jonah'smom
01-20-2009, 10:01 PM
Chambers' Disney Trip Report 2009
January 3 - 11
Cast of Characters:
Me, 29
DH, 29
DS, 8
Preface - This was our 6th trip to Disney since our first trip in 2003.
Day 1, January 3 - Travel Day
We only live about 8.5 hours away from Disney, so we always drive our own car. We left home about 12:30 heading southbound. After a stop by the mall in Atlanta, we continued on. Had plenty of entertainment in the car for DS. Stopped about 8pm in Valdosta for dinner & more gas. Arrived in Kissimmee around 12:30 midnight. I had made a reservation for the night at the Seralago Hotel. Won't make that mistake again. Very unhappy with the room & service there. But since we were only there for a short while, we made the best of it.
Day 2, January 4 - Arrival at Disney, Magic Kingdom for evening EMH
We woke about 8:00 and got ready to head to Port Orleans Riverside. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's then made a stop at Target for some things before heading over to the Disney gates. We arrived at Riverside around 11:30 surprised to find that our room was ready. We unloaded the car, took DS for a quick swim, then got ready to head to Magic Kingdom. On our way we stopped at the Food Court for our first meal on the Dining Plan. DH & I had the Turkey Sandwich, which was very good by the way. DS had the chicken nuggets. We arrived at MK around 4pm surprised to find only a 10 minute wait for Buzz Lightyear! We were able to accomplish a lot at the MK this evening as waits were not very bad at all. Had dinner reservations at 7:30 for the last Character Meal at the Liberty Tree. This was by far our most excellent service at any restaurant all week! Food & Characters were great too! We did a few more things after dinner. EMH flowed smoothly, no problems with showing our resort cards for entry to rides, etc. We were ready to head back to the room by 11, so we did. Great first day!
Day 3, January 5 - Epcot, Hollywood Studios for evening EMH
We decided to take the bus to Epcot for the first part of our day. We arrived at Epcot a little before noon. We were late sleepers today. We did a few things in Future World such as Mission Space, Figment, & HISTA before heading over to Sunshine Seasons for some lunch. DH & I had the Asian entrees which were yummy & DS had the mac&cheese. I had the Strawberry Shortcake for dessert, DH had a brownie. Love the dessert selections here. We were eating pretty late for lunch so we had no problem finding a table. We headed to the bus stop back to the room after this. We changed clothes & then caught the bus over to the Studios. We rode Tower of Terror and then strolled around the park before our dinner reservation. Noticed tremendous difference in waits here versus MK on the previous night. Caught up with our favorite Street Performers (Mulch, Sweat & Shears) for their performance before dinner at the 50's Prime Time. ADR's were at 7:30. Arrived right on time, but had to wait a few minutes for our table. DH & I had the fried chicken here & DS had the hot dog, The chicken was the best fried chicken I've had in a long time!!!! Very juicy! Service here was a little slow. We waited for refills on our drinks, and to place our order for dessert. We wound up just ordering milkshakes to go for dessert because we felt like we were wasting park time. We didn't leave here till after 9pm! We strolled around the park, disappointed with all the wait times & then got in line for TSM just before park closing. Posted wait time said 90 minutes but was actually only about 30. I think they do this to discourage people from getting in that line! Anyway, the ride was well worth the wait!
Day 4, January 6 - Animal Kingdom
We discovered that we had not one but 2 headlights out after MK the first night, so we went to a nearby Walmart to pick up some before heading to the parks today. We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 11 for the day. We had very short waits here today as well. Went straight into the next showing of Nemo and got great seats down front. This was our first time seeing this show, and we all loved it! Had lunch at the Restaurantosaurus. We all had cheeseburgers here & carrot cake for dessert. We did Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, then headed to the safari. Later got fastpasses for Everest. This was DH & DS first time on it. DS didn't like it but he did ride it! Headed over to the Dig Site for DS to play as this is his favorite playground in all of Disney. After playing & digging for a while, we headed out of the park just before close. Went back to the resort for a rest before heading to our ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We had 8:30 reservations and arrived at the GF just before 8pm. We headed down to the dock to catch Wishes before we went to our meal. This was a very delicious meal!!! Loved the wheat/berry bread, but not the sourdough. DH had the New York Strip with fries, DS had the kids steak, & I had the Mahi-Mahi. YUMMY all around the table! For dessert I had the cheesecake, DH had the chocolate mousse cake. DS had the ice cream of course! After dinner we walked back to our car, which we self-parked at the GF, and headed back to the room to turn in early.
January 3 - 11
Cast of Characters:
Me, 29
DH, 29
DS, 8
Preface - This was our 6th trip to Disney since our first trip in 2003.
Day 1, January 3 - Travel Day
We only live about 8.5 hours away from Disney, so we always drive our own car. We left home about 12:30 heading southbound. After a stop by the mall in Atlanta, we continued on. Had plenty of entertainment in the car for DS. Stopped about 8pm in Valdosta for dinner & more gas. Arrived in Kissimmee around 12:30 midnight. I had made a reservation for the night at the Seralago Hotel. Won't make that mistake again. Very unhappy with the room & service there. But since we were only there for a short while, we made the best of it.
Day 2, January 4 - Arrival at Disney, Magic Kingdom for evening EMH
We woke about 8:00 and got ready to head to Port Orleans Riverside. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's then made a stop at Target for some things before heading over to the Disney gates. We arrived at Riverside around 11:30 surprised to find that our room was ready. We unloaded the car, took DS for a quick swim, then got ready to head to Magic Kingdom. On our way we stopped at the Food Court for our first meal on the Dining Plan. DH & I had the Turkey Sandwich, which was very good by the way. DS had the chicken nuggets. We arrived at MK around 4pm surprised to find only a 10 minute wait for Buzz Lightyear! We were able to accomplish a lot at the MK this evening as waits were not very bad at all. Had dinner reservations at 7:30 for the last Character Meal at the Liberty Tree. This was by far our most excellent service at any restaurant all week! Food & Characters were great too! We did a few more things after dinner. EMH flowed smoothly, no problems with showing our resort cards for entry to rides, etc. We were ready to head back to the room by 11, so we did. Great first day!
Day 3, January 5 - Epcot, Hollywood Studios for evening EMH
We decided to take the bus to Epcot for the first part of our day. We arrived at Epcot a little before noon. We were late sleepers today. We did a few things in Future World such as Mission Space, Figment, & HISTA before heading over to Sunshine Seasons for some lunch. DH & I had the Asian entrees which were yummy & DS had the mac&cheese. I had the Strawberry Shortcake for dessert, DH had a brownie. Love the dessert selections here. We were eating pretty late for lunch so we had no problem finding a table. We headed to the bus stop back to the room after this. We changed clothes & then caught the bus over to the Studios. We rode Tower of Terror and then strolled around the park before our dinner reservation. Noticed tremendous difference in waits here versus MK on the previous night. Caught up with our favorite Street Performers (Mulch, Sweat & Shears) for their performance before dinner at the 50's Prime Time. ADR's were at 7:30. Arrived right on time, but had to wait a few minutes for our table. DH & I had the fried chicken here & DS had the hot dog, The chicken was the best fried chicken I've had in a long time!!!! Very juicy! Service here was a little slow. We waited for refills on our drinks, and to place our order for dessert. We wound up just ordering milkshakes to go for dessert because we felt like we were wasting park time. We didn't leave here till after 9pm! We strolled around the park, disappointed with all the wait times & then got in line for TSM just before park closing. Posted wait time said 90 minutes but was actually only about 30. I think they do this to discourage people from getting in that line! Anyway, the ride was well worth the wait!
Day 4, January 6 - Animal Kingdom
We discovered that we had not one but 2 headlights out after MK the first night, so we went to a nearby Walmart to pick up some before heading to the parks today. We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 11 for the day. We had very short waits here today as well. Went straight into the next showing of Nemo and got great seats down front. This was our first time seeing this show, and we all loved it! Had lunch at the Restaurantosaurus. We all had cheeseburgers here & carrot cake for dessert. We did Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, then headed to the safari. Later got fastpasses for Everest. This was DH & DS first time on it. DS didn't like it but he did ride it! Headed over to the Dig Site for DS to play as this is his favorite playground in all of Disney. After playing & digging for a while, we headed out of the park just before close. Went back to the resort for a rest before heading to our ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe. We had 8:30 reservations and arrived at the GF just before 8pm. We headed down to the dock to catch Wishes before we went to our meal. This was a very delicious meal!!! Loved the wheat/berry bread, but not the sourdough. DH had the New York Strip with fries, DS had the kids steak, & I had the Mahi-Mahi. YUMMY all around the table! For dessert I had the cheesecake, DH had the chocolate mousse cake. DS had the ice cream of course! After dinner we walked back to our car, which we self-parked at the GF, and headed back to the room to turn in early.