nigels_girl
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 14, 2005
- Messages
- 4
This was my first trip to WDW since 1988! Wow, it had been forever! I went with my Mother, my Sister in Law, my 7-year-old nephew and 4-year-old niece. I went with my parents when I was young but this was the first trip anywhere for SIL and the kids! The had never even been on an airplane! We stayed off site in Kissimmee at Comfort Suites Maingate East next door to Old Town.
Our flights were on time and we arrived in Orlando around 1:30 P.M. on a Saturday. I had rented a car with Alamo and had to wait over an hour in line to pick the car up. I noticed National, Hertz & Avis all had much shorter lines.
Once I had gone through the line we went out to the garage to pick out our car. We could choose any intermediate car in the lot. My nephew chose a gray Chevy Malibu. We were off to find our hotel. Before I left, I printed driving directions from Google Maps and we drove right to the hotel. There are 3 tolls on the way from the airport. 2 are for $1 and 1 for $.50. You need exact change for the .50 and we didnt have it!! I ended up driving right through and pulling over, waiting for someone to come out. Didnt happen! We were in Florida for 1 hour and I had already broken the law!
We arrived at the lovely Comfort Suites Maingate East at almost 3:00 and our room still wasnt ready. No big deal, we went to the pool for the afternoon. The hotel has a lovely pool area that has a kiddies section and a hot tub. There is also a pool bar.
Once we got our room I was pretty happy, 2 double beds, pull out sofa bed, fridge and microwave. Our room was very nice and clean. It was plenty of room for the 5 of us.
Complimentary Continental breakfast is included daily. There was a choice of cereal, fresh made waffles, fruit and pastries along with Juice, Milk Coffee and Tea. Lots to choose from. The breakfast is served from 7-10 each day.
This hotel is in a great location. We were right next door to Old Town, which is a shopping/amusement park area, and only about 10 minutes from the Disney Parks. The hotel does offer a free shuttle to the parks, but it has a very limited schedule. We were very happy that we went with the rental car.
When we go back in two years, we will definitely stay onsite! Just to be able to take a break mid-day and not be that far away!
We did Magic Kingdom on Sunday, May 29. We got there pretty early and the park was already very busy. We used Fast Pass quite a bit and it was great. This saved us a lot of time! Rides we did: Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Dumbo, Its a Small World, Stitchs Great Escape, The Haunted Mansion and the Jungle Cruise. We also saw the new stage show, Cinderellabration which happens right in front of the castle. It is a few times a day and it was very good. My 4-year-old niece who loves Disney Princesses thought this show was the best!
We had a PS for the Crystal Palace Character Dinner for this day. It was an all you can eat buffet with the characters from Winnie the Pooh! The kids loved this. It was very nice!
Monday May 30 we went to Epcot. I went right away and Fast Passed Soarin. Fast Pass is a must for this attraction!! People in the standby line had waited over 2 hours. Fast Passes run out for this quickly, so if you want to do this you must get there early! It was the best ride in my opinion! Even my niece loved this ride! Do not miss this one!
Other attractions we saw were the Living Seas, Spaceship Earth and Innovations. We made this an early afternoon so that we could come back for Illuminations. We arrived back for the fireworks at about 8:00 and it started pouring rain! They kept annoucing that it would be delayed but needless to say we missed out! Just as we were driving out of the park, what do the kids see out the window??? I told them they were just practicing for tomorrow night!
Tuesday May 31 we went to MGM Studios in the morning and then back to Magic Kingdom for that evening. We did Tower of Terror, the Star Tours, the Ariel Stage show then drove over to Magic Kingdom and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Pirates of the Caribbean and stayed to see the Spectro Magic Parade (My Moms Favorite!) and Wishes Fireworks! These made up for missing Illuminations the night before. They were fantastic!
Wednesday June 1 we went to Sea World. I enjoyed it but I dont think that I would return. Not as much there that I enjoyed and I found the prices high for food and there were many extras not included. We saw the Shamu Show, the Dolphin show and saw all the animals. My Mom and My Nephew rode the Journey to Atlantis flume ride and my Sister in Law rode the crazy coaster Kraken! Not my thing!
Thursday June 2 we went to Disneys Animal Kingdom. We did the Killimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Its tough to be a Bug! We tried to see Lucky the Dinosaur, but he was broken down this day. We also tried to ride the Kali River Rapids, but after 30 minutes in line, the Cast Member came out to say the ride was closed temporarily. It turns out a guest was on a cell phone trying to get into the raft and fell in! She cracked her head open and they had to flush the blood out of the river! Not Good! We were very disappointed.
Friday June 3 we were going to do Typhoon Lagoon but it was pouring rain (Much like the rest of the week) so we ended up back at Magic Kingdom, as it was our overall favorite. We did Space Mountain again and also did Peter Pan, Snow White, the Goofy Barnstormer ride and Mickeys Philarmagic as we had missed them earlier in the week.
We rented a double stroller a couple times during the week for $15. This was great!
Overall, it was a fantastic trip! My Dad, who missed out on this trip, wants us all to go back in two years and stay onsite! He has even been on the internet trying to get pricing! I think he was very dissapointed once he saw our pictures! My DH and my brother are also sorry they didn't make this trip.
I am so happy that I found this site before we left. If found it answered all my questions and I didn't even post anything! Many other posters had the same questions as me. I loved reading all the trip reports! It got me so excited for our trip!
Now it is time to start planning the next trip!!
Our flights were on time and we arrived in Orlando around 1:30 P.M. on a Saturday. I had rented a car with Alamo and had to wait over an hour in line to pick the car up. I noticed National, Hertz & Avis all had much shorter lines.
Once I had gone through the line we went out to the garage to pick out our car. We could choose any intermediate car in the lot. My nephew chose a gray Chevy Malibu. We were off to find our hotel. Before I left, I printed driving directions from Google Maps and we drove right to the hotel. There are 3 tolls on the way from the airport. 2 are for $1 and 1 for $.50. You need exact change for the .50 and we didnt have it!! I ended up driving right through and pulling over, waiting for someone to come out. Didnt happen! We were in Florida for 1 hour and I had already broken the law!
We arrived at the lovely Comfort Suites Maingate East at almost 3:00 and our room still wasnt ready. No big deal, we went to the pool for the afternoon. The hotel has a lovely pool area that has a kiddies section and a hot tub. There is also a pool bar.
Once we got our room I was pretty happy, 2 double beds, pull out sofa bed, fridge and microwave. Our room was very nice and clean. It was plenty of room for the 5 of us.
Complimentary Continental breakfast is included daily. There was a choice of cereal, fresh made waffles, fruit and pastries along with Juice, Milk Coffee and Tea. Lots to choose from. The breakfast is served from 7-10 each day.
This hotel is in a great location. We were right next door to Old Town, which is a shopping/amusement park area, and only about 10 minutes from the Disney Parks. The hotel does offer a free shuttle to the parks, but it has a very limited schedule. We were very happy that we went with the rental car.
When we go back in two years, we will definitely stay onsite! Just to be able to take a break mid-day and not be that far away!
We did Magic Kingdom on Sunday, May 29. We got there pretty early and the park was already very busy. We used Fast Pass quite a bit and it was great. This saved us a lot of time! Rides we did: Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, Dumbo, Its a Small World, Stitchs Great Escape, The Haunted Mansion and the Jungle Cruise. We also saw the new stage show, Cinderellabration which happens right in front of the castle. It is a few times a day and it was very good. My 4-year-old niece who loves Disney Princesses thought this show was the best!
We had a PS for the Crystal Palace Character Dinner for this day. It was an all you can eat buffet with the characters from Winnie the Pooh! The kids loved this. It was very nice!
Monday May 30 we went to Epcot. I went right away and Fast Passed Soarin. Fast Pass is a must for this attraction!! People in the standby line had waited over 2 hours. Fast Passes run out for this quickly, so if you want to do this you must get there early! It was the best ride in my opinion! Even my niece loved this ride! Do not miss this one!
Other attractions we saw were the Living Seas, Spaceship Earth and Innovations. We made this an early afternoon so that we could come back for Illuminations. We arrived back for the fireworks at about 8:00 and it started pouring rain! They kept annoucing that it would be delayed but needless to say we missed out! Just as we were driving out of the park, what do the kids see out the window??? I told them they were just practicing for tomorrow night!
Tuesday May 31 we went to MGM Studios in the morning and then back to Magic Kingdom for that evening. We did Tower of Terror, the Star Tours, the Ariel Stage show then drove over to Magic Kingdom and rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Pirates of the Caribbean and stayed to see the Spectro Magic Parade (My Moms Favorite!) and Wishes Fireworks! These made up for missing Illuminations the night before. They were fantastic!
Wednesday June 1 we went to Sea World. I enjoyed it but I dont think that I would return. Not as much there that I enjoyed and I found the prices high for food and there were many extras not included. We saw the Shamu Show, the Dolphin show and saw all the animals. My Mom and My Nephew rode the Journey to Atlantis flume ride and my Sister in Law rode the crazy coaster Kraken! Not my thing!
Thursday June 2 we went to Disneys Animal Kingdom. We did the Killimanjaro Safari, Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, Its tough to be a Bug! We tried to see Lucky the Dinosaur, but he was broken down this day. We also tried to ride the Kali River Rapids, but after 30 minutes in line, the Cast Member came out to say the ride was closed temporarily. It turns out a guest was on a cell phone trying to get into the raft and fell in! She cracked her head open and they had to flush the blood out of the river! Not Good! We were very disappointed.
Friday June 3 we were going to do Typhoon Lagoon but it was pouring rain (Much like the rest of the week) so we ended up back at Magic Kingdom, as it was our overall favorite. We did Space Mountain again and also did Peter Pan, Snow White, the Goofy Barnstormer ride and Mickeys Philarmagic as we had missed them earlier in the week.
We rented a double stroller a couple times during the week for $15. This was great!
Overall, it was a fantastic trip! My Dad, who missed out on this trip, wants us all to go back in two years and stay onsite! He has even been on the internet trying to get pricing! I think he was very dissapointed once he saw our pictures! My DH and my brother are also sorry they didn't make this trip.
I am so happy that I found this site before we left. If found it answered all my questions and I didn't even post anything! Many other posters had the same questions as me. I loved reading all the trip reports! It got me so excited for our trip!
Now it is time to start planning the next trip!!
