We took a quick 4 day trip to MK. This was planned in July when Southwest had unbelievable fares for $75 roundtrip from Hartford-MCO. I planned it during my husband's birthday week because he still moans that his birthday is so close to Christmas that he doesn't ever get to do anything (he's 33). It was our first time flying Southwest (and my first time flying out of Hartford) and it was great! The people were so friendly, we were on-time, had a meal (snack), choice of seats. I was hesitant, I even posted under Transportation Boards, and I am so glad that we did. We fly with them again in January with the kids.
Arrived in Orlando and checked into hotel (Lake Buena Vista Best Western). I originally had reservations at Port Orleans and when they closed I took advantage of the low rates here ($35 night). Our room was on the 14th floor. It was quite large and it overlooked all of Disney and the Village. We watched the fireworks from our balcony. I was very satisfied with the hotel. The only inconvenience was that they were doing construction and sometimes we caught the elevator which let out on Mezzanine level and had to walk down 1 flight of stairs, no biggie.
We went over to the Winter-Summerland mini golf course and played Winter of course (it's a week before Christmas!) We then headed to Tony Roma's for dinner. Hubby had all you can eat baby back ribs. He was very happy. Then headed over to the village for some shopping. It was very crowded here and called it an early night. Went back to the room and caught Illuminations from the balcony.
The next morning (Tuesday 12/18) we headed for MK. I had ressies at Cindy's for 9:50 am and the Keys to the Kingdom tour at 10am. We made a dash for the Castle to see if they could seat us early. I stopped at Guest Services and picked up the "Today's MY Birthday" pin for hubby, glad I did. Lots of surprises along the way thanks to it. Cindy's sat us right away at a table in front of the window that overlooks the carousel. Belle came right over to wish Jim a happy birthday, as did Prince Charming, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Aladdin was there but he never made it to our table. The food was very good, loved the breakfast potatoes. They had the restaurant sing Happy Birthday and brought him a birthday muffin and a certificate signed by everyone there acknowledging his "Magic Moment". We made our tour for 10am. Our guide was Nichole. She was good. I was told when I made the reservations that no cameras would be allowed so I opted to leave mine back at the room rather than have to get a locker, etc. People had their cameras (no one took pictures) but I regret leaving it behind for all the attention Jim got during the day. The barber shop quartet stopped our tour while on Main Street and called him up to serenade him. The tour was a little slow. I think they should lose the two breaks and pick up the pace a little. It ended in time to catch the parade on Main Street. Ariel mouthed "Happy Birthday" to Jim from her snowglobe, as did Sleeping Beauty. We did a few rides and headed for our ressies at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6pm. We had a little bit of a wait here before we were seated. The characters came around quickly, but we didn't see Pluto who was there earlier. Most characters came around twice. The food was good here. We enjoyed the ham and stuffing the most. Stayed for the MVMCP. It was very relaxing, not too many lines. Caught a few shows. It got very chilly by 10pm. Watched the parade and fireworks then left around 12:15 during the Castle performance.
Spent Wednesday at Universal IOA and UF. Love Hulk and Dueling Dragons rollercoasters. They are running their attractions much slower than Disney. Had 7:15 Hoop Dee Doo ressies so headed over to Ft. Wilderness. First time there, and we really enjoyed it. People decorated their trailers with lights, you think your driving around your own neighborhood. The show was funny. I'm sure a lot depends on the crowd and what material they have to work with. We had a few laughs. The food was good here. Hubby enjoyed the ribs again, me the Fried Chicken. He said the Sangria was good too. We both got carded, I think they ask everyone for ID. Hubby enjoyed that, I just laughed. They had the wagons running but we didn't bring our jackets and it was cold by the time we got out of the show. Headed over to Pleasure Island and saw a movie. Got back to the room late.
Thursday, our last day. Only had enough time for breakfast and a quick stop at the Character Connection over at LB Outlets. Our flight was late coming in but Southwest had everyone double and triple checked so we were able to board the plane as soon as the last person was off the arriving flight. We ended up only being 5 minutes late into Hartford.
It was a good, quick trip. My feet still ache from all the running around. I'm glad when we return in January we'll have our kids and be able to take our time, relax, and enjoy.
I forgot to mention, our car rental ressies were with Dollar. I mentioned that I had been trying to reserve a PT Cruiser with National but they told me they didn't have any. The reservationist said, we have Cruisers, a lot of them, and they just dropped the price. It was $30/day. My hubby has one of his own, which he loves, but it is a standard shift (I can't drive it) so I rented it. We happened to get the same color we own, Deep Cranberry. It was fun to drive, now I have to learn to drive stick shift so I can drive his more.
Arrived in Orlando and checked into hotel (Lake Buena Vista Best Western). I originally had reservations at Port Orleans and when they closed I took advantage of the low rates here ($35 night). Our room was on the 14th floor. It was quite large and it overlooked all of Disney and the Village. We watched the fireworks from our balcony. I was very satisfied with the hotel. The only inconvenience was that they were doing construction and sometimes we caught the elevator which let out on Mezzanine level and had to walk down 1 flight of stairs, no biggie.
We went over to the Winter-Summerland mini golf course and played Winter of course (it's a week before Christmas!) We then headed to Tony Roma's for dinner. Hubby had all you can eat baby back ribs. He was very happy. Then headed over to the village for some shopping. It was very crowded here and called it an early night. Went back to the room and caught Illuminations from the balcony.
The next morning (Tuesday 12/18) we headed for MK. I had ressies at Cindy's for 9:50 am and the Keys to the Kingdom tour at 10am. We made a dash for the Castle to see if they could seat us early. I stopped at Guest Services and picked up the "Today's MY Birthday" pin for hubby, glad I did. Lots of surprises along the way thanks to it. Cindy's sat us right away at a table in front of the window that overlooks the carousel. Belle came right over to wish Jim a happy birthday, as did Prince Charming, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. Aladdin was there but he never made it to our table. The food was very good, loved the breakfast potatoes. They had the restaurant sing Happy Birthday and brought him a birthday muffin and a certificate signed by everyone there acknowledging his "Magic Moment". We made our tour for 10am. Our guide was Nichole. She was good. I was told when I made the reservations that no cameras would be allowed so I opted to leave mine back at the room rather than have to get a locker, etc. People had their cameras (no one took pictures) but I regret leaving it behind for all the attention Jim got during the day. The barber shop quartet stopped our tour while on Main Street and called him up to serenade him. The tour was a little slow. I think they should lose the two breaks and pick up the pace a little. It ended in time to catch the parade on Main Street. Ariel mouthed "Happy Birthday" to Jim from her snowglobe, as did Sleeping Beauty. We did a few rides and headed for our ressies at Liberty Tree Tavern for 6pm. We had a little bit of a wait here before we were seated. The characters came around quickly, but we didn't see Pluto who was there earlier. Most characters came around twice. The food was good here. We enjoyed the ham and stuffing the most. Stayed for the MVMCP. It was very relaxing, not too many lines. Caught a few shows. It got very chilly by 10pm. Watched the parade and fireworks then left around 12:15 during the Castle performance.
Spent Wednesday at Universal IOA and UF. Love Hulk and Dueling Dragons rollercoasters. They are running their attractions much slower than Disney. Had 7:15 Hoop Dee Doo ressies so headed over to Ft. Wilderness. First time there, and we really enjoyed it. People decorated their trailers with lights, you think your driving around your own neighborhood. The show was funny. I'm sure a lot depends on the crowd and what material they have to work with. We had a few laughs. The food was good here. Hubby enjoyed the ribs again, me the Fried Chicken. He said the Sangria was good too. We both got carded, I think they ask everyone for ID. Hubby enjoyed that, I just laughed. They had the wagons running but we didn't bring our jackets and it was cold by the time we got out of the show. Headed over to Pleasure Island and saw a movie. Got back to the room late.
Thursday, our last day. Only had enough time for breakfast and a quick stop at the Character Connection over at LB Outlets. Our flight was late coming in but Southwest had everyone double and triple checked so we were able to board the plane as soon as the last person was off the arriving flight. We ended up only being 5 minutes late into Hartford.
It was a good, quick trip. My feet still ache from all the running around. I'm glad when we return in January we'll have our kids and be able to take our time, relax, and enjoy.
I forgot to mention, our car rental ressies were with Dollar. I mentioned that I had been trying to reserve a PT Cruiser with National but they told me they didn't have any. The reservationist said, we have Cruisers, a lot of them, and they just dropped the price. It was $30/day. My hubby has one of his own, which he loves, but it is a standard shift (I can't drive it) so I rented it. We happened to get the same color we own, Deep Cranberry. It was fun to drive, now I have to learn to drive stick shift so I can drive his more.
