Okay, I'm just going to do this in one post. I've been back almost a week and I've just now gotten around to posting.
Who went: me (33), my ds (4), my friend (32) and her sister (29). We all grew up together, so it was a good group to go with!
Where we stayed: one night at The Grosvenor followed by 6 nights at BCV in a 2 bedroom villa.
Day 1: We checked into The Grosvenor around 5:00, showered changed and headed over to DTD. We had dinner at Rainforest Cafe (overpriced, but still good food!, and you can't beat the atmosphere for a 4 yo!). After that we browsed through the stores, then stopped for ds to play in the fountain. Headed back to the room and called it a night.
Day 2: We were up and out of the room by 8:30. We headed over to BCV to get our passes and get them to hold our stuff. Would you believe they actually had a villa ready for us? It wasn't the one we were originally assigned; but we were just happy to be able to put our stuff somewhere!
We were in villa 477; and the only drawback was that it was at the VERY end of the hall. We didn't mind that it overlooked the service road because we could also see Epcot (and IllumiNations!) from our balcony. We dumped our stuff and headed over to AK in our car. We were in AK no later than 10:30! There were NO lines for anything! Did the safari, ITTBAB, Dinosaur, walked around and looked at the animals, went to Camp Mickey Minnie, and the character landing. We also ate lunch at Pizzafari--which I think is really good pizza! We were tired and hot by around 3, and headed back to the room for naps! We walked over to Epcot around 6. We all did TT and one of us (it wasn't me!) did MS. I was soooo worried it would make me sick! The girl that rode it said it was awesome though! We walked back to Norway for ds (his favorite!). Then we just walked around and took in the sights and hit some shops. Later we grabbed a burger in America and got a spot for IllumiNations. After that we headed home to get some sleep.
Day 3: MK day! First we did the character breakfast at Cape May Cafe (very fun, and pretty good food! There was a pretty good bit of character interaction.) Headed straight for FantasyLand, and there were almost no lines! Pooh was only 10 min., Peter Pan was only 15, everything else (except Dumbo) was basically a walk on. Walked through Toon Town (where ds would not get on the Barnstormer!
) and did some character greets and shopping. After that we headed over to Tomorrow Land for Buzz, SM, Indy Cars and TTA. No waits on anything but the cars, and even that was only 20 min! Grabbed a bite to eat at Cosmic Ray's and headed over to Liberty Square for HM and Frontier Land for Splash (which ds happily rode ) After that we headed for Adventure Land for Dole Whips! We were going to do the attractions there, but ds and everyone else was tired, so we decided to take the monorail to Epcot and make our way back to the room for some rest. We spent the rest of the day hanging out around the resort, and had dinner at Beaches and Cream. Watched Illuminations from the balcony and went to bed.
Day 4: MGM! Did RNRC first--it was a walk on. On to TOT, a walk on also! Took our time walking around. Ate lunch at Sci-Fi (burgers for everyone!) Did Star Tours, Muppets, Iniana Jones, and the Little Mermaid. Went back to the resort for swimming. In the early evening we went back to Epcot to walk around, shop and explore.
Day 5: IOA. This was our first trip to IOA. It wasn't Disney, but it was ok. Hulk was down the entire day!
We did Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Dudley Do Right. No one would ride Dueling Dragons with me, and I didn't want to do it by myself, so we skipped that. Ds loved all of the Dr. Seuss stuff. I swear we rode Cat in the Hat 10 times! All of the rides at IOA had no waits. After IOA we stopped at the outlet mall to hit the Disney and Universal outlets. Pretty cool stuff, and some good bargains! We went back to the room, had dinner and got ready for our adults night out. Ds went to the Sandcastle Club (which he said was fun) while the grown-ups went to Jelly Rolls--my favorite!
Day 6: Back to MGM. Did RNRC and TOT again. Took ds to Playhouse Disney, and did the movie ride. We also did lots of character greets. Our friends headed back to the room while ds and I stayed for the parade. Later that evening we went to DTD for more shopping and had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express.
Day 7: MK again. Headed to Adventure Land and did POC, the magic carpets and the jungle cruise. Stopped at Pecos Bills for lunch then headed over for one last ride on Splash. After that we did the new Goofy's dance party thing (very neat!) Our friends headed back to Epcot while I tood ds back over to Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land to do all of his favorites again. Buzz was a walk on, so we did it 5 times in a row! We also did TTA, Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White, Small World and Dumbo again. Met our friends at Epcot to finally do MS (which I chickened out of, AGAIN!
) Grabbed a bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella, went back to Norway, then headed back to the room to watch IllumiNations from the balcony. After that we packed and loaded the car so we could get an early start on our trip home.
All in all it was a pretty good trip. It was our first trip that dh didn't come with us on; but it was still fun. (He will NOT miss next year!) This was also the first trip we ever done where we didn't get up at the crack of dawn to get ready to hit the parks. The crowds were really low, so we just took our time getting out the door in the mornings. Basically we were able to get every thing done that we wanted to do between 10 and 6 or so. Really nice. Another first for this trip was the lack of sit-down meals. We did mostly counter service this time; and that's one thing I would change! Normally my family does one counter service and one sit down meal a day. I don't care if I see another burger or sandwich again any time soon!
Let me know if you have any questions! I guess it's time to change my count down timer and start planning my next trip!
Who went: me (33), my ds (4), my friend (32) and her sister (29). We all grew up together, so it was a good group to go with!
Where we stayed: one night at The Grosvenor followed by 6 nights at BCV in a 2 bedroom villa.
Day 1: We checked into The Grosvenor around 5:00, showered changed and headed over to DTD. We had dinner at Rainforest Cafe (overpriced, but still good food!, and you can't beat the atmosphere for a 4 yo!). After that we browsed through the stores, then stopped for ds to play in the fountain. Headed back to the room and called it a night.
Day 2: We were up and out of the room by 8:30. We headed over to BCV to get our passes and get them to hold our stuff. Would you believe they actually had a villa ready for us? It wasn't the one we were originally assigned; but we were just happy to be able to put our stuff somewhere!
We were in villa 477; and the only drawback was that it was at the VERY end of the hall. We didn't mind that it overlooked the service road because we could also see Epcot (and IllumiNations!) from our balcony. We dumped our stuff and headed over to AK in our car. We were in AK no later than 10:30! There were NO lines for anything! Did the safari, ITTBAB, Dinosaur, walked around and looked at the animals, went to Camp Mickey Minnie, and the character landing. We also ate lunch at Pizzafari--which I think is really good pizza! We were tired and hot by around 3, and headed back to the room for naps! We walked over to Epcot around 6. We all did TT and one of us (it wasn't me!) did MS. I was soooo worried it would make me sick! The girl that rode it said it was awesome though! We walked back to Norway for ds (his favorite!). Then we just walked around and took in the sights and hit some shops. Later we grabbed a burger in America and got a spot for IllumiNations. After that we headed home to get some sleep.Day 3: MK day! First we did the character breakfast at Cape May Cafe (very fun, and pretty good food! There was a pretty good bit of character interaction.) Headed straight for FantasyLand, and there were almost no lines! Pooh was only 10 min., Peter Pan was only 15, everything else (except Dumbo) was basically a walk on. Walked through Toon Town (where ds would not get on the Barnstormer!
) and did some character greets and shopping. After that we headed over to Tomorrow Land for Buzz, SM, Indy Cars and TTA. No waits on anything but the cars, and even that was only 20 min! Grabbed a bite to eat at Cosmic Ray's and headed over to Liberty Square for HM and Frontier Land for Splash (which ds happily rode ) After that we headed for Adventure Land for Dole Whips! We were going to do the attractions there, but ds and everyone else was tired, so we decided to take the monorail to Epcot and make our way back to the room for some rest. We spent the rest of the day hanging out around the resort, and had dinner at Beaches and Cream. Watched Illuminations from the balcony and went to bed.Day 4: MGM! Did RNRC first--it was a walk on. On to TOT, a walk on also! Took our time walking around. Ate lunch at Sci-Fi (burgers for everyone!) Did Star Tours, Muppets, Iniana Jones, and the Little Mermaid. Went back to the resort for swimming. In the early evening we went back to Epcot to walk around, shop and explore.
Day 5: IOA. This was our first trip to IOA. It wasn't Disney, but it was ok. Hulk was down the entire day!
We did Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Dudley Do Right. No one would ride Dueling Dragons with me, and I didn't want to do it by myself, so we skipped that. Ds loved all of the Dr. Seuss stuff. I swear we rode Cat in the Hat 10 times! All of the rides at IOA had no waits. After IOA we stopped at the outlet mall to hit the Disney and Universal outlets. Pretty cool stuff, and some good bargains! We went back to the room, had dinner and got ready for our adults night out. Ds went to the Sandcastle Club (which he said was fun) while the grown-ups went to Jelly Rolls--my favorite!Day 6: Back to MGM. Did RNRC and TOT again. Took ds to Playhouse Disney, and did the movie ride. We also did lots of character greets. Our friends headed back to the room while ds and I stayed for the parade. Later that evening we went to DTD for more shopping and had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express.
Day 7: MK again. Headed to Adventure Land and did POC, the magic carpets and the jungle cruise. Stopped at Pecos Bills for lunch then headed over for one last ride on Splash. After that we did the new Goofy's dance party thing (very neat!) Our friends headed back to Epcot while I tood ds back over to Fantasy Land and Tomorrow Land to do all of his favorites again. Buzz was a walk on, so we did it 5 times in a row! We also did TTA, Pooh, Peter Pan, Snow White, Small World and Dumbo again. Met our friends at Epcot to finally do MS (which I chickened out of, AGAIN!
) Grabbed a bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella, went back to Norway, then headed back to the room to watch IllumiNations from the balcony. After that we packed and loaded the car so we could get an early start on our trip home.All in all it was a pretty good trip. It was our first trip that dh didn't come with us on; but it was still fun. (He will NOT miss next year!) This was also the first trip we ever done where we didn't get up at the crack of dawn to get ready to hit the parks. The crowds were really low, so we just took our time getting out the door in the mornings. Basically we were able to get every thing done that we wanted to do between 10 and 6 or so. Really nice. Another first for this trip was the lack of sit-down meals. We did mostly counter service this time; and that's one thing I would change! Normally my family does one counter service and one sit down meal a day. I don't care if I see another burger or sandwich again any time soon!
Let me know if you have any questions! I guess it's time to change my count down timer and start planning my next trip!
