Strmchsr
05-10-2009, 03:22 PM
Dates: May 2-9, 2009
Cast: Me, DW, DS8, DS3, DM
Well, this trip completed our cycle. We had been to WDW during every season multiple times, except during the F&GF at Epcot. We always heard early May was a good time to visit so we decided to give it a shot this year. I'll be posting my pics on my Facebook page for those of you who are with me on there.
Celebrations: Since the theme is "What Will You Celebrate" we were celebrating 4 things. First, DS3 hit 40" which opened up a whole new world of rides to him. He loved every one of them, but especially Test Track. Second, we celebrated DS8 getting his black belt a couple of weeks ago in Taekwondo. 2 1/2 years of hard work deserved to be celebrated. Third, DW & I celebrated our 13th anniversary. We honeymooned in WDW 13 years ago in a couple of weeks. Finally, and most importantly, it was 3 years ago this weekend that DS8 was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and we almost lost him. He had a blood sugar level of 2000 when he was admitted to the hospital and the doctors didn't think he'd survive. So, we celebrated 3 years of life, shots and all.
Resort: I like all the value resorts for various reasons, so I didn't care where we stayed. DM and DS3 both wanted Pop Century, so that's where we ended up. DM likes all the references she grew up with and DS3 likes the huge Lady & Tramp, Baloo, and Mickey phone. He had to visit each one of those every morning and evening. As always, a very enjoyable resort. We were in the 70s building and liked it. A little far from the parking lot, but that only mattered when we were loading and unloading. I will say this, I was impressed at how well people now seemed to be following the smoking rule. Previous visits I had been very frustrated and people smoking all over the place, but this time I only saw 2-3 people smoking any place other than the designated locations. That was much appreciated. Pop's food court is my least favorite of the values and feels the most crowded, but that's my only complaint.
Crowds: I, like everyone else, was anxious about this because of Touring Plans raising their crowd calendar to predictions of 8-9 during our vacation from the 4-5 previously predicted. We never saw a 9, I'm thankful to say. However, we did see levels of 7 and 8. Not constantly, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds, but I did see standby lines at Test Track of 120 min on Thursday with Soarin at 95 and all Fastpasses gone on both before lunch. The popular attractions at MK (BTMRR, Splash, Pooh, Peter Pan, etc) were running around a level 6 most days. Sometimes only a 5. However, POTC and HM usually stayed at 15-20 min waits and sometimes were basically walk-on. DHS was at a 6. I'd say overall crowd levels would have averaged 6.5 for the week. So, crowded, but not as bad as predicted. We used Fastpass and were easily able to ride everything we wanted.
Weather: HOT! 90-95 for the week. The problem is Orlando is going through a small drought right now. Because the ground is so dry it heats up very easily. So, between 11 am and 4 pm it was fairly unbearable in the direct sun. The good part was that because of the dryness the humidity (by Orlando standards) was pretty low so it was okay in the shade and once the sea breeze kicked in around 5 pm the temps actually became comfortable. Nights were downright pleasant. If you can survive the late morning/early afternoon you'll be okay. Until Orlando gets some significant rain, though, expect higher than normal temps.
Special Events: I won't bore you with the details of our trip. We did all the parks and all of our favorite rides, but the highlights were the special events. The whole family did the Behind the Seeds tour at the Land. I would highly recommend that. Very informative. On Thursday Caleb (DS8) and I did the Aqua Seas Tour at the Seas with Nemo and Friends. We want to do the Divequest, but while Caleb has his scuba ranger certification (up to 25 feet) he had to be 10 to do it. So, we did the Aqua Tour. Being able to swim in the Seas aquarium and get up close and personal with all of the sharks and sea turtles was incredibly cool. And, though we are certified, you don't have to have any scuba or snorkeling training to do it. They give you a vest to keep you on the surface and a scuba-like regulator. Plus you get a complete behind-the-scenes tour of the Seas before spending 30 min in the water. Another special event was set up by a good friend. One of our good friends plays Indiana Jones in the stunt show at DHS and his wife sometimes plays the casting directer. They set it up so we had the VIP seating for the stunt show then my boys got to be the junior directors. Afterwards we got pics backstage with everyone and got a tour of the show. Very, very cool. They also set it up so Caleb was picked for the Jedi Academy and after the show we were taken backstage for a one-on-one meet and greet with Darth Vader (no, he wouldn't sign our autograph book, but he did let us have a pic), the storm troopers, and the Jedi Master and Padawan. That was a great experience and we're really grateful to our friends for setting that up. Those are memories we'll never forget. We also did the Tea Tour at England and the Perfume Tour at France as part of the Flower and Garden Festival. I don't care anything about perfume, and very little about tea, but the tours were fascinating. Just goes to show you can always learn at WDW! For Mother's Day I treated DM and DW to the Tea at the GF resort. They both enjoyed it a lot, though DW said it was a little too "froo-froo" for her and she thought she'd fit better at the Mad Hatter tea party next time.
Dining: This time we ate at Whispering Canyon, Tony's (first time), Teppan Edo, Prime Time Cafe, Le Cellier, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and Rose & Crown. Every meal had wonderful food, and we had a lot of fun at each one. The only bad experience was very poor wait service at Chef Mickey's. The food was good, though. The rest of our favorites delivered great experiences as always, and DW had me take a pic of her dessert each night as it was her favorite part of the meal. :D We had always gotten steak at WC, but this time we got the skillet. I will definitely be getting the skillet from now on!!!
I think that sums up our trip, though fire away if you have any questions. Looking forward to my next trip, which will be the Disney Institute for leadership training in January then back with the family to POFQ in Nov 2010.
Cast: Me, DW, DS8, DS3, DM
Well, this trip completed our cycle. We had been to WDW during every season multiple times, except during the F&GF at Epcot. We always heard early May was a good time to visit so we decided to give it a shot this year. I'll be posting my pics on my Facebook page for those of you who are with me on there.
Celebrations: Since the theme is "What Will You Celebrate" we were celebrating 4 things. First, DS3 hit 40" which opened up a whole new world of rides to him. He loved every one of them, but especially Test Track. Second, we celebrated DS8 getting his black belt a couple of weeks ago in Taekwondo. 2 1/2 years of hard work deserved to be celebrated. Third, DW & I celebrated our 13th anniversary. We honeymooned in WDW 13 years ago in a couple of weeks. Finally, and most importantly, it was 3 years ago this weekend that DS8 was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes and we almost lost him. He had a blood sugar level of 2000 when he was admitted to the hospital and the doctors didn't think he'd survive. So, we celebrated 3 years of life, shots and all.
Resort: I like all the value resorts for various reasons, so I didn't care where we stayed. DM and DS3 both wanted Pop Century, so that's where we ended up. DM likes all the references she grew up with and DS3 likes the huge Lady & Tramp, Baloo, and Mickey phone. He had to visit each one of those every morning and evening. As always, a very enjoyable resort. We were in the 70s building and liked it. A little far from the parking lot, but that only mattered when we were loading and unloading. I will say this, I was impressed at how well people now seemed to be following the smoking rule. Previous visits I had been very frustrated and people smoking all over the place, but this time I only saw 2-3 people smoking any place other than the designated locations. That was much appreciated. Pop's food court is my least favorite of the values and feels the most crowded, but that's my only complaint.
Crowds: I, like everyone else, was anxious about this because of Touring Plans raising their crowd calendar to predictions of 8-9 during our vacation from the 4-5 previously predicted. We never saw a 9, I'm thankful to say. However, we did see levels of 7 and 8. Not constantly, so it wasn't as bad as it sounds, but I did see standby lines at Test Track of 120 min on Thursday with Soarin at 95 and all Fastpasses gone on both before lunch. The popular attractions at MK (BTMRR, Splash, Pooh, Peter Pan, etc) were running around a level 6 most days. Sometimes only a 5. However, POTC and HM usually stayed at 15-20 min waits and sometimes were basically walk-on. DHS was at a 6. I'd say overall crowd levels would have averaged 6.5 for the week. So, crowded, but not as bad as predicted. We used Fastpass and were easily able to ride everything we wanted.
Weather: HOT! 90-95 for the week. The problem is Orlando is going through a small drought right now. Because the ground is so dry it heats up very easily. So, between 11 am and 4 pm it was fairly unbearable in the direct sun. The good part was that because of the dryness the humidity (by Orlando standards) was pretty low so it was okay in the shade and once the sea breeze kicked in around 5 pm the temps actually became comfortable. Nights were downright pleasant. If you can survive the late morning/early afternoon you'll be okay. Until Orlando gets some significant rain, though, expect higher than normal temps.
Special Events: I won't bore you with the details of our trip. We did all the parks and all of our favorite rides, but the highlights were the special events. The whole family did the Behind the Seeds tour at the Land. I would highly recommend that. Very informative. On Thursday Caleb (DS8) and I did the Aqua Seas Tour at the Seas with Nemo and Friends. We want to do the Divequest, but while Caleb has his scuba ranger certification (up to 25 feet) he had to be 10 to do it. So, we did the Aqua Tour. Being able to swim in the Seas aquarium and get up close and personal with all of the sharks and sea turtles was incredibly cool. And, though we are certified, you don't have to have any scuba or snorkeling training to do it. They give you a vest to keep you on the surface and a scuba-like regulator. Plus you get a complete behind-the-scenes tour of the Seas before spending 30 min in the water. Another special event was set up by a good friend. One of our good friends plays Indiana Jones in the stunt show at DHS and his wife sometimes plays the casting directer. They set it up so we had the VIP seating for the stunt show then my boys got to be the junior directors. Afterwards we got pics backstage with everyone and got a tour of the show. Very, very cool. They also set it up so Caleb was picked for the Jedi Academy and after the show we were taken backstage for a one-on-one meet and greet with Darth Vader (no, he wouldn't sign our autograph book, but he did let us have a pic), the storm troopers, and the Jedi Master and Padawan. That was a great experience and we're really grateful to our friends for setting that up. Those are memories we'll never forget. We also did the Tea Tour at England and the Perfume Tour at France as part of the Flower and Garden Festival. I don't care anything about perfume, and very little about tea, but the tours were fascinating. Just goes to show you can always learn at WDW! For Mother's Day I treated DM and DW to the Tea at the GF resort. They both enjoyed it a lot, though DW said it was a little too "froo-froo" for her and she thought she'd fit better at the Mad Hatter tea party next time.
Dining: This time we ate at Whispering Canyon, Tony's (first time), Teppan Edo, Prime Time Cafe, Le Cellier, Crystal Palace, Chef Mickey's, and Rose & Crown. Every meal had wonderful food, and we had a lot of fun at each one. The only bad experience was very poor wait service at Chef Mickey's. The food was good, though. The rest of our favorites delivered great experiences as always, and DW had me take a pic of her dessert each night as it was her favorite part of the meal. :D We had always gotten steak at WC, but this time we got the skillet. I will definitely be getting the skillet from now on!!!
I think that sums up our trip, though fire away if you have any questions. Looking forward to my next trip, which will be the Disney Institute for leadership training in January then back with the family to POFQ in Nov 2010.