Trip report, first family trip 8/13 - 8/19

[Tomh]

The trip actually started on August 10th at 6:00 in the morning, seven of us loaded into our '97 Caravan, and started the drive from New York to Florida. We made it to Washington D.C. a bit before noon time, made some sandwiches for lunch, and did a bit of sight seeing. We left D.C a bit before 5:00 to drive into Virginia for the night. Of course we managed to get into some traffic on the way, and the hour drive took closer to two hours, but we eventually made it to our hotel. We stayed at the Quality Inn on Warrenton Road in Fredericksburg VA. It was a nice clean hotel, it appeared to be in a good area, and we had a nice night there.

Monday, August 11th we got breakfast (free buffet) early (6:30) and were on the road around 7:00. We had an uneventful drive from Fredericksburg to Kingsland GA, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn on Robert L. Edenfield Drive. Again, the hotel was clean, and comfortable, and seemed to be in a good neighborhood. We had another good night there.

Tuesday morning, August 12th, we had early breakfast again (6:00 this time) and were back on the road before 7:00. We crossed into Florida less than ten minutes later. I was somewhat disappointed to learn that the free orange juice wasn't available at the rest area / welcome center that early in the morning, so on we drove. We were in the Orlando area before noon, and headed straight to Downtown Disney. After a quick lunch at the McDonalds (my son was BLOWN AWAY by that McDonalds) we walked around, looked in the shops, did some shopping, and took a few pictures. We toured pretty much all of Downtown Disney, ending the afternoon with supper at Planet Hollywood. I had read some reviews posted her on the DIS that made me think twice about Planet Hollywood, but I am glad that I tried it. The decor is awesome, and the food was quite good. I suppose if you are used to gourmet cooking, you might be disappointed, but if you are used to doing McDonalds, and Wendy's with the kids, then you should be more than satisfied with the food at Planet Hollywood.

After supper, we went to Wal-Mart to stock up on breakfast food, and bottled water, then we drove to the Quality Inn on International Drive in Orlando. Again, we had clean, comfortable rooms.

Wednesday, Aug 13th we grabbed breakfast at the shop in the hotel (no free continental breakfast at this hotel), and headed to the Wilderness Lodge early. Pre Check In was simple, and in no time our bags were checked, the van was parked, we had our Keys to the Kingdom, and we were on a bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios.

I was last in Disney World in 1988. Hollywood Studios didn't exist back then, so the park was completely new to me. I had a touring plan, which called for TSM to be my third attraction of the day. After reading several posts here about lines, and Fast Passes running out early, I went straight to TSM at rope drop, along with about five thousand other people (OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it seemed like that many). No kidding, it took me 20 minutes just to get fast passes.

Although the park was quite busy, we managed to get a lot done. After I got the FP's for TSM, we rode the Great Movie Ride, saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid, rode the Back Lot Tour, grabbed lunch at the Studios Catering Company then used our FP's for TSM. Next up we caught the Lights Motors Action stunt show, then Walt Disney - One Man's Dream, the Magic of Disney Animation, and saw Playhouse Disney. We had supper at the Sci Fi Dine In Theater, then went back to the Wilderness Lodge to collect our bags, and move some other stuff from the van into the room. After that, we went back to Hollywood Studios to see the late showing of Fantasmic at 10:30. It started pouring just before the end of Fantasmic, and we got SOAKED. We looked around in a few shops after the rain let up some, but I was really wet, and miserable by that point, so we decided to give up the rest of the night, and head to the Lodge.

Thursday, Aug 14th we headed to Epcot. We didn't make it for rope drop, but we got there before 9:30. We went to Soarin first, but there was a 40 minute wait, so we got FP's for it, then saw Living with the Land, and the Circle of Life. Then we grabbed a quick bite to eat (snacks) in the land pavilion, and by the time we were done, we went and used our FP's for Soarin. Our first time we were lucky enough to be in the front. DS4 LOVED it. I'm not too good with the whole being high up in the air thing. The beginning of the ride, when you are lifted into position bothers me a bit, but once that is over, I enjoy the ride quite a bit. When we got off, I grabbed three more FP's for DW, DS4 and myself. The rest of our group (there were seven of us) didn't want to ride again. We next headed to The Seas with Nemo and Friends (by this time it had started raining) and Turtle Talk with Crush. Next up was Journey into Imagination with Figment, then we headed into the World Showcase starting in Canada. We wound up having fish and chips for lunch in England, though DD13, and DW ran back to McDonalds for their food. We toured the world showcase for a while, then headed back to the Coral Reef for supper. This was another place that I had read some bad reviews about, but I found the food to be fine, and the place was visually stunning. My kids LOVED it.

After supper, DS, DW, and I used our FP's to ride Soarin again. We then worked our way around the world showcase to get a good position to see Illuminations. We picked a spot in Italy, just before the American Pavilion, and waited for the show. Illuminations is awesome. When it was over, we got our wrist bands for the evening EMH, and the caught Elens Energy Adventure. Next we rode Spaceship Earth, and then called it a night.

On Friday, Aug 15th we headed to Magic Kingdom. We made the park at Rope Drop and headed straight to Buz Lightyears Space Ranger Spin. There was hardly any line, so we rode Standby twice in a row (my son loved the ride). Next we went to Winnie the Pooh, but the wait was 30 minutes, so we grabbed FP's. The machine spit out FP's for Philharmagic as well. We rode Peter Pan's Flight on standby (The wait was either 10, or 20 minutes) and then headed to CRT for our 10:00 ADR. The girls had a GREAT time, and a certain princess told my DS4 a very special secret (I have to get pictures uploaded so I can share, I managed to be ready with the camera, and caught the special moment). We got done with breakfast around 11:00, and by then the park was starting to get busy. We rode Small World (only a 10 minute wait) then used our FP's for Pooh, and Philharmagic, and then headed back to the lodge for a rest. We tried to nap, really we did. Do you know how hard it is to get three kids, ages 4, 13, and 19 to settle down, and at the same time contend with adults too? My cousin (she's well old enough to know better) offered to take the kids swimming, even though she knew that I wanted them to settle down. Needless to say, no resting was done, we might as well have stayed in the park.

When we returned to the park, we went straight to our dinner ADR at Tony's Town Square. Again, I had read some bade reviews about it, but I had no problem with the food, and the service was great. Next we went to the haunted mansion with a 20 minute wait, followed by the Liberty Bell river boat. By this time it was starting to get dark, and I realized that Tom Sawyer Island (which was on my to do list / touring plan for the day) was closed. On to the Hall of Presidents we went, then the Country Bear Jamboree. By that time, it was getting late, and we found a good spot on the bridge to tomorrowland for Wishes. We waited there quite a while for the show, but it was well worth it. Tink flew directly over our heads, AND I got a decent picture of her.

After Wishes, we got our wrist bands for the evening EMH, then rode the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and Tomorrowland Indy Speedway. The speedway was like a 30 minute line, and that is probably the longest line we waited on the whole vacation. At that point, we had finished our touring plan for the day. We then did the Mad Tea Party, and Dumbo, then rode Small World again, where my DS4 passed out, and that ended our night.

There is more, but this post is long enough. I'll post the rest in a reply later.

 

[Tomh]

Saturday August 16th was Animal Kingdom, and this was pretty much a wasted day for us. We had been out pretty late the night before at Magic Kingdom, and hadn't really gotten a mid day rest, so we slept later than normal, and missed rope drop. We didn't get to the park until after 10:00. Then, my cousin wore a hole through one of her shoes, and had to buy another pair which took a while, and since we were in the store, the kids and wife had to shop. Then, we stopped to take a Photopass picture, and finally made our way to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, followed by the Pangini Forest Exploration Trail. After that, we headed to the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch, then took the Wildlife Express, and checked out the exhibits. When we got done with that, we headed to Kali, but the line was HUGE, and FP's were gone already. We weren't interested in EE (the little guy is too small yet, and most of the group isn't really into roller coasters) or Dinosaur. DD13 spent quite a bit of time in the store near Kali. By the time she got done there, we got caught in the traffic from the parade. We worked our way back to the front of the park, and headed to the front of the park for our supper ADR at the Rainforest Cafe. The food there was good, and my kids LOVED the theme.

At that point, we were wipe out, it had rained on and off all day, and we just decided to call it quits, and get a good nights sleep for the next morning.

This was the one day that I think was a waste. We probably would have been better off to not even bother going to a park that day. We were too tired from the night before, the weather was bad, the crowds were huge, and we just didn't get much done. If we do Animal Kingdom again, we will have to do a better job of it.

Sunday August 17th we went to the Magic Kingdom. We had an 8:05 ADR for Crystal Palace. Getting into the park before it was open was a treat, and we got some nice pictures along Main Street, and of Cinderella's Castle with hardly anyone there.

Crystal Palace was great. I expected it to be a big thrill for DS4, but I was pleasantly surprised when DD13, and even DD19 got really excited about the characters as well. The food was fine, and the character interaction was great. Everyone had a good time. My only complaint there was that our waiter took for ever to bring me the bill, and we really wanted to get out of the place and get into the park, but life goes on.

First stop was Splash Mountain. I do NOT like big drops. Actually, I don't really like ANY drops. Oh well, you only live life once right, so on we go. DW managed to have to go to the bathroom (I SWEAR she had JUST GONE in Crystal Palace before we left), and my mother fell behind, so they missed the ride with the rest of us. DD13 did NOT like the ride, not one bit. The drops got to her. Now I'm NOT a mean person, and when we were at the loading area, I told her that if she had changed her mind, and really didn't want to go, she could tell the CM, and they would let her out, and she could just go wait with her mother and grandmother, but she decided to go along with us. As much as I don't like drops, I still enjoyed the ride, and would do it again.

Next up was Big Thunder. DD13 wanted no part of it after Splash, so grandma sat out with her, and the rest of us went. It was an awesome ride, and I think we all liked it a lot. We then moved on to Pirates, DD13 freaked out over the little slide, I guess it reminded her of Splash too much. Pirates is an awesome ride, and I think they did a great job with the refurb (I hadn't been on it in 20 years, so the Johnny Dep overhaul was new to me). We then went on the Jungle Cruise (it hasn't changed much since the last time I went on it), followed by the Enchanted Tiki Room (I liked the old version better), and the Swill Family Treehouse.

We then returned to the lodge. Well actually, everyone but DD19 and I returned to the lodge. On our previous trip to MK, my cousin bumped into me in the elevator of HM, and knocked the lens cap off my camera, which of course we couldn't find in the pitch black. So, DD19 and I adventured over to the TTC Lost and Found to retrieve it. Unfortunately, the Express Monorail wasn't running, and there seemed to be major delays on the Resort loop. We did eventually get there, and get the cap. Then, on the return trip, the CM at the monorail entrance informed us that the ferry would be quicker, so we headed toward the ferry. As we were walking away from the monorail entrance, a monorail pulled in. Needless to say, the ferry took forever, and the monorail beat us there by a significant amount of time. When we got back to the lodge, we stopped in the Roaring Fork for lunch.

As with previous mid day breaks, we didn't really get any rest. My cousin and wife took the kids swimming, and my mother and I had to drive to Wal Mart to pick up a prescription for my cousin. By the time we got back to the lodge, we went back to the park for the night. Supper was at Cosmic Rays Starlight Cafe. After supper, we managed to do the Magic Carpets of Alladin, Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Space Ranger Spin (twice), Carousel of Progress, and a hand full of other things I can't recall right now. We saw bits of Wishes from Tomorrowland. My son again passed out on a ride (I don't remember which one now) and that ended our night.

Monday, August 18th we went to Epcot. We didn't make rope drop, but we were there by 9:30. We headed over to Test Track and grabbed FP's. We had planned on doing Universe of Energy, and Spaceship earth, but we had gotten them done the first day in Epcot during the Evening EMH. As we were leaving Test Track, we caught the Jammitors, then toured Innovations (East and West). We then headed into the world showcase starting with England where we had lunch at the Rose and Crown. The food was great, but I wasn't terribly fond of sitting outside. The humidity was really high that day, and I really wanted to be in air conditioning for a break. After lunch, we continued around the world showcase. It rained on and of (more on than off) for most of the afternoon. We basically hopped from pavilion to pavilion during the dry bits. We saw the American Adventure, did quite a bit of shopping, and had Croissants in France. We eventually worked our way back to Test Track. Once again, DD13, and grandma sat it out. The rest of us rode, then we grabbed counter service supper at the Electric Umbrella. After supper, we returned to the world showcase to ride the Gran Fiesta Tour, and look through the shops in Mexico, then we returned to the area near the twin gift shops to watch Illuminations.

Our last day was Tuesday, August 19th. We packed up, and had bell services get our bags. We carried a handful of things to the van ourselves, then hopped on a bus to MK. Faye was on the way in, and much of the day was rainy on and off, and windy, but it was cool, and the park wasn't very crowded. We did Splash Mountain again, then Tom Sawyers Island where we spent at least an hour exploring. We then rode the Haunted Mansion at least four times in a row. Lunch was at the Columbia Harbor House. We did Space Ranger Spin, Pooh, and Small World again, as well as the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, and Tomorrowland Indy Speedway (in the rain). Supper was at Tony's. The afternoon parade was replace by a rainy day character parade. After that, we shopped on Mainstreet USA, and had Ice Cream. It was about 8:30 or so when we left the park for the last time.

The vacation was exhausting, but we had fun. I thought Disney's Hollywood Studios was very busy our first day, and I thought that Animal Kingdom was very busy as well. The rest of the trip I didn't think that the crowds were terrible, and the last day, they were pretty light.

We didn't use our van at all to get to the parks, the Disney transportation was fine, though I did have a few issues here and there. One night on the way back to the lodge, my DS4 had to stand. There were plenty of young adults sitting, and even a few little kids in seats. Any one of those adults could have offered to stand, or hold him, or one of the parents could have held their little one to give him a seat. We did that for many kids during our trip. There was also a bus ride from MK back to the lodge where the driver opened the rear door to let at wheelchair out, then left it open, and while we were waiting in line to get on, at least five people walked up who hadn't even been on the line, and got straight on the bus through the rear door. At least DS4 got a seat that time, but the rest of my family had to stand. Pretty crummy if you ask me.

I saw many instances where people jumped into the Fast Pass line from the Standby line, walked up the FP line, and then jumped back into the Standby line just before the CM who takes the FP's, and they all got away with it. This is a situation that Disney should address with a better separation of the two lines.

All in all though, it was a great vacation, and I hope that it won't be another 20 years before we go back again.