Hi All! Wanted to post about our trip... I hope this isn't too long!!!
Day One (10/23)
Arrived to All Star Movies Resort around 1:00 PM to check in. Found our room to be ready and checked into our 101 Dalmatians Room. The resort was 100% full for this night so things were a bit crowded. We lounged around at the Fantasia pool for a couple of hours. It was very loud, but the weather was great! While checking in we were told that 800 rooms were checking out the next day and things really quieted down after that. The PGA was there for a tournament and that was over on 10/24 so that may have been why.
We headed to church at 6 PM at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine, and afterwards tried to go to Chef Mickeys for dinner. Unfortunately the wait was about an hour and a half or so and we were starving. We called and got PS for Artist Pointe. We headed over to the Wilderness Lodge (which looks pretty awesome) and had our dinner. We had a window seat, but since it was dark didnt mean too much. We had the Crispy Venison Spring Rolls for appetizer they were very good, but they were not traditional spring rolls and there were only 2 and kind of small. For our dinners, my wife had the Cedar Plank Salmon which she liked but was not overly impressed. I had the Roasted Free-Range Breast of Chicken which also was good, but not the best. Our server wasnt great, kind of slow to bring drinks. He did give us some extra bread when we asked! The restaurant was also surprisingly loud. Overall, not the best experience. Not really worth the price, but now we know.
Day Two (10/24)
Headed over to Epcot around 10 AM. The Food and Wine Festival was going on, however the park was not really too crowded. First we went into the Innovations where I designed my robot and got to run it through a course. We headed over to The Land and rode the ride. Next we did The Living Seas which was a pretty neat experience. The aquarium was the best part. The next thing we did was the Imagination area which was also pretty cool.
We had 2:00 PM PS at San Angel. We showed up around 1:30 and were seated immediately. We had a good view of the Mexico River Ride. We were immediately brought Chips and Salsa and had our drinks within minutes. The chips and salsa are very good. Note that hotter salsa is available and it not too hot, so dont be afraid to ask for it. My wife had the Sopa Azteca (Tortilla Soup) for appetizer. She claims this to be the best soup she has ever had and lead us to buy the Cooking with Mickey Cookbook #2 which contains this recipe. For our lunch, my wife had the Ensalada Mexicana which was enormous. This was not really a very Mexican type of food so if someone is leery of Mexican food, this would be a good choice. Very similar to a Chicken Caesar Salad in a Taco Shell bowl. I had the Plato Mexicano which was very filling and very tasty. Not too spicy. Overall, this was an excellent eating experience and we will definitely be going here for dinner on our next visit.
After lunch we headed over the MGM. We saw the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast Shows. Neither of these are as good as Animal Kingdoms The Festival of the Lion King Show in our opinions. Next we got our pictures taken with Woody, Jessie, and Buzz from Toy Story 2. Next we stopped at the Sounds Dangerous attraction. This was ok. Then on to wait for Fantasmic. We stopped for a Fudge / M&M covered apple and for an ice cream cone. We got into Fantasmic around 7:00 PM for a 7:30 show and there were probably only 2 sections left open. As usual, the show was very good. During the wait, we read over our printed out version of the Your BEST WDW theme park secret! post from the Theme Parks and Attractions Board. This was a great time killer! Once the show was over, we headed out of the park. We contemplated walking over to Epcot for Illuminations, but decided to take the boat. We go off of the boat at the Beach Club Resort and headed into Epcot. We got over there about 8:45 PM for a 9:00 PM show. We watched Illuminations, which is a little bit of a disappointment after Fantasmic and then headed back to our hotel. We were fortunate and caught the first bus back.
Day Three (10/25)
We headed over to the Magic Kingdom around 10:00 AM. The first stop was to the Barber Shop for my first ever Magic Kingdom haircut. What fun this was! Billie (I think that was her name) cut my hair and it was so much fun. I didnt have the guts to go with a lot of color in my hair so she gave me some green highlights with glitter. Of course I got my Mickey on the back of my head. My wife also got some glitter and confetti and some hair spray to hold it back in. It pretty much seemed like anyone who walked into the barber shop walked out with something in their hair. It was so much fun and totally worth the price ($17). Michael and Billie have so much fun and take a lot of time to make you feel special. It was also a very good haircut!
After the haircut we looked for some of the hidden things we found from the boards. We rode the Buzz Lightyear Ride (my wifes favorite) twice. Stitchs Great Escape wasnt open when we got to Buzz the first time, but it looked ready to open. The second time we rode, Stitch was open and the line was already 45 minutes with no Fast Pass option. We decided not to wait.
We basically just walked around until about 1:00 PM when we headed back to MGM for our 2:10 PM PS at the Brown Derby. We got there about 1:30 PM and were seated after about 10 minutes of waiting. After being seated our drinks and rolls were brought very quickly. My wife had the Creamy Potato Leek soup. Not as good as San Angels but very good! For lunch she had the Grilled Atlantic Salmon Bruschetta which she thought was way better than the salmon from Artist Point. I had the Cobb Salad which I thought was awesome. The food here was very good and the service was also good. We will definitely go back here.
After lunch we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived around 3:00 PM and headed right over to Mickeys Toontown to avoid the parade which we had seen in April. We took the path from Tomorrowland. This path is awesome! One of the only quiet places we have found in the park. We commented on how we think this would be a great spot to sit with your kids and have lunch. There are some benches where you could do this. Such a nice spot! We walked it twice and only saw 2 people on it in those 2 trips. In Toontown we finally got our picture with what I consider to be the real Mickey (no fancy outfits or anything). After that we kind of just walked around. I rode Splash Mountain while my wife waited at the end. She noticed that there were lots of little lizards running around all over the place and would be a good spot to bring your kids over to see them. She also said this is a pretty quiet spot to hang out for a little bit especially if you want your kids to play with the lizards!
We also did the Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise, and the Country Bear Jamboree. After than we kind of just hung around and relaxed. We walked through Main St for awhile and looked at some more of the things posted from the Your BEST WDW theme park secret! post. We took a spot towards the entrance of Main St and waited for the fireworks while eating Ice Cream Sundaes in waffle bowls. They were only ~ $4.25 (w/ tax) which we thought was a pretty good deal. After Wishes was over, we headed to the bus and caught the first bus leaving for All Star Music (which is a very short walk from the 101 Dalmatians #4.)
Day Four (10/26)
This was our last day in Florida so we walked over to the Guitar pool in All Star Music and just hung out. For the 3 hours we were there a total of about 7 people were in the pool. It was so quiet and relaxing! This pool seems to be much quieter and more laid back than the pools in the Movies resort. We had our favorite Yogurt Parfait for snack and just did nothing until it was time to head to the airport!
We decided that going this time of year was a little easier than in April when we were there last. The parks were not open as late which made the days a little bit easier. In April, the parks were open until ~ 11:00 PM every night combined with the fact that we had the UPH tickets, we felt obligated to always be in the parks. This was only our second trip so we are still learning. Overall, the weather was great (~85ish) and the crowds werent bad. We hated the water last time and took some DisBoards advice and went to Walmart and bought their brand of the Crystal Light individual drink flavors. We had a water bottle that we used these with and they worked great! It didnt take all of the bad taste away, but it was much better than just the water. Thanks to all for your tips!
Day One (10/23)
Arrived to All Star Movies Resort around 1:00 PM to check in. Found our room to be ready and checked into our 101 Dalmatians Room. The resort was 100% full for this night so things were a bit crowded. We lounged around at the Fantasia pool for a couple of hours. It was very loud, but the weather was great! While checking in we were told that 800 rooms were checking out the next day and things really quieted down after that. The PGA was there for a tournament and that was over on 10/24 so that may have been why.
We headed to church at 6 PM at Mary, Queen of the Universe Shrine, and afterwards tried to go to Chef Mickeys for dinner. Unfortunately the wait was about an hour and a half or so and we were starving. We called and got PS for Artist Pointe. We headed over to the Wilderness Lodge (which looks pretty awesome) and had our dinner. We had a window seat, but since it was dark didnt mean too much. We had the Crispy Venison Spring Rolls for appetizer they were very good, but they were not traditional spring rolls and there were only 2 and kind of small. For our dinners, my wife had the Cedar Plank Salmon which she liked but was not overly impressed. I had the Roasted Free-Range Breast of Chicken which also was good, but not the best. Our server wasnt great, kind of slow to bring drinks. He did give us some extra bread when we asked! The restaurant was also surprisingly loud. Overall, not the best experience. Not really worth the price, but now we know.
Day Two (10/24)
Headed over to Epcot around 10 AM. The Food and Wine Festival was going on, however the park was not really too crowded. First we went into the Innovations where I designed my robot and got to run it through a course. We headed over to The Land and rode the ride. Next we did The Living Seas which was a pretty neat experience. The aquarium was the best part. The next thing we did was the Imagination area which was also pretty cool.
We had 2:00 PM PS at San Angel. We showed up around 1:30 and were seated immediately. We had a good view of the Mexico River Ride. We were immediately brought Chips and Salsa and had our drinks within minutes. The chips and salsa are very good. Note that hotter salsa is available and it not too hot, so dont be afraid to ask for it. My wife had the Sopa Azteca (Tortilla Soup) for appetizer. She claims this to be the best soup she has ever had and lead us to buy the Cooking with Mickey Cookbook #2 which contains this recipe. For our lunch, my wife had the Ensalada Mexicana which was enormous. This was not really a very Mexican type of food so if someone is leery of Mexican food, this would be a good choice. Very similar to a Chicken Caesar Salad in a Taco Shell bowl. I had the Plato Mexicano which was very filling and very tasty. Not too spicy. Overall, this was an excellent eating experience and we will definitely be going here for dinner on our next visit.
After lunch we headed over the MGM. We saw the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast Shows. Neither of these are as good as Animal Kingdoms The Festival of the Lion King Show in our opinions. Next we got our pictures taken with Woody, Jessie, and Buzz from Toy Story 2. Next we stopped at the Sounds Dangerous attraction. This was ok. Then on to wait for Fantasmic. We stopped for a Fudge / M&M covered apple and for an ice cream cone. We got into Fantasmic around 7:00 PM for a 7:30 show and there were probably only 2 sections left open. As usual, the show was very good. During the wait, we read over our printed out version of the Your BEST WDW theme park secret! post from the Theme Parks and Attractions Board. This was a great time killer! Once the show was over, we headed out of the park. We contemplated walking over to Epcot for Illuminations, but decided to take the boat. We go off of the boat at the Beach Club Resort and headed into Epcot. We got over there about 8:45 PM for a 9:00 PM show. We watched Illuminations, which is a little bit of a disappointment after Fantasmic and then headed back to our hotel. We were fortunate and caught the first bus back.
Day Three (10/25)
We headed over to the Magic Kingdom around 10:00 AM. The first stop was to the Barber Shop for my first ever Magic Kingdom haircut. What fun this was! Billie (I think that was her name) cut my hair and it was so much fun. I didnt have the guts to go with a lot of color in my hair so she gave me some green highlights with glitter. Of course I got my Mickey on the back of my head. My wife also got some glitter and confetti and some hair spray to hold it back in. It pretty much seemed like anyone who walked into the barber shop walked out with something in their hair. It was so much fun and totally worth the price ($17). Michael and Billie have so much fun and take a lot of time to make you feel special. It was also a very good haircut!
After the haircut we looked for some of the hidden things we found from the boards. We rode the Buzz Lightyear Ride (my wifes favorite) twice. Stitchs Great Escape wasnt open when we got to Buzz the first time, but it looked ready to open. The second time we rode, Stitch was open and the line was already 45 minutes with no Fast Pass option. We decided not to wait.
We basically just walked around until about 1:00 PM when we headed back to MGM for our 2:10 PM PS at the Brown Derby. We got there about 1:30 PM and were seated after about 10 minutes of waiting. After being seated our drinks and rolls were brought very quickly. My wife had the Creamy Potato Leek soup. Not as good as San Angels but very good! For lunch she had the Grilled Atlantic Salmon Bruschetta which she thought was way better than the salmon from Artist Point. I had the Cobb Salad which I thought was awesome. The food here was very good and the service was also good. We will definitely go back here.
After lunch we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived around 3:00 PM and headed right over to Mickeys Toontown to avoid the parade which we had seen in April. We took the path from Tomorrowland. This path is awesome! One of the only quiet places we have found in the park. We commented on how we think this would be a great spot to sit with your kids and have lunch. There are some benches where you could do this. Such a nice spot! We walked it twice and only saw 2 people on it in those 2 trips. In Toontown we finally got our picture with what I consider to be the real Mickey (no fancy outfits or anything). After that we kind of just walked around. I rode Splash Mountain while my wife waited at the end. She noticed that there were lots of little lizards running around all over the place and would be a good spot to bring your kids over to see them. She also said this is a pretty quiet spot to hang out for a little bit especially if you want your kids to play with the lizards!
We also did the Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise, and the Country Bear Jamboree. After than we kind of just hung around and relaxed. We walked through Main St for awhile and looked at some more of the things posted from the Your BEST WDW theme park secret! post. We took a spot towards the entrance of Main St and waited for the fireworks while eating Ice Cream Sundaes in waffle bowls. They were only ~ $4.25 (w/ tax) which we thought was a pretty good deal. After Wishes was over, we headed to the bus and caught the first bus leaving for All Star Music (which is a very short walk from the 101 Dalmatians #4.)
Day Four (10/26)
This was our last day in Florida so we walked over to the Guitar pool in All Star Music and just hung out. For the 3 hours we were there a total of about 7 people were in the pool. It was so quiet and relaxing! This pool seems to be much quieter and more laid back than the pools in the Movies resort. We had our favorite Yogurt Parfait for snack and just did nothing until it was time to head to the airport!
We decided that going this time of year was a little easier than in April when we were there last. The parks were not open as late which made the days a little bit easier. In April, the parks were open until ~ 11:00 PM every night combined with the fact that we had the UPH tickets, we felt obligated to always be in the parks. This was only our second trip so we are still learning. Overall, the weather was great (~85ish) and the crowds werent bad. We hated the water last time and took some DisBoards advice and went to Walmart and bought their brand of the Crystal Light individual drink flavors. We had a water bottle that we used these with and they worked great! It didnt take all of the bad taste away, but it was much better than just the water. Thanks to all for your tips!
