Trip Report May "the force be with us" 16-23

[spaceoddity]

It has been 12 years since i had been to Disney, so i was so looking forward to this trip. Lots of new things to see and due.

Cast:
Me (34) (Star Wars & Disney fan)
Karen (35) (also a Star Wars & Disney fan)

Day 1: Tue May 16
Got up at 5:30am to get to airport for our 8am flight. Our flight was a half hout late leaving the gate and the flight was very, very bumpy. Got into Orlando half an hour late than scheduled. It was raining, which was kinda of a let down since i just had left a week of rain back in RI. But that's ok wasn't really going to a theme park today. Magical Express was great got right on a bus and went to Pop Century. The resort is very colorful, the room was small and you could here people in the room next door when they were in the bathroom....but overall i would stay there again.

Once checked in we headed to Downtown Disney we had tickets to the 6pm show of La Nouba. So we shopped, ate at Earl of Sandwich and then headed over to La Nouba. La Nouba was incredible, highly recommend the show. Also at La Nouba i ran into Tom Savini (a horror make-up fx guy) for those none horror movie buffs. Then headed back to room for sleep, not going to start the Disney Magic just yet heading to Universal tomorrow. When we got back to the room, our luggage was there...yeah!

 

[eliza61]

How did you like the Earl of sandwich? Always wanted to try it.

 

[spaceoddity]

It was pretty good, and not too pricey

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 2: Wed May 17th

So up at 7am.....i had called Mears to take us to Universal since we didn't rent a car, no need really Disney takes you anywhere you want to go on Disney property. It cost only $15 per person for round trip to Universal from the resort. Needed to meet the bus for 8am.

I had bought a 1day/2 park ticket and then for an extra $25 added the Express Plus Pass. Which allows you to walk on any ride without any wait time...which worked out well since i was doing both Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure in one day.

Got to the park for the 9am opening, decided to do Islands of Adventure first since there wasn't as many rides. Went on Hulk first, nothing like a great coaster to wake you up in the morning. Then on to The Amazing Spider-Man....which was amazing the best ride at Islands of Adventure!!! Then hit Jurassic Park ride...which was really good....got the 3 major rides out of the way and it wasn't even 10am yet...sweet!!! Went over to Dueling Dragons coaster which was not running because it was getting a new paint job. Then on too Poseidon's Fury which is a walkthrough special effect thing but in the middle of it the fire alarm went off and we had to leave. So i headed over to Universal Studios.

Did everything at Universal and headed back to Islands of Adventure to go on Poseidon's Fury again and shop. By 4pm i was done with both parks. The express plus pass was great didn't have to wait in any line. The Mummy ride was by far the best ride at Universal Studios, Shrek 4-D was really good too. Headed back to room to get ready for dinner. Had reservations for the Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge resort at 8pm. Food was very good, i got the all you can eat skillet and bottomless milkshakes. This is a fun restaraunt where the staff goof on the guests and throw straws at you and make you get up and ride a wooden horse around the tables....was allot of fun. Back to room for sleep because tomorow is Epcot.

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Come on, Spaceoddity, where's the rest of your report? I told you I would be online Wednesday when I got home from work and expected to see it!
Can't wait to see your pictures at work next Tuesday. (If you can't tell, Spaceoddity and I work at the same company - I'm very jealous he was at Disney last week).

P.S. Good news - KM passed her Series 6!!

 

[jugglinfish]

I'm excited to read about Starw Wars weekend - we thought about going - just couldn't justify the cost for the weekend. Hope you had a great trip.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 3: Thur May 18

Again got up for 7am to be out for the bus at 8am. Today we headed to Epcot, and first on our list was to ride Soarin'. Park opened and we did the brisk pace over to Soarin' got right on, it was fun...didn't need to ride again so skipped getting fp for later. Then over to Test Track walked right on...this was fun too, but didn't need to ride again so skipped getting a fp. Then over to Missiion Space....same here got right on. I really liked this ride...it was allot of fun...but i can see how people with motion sickness would not enjoy this ride...it is pretty intense. So now it's only going on 10am and got the 3 big rides out of the way...woo-hoo....now we headed over to Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy which is allot less boring with Ellen than it used to be. Went to Living Seas but line was way too long for Turtle Talk with Crush....so went to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

Now it was time to head to World Showcase, we had dinner reservations at 4:10pm at Le Cellier...so we started on the right with Mexico and walked around the worlds so by the time we got to Canada it would be time to eat. I had the 7oz Filet Mignon....it literally just melted in my mouth it was so good. I also had there chesse soup...which was excellent..will make reservations again next time i'm back in Disney! They were turning people away saying they were booked solid for the rest of the week...yikes make those adr's!

After that we shopped and walked around and got a spot between England & Canada to watch Illuminations.....it was a nice relaxing day compared to the commando day we had the day before. Weather was great in the low 90's with a nice breeze...this will soon change.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 4: Fri May 19th

Today is the Magic Kingdom, the heart of Disney World. Same plan up at 7am to catch bus for 8am. Park opens and we did the quick walk over to Space Mountain, then hit the other 2 mountains Splash, Thunder....no waits on any of them.....now it's after 10am and you can feel the heat...today is going to be in the mid 90's and it was humid.....for some reason the Magic Kingdom seemed to be hotter than any other of theme parks?? So we went over to the Haunted Mansion...then got food at Pecos Bill's.......knowing that we are going to be leaving this park soon since it was getting really hot...and we had dinner reservations at 8:00pm for Ohana's.

Headed over to get a dole whip......mmmm very good. Did Jungle Cruise, POC was closed so they can add the new aa's. Did the Tiki Room, Hall of Presidents....nice air conditioning in there...headed to Stich....this was my least favorite out of everything i did for the whole week. So now i'm hot and let down by Stich's Great Escape...time to go back to resort cool off. Will finish Magic Kingdom another day.

Headed over the Polynesian resort for dinner at O'hana's....wow do you get allot of food....it was very good the potatoes and the steak were my favorite. The atmosphere again was fun...would eat there again. Tomorrow Animal Kingdom and can't wait to ride EE!

 

[ENSOCK]

Great start but where's the rest?? Sounds like you had a blast!

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 5: Sat May 20th

Today is another hot day in the upper 90's, but i don't care i'm going to get to ride EE today! Same plan up at 7am out to bus for 8am. Once park opened we did the long fast walk over to EE. Got right on 2nd train to leave the station....I love this coaster it is my favorite ride at Disney World...it's just allot of fun. Got off and got fp for another go......headed over to Kilimanjaro Safari's got right on. Our driver was great very funny. Time to ride EE again, got off EE and got another fp. Fast Pass is great didn't not have to wait once to ride EE 3 times. Rode Dinosaur...very bumpy ride...and very short. Then got on Primeval Whirl....very short ride...it was fun. Time to rdie EE again!! Now by this time the park was packed so didn't get a fp for a fourth go.

Went in to watch It's a bug Life to get out of the heat. This was so great allot of fun....especially at the very end i didn't expect that. Walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek, Kali River Rapids...and of course going down the big drop the raft turns so i'm headed straight for the big splash....but that's ok it felt so good to get soaked. Walked the Pangani Forest trail to dry off...loved watching the gorillas. Watched Festival of Lion King and then headed out and over to Animal Kingdom Lodge had reservations at Boma. I thought it was ok....but don't think it lived up to it's hype. The food was good but not outstanding and i didn't care for the zebra dome cakes. But i loved Animal Kingdom...it's one of my favorite parks now.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 6: Sun May 21st

Well when i booked the trip i did not know i would be there the first weekend of Star Wars Weekend's and MGM, but what a bonus! Ok same plan up and out to the bus by 8am. This is a real short bus ride since Pop is very close to MGM. So get to Disney MGM Studios a little after 8am and there are already pretty big lines waiting to get in. I chose to go the last day with hopes the crowds would be a little less than on Fri & Sat. So about 8:30 the stormtroopers arrive on top of where the turnstiles are...and do a little skit on if they should let us in or not.....it was very funny. It's now 8:45 and they let us in....everyone runs to the fast pass machines to get ther fp for autographs for the celeberities...i decided to head over to the rope to get on Tower of Terror & RnRC. At 9am they drop the rope and wak us over ToT...get right on....the last time i was MGM the ride was in preview and not open to the public...so this was my forst time riding it. I really liked it my 2nd favorite ride at Disney World. Got off got a fp and headed over RnRC....got right on. It was ok....it seemed very short to me? Rode ToT again...got off and got another fp for it.

Headed over to play Who Wants to be a Millionare Star Wars Edition. This was great...they had R2-D2 come out and be the first contestant....it was funny.....everyone gets to play, so the 2 people that ended up in the hot seat only got to $1000 questions...if you had made it to the million dollar question you would get a Disney Cruise....pretty sweet. I didn't even make it into the top 10....i got all the questions right but wasn't fast enough answering them.

Today is also sunny 97 degress and humid...yuk...but i don't care becasue it Star Wars Weekend and there are characters everywhere...the have Star Wars music playing everywhere....if your a Star Wars geek man this is heaven. So i only got my picture taken with Darth Vader and Jedi Mickey because they were inside and air conditioned so i didn't mind waiting in those lines.

So did all the shows Beauty & The Beast, Lights, Motor Action, Muppetvision 3-D, used fp for Star Tours. Went on the Backlot tour......this either needs to go or be re-done very boring. I also thought Star Tours is now seeming old and dated and needs to be re-worked. Aslo Muppets could be re-done too. Had dinner at Sci-Fi....the food is just ok...but i love the atmosphere here. Shopped some just a mass of Star Wars merchandise to be had. Then headed over to get a spot for Fantasmic....this is a great show great way to end the night.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

how early did you get to Fastasmic???? We are going to MGM on Tuesday and I want to make sure that we get a seat.

Sounds like a great time....

Can't wait for EE!! We go to AK on Monday.

Thanks for the report

 

[spaceoddity]

They let you in about an hour and a half before the show....so we showed up about an hour before the show and the middle was pretty full....if there are 2 shows that night go to the later one it's always less crowded, if the there is no later show or it's not an option for you i would get there an hour to 45 minutes before the show.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 7: Mon May 22nd

Wow my last full day at Disney i have to leave tomorrow...what to do today?? Well today i slept in a little because i had breakfast reservations at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian Resort.....food was really good....and if your a Pooh or Tigger fan than this is the breakfast to go to.

It is very hot & humid today in the upper 90's but at least it's cloudy so no sun beating down on you. I head over to the Magic Kingdom to do some things i missed on Friday....Like Mickey's Philharmagic and....rode It's a Small World since it's right there.....didn't even go to Fantasyland when we were here on Friday. Then headed back to resort for a nap. Have dinner reservations at 5pm for the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue.

Off to the Fort Wilderness campground for the Hoop-De-Doo...It was great the food was terrific, the show was a bit corny but was allot of fun and there's allot of audience participation....would definetely make it a tradition and do it everytime i go. Our waiter has been there for 26 years...he was a hoot! After the show we took the ferry from Fort Wilderness to Magic Kingdom to watch there nightime parade Spectromagic and then watch Wishes...great way to end your trip...with allot of Disney magic.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 8: Tues May 23rd

Last day....but my flight doesn't leave until 8:20pm so my Magical Express pick up time isn't until 5:15pm....great which park to go to today? I did want to ride EE again, but didn't do everything at MGM since it was a crazy Star Wars Weekend.....plus it's another cloudy hot & humid day...and there's more walking at Animal Kingdom than MGM so my tiredness won....off to MGM after check out. Check out took 5min had them hold my luggage till my time to catch the Magical Express bus and off to MGM we went.

First thing we went over and roder Tower of Terror, got off and got FP for it, then headed over to Tatooine traders for Star Wars shopping, you could hardly move in this store on Sun, so it was nice to be able to look around. Of course all the Star Wars Weekend limited edition merchandise was not available..they only sell that on the weekend. After shopping headed back to ToT to ride again. Then over to Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, wich we ran out of time on Sun to do. Then went to see Walt Disney: One Man's Dream...which i really liked. Then went over to the The Magic of Disney Animation which is bascially one big advertisment for what Disney has coming out...which right now is "Cars".

Overall it was a great trip and i didn't wait in any lines for more than 10min...thanks to Tour Guide Mike!!!!

Headed back to Pop to catch bus to MCO...and waited for our flight...which was on time and i was safely back in RI at 11:05pm.....already plotting my next Disney trip which hopefully be the first week of Dec in 2007...and would like to stay at the Wilderness Lodge.

 

[OhMari]

How did you get from Animal Kingdom to the Animal Lodge, can you walk, or did you have to take a bus?

Thanks for sharing your report.

 

[spaceoddity]

I took the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus from Animal Kingdom...too far to walk espically if you've been walking all day and it's hot out. Then when we were done at Boma i took the MGM bus from Animal Kingdom Lodge...since MGM is really close to Pop.....so then at MGM i just jumped on the Pop bus at was back at the resort.....really was easy once you are familiar with which theme park is close to which resorts.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[spaceoddity]

I've been back a week now and i'm ready to go back My plan is for 1st week in Dec '07...if i can't wait that long then most likely end of Jan or Beginning Feb before the spring break crowd hits.