Vald1977's "Fantasmic" First Trip -- THE CONCLUSION

[vald1977]

Our drive home went as smooth as could be expected. We did hit rush hour traffic going into New York on Monday morning which was a pretty scary experience but other than that it was uneventful. I have to say that I am happy to be home in a way but I can't wait to get back to Florida soon.

~ Our Vacation Highlights ~

Fantasmic at MGM -- An unbelievable experience

Safari at Animal Kingdom -- My personal favorite attraction of the vacation

Downtown Disney -- especially enjoyable in the early afternoon on a week day when there are no crowds

1900 Park Fare -- Surprisingly great food and it's in a beautiful hotel

ESPN Restaurant at the Boardwalk -- DH's favorite meal of the trip

All of the friendly CM's and guests we met -- these people made the vacation all the more special

Overall Disney Cleanliness -- The whole trip I saw only one dirty bathroom. This is outstanding considering the # of people that use the Disney bathrooms every day. Also, all the rides except Buzz Lightyear were in tip-top shape.

~ Next time we will try ~

Lunch at Pecos Bill's or Cosmic Ray's at the MK (thanks for the suggestion, Pumba)

To catch Illuminations and Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks

To explore more of the lush and beautiful Animal Kingdom

To see all of the parades

To watch Playhouse Disney

To eat at the Kona Cafe, Artist Point and Liberty Tree Tavern

Our next trip is tenatively (sp.?) for October 2004 (my birthday!). We would like to try and see the Halloween decorations and also Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. I can't wait !! Thanks so much for taking the time to read this report, especially those of you who replied. I am so glad that I found this website because the DIS people are about the friendliest people around.

 

[snuggles]

I'm so glad you had such a good time. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

I am so glad you had a wonderful vacation. I was particularly interested in your report with your 2 yo DS. We leave in 2 weeks for Daytona, then WDW with our 2 yo DS! I just wanted to ask, I know DS fell asleep in his stroller often, but we are staying on-site & I have planned to return to the hotel everyday, do think this is necessary? We won't have DMil to help out, but maybe if we stayed in the parks 1 or 2 days (out of 5), DS will be OK? What do you think? Thank you and thank you for taking time to report!

 

[vald1977]

Hi Dana,
We were lucky with DS taking a nap in his stroller. It really surprised me because he does not nap at home. I know a lot of people advocate getting there early, leaving in the early afternoon, and then returning at night. While I am sure this works very well for some, what we found to work best for us was to get there early and stay until late afternoon (usually about 3:00 or 4:00) and then leave for the day. We usually went to dinner somewhere off-site or went swimming at our hotel pool. DS did great with this schedule. We did end up missing some of the nightly activities such as fireworks, etc. but we were okay with that. We chose this because it would have taken us a long time to get out of a park, get to our car, and drive to the hotel only to do it all over again in an hour or two. Since you are staying on-site using Disney transportation, it would probably take you less time to get back and forth but it will probably still take awhile. It takes an especially long time to come and go from the Magic Kingdom. One day it took us an hour to get from the exit gates of Magic Kingdom to Downtown Disney (using our car). My advice would be to be flexible and see how DS handles things. Keep an afternoon break as an option and try not to have too many late nights that are followed by early mornings. This was the only problem our DS had. If he was in bed early enough to get his usual ten hours of sleep, he was great to go in the morning. He was quite cranky the one or two nights we were out later and then had to get up early. I hope you have a wonderful time ! Please let us know how Daytona Beach is. I have always wanted to go there.

 

[Dana_Buckley]

Thank you for responding. I have taken him to Disneyland out here (I live in San Diego) several times, and the last time I stayed until 4:30pm, as a test. He was asleep after 5 min in the car, but not in the park. I think I may stay later at MK our first day, and at MGM so we get to see all the shows we want. I think the transport may be a pain to get to MGM twice and I didn't want to cram 4 shows back to back in order to leave at 2! I was also very interested in what your DS liked at Epcot. So, thank you very much for report & perspective. I agree, I will take it easy and see how it goes. We have 5 days for 4 parks, so I'm sure we'll manage OK. I will report on the beach too! Out here the water is sooooo cold! It barely gets to 70 in August! I thought it would be a nice start & ease into the time change a bit, too. Also, taking DH to Kennedy Space Center. Look for my report in a few weeks! Thanks again.

 

[luvaladdin]

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip report with us - you were very generous. It was great fun to read and made me feel that I was there with you.

 

[renessa]

Loved the trip report!!!

 

[jennymouse]

I certainly enjoyed all your reports! Glad you had a fantasmic time! Thanks so much for sharing with us.

 

[CherylA]

Great report, I really enjoyed reading it. My husband and I will be driving from CT with a little one for our next trip too!

 

[Curly Q]

Great trip report, glad you had a Fantastic first time!!!!

 

[vald1977]

bumping up for family and friends !

 

[meeko_33785]

Great conclusion. Glad to hear you had such a good time.

 

[Lcm2108]

Hi---

I enjoyed your trip report! You re fortunate to have a MIL who is willing to baby-sit! You seem like you did a lot for your 1st trip. When you return, since they are Loud and may frighten DS, the MK fireworks look GREAT from the Poly beach and you don't have to fight the crowds leaving the park!

Glad you had a great time!

Lisa

 

[cshaffer21]

I loved your report. We've gone twice with a 2yo. those naps are wonderful!! Just think if you had seen everything this trip, there wouldn't be a reason to visit again. HAHA

 

[Hnymoon@Dixie]

Thanks & welcome back!

 

[yepod]

Enjoyed reading all your great reports!

Thanks for sharing with us!