lilsonicfan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2003
- Messages
- 3,471
Well I'm back from a fantastic trip. Thought I'd share some highlights and lowlights from an all-around great week. Hope it's not ridiculously long... but it probably will be! 
Cast: seven of us, ranging from age 3.5 to "30-ish". I'm 23.
Accommodations: off-site villa in Oak Island Cove, less than 5 minutes from the World. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, three TVs, two living rooms, and a big kitchen (and a partridge in a pear tree). We never lacked space! And the rate was excellent!
Travel: we live in Vancouver, so we decided to fly from Seattle to MCO. Found tickets on Expedia for about $250 US including all taxes. We drove down on Feb 13th, took a 1:00am flight out of SEA on the 14th, and arrived in MCO at 11:00am. Rented a minivan for about $240 US for eight days including tax.
Tickets: 7-day Park Hopper Plus on a Canadian promotion (Buy 1, get 1 half price).
Day 1: Arrival with all our luggage at MCO. Got the van and drove to our beautiful home away from home. Freshened up, and had lunch at Sizzler. Then we visited DTD. Bought groceries at the Winn-Dixie near our place, made spaghetti, and turned in for the night.
Day 2 (Sat): Epcot. Theme of the day: Boat Rides. Loved Epcot! Spaceship Earth was our first ride. The kids really enjoyed Innoventions (my BF received a lovely 10 second video of us singing). Rode the boat ride at Mexico, Norway, and The Land. Felt immensely patriotic after the film in Canada pavilion. We fastpassed for Test Track but didn't actually use the fastpasses, too busy looking around World Showcase. Ate lunch at Yakitori - I love udon. Around 3pm, walked past Showcase Plaza and saw a bus full of characters. I took off running and the kids followed me - we must have met about 15-20 characters in less than 30 minutes! Got home, got takeout from Sonny's BBQ - delicious, but we ordered way too much.
Day 3 (Sun): Animal Kingdom. Went right to Kilimanjaro... what a great ride that is. A big thrill for the kids was Primeval Whirl. Ate lunch at Restaurantosaurus - better burgers than any McD's ever! Met Lilo/Stitch, Pooh and friends, and tons more. Walked onto Kali River - we each rode twice while using the kid swap method... no waits because of the parade.
Day 4 (Mon): Disney-MGM. Not my favourite park. Lines were long (President's Day) and no one wanted to go on ToT with me. Rock and Roller was ok but far too short. I was second at the end of our Millionaire show! We did meet Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and some Green Army Men, as well as Mike and Sulley. Enjoyed the Indy Jones show, but Sounds Dangerous was boring.
Day 5 (Tues): Magic Kingdom. Thought crowds would be lower, but was wrong! Sooo busy. Our best fastpassing day. Waited for Buzz, while getting fastpasses for Space Mtn. Then fastpassed for Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder Mtn, Buzz again, and Space Mtn again. LOVED Buzz! Got to ride Big Thunder three times due to FP and kid swap. Ate dinner at Macaroni Grill - amazing deal for the kids - huge meals.
Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon and outlet shopping. Fun fun fun. I loved floating around the park in an inner tube - I went over and over again. The kids really liked Ketchakiddie Creek - and I did too, nice warm water there! Then, DTD for souvenirs. One kid got the Mr. Potatohead "fill-em-up" box for $16.00 - we got 38 pieces in that box.
Day 7: Animal Kingdom/Epcot. More safari, more Kali River, and also petting zoo/conservation station. Oh, and rode Dinosaur (yay!) and more Primeval Whirl. Loved the Lion King show, Tarzan was just ok. Finally rode Test Track (twice) - sooo fun. Saw Cranium Command - could those kids be any more 80s?
Day 8: Epcot/Magic Kingdom. More Innoventions, Ice Stn Cool, Test Track. More Buzz, Space Mtn. Saw more characters. Rode Splash Mtn. Those birds in MK are rampant and gross. Saw a girl reach up and hit one with her hand - ick!
Day 9: Last day - Magic Kingdom. Spent hours shopping on Main Street. Took pictures of the castle and the Cinderella show. Rode in the front of the monorail and got my co-pilot licence. Then back home. So sad. But I can't wait to go again (maybe in a few years!)
General notes: I never knew US airports charged for luggage carts - they're free in Vancouver. American Airlines is awesome - so much leg room. I loved staying in a house rather than a hotel. Smart fastpassing is the key - we never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. The lions and cheetah in Kilimanjaro didn't seem to move from one day to the next. Hmm. Portions in the States seem to be gigantic at all the restaurants. And Sweet Tomatoes is my new favourite restaurant.
Thanks for letting me post this PM me for more info!
Cast: seven of us, ranging from age 3.5 to "30-ish". I'm 23.
Accommodations: off-site villa in Oak Island Cove, less than 5 minutes from the World. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, three TVs, two living rooms, and a big kitchen (and a partridge in a pear tree). We never lacked space! And the rate was excellent!
Travel: we live in Vancouver, so we decided to fly from Seattle to MCO. Found tickets on Expedia for about $250 US including all taxes. We drove down on Feb 13th, took a 1:00am flight out of SEA on the 14th, and arrived in MCO at 11:00am. Rented a minivan for about $240 US for eight days including tax.
Tickets: 7-day Park Hopper Plus on a Canadian promotion (Buy 1, get 1 half price).
Day 1: Arrival with all our luggage at MCO. Got the van and drove to our beautiful home away from home. Freshened up, and had lunch at Sizzler. Then we visited DTD. Bought groceries at the Winn-Dixie near our place, made spaghetti, and turned in for the night.
Day 2 (Sat): Epcot. Theme of the day: Boat Rides. Loved Epcot! Spaceship Earth was our first ride. The kids really enjoyed Innoventions (my BF received a lovely 10 second video of us singing). Rode the boat ride at Mexico, Norway, and The Land. Felt immensely patriotic after the film in Canada pavilion. We fastpassed for Test Track but didn't actually use the fastpasses, too busy looking around World Showcase. Ate lunch at Yakitori - I love udon. Around 3pm, walked past Showcase Plaza and saw a bus full of characters. I took off running and the kids followed me - we must have met about 15-20 characters in less than 30 minutes! Got home, got takeout from Sonny's BBQ - delicious, but we ordered way too much.
Day 3 (Sun): Animal Kingdom. Went right to Kilimanjaro... what a great ride that is. A big thrill for the kids was Primeval Whirl. Ate lunch at Restaurantosaurus - better burgers than any McD's ever! Met Lilo/Stitch, Pooh and friends, and tons more. Walked onto Kali River - we each rode twice while using the kid swap method... no waits because of the parade.
Day 4 (Mon): Disney-MGM. Not my favourite park. Lines were long (President's Day) and no one wanted to go on ToT with me. Rock and Roller was ok but far too short. I was second at the end of our Millionaire show! We did meet Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and some Green Army Men, as well as Mike and Sulley. Enjoyed the Indy Jones show, but Sounds Dangerous was boring.
Day 5 (Tues): Magic Kingdom. Thought crowds would be lower, but was wrong! Sooo busy. Our best fastpassing day. Waited for Buzz, while getting fastpasses for Space Mtn. Then fastpassed for Winnie the Pooh, Big Thunder Mtn, Buzz again, and Space Mtn again. LOVED Buzz! Got to ride Big Thunder three times due to FP and kid swap. Ate dinner at Macaroni Grill - amazing deal for the kids - huge meals.
Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon and outlet shopping. Fun fun fun. I loved floating around the park in an inner tube - I went over and over again. The kids really liked Ketchakiddie Creek - and I did too, nice warm water there! Then, DTD for souvenirs. One kid got the Mr. Potatohead "fill-em-up" box for $16.00 - we got 38 pieces in that box.
Day 7: Animal Kingdom/Epcot. More safari, more Kali River, and also petting zoo/conservation station. Oh, and rode Dinosaur (yay!) and more Primeval Whirl. Loved the Lion King show, Tarzan was just ok. Finally rode Test Track (twice) - sooo fun. Saw Cranium Command - could those kids be any more 80s?
Day 8: Epcot/Magic Kingdom. More Innoventions, Ice Stn Cool, Test Track. More Buzz, Space Mtn. Saw more characters. Rode Splash Mtn. Those birds in MK are rampant and gross. Saw a girl reach up and hit one with her hand - ick!
Day 9: Last day - Magic Kingdom. Spent hours shopping on Main Street. Took pictures of the castle and the Cinderella show. Rode in the front of the monorail and got my co-pilot licence. Then back home. So sad. But I can't wait to go again (maybe in a few years!)
General notes: I never knew US airports charged for luggage carts - they're free in Vancouver. American Airlines is awesome - so much leg room. I loved staying in a house rather than a hotel. Smart fastpassing is the key - we never waited more than 15 minutes for a ride. The lions and cheetah in Kilimanjaro didn't seem to move from one day to the next. Hmm. Portions in the States seem to be gigantic at all the restaurants. And Sweet Tomatoes is my new favourite restaurant.
Thanks for letting me post this
PM me for more info!
