icarus
My wife is obsessed with Disney World.
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2005
- Messages
- 180
Here’s a run down of our Disney trip last week. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge (for our second time), and had five park trips, including Mickey’s Halloween Party.
The Surprise: As I mentioned in an earlier post, this trip was a surprise for our children (5 & 7). We spent the night at the airport outside Providence. We told them that we were doing this for our anniversary. The next day we went to the airport to “look at the airplanes”. I was able to sneak the bags to the skycap while my wife walked the kids into the airport. Once at the gate, we “decided that maybe we could take a ride in the airplane”. Surprisingly they were not bored and jumping around on the plane for the 3 hour flight. When we got to Orlando, they thought we were still in Providence. My son did note that there was “lots of Mickey Mouse stuff in the airport After the Very smooth check-in with the Magical Express we boarded the bus to our resort. The secret probably would have lasted all the way to the resort, except that the bus driver announced that we were “Now entering the Magic Kingdom”. My daughter asked “Is this the real Disney World. I said “Yes”. They were so excited and happy after that.
The Resort: We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, and once again, I have nothing but good things to say about this resort as it is a wonderful place to stay. This time, we made sure that we had plenty of resort time, including using the 4 seat surrey bike, as well as plenty of pool and exploring time. No one seemed to want to rent a boat, so we didn’t do this.
We had a great room on the 6th floor, in the northern most leg of the building. There was a nice view of The Contemporary Resort as well as The Magic Kingdom, and the fireworks. Housekeeping was great. The room was clean everyday and most days we had some type of towel creation when we returned. One day there was a towel doll waiting on the bed for us. The kids loved this, and were able to thank the housekeeping woman in person, as she was still in the hall. She surprised them by giving our son a towel bear. Besides the bear and the doll, there were towels laid on the bed in the shape of Mickey Ears, a couple of towel flowers, and on the days when there weren’t any animals or sculpture, she would do something cute with their plush animals. The hall was quiet and sleep came very easily every night. While there, we met many friendly families with whom we would see either at the pool or in the lodge during the week . . . and a few times in the parks.
On the day we arrived (12:15pm). We had a quick bite to eat and went straight for the pool. In the evening we went over to the Trails End Restaurant at Fort Wilderness before heading over to the Chip and Dale campfire sing-a-long. I packed s’mores stuff in my breakfast suitcase, which was a nice treat for the kids.
The Parks: Because of our kids ages we decided to have 2 days at the Magic Kingdom, a day at The Animal Kingdom, a day at MGM, and a night at the . . . Halloween Party.
The Animal Kingdom was first, and the first thing we did was go to Expedition Everest. Me and my daughter (with her eyes closed) loved this ride. We then made the mistake of taking the kids on Dinosaur. My five year old hated it, and I think it set the tone for him being very cautious, avoiding other indoor rides during the week. The Safari was great. It seemed better than the first time we did it, the year that the park opened. We picked up a fast pass and did it again before the day was over. The lines were over an hour for the Safari, Everest, and the River ride by mid-afternoon, and the heat and humidity was pretty brutal as well.
The Magic Kingdom was the next two days of excitement. The first day included Cinderella’s Royal Table, which seemed to be much more smooth than last time (or maybe because of us doing the early seating). I say smooth referring to the time waiting to get in, once in it’s a nice experience all around. The lines were not too bad maxing out at about 50 minutes in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for some rides. This didn’t seem to affect the rides that we were going on. The second day at the . . . Kingdom we had lunch with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace. This was a very enjoyable meal.
We relaxed at the resort the next day, but went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party during the night. This was a good time, although I have to say that the fireworks were very loud. We were at Dumbo during them and there were kids crying for long periods of time, and dads wondering when the show would end. I thought it was one of the best fireworks shows I’ve ever seen – they was coming at us from everywhere and it was awesome.
The next day we went to MGM and had a great time. I wasn’t sure if it would be much fun, as last time we went, we were out by 2:00 or so. This time, it seemed like there was more to do. Rockin Roller Coaster was great, although I wish it were a bit longer.
Overall the park experience was great. I wish it was a bit cooler, but the cold front promised earlier in the week only cooled things down for about 6 hours on Thursday night. The longest wait we had was about 25 minutes for Pirates, and we used the fast pass only a few strategic times.
Dinning: We decided to do something different this year, and check out some of the other resorts. We are not big dining Experience people, so the fancy restaurants were not for us. What we did was check out a different resort at night and eat at their quick service eatery. We went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, Beach and Yacht resorts, and also checked out Boardwalk and Old Key West. Also, during the week I was finding out more and more that Stitch was my son’s favorite characters. Because of this I made a breakfast reservation at O’Hanna’s for the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. I don’t know if it was because we were on Disney property, but I was able to make a reservation for us the day before. When I called a few months back, I couldn’t get the reservation.
Million Dreams: We each received lanyards and pins when we walked off of the Barnstormer ride. Also, when we were at MGM, we were trying to convince my son that Star Tours was not that bad. He wanted nothing to do with it though. A woman named Jeny overheard this and said that we were her ”Jedi Family of the Day”. She brought us right into the ride, but my son was still scared. Next, she brought us to the control room, so he could see what was really going on. Although I thought that was cool, it still didn’t convince him to ride the ride. In the end, she rode with my wife and daughter and then we switched and I rode with her and my daughter. She then gave us passes to go on the ride at anytime during the day. We almost got my son on at the end of the day, but he only wanted to go on with Jeny. In the end, he didn’t go on, but the Jeny experience was very cool, and I am going to write Disney a letter about this.
Also, my wife and I used the Cub’s Den children’s service in the Lodge and went to Downtown Disney for the night. We had dinner at Raglan Road, which was very good.
Negatives: The teenagers driving around the hallways in the resort and restaurants with their grandparent’s electronic vehicles. Most of them were rude, and dangerous.
There was a family at the Lilo and Stitch breakfast that had zero patience to wait their turn for the characters. So, what does he do. He interrupts the cast member who is taking care of the whole thing to get photos and autographs for his family because “they have to get to the Magic Kingdom” This was definitely a lame move, and it took about 10 minutes for the whole thing to end, ultimately throwing the characters off schedule, and pissing others off. I spoke to the cast member after, and he said he really hates when that happens, but he deals with it in a tolerable way. He also said that there were a few times when he lost his cool with some families and told them to wait their turn. He was definitely a cool guy.
At the same character breakfast they took a photo of us, and then came around asking if we wanted to buy it. For 30.00, we said no, like most of the people there that morning. I guess they just throw them away . . . what a waste.
At Cinderella’s Royal Table. When we got there, they took a photo with my daughter and Cinderella and said that it was “included in the price”. I guess I should have asked when I made the reservation what the price was, because when I got the bill, it was much, much more money than 4 years ago.
On the flip side, I told the Cast member back in July that it was our anniversary, and when we were at the Royal Table, the waiter gave my wife and I champagne glasses as a gift, as well as a certificate that all of the princess’s signed.
This was a very good, and relaxing trip. I thought it was going to be non-stop excitement and the kids overwhelming myself and my wife, but it never really happened that way. Everything went smooth, and a great time was had by all!
:
The Surprise: As I mentioned in an earlier post, this trip was a surprise for our children (5 & 7). We spent the night at the airport outside Providence. We told them that we were doing this for our anniversary. The next day we went to the airport to “look at the airplanes”. I was able to sneak the bags to the skycap while my wife walked the kids into the airport. Once at the gate, we “decided that maybe we could take a ride in the airplane”. Surprisingly they were not bored and jumping around on the plane for the 3 hour flight. When we got to Orlando, they thought we were still in Providence. My son did note that there was “lots of Mickey Mouse stuff in the airport After the Very smooth check-in with the Magical Express we boarded the bus to our resort. The secret probably would have lasted all the way to the resort, except that the bus driver announced that we were “Now entering the Magic Kingdom”. My daughter asked “Is this the real Disney World. I said “Yes”. They were so excited and happy after that.
The Resort: We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge, and once again, I have nothing but good things to say about this resort as it is a wonderful place to stay. This time, we made sure that we had plenty of resort time, including using the 4 seat surrey bike, as well as plenty of pool and exploring time. No one seemed to want to rent a boat, so we didn’t do this.
We had a great room on the 6th floor, in the northern most leg of the building. There was a nice view of The Contemporary Resort as well as The Magic Kingdom, and the fireworks. Housekeeping was great. The room was clean everyday and most days we had some type of towel creation when we returned. One day there was a towel doll waiting on the bed for us. The kids loved this, and were able to thank the housekeeping woman in person, as she was still in the hall. She surprised them by giving our son a towel bear. Besides the bear and the doll, there were towels laid on the bed in the shape of Mickey Ears, a couple of towel flowers, and on the days when there weren’t any animals or sculpture, she would do something cute with their plush animals. The hall was quiet and sleep came very easily every night. While there, we met many friendly families with whom we would see either at the pool or in the lodge during the week . . . and a few times in the parks.
On the day we arrived (12:15pm). We had a quick bite to eat and went straight for the pool. In the evening we went over to the Trails End Restaurant at Fort Wilderness before heading over to the Chip and Dale campfire sing-a-long. I packed s’mores stuff in my breakfast suitcase, which was a nice treat for the kids.
The Parks: Because of our kids ages we decided to have 2 days at the Magic Kingdom, a day at The Animal Kingdom, a day at MGM, and a night at the . . . Halloween Party.
The Animal Kingdom was first, and the first thing we did was go to Expedition Everest. Me and my daughter (with her eyes closed) loved this ride. We then made the mistake of taking the kids on Dinosaur. My five year old hated it, and I think it set the tone for him being very cautious, avoiding other indoor rides during the week. The Safari was great. It seemed better than the first time we did it, the year that the park opened. We picked up a fast pass and did it again before the day was over. The lines were over an hour for the Safari, Everest, and the River ride by mid-afternoon, and the heat and humidity was pretty brutal as well.
The Magic Kingdom was the next two days of excitement. The first day included Cinderella’s Royal Table, which seemed to be much more smooth than last time (or maybe because of us doing the early seating). I say smooth referring to the time waiting to get in, once in it’s a nice experience all around. The lines were not too bad maxing out at about 50 minutes in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland for some rides. This didn’t seem to affect the rides that we were going on. The second day at the . . . Kingdom we had lunch with Pooh and friends at the Crystal Palace. This was a very enjoyable meal.
We relaxed at the resort the next day, but went to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party during the night. This was a good time, although I have to say that the fireworks were very loud. We were at Dumbo during them and there were kids crying for long periods of time, and dads wondering when the show would end. I thought it was one of the best fireworks shows I’ve ever seen – they was coming at us from everywhere and it was awesome.
The next day we went to MGM and had a great time. I wasn’t sure if it would be much fun, as last time we went, we were out by 2:00 or so. This time, it seemed like there was more to do. Rockin Roller Coaster was great, although I wish it were a bit longer.
Overall the park experience was great. I wish it was a bit cooler, but the cold front promised earlier in the week only cooled things down for about 6 hours on Thursday night. The longest wait we had was about 25 minutes for Pirates, and we used the fast pass only a few strategic times.
Dinning: We decided to do something different this year, and check out some of the other resorts. We are not big dining Experience people, so the fancy restaurants were not for us. What we did was check out a different resort at night and eat at their quick service eatery. We went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, Beach and Yacht resorts, and also checked out Boardwalk and Old Key West. Also, during the week I was finding out more and more that Stitch was my son’s favorite characters. Because of this I made a breakfast reservation at O’Hanna’s for the Lilo and Stitch breakfast. I don’t know if it was because we were on Disney property, but I was able to make a reservation for us the day before. When I called a few months back, I couldn’t get the reservation.
Million Dreams: We each received lanyards and pins when we walked off of the Barnstormer ride. Also, when we were at MGM, we were trying to convince my son that Star Tours was not that bad. He wanted nothing to do with it though. A woman named Jeny overheard this and said that we were her ”Jedi Family of the Day”. She brought us right into the ride, but my son was still scared. Next, she brought us to the control room, so he could see what was really going on. Although I thought that was cool, it still didn’t convince him to ride the ride. In the end, she rode with my wife and daughter and then we switched and I rode with her and my daughter. She then gave us passes to go on the ride at anytime during the day. We almost got my son on at the end of the day, but he only wanted to go on with Jeny. In the end, he didn’t go on, but the Jeny experience was very cool, and I am going to write Disney a letter about this.
Also, my wife and I used the Cub’s Den children’s service in the Lodge and went to Downtown Disney for the night. We had dinner at Raglan Road, which was very good.
Negatives: The teenagers driving around the hallways in the resort and restaurants with their grandparent’s electronic vehicles. Most of them were rude, and dangerous.
There was a family at the Lilo and Stitch breakfast that had zero patience to wait their turn for the characters. So, what does he do. He interrupts the cast member who is taking care of the whole thing to get photos and autographs for his family because “they have to get to the Magic Kingdom” This was definitely a lame move, and it took about 10 minutes for the whole thing to end, ultimately throwing the characters off schedule, and pissing others off. I spoke to the cast member after, and he said he really hates when that happens, but he deals with it in a tolerable way. He also said that there were a few times when he lost his cool with some families and told them to wait their turn. He was definitely a cool guy.
At the same character breakfast they took a photo of us, and then came around asking if we wanted to buy it. For 30.00, we said no, like most of the people there that morning. I guess they just throw them away . . . what a waste.
At Cinderella’s Royal Table. When we got there, they took a photo with my daughter and Cinderella and said that it was “included in the price”. I guess I should have asked when I made the reservation what the price was, because when I got the bill, it was much, much more money than 4 years ago.
On the flip side, I told the Cast member back in July that it was our anniversary, and when we were at the Royal Table, the waiter gave my wife and I champagne glasses as a gift, as well as a certificate that all of the princess’s signed.
This was a very good, and relaxing trip. I thought it was going to be non-stop excitement and the kids overwhelming myself and my wife, but it never really happened that way. Everything went smooth, and a great time was had by all!
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