Ian
05-07-2007, 01:16 PM
Who: The Wacky Family, including yours truly WDWacky (aka Ian), DW (aka Trish), DD4 (aka Taylor), and DS 5 months (aka Jake)
What: A seven night stay in Walt Disney World!
Where: Pop Century/CINDERELLA'S CASTLE SUITE!!!!!
When: April 28th through May 5th
By now, most of you are aware of the highlight of our trip (if not, see this link (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=103341)), so I'm not going to do a full, daily trip report. Quite honestly, things got so out of whack after our Castle stay that I didn't even really take detailed notes like I normally do.
So I'll just give a little summary of the other highlights from our trip and touch on some items of note, new things we did, etc.
We left on the morning of Friday the 27th and drove down. We got really close to Disney, but decided to stop for the night just outside of Jacksonville, figuring the rooms would be cheaper and we didn't really have anywhere to stay in Disney on Friday night anyway.
We woke up early and got into Pop around 11AM or so and checked in. The first day we spent cruising around Magic Kingdom riding what we could (it was pretty crowded) and dining at Epcot (Coral Reef). We were on the dining plan this time and planned to make good use of it!
The following morning was our day at Animal Kingdom when we won the Castle Suite, so I'll skip that day (see thread above). The only thing worth noting that might not be in there is that Trish got her first ride on Everest, which she loved!
Other highlights included:
We had what will most likely be our last meal at Alfredo's. I know a lot of people like to slam it, but this was always our favorite Epcot restaurant and we'll miss it very much. I got quite a few souvenirs, including lots of pictures, a menu, and some other stuff. They were very nice to us!
Taylor got her first ride on Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain. She was tall enough to ride them last time we were there, but she didn't want to go on. This time she was brave and tried them. She didn't really care for either one (she's not much for losing your stomach on rides, if you know what I mean). She actually cried going down the big hill on Splash (she banged her nose on the log), but she was okay on ToT. She promptly declared after each ride, "I liked that but I don't ever want to go on again!" In fact it was funny, as she was getting off ToT a CM said to her, "Did you ride that ride?" and she said, "Yes." And he said, "Do you want to go back on?" and she said, "Yes." and I kinda looked at her funny. As we walked away I said, "Honey, why did you say you wanted to go back on? I thought you didn't like it." She goes, "Oh, I didn't hear what he said really so I just said yes. I am NOT going back on!"
We got our first look at Finding Nemo the Musical (had great seats courtesy of the Dream Team) and I have to say we were duly impressed. Unfortunately, Jake acted up about 1/4 of the way in so Trish had to leave with him, but Taylor and I stayed for the entire show and really loved it. I'm normally not a big show guy, but this was something special. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I got pretty choked up. The whole "not my Dad/that's my Dad" thing got to me. This may move up to must see status for us on future trips!
We also got our first look at the new Gran Fiesta Tour ride in Mexico. Trish and Taylor thought it was cute (and Jake seemed amused), but I have to give it a moderate thumbs down. The new theming is not very well integrated into the old ride. It really looks like they just plunked the Three Caballeros into the old ride and spent very little time trying to smooth down the overlay. I'd give it a C- at best ... I was pretty disappointed in it.
Just an odd note that I thought I'd share ... For some reason I got free internet access at Pop for 7 out of the 8 days we were there. :confused: I signed on for the first time on Saturday, had to agree to the charge, and for some reason was never charged again. I'm not complaining, though, because I think it's scandalous that Disney charges 10 bucks a day for a service that virtually every other hotel in the world provides free.
Another random observation about Pop ... This was like the 3rd or 4th time we had stayed at Pop Century and we came to the conclusion this time that the rooms are too small for four people. We were really crammed in there. Thankfully we weren't in the room all that much this time around (for some reason we didn't take mid-day breaks this trip), but going forward there's really no way I could see a room at Pop being sufficient for us and all our gear. Which is why ....
We finally decided that it's time for us to buy into DVC. With the two kids it's virtually a given that we'll be making at least twice-yearly trips down there and the finances are just too obvious anymore. Not to mention the great inflation hedge DVC provides and the fact that we'll be guaranteed able to get spacious, deluxe-level accomodations each trip. We're going with SSR. We strongly considered VAKL, but we really like SSR (it's an absolutely beautiful property) and the location works better for us. Plus there's the added perk that we'll get 2006 points in addition to our '07 points, which means we'll be getting 320 points this year. That gives us a lot of flexibility we wouldn't get at VAKL.
We did something new this trip. We rented a pontoon boat from Downtown Disney and spent about an hour cruising around all the DD/Epcot area resorts. If you've never done this before, it's very scenic and relaxing. You get a great view of the old treehouse villas, too. We were actually surprised to see people staying in them when we cruised by. Turns out they let the Disney interns use them. Man, what cool accomodations, though. I really wish they'd open them back up again. I would LOVE to stay in one!
After the way I skewered the Laugh Floor back in February, I owe an update. We saw it again this trip and it was MUCH better this time around!! Very funny! They seem to have fixed Mike's voice (it sounds much more like Billy Crystal now) and the jokes were really hilarious. The two biggest improvements were the fact that they complete the story now and the ability to text in jokes before the show. The first time we went they showed you the laugh canister and then nothing happened with it! Now it fills up and blows out steam and stuff. That's much more satisfying. And also, Taylor got one of her jokes used in the show! She thought that was totally cool!
We spent a few hours at Blizzard Beach on Thursday and had a great time. Taylor is really into the water slides and stuff and this is always kind of our special Daddy/Daughter time (swimming in general is, really) since Trish isn't that into the water. The Photo Pass guys are really out in force at the waterparks now. They have these mini-Photopasses that you can wear around your wrist and they just shoot pics of you on the slides and stuff and throw them at you. This is a really great perk for those of us who are so thrilled with our appearance with no shirt on. :unsure:
Obviously, winning the Castle Suite was the highlight of the trip, but really the entire week was spectacular. We had great weather the entire time (not a spot of rain), the Flower and Garden Festival was in full swing and Epcot looked great, and in general we just had a really nice, low key week in the World.
The only downside was that it was more crowded than we're used to at this time. One of the Guest Relations CM's we worked with while we were staying in the Castle said that the YoaMD's promotion has really been pulling people into the park. He said attendance is way up this year and that, across the entire year, they expect attendance to be very high. I wouldn't expect to go at all this season and see 5 minute waits on anything.
We managed to navigate the crowds fairly well by using Fastpass and the middle of the week actually was pretty quiet, but the weekends/Monday/Friday were very busy for this time of the year. Looks like Disney's coffers will be filling up!!
What: A seven night stay in Walt Disney World!
Where: Pop Century/CINDERELLA'S CASTLE SUITE!!!!!
When: April 28th through May 5th
By now, most of you are aware of the highlight of our trip (if not, see this link (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=103341)), so I'm not going to do a full, daily trip report. Quite honestly, things got so out of whack after our Castle stay that I didn't even really take detailed notes like I normally do.
So I'll just give a little summary of the other highlights from our trip and touch on some items of note, new things we did, etc.
We left on the morning of Friday the 27th and drove down. We got really close to Disney, but decided to stop for the night just outside of Jacksonville, figuring the rooms would be cheaper and we didn't really have anywhere to stay in Disney on Friday night anyway.
We woke up early and got into Pop around 11AM or so and checked in. The first day we spent cruising around Magic Kingdom riding what we could (it was pretty crowded) and dining at Epcot (Coral Reef). We were on the dining plan this time and planned to make good use of it!
The following morning was our day at Animal Kingdom when we won the Castle Suite, so I'll skip that day (see thread above). The only thing worth noting that might not be in there is that Trish got her first ride on Everest, which she loved!
Other highlights included:
We had what will most likely be our last meal at Alfredo's. I know a lot of people like to slam it, but this was always our favorite Epcot restaurant and we'll miss it very much. I got quite a few souvenirs, including lots of pictures, a menu, and some other stuff. They were very nice to us!
Taylor got her first ride on Tower of Terror and Splash Mountain. She was tall enough to ride them last time we were there, but she didn't want to go on. This time she was brave and tried them. She didn't really care for either one (she's not much for losing your stomach on rides, if you know what I mean). She actually cried going down the big hill on Splash (she banged her nose on the log), but she was okay on ToT. She promptly declared after each ride, "I liked that but I don't ever want to go on again!" In fact it was funny, as she was getting off ToT a CM said to her, "Did you ride that ride?" and she said, "Yes." And he said, "Do you want to go back on?" and she said, "Yes." and I kinda looked at her funny. As we walked away I said, "Honey, why did you say you wanted to go back on? I thought you didn't like it." She goes, "Oh, I didn't hear what he said really so I just said yes. I am NOT going back on!"
We got our first look at Finding Nemo the Musical (had great seats courtesy of the Dream Team) and I have to say we were duly impressed. Unfortunately, Jake acted up about 1/4 of the way in so Trish had to leave with him, but Taylor and I stayed for the entire show and really loved it. I'm normally not a big show guy, but this was something special. I'd be lying if I didn't admit I got pretty choked up. The whole "not my Dad/that's my Dad" thing got to me. This may move up to must see status for us on future trips!
We also got our first look at the new Gran Fiesta Tour ride in Mexico. Trish and Taylor thought it was cute (and Jake seemed amused), but I have to give it a moderate thumbs down. The new theming is not very well integrated into the old ride. It really looks like they just plunked the Three Caballeros into the old ride and spent very little time trying to smooth down the overlay. I'd give it a C- at best ... I was pretty disappointed in it.
Just an odd note that I thought I'd share ... For some reason I got free internet access at Pop for 7 out of the 8 days we were there. :confused: I signed on for the first time on Saturday, had to agree to the charge, and for some reason was never charged again. I'm not complaining, though, because I think it's scandalous that Disney charges 10 bucks a day for a service that virtually every other hotel in the world provides free.
Another random observation about Pop ... This was like the 3rd or 4th time we had stayed at Pop Century and we came to the conclusion this time that the rooms are too small for four people. We were really crammed in there. Thankfully we weren't in the room all that much this time around (for some reason we didn't take mid-day breaks this trip), but going forward there's really no way I could see a room at Pop being sufficient for us and all our gear. Which is why ....
We finally decided that it's time for us to buy into DVC. With the two kids it's virtually a given that we'll be making at least twice-yearly trips down there and the finances are just too obvious anymore. Not to mention the great inflation hedge DVC provides and the fact that we'll be guaranteed able to get spacious, deluxe-level accomodations each trip. We're going with SSR. We strongly considered VAKL, but we really like SSR (it's an absolutely beautiful property) and the location works better for us. Plus there's the added perk that we'll get 2006 points in addition to our '07 points, which means we'll be getting 320 points this year. That gives us a lot of flexibility we wouldn't get at VAKL.
We did something new this trip. We rented a pontoon boat from Downtown Disney and spent about an hour cruising around all the DD/Epcot area resorts. If you've never done this before, it's very scenic and relaxing. You get a great view of the old treehouse villas, too. We were actually surprised to see people staying in them when we cruised by. Turns out they let the Disney interns use them. Man, what cool accomodations, though. I really wish they'd open them back up again. I would LOVE to stay in one!
After the way I skewered the Laugh Floor back in February, I owe an update. We saw it again this trip and it was MUCH better this time around!! Very funny! They seem to have fixed Mike's voice (it sounds much more like Billy Crystal now) and the jokes were really hilarious. The two biggest improvements were the fact that they complete the story now and the ability to text in jokes before the show. The first time we went they showed you the laugh canister and then nothing happened with it! Now it fills up and blows out steam and stuff. That's much more satisfying. And also, Taylor got one of her jokes used in the show! She thought that was totally cool!
We spent a few hours at Blizzard Beach on Thursday and had a great time. Taylor is really into the water slides and stuff and this is always kind of our special Daddy/Daughter time (swimming in general is, really) since Trish isn't that into the water. The Photo Pass guys are really out in force at the waterparks now. They have these mini-Photopasses that you can wear around your wrist and they just shoot pics of you on the slides and stuff and throw them at you. This is a really great perk for those of us who are so thrilled with our appearance with no shirt on. :unsure:
Obviously, winning the Castle Suite was the highlight of the trip, but really the entire week was spectacular. We had great weather the entire time (not a spot of rain), the Flower and Garden Festival was in full swing and Epcot looked great, and in general we just had a really nice, low key week in the World.
The only downside was that it was more crowded than we're used to at this time. One of the Guest Relations CM's we worked with while we were staying in the Castle said that the YoaMD's promotion has really been pulling people into the park. He said attendance is way up this year and that, across the entire year, they expect attendance to be very high. I wouldn't expect to go at all this season and see 5 minute waits on anything.
We managed to navigate the crowds fairly well by using Fastpass and the middle of the week actually was pretty quiet, but the weekends/Monday/Friday were very busy for this time of the year. Looks like Disney's coffers will be filling up!!