We went to Disney from Oct. 15th-21st. First night we stayed at Caribe Royale right near Disney. We wanted a suite so my 2-year old could sleep and we could stay up. The rooms are a good size and the pool is really nice - water slide and water fall, but I just couldnt get into it as it didnt have that Disney magic. We rented a crib and high-chair from Babys Best Friend which is a great operation, you can find them on the web, they delivered to Caribe Royale and picked up from Boardwalk.
On Saturday we switched over for the rest of our stay at Boardwalk Villas (1 bedroom). I rented the time/points from a great DIS member on the DVC rental board. I had never rented before and the experience was fabulous. The owner couldnt have been nicer, and BWV was great. Beautiful living room, bedroom, kitchen, huge bathroom, washing machine and dryer. Weve stayed at Boardwalk before on the non-DVC side and the location is our favorite. Especially during Epcots Food and Wine Festival. With a 2-year old we like to be able to walk to Epcot and MGM and be able to get back to the room for her naps.
We love Epcots Food and Wine festival. In our years of going there Ive tried stuff Id never try otherwise last year I had frog legs (and they were yummy), this year I tried sake and plum wine which Id never had before. The food stands were too mobbed on the weekends so we didnt start eating until Monday. I think my husband and I managed to do a lap, as we call eating our way around World Showcase, four or five times. I love the cheddar soup from Canada, one of my favorites. Also we had School Bread from the Norway Bakery which was delicious.
My in-laws came in Sunday night. They started out at Wilderness Lodge but didnt like how rustic/dark it was. They switched over to Animal Kingdom but pretty much the same issue over there. They basically wanted to stay at Beach/Yacht or Boardwalk but werent willing to pay the extra money. They did enjoy seeing the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Monday morning my in-laws took care of DD while DH and I took the Epcot Segway tour. It was great. (I did crash into the wall during training, just a little embarrassing.) It was 10 people and you see a little video and get some instruction for about a half an hour. I think you have to be an adult but one woman didnt even have a drivers license. I was nervous but once you are up on the Segway for about five-minutes you start to get the feel of it (until you get too cocky and drive into a wall). After the training, your group Segways over to World Showcase and you drive around through the rooms of Morocco stuff like that. You dont really get to go off and do anything on your own but it is still fun. Id highly recommend it, and the guys (husbands, etc.) all get really into it.
We managed to get over to Magic Kingdom a couple of times, Animal Kingdom, and of course Epcot, but we ran out of time and didnt get to MGM. My husband went over on his own one day while I stayed back with the napping kid. Weve been to Disney many times in the past so it was no big deal to not do very much, but if you have a 2-year old and youve never been to Disney before, Id keep the expectations low of how much you are going to get done.
We also went to Mickeys not so scary Halloween. Now that we have a kid I have an excuse to go. I thought before that if you were an adult going on your own it would be too weird. Not the case at all. Basically it is just like an e-night, there are a bunch of rides open and the park is decorated for Halloween. They also have some extra stuff going on for kids like trick or treating and stories, which you could easily skip if you were there without kids. My DD (dressed as sleeping beauty) had a good time though she didnt particularly think it was anything different than going during the day. The lines for the rides are much shorter though, so we were able to go on Dumbo and Peter Pan which we had skipped during the day. We really wanted to see the Halloween parade but we missed the earlier one while waiting for Peter Pan ride, and then the next one wasnt until 10pm, too late for her. We did see the fire works which we didnt really mean to, but we started to leave and they werent letting anyone go until after the fireworks. DD liked the lights but she was disturbed by the noise.
DDs favorite rides were the carousel and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (I still refer to it as the people mover). We took her on Buzz Lightyear, which she wasnt scared on but just didnt seem to get (same with Peter Pan), Winnie the Pooh, Mickeys Philharmagic which she really enjoyed even without wearing the glasses, and Epcot Journey into the Imagination which she loved. Although I am constantly amazed at how scary the rides are. We went into Journey into Imagination thinking, oh theres nothing scary in this, within seconds you are sitting in the dark with the sound of a train coming at you, later there is a moment where it is dark and Figment pops up and you get a puff of air blown at you. That made both of us jump, but overall she enjoyed the ride. (Small World was closed as was Aladdins Carpets).
We went to Animal Kingdom on our last full day and it was just too hot. We went on the Safari ride which DD was bored on and it was very difficult to keep her under control - that can be a long ride. I forgot extra diapers and so had to buy them at the Baby Center. Thank God for the Baby Centers in the parks we love them, but dont forget diapers or youll be paying a dollar a diaper. She probably would have been just as happy spending the day in the baby centers as in the parks. Although, Animal Kingdoms baby center is a little stark, not much going on there.
Oh another highlight of the trip was the Earl of Sandwich at the Marketplace. That place is great, reasonably priced and great sandwiches. A couple of times while DD napped at room with DH I went out and got us sandwiches from there. (We had a rental car.)
So to sum up Caribe Royale is ok, BWV is awesome if I had the money Id buy in, Segway tour is worth it, MNSSH is worth it.
On Saturday we switched over for the rest of our stay at Boardwalk Villas (1 bedroom). I rented the time/points from a great DIS member on the DVC rental board. I had never rented before and the experience was fabulous. The owner couldnt have been nicer, and BWV was great. Beautiful living room, bedroom, kitchen, huge bathroom, washing machine and dryer. Weve stayed at Boardwalk before on the non-DVC side and the location is our favorite. Especially during Epcots Food and Wine Festival. With a 2-year old we like to be able to walk to Epcot and MGM and be able to get back to the room for her naps.
We love Epcots Food and Wine festival. In our years of going there Ive tried stuff Id never try otherwise last year I had frog legs (and they were yummy), this year I tried sake and plum wine which Id never had before. The food stands were too mobbed on the weekends so we didnt start eating until Monday. I think my husband and I managed to do a lap, as we call eating our way around World Showcase, four or five times. I love the cheddar soup from Canada, one of my favorites. Also we had School Bread from the Norway Bakery which was delicious.
My in-laws came in Sunday night. They started out at Wilderness Lodge but didnt like how rustic/dark it was. They switched over to Animal Kingdom but pretty much the same issue over there. They basically wanted to stay at Beach/Yacht or Boardwalk but werent willing to pay the extra money. They did enjoy seeing the animals at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Monday morning my in-laws took care of DD while DH and I took the Epcot Segway tour. It was great. (I did crash into the wall during training, just a little embarrassing.) It was 10 people and you see a little video and get some instruction for about a half an hour. I think you have to be an adult but one woman didnt even have a drivers license. I was nervous but once you are up on the Segway for about five-minutes you start to get the feel of it (until you get too cocky and drive into a wall). After the training, your group Segways over to World Showcase and you drive around through the rooms of Morocco stuff like that. You dont really get to go off and do anything on your own but it is still fun. Id highly recommend it, and the guys (husbands, etc.) all get really into it.
We managed to get over to Magic Kingdom a couple of times, Animal Kingdom, and of course Epcot, but we ran out of time and didnt get to MGM. My husband went over on his own one day while I stayed back with the napping kid. Weve been to Disney many times in the past so it was no big deal to not do very much, but if you have a 2-year old and youve never been to Disney before, Id keep the expectations low of how much you are going to get done.
We also went to Mickeys not so scary Halloween. Now that we have a kid I have an excuse to go. I thought before that if you were an adult going on your own it would be too weird. Not the case at all. Basically it is just like an e-night, there are a bunch of rides open and the park is decorated for Halloween. They also have some extra stuff going on for kids like trick or treating and stories, which you could easily skip if you were there without kids. My DD (dressed as sleeping beauty) had a good time though she didnt particularly think it was anything different than going during the day. The lines for the rides are much shorter though, so we were able to go on Dumbo and Peter Pan which we had skipped during the day. We really wanted to see the Halloween parade but we missed the earlier one while waiting for Peter Pan ride, and then the next one wasnt until 10pm, too late for her. We did see the fire works which we didnt really mean to, but we started to leave and they werent letting anyone go until after the fireworks. DD liked the lights but she was disturbed by the noise.
DDs favorite rides were the carousel and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (I still refer to it as the people mover). We took her on Buzz Lightyear, which she wasnt scared on but just didnt seem to get (same with Peter Pan), Winnie the Pooh, Mickeys Philharmagic which she really enjoyed even without wearing the glasses, and Epcot Journey into the Imagination which she loved. Although I am constantly amazed at how scary the rides are. We went into Journey into Imagination thinking, oh theres nothing scary in this, within seconds you are sitting in the dark with the sound of a train coming at you, later there is a moment where it is dark and Figment pops up and you get a puff of air blown at you. That made both of us jump, but overall she enjoyed the ride. (Small World was closed as was Aladdins Carpets).
We went to Animal Kingdom on our last full day and it was just too hot. We went on the Safari ride which DD was bored on and it was very difficult to keep her under control - that can be a long ride. I forgot extra diapers and so had to buy them at the Baby Center. Thank God for the Baby Centers in the parks we love them, but dont forget diapers or youll be paying a dollar a diaper. She probably would have been just as happy spending the day in the baby centers as in the parks. Although, Animal Kingdoms baby center is a little stark, not much going on there.
Oh another highlight of the trip was the Earl of Sandwich at the Marketplace. That place is great, reasonably priced and great sandwiches. A couple of times while DD napped at room with DH I went out and got us sandwiches from there. (We had a rental car.)
So to sum up Caribe Royale is ok, BWV is awesome if I had the money Id buy in, Segway tour is worth it, MNSSH is worth it.
