We're back!!

[MikeJ]

"Did you ever leave?" they ask in unison.

Just got back late last night from a two week adventure. Drove to Orlando arriving Dec 21. 2 nights at the AS Music, 5 nights in a 2BR at the Boardwalk, and 3 nights at Wilderness Lodge. My parents flew from Regina and were with us during the Boardwalk stay. I kept a journal while we were away and will be posting it on the the Trip Reports board once I've waded through all my email and voicemail.

Parks were very light until after Christmas Day, then the crowds arrived in droves (and SUVs). We got most of our "must-dos" done in the first couple of days - the rest was gravy. We were surprised to encounter both Timekeeper and Carousel of Progress open near the end of our stay, and after our fiasco with the Skyway we rode both when the opportunity was presented.

A few notes:

1) Having stayed at a variety of Disney resorts over the years (and we're DVC owners at OKW) I will never stay at the All-Stars again. Teeny-tiny rooms way out in the middle of nowhere (although close to AK) - no thanks.

2) I don't think we'll resort-hop to the extent we did this trip. Too much moving around means too much packing and unpacking. Plus I lost several hours of park hopping while changing resorts.

3) It was nice having my parents with us at Christmas, but I don't think we'll do that at Disney again. We knew the crowds would be bad and after Boxing Day, they were. It was only the judicious use of Fastpasses that kept us sane.

4) If you'er ever at WDW in December, do the Candlelight Processional. We had Gary Sinise as reader on Christmas Eve, and it was amazing.

5) "O Canada" at Epcot. Oh, where to begin. This is a movie badly in need of updating. The biggest lowlights are the accents. I know many Francophones from Quebec and New Brunswick (including my brother-in-law), and none of them speak with that French-French french accent. Get something a little more realistic. And I felt like breaking into I'se-the-By whenever I heard that horrendous, exaggerated Newfoundland accent. There were others but I'd have to check my notes.

6) Don't fly Air Canada. My parents' flight to Orlando was delayed because it was oversold - then had to take all the luggage off to remove the pieces of the people who were bumped. We got to the resort at 3:00am that morning (and still got up at 7:00). Ugh.

- Mike

 

[CindyAnn]

Welcome home, Mike. Thanks for sharing the ups and downs of your trip with us. Sorry to hear about your Air Canada flight - maybe I should be glad I'm flying Air Transat? How wonderful to find both CoP and Timekeeper open - I'm hoping against hope they'll still be up and running when I'm there next week, even though I know it's unlikely. It sounds like at least you were able to have a good visit with your parents.

How was the weather when you were down?

 

[Baboo]

Welcome home Mike! It sounds like you had a good trip for the most part.

 

[sammi]

Welcome home Mike! Thanks so much for the mini review and I agree wholeheartedly with you on Epcot and Canada! LOL

I'll be sure and read your trip report when you post it!

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Welcome back Mike! Neat reviews.

Sorry your parents had a bad experience on Air Canada, we had our own bad expeience when we flew Air Canada to Orlando last February. It's a long story, but in short our first leg (connecting flights through Toronto) was late since they didn't have any flight attendents so we missed the connection in Toronto and then they told us that we were stuck in Toronto for the next 3 days as that was the next flight with available seats. (They had promised us when we got on the first leg that departed late that we'd have no trouble even if we missed the connection in Toronto and we'd get on the next direct flight. ) 3 days in Toronto would have been almost half of our week-long vacation, so after much hassle we ended up getting seats on another airline with yet another connecting flight (this time through La Guardia, NY) the next day. So it took us 3 flights and 2 days to get to Orlando. Not a pleasant experience, but I guess at least we got there safely. (And that's the brief version of the story, LOL )

Did you spend New Year's Eve at a park? They were showing snipets of WDW's celebrations on the ABC New Year's Eve coverage.

 

[PoohBWV]

Welcome back Mike! Glad to hear the crowds were light for the most part.

 

[MikeJ]

To answer CindyAnn's question - the weather was great. We had some drizzle Christmas and Boxing Days (and it was relatively cool), but for much of the rest of the week it was shorts and T-shirt weather (well, for us, anyway, if not the locals ). Evenings were cool and required a jacket or fleece, which is what you'd expect, but the days were at least partly sunny for the most part.

We flew down last year for NYE, arriving in Orlando mid-afternoon on the 31st, and spent the day at the MK from 4:00 on. None of the parks were ever closed, and the crowds at midnight were so light (we were in front of the Crystal Palace) that there was no one else within arm's reach.

This year, we left on the 31st. We spent the morning at MK doing some last minute rides (FP for Space Mountain, 2 Buzz Lightyears, a People Mover and Timekeeper), and by 11:00 you couldn't breathe in Tomorrowland without hitting someone (and there was already a 90 minute standby wait for SM by then). We had boated over from Wilderness Lodge (where we were staying) to avoid the TTC. After we returned, retreived the van, and were leaving the MK, they were already diverting cars as they had closed the MK. I think we lucked out because the year before we went for New Years, everyone was there celebrating the bogus Millenium. Last year, they were all partied out from the year before (plus it was freezing in Orlando last Dec 31) so the crowds were down for the real Millenium. And I think this year people felt the need to party because of Sept 11.

- Mike

 

[cotye]

Welcome back!

 

[cottontail]

Hi Mike:

Nice to hear that you had a great time. What is up with carasol of progress, I love that ride. We are going in april and have not been for 6 years and was so looking forward to riding it again, as I do not go on the wild rides. Is it being redone or worse closed?

We are driving down and I was thinking about staying in three different resorts, ankl 2 days, dolphin 5 and 2 and poly, but now I am wondering whether to just do two. Hubby says he does not want to move three times. So I guess you did not like moving three times either.

Deb.

 

[disneykins]

Welcome back, we just got back today. We were also at Candlelight Processional on Christmas Eve. We jumped around too, 2 nights HRH, 4 at OKW, 2 at Radisson (port), 4 nights Wonder, 2 at Downtown Disney. A lot of running around and packing and unpacking just to save on the DVC points.
Tony

 

[minnie56]

We spent Christmas and New Years at WDW and had a great time despite cool (cold)
weather!
Went to MGM New Years Eve and it was very crowded!!!In fact the buses back to The Contemporary
couldn't get out of the parking lot as people had moved the bus lane barriers and traffic
was blocking all routes out! We spent one hour and ten minutes (standing) on an extrememly
hot bus, so hot in fact,hat my husband passed out! So our evening was topped with a visit to Celebration hospital!