Trip #8; But Was It Great? A WDW MAYcation with a side of LegoLand & Celebration, FL!

[wakica]

woo hoo! Legoland - can't wait to see more and I agree, the roads are UGLY - you definitely don't see the beauty of Florida on those major roads. We spent alot of time on them going between parks and Tampa and they are BO-RING!!! I have to give them a two thumbs up for efficiency though! We love how smooth sailing it is when you hit those major roads. We have so many little roads and highways where we are from that you always seem to get stuck behind a poky driver. On the Floriday roads there are lots of lanes and lots of chances to get past the poky people.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I just love the picture of your son when he realized where you guys were taking him for the day....priceless! Too bad the only good scenery you saw on the way there was the Mickey shaped electrical pole thingies. I'm looking forward to reading about Legoland and seeing all of your pics.

We got home from our cruise and Disney vacation Saturday night. Thankfully, the weather didn't have much of an effect on our vacation. While we enjoyed the cruise, I must admit that cruising isn't our "thing". Then, once we got back to Walt Disney World, we felt too rushed and there was no real time to stop and smell the roses. Oh well, we tried the cruise and are glad that we did.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

woo hoo! Legoland - can't wait to see more and I agree, the roads are UGLY - you definitely don't see the beauty of Florida on those major roads. We spent alot of time on them going between parks and Tampa and they are BO-RING!!! I have to give them a two thumbs up for efficiency though! We love how smooth sailing it is when you hit those major roads. We have so many little roads and highways where we are from that you always seem to get stuck behind a poky driver. On the Floriday roads there are lots of lanes and lots of chances to get past the poky people.

Lots more LL to come!

Yeah, I was surprised by how ugly it is outside of WDW. Guess I was living in my own little WDW bubble there thinking that all of FL was just as beautiful.

I agree. The roads are well marked and easy to navigate. At least where we went was!

I just love the picture of your son when he realized where you guys were taking him for the day....priceless! Too bad the only good scenery you saw on the way there was the Mickey shaped electrical pole thingies. I'm looking forward to reading about Legoland and seeing all of your pics.

We got home from our cruise and Disney vacation Saturday night. Thankfully, the weather didn't have much of an effect on our vacation. While we enjoyed the cruise, I must admit that cruising isn't our "thing". Then, once we got back to Walt Disney World, we felt too rushed and there was no real time to stop and smell the roses. Oh well, we tried the cruise and are glad that we did.

Thanks! I snapped that pic at just the right time!!

I'm sorry cruising isn't your thing and then your WDW time felt rushed. Maybe May just wasn't the time to go this year. We didn't exactly have the best vacation ever either. But at least you tried the cruise and now you know. Lots of people love it, but it's not for everyone. I'm afraid we'd fall into that 'not for everyone' category, so I keep putting off trying it.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks! I snapped that pic at just the right time!!

I'm sorry cruising isn't your thing and then your WDW time felt rushed. Maybe May just wasn't the time to go this year. We didn't exactly have the best vacation ever either. But at least you tried the cruise and now you know. Lots of people love it, but it's not for everyone. I'm afraid we'd fall into that 'not for everyone' category, so I keep putting off trying it.

I thought about you when we were on the cruise and wondered if you guys would like it or not. If you thought that Stormalong Bay was crazy, you wouldn't believe the pools on the cruise. Hunter had a great time at the teenage club on the cruise ship and went there two times. They had all sorts of activities for them to do and he said it was a lot of fun. I talked with another Diser on the ship whose kids went to the "tween" club and they enjoyed it as well. Maybe if John and I were more of the "chill" or "club" type folks, we would have had more fun. But, like I said, we enjoyed it but we won't be booking another cruise any time soon.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

I thought about you when we were on the cruise and wondered if you guys would like it or not. If you thought that Stormalong Bay was crazy, you wouldn't believe the pools on the cruise. Hunter had a great time at the teenage club on the cruise ship and went there two times. They had all sorts of activities for them to do and he said it was a lot of fun. I talked with another Diser on the ship whose kids went to the "tween" club and they enjoyed it as well. Maybe if John and I were more of the "chill" or "club" type folks, we would have had more fun. But, like I said, we enjoyed it but we won't be booking another cruise any time soon.

That's what I was afraid of. Loud & crowded pools. DH does not handle all that craziness well. I can't imagine your DH does either! I'm sure the kids would love the kids clubs and I would love to visit Castaway Cay, but I just don't know if we would all enjoy the overall cruise experience enough to make it worth the hefty cost. And I just hate coming home feeling like I didn't get my money's worth. Which rarely happens, but it did on this trip.

How was WDW? Besides rushed, I mean. Did you go to all the parks? Was it crowded? Hot? How was CBR?

 

[mickeystoontown]

That's what I was afraid of. Loud & crowded pools. DH does not handle all that craziness well. I can't imagine your DH does either! I'm sure the kids would love the kids clubs and I would love to visit Castaway Cay, but I just don't know if we would all enjoy the overall cruise experience enough to make it worth the hefty cost. And I just hate coming home feeling like I didn't get my money's worth. Which rarely happens, but it did on this trip.

How was WDW? Besides rushed, I mean. Did you go to all the parks? Was it crowded? Hot? How was CBR?

The crowds around the pools on the cruise ship were pretty crazy and we didn't even swim once. As a matter of fact, we only went on the Aqua Duck one time because there were so many people. At one point, the wait time for the Aqua Duck was way over an hour.

If it hadn't been for the Pirate Night Party and Castaway Cay, I would have been super disappointed with the cruise. Those two things were the cruise's saving grace and kept us from saying the whole cruise was a bust. Wait, I take that back, the view from our super big porthole of the beautiful water was great. I've never seen water that crystal clear before and we were able to spot a couple of manatees, a sea turtle, quite a few stingrays and three dolphins.

We kinda sorta did feel like we didn't get our money's worth but we can now say that we've been on a cruise and we have that experience under our belt. The cost of the three night cruise cost more than our six night stay at the CBR (with tickets and the dining plan) so that made us come away with a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths.

The WDW portion of our trip went very well with the exception of being rushed. We went to Epcot twice, Magic Kingdom twice and once to both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. I was pleasantly surprised with the crowds or lack thereof. Well, I guess I shouldn't say "lack thereof" but it wasn't as crowded as we've seen it before. We were able to get over half of the MK done on Memorial Day and then finished up the rest on our second day in the park. The only time we found really long lines were for Soarin' at Epcot and I attributed some of that to Test Track being closed.

It was hot but it was not as hot as it would have been if we were at home. I think the high was 90 or 91 when we were in WDW and at home it was already in the high 90s. It rained on us a good bit a couple of the days but we put on our ponchos and kept on going.

Thankfully, John suggested (before we left) that we add a day to the beginning of our trip and pre-cruise so we were able to do some shopping and dining at DTD. Had we not had that extra day, we wouldn't have had much time for DTD and that would have been a real bummer. We are like you guys and like to go to DTD at least a couple of times each trip.

Oh and if we ever do go on a cruise again (which I doubt will ever happen unless it's to Alaska), I won't be getting off at Nassau. We did a See and Sea Tour that took us on a boat tour first, then we transferred to a semi-submarine where we saw all sorts of fish and the last part was a bus tour. The first two portions of the tour were fine but the bus tour was not our cup of tea. We drove by their Parliament, Police Headquarters, Library, etc. and the paint was peeling off the buildings and just across the street, trash was piled up on the sidewalks (if you could call them that) and in front of buildings. It was N-A-S-T-Y. When we stopped at a Fort, the vendors were set up around the Fort and trying to get us to buy their merchandise. They were pretty aggressive. Needless to say, we didn't do any walking around the town after the tour ended.

The CBR was as gorgeous as always. Our first two nights which were pre-cruise, we were in Barbados 11 and the six nights after the cruise we were in Aruba 51. They were having nightly marshmallow roasts and movies at Old Port Royale. We were able to watch one movie prior to going on the cruise but didn't have time once we were back. We really missed our resort "down time".

Oh well, like I said, we can now say we've been there done that.

 

[Monny2AE]

Seriously???? Disney let you and Jo BOTH book trips at the same time??? After all the shenanigans on the last overlapping trip I thought for sure they would have you two on some sort of banned list or something!

I love DS's face when he figured out he was going to Legoland! What a memory!

 

[Lil'Mermaid75]

Not to hijack your thread Shelly, but I just have to say this is why we have never done a Disney cruise. We've cruised quite a bit and generally love the overall value of the cruise for our money spent - in fact I honestly think DS would choose a cruise over any other kind of vacation if we asked him. With as good as I know Disney does things, I just cannot justify spending the money Disney charges on a cruise when I can choose one of many other lines that are a third of the price for a longer trip.

We kinda sorta did feel like we didn't get our money's worth but we can now say that we've been on a cruise and we have that experience under our belt. The cost of the three night cruise cost more than our six night stay at the CBR (with tickets and the dining plan) so that made us come away with a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths.

Okay - back to your report Shelly.....DS was looking over my shoulder asking all kinds of questions about LegoLand. Can't wait to see more.

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Because we have AP's this year we have seriously taken advantage of them. We bought them last Nov and then we went in January and in May and now going again in Nov (being DVC and getting a great discount we usually buy them every other year but most of the time only use them twice.) Any way, the whole point of this being when we went in May we flew down late Friday night, we were supposed to get in at 11 and of course had a 1 hour delay. We got to our resort at 1:30. But we loved it- the airport was empty, magical express was quick and we were there and ready to go Saturday morning.
We have done the Disney cruise 3 times, one 7 night and two 3 nights. We did very much enjoy our cruises, but we also did them with DVC points so no money out of pocket. I do however know what you mean about the pools, they are way too small for all of the people. We didn't have lines for aqua duck this last time so the kids just did that over and over. And I truly believe that Castaway Cay is pretty much the best place on the planet!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Enjoying the Legoland update! Looking forward to more pictures.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

The crowds around the pools on the cruise ship were pretty crazy and we didn't even swim once. As a matter of fact, we only went on the Aqua Duck one time because there were so many people. At one point, the wait time for the Aqua Duck was way over an hour.

If it hadn't been for the Pirate Night Party and Castaway Cay, I would have been super disappointed with the cruise. Those two things were the cruise's saving grace and kept us from saying the whole cruise was a bust. Wait, I take that back, the view from our super big porthole of the beautiful water was great. I've never seen water that crystal clear before and we were able to spot a couple of manatees, a sea turtle, quite a few stingrays and three dolphins.

We kinda sorta did feel like we didn't get our money's worth but we can now say that we've been on a cruise and we have that experience under our belt. The cost of the three night cruise cost more than our six night stay at the CBR (with tickets and the dining plan) so that made us come away with a little bit of a sour taste in our mouths.

The WDW portion of our trip went very well with the exception of being rushed. We went to Epcot twice, Magic Kingdom twice and once to both Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. I was pleasantly surprised with the crowds or lack thereof. Well, I guess I shouldn't say "lack thereof" but it wasn't as crowded as we've seen it before. We were able to get over half of the MK done on Memorial Day and then finished up the rest on our second day in the park. The only time we found really long lines were for Soarin' at Epcot and I attributed some of that to Test Track being closed.

It was hot but it was not as hot as it would have been if we were at home. I think the high was 90 or 91 when we were in WDW and at home it was already in the high 90s. It rained on us a good bit a couple of the days but we put on our ponchos and kept on going.

Thankfully, John suggested (before we left) that we add a day to the beginning of our trip and pre-cruise so we were able to do some shopping and dining at DTD. Had we not had that extra day, we wouldn't have had much time for DTD and that would have been a real bummer. We are like you guys and like to go to DTD at least a couple of times each trip.

Oh and if we ever do go on a cruise again (which I doubt will ever happen unless it's to Alaska), I won't be getting off at Nassau. We did a See and Sea Tour that took us on a boat tour first, then we transferred to a semi-submarine where we saw all sorts of fish and the last part was a bus tour. The first two portions of the tour were fine but the bus tour was not our cup of tea. We drove by their Parliament, Police Headquarters, Library, etc. and the paint was peeling off the buildings and just across the street, trash was piled up on the sidewalks (if you could call them that) and in front of buildings. It was N-A-S-T-Y. When we stopped at a Fort, the vendors were set up around the Fort and trying to get us to buy their merchandise. They were pretty aggressive. Needless to say, we didn't do any walking around the town after the tour ended.

The CBR was as gorgeous as always. Our first two nights which were pre-cruise, we were in Barbados 11 and the six nights after the cruise we were in Aruba 51. They were having nightly marshmallow roasts and movies at Old Port Royale. We were able to watch one movie prior to going on the cruise but didn't have time once we were back. We really missed our resort "down time".

Oh well, like I said, we can now say we've been there done that.

That would be a huge bummer to me to not even be able to swim or use the aqua duck because of the crowds. Exactly the kind of things I am afraid of. I had a 3 night cruise booked for us for next May, but then cancelled it. It was something like $2400 or $2600 for the 4 of us. And that wasn't even a veranda room. Like you said, we could stay at a moderate all week for that much money. I just don't think I can justify it.

I'm glad you had a nice time at WDW and didn't run into too many crowds and the weather was good! And good thing you went for a day before the cruise and were able to hit DTD and do some shopping and relaxing.

I've heard that same thing about Nassau several times. Sounds a little scary. I really would like to see Castaway Cay someday though.


Thanks for sharing all your info!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Seriously???? Disney let you and Jo BOTH book trips at the same time??? After all the shenanigans on the last overlapping trip I thought for sure they would have you two on some sort of banned list or something!

I love DS's face when he figured out he was going to Legoland! What a memory!

I know, right?!! They must be nuts!

DS was SO happy about going to LL!

Not to hijack your thread Shelly, but I just have to say this is why we have never done a Disney cruise. We've cruised quite a bit and generally love the overall value of the cruise for our money spent - in fact I honestly think DS would choose a cruise over any other kind of vacation if we asked him. With as good as I know Disney does things, I just cannot justify spending the money Disney charges on a cruise when I can choose one of many other lines that are a third of the price for a longer trip.


Hijack away!! I didn't realize you had cruised so much. Good to hear you have loved it so much even though it wasn't Disney. Who is your favorite cruise line?


Okay - back to your report Shelly.....DS was looking over my shoulder asking all kinds of questions about LegoLand. Can't wait to see more.

Tell your DS there's lots more LL to come!

Because we have AP's this year we have seriously taken advantage of them. We bought them last Nov and then we went in January and in May and now going again in Nov (being DVC and getting a great discount we usually buy them every other year but most of the time only use them twice.) Any way, the whole point of this being when we went in May we flew down late Friday night, we were supposed to get in at 11 and of course had a 1 hour delay. We got to our resort at 1:30. But we loved it- the airport was empty, magical express was quick and we were there and ready to go Saturday morning.
We have done the Disney cruise 3 times, one 7 night and two 3 nights. We did very much enjoy our cruises, but we also did them with DVC points so no money out of pocket. I do however know what you mean about the pools, they are way too small for all of the people. We didn't have lines for aqua duck this last time so the kids just did that over and over. And I truly believe that Castaway Cay is pretty much the best place on the planet!

That's great that you have gotten to take advantage of your AP's and go so many times this year.

That's nice that you can use your DVC points for a Disney cruise.

Enjoying the Legoland update! Looking forward to more pictures.

Lots more LL coming right up!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

When I left off we had just entered LegoLand. We picked up some park maps and were on our way!

DS10 was so impressed with all of the amazing Lego creations.

Then we came upon the shopping!! I told him he could go in and take a quick look around, but that we would hold off on the shopping until we were ready to leave. He had saved over $125 to spend on Legos at DTD, but now he wanted to get them here!

After a quick look around we were on our way. The park didn't seem to crowded at all and we wanted to hit some attractions before everyone else got there! We had to walk quite a ways before we came across any rides.

I was telling the kids to get a move on so we could get to some rides, but who could resist stopping to look at a Lego pizza! This guy talked too. Telling you to come back for lunch! Which we decided sounded like a great idea!

The very first section we came to was the Duplo Village, but we didn't even slow down for it since it is for little kids.

Then it was onto Lego Kingdoms.

The first thing we spotted was The Dragon coaster. It looked like a cross between the Barnstormer and BTMRR – as far as size, speed, height, etc. DS10 is usually pretty reluctant about these things but I guess his adrenaline was pumping because he ran right to get in line and we rode it once and then he wanted to do it again!!

Continued in next post.....

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Continued.....


The line was nearly empty. When we got up to the front we could tell we weren't in WDW. The CM's – well I guess they probably aren't called that here, but the employees – didn't seem to have a real good system going or really know what they were doing when loading. They were leaving seats and rows empty and very slow to send you to your line and just seemed overall confused. I was glad it wasn't busy, otherwise there would have been a long wait due to them not being efficient.

After 2 rides on The Dragon we couldn't see anything else that really interested us in the Lego Kingdoms section. So we moved onto the Land of Adventure.

First up was the Lost Kingdom of Adventure. Think Buzzlightyear Space Ranger Spin here. Much like that but a different theme. Very cool!

After we rode that DS13 and I were ready to head off and ride Coastersauras! DH and DS10 on the other hand were not. So they stayed behind and did the Lost Kingdom of Adventure again.

Coastersauras was awesome! We had about a 10 minute wait to ride it. Two things I didn't care for here though – they made me take off my park bag and set it on the floor where I would exit the coaster. Which I guess is fine, but it is a tiny bag and I had it on my neck and crossed across my body. Just like I do in all of the WDW rides and it's never a problem. But whatever – I set my bag on the dirty floor. There is only one coaster, so I would be coming right back to that spot. And the other thing – we are not big people, at all. DS and I were so crammed in there we could hardly move. It was ridiculously small. I don't know how a normal sized person could fit in there comfortably or at all.

Afterwards they met up with us outside of Coastersauras.

Next we were passing the Safari Trek. There was no wait so we thought – why not? Looking back we should have skipped it. It was pretty lame!

Up Next: More LegoLand

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Wow! That looks and sounds pretty cool! I would have never thought they could build a theme park aroung legos. How neat!!

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Well LL looks pretty cool so far! I'm so glad your DS10 was being brave and jumped on that roller coaster! Good for him!

I am always amazed at the things they can make out of Legos! Some of that stuff is unreal!

Don't you love how accomodating Disney is on things like taking bags on rides, allowing pictures in most attractions, and having seats that fit everyone. They really know how to do things right to make the guests happy... most of the time anyway.

I know exactly what you mean about the 'CMs' at other parks. You quickly realize why you are drawn to WDW when you visit somewhere else. We had a similar experience at Sea World. The park was nice and it was something totally different than Disney that we enjoyed, but I spent a good portion of that day frustrated b/c it just wasn't run like Disney. One trip to SW convinced me that there really is magic in the World!

 

[JoBird]

Wow-- LL looks like a lot of fun!

I'm so glad he just jumped right on that coaster. I was worried he wouldn't but I think he realized it was his special day. Cute pic of him with that dino!!!

One thing I'm noticing in the pics at least, about the park... the themeing is just sort of... sparse? You know how in WDW every single inch of space is taken up with *something*. LL looks empty by comparison.
Interesting.

Great so far-- I need more b/c I'm pretty sure I'll never go there with my kiddos.



PS---- off to tweak!! I'm off to tweak!!

PSS-- Tweaking is more fun when you listen to Main Street USA Christmas music!!



(I cannot believe I'm wishing for Winter!)

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Wow! That looks and sounds pretty cool! I would have never thought they could build a theme park aroung legos. How neat!!

It is a pretty neat place!

Well LL looks pretty cool so far! I'm so glad your DS10 was being brave and jumped on that roller coaster! Good for him!

I am always amazed at the things they can make out of Legos! Some of that stuff is unreal!

Don't you love how accomodating Disney is on things like taking bags on rides, allowing pictures in most attractions, and having seats that fit everyone. They really know how to do things right to make the guests happy... most of the time anyway.

I know exactly what you mean about the 'CMs' at other parks. You quickly realize why you are drawn to WDW when you visit somewhere else. We had a similar experience at Sea World. The park was nice and it was something totally different than Disney that we enjoyed, but I spent a good portion of that day frustrated b/c it just wasn't run like Disney. One trip to SW convinced me that there really is magic in the World!

We were impressed. Of course I went in with the attitude of not expecting much!

Those Lego creations are amazing. And DS10 could make them all himself I'm sure! Not me, those things irritate me bad!

Yeah, we sure weren't at WDW. The CM's just seemed so unorganized and then the whole bag thing.

Wow-- LL looks like a lot of fun!

I'm so glad he just jumped right on that coaster. I was worried he wouldn't but I think he realized it was his special day. Cute pic of him with that dino!!!

One thing I'm noticing in the pics at least, about the park... the themeing is just sort of... sparse? You know how in WDW every single inch of space is taken up with *something*. LL looks empty by comparison.
Interesting.

Great so far-- I need more b/c I'm pretty sure I'll never go there with my kiddos.



PS---- off to tweak!! I'm off to tweak!!

PSS-- Tweaking is more fun when you listen to Main Street USA Christmas music!!



(I cannot believe I'm wishing for Winter!)

It was a lot of fun!!

DS10 was just in his glory and doing things that he wouldn't normally do, without even thinking about it! Well, until we came to the Coastersauras that is.

I guess the theming is sparse now that you mention it. Lots of 'plain' areas. Especially in that one section I just posted about. In the next post you'll see a lot of pavement. Think DTD. And it was HOT out.


Have fun 'tweaking' to WDW Christmas music. Send me your 'rough draft' when you are done!!

 

[cyndiloveswalt]

Are you and/or Jo planning on doing MVMCP? I hadn't really thought about it but my DS10 asked if we could go and when I talked to DH about it he was all for it. Now I just have to figure out how to buy the tickets with my AP discount. Anyone know about that? Or if they are available yet?

 

[lala3291]

LL looks like fun! It looks like your kids were having a great time!

So, I just changed my dates from the end of August to 8/1-8/6! DH couldn't get the time off from work at the end of August, so we will be in WDW in 56 days! Now I have to go make all new ADRs, and we still will be at the Poly. I'm so excited!