I saw someone's description of it as 'Donald Duck gets his *** kicked for 10 minutes' which I thought was spot on, Winnie the Pooh (same comment as Peter Pan: cute, but I don't get the pull to it), and it's a small world (yeah....cute, but that song is brutal).

Finally, CRT...This was actually a place my wife and I went on a date 16ish years ago when she was in college near Tampa (and had friends working there who could get us in) so it had some sentimental meaning to us. This is also a really hard experience to assess, but especially since @lynzi2004 wanted my thoughts, here they are. The castle looks great inside, feels like a royal banquet hall, and the ambiance is fitting. We also timed our dinner to be during Wishes which was really cool to have the windows all lit up. There were four princesses in the dinning room, plus Cinderella at the beginning, so that's a whole lotta princesses. They give the girls wands (I seem to remember them lighting up, but they don't now) and the sons swords.

***We interrupt this review for a rant***

SERIOUSLY, COULD THERE BE A MORE GENDER STEREOTYPED PLACE THAN DISNEY WORLD!!!! It is everywhere in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The princesses’ bee-line for the daughter and generally ignore the son (which in my case worked out well), they comment on the little girl’s looks and dresses and little else. In HS a cameraman offered my son a lightsaber for some poses, he didn't even look at my daughter, it really is bad. I notice this other places, like when an employee at McDonalds asks me if I want a boy toy or a girl toy, but Disney does it to the extreme…..Okay, got that off my chest

***We now return you to your already scheduled babbling review***

Anyway, the princesses all come around and take pictures and all interacted to one degree or another. If that’s what you are going for, you’ll probably be happy. Just imagine you signed up for 4-5 M&Gs, it’s kind of the same, but without the PhotoPass camera guy – you will have to rely on your own camera.

Food-wise…it’s a step up from the other places I’ve tried in Disney, I’ll give it that. The cheese plate was decent, my steak and shrimp were nice, desert was tasty, my wife’s gnocchi was fine. Lots of not great, not bad on the food. Compared to most of the food I’ve eaten, that’s a compliment. I don’t think this is any great revelation, that’s pretty much what most of the reviews I saw said. I would say it was overall a good experience which achieved it’s goals – making it feel like a Disney princess banquet in a castle. Now….the price is freaking insane. For dinner for two adults and two kids it’s around $230, though that does include tip/tax. But still, that kind of price for that kind of food just blows my mind. However, that’s not what you’re paying for. It’s the princesses, and telling your kids you’re eating in Cinderella’s Castle, the reactions, etc…. It’s really hard to say if it’s worth it. Am I glad we did it? I think so. Would I ever do it again? NO - though that might be a descriptor of this trip in general J I do think it is a unique experience and there are several places to have dinner at MK which aren’t much cheaper and far more mundane. If you do eat there, try and do it during wishes. That was really cool.

Tomorrow is Epcot (Day 2) which mostly will be focused on World Showcase. I am intrigued to see how my kids react to it. I could see this going both ways. And when did WS start having princesses out the wazoo???? And the one act I remember from my childhood (the actors in the UK) are no longer there *sad face*.


To be continued


Joseph

 

[jdrasin]

I should add to CRT that my wife's gnocchi was actually quite good with a more complex structure than I expected. She's a huge gnocchi fan and has had it pretty much everywhere (including Rome) and she was quite satisfied with it. So there, I've not completely pooh-poohed the food.

BTW: For the coffee connoisseurs out there: Is Kona Cafe coffee really that good? I have no pallet when it comes to coffee, they could have given me McDonalds.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm going to be honest and tell you that I am very entertained by this report. I'm a huge Disney fan and seeing it from your side is funny to me. I could see where some people might take offense (bc everyone gets so offended if you don't agree with them these days) but being a live and let live person, it doesn't bother me.

I am wondering if you will be dragged back begrudgingly to the Mouse in a few years.....lol.

 

[Min Min]

After over 30 Disney Trips here is what I would suggest. I would highly suggest the quick service dining plan!

Magic Kingdom----
1. Use one of your fast passes for seven dwarves mine train, you will not want to wait on that line! It's a new ride (kind of like big thunder mountain).
2. If you have a princess lover in the family I would also fast pass a meet and greet with Anna and Elsa or Rapunzel and Cinderella.
3.Try to knock out all the rides in one area before moving to the next area, I find it most effiecent.
4.Buy ponchos before your trip, you will most likely use them!
5.If you are staying on property and have a car drive into all the parks excecpt magic kingdom. You will have to get on a tram then the monorail.
6. Meet Tink she is in the building right on Main Street USA.
7. Get Pixie Dust in your hair at Harmony Barber Shop for free on Main Street USA.
8.Get to MK 20 minutes before the park opens to catch the good morning show!

Hollywood Studios----
1.Fastpass the frozen sing along,Toy story midway, and beauty and the beast live
2. I do not recommend park hoppers my favorite way to do WDW is 5 day one park tickets so 2 days in MK and one day in the other parks.
3. Star Tours always makes me sick, I do not recommend it.
4. It is super fun to meet Disney Junior characters and Star Wars characters.

Epcot---
1. One of my favorite things to do in Epcot is buy the ten dollar Disney passport and get it stamped in each country. They write your name in each language and it is a lot of fun.
2. You can meet Blue Belle in France, and get the best pastries ever!
3.Dont forget to see the manatees,Dolphins ,and sea turtles after you get off the nemo ride!


Animal Kingdom---
1. Flame Tree BBQ is a great use of quick service dining.
2. Don't forget to take the bus over to the conservation station. You can cuddle goats and donkeys.


Favorite Character meals---
1.Crystal Palace- It is located in Magical Kingdom with an American buffet. The food is good and you get to dine with Pooh,Tigger,Eyore,and Piglet. They spend time at each table. It is cheaper to do breakfast or lunch than dinner.

2.Cinderellas Royal Table- This is located in Cinderellas Castle, you get to dine with 4 or 5 princesses while you enjoy a delicious 3 course meal! I bet you will witness a proposal as well! So romantic.

3.1900 park fare dinner- You can dine at a buffet in the Grand Floridan with Cinderella,Prince Charming,Fairy Godmother,Lady Tremaine,Anastasia,and Drizella.

4.Chef Mickeys- This buffet is located in the contemporary. You can dine with Mickey,Minnie,Donald,Pluto,and Goofy. It is cheaper to do breakfast or lunch than dinner.


Hotel---
All-Star Sports Resort- We LOVE this hotel. It has 2 large pools,a laundry room,a nice food court, clean rooms, great staff, a fun arcade,and a gift shop. I left my phone there and hours later they overnights it for free. They are great.

Thank you for the info about buying the pass port and going around to each country. I had no idea.

 

[lynzi2004]

Thank you for your reply if CRT! I too have found myself logging on to see if you've posted your daily report! I find it your honesty and humor quite entertaining!

 

[jdrasin]

I'm going to be honest and tell you that I am very entertained by this report. I'm a huge Disney fan and seeing it from your side is funny to me. I could see where some people might take offense (bc everyone gets so offended if you don't agree with them these days) but being a live and let live person, it doesn't bother me.

I am wondering if you will be dragged back begrudgingly to the Mouse in a few years.....lol.

Why would someone take offense? I'm not sure I follow....

It is possible I will, and if the family really wants to, I would of course support it. My daughter is certainly having a very good time and my son is too, though he has already kinda hinted that he thinks he's over it. But we'll see.

Joseph

 

[jdrasin]

Day 6 Epcot (Round 2)

Before I begin my mindless musings of today, I have to say that I find the meta-level inconsistency of Disney very interesting. I wish I could see a detailed org chart to see how some of the various functional areas relate to one another. You see some things done really well and then you see other things that are complete amateur hour. For instance, last night at CRT my wife noticed that the ticket had ‘Add Party Header’ at the top and ‘Add Party Footer’ at the bottom. This is such a lazy programming error it kind of shocked me to see anywhere, especially at their fancy restaurant. Actually, overall, a lot of their IT systems seem really convoluted. And then at the same time, there will be a building with incredible detail and care and attention put into it. Same with food, some things are done pretty well, others total crap. It seems some areas of the operation are in innovation and customer experience creation and other departments have shifted into complete P/L management.

Anyway….

So today was a weird day. We actually ended up bumping into some friends of ours from back home who’s children are close friends with our children. So many fewer activities and a lot more walking and talking

We started with another round of Sum of All Fears, this time my son went with his friend. Not that I was against riding it again, but I was happy to bow out. Then came mission space. Yeah, that part about some things being done really well, I thought this was a great simulator. I’m really looking forward to reading how they created that experience because I thought it was excellent. Even the little touches like having each person having a ‘role’ to play was fun. I’m glad I didn’t know till afterwards how they made the high-g feeling, that would have made me sick.

Afterwards there were some M&Gs…yeah, don’t understand these, but then again, I don’t really have affinity for the characters. My daughter, especially, loves them, so who am I to argue. Then it was living with the land (where was that catchy tune I remember from 20 years ago). It was fine, though I laughed at the not-so-subtle Chiquita banana plug. I can see how attractions (remember, not rides!) can spark some ideas in kids and exposes people to things they might not otherwise be.

So then things got a little messy with timing. We had lunch at the QS at Mexcio – BLAH. This was some of the lamest food. I come from the DC/Baltimore area and we have horrible Mexican and Tex-Mex food, and still it was better than this. We then did the ride which I thought was a huge missed opportunity to actually talk about Mexican heritage and culture. Then plan was then to walk through the countries, but since my son was with his best friend they were running around like mad men and wanting to do Agent P. So they went to do that while the girls did M&Gs till their hearts content (and I went ahead to reserve places in line).

I really don’t have a whole lot of other comments, since that was most all we did. The American Adventure broke down so we only got to WW1 – Now I’ll never know how it ends! I do love that show, just awesome animatronics.

Okay, last point…what’s with the drinking around the world? The husband of the other couple was doing that. I admit I’m not a huge drinker, but even if I were, there were almost no beers that I can’t easily get at home for a fraction in the price. Is it something about drinking at Disney? Again, I’m not criticizing those who do, I just don’t get it.

Um….so I feel I really can’t rate world showcase, we just didn’t spend enough time there. I love the idea, and I love how some of the countries look. But sometimes the countries seem like an American’s view of how those countries are. Or maybe those countries wanted it to be palpable for Americans *shrug*. I think the fact that you can get almost any cuisine in a decent sized town and order most of those items off Amazon has killed some of the allure of it.

Tomorrow I think we may do a short day at the Magic Kingdom and then my son want’s to swim…in upper 60s…. We have two more days in the area and then leave Monday by auto-train after breakfast of Chef Mickey.

For those who may take this as Disney bashing, that is not my intent. Our friends we met today come here every year and did that long before they had kids. I do not get it, but it makes them happy, so more power to them. It’s mostly being written for my own self-reflection and to get down my thoughts so I can look back and remember things. The fact that some of you are following it and getting amusement out of it is very flattering.

Joseph

 

[North of Mouse]

After reading your trip report tonight, my thoughts are that you are taking Disney World way too seriously!! Lighten up, relax, and enjoy it for what it's meant to be!!

We're here now, and except for the fact that yesterday evening ushered in a cold front with gusty winds, are enjoying ourselves immensely. My only complaint after many, many trips is all the construction going on everywhere and the many attractions that are closed - more than usual - will definitely wait a couple more years for our next trip!

 

[ArielSRL]

I think he's being very tongue-in-cheek, but I could be wrong. I'm enjoying the wry sense of humor, but I could be totally reading this wrong....lol.

 

[jdrasin]

I think he's being very tongue-in-cheek, but I could be wrong. I'm enjoying the wry sense of humor, but I could be totally reading this wrong....lol.

After reading your trip report tonight, my thoughts are that you are taking Disney World way too seriously!! Lighten up, relax, and enjoy it for what it's meant to be!!

We're here now, and except for the fact that yesterday evening ushered in a cold front with gusty winds, are enjoying ourselves immensely. My only complaint after many, many trips is all the construction going on everywhere and the many attractions that are closed - more than usual - will definitely wait a couple more years for our next trip!

Who says it can't be both??? My wife would certainly say I need to lighten up and relax about most everything. If someone gives me a how-to, I'll read it The kids are having fun, I like seeing them have fun, but it hasn't really resonated with me, at least yet. It's not bad, and many things are much better than I feared. For instance, lines have not been an issue. The weather was awesome earlier in the week, who knew I'd be in a pool in Feb! Big fan of that!!! I probably don't notice the construction as much as regulars as I don't realize what I'm not seeing.

Joseph