WDW and Disney Cruise highs and lows - delta flight /detroit connection added post 6

[disneyholic family]

i'm not home yet, i'm now in detroit for the next month (except for new york on monday which might not come to pass because of hurricane sandy)....

but since the florida portion of my trip sadly is over, i thought i'd give my highs and lows now...

Highs:
1. Art of Animation was fabulous!!!!! my best friend from university (whom i hadn't seen in 35 years) and i were in a Lion King suite. It was fantastic!!!
i slept on the murphy bed (the dining table that turns into a double bed). Amazingly comfortable!!!!! I have a very bad back, so the bed is really important. This one was perfect for me. And having two bathrooms was great!!!!
Also, the service was fantastic. For example, rather than having to pick up packages in the store or at the front desk, they deliver packages right to your room!!
and all the staff is disney friendly, just as expected!
i will definitely be going back to AoA!!

2. The first halloween party i went to (on tuesday night with my friend) wasn't sold out so it was GREAT!!! not too crowded and the parade, fireworks and trick or treating were perfect.

3. storytelling with belle was magical - i even got to be in it the second time. It seemed to me that all the children and adults were enjoying themselves immensely!

4. the weather was perfect

5. the lines were walk on for the most part

6. food and wine was yummy as expected!

7. My mom and sister came down for a conference after which we went on a 4 night cruise on the Disney Dream that was beyond fantastic!!!! everything about the cruise was GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT!! The food, the service, the ship, castaway cay, the entertainment. everything. Absolutely perfect perfect perfect perfect. Only one low - it was too short a cruise!!!! even 7 nights would be too short on that ship. So much to do, so little time!!!

Lows:
the second halloween party, on thursday night (the 18th of october) was sold out and there were simply too many people there. Way too many people which really diminished the enjoyment in my opinion. and since i could compare it to tuesday when it wasn't sold out, i could really see the difference.
i think they sell too many tickets!

but that was the only low.

I'll probably only be able to post pictures when i get back home, which won't be until the end of november.

 

[wayneg]

Sounds like you had a great time.

 

[2Tiggies]

There's another trip that seemed to go really really quickly!!

Glad to see so many highs and hear that you had a great time. I love October weather

I hear you on a sold out party! We went to one of those last year and it was BUSY! In fact, because during a party, all the activities etc seem to be concentrated around a few specific areas it can feel even more crowded than a crowd level 10 on a normal park day

Would love to hear some details on your cruise when you are home and have time. It's something I am starting to look towards (which up until recently I have always dismissed without much thought).

 

[~Piglet~]

Lows:
the second halloween party, on thursday night (the 18th of october) was sold out and there were simply too many people there. Way too many people which really diminished the enjoyment in my opinion. and since i could compare it to tuesday when it wasn't sold out, i could really see the difference.
i think they sell too many tickets!

We were there that night too! I had seen a sign earlier in the day saying that the party was sold out and I had wondered how many people they allowed in...

It was a mixture of highs and lows for us - As you say, there were too many people to enjoy the experience (our first time at MNSSHP) and the crowds made it impossible for us to get around as a group (3 children in buggies). On the plus side we had a few highs including looking around New Fantasyland and DD5 playing the Beast opposite Belle

I was originally meant to book our Halloween Party tickets for the Tuesday, but due to an error on my part (not wearing my glasses and clicking 'buy' too quickly!) I ended up with Thursday instead

 

[disneyholic family]

Sounds like you had a great time.

it was short, but i had a great time!!

remind me to tell you about a very interesting thing that happened to me at alamo car rental...

There's another trip that seemed to go really really quickly!!

Glad to see so many highs and hear that you had a great time. I love October weather

I hear you on a sold out party! We went to one of those last year and it was BUSY! In fact, because during a party, all the activities etc seem to be concentrated around a few specific areas it can feel even more crowded than a crowd level 10 on a normal park day

Would love to hear some details on your cruise when you are home and have time. It's something I am starting to look towards (which up until recently I have always dismissed without much thought).

Lee, you and Tove would LOVE a Disney cruise!!!!!!!
i hadn't been on a disney cruise in 8 years, so i'd forgotten how well they do everything!!!

We were there that night too! I had seen a sign earlier in the day saying that the party was sold out and I had wondered how many people they allowed in...

It was a mixture of highs and lows for us - As you say, there were too many people to enjoy the experience (our first time at MNSSHP) and the crowds made it impossible for us to get around as a group (3 children in buggies). On the plus side we had a few highs including looking around New Fantasyland and DD5 playing the Beast opposite Belle

I was originally meant to book our Halloween Party tickets for the Tuesday, but due to an error on my part (not wearing my glasses and clicking 'buy' too quickly!) I ended up with Thursday instead

we had a good time before the party (between 4 pm and 7 PM)!! we managed to do quite a few attractions, most that were new to my mom and sister, so that was great!
they really enjoyed Belle and also the laugh floor in tomorrowland!

 

[disneyholic family]

i forgot to mention my flight across the atlantic.

I flew via amsterdam this time.

i had exactly 1 hour to change planes.
The boarding process had already started on my amsterdam- detroit flight when i landed in amsterdam, but i made it with time to spare.
It's a long run in schiphol, but doable (however, no moving sidewalks meaning if you have mobility issues you'll have to ask for assistance).

the amsterdam-detroit flight was on a Delta A330 (originally northwest planes).
i sat in economy comfort, which didn't have that much extra room. the flight crew told me that every plane is different and in their opinion the A330 has the least extra legroom.
i was sitting next to a beautiful but completely silent german. she spoke english, as i heard her say two or three words to the flight attendant, but she never even looked my direction, forget acknowledging my hello. oh well.

as for the flight - BUMPY BUMPY BUMPY - the worst turbulance i've experienced crossing the atlantic. Very violent and it lasted for a very very very long time. probably half the flight was such violent turbulance, the pilot had the crew sitting with all equipment locked up tightly.
and we were really rocking and rolling.
i've never experienced that amount of violent rocking and rolling (and i've been flying for 50 years).
it felt like we were a little cessna plane being tossed about.
needless to say, i wasn't a happy camper!!
as we approached detroit, the pilot finally came on and apologized for the violent flight and then said we should be happy we weren't the flights in front of us who had had it even worse (and warned our plane and the others in their wake)...small comfort!!

in detroit, my luggage came out right away (it's always a challenge on that flight as the luggage comes out on two carousels - so you have to watch both).

customs was crazy easy. i zipped right through.
i didn't drop off my bag, as i wanted to try for the earlier flight to orlando.
there was a flight about 1 hour and 50 minutes after i landed and another 4 hours after. I was afraid to try for the first one, so i reserved the second.
so i raced to the ticket desk, but the earlier flight was completely sold out. So i gave them my suitcase for my scheduled flight and headed for delta's sky lounge.

Detroit is one of my favorite airports, and it didn't disappoint on this occasion. I'd forgotten to put on my watch, so i browsed through a few stores until i found a reasonably priced swatch watch.
there are so many stores, you can find pretty much anything you might be looking for.

 

[Tink1987]

Sounds like you had a fantastic time, glad there was only a little lows list

 

[PJB71]

So pleased to hear you had a fantastic time

Can't wait to hear more about it especially your cruise

 

[disneyholic family]

once i get home i'll write about the cruise - which was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!

i think the trick to getting good rates is to book for october half term after the final payment date, when the reduced rates come out.
It's much much much much much cheaper that way and people who did it got really good rooms.

but i'll write more about that later!

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds like you had a fabulous time
Stay safe and well during Sandy