We're home!!

[cdnmickeylover]

We arrived back home early this morning after an uneventful drive. Long but uneventful.

Had a great cruise and a great time at WDW. We went to MNSSHP on the 12th but didn't see the first parade and it rained just before the 2nd parade so it was delayed and there was no headless horseman.

Rebooked the cruise for October 2006 so will have to wait a while for the next one. Renewed our annual passes though so we'll be back before then.

Cruise was wonderful but more crowded than last year. It was a very full ship. Golden Mickeys was great as were the rest of the shows although this time we didn't get to Hercules. Saw Ladder 49 on the ship - very sad but good.

WDW was really crowded. Tried to get a PS for Friday night but couldn't get in anywhere. So if you are going soon make sure you have PS's before you leave.

We stayed one night at Pop Century and thought that the icons were cute. We were quite far from the main building which was fine for us but wouldn't have been if it had rained. We had a handicapped room which also had a fridge which was nice for the bottled water we had brought with us.

We then stayed at Old Key West in a studio and really liked it. It was nice having the fridge and microwave and the extra room.

The last night we stayed at AKL and were upgraded to a Savanah room. It was really nice but oddly the room didn't have a fridge although it did have a playpen in the closet. Liked AKL and wished we could have stayed for more than one night.

Ate at Boma, O'Hana's, Crystal Palace, Beaches & Cream, Pepper Market, Cape May, Earl of Sandwich & Fort Wilderness Buffeteria.

If anyone has any questions I'll try and answer them.

 

[Susan--Ontario]

Welcome Home Fiona!!

Sounds like you had a great time. We're leaving two weeks from Friday so I need to plan a few more meals.

Don't you love having the Annual Pass. It always gives you a reason to plan another trip.

Enjoy being back at work.

 

[MamaLema]

How were the crowds all throughout your stay? Which day was the most crowded?

Did it rain a lot?

 

[Lynda Silk]

Hi Fiona!

Welcome home! Glad to hear you had a good time and that you've booked another cruise! We're leaving for WDW a week tomorrow and then we're on the Halloween cruise on the Magic!

Wondered what you thought of O'Hana's? We have a ps there for our last night at WDW. We're staying at the Polynesian so it will be nice and close!

We missed you at the Toronto DIS meet but at least we'll be able to see your photos at the next one!

 

[hockey mom]

Welcome home. Glad you had a good time.

We were at the same MNSSHP and we also waited for the second parade and were relly disappointed that we did not see the headless horsemen.

How did you like the Trails end buffet-we are thinking of adding it to our list in December.

 

[TimNDansMom]

Hi Fiona, everything sounds wonderful about your trip! Can't wait to see all your pictures.

That's too bad about the Headless Horseman, you'll just have to go back next year. I was lucky to see him last October and grab a pretty good shot of him as he galloped past!

As you can see, DisneyLisa and I are headed back in a couple of weeks. We are also going to Trail's End Buffeteria, as we enjoyed it very much in July. We've been reading about the crowds and are hoping that it will calm down a bit after MNSSHP, for our trip.

What did you think of Cape May and Earl of Sandwich?

We'll have to plan another Toronto meet soon!

 

[Scratch42]

Glad to hear everthing was "Smooth Sailing!"LOL

You arrived just in time for the COLD!LOL

So, give us more details about your 7 day DISMeet!

Any tips beside the PS!

What's the weather going to be like?

So you guys are doing the CruiseFest Again! Should be a lot of fun!

Scratch

 

[cdnmickeylover]

We liked the Trails End Buffeteria. It's a great value for a buffet on site. There aren't as many choices as other places and everything is quite plain but we enjoyed it. They had a soup, chili, salad bar, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, chicken, roast beef, corn and desserts. There were some more choices as well but I can't remember them off hand. They don't take PS's but we arrived at around 5:30pm and were fine. By the time we left at around 6:30pm though there was a line up. We took the boat from MK which was nice as well.

We also enjoyed O'Hana's. It was the second time being there. If you like meat you should like O'Hana's. They give you some appetizers and then bring you skewers of steak, shrimp, pork and turkey (we actually got sausage instead of the turkey but when we asked it was because they hadn't received their shipment of turkey for the week from their supplier which was a holdover from the hurricanes). They then bring you pineapple for dessert. We were stuffed at the end of the meal and will go back.

Another great place to eat is Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney. We found this a great value and actually split a sandwich for lunch one day. Since the sandwich is only $4.95 US we felt this was probably the best deal on property.

Cape May was good but really nothing special. It was good for once but we don't think we'll be back until we eaten other places at WDW.

Our weather was very warm except for the last night when it cooled down quite a bit (for Florida anyway!).

No day was more crowded than any other, it was all pretty crowded. Since we've been before and will go again (thank you annual passes) this didn't overly bother us. We didn't get to the parks early though and this might have made a difference if you really wanted to see something. We saw what we wanted though.

Will give more details about the cruise later. Now really do have to get something off my desk.

 

[bunnyfoo]

Welcome back! I thought WDW was very crowded too ... the crowds really seemed to have picked up just before the Columbus Day weekend and judging from some of the other posts that I've been reading, they're still going strong ...

Sorry you didn't get to see the headless horseman. I saw him briefly during the Oct 3rd parade. He comes by very quickly! What were the crowds like at the MNSSHP?

 

[pbohr]

I was just at WDW last week. The crowds were bigger than I thought they might be. The weather is not bad. I had little trouble
walking in on restaurants except on Fridays and Weekend nights.
The excuse given was that the local dining promotion has caused
PS to get booked up quick on weekend nights. That being the case I suggest a little less degree of freedom and a little more safety when planning wonderful meals at least on weekend nights.

 

[DisneyLisa]

Welcome back.

Did you do Cape May for dinner? We've done it for breakfast (which we loved) and have wondered about doing it for dinner.

When you have time...tell us more about your trip...looking forward to hearing more.

 

[MaMudduck]

Originally posted by pbohr
IThe excuse given was that the local dining promotion has caused
PS to get booked up quick on weekend nights. That being the case I suggest a little less degree of freedom and a little more safety when planning wonderful meals at least on weekend nights.

Any idea when the promotion ends?Am I going to have problems this weekend?

 

[maryliz]

Welcome home, Fiona! Glad your cruise was wonderful. Did you have enough room in your van to take the other couple to the port, or did you have to strap someone to the roof? I know that you said that you pack like I do ... everything and anything I can fit into the van!

Can't wait to see pics.

Mary-Liz

 

[cdnmickeylover]

That was actually funny Mary-Liz because before we could put their luggage into the van we had to get rid of the extra bag that we brought down from two other Disers. We ended up meeting them in the parking lot at Belz and switching over all the luggage. Then there was room for them and their luggage to make it to the port. We actually all went out to lunch in Orlando on the Friday before the cruise -- there were 8 of us at that point.

I'm going to try to do a trip report this weekend.

Still haven't fully unloaded the van though.

Is there a course for lite packing? If so, we fail miserably. We've decided that we could never fly as no airline would allow us to take that much baggage!

We each took 2 carryon bags onto the cruise plus 4 pool noodles. It was quite a sight!

Fiona

 

[Scratch42]

Originally posted by cdnmickeylover


4 pool noodles. It was quite a sight!

Fiona

LOL!

I know that the air lines will allow 1 in the cargo! DD has done that one!

Scratch

 

[TimNDansMom]

Hope you have a picture of that, Fiona!