sndral
09-15-2008, 12:04 AM
9/4 Mom and I flew in from Sacramento CA on continental via Houston (which will become important later when a little storm called Ike shows up) and the kids (DS and his GF - early 20s) fly in from southern CA on Delta. The kids arrive around 11:30 pm and after being sent to an uncleaned room (beds not made, waterbottles on table) are upgraded to river view. Mom and I arrive a little past midnight and are in a connecting river view room - bldg 7, which is the furthest building from the food court @ POFQ. We order pizza from Papa Johns and settle in. Continental gave mom and I a sandwich each leg sodas/coffee free, Delta gave the kids peanuts.
9/5 Off to Animal Kingdom, one downpour, no lines, anywhere - totally walk on. Had cs @ the flame tree barbicue and watched the rain come down. Off to Epcot and Marakeesh for dinner. A long hike for mom through Epcot. A bit of a wait for our reservations. Loved the goat cheese appetizer (easy to pay for separately from the DDP.) Another long hike for mom through Epcot and out to the bus.
9/6 The kids are off to Blizzard Beach. Mom and I head to Downtown Disney via the boat and have cs @ Wolfgang puck express - great lunch choice. Then to the bus stop - no buses to the parks due to repaving or something, so we go to the boardwalk and from there boat to the back entrance to epcot. Even so, it's clear the heat and humidity are getting to 74 yr. old mom. The kids meet us there, no lines to speak of, except soarin, which we fast pass. Dinner @ Coral Reef - quite a wait for our reservations - which reminds me that everytime I've eaten there we've had to wait a bit longer than I think we should for seating. My prime rib was very good, however, I was unimpressed w/ the desserts.
9/7 Magic Kingdom. Hot, humid day. Fast passed Splash and Peter Pan, otherwise walked on. I passed on Space mountain, kids fast passed it. Dinner @ Cinderella's Castle. When we finished the Castle was roped off for the fireworks - perfect timing to watch the fireworks.
9/8 Hollywood studios, the kids arrive early, I midday, mom late. CS @ backlot express - horrible! The movie ride breaks down after we're loaded on, and they unload us and send us on our way. DS talks me into Tower of Terror, which I enjoyed, note to self, next time cinch the seat belt super tight so I fly up in the air less. Dinner @ Bomas - easy to catch the AKL lodge bus @ HS. Everyone loved AKL and Boma's. The vote was unanimous - next time let's stay here - I've stayed there in the past and wasn't that impressed, but I did like it better this visit.
9/9 Kids off to Typhoon lagoon, mom rests and I head back to Epcot. We all meet up for cs dinner @ Mexico and catch illuminations. Long hike for mom to Beachclub and bus to Downtown Disney then boat to POFQ.
9/10 Back to AKL. Mom rests and boats to Downtown Disney and shopping. It rains again, cooling things down, no lines. Then bus to MK, meet mom and boat to Hoop dee do - everyone loved the food and the show, we were right up front by the piano player.
9/11 The kids head back to Typhoon Lagoon and I check about printing boarding passes for our flights back 9/12 and am told if I want to use ME luggage check I can't print the passes @ concierge, but must print them @ ME. I call Continental from the room, as Ike is acting up and learn that our 6:30 pm flight 9/12 has been canceled. For $95 ea they book us on a 6:30 am flight, I try for a connect not via Houston and am told Houston is they ONLY connect to Sacto. Ca. Off to the Magic Kingdom and afternoon downpours. Few lines. Monorail to the Polynesian and Ohanas - we are seated just in time to watch the MK fireworks from our table, loved Ohanas. Bus to DTD, westside and wait forever for a POFQ bus, several people waited over an hour and they finally dispatched 2 buses the crowd had grown so huge and irritated. Back @ the room, DS checks on his laptop, which he has somehow hooked up via his Iphone avoiding Disney's internet fee, on our flight - still shows as a go.
9/12 No sleep and I schlep my bags and mom's to ME, no bell service @ 3 am. ME is right on time - no other stops. We arrive @ MCO and continental is not open yet. We join the line and I wander over to the display and see our 6:30 am flight is canceled. A bit later Continental opens up and the rep says why weren't you routed via New York when I explain how we came to be on the now cancelled flight. After much discussion amongst themselves Continental books us on a 5:30 pm USAir flight via New York. Note, this would have arrived in Sacto CA @ 10 pm much like our original flight allowing us to leave midafternoon, as planned. We trek down to USAir hoping to check our bags for the 12 hour wait @ MCO and are told we can't check them until 4 hrs before the flight, but, the guy can get us into Sacto @ 6pm instead of 10 pm by booking us through Charlotte and Las Vegas w/ longish layovers - we change to that and @ 6:45 am we're off - 14 hrs east coast to west. All that rebooking redflags us as potential terrorists, so we get pat searched going through security. US air charges for all food and all drinks (including sodas & coffee) and every flight is packed - but we arrive.
In summary, the worst part of the trip was definately Continental's mishandling of things Ike related, they should have canceled flights earlier, like Southwest did and they should have sent us through New York when I called 9/11 @ noon.
Loved the dinning plan, enjoyed POFQ and loved the view of the river, but next trip w/ mom will definately plan on a less humid time of year and maybe a monorail resort to reduce the walking for her. Loved the no waiting for most rides and was really glad we'd made ADRs and was quite pleased w/ all the ts choices I'd made.
9/5 Off to Animal Kingdom, one downpour, no lines, anywhere - totally walk on. Had cs @ the flame tree barbicue and watched the rain come down. Off to Epcot and Marakeesh for dinner. A long hike for mom through Epcot. A bit of a wait for our reservations. Loved the goat cheese appetizer (easy to pay for separately from the DDP.) Another long hike for mom through Epcot and out to the bus.
9/6 The kids are off to Blizzard Beach. Mom and I head to Downtown Disney via the boat and have cs @ Wolfgang puck express - great lunch choice. Then to the bus stop - no buses to the parks due to repaving or something, so we go to the boardwalk and from there boat to the back entrance to epcot. Even so, it's clear the heat and humidity are getting to 74 yr. old mom. The kids meet us there, no lines to speak of, except soarin, which we fast pass. Dinner @ Coral Reef - quite a wait for our reservations - which reminds me that everytime I've eaten there we've had to wait a bit longer than I think we should for seating. My prime rib was very good, however, I was unimpressed w/ the desserts.
9/7 Magic Kingdom. Hot, humid day. Fast passed Splash and Peter Pan, otherwise walked on. I passed on Space mountain, kids fast passed it. Dinner @ Cinderella's Castle. When we finished the Castle was roped off for the fireworks - perfect timing to watch the fireworks.
9/8 Hollywood studios, the kids arrive early, I midday, mom late. CS @ backlot express - horrible! The movie ride breaks down after we're loaded on, and they unload us and send us on our way. DS talks me into Tower of Terror, which I enjoyed, note to self, next time cinch the seat belt super tight so I fly up in the air less. Dinner @ Bomas - easy to catch the AKL lodge bus @ HS. Everyone loved AKL and Boma's. The vote was unanimous - next time let's stay here - I've stayed there in the past and wasn't that impressed, but I did like it better this visit.
9/9 Kids off to Typhoon lagoon, mom rests and I head back to Epcot. We all meet up for cs dinner @ Mexico and catch illuminations. Long hike for mom to Beachclub and bus to Downtown Disney then boat to POFQ.
9/10 Back to AKL. Mom rests and boats to Downtown Disney and shopping. It rains again, cooling things down, no lines. Then bus to MK, meet mom and boat to Hoop dee do - everyone loved the food and the show, we were right up front by the piano player.
9/11 The kids head back to Typhoon Lagoon and I check about printing boarding passes for our flights back 9/12 and am told if I want to use ME luggage check I can't print the passes @ concierge, but must print them @ ME. I call Continental from the room, as Ike is acting up and learn that our 6:30 pm flight 9/12 has been canceled. For $95 ea they book us on a 6:30 am flight, I try for a connect not via Houston and am told Houston is they ONLY connect to Sacto. Ca. Off to the Magic Kingdom and afternoon downpours. Few lines. Monorail to the Polynesian and Ohanas - we are seated just in time to watch the MK fireworks from our table, loved Ohanas. Bus to DTD, westside and wait forever for a POFQ bus, several people waited over an hour and they finally dispatched 2 buses the crowd had grown so huge and irritated. Back @ the room, DS checks on his laptop, which he has somehow hooked up via his Iphone avoiding Disney's internet fee, on our flight - still shows as a go.
9/12 No sleep and I schlep my bags and mom's to ME, no bell service @ 3 am. ME is right on time - no other stops. We arrive @ MCO and continental is not open yet. We join the line and I wander over to the display and see our 6:30 am flight is canceled. A bit later Continental opens up and the rep says why weren't you routed via New York when I explain how we came to be on the now cancelled flight. After much discussion amongst themselves Continental books us on a 5:30 pm USAir flight via New York. Note, this would have arrived in Sacto CA @ 10 pm much like our original flight allowing us to leave midafternoon, as planned. We trek down to USAir hoping to check our bags for the 12 hour wait @ MCO and are told we can't check them until 4 hrs before the flight, but, the guy can get us into Sacto @ 6pm instead of 10 pm by booking us through Charlotte and Las Vegas w/ longish layovers - we change to that and @ 6:45 am we're off - 14 hrs east coast to west. All that rebooking redflags us as potential terrorists, so we get pat searched going through security. US air charges for all food and all drinks (including sodas & coffee) and every flight is packed - but we arrive.
In summary, the worst part of the trip was definately Continental's mishandling of things Ike related, they should have canceled flights earlier, like Southwest did and they should have sent us through New York when I called 9/11 @ noon.
Loved the dinning plan, enjoyed POFQ and loved the view of the river, but next trip w/ mom will definately plan on a less humid time of year and maybe a monorail resort to reduce the walking for her. Loved the no waiting for most rides and was really glad we'd made ADRs and was quite pleased w/ all the ts choices I'd made.