Here is a complete trip report for my Walt Disney World trip that went from October 4th through October 11th. I will also cut out the Resort, Theme Park, and Restaurant sections and post them in the appropriate boards. Hope this helps as much as these boards have helped me.
Group Info
Three families went totaling 6 Adults, 3 children (ages 4, 5, and 8), and 1 infant (almost 2).
Weather
Perfect. A little hot and humid but what do you expect. It only rained once and we happened to be on a bus. It stopped as we got off.
Friday, October 4th (Arrival Day)
General: We had arranged with FL Tours for a Town Car. The service was great. The only thing to mention is that they evidently must wait by their cars so the driver was unable to help with our luggage from baggage claim to the car. Its just down the escalators so no big deal. He did meet us at baggage claim to let us know what was going on. Paid in cash and tipped $5 each way in case the driver was different.
Resort: We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside (POR). Due to the large party I had previously faxed in room requests. I had requested three rooms together (or close) and to be placed in the Bayou as we wanted a trundle bed. I had also requested a crib for the infants room. All requests were granted, however, my family was the last to arrive. The first family had a little trouble explaining who was in which room. Nothing major. We arrived around 7 p.m. and check-in was very smooth. Found the room to be clean. Better than most. The door hinges in the bathroom were showing a lot of rust along with another metal piece in the shower. The vents were clean and there was no mold to speak of. We were in lodge 24 room 39. Close to the West Bus Stop.
Restaurants: We went to the POR food court for dinner. We had some trouble with the Pizza/Pasta section. They were very unorganized when ordering the small pizzas. After checking twice for our order we were finally told that it was sitting there the whole time! Didnt order pizza again. Daughter (8 year old) loved the pasta. I tried the chicken and ribs, which was a C-. Not worth the money but we had limited choices. The far back left hand side has a Television and lego section. Good place to sit if the kids get done first.
Theme Park: Didnt have time.
Saturday, October 5th (Epcot/MK)
General: Plan was to spend the day at Epcot and then switch over to MK for an hour or two to catch Spectro Magic. We were lucky that Disney had extended the hours of MK to 8:00 (9:00 on this day).
Resort: Left $4 for the maid. Decided to tip daily as the maids have off-days. No problems with the maid service. She would leave the stuff animals that we brought (or purchased later) in some sort of setting (reading a book, watching TV, waiting by the window, etc.) The 5 year old thought this was amazing!
Restaurants: Big day for eating! Went to the Princess Breakfast, the Ice Cream Social, and Coral Reef. Remember our party size was almost always for 10 and tips were always included in the price due to the party size. Princess was a B+. The food was good. The characters were staggered, which meant eating was a stop and go affair. Aladdin, Jasmine (the mens favorite), Snow White, Mary Poppins, and Aurora were there. The Ice Cream Social was a B. Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey were there. The sundaes were in the shape of a face and included a code for the kids. The adults had something similar but had a cookie, too. We had one diabetic and he received sugar-free ice cream. He ate it all and said it was good. The Coral Reef was a C. Just too expensive for the quality of the food. The aquarium was neat and there were a number of divers that would look in on everyone. We happened to be in the front row so it worked out.
Theme Park: Epcot until 7:00 p.m. and then MK for two hours. Small crowd and no lines at Epcot. Test Track was a maximum of 20 minutes, but we just walked on the three times we went. At MK we arrived just prior to the parade. Half of the group stayed to watch (very crowded) and the other half went on Buzz, Space Mountain, and Astro Orbiter. All were walk-ons. Buzz was done at least 3 times by all. Lots of characters at both parks. No problems with the busses. Very surprised by this as we have always had problems after park closings.
Sunday, October 6th (MK/MGM)
General: Our first and only early entry (another perk that we enjoyed during our visit). We arrived an hour before normal park opening. The guards did check for your room key!
Resort: Added $4 to the tip jar which still had the money from the day before. Went to the main swimming pool with 8 year old daughter. She loved the water slide uh so did I. The much discussed bridge over the pool was closed off. There was a wood barricade that prevented you from swimming under the bridge, too. No big deal.
Restaurants: Nothing scheduled except we were going to go to the Toy Story Pizza Planet at MGM for dinner. Got there prior to 7 p.m. only to find it closed! Big whoops! We ended up going downtown (another big whoops). Everyone was cranky from lack of food and just plain tired. Ended up at Wolf Gang Puck Express. It was alright, but everyone was kind of mad at everyone else. Downtown was crowded as everyone seemed to head there after the parks were closed. The group recovered by the next day no blood was shed.
Theme Park: Early entry for MK. No lines. Went to Fantasy Land and Toon Land. Lines were very short. Went back to the resort for a quick swim (and some naps) and then to MGM. Longest line at MGM was for Tower of Terror (15 minutes). Rocking Roller Coaster was a walk-on. Little kids loved Playhouse Disney.
Monday, October 7th (Blizzard Beach/Illumination Cruise)
General: Got to sleep in as the water parks open at 10 a.m. Good timing as we were all tired.
Resort: That tip jar is looking real full! Im curious when shes going to take the money.
Restaurants: Nothing scheduled. My family decided to go to Epcot prior to the cruise and eat at 9 Dragons. Wow, did you hear that? A collective yuck from all of you reading this! That was cool! Now, heres my pitch for 9 Dragons (by the way they get an A) the food, which in our case was the kids sweet and sour chicken and the honey sesame chicken was excellent. Ive heard everyone say that its not better than what you have in your hometown, but its much better than mine. Just be thankful you all live in Chinatown, I guess! The thing that I really like is the price. Wow! Did you hear that? A collective, WHAT?!?! from all of you, but look at it this way. My kids share the kids meal and my wife and I share the one entrée. Although the food is more expensive than your hometown restaurant, its by far the cheapest alternative within Disney World and that includes the below average food at high cost food court! There, Im done and you can stick that in your Chinese firecracker and light it!
Theme Park: Blizzard Beach is awesome. Heres how you handle the park. Do the big three slides (including the family raft ride) first. When the lines get long, go to the tube rides and toboggan rides on the front side of the park. When those lines get long, go to the back side of the park and do the tube rides there. The lines never got long here because you have to walk up the hill each time (136 steps or so). When youre done with this, do the river raft. When done, leave. For the chair lift, try the singles line if you can. You can also walk up the hill, too. The small kids loved the kids area. Just a great park. Test Track at Epcot in the evening was 20 minutes. From Epcot we went out the International Gateway to the Yacht & Beach to get to our cruise. The cruise was wonderful and comes highly recommended. One big tip!!! You can ask your driver to let you off at the International Gateway after the show. We walked through Epcot to their buses, which was a direct route back to POR. No problem going back into Epcot.
Tuesday, October 8th (AK/MK)
General: Aaaahhhhh! Not my favorite park. Just too hot because most rides and attractions are outside. We like to leave by 2 p.m., which we almost made this time.
Resort: Ran into our maid and explained that she could take the money in the jar. She said that shes not allowed to take it unless we instruct her that she can. She also mentioned the tip envelopes, which can be obtained at the front desk. She got lucky as I was about ready to dip into the jar myself! Used the pool close to the lodge. One item of note: the small pools are open 24 hours! Seems like this could be a problem if you get some young souls in the pool late at night and you happen to have a room close by. Just a thought.
Restaurants: Donalds'asoures for breakfast before AK opened. No problems getting in. Ohana for dinner. These were probably my two favorite restaurants prior to going on our trip. Both were disappointing! The great thing about Donalds was the interaction between the servers and the guest. This time around there was very little. It also seemed very hectic. Overall, it gets a C+ last time it would have gotten an A. Ohana has changed their menu slightly since the last time we were there. No dumplings or spring rolls. The spring rolls were our favorites. In their place were BBQ chicken wings (very good) and wonton (just O.K.) The beef was overcooked but the other items were very good. The salad (another favorite) was great. They also now leave the appetizers at your table throughout the meal good move here. I just expect so much from Ohana and it didnt deliver this time. Probably a B or B-. I was also surprised that no games had been played in the hour we were there. I had to ask, which got the coconut race going.
Theme Park: Did I mention it was hot? The new rides in Dino Land were a hit. It was just too hot. Did I mention this before? Safari was fine but it was hot. We got out of there around 2:30 or so because it was (altogether now) too hot! Went to MK that night. Hit Space Mountain, Buzz, and Astro again. Lines were a little longer although Buzz was a walk-on. Space Mountain was 30 minutes and they actually closed the entrance at 7:30 because of this so if youre planning on making that 2 minute before closing run on Space Mountain, it may not work for you. My wife and son got stuck on the orbiter as the fire works went off. The werent allowed to ride, but they did get to see the show from the top platform. Pretty cool!
Wednesday, October 9th (MK)
General: I was getting worried about MK. I had been asking about the lines and it seems like the lines had picked up on Monday. I was expecting the worst
Resort: Maid is pretty good and taking the money from the jar now.
Restaurants: Cinderella for Breakfast (9:45 a.m.) and Tonys for a late Lunch. The castle was cool but boy was it hectic when we got in there. Got called in pretty quick and it was cool to here the groans when the Lord Rochelle party of 10 got called out. Funny. It was pretty hectic upstairs, too. Still pretty nice. The interesting thing was that the characters were going around in a group offset by one table. I guess this allows them to clear a table once the characters leave and set it up long before they come around again. Interesting, but if you dont take your time eating then you have a wait between the time you are done and when they finally come around. Our party was split as far as which restaurant was better Cinderellas or Princess. Oh, the characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charming, Aurora, and Belle. The Fairy Godmother was downstairs. Overall, a B (I was one voting on Princess did I mention Jasmine was there?) Tonys was pretty good. We had never eaten there and we timed it for the parade, which worked out perfect. Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore were there. Probably the best interaction of characters we had. Probably had to do with the lack of people at the restaurant. Overall a B.
Theme Park: MK all day cant beat it! The crowds were not bad. I talked with some CMs and they said that it was lighter today than earlier in the week. My guess is that people hit MK first and then hit the other parks. We really did the opposite. One BIG note: Fast Pass was only open on 4 rides Pooh, Peter Pan, Big Thunder, and Space Mountain. Space Mountain was a walk-on so big deal. The CMs said that Fast Pass depends on the anticipated crowd volume. As you come in the park check with a CM on what has Fast Pass. Hit the big rides that dont have Fast Pass on first because they will fill up. Jungle Cruise was running 30 minutes all day. Pooh was at 30 minutes. Peter was at 40 minutes. Buzz was nothing (maybe 10 max). Splash Mountain doesnt get lines until 11:30 or so. We hit it before this (walk-on) and the ride broke as we left. It was down until 2 p.m. or so. The line got to be 40 minutes. We went back around 6:30 and it was 10 minutes. We just kept Fast Passing Big Thunder because there was nothing else to do. We left during the Spectro Magic parade so we had no problems with the bus. Oh, and there were lots of characters!!! And what is with the country bears? You couldnt swing a large mouth bass in the air without hitting one of them!
Thursday, October 10th (Stuff/MGM)
General: Golf for the men, spa for the women, and pirate cruise for the kids. Played at Ospry Ridge (or is that Pines). Pretty course. There were a couple of deer on the course, which was pretty cool. The women liked the spa but beware of cold oil and hands! My 8 year old daughter was worried about the cruise. Not sure if there would be girls her age there. As luck would have it there were a few and she paired up with one. They all had fun.
Resort: Nothing new to report.
Restaurants: Scheduled the Fantasmic package with the Hollywood and Vine restaurant. Worked out fine but with the lack of crowds Im not sure if it was really worth it. I dont really like buffets too much. Why spend $20 for Lubys (or Furrs or insert whatever generic buffet exists in your part of the world). I grade the H&V a C but after my daughter said it was her favorite, it goes to a B.
Theme Park: No lines at MGM. We just got lucky throughout our trip. The bus ride home was another story. This was our first and only problem with the bus system. After Fantasmic I decided to take the kids back to the hotel and let the other adults shop. Well, long story short we got there 10 minutes before they did and they shopped for nearly an hour. We only got a bus after I talked (daughter says yelled) with the scheduler. After watching 4 busses go by empty and not getting anything scheduled for PO for 40 minutes, I was done. I was told the empty busses were handled by another dispatch and there was nothing he could do about it. This is a pet peeve of mine you dont ever tell paying customers that you cant do something about it. You can always do something about it if you care! And dont blame someone else within your company you are the company to me. This sort of thing also happened between Bell Service and the Front Desk at POR. I was told the wrong information and never got an apology just an explanation of whose fault it was. Oh well, very minor in the long run but my suggestion is to shop after Fantasmic or find a cab (can you get a cab at MGM?) Oh, I didnt really yell just talked loudly. Men, why do women/girls think that talking loudly is really yelling? Oh well, probably a topic for another post. Another note my wife hit MK with the kids after the pirate cruise/spa for one last ride of Buzz. The Fast Pass was going and the stand by line was at 20 minutes.
Friday, October 11th (Seeya)
General: We slept in! We fed the ducks and went to the market place for a couple of hours. I had requested a 1:00 check-out as our town car came at 2:00 p.m. All worked out just perfect.
Summary:
Sorry this is so long, but here are some final notes. Early Entry was nice but it wasnt needed because the crowds were so small. Sleep in! AK is really hot! The 8:00 closing time of MK was awesome. I will (probably) never go to WDW in the summer again. I will think twice about spending so much money at WDW if they go back to an early close at MK. How can I convince my wife to skip AK and substitute in Typhoon Lagoon? We noticed that MK would surge around 4:00 or 5:00 as people switched over from AK. Spectro Magic is awesome at reducing lines. Think twice about spinning the tea cups really fast when your wife is with you. AK is really hot! The bugs life 3-D movie is pretty scary think twice about anyone under 6 seeing it. Guests at POR didnt seem to realize that there were 4 bus stops or didnt elect to use them. Oh, and AK is really hot!
Best restaurant was 9 Dragons. Worst was Coral Reef (or POR food court). Best character interaction was Tonys. Best moment was the Illumination Cruise and boarding the bus leaving AK. Worst was being hungry downtown after all the parks close and being in line for an hour at MGM waiting on a bus. Favorite rides were Splash Mountain, Rocking Roller Coaster and Buzz. And best character why, Jasmine, of course!
Group Info
Three families went totaling 6 Adults, 3 children (ages 4, 5, and 8), and 1 infant (almost 2).
Weather
Perfect. A little hot and humid but what do you expect. It only rained once and we happened to be on a bus. It stopped as we got off.
Friday, October 4th (Arrival Day)
General: We had arranged with FL Tours for a Town Car. The service was great. The only thing to mention is that they evidently must wait by their cars so the driver was unable to help with our luggage from baggage claim to the car. Its just down the escalators so no big deal. He did meet us at baggage claim to let us know what was going on. Paid in cash and tipped $5 each way in case the driver was different.
Resort: We stayed at the Port Orleans Riverside (POR). Due to the large party I had previously faxed in room requests. I had requested three rooms together (or close) and to be placed in the Bayou as we wanted a trundle bed. I had also requested a crib for the infants room. All requests were granted, however, my family was the last to arrive. The first family had a little trouble explaining who was in which room. Nothing major. We arrived around 7 p.m. and check-in was very smooth. Found the room to be clean. Better than most. The door hinges in the bathroom were showing a lot of rust along with another metal piece in the shower. The vents were clean and there was no mold to speak of. We were in lodge 24 room 39. Close to the West Bus Stop.
Restaurants: We went to the POR food court for dinner. We had some trouble with the Pizza/Pasta section. They were very unorganized when ordering the small pizzas. After checking twice for our order we were finally told that it was sitting there the whole time! Didnt order pizza again. Daughter (8 year old) loved the pasta. I tried the chicken and ribs, which was a C-. Not worth the money but we had limited choices. The far back left hand side has a Television and lego section. Good place to sit if the kids get done first.
Theme Park: Didnt have time.
Saturday, October 5th (Epcot/MK)
General: Plan was to spend the day at Epcot and then switch over to MK for an hour or two to catch Spectro Magic. We were lucky that Disney had extended the hours of MK to 8:00 (9:00 on this day).
Resort: Left $4 for the maid. Decided to tip daily as the maids have off-days. No problems with the maid service. She would leave the stuff animals that we brought (or purchased later) in some sort of setting (reading a book, watching TV, waiting by the window, etc.) The 5 year old thought this was amazing!
Restaurants: Big day for eating! Went to the Princess Breakfast, the Ice Cream Social, and Coral Reef. Remember our party size was almost always for 10 and tips were always included in the price due to the party size. Princess was a B+. The food was good. The characters were staggered, which meant eating was a stop and go affair. Aladdin, Jasmine (the mens favorite), Snow White, Mary Poppins, and Aurora were there. The Ice Cream Social was a B. Chip, Dale, Pluto and Mickey were there. The sundaes were in the shape of a face and included a code for the kids. The adults had something similar but had a cookie, too. We had one diabetic and he received sugar-free ice cream. He ate it all and said it was good. The Coral Reef was a C. Just too expensive for the quality of the food. The aquarium was neat and there were a number of divers that would look in on everyone. We happened to be in the front row so it worked out.
Theme Park: Epcot until 7:00 p.m. and then MK for two hours. Small crowd and no lines at Epcot. Test Track was a maximum of 20 minutes, but we just walked on the three times we went. At MK we arrived just prior to the parade. Half of the group stayed to watch (very crowded) and the other half went on Buzz, Space Mountain, and Astro Orbiter. All were walk-ons. Buzz was done at least 3 times by all. Lots of characters at both parks. No problems with the busses. Very surprised by this as we have always had problems after park closings.
Sunday, October 6th (MK/MGM)
General: Our first and only early entry (another perk that we enjoyed during our visit). We arrived an hour before normal park opening. The guards did check for your room key!
Resort: Added $4 to the tip jar which still had the money from the day before. Went to the main swimming pool with 8 year old daughter. She loved the water slide uh so did I. The much discussed bridge over the pool was closed off. There was a wood barricade that prevented you from swimming under the bridge, too. No big deal.
Restaurants: Nothing scheduled except we were going to go to the Toy Story Pizza Planet at MGM for dinner. Got there prior to 7 p.m. only to find it closed! Big whoops! We ended up going downtown (another big whoops). Everyone was cranky from lack of food and just plain tired. Ended up at Wolf Gang Puck Express. It was alright, but everyone was kind of mad at everyone else. Downtown was crowded as everyone seemed to head there after the parks were closed. The group recovered by the next day no blood was shed.
Theme Park: Early entry for MK. No lines. Went to Fantasy Land and Toon Land. Lines were very short. Went back to the resort for a quick swim (and some naps) and then to MGM. Longest line at MGM was for Tower of Terror (15 minutes). Rocking Roller Coaster was a walk-on. Little kids loved Playhouse Disney.
Monday, October 7th (Blizzard Beach/Illumination Cruise)
General: Got to sleep in as the water parks open at 10 a.m. Good timing as we were all tired.
Resort: That tip jar is looking real full! Im curious when shes going to take the money.
Restaurants: Nothing scheduled. My family decided to go to Epcot prior to the cruise and eat at 9 Dragons. Wow, did you hear that? A collective yuck from all of you reading this! That was cool! Now, heres my pitch for 9 Dragons (by the way they get an A) the food, which in our case was the kids sweet and sour chicken and the honey sesame chicken was excellent. Ive heard everyone say that its not better than what you have in your hometown, but its much better than mine. Just be thankful you all live in Chinatown, I guess! The thing that I really like is the price. Wow! Did you hear that? A collective, WHAT?!?! from all of you, but look at it this way. My kids share the kids meal and my wife and I share the one entrée. Although the food is more expensive than your hometown restaurant, its by far the cheapest alternative within Disney World and that includes the below average food at high cost food court! There, Im done and you can stick that in your Chinese firecracker and light it!
Theme Park: Blizzard Beach is awesome. Heres how you handle the park. Do the big three slides (including the family raft ride) first. When the lines get long, go to the tube rides and toboggan rides on the front side of the park. When those lines get long, go to the back side of the park and do the tube rides there. The lines never got long here because you have to walk up the hill each time (136 steps or so). When youre done with this, do the river raft. When done, leave. For the chair lift, try the singles line if you can. You can also walk up the hill, too. The small kids loved the kids area. Just a great park. Test Track at Epcot in the evening was 20 minutes. From Epcot we went out the International Gateway to the Yacht & Beach to get to our cruise. The cruise was wonderful and comes highly recommended. One big tip!!! You can ask your driver to let you off at the International Gateway after the show. We walked through Epcot to their buses, which was a direct route back to POR. No problem going back into Epcot.
Tuesday, October 8th (AK/MK)
General: Aaaahhhhh! Not my favorite park. Just too hot because most rides and attractions are outside. We like to leave by 2 p.m., which we almost made this time.
Resort: Ran into our maid and explained that she could take the money in the jar. She said that shes not allowed to take it unless we instruct her that she can. She also mentioned the tip envelopes, which can be obtained at the front desk. She got lucky as I was about ready to dip into the jar myself! Used the pool close to the lodge. One item of note: the small pools are open 24 hours! Seems like this could be a problem if you get some young souls in the pool late at night and you happen to have a room close by. Just a thought.
Restaurants: Donalds'asoures for breakfast before AK opened. No problems getting in. Ohana for dinner. These were probably my two favorite restaurants prior to going on our trip. Both were disappointing! The great thing about Donalds was the interaction between the servers and the guest. This time around there was very little. It also seemed very hectic. Overall, it gets a C+ last time it would have gotten an A. Ohana has changed their menu slightly since the last time we were there. No dumplings or spring rolls. The spring rolls were our favorites. In their place were BBQ chicken wings (very good) and wonton (just O.K.) The beef was overcooked but the other items were very good. The salad (another favorite) was great. They also now leave the appetizers at your table throughout the meal good move here. I just expect so much from Ohana and it didnt deliver this time. Probably a B or B-. I was also surprised that no games had been played in the hour we were there. I had to ask, which got the coconut race going.
Theme Park: Did I mention it was hot? The new rides in Dino Land were a hit. It was just too hot. Did I mention this before? Safari was fine but it was hot. We got out of there around 2:30 or so because it was (altogether now) too hot! Went to MK that night. Hit Space Mountain, Buzz, and Astro again. Lines were a little longer although Buzz was a walk-on. Space Mountain was 30 minutes and they actually closed the entrance at 7:30 because of this so if youre planning on making that 2 minute before closing run on Space Mountain, it may not work for you. My wife and son got stuck on the orbiter as the fire works went off. The werent allowed to ride, but they did get to see the show from the top platform. Pretty cool!
Wednesday, October 9th (MK)
General: I was getting worried about MK. I had been asking about the lines and it seems like the lines had picked up on Monday. I was expecting the worst
Resort: Maid is pretty good and taking the money from the jar now.
Restaurants: Cinderella for Breakfast (9:45 a.m.) and Tonys for a late Lunch. The castle was cool but boy was it hectic when we got in there. Got called in pretty quick and it was cool to here the groans when the Lord Rochelle party of 10 got called out. Funny. It was pretty hectic upstairs, too. Still pretty nice. The interesting thing was that the characters were going around in a group offset by one table. I guess this allows them to clear a table once the characters leave and set it up long before they come around again. Interesting, but if you dont take your time eating then you have a wait between the time you are done and when they finally come around. Our party was split as far as which restaurant was better Cinderellas or Princess. Oh, the characters were Cinderella, Snow White, Prince Charming, Aurora, and Belle. The Fairy Godmother was downstairs. Overall, a B (I was one voting on Princess did I mention Jasmine was there?) Tonys was pretty good. We had never eaten there and we timed it for the parade, which worked out perfect. Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore were there. Probably the best interaction of characters we had. Probably had to do with the lack of people at the restaurant. Overall a B.
Theme Park: MK all day cant beat it! The crowds were not bad. I talked with some CMs and they said that it was lighter today than earlier in the week. My guess is that people hit MK first and then hit the other parks. We really did the opposite. One BIG note: Fast Pass was only open on 4 rides Pooh, Peter Pan, Big Thunder, and Space Mountain. Space Mountain was a walk-on so big deal. The CMs said that Fast Pass depends on the anticipated crowd volume. As you come in the park check with a CM on what has Fast Pass. Hit the big rides that dont have Fast Pass on first because they will fill up. Jungle Cruise was running 30 minutes all day. Pooh was at 30 minutes. Peter was at 40 minutes. Buzz was nothing (maybe 10 max). Splash Mountain doesnt get lines until 11:30 or so. We hit it before this (walk-on) and the ride broke as we left. It was down until 2 p.m. or so. The line got to be 40 minutes. We went back around 6:30 and it was 10 minutes. We just kept Fast Passing Big Thunder because there was nothing else to do. We left during the Spectro Magic parade so we had no problems with the bus. Oh, and there were lots of characters!!! And what is with the country bears? You couldnt swing a large mouth bass in the air without hitting one of them!
Thursday, October 10th (Stuff/MGM)
General: Golf for the men, spa for the women, and pirate cruise for the kids. Played at Ospry Ridge (or is that Pines). Pretty course. There were a couple of deer on the course, which was pretty cool. The women liked the spa but beware of cold oil and hands! My 8 year old daughter was worried about the cruise. Not sure if there would be girls her age there. As luck would have it there were a few and she paired up with one. They all had fun.
Resort: Nothing new to report.
Restaurants: Scheduled the Fantasmic package with the Hollywood and Vine restaurant. Worked out fine but with the lack of crowds Im not sure if it was really worth it. I dont really like buffets too much. Why spend $20 for Lubys (or Furrs or insert whatever generic buffet exists in your part of the world). I grade the H&V a C but after my daughter said it was her favorite, it goes to a B.
Theme Park: No lines at MGM. We just got lucky throughout our trip. The bus ride home was another story. This was our first and only problem with the bus system. After Fantasmic I decided to take the kids back to the hotel and let the other adults shop. Well, long story short we got there 10 minutes before they did and they shopped for nearly an hour. We only got a bus after I talked (daughter says yelled) with the scheduler. After watching 4 busses go by empty and not getting anything scheduled for PO for 40 minutes, I was done. I was told the empty busses were handled by another dispatch and there was nothing he could do about it. This is a pet peeve of mine you dont ever tell paying customers that you cant do something about it. You can always do something about it if you care! And dont blame someone else within your company you are the company to me. This sort of thing also happened between Bell Service and the Front Desk at POR. I was told the wrong information and never got an apology just an explanation of whose fault it was. Oh well, very minor in the long run but my suggestion is to shop after Fantasmic or find a cab (can you get a cab at MGM?) Oh, I didnt really yell just talked loudly. Men, why do women/girls think that talking loudly is really yelling? Oh well, probably a topic for another post. Another note my wife hit MK with the kids after the pirate cruise/spa for one last ride of Buzz. The Fast Pass was going and the stand by line was at 20 minutes.
Friday, October 11th (Seeya)
General: We slept in! We fed the ducks and went to the market place for a couple of hours. I had requested a 1:00 check-out as our town car came at 2:00 p.m. All worked out just perfect.
Summary:
Sorry this is so long, but here are some final notes. Early Entry was nice but it wasnt needed because the crowds were so small. Sleep in! AK is really hot! The 8:00 closing time of MK was awesome. I will (probably) never go to WDW in the summer again. I will think twice about spending so much money at WDW if they go back to an early close at MK. How can I convince my wife to skip AK and substitute in Typhoon Lagoon? We noticed that MK would surge around 4:00 or 5:00 as people switched over from AK. Spectro Magic is awesome at reducing lines. Think twice about spinning the tea cups really fast when your wife is with you. AK is really hot! The bugs life 3-D movie is pretty scary think twice about anyone under 6 seeing it. Guests at POR didnt seem to realize that there were 4 bus stops or didnt elect to use them. Oh, and AK is really hot!
Best restaurant was 9 Dragons. Worst was Coral Reef (or POR food court). Best character interaction was Tonys. Best moment was the Illumination Cruise and boarding the bus leaving AK. Worst was being hungry downtown after all the parks close and being in line for an hour at MGM waiting on a bus. Favorite rides were Splash Mountain, Rocking Roller Coaster and Buzz. And best character why, Jasmine, of course!
Thanks for taking the time to post your report! Sounds like a great time was had by all.
