We're Back!!

[SplashMom]

We survived the drive to and from Florida and had a wonderful vacation at our favorite place! I haven't had much time to post--we were home a few days and had to take our oldest off to university. Just got home a few hours ago. I'll try to think about the trip to cheer up!

The drive was wonderful! We took our time and went the entire way down the I-95. We took 5 days on the way down but we stopped a lot and spent some time shopping and in Washington DC. The way back was 4 days with less stopping but still not a bad drive. We went around most of the cities on the way home (as per the plan). Florida was hot but we managed just fine. Pop was excellent (as usual) and the AKL was fabulous! Free dining was unbelievable, but I was shocked at how many people had no ADRs and just thought they would "drop in for dinner." The dining plan is a lot of food but what a great opportunity to try places we wouldn't normally be able to afford. We went to Le Cellier, Concourse Steakhouse, Kona Cafe, Chef Mickeys, 1900 Park Fare, Sci-Fi Diner, Planet Hollywood, Boma, and the Liberty Tree Tavern. Some of the restaurants we did twice and some we did for breakfast and dinner. The only one that wasn't great was the Sci-Fi--atmosphere was good but the food was lacking.

We did find the days too hot to do much at the parks. We either hit the water parks or pool, although even the pools weren't that cool. We certainly aren't used to that kind of heat!! We sometimes hit the outlet shops or just took a nap in the afternoon. We usually went for dinner around 5-6 and stayed in the park until closing. Soarin is excellent, and I loved the new milder version of Mission Space.

Driving has advantages--we had lots of space to bring home great shopping deals, especially with two teenagers! Any questions, ask away--I'll try to answer!

 

[madonna31]

Glad to hear you had a GREAT time!! I'm happy to hear that enjoyed the drive!

I was shocked at how many people had no ADRs and just thought they would "drop in for dinner."

Yep, I witnessed a lot of that too Truth is, there are still a lot of first timers (or close enough to a first timer) guests at WDW who unfortunately wouldn't know any better.

I for one miss the 'good old days' where I could put my name down at Chef Mickey's, take a stroll through the stores in the Contemporary or have a drink at Outer Rim while waiting for my table to be ready. IMHO this ADR stuff takes away from the 'come and go as you please' aspect of a holiday.

I loved the new milder version of Mission Space.

So, what exactly is the difference from the original? Does is just not 'spin'?

 

[Debbie]

So, what exactly is the difference from the original? Does is just not 'spin'?

Yup, that's it. It was nice not to have to concentrate on looking straight ahead so as not to get disoriented. DH couldn't do the "orange, intense", so the "green training" was just the ticket for us. (and I didn't need the Bonamine)

SplashMom, we enjoyed the dining, too. We liked the food at Sci-Fi (we'd been told to stick to burgers, onion rings, shakes etc.) and the Milky Way Milkshake was y-u-m-m-m-m-m-y! Glad that you had a great time. Now . . .back to the real world.

 

[highland3]

Hi Splashmom,

Glad you had a good time, despite the heat!

Where did you stop on the way down and on the way back?
Where did you stop in Washington? I've been there, but the family has not, so I'd love to stop there when we drive down on the enxt trip to the world.

 

[winniethepoohsmom]

We did the free dining last year and we loved it, we also saw people being turned away from restaurants. We met a couple on the plane going home and they've been going to disney for years, they are DVC owners and go to DW at least 2 times a year and new nothing about the free dining plan till we told them on the flight home, and they said well that explains why we could'nt get into any restaurants. So I guess that means a lot of people don't know about the disboards.

 

[SplashMom]

highland3--We stopped in Bangor (Holiday Inn Express), New Haven (Fairfield Inn), Potomac Mills (Residence Inn), and Savannagh (Holiday Inn Express) on the way down. All were clean, lovely spots with reasonable prices (between $69 and $89/night). We went into Washington DC for a few hours taking pictures and walking around the sights. We stayed in Potomac Mills, just outside the city. There were lots of hotel options at that exit and most looked OK. The Residence Inn was a bit more expensive but it was a really nice room.

On the way home, we stopped in Lumberton, NC (Holiday Inn Express), Brunswick, NJ (Holiday Inn Express), and Woodstock NB (Howard Johnsons).

Hope this helps!

 

[SplashMom]

You are right about the ADRs--it takes away all the spontaneous fun. However, I was glad to have booked things in advance. The Sci-Fi was OK (we had the ribs) but it just wasn't as good as most of the other restaurants. I guess people, even Disney fans, don't keep up on the travel specials. I can't imagine not knowing about free dining but most places we went, the people around us were all paying for their meals. It pays to read the Disboards!! As if I need another reason!

 

[highland3]

Thanks!

Sounds like a great trip.

 

[mbb]

Hey!!

Welcome home!
I was just going to post a "Anyone heard from Splashmom?" thread!!

So glad you had a great trip...

Now tell me, what was your absolute favourite moment?
Did you have a mickey bar for all of us here at home?
What did you buy?
Can I ask how much gas cost you on the dirve down?
Did you wave as you went through St. Peter's??!!

And when are you going back!!

 

[maryliz]

Glad you had a great time! I agree that it would be really sad for people who don't know to make ADR's .... a newbie could come away from Disney hating it just because of the hassle to get a sit-down meal.

Had no idea that Mission Space has 2 different "excitement levels". Hadn't taken my kids on it yet, so now this is a great option.

Welcome home ... time to start planning your next trip!

MaryLiz

 

[SplashMom]

mbb, Didn't you see us waving wildly all the way through St. Peters?

The gas cost us $650.97 for the entire time, down, while we were there, and back. Keep in mind that we have a Grand Caravan and it was loaded, especially coming home!! We had mickey bars daily and thought of everyone home. We bought lots of stuff; I'm such a sucker for mickey merchandise! We bought towels, calendars, watches, antenna toppers, magnets, key chains, the necessary snow globe and lots more. Of course, we also did lots of outlet shopping--especially with a 16 year old daughter. Banana Republic, Tommy Hilfiger, DKNY, Gap and the others won't have to worry about their August sales. We took care of them all...

My favorite moment was, once again, going through the gates at MK and seeing the castle. I won't ever take it for granted--I love the feeling I get every time I look up! Of course, Wishes makes me (and my daughter) cry every time we watch, and we watched them five times!! The Animal Kingdom Lodge was really fabulous as well, although we love Pop too.

It's hard to get back to reality but I think I'll start planning March break! Our son is away at university so the money is tighter but hey, we have lots of Airmiles!!

 

[dandee00]

Hi, glad to hear you had a wondrful time and that you enjoyed the drive. It's great to be able to buy what you want (within reason) and not have to worry about bringing it home.
Would you drive down again or would you prefer to fly?

So will we be seeing a trip report from you?

 

[DianaNS]

Did you mapquest your route or go through CAA for a triptic?
Where is the holiday inn express in Bangor???????

 

[SplashMom]

dandee--As far as flying or driving, it would really depend on the time I had. I will most likely fly because I won't likely go in the summer again so I won't have that number of days but I really didn't mind the drive. As far as a trip report, I may get to it in the next week or so!

dianans--we did get a tripkit from CAA but we just went down on the I-95. There wasn't any confusion, we just stayed on the 95 the entire way. Coming home, we did use other highways to go around major centers and the tripkit came in handy then. As far as the Holiday Inn Express in Bangor, I don't know for certain where it is. It was off an exit and the hotel wasn't really close, we had to follow the directions in the green booklet we received from the welcome center (the discount coupon booklet ). It wasn't too far but we had to make a couple of turns. Most of the time we tried to stay just off the highway. There were several other hotels nearby and they all looked OK.

 

[princess pooh]

Welcome back! It sounds like you had an amazing trip

I was wondering what kind of view you had at AKL and if you liked it? I booked a pool view to save money but I'm wondering if I might regret that.

 

[SplashMom]

We also had a pool view room at AKL. It turned out to be a view of the trees mostly. We could see the hot tub but there was too much foilage to actually see the pool. Through the tree branches, we had a wonderful view of Expedition Everest which was fine with us!