Albertan mom
<font color=blue>I didn't mean too, innocent mista
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2005
- Messages
- 3,468
This was my first trip to Disneyworld.
It was great!
We are:
DH 32, DD 11, DS8, FIL 55, MIL 54, BIL 26, SIL25
If you saw a family in bright orange Disney Logos shirts Aug 24-Sept 1, that was us!! We wore matching shirts to the parks, and boy, did it work great!
We could see each other on rides, in linueps, in restaurants. It was great, since the Parents were always a few feet behind us! We could turn around and there they were! If we split up and were meeting later, we could easily find each other. The CMs could look at us in line and know exactly how many of us there were! We got tons of compliments, and picked on on the Jungle Cruise, and at restaurants. I had families asking me where we got them (online at Disneyshopping) and saying what a good idea it was. The pictures also turned out great. The family laughed at me when I pulled them out, but they worked so well, we washed them and wore them each park day!
Definately would do that again.
HAPPY FEET=HAPPY DISERS
We all wore CROCS. They were awesome. Great for when your feet get wet. Didn't have sore week after walking miles every day. Worked great at the waterparks. I loved them. DS wore his runners the first day, and had wet soggy feet all day. He got a blister and was unhappy. After that day, he wore his Crocs everyday, and had no problems. Was great! Thank you all for reccomending them!
OUR RESORT
We stayed at the All Star Movies. We were in the Dalmations section, right at the bottom corner closest to the Food Court. Great location, very close to pool, arcade, food, laundry etc... We thought the theming here was so cute. The best place for kids. They loved the huge Icons. Room was not large, but worked fine for us. The rest of the family was in the room next door. We found the food court to be good. Lots of choices. Very busy from 7am-10am! Had trouble finding a table a few times and had to eat outside, but that was fine! We did get refillable mugs, liked that option. The pools were great, kids loved them. The gift shop was great, had lots of choices (spent too much money here!!) We found the transportation to be fine. Had to wait sometimes for up to 15 minutes, but not too bad at all. The only thing I would complain about is the Mousekeeping. We had a mess on our toliet when we checked in and it took days for it to get cleaned despite calling the front desk, leaving notes and talking to the Housecleaning supervisor. The floor was also not vaccuumed well, the bathroom floor was dirty. But other than that, we would stay there again, the price is right!
FREE DINING
I don't know if I will ever go back without it!! It was soooo great! We ate so well. Actually, DH gained 7lbs while we were there we ate so well!! (I gained 2) We ate a places that we would be too cheap to eat at regularily. We ate at:
Sci-Fi--thought it was ok, neat to eat in cars, food so-so
Hollywood and Vine--liked it here, lots of choices
Crystal Palace--loved the breakfast
Cinderellas Royal Table--eating in a castle! So fun! (but didn't love the food!)
Whispering Canyon Cafe--loved the food and atmosphere
Biergarten--kids didn't like it, adults did. Good fun show.
Le Cellier--have to try the Canadian food-lol. Very good.
Planet Hollywood--good food, fun place
Crystal Palace--good for dinner too.
50s Prime Time--definately our favorite. Lots of fun.
I did do more detailed reports on these over on the restaurant board if you want to see more!
We ate breakfasts at the food court most of the time. Sometimes we paid out of pocket, sometimes we used our credits. We ate our c.s meals all over. Sometimes we shared, as it is alot of food! It was so nice to just order whatever you want, and not worry about the prices! And to get dessert every meal--yummy!! We really enjoyed it. One bummer was we had to cancel our Chef Mickeys and Donalds Breakfast because of the Shuttle launch delay. Oh well, maybe next time!!
AK
Our least favorite park, but still fun. It was very hot this day. My son was picked to be in the Birds of Prey show, so that was neat for him. We thought the parade was neat. Loved the Lion King show. Thought Dinoland was kinda cheezy! ITTBAbug, fun. The safari ride was cool. Got to see lots of animals pretty close. Thought they should have more animals at Affection Section besides just goats! Enjoyed getting cooled off at Kali. Most of my family enjoyed EE, though I found it to be too intense for my liking! Did not like the backwards part, left my head loopy for awhile!
When we go back, we would probably only spend a 1/2 day here.
EPCOT
Liked it here. Different, but fun. We really liked Test Track, went on it a few times. I really think Spaceship Earth needs a new name! Like 'Journey through time" or something. Because my son was expecting a space ride with a name like that! And there is nothing to do with space barely! JMHO!! DD and I did the Epcot Aqua Seas Tour. Very fun. First we got a tour behind the scenes. Watched a video. Then got into our gear, and into the huge tank! The tank is so big, you could fit Spaceship Earth into the tank, and still have 10feet more on the sides. Big!! We had on scuba gear, with the mask and breathing apparatus and stuff. But we didn't dive, we floated along the top. It took us a few minutes to get used to the gear, but once we did, it was awesome! We saw turtles, sharks, rays, and tons of fish. Neat to be in there waving to the people watching through the windows! It was $100 per person. We also got a t-shirt and a picture of DD and I in our gear beside the tank. It went from 12:30-3:00. Lots of fun, I would do it again for sure.
Liked the countries. The acrobats at China are amazing. My son loved those Chinese sticks at bought some and plays with them all the time. Thought the shows were very good. Though Canada is way outdated!!! Had fun just leisurely walking around, shopping. We came here two days. The day we did the tour, and then again on HURRICANE day. It was raining, and the place was pretty deserted. It was great! Thought Illuminations show was great. Watched it from Germany. Very cool.
MGM
Thought this was fun. The men in our party really liked the LMA show. Very cool. Didn't get to see Indiana Jones, both days we came there was either lightning or it was full. Thought the Voyage of Little Mermaid was very cute. It was the first thing we saw. Beauty and the Beast show was good. We really liked the guys singing at the beginning and bought their cd. The backlot tour was cool. Enjoyed the parade here. DS thought it was cool to see the 'real' Lightning McQueen and Tow-mater! I didn't go on TOT. Did it at Disneyland already, that was enough for me! Did go on RnR. My family went, and all loved it. So finally on the last day, I did it. Too much for me!! Too fast, too many inversions. Ugh, too much for this women! Loved Fantasmic here. Love the seating, great show.
All in all, our second favorite park.
MK
Aw, number one! Having been to Disneyland 2x in the past 2 years, this was alot of what we knew already. But it is good too! The castle--way bigger! Neat to walk up Main Street and see it. We had a 8am breakfast ressie on a 9am opening day, so was nice to have the deserted main street to walk up. Very cool. Loved the new Pirates theming with Jack Sparrow! It is freaky how real he looks! Did Splash Mountain 5 times, with 3 of them being a night. That is cool! Did BTMR 5 times too, we love that one! Thought Mickeys Philharmagic was very cute. We thought Stitch was neat (though he sure gets a bad rap on here!!). Without comparing too much, gotta say Space is way better at DL, as is IASW, HM, and a few others. Didn't get to see Cinderellabration due to rain and just forgetting about it! Also didn't get to see the 3:00 parade, which bummed me out! Liked the night parade alot. Thought that WISHES was great! Love the fireworks. We watched once at the end of main street, and once at the front left side of the castle. Better at the castle. DH, BIL and FIL did the Steam Train Tour. They said it was really good. Though it was supposed to be over at 10:30, and finally at 10:50, DH had to get up and leave, because we had parasailing booked for 11:00. Apparently they got the guide that likes to talk alot! DH said it was cool to see the 'behind the scenes' stuff too. Plus he loves all that mechanical stuff! We spent a few days here at MK, loved it.
BLIZZARD BEACH
It was very hot the day we went here. Very glad for those little foot sprayers! Kids really liked the Ski patrol training camp. Liked being lazy at Cross Country Creek. Thought it was neat here, though very busy. If you are staying onsite, definately take advantage of EMH!!
TYPHOON LAGOON
Came here for EMH, the only way to go. We got to walk on all the slides, and had did them all by 11am! Loved the water coasters, the Crush 'n' Gusher. Did them all a few times. So neat! Kids loved the wave pool. Them are some big waves! Thought the shark reef was cool too, though DS8 was scared and just motored through it, so I didn't get to enjoy it. Started to rain, so the park was clearing people out by 1pm or so. Had Arctic Dots, yummy!
PARASAILING AND SPEEDBOATING
We went parasailing. DD11 and I did tandem, and DS8 and DH did tandem. It was soooo fun!! It was amazing! From up there you could see for miles! We could see the Epcot ball, resorts, the Castle, Space Mountain. It was great. It is costly ($340 total) but so worth it. You are up in the air for about 8-10 minutes. It is so quiet up there, so peacefuly. Would do it again for sure.
We also rented the mini boats. It was fun. DH boat seemed way faster, though my boat was very slow. Finally in the middle of the lake I put it in reverse and stalled it. A patroller came over and fixed it, then it was way faster. Then DS and I were way faster then DH and DD! So they were mad, because theirs seemed to get slower as time went on. It is $24 per half hour. We told the guy when we were paying about our trouble, and he only charged us for one boat, so that was nice! We got to boat around the lagoon, and by the different resorts. It was fun, would do it again.
CIRQUE DE SOLEIL
We did the 9:00 show one night. It was great. Not your typical circus! The acrobats were great, we especially loved the little Chinese girls with the ropes. They were amazing. DS8 loved the bikes and stuff. DD11 was very tired that night, but enjoyed it. It is very costly, but good to do once.
DTD has great stores!
ALL IN ALL
It was hot. Very hot. But manageable. You can get into Air Conditioning instantly by going to a show, or going into a store. It was not real crowded. And Hurricane Ernesto--nothing to it! (though it did get downgraded to a Tropical Storm) It does rain alot, but that is ok! It is a warm light rain. We wore ponchos somedays, but didn't even bother other days.
We were very disappointed that we didn't get to see the shuttle launch because of all the delays. And even more disapointed that we couldn't get a refund on our tickets and rental car!!
People keep asking us what we liked better, DL or WDW. We respond with--it is hard to compare, they really are so similar, but so different! We loved WDW. There is so much to do. But it really is massive. We love DL because it is smaller, more magical almost. We found the service to be better at DL (though it is great at WDW). And the Cleanliness at DL cannot be beat. WDW is clean, but doesn't come close to the standards we saw at DL. We have not stayed on-site at DL, but now we want to do that! I think staying on-site at WDW is the only way to go. I loved having my KTTK card, that I could open my room with, use my free dining with, enter the park with, charge purchases or food with, use for ID, all in one card. Loved that.
Funny thing is, the other night the kids and I were talking about Disney, and they both said they want to go back to Disneyland!
It was a great time, and if free dining if offered again next year, who knows, maybe we will go back!!
It was great!
We are:
DH 32, DD 11, DS8, FIL 55, MIL 54, BIL 26, SIL25
If you saw a family in bright orange Disney Logos shirts Aug 24-Sept 1, that was us!! We wore matching shirts to the parks, and boy, did it work great!
We could see each other on rides, in linueps, in restaurants. It was great, since the Parents were always a few feet behind us! We could turn around and there they were! If we split up and were meeting later, we could easily find each other. The CMs could look at us in line and know exactly how many of us there were! We got tons of compliments, and picked on on the Jungle Cruise, and at restaurants. I had families asking me where we got them (online at Disneyshopping) and saying what a good idea it was. The pictures also turned out great. The family laughed at me when I pulled them out, but they worked so well, we washed them and wore them each park day!
Definately would do that again.
HAPPY FEET=HAPPY DISERS
We all wore CROCS. They were awesome. Great for when your feet get wet. Didn't have sore week after walking miles every day. Worked great at the waterparks. I loved them. DS wore his runners the first day, and had wet soggy feet all day. He got a blister and was unhappy. After that day, he wore his Crocs everyday, and had no problems. Was great! Thank you all for reccomending them!
OUR RESORT
We stayed at the All Star Movies. We were in the Dalmations section, right at the bottom corner closest to the Food Court. Great location, very close to pool, arcade, food, laundry etc... We thought the theming here was so cute. The best place for kids. They loved the huge Icons. Room was not large, but worked fine for us. The rest of the family was in the room next door. We found the food court to be good. Lots of choices. Very busy from 7am-10am! Had trouble finding a table a few times and had to eat outside, but that was fine! We did get refillable mugs, liked that option. The pools were great, kids loved them. The gift shop was great, had lots of choices (spent too much money here!!) We found the transportation to be fine. Had to wait sometimes for up to 15 minutes, but not too bad at all. The only thing I would complain about is the Mousekeeping. We had a mess on our toliet when we checked in and it took days for it to get cleaned despite calling the front desk, leaving notes and talking to the Housecleaning supervisor. The floor was also not vaccuumed well, the bathroom floor was dirty. But other than that, we would stay there again, the price is right!
FREE DINING
I don't know if I will ever go back without it!! It was soooo great! We ate so well. Actually, DH gained 7lbs while we were there we ate so well!! (I gained 2) We ate a places that we would be too cheap to eat at regularily. We ate at:
Sci-Fi--thought it was ok, neat to eat in cars, food so-so
Hollywood and Vine--liked it here, lots of choices
Crystal Palace--loved the breakfast
Cinderellas Royal Table--eating in a castle! So fun! (but didn't love the food!)
Whispering Canyon Cafe--loved the food and atmosphere
Biergarten--kids didn't like it, adults did. Good fun show.
Le Cellier--have to try the Canadian food-lol. Very good.
Planet Hollywood--good food, fun place
Crystal Palace--good for dinner too.
50s Prime Time--definately our favorite. Lots of fun.
I did do more detailed reports on these over on the restaurant board if you want to see more!
We ate breakfasts at the food court most of the time. Sometimes we paid out of pocket, sometimes we used our credits. We ate our c.s meals all over. Sometimes we shared, as it is alot of food! It was so nice to just order whatever you want, and not worry about the prices! And to get dessert every meal--yummy!! We really enjoyed it. One bummer was we had to cancel our Chef Mickeys and Donalds Breakfast because of the Shuttle launch delay. Oh well, maybe next time!!
AK
Our least favorite park, but still fun. It was very hot this day. My son was picked to be in the Birds of Prey show, so that was neat for him. We thought the parade was neat. Loved the Lion King show. Thought Dinoland was kinda cheezy! ITTBAbug, fun. The safari ride was cool. Got to see lots of animals pretty close. Thought they should have more animals at Affection Section besides just goats! Enjoyed getting cooled off at Kali. Most of my family enjoyed EE, though I found it to be too intense for my liking! Did not like the backwards part, left my head loopy for awhile!
When we go back, we would probably only spend a 1/2 day here.
EPCOT
Liked it here. Different, but fun. We really liked Test Track, went on it a few times. I really think Spaceship Earth needs a new name! Like 'Journey through time" or something. Because my son was expecting a space ride with a name like that! And there is nothing to do with space barely! JMHO!! DD and I did the Epcot Aqua Seas Tour. Very fun. First we got a tour behind the scenes. Watched a video. Then got into our gear, and into the huge tank! The tank is so big, you could fit Spaceship Earth into the tank, and still have 10feet more on the sides. Big!! We had on scuba gear, with the mask and breathing apparatus and stuff. But we didn't dive, we floated along the top. It took us a few minutes to get used to the gear, but once we did, it was awesome! We saw turtles, sharks, rays, and tons of fish. Neat to be in there waving to the people watching through the windows! It was $100 per person. We also got a t-shirt and a picture of DD and I in our gear beside the tank. It went from 12:30-3:00. Lots of fun, I would do it again for sure.
Liked the countries. The acrobats at China are amazing. My son loved those Chinese sticks at bought some and plays with them all the time. Thought the shows were very good. Though Canada is way outdated!!! Had fun just leisurely walking around, shopping. We came here two days. The day we did the tour, and then again on HURRICANE day. It was raining, and the place was pretty deserted. It was great! Thought Illuminations show was great. Watched it from Germany. Very cool.
MGM
Thought this was fun. The men in our party really liked the LMA show. Very cool. Didn't get to see Indiana Jones, both days we came there was either lightning or it was full. Thought the Voyage of Little Mermaid was very cute. It was the first thing we saw. Beauty and the Beast show was good. We really liked the guys singing at the beginning and bought their cd. The backlot tour was cool. Enjoyed the parade here. DS thought it was cool to see the 'real' Lightning McQueen and Tow-mater! I didn't go on TOT. Did it at Disneyland already, that was enough for me! Did go on RnR. My family went, and all loved it. So finally on the last day, I did it. Too much for me!! Too fast, too many inversions. Ugh, too much for this women! Loved Fantasmic here. Love the seating, great show.
All in all, our second favorite park.
MK
Aw, number one! Having been to Disneyland 2x in the past 2 years, this was alot of what we knew already. But it is good too! The castle--way bigger! Neat to walk up Main Street and see it. We had a 8am breakfast ressie on a 9am opening day, so was nice to have the deserted main street to walk up. Very cool. Loved the new Pirates theming with Jack Sparrow! It is freaky how real he looks! Did Splash Mountain 5 times, with 3 of them being a night. That is cool! Did BTMR 5 times too, we love that one! Thought Mickeys Philharmagic was very cute. We thought Stitch was neat (though he sure gets a bad rap on here!!). Without comparing too much, gotta say Space is way better at DL, as is IASW, HM, and a few others. Didn't get to see Cinderellabration due to rain and just forgetting about it! Also didn't get to see the 3:00 parade, which bummed me out! Liked the night parade alot. Thought that WISHES was great! Love the fireworks. We watched once at the end of main street, and once at the front left side of the castle. Better at the castle. DH, BIL and FIL did the Steam Train Tour. They said it was really good. Though it was supposed to be over at 10:30, and finally at 10:50, DH had to get up and leave, because we had parasailing booked for 11:00. Apparently they got the guide that likes to talk alot! DH said it was cool to see the 'behind the scenes' stuff too. Plus he loves all that mechanical stuff! We spent a few days here at MK, loved it.
BLIZZARD BEACH
It was very hot the day we went here. Very glad for those little foot sprayers! Kids really liked the Ski patrol training camp. Liked being lazy at Cross Country Creek. Thought it was neat here, though very busy. If you are staying onsite, definately take advantage of EMH!!
TYPHOON LAGOON
Came here for EMH, the only way to go. We got to walk on all the slides, and had did them all by 11am! Loved the water coasters, the Crush 'n' Gusher. Did them all a few times. So neat! Kids loved the wave pool. Them are some big waves! Thought the shark reef was cool too, though DS8 was scared and just motored through it, so I didn't get to enjoy it. Started to rain, so the park was clearing people out by 1pm or so. Had Arctic Dots, yummy!
PARASAILING AND SPEEDBOATING
We went parasailing. DD11 and I did tandem, and DS8 and DH did tandem. It was soooo fun!! It was amazing! From up there you could see for miles! We could see the Epcot ball, resorts, the Castle, Space Mountain. It was great. It is costly ($340 total) but so worth it. You are up in the air for about 8-10 minutes. It is so quiet up there, so peacefuly. Would do it again for sure.
We also rented the mini boats. It was fun. DH boat seemed way faster, though my boat was very slow. Finally in the middle of the lake I put it in reverse and stalled it. A patroller came over and fixed it, then it was way faster. Then DS and I were way faster then DH and DD! So they were mad, because theirs seemed to get slower as time went on. It is $24 per half hour. We told the guy when we were paying about our trouble, and he only charged us for one boat, so that was nice! We got to boat around the lagoon, and by the different resorts. It was fun, would do it again.
CIRQUE DE SOLEIL
We did the 9:00 show one night. It was great. Not your typical circus! The acrobats were great, we especially loved the little Chinese girls with the ropes. They were amazing. DS8 loved the bikes and stuff. DD11 was very tired that night, but enjoyed it. It is very costly, but good to do once.
DTD has great stores!
ALL IN ALL
It was hot. Very hot. But manageable. You can get into Air Conditioning instantly by going to a show, or going into a store. It was not real crowded. And Hurricane Ernesto--nothing to it! (though it did get downgraded to a Tropical Storm) It does rain alot, but that is ok! It is a warm light rain. We wore ponchos somedays, but didn't even bother other days.
We were very disappointed that we didn't get to see the shuttle launch because of all the delays. And even more disapointed that we couldn't get a refund on our tickets and rental car!!
People keep asking us what we liked better, DL or WDW. We respond with--it is hard to compare, they really are so similar, but so different! We loved WDW. There is so much to do. But it really is massive. We love DL because it is smaller, more magical almost. We found the service to be better at DL (though it is great at WDW). And the Cleanliness at DL cannot be beat. WDW is clean, but doesn't come close to the standards we saw at DL. We have not stayed on-site at DL, but now we want to do that! I think staying on-site at WDW is the only way to go. I loved having my KTTK card, that I could open my room with, use my free dining with, enter the park with, charge purchases or food with, use for ID, all in one card. Loved that.
Funny thing is, the other night the kids and I were talking about Disney, and they both said they want to go back to Disneyland!
It was a great time, and if free dining if offered again next year, who knows, maybe we will go back!!
Loved the TR! It was great meeting you in the lobby of ASMo I'm glad to see your comparison of DL and WDW. Glad to see you had a good time.
