clkelley
<font color=purple>I squealed really loud!!<br><fo
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2001
- Messages
- 12,571
Who: Me, Hubby, BIL, Good Friends (Adult Couple), 3 ECVs
Where: Pop Century, Free Dining
When, September 13 - 19 (me and hubby only, the rest of the group is staying through the 23rd)
Southwest Airlines, Magical Express
Well, we just got back from 6 nights at WDW/POP Century on the Free Dining Plan!!
We had a great time. POP was pretty cool, although we did change rooms after the first night. We got a third floor King Bed room, with a view of the service area, and that bed was hard as a brick!! We were moved to a first floor room with two doubles. We had a view of the lake which was OK, but I'll be glad when they finish out the other side or the trees grow taller because overlooking those empty buildings is spooky.
The changes to the Haunted Mansion are AWESOME!!!
We had some good meals and stuffed ourselves silly. We did make our dining reservations 180 days out and we were always seated within a few minutes of arriving except for 50's Prime Time, but we were requesting a specific server, so we waited 30 minutes for Mama Sue.
We went to the Luau and enjoyed it, but should have booked the late seating, it was HOT.
We also ate at Coral Reef, LeCellier, Cape May Cafe, 50's Prime Time, and Whispering Canyon Cafe. We stretched our Table Service Credits by only using 1 meal credit and paying cash for an extra appetizer and drink at LeCellier and 50's Prime Time.
We saw Dave & Jennifer Marx (Passporter Authors) and their son a couple of times during our stay (both times at Magic Kingdom).
My ride wimp hubby finally rode Tower of Terror (TWICE!!). The first time we rode, the picture turned out really dark, so they backdoored us for a 2nd ride. After riding, he was like "that's it??"
The Studios is feeling kind of empty to us attraction-wise now. After the Great Movie Ride, ToT, RnRC (closed), and Muppets, we were kind of like, what now?? Lights, Motors, Action, Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Animation Tour, and Backlot Tour all got a "been there, done that" reaction from all of us. We went into Sounds Dangerous just to take a nap, and we all decided that we didn't want to get bounced around on Star Tours, so after dinner we just strolled around, and then went to Fantasmic. Since Millionaire was gone, we didn't really go to the back part of the park, so forgot about One Man's Dream.
We enjoyed Epcot a lot. We got several Soarin rides in, and saw the new movie at Canada. Unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't appear they shot any new Circle Vision stuff, just added some single camera stuff with Martin Short and reworked the narration and music. We saw Off Kilter, British Invasion, the Chinese Acrobats, and UK World Showcase Players. I didn't realize how much we would miss Spaceship Earth, but it really made an impact on our visit there. Honey I Shrunk the Audience was also closed. Lots of construction walls for the Food & Wine Festival (can't wait!!!)
Hubby and myself had lunch alone at Coral Reef while the rest of our group was taking the Keys to the Kingdom. That was really good. We were right at the windows and there was a large turtle that came down several times to nap. A shark and a couple of Rays came by quite frequently.
Animal Kingdom was fun. We did all the attractions and shows there except for the Pocohantas Show. That's where we lost our camera. Hubby left it in the pouch on Dinosaur. He went straight back there and the CMs told him they found a camera and it was on it's way to guest services. It must have been a different camera, because after calling there every day, and calling Central Lost & Found every day and visiting there on our last day, no camera. We at first thought it would be the perfect time to upgrade, but I want a camera right away for the big RADP trip in two weeks, so I went on eBay and got one identical to the one we lost for about $50. We'll take our time now and really research before upgrading.
We spent a lot of time at Magic Kingdom. We went there on Saturday night for SpectroMagic and the Fireworks, geez what a zoo, but it was the only night Spectro was running. We went to Haunted Mansion several times, and rode Pirates a couple of times. We also went to Laugh Floor and Carousel of Progress a few times. Splash and Big Thunder were fun, and my BIL lost his hat on Splash. Our friends that were with us did Keys to the Kingdom one morning. It was on our last day and they are still there, so haven't really heard how they liked it.
DME worked flawlessly. Pop Century was the first stop. We arrived very late at night on Thursday. We had what we needed to go to bed, and get up the next morning as carryons. We then changed rooms the next morning, and when we got back later that night, our carryons and our DME luggage was in the room. Our pickup bus was right on time and we went straight back to the airport. We flew Southwest, so didn't use RAC, but not really a big deal. They have reworked the dropoff point and made sure lots of SkyCaps are down there, so got up to the third floor no problem.
The bus service from Pop Century going TO the parks was never a problem. We were out either very early in the morning, so no crowds, or either very late in the morning, so no crowds. Leaving Magic Kingdom and Epcot after evening EMH was another story. Even 45 minutes after park closing, the lines were still backed up through two bus stops. They were pulling in three buses at a time, and doing their best, but the sheer number of rooms at Pop Century is very obvious at that time.
We visited Adventurers Club on Tuesday night. That was fun. We saw a couple of Treasure Room Shows, the RadioThon, the Radio Broadcast, and the Balderdash Cup. The "large" castmember playing Graves that night looks WONDERFUL (also seen as Otis and Fletcher sometimes). He has probably lost at least 100 pounds. The CM playing Samantha Sterling also has a role at Animal Kingdom in Flights of Wonder.
The MarketPlace bus stop is closed through the 29th, so the PI stop is even more congested than usual.
The dining plan was worth it since it was free and we were repeat visitors, so could plan our meals early, and weren't worried about missing something because we were "wasting time" at a sit down meal. I won't ever pay for it, and we didn't book the Bounceback because the 2008 plan just won't be the value. Also September is really too hot for hubby. If it weren't for the daily rain, and spending lots of time in air conditioning, he would have been miserable.
Well, I guess that's about it. This probably sounds pretty dry, but I hope this covered the highlights with what's going on.
Only 14 Days 7 Hrs 7 Mins 38 Secs till I'm on the road again to WDW and Ft. Wilderness for RADP XII !!!!!! (www.radp.org)
Where: Pop Century, Free Dining
When, September 13 - 19 (me and hubby only, the rest of the group is staying through the 23rd)
Southwest Airlines, Magical Express
Well, we just got back from 6 nights at WDW/POP Century on the Free Dining Plan!!
We had a great time. POP was pretty cool, although we did change rooms after the first night. We got a third floor King Bed room, with a view of the service area, and that bed was hard as a brick!! We were moved to a first floor room with two doubles. We had a view of the lake which was OK, but I'll be glad when they finish out the other side or the trees grow taller because overlooking those empty buildings is spooky.
The changes to the Haunted Mansion are AWESOME!!!
We had some good meals and stuffed ourselves silly. We did make our dining reservations 180 days out and we were always seated within a few minutes of arriving except for 50's Prime Time, but we were requesting a specific server, so we waited 30 minutes for Mama Sue.
We went to the Luau and enjoyed it, but should have booked the late seating, it was HOT.
We also ate at Coral Reef, LeCellier, Cape May Cafe, 50's Prime Time, and Whispering Canyon Cafe. We stretched our Table Service Credits by only using 1 meal credit and paying cash for an extra appetizer and drink at LeCellier and 50's Prime Time.
We saw Dave & Jennifer Marx (Passporter Authors) and their son a couple of times during our stay (both times at Magic Kingdom).
My ride wimp hubby finally rode Tower of Terror (TWICE!!). The first time we rode, the picture turned out really dark, so they backdoored us for a 2nd ride. After riding, he was like "that's it??"
The Studios is feeling kind of empty to us attraction-wise now. After the Great Movie Ride, ToT, RnRC (closed), and Muppets, we were kind of like, what now?? Lights, Motors, Action, Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, Little Mermaid, Animation Tour, and Backlot Tour all got a "been there, done that" reaction from all of us. We went into Sounds Dangerous just to take a nap, and we all decided that we didn't want to get bounced around on Star Tours, so after dinner we just strolled around, and then went to Fantasmic. Since Millionaire was gone, we didn't really go to the back part of the park, so forgot about One Man's Dream.
We enjoyed Epcot a lot. We got several Soarin rides in, and saw the new movie at Canada. Unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't appear they shot any new Circle Vision stuff, just added some single camera stuff with Martin Short and reworked the narration and music. We saw Off Kilter, British Invasion, the Chinese Acrobats, and UK World Showcase Players. I didn't realize how much we would miss Spaceship Earth, but it really made an impact on our visit there. Honey I Shrunk the Audience was also closed. Lots of construction walls for the Food & Wine Festival (can't wait!!!)
Hubby and myself had lunch alone at Coral Reef while the rest of our group was taking the Keys to the Kingdom. That was really good. We were right at the windows and there was a large turtle that came down several times to nap. A shark and a couple of Rays came by quite frequently.
Animal Kingdom was fun. We did all the attractions and shows there except for the Pocohantas Show. That's where we lost our camera. Hubby left it in the pouch on Dinosaur. He went straight back there and the CMs told him they found a camera and it was on it's way to guest services. It must have been a different camera, because after calling there every day, and calling Central Lost & Found every day and visiting there on our last day, no camera. We at first thought it would be the perfect time to upgrade, but I want a camera right away for the big RADP trip in two weeks, so I went on eBay and got one identical to the one we lost for about $50. We'll take our time now and really research before upgrading.
We spent a lot of time at Magic Kingdom. We went there on Saturday night for SpectroMagic and the Fireworks, geez what a zoo, but it was the only night Spectro was running. We went to Haunted Mansion several times, and rode Pirates a couple of times. We also went to Laugh Floor and Carousel of Progress a few times. Splash and Big Thunder were fun, and my BIL lost his hat on Splash. Our friends that were with us did Keys to the Kingdom one morning. It was on our last day and they are still there, so haven't really heard how they liked it.
DME worked flawlessly. Pop Century was the first stop. We arrived very late at night on Thursday. We had what we needed to go to bed, and get up the next morning as carryons. We then changed rooms the next morning, and when we got back later that night, our carryons and our DME luggage was in the room. Our pickup bus was right on time and we went straight back to the airport. We flew Southwest, so didn't use RAC, but not really a big deal. They have reworked the dropoff point and made sure lots of SkyCaps are down there, so got up to the third floor no problem.
The bus service from Pop Century going TO the parks was never a problem. We were out either very early in the morning, so no crowds, or either very late in the morning, so no crowds. Leaving Magic Kingdom and Epcot after evening EMH was another story. Even 45 minutes after park closing, the lines were still backed up through two bus stops. They were pulling in three buses at a time, and doing their best, but the sheer number of rooms at Pop Century is very obvious at that time.
We visited Adventurers Club on Tuesday night. That was fun. We saw a couple of Treasure Room Shows, the RadioThon, the Radio Broadcast, and the Balderdash Cup. The "large" castmember playing Graves that night looks WONDERFUL (also seen as Otis and Fletcher sometimes). He has probably lost at least 100 pounds. The CM playing Samantha Sterling also has a role at Animal Kingdom in Flights of Wonder.
The MarketPlace bus stop is closed through the 29th, so the PI stop is even more congested than usual.
The dining plan was worth it since it was free and we were repeat visitors, so could plan our meals early, and weren't worried about missing something because we were "wasting time" at a sit down meal. I won't ever pay for it, and we didn't book the Bounceback because the 2008 plan just won't be the value. Also September is really too hot for hubby. If it weren't for the daily rain, and spending lots of time in air conditioning, he would have been miserable.
Well, I guess that's about it. This probably sounds pretty dry, but I hope this covered the highlights with what's going on.
Only 14 Days 7 Hrs 7 Mins 38 Secs till I'm on the road again to WDW and Ft. Wilderness for RADP XII !!!!!! (www.radp.org)
