Short trip 11/8 - 11/12 (stayed at Pop Century)

[Judy in Texas]

Joyce in Texas and I were invited to spend a few days in Orlando with my daughter, her husband, and his family. They all stayed off-property ; but, since Joyce and I LOVE WDW and were only going to be there 4 nights we chose to stay at Pop Century with the free quick service dining plan.

We flew in Monday AM, checked into the resort, and headed straight to Magic Kingdom. Here I am with my daughter, Sara.

Monday night we ate at Earl of Sandwich. I had the Holiday sandwich with extra gravy. Yum!

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom. Joyce took a picture of the baby giraffe on Kilimanjaro Safari. It is so cute:

 

[Judy in Texas]

On Wednesday part of the group went to the dark side to visit Harry Potter World. This is the entrance with the Hogwart's Express right inside the archway.

This is the main street of Hogsmeade.

A view of Hogwarts from Hogsmeade.

My thoughts on HPW: While it is visually stunning, there isn't enough space to do it right. HPW is just a small piece of Universal Island of Adventure. It's like trying to put HPW in Magic Kingdom Adventureland. We stood in line over 60 minutes to get into Ollivander's Wand Shop. The way the queue is set up easily allows one person to hold the space for an entire group while they are off exploring other parts of HPW. It looked like we were up next and all the sudden all those people cut back in line. Very frustrating. 20 people at a time are allowed into Ollivander's to see "the show" and even then it was tight. Only one person gets to go through the process of having a wand choose them. After the short show, we exited into the actual shop. Too little floor space, too many people. The wands sold there have an "O" for Ollivander's on the end of the box. The ones we saw elsewhere at Universal did not. I think they would sell many more wands if they allowed more people to have wands choose them. The Owlry sells postcards and official HP United States Post Office first class stamps. The stamps are marked up from $4.40 (ten 44 cent stamps) to $15.95 (?) "because they are collectible".

It was fun to see once. The rest of Universal Island of Adventure doesn't have enough draw to go back anytime soon.


Honeydukes candy shop.

The queue for the Hogwarts ride goes through the greenhouse. Pitcher plants are hanging from the ceiling.

This is a poor picture; but, the queue through the inside of Hogwarts is quite dark. This room has talking portraits.

Dumbledore's office.

A piece of equipment in Dumbledore's office. The room was so dark I couldn't see what it was. The camera flash did its job.

 

[Judy in Texas]

After visiting HPW during the day on Wednesday, we drove to The Fort, parked in the front lot, and took the bus to The Settlement. It was dark by then so we went looping on foot near The Settlement to see Christmas decorations. We asked several people about Disboard and green ears; but, no one knew what we were talking about at first. When it was time to leave, we walked back to The Settlement bus stop. There we met littleducksmom and the husband of someone who is on the Disboard Camping Forum lots; but, he didn't know her Disboard name. His wife and kids were at Magic Kingdom and he was spending the evening alone with a Trails End Pizza. Sounds relaxing.

Thursday night we went to Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Lights. They were awsome.

Friday we headed back to Texas.

Joyce and I are planning on spending +/- 10 days at The Fort next fall if we can get the time off work. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

THE END!

 

[Dizney_Luver]

Sounds like a Great time, Thanks for sharing!

 

[Judy in Texas]

PS:
Another good reason to stay at The Fort... Pop Century has nice cushy pillows (that hundreds of people have used); but, the pillow cases are only half the standard width. The cases made what would have been an "A" pillow into a hard bolster.

I failed miserably TCD-ing on this short trip. Lots of construction going on. The abandonded area of Pop Century still looks abandoned with lots of construction going on to the left as you look at it from the bridge across the lake. The active construction looks like it extends all the way to Osceola Parkway.

The construction on the new area of Magic Kingdom Toon Town is in full swing. I didn't have any luck finding a place to get a picture over the fence.

Any idea why the rickety bridge on the Animal Kingdom Kilimanjaro Safari no longer moves? I assume, like with the Yeti on Expedition Everest, there is some technical issue that is too costly to fix.

Earl of Sandwich is still one of my favorite restaurants.

The West End of Downtown Disney has lots going on with all the restaurants and shopping. The area in between the West End and the Cirque de Soile/House of Blues doesn't have much draw for me.

The people who stay at The Fort are nice folk. They take the time to say "hi" when you pass them on the walks or golf cart paths unlike the people staying at the other resorts. Thank you!

 

[Tri-circle-D]

I failed miserably TCD-ing on this short trip.

TCD-ing?

Now that's a verb I never heard before.

But, I know exactly what you mean!

Don't fret, it's hard to TCD when you aren't staying at the Fort, and you are on a tight schedule.

You can take a crack at it when you return next year!

The people who stay at The Fort are nice folk. They take the time to say "hi" when you pass them on the walks or golf cart paths unlike the people staying at the other resorts. Thank you!

Agreed!

And, thanks for writing your report.

And, for posting it on the camping board!

TCD