Folks, I will be doing a blow by blow trip report when I get around to it, but just got back from my trip yesterday and haven't unpacked yet! Still need to upload pics and haven't seen Photopass pics yet.
DD and I flew to Orlando on March 1st and flew home in the 11th. We stayed at the POP and the last three days went to Universal and stayed at the Royal Pacific resort and did IoA/Harry Potter and Universal parks.
Our vacation was PERFECT!
I'm not kidding! It so far exceeded my expectations that no vacation for the rest of my life deserves to be as good! We just lucked out in every area from weather (sunny, low 80s and only rained twice - once overnight which doesn't count and the other time on Sat. which left us stranded waiting for the Dr. Suess train at Univ. park for an hour but the rain made the park clear out and we got to ride Harry Potter twice more (we rode HP Forbidden Journey four times that day with no waits except for one 1/2 hour wait the 2nd time we rode - who gets so lucky to do that???) so it worked out great! 
Ok, so here are some random musings about our experience in no particular order:
-The people at WDW were so friendly and nice. We were treated like Queens every day everywhere we went
(with the exception of a cab driver who mislead me and overcharged me, but he was not affiliated with WDW).
-We are fussbudget eaters and the dining plan concerned me, but they didn't split hairs over the small stuff and this enabled DD to substitute an occasional ice cream or fruit cup for the cookie desert (how many cookies can you eat in 10 days?). This was unexpected and really appreciated.
-The food was far BETTER than I expected. The drink choices were good. Even the coffee at the POP was adequate (not great) to get me up and reved. Our refillable mugs were terrific because we could fill up on coffee or lemonade (we could have done soda, but we don't drink it) as often as we wanted.
-The POP was fun and lively.
The service was great. We wanted for nothing. The pool was clean. We only used one of their 3 pools, the Petals pool.
-The entertainment at the various shows was top notch and highly professional. The Hoop Dee Doo players were among DD's favorites. We were dazzled by Fantasmic, got a kick out of the waitresses at the Primetime cafe at HS, DD was over the moon at the American Idol experience, all the parades were so much fun
, the Lion King show at AK knocked our socks off, then at Universal, we had a blast at the performing animal show (I never heard of it but highly recommend it) and the Beetlejuice Rock 'N Roll revue.
-DD's 9th birthday was March 6, and everyone made her feel special.
The waitress at the Primetime cafe gave her a birthday card that she had all the guests in our section sign. DD was beaming with appreciation. She wore a birthday button and got wished Happy Birthday all day long from all the cast members. She got a free birthday balloon from the check-in clerk at the POP.
-We even got a bit of Disney magic bestowed on us
by a wonderful cast member at the American exhibit at Epcot. We wanted to see the movie presentation (since DD was taken out of school for this trip, I made sure she saw many of the educational experiences) but when we got there, we just missed the start of show time. We couldn't wait for the next show because we had a Fastpass to Soarin' between 8:30-9 pm and we had a long walk from WS to FW. So the castmember let us in! She said we only missed a couple of minutes. DD really liked that show and we got to maximize our time and still got to Soarin' on time.
-We never had a problem making our Fastpass time schedules, and we were there a few days before the new time enforcement rules took place.
-To those Disboard posters who recommend going back to the hotel for a rest, swim and regrouping: I can't thank you enough!
I was hell bent on staying in the parks for the duration
until I got there and hit a wall at mid-day. The crowds and sun got to us and we couldn't take it anymore. So we went back to the POP (and did the same at the RP when we were in Universal). We had a relaxing swim and got rejuvenated then went back to the parks with tons of energy and enthusiasm
-We ran into so many kind people. Like the lady who noticed that we didn't have our 3D glasses at Philharmagic and left the crowd (and her kids with us!) so she could get some for DD and me!
So incredibly thoughtful of her. Honestly, off the top of my head, I can't even remember all the kindness that was bestowed on us, we got it all day everywhere we went in big and small ways.
-Downtown Disney struck me as mostly a mall, nice as it was. I actually liked Citywalk at Universal better. It seemed like a more happening, festive atmosphere.
-Since we are not rollercoaster lovers, we didn't have to deal with long waits for the super attraction rides. But we do like the virtual rides and among our favorites were Star Tours. Just knocked our socks off. We also loved Buzz Lightyear (did that one 3 times), Toy Story, Mission Space green, the space ride in the big Epcot ball (forgot the name). I can't remember many of the WDW rides right now, but the Universal rides blew Disney away (sorry!). Spiderman (3 times OMG!), Harry Potter Forbidden Journey (4 times!!!), and my and DD's absolute favorite ride of all time: The Simpsons! That ride was clever, entertaining, thrilling, hilarious, had all the characters, told a story, just extremely well executed in all facets.
-The Magic Memories and Me show was the most beautiful thing we ever saw. It actually brought tears to my eyes and we were lucky enough to have a wonderful, unobstructed view of it. What a privilege to see that.
-The Electric Parade was gorgeous. We got a really nice view of it from the bridge near Liberty land quite by accident.
This is only the tip of the iceberg and truly a dream come true. I could go on and on...WDW will always be in our minds our happy place.
DD and I flew to Orlando on March 1st and flew home in the 11th. We stayed at the POP and the last three days went to Universal and stayed at the Royal Pacific resort and did IoA/Harry Potter and Universal parks.
Our vacation was PERFECT!
I'm not kidding! It so far exceeded my expectations that no vacation for the rest of my life deserves to be as good! We just lucked out in every area from weather (sunny, low 80s and only rained twice - once overnight which doesn't count and the other time on Sat. which left us stranded waiting for the Dr. Suess train at Univ. park for an hour but the rain made the park clear out and we got to ride Harry Potter twice more (we rode HP Forbidden Journey four times that day with no waits except for one 1/2 hour wait the 2nd time we rode - who gets so lucky to do that???) so it worked out great! Ok, so here are some random musings about our experience in no particular order:
-The people at WDW were so friendly and nice. We were treated like Queens every day everywhere we went
(with the exception of a cab driver who mislead me and overcharged me, but he was not affiliated with WDW).-We are fussbudget eaters and the dining plan concerned me, but they didn't split hairs over the small stuff and this enabled DD to substitute an occasional ice cream or fruit cup for the cookie desert (how many cookies can you eat in 10 days?). This was unexpected and really appreciated.
-The food was far BETTER than I expected. The drink choices were good. Even the coffee at the POP was adequate (not great) to get me up and reved. Our refillable mugs were terrific because we could fill up on coffee or lemonade (we could have done soda, but we don't drink it) as often as we wanted.
-The POP was fun and lively.
The service was great. We wanted for nothing. The pool was clean. We only used one of their 3 pools, the Petals pool.-The entertainment at the various shows was top notch and highly professional. The Hoop Dee Doo players were among DD's favorites. We were dazzled by Fantasmic, got a kick out of the waitresses at the Primetime cafe at HS, DD was over the moon at the American Idol experience, all the parades were so much fun
, the Lion King show at AK knocked our socks off, then at Universal, we had a blast at the performing animal show (I never heard of it but highly recommend it) and the Beetlejuice Rock 'N Roll revue.-DD's 9th birthday was March 6, and everyone made her feel special.
The waitress at the Primetime cafe gave her a birthday card that she had all the guests in our section sign. DD was beaming with appreciation. She wore a birthday button and got wished Happy Birthday all day long from all the cast members. She got a free birthday balloon from the check-in clerk at the POP.-We even got a bit of Disney magic bestowed on us
by a wonderful cast member at the American exhibit at Epcot. We wanted to see the movie presentation (since DD was taken out of school for this trip, I made sure she saw many of the educational experiences) but when we got there, we just missed the start of show time. We couldn't wait for the next show because we had a Fastpass to Soarin' between 8:30-9 pm and we had a long walk from WS to FW. So the castmember let us in! She said we only missed a couple of minutes. DD really liked that show and we got to maximize our time and still got to Soarin' on time.-We never had a problem making our Fastpass time schedules, and we were there a few days before the new time enforcement rules took place.
-To those Disboard posters who recommend going back to the hotel for a rest, swim and regrouping: I can't thank you enough!
I was hell bent on staying in the parks for the duration
until I got there and hit a wall at mid-day. The crowds and sun got to us and we couldn't take it anymore. So we went back to the POP (and did the same at the RP when we were in Universal). We had a relaxing swim and got rejuvenated then went back to the parks with tons of energy and enthusiasm -We ran into so many kind people. Like the lady who noticed that we didn't have our 3D glasses at Philharmagic and left the crowd (and her kids with us!) so she could get some for DD and me!
So incredibly thoughtful of her. Honestly, off the top of my head, I can't even remember all the kindness that was bestowed on us, we got it all day everywhere we went in big and small ways.-Downtown Disney struck me as mostly a mall, nice as it was. I actually liked Citywalk at Universal better. It seemed like a more happening, festive atmosphere.
-Since we are not rollercoaster lovers, we didn't have to deal with long waits for the super attraction rides. But we do like the virtual rides and among our favorites were Star Tours. Just knocked our socks off. We also loved Buzz Lightyear (did that one 3 times), Toy Story, Mission Space green, the space ride in the big Epcot ball (forgot the name). I can't remember many of the WDW rides right now, but the Universal rides blew Disney away (sorry!). Spiderman (3 times OMG!), Harry Potter Forbidden Journey (4 times!!!), and my and DD's absolute favorite ride of all time: The Simpsons! That ride was clever, entertaining, thrilling, hilarious, had all the characters, told a story, just extremely well executed in all facets.
-The Magic Memories and Me show was the most beautiful thing we ever saw. It actually brought tears to my eyes and we were lucky enough to have a wonderful, unobstructed view of it. What a privilege to see that.
-The Electric Parade was gorgeous. We got a really nice view of it from the bridge near Liberty land quite by accident.
This is only the tip of the iceberg and truly a dream come true. I could go on and on...WDW will always be in our minds our happy place.
