We All Want a Jar of Hunny!~A Nov. 2010 TR! *NEW October PTR 4/4, pg 42!!!*

[Simba22]

We wanted to play mini-golf on this last trip but because my BF got sick we just never got to it. Hopefully on our next trip (whenever that may be) we can go!

As for you resort debate....I've always felt that if we were going to stay at AKL we would have to stay Savannah View. To me...there really isn't a point to spending the money to stay there (as opposed to a Mod) if I'm not getting anything different. In light of that....if it will cost you the same amount of money to stay Savannah View at AKL as it will to stay at the BC/YC, then go with those instead. The whole point of your trip is to be able to enjoy the F & W Festival, you'll have easy access to Epcot AND MK via the monorail (plus all the monorail resorts if you want to do ADRs there).

I think you'll be happy regardless of where you stay, but I would say try BC/YC first since the F & W Festival is your priority and then maybe you can try AKL on another trip. Or you can do like a previous poster said and do a split stay...I've always wanted to do that but my BF is against moving around.

And I literally LOL'd at the comment about Brandon falling asleep against the shower wall. It wouldn't surprise me if mine was doing the exact same thing. I mean seriously, what could you possibly be doing in there?

 

[KatMark]

Love the update. We love the Mini golf courses at Disney. We've not gone since 2008 when we went with our best friends from Chicago. I think I'll have to go plug that in somewhere for our trip in September. Maybe I'll post over on my PTR and see if we can take Mary's girls while her and her DH do something else???

 

[Simba22]

Love the update. We love the Mini golf courses at Disney. We've not gone since 2008 when we went with our best friends from Chicago. I think I'll have to go plug that in somewhere for our trip in September. Maybe I'll post over on my PTR and see if we can take Mary's girls while her and her DH do something else???

Aww Kathy, you guys are such sweethearts!

 

[Nermel9]

GREAT UPDATES!!!

I haven't been to that Mini Golf in years! We always tend to go to the other one haha! I think with the MYW package, you get 1 free round and with my AP, I think it's 50% off so I might have to do that in March!

Can't wait for another Epcot update!

As far as YC BC goes..my family (dad and bro mostly) said they would NEVER stay at YC that it was fussy like GF but we did the one time in Dec, they LOVED it, my bro and I stayed there again in Aug and LOVED it..he even went on the water slide! But now..they say they would never stay at BC, they LOVEEE YC HAHA. I love how close it is to Epcot but I just wish the price level was that of WL or AKL I really would have liked that in march but the rates even with the CM discount were $270..which I can't really justify for my mom and I..now all 4 of us would have to be something to think about but it would be more $$ because of the extra people in the room..It's tough!

Thanks! Mini golf was so much fun, the course was so adorable! I'd like to do it again on our next trip, maybe at night after one of the parks closes early or something.

I LOVE the Beach Club, and I think I would like the Yacht Club, but it seems so much farther from Epcot than BC. I mean, there were nights we were walking back to BC and I felt like I was going to collapse from being so tired before we got back to our room, so I can't imagine walking to a YC room! But the rooms look pretty nice to me, and you still get to use Stormalong Bay, so I kind of want to try it. I just don't know if I can justify the extra money. I wish I could just win the lottery! I don't want much, maybe just $1000 or something!

My advice on AKL vs. an Epcot resort would be to stay where you want to stay most, just compare resort to resort. No resort on property is really far from any theme park. I would say that out of the places we have stayed POR seemed to be the furthest away from the parks (maybe that is because not one was real close?). Hope that makes sense to you.

Mini golf looked like fun, even better that it wasn't crowded.

Thanks! I don't know where I want to stay the most, that's the problem! When I think I want to be at BC or YC, I feel like I will miss AKL, since I was so excited to stay there in the first place, but when i think about staying in AKL, I think about being so far away! I can't decide!

I know AKL really isn't that much farther away than other resorts, but it just seems like it's out in the middle of nowhere! I didn't think POR was far away, it seemed like Epcot was right across the street! I thought the street it was on was a little strange though, I kind of felt like I was on the outskirts of Disney World! I have a problem with location, obviously, WL and BC have ruined me!

Ha, I totally thought you were going to say mini-golf! I have only mini-golfed once at WDW, and we went to Fantasia Gardens. Except my dad didn't want to be fun, and he wanted to do the side that's designed like the greens of a golf course. Pfffftttttt. I want to hit golf balls at hippos!

LOL good guess! Ugh that's no fun, hitting balls like you're really playing golf, you have to do one of the themed courses! I think I want to try Fantasia Gardens next time, I love that movie!

 

[Nermel9]

Great update! We actually went to Winter/Summerland on our December trip...fun place! I'll have to find our scorecard and see how we did compared to you guys!

As far as your AKL/YC decision, I'm not sure I can help. When we think about our hypothetical next trip in 2013 or so, we'd really love to (just like you) go back longer for Food & Wine. And, having stayed at the BC for F&W, we definitely enjoyed the convenience of walking over to WS. And you have Stormalong Bay. However, we stayed at AKL on our June trip and LOVED it. It's at the top of our list when we talk about where we'd like to stay in the future. Only a savanna view room, though...it's worth it to us. So, we're conflicted too. We've got time to decide, I guess...

Having done several split stays, I will say that we've never really found it a pain at all. I think the key is only spend a night or two in one place, then move, so you don't have to really unpack/pack up a lot from the first place. The moving is easy...bell services handles everything and you just go to a different resort that night. I'd consider doing a couple days (maybe the weekend when F&W is crowded) at AKL, just hanging out and enjoying it, then moving to an Epcot resort the rest of the time to be near F&W.

Again, not sure it helps, as we're split on the idea too!

Thanks! I thought Winter Summerland was so cute, I loved that we were there in November and it has a Christmas theme! It must be weird playing there in the middle of July!

I'm really conflicted on what to do about our resort...I'd like to stay at the first place I booked, for once! I always change resorts, the only time I didn't was when we stayed at ASMu in 2008, and that was because I booked it maybe 2 months before we left!

I tried pricing out a split stay with Pop and BC, just to see if it would be any cheaper, and it's not. Ugh, I'm kicking myself for not buying AP's on our November trip!!!! It would be fine if I wouldn't have to book packages for both of the split stays, but I would, because if I didn't for the first 2 nights at Pop, we wouldn't be able to go to any parks, and if I booked 8 day park hoppers with Pop and then just booked a room at BC, and used the ph from Pop, we wouldn't be able to add the dining plan. So it just doesn't seem worth it, unless we had an AP and could still add dining.

How fun!! I really wanted to do a round of mini golf last year, but we didnt have a car and I honestly didnt know an easy way to get there

It looks like a very cute themed course though..too bad the winter side wasnt open!

Mini golf was really fun, you should try to get there next time! I'm pretty sure if you take a bus to BC or YC you can walk to the Swan and Dolphin and just cross the street and get there, since it's right there. I'm not 100% sure though.

I would love to do the Winter side someday, it looks so pretty!

We wanted to play mini-golf on this last trip but because my BF got sick we just never got to it. Hopefully on our next trip (whenever that may be) we can go!

As for you resort debate....I've always felt that if we were going to stay at AKL we would have to stay Savannah View. To me...there really isn't a point to spending the money to stay there (as opposed to a Mod) if I'm not getting anything different. In light of that....if it will cost you the same amount of money to stay Savannah View at AKL as it will to stay at the BC/YC, then go with those instead. The whole point of your trip is to be able to enjoy the F & W Festival, you'll have easy access to Epcot AND MK via the monorail (plus all the monorail resorts if you want to do ADRs there).

I think you'll be happy regardless of where you stay, but I would say try BC/YC first since the F & W Festival is your priority and then maybe you can try AKL on another trip. Or you can do like a previous poster said and do a split stay...I've always wanted to do that but my BF is against moving around.

And I literally LOL'd at the comment about Brandon falling asleep against the shower wall. It wouldn't surprise me if mine was doing the exact same thing. I mean seriously, what could you possibly be doing in there?

Oh, I hope you get to do mini golf on your next trip, it's so much fun!

See, a savanna view isn't that important to me since I can just go to the viewing areas and look at the animals. Yes, it would be nice to have a savanna view room, but I just don't think I want to spend the money to upgrade right now. Who knows though, in a month I might decide I can't live without a savanna view, if we end up staying there!

I'm not totally against a split stay, but it seems like it might be annoying booking 2 packages. If I had an AP I'd do it, but buying 2 sets of tickets is just a waste of money, and I don't think Brandon would be happy if we didn't do the dining plan, he loves the dining plan!

I actually tried putting my head against the wall in the shower a few times early in the morning when I've been really tired, and it's not exactly comfortable or relaxing. I don't get why he does that! Just stay in bed for an extra 10 minutes!

Love the update. We love the Mini golf courses at Disney. We've not gone since 2008 when we went with our best friends from Chicago. I think I'll have to go plug that in somewhere for our trip in September. Maybe I'll post over on my PTR and see if we can take Mary's girls while her and her DH do something else???

Thanks! Mini golfing at Disney is so much fun! I hope you can fit it into your trip, taking the girls would be awesome, they would have a great time!

 

[MEK]

I have always wanted to play mini golf at Disney, but still have never gotten around to it. I love the pictures of the course. It looks so cute and I am glad you had a fun and unrushed time. What a great way to spend the afternoon. I definitely need a longer trip so I can go golfing. If I ever went to Disney on a non park trip, I would def play golf.

 

[Nermel9]

I have always wanted to play mini golf at Disney, but still have never gotten around to it. I love the pictures of the course. It looks so cute and I am glad you had a fun and unrushed time. What a great way to spend the afternoon. I definitely need a longer trip so I can go golfing. If I ever went to Disney on a non park trip, I would def play golf.

You should definitely play sometime, it's so much fun! We probably won't play all the time, but it's nice to do when you want to take a break from the parks! I don't think I could ever do a non park Disney trip-there's no way I could stay away from Epcot...and my Tower of Terror!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

Between the two mini-golf places, my favorite is honestly Fantasia. Winter Summerland is cute, but I really liked Fantasia. I think just because the surrounding area was prettier (to me).

 

[Nermel9]

Between the two mini-golf places, my favorite is honestly Fantasia. Winter Summerland is cute, but I really liked Fantasia. I think just because the surrounding area was prettier (to me).

I kind of wanted to do Fantasia, but since Brandon wanted to do mini golf more than I did, I let him decide. He has wanted to do Winter Summerland since he saw it in 2008 so that's why we went there. I LOVE Fantasia so I'm sure I will like that one better, I remember wanting to go there when I was a kid!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

The golf course looks so cute! I've never been to either of the mini-golf places. I'm glad Brandon finally got to check off one of his "Disney must-do's"!

 

[Nermel9]

Hi everyone!

Ok, just a quick update on the resort situation that I asked about a few days ago. I've decided to do...nothing! For now, I'm going to stick with AKL, but that's not saying I won't change to something else in the future! I still would like to be near Epcot for the Food and Wine festival, but I'm not going to even consider one of those resorts until we do our taxes and I know how much of the refund I can use for Disney. If it can take a significant chunk out of what we owe for our trip, I will probably switch to YC or BC. Then there is always WL to think about...I know I have stayed there before, but just looking at pictures of it makes me really want to go back...

There is also the possibility of free dining being offered again for the Fall, which, like last year's trip, would save us a lot of money, and if they happen to offer it for the whole month of October, I could switch to the week I really wanted to go (the 3rd week instead of the first week, which we are doing now) and just stay in a mod. I'll keep you guys updated!

Back to Epcot!

Day 5, 11/16 Part 3

Once we were rested from our afternoon of mini golfing, we headed back to Epcot around 4:30! We had dinner reservation there later that night and there were a few attractions in Future World that needed to be taken care of before dinner!

Another picture of Spaceship Earth...you can never have too many pictures of this!

I think I took a picture of this fountain every time we walked into Epcot on this trip...you would think I've never noticed it before!

Since we were right here, and there was no wait, we decided to do

One of my favorites!

We always make ridiculous faces when they take the picture for the story of your future at the end

I don't know why we do that, sometime we should just try looking like normal people! However, if you ever stop to look at everyone else's pictures at the end, a lot of people make strange faces, so we're not alone!

After SE, I had to beg Brandon to do another of my favorites, Mission Space! He didn't want to go on it at all during this trip. I guess when we were there on our Disneymoon in May he decided he really didn't like it very much because it made him feel sick. So I said "well, we could always go on the green side" and he finally said yes.

We walked over to Mission Space

and found maybe a 5 minute wait, so the longest part of it was watching all of those videos with Lieutenant Dan before the actual ride!

Once we were in our spaceship, I found myself a little bored...the green side is so tame compared to the orange side!

After the ride was over and we were walking out towards the gift shop, Brandon decided to tell me that he doesn't like the green side either, and that he doesn't ever want to go on that ride again. So it looks like I'll be going on the orange side alone from now on!

We looked around the gift shop for a few minutes

and then decided it was time to go to World Showcase!

On the way, we wanted to get a photopass picture in front of the cute Christmas topiaries and there were a few other people waiting, so it gave me a chance to play around with the settings on my camera since it was getting dark. I'm assuming that's why I took this picture, anyway

Finally, it was our turn to have our picture taken

I really love the background of that picture! The topiaries are so adorable!

I took a few more pictures of the Christmasy topiaries

and then we finally entered World Showcase! You will never guess which country we stopped in first!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

GREAT UPDATE!!!

I used to hate hate hate MS. One of my old FL roomies made me go on it with her in Oct (green side ugh!) I said I'll ultra spin just one time. An old couple went with us so I was like oh boy I hope they've gone on before..NOPE! By the time we got off the ride, Meg and I were fine, the man was fine, but the poor lady walked out holding the white sick bag and was pretty much boucing from wall to wall as we walked out! I felt so bad I doubt she'll go back on either!


I BET YOU GO TO MEXICO...YAY ADULT BEVERAGES!!

As far as your resort choice goes..you're good to wait! When I went with my friends in Oct, I don't think we booked till late July early Aug and we were fine with resort choices (but then again we stayed at a mod). We also went the 3rd week like you mentioned. Our plan was to go Thurs-Mon but we had to go Fri-Tues bc FREE DINING started on the Friday (because of the holiday weekend prior to that)...so I guess keep that in mind in case they offer it again! It was no big deal for us because those dates were already released by the time we booked!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I love that Mickey statue in the Mission:Space gift shop! I have a picture of it from our recent trip as well.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I absolutely hate Mission Space. I can't do it even on the green side I've never been able to, as I've had problems with motion sickness since I was a kid when it comes to spinny things. I also can't do the teacups!

Anyway, I agree, I think you went to Mexico!

 

[Nermel9]

GREAT UPDATE!!!

I used to hate hate hate MS. One of my old FL roomies made me go on it with her in Oct (green side ugh!) I said I'll ultra spin just one time. An old couple went with us so I was like oh boy I hope they've gone on before..NOPE! By the time we got off the ride, Meg and I were fine, the man was fine, but the poor lady walked out holding the white sick bag and was pretty much boucing from wall to wall as we walked out! I felt so bad I doubt she'll go back on either!


I BET YOU GO TO MEXICO...YAY ADULT BEVERAGES!!

As far as your resort choice goes..you're good to wait! When I went with my friends in Oct, I don't think we booked till late July early Aug and we were fine with resort choices (but then again we stayed at a mod). We also went the 3rd week like you mentioned. Our plan was to go Thurs-Mon but we had to go Fri-Tues bc FREE DINING started on the Friday (because of the holiday weekend prior to that)...so I guess keep that in mind in case they offer it again! It was no big deal for us because those dates were already released by the time we booked!

LOL, some people can't handle Mission Space, it's tough! I'm sometimes surprised that I can, but I seriously keep my eyes glued to the middle of the screen on the orange side, I'm so afraid if I even glance in a different direction I'll get disoriented and get sick! I haven't seen anyone use the barf bags yet, but the first time I went on, I was convinced I was gonna need one!

I'm not really hoping for free dining like I was last year, I don't care about the week that I'm going so much, and if I really want to switch to later in October, I can always use the pin for that...it's just going to be hard to pass up if they offer it and I can save so much! But I really want to stay in a deluxe again, I know, I'm a deluxe snob, I can't help it! We'll just have to wait and see what happens over the next few months, I know a lot of people are hoping for Fall free dining again.

I love that Mickey statue in the Mission:Space gift shop! I have a picture of it from our recent trip as well.

That statue is so cute! I'm sure I've seen it before, but I never bothered taking a picture of it, I love it!

I absolutely hate Mission Space. I can't do it even on the green side I've never been able to, as I've had problems with motion sickness since I was a kid when it comes to spinny things. I also can't do the teacups!

Anyway, I agree, I think you went to Mexico!

LOL, I love Mission Space! It's weird how I hated the Astro Orbiters so much but I love Mission Space! I guess I don't think of it as a spinning ride, I try to concentrate on how it feels like you're actually floating in space instead!

I had a feeling you would all know we were going towards Mexico, I do love my margaritas!

 

[Shannon84]

Love the photopass picture with the topiaries, so cute!! DBF said the orange side was tame to him (it scares me to have that spinning feeling)

 

[MEK]

Back to the drawing board for the old resort decision eh? I really do think you will love AKL if you end up staying there. But, it wouldn't be a Disney trip without doing some tweaking, now would it?

Cute Mickey ears! I agree that the green side of MS is kind-of boring. But the orange side makes me dizzy - Boo! The first time I went on the orange side I was fine - loved it. Oh well.

Fun pictures. Its been two years since I was there at Christmas and all your pictures are totally making me miss it.

 

[Dugette]

I tried pricing out a split stay with Pop and BC, just to see if it would be any cheaper, and it's not. Ugh, I'm kicking myself for not buying AP's on our November trip!!!! It would be fine if I wouldn't have to book packages for both of the split stays, but I would, because if I didn't for the first 2 nights at Pop, we wouldn't be able to go to any parks, and if I booked 8 day park hoppers with Pop and then just booked a room at BC, and used the ph from Pop, we wouldn't be able to add the dining plan. So it just doesn't seem worth it, unless we had an AP and could still add dining.

I know you've decided to stick with AKL for now, but just wanted to respond to this. On our January 2010 trip, we booked before we got our APs (and upgraded to APs while we were there). The way we did it was:
*Booked our first two nights room only.
*Booked the rest of the trip as a package with tickets and dining (I think it was the buy 4/get 3 deal).
*On our first day, we went to the guest relations booth outside of the MK (Dis-ers had recommended this location to best help with this situation).
*We got our tickets detached from our package reservation so that we could use them right away (and then upgraded to APs, but we wouldn't have had to).
*Paid OOP for food the first two days. Used dining plan for the rest.
Just an FYI, in case you reconsider your options later.

As for the update:

I really debate going on MS orange. I did green, but I'm not overly fond of spinning rides. I'm not so much worried about my stomach as my head. I tend to get headaches from the high g-force spinning things. But I'm tempted to try orange sometime and do what you do...stare at the screen and focus on the floating. Maybe someday I'll try it.

I love those Christmas topiaries! So cute!

No clue where you went next, but looking forward to hearing about it!

 

[Nermel9]

Love the photopass picture with the topiaries, so cute!! DBF said the orange side was tame to him (it scares me to have that spinning feeling)

Thanks! I love the orange side of Mission Space, but I can see how other people don't! If I ever get sick from it, I'm sure I will be done with it!

Back to the drawing board for the old resort decision eh? I really do think you will love AKL if you end up staying there. But, it wouldn't be a Disney trip without doing some tweaking, now would it?

Cute Mickey ears! I agree that the green side of MS is kind-of boring. But the orange side makes me dizzy - Boo! The first time I went on the orange side I was fine - loved it. Oh well.

Fun pictures. Its been two years since I was there at Christmas and all your pictures are totally making me miss it.

LOL, no, it definitely wouldn't be a Disney trip without some changes and tweaking and over thinking every decision! Especially since I have 8 months to go! Lots of changes can be made in that time! I'm sure I will love AKL, I'm guessing that is where I will end up, I really do want to stay there, it's so pretty!

The green side of MS is ok, but it's nothing like the orange side! That's not a ride I really want to go on alone though, other rides I wouldn't mind, but it would be weird crammed in that tiny space, not knowing anyone! I'm just gonna have to force Brandon to go on next time!

I'm gonna miss being there at Christmas this year, I know it. But I have to try a new time, if I don't go for Halloween and Food and Wine this year, I never will!

I know you've decided to stick with AKL for now, but just wanted to respond to this. On our January 2010 trip, we booked before we got our APs (and upgraded to APs while we were there). The way we did it was:
*Booked our first two nights room only.
*Booked the rest of the trip as a package with tickets and dining (I think it was the buy 4/get 3 deal).
*On our first day, we went to the guest relations booth outside of the MK (Dis-ers had recommended this location to best help with this situation).
*We got our tickets detached from our package reservation so that we could use them right away (and then upgraded to APs, but we wouldn't have had to).
*Paid OOP for food the first two days. Used dining plan for the rest.
Just an FYI, in case you reconsider your options later.

As for the update:

I really debate going on MS orange. I did green, but I'm not overly fond of spinning rides. I'm not so much worried about my stomach as my head. I tend to get headaches from the high g-force spinning things. But I'm tempted to try orange sometime and do what you do...stare at the screen and focus on the floating. Maybe someday I'll try it.

I love those Christmas topiaries! So cute!

No clue where you went next, but looking forward to hearing about it!

Thanks for the split stay advice! I've read on here about getting tickets before you check into the 2nd resort, but I just don't think I want to be bothered moving. Maybe someday, I'd like to get AP's one year, so if that ever happens, I will be more likely to consider a split stay.

The orange side of MS it a lot of fun! If you want to try it someday, maybe you should have it be the last thing you do before you leave Epcot for the night, just in case something does happen, you will already be going back to the resort so you can lay down and feel better and not have to ruin your whole day being sick! I really thought I'd get sick the first time I went on it but I was fine! I love it!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Great update. Don't worry about the resort situation, you'll get it figured out soon. Free dining is always a nice perk if they offer it again.

I love MS and agree wholeheartedly that orange is the way to go! And I totally do the same thing when I see the pre-show! "It's Lieutenant Dan!"