Joannelet
12-11-2009, 05:07 PM
So this is my follow up after my pre trip report! I am sad to be home from the happiest place on earth but I get to relive it again through my report so here it goes!
We arrived in WDW on Dec 2nd after our drive from NJ. Again to review it was me, my DS who just turned 1, my hubby, and my mom and dad.
We checked in at Saratoga Springs Resort (our DVC home resort) We unpacked into our 2 bedroom villa which was really nice. We loved our room. Once unpacked we went to eat at the Orlando Ale House and headed to DTD for some shopping.
Dec. 3rd, we woke up early and went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Crowds were not that bad. We immediately headed to Toy Story Mania. We got fast passes and then got on line to ride it 2x's. After riding we met up with some friends who were also there. We all went on the Backlot Tour. My parents haven't been on this in years and loved it.
We walked around a little bit more and then ate lunch at Sci Fi Dine in theater. We bought into the dining plan this time (our first) but decided to pay cash here so that we could use our table services for the other 7 restaurants that we were eating at. My favorite snack in DHS was the chocolate muffin at Starring Rolls.
My husband and I decided to get on line for Rock n Roller Coaster....There was a 50 minute wait. After being on line for over 50 minutes, I saw someone famous walk into the fast pass line with the Disney VIP people. (I do not know who it was some guy with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail...he had big sunglasses on)
Seconds later they make an announcement that the whole ride was shut down.....so we got off line since we had to go to head to Epcot for our later dinner reservations and didn't want to spend the whole day in Hollywood Studios. (not sure if the ride was really shut down or if they shut it down because of who was on it....it may have been just a coincedence)
We later went to Epcot and went to the Very Member Mixer (for DVC members) This was soo much fun!!! Characters were there, we got some wonderful pictures! FREE snacks, water, and cider. There was music and dancing. When we left we got an ornament. We had a wonderful time. We had dinner at Teppan Edo (everyone's first time) This place was GREAT!!! We had such a great time and the food was DELICIOUS! Our chef was Kenta. He was extremely funny! We highly recommend this place.
After this we headed to our hotel. I have to say the bus service was horrendous. It was very cold. My dad walks pretty slow so by the time we got out of the park, illuminations had just ended and of course the whole park was then trying to get their buses. My 1 year old was eventually sleeping and after a 15 minute wait for ANY bus to come to our stop, we had 2 ECV's that had to board ahead of us (mind you it is FREEZING). The 2 ECV's board (took about 10 minutes) and the people on them walk to their seats. We all board. For some reason the bus driver never shut the back door. Once we were all boarded she tried to shut it and it wouldn't shut. During this time the 2 women that were on the ECV's start talking to my dad. THey tell him that they did the Segway Tour that day in Epcot and it was wonderful. (they rented the ECV's because they don't like walking long distances) My dad was not happy....why do people abuse the ECV situation? There are people that really NEED it. 45 MINUTES LATER a techie comes and gets the DOOR to shut for 2 ECV's that boarded for 2 people that didn't even NEED THEM! IT took us 2 hours to get to our hotel that night. Needless to say we drove the rest of the week.
Dec 4th: Forecast was RAIN. I met up at DTD with a family that I hadn't seen in 2 years. We went to the lego store and grabbed something to eat. After we were done eating it was DOWNPOURING rain!!! This put a damper on the rest of the day...you can't do much with a 1 year old in the rain. This night we had dinner at Kona at the Polynesian. Another place I highly recommend. We were going to head to the Contemporary and GF to see the Christmas stuff there but there was a 1 hour wait to get the monorail.....plus again downpour so we decided to go home afterwards.
December 5th. My mom and I got up at 5am and got to DTD at 5:30am for the annual passes and DVC member Shopping Event at WOD store. THis was sooo much fun!!! They had discounts on select items at such great PRICES and we got a free vinylmation. It was well worth getting up that early for!
We then went for breakfast at our hotel and then it got really really cold. We went to DHS again and did American Idol. Since it was cold after we did that my parents decided to take the baby back with them to the hotel and my hubby and I headed out in the rain to Epcot. We did some more rides there that we can't do w/ the baby and then it started to clear up and ended up doing 2 countries with the Kim Possible Mission thing...this was hysterical and we had such a great time!!! We did China and Norway. There were too many people doing it so it cut us off at the end of our 2nd country or we would have done one more.
We met my mom and dad in Italy they were eating at Tutto Italia that night with the baby while my hubby and I were having a meal to ourselves that night at YS. My mom and dad had a bad experience at TI. My hubby and I had a wonderful experience at YS. Our waiter David was wonderful and the food was out of this world!
We met up afterwards and we did Test Track with my dad.
Dec 6th Breakfast at GF at 1900 park fair (loved it!!!) My DS1 loved the characters. The food was DELICIOUS. We will definitely be doing this one again. we headed to MK and we walked in and the Jonas brothers were performing for the Christmas parade. I got to tape them and take some pics of them for my niece (who am I kidding..I acted like a teenager and was screaming for them LOL)
We did some character meetings and watched some of the parade taping...this was hysterical to watch since there was so much downtown in between takes that the characters were so amusing to watch......We then met up with my cousin and her friend and went on its a small world which was a 40 minute wait. I don't think I will ever go to WDW during the parade taping again. It was just too much CHAOS everywhere and SOOO MANY PEOPLE. It wasn't enjoyable. I think I got yelled at about 10 times from cast members because I was standing in the wrong place or going in the wrong direction due to the taping. I'm not a fan of not being able to walk around MK where I want to or when I want to get somewhere...its hard to do all this with a stroller and 6 adults.
I had my first dole whip float. I absolutely LOVED IT!!!
We left MK and went to Epcot for our dinner at Garden Grill. We asked to add my cousin and friend onto our ressie and they did so without a problem. I liked it here...not sure I'd do it again but it was cute and the food was good.
We then went on Soarin and then we headed to DHS for the osborne lights. Of course we loved this!!!! all in all it was a great day!
Dec 7th. ah, lo and behold the crowds have left!!! Animal Kingdom was wonderful. We did everything with NO wait!!! Ate breakfast at Tusker House. The whole waiting thing there is always so not fun. I don't know why animal kingdom can't get their ressie situation under control....but they haven't been able to do this for years now. They are always an hour behind....not much of a selection food wise again GF 1900 park fair is a high priority character breakfast for us now)
We spent the entire day and night here (EMH that evening here)
We headed home at closing and the baby had an early night. :) He was a happy camper. :)
Next day (our last) went to MK. AGAIN NO WAIT on anything!!! We did everything here. :) Saw Julianne Moore and her family get onto Buzz Lightyear Ride. :) that was fun.
We had a wonderful end to our trip. We also did the lighting of the castle that night. OMG was that beautiful!!!! Its beyond words.
All in all it was a great trip. We made some very good memories!!! :)
But I will not be going to WDW during the 1st week of December again .....its way too crowded now.....we always did this week but I think this is defiinitely our last.
Also, no more dining plan. Just can't eat that much. So its not worth it for my family to use all those counter services on top of the table services and snacks. I also think I am done with doing that many table services. Maybe 2 or 3 during the week...otherwise they take over the whole trip and I dont' want it to only be about the food now that we have a child.
One thing I have to rave about here is the Baby Centers. MY gosh these are a godsend!! I am a germaphobe and they are the cleanest and quietest places! I wish there were more of them in each park! My husband even loved going in them and that is saying A LOT!!! it was such a great place so I thank Disney a million and one times for having these!!! :)
Disney at Christmas is wonderful. I was in the candlelight processional in 1998 when I was a cast member so even though we didn't do it this time I highly recommend this show. I could hear it when i was walking around Epcot and happily sang the tunes as they were sung :)
But please if you are headed to the world do not miss this show. Its beautiful. If you are there for Brian Dennehy narrating it OMG you are soo lucky!!! He was my favorite narrator when I performed in it and I am jealous if you get to see him do it!! He is the best!!!
Thanks for reading my trip report!! :)
We arrived in WDW on Dec 2nd after our drive from NJ. Again to review it was me, my DS who just turned 1, my hubby, and my mom and dad.
We checked in at Saratoga Springs Resort (our DVC home resort) We unpacked into our 2 bedroom villa which was really nice. We loved our room. Once unpacked we went to eat at the Orlando Ale House and headed to DTD for some shopping.
Dec. 3rd, we woke up early and went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. Crowds were not that bad. We immediately headed to Toy Story Mania. We got fast passes and then got on line to ride it 2x's. After riding we met up with some friends who were also there. We all went on the Backlot Tour. My parents haven't been on this in years and loved it.
We walked around a little bit more and then ate lunch at Sci Fi Dine in theater. We bought into the dining plan this time (our first) but decided to pay cash here so that we could use our table services for the other 7 restaurants that we were eating at. My favorite snack in DHS was the chocolate muffin at Starring Rolls.
My husband and I decided to get on line for Rock n Roller Coaster....There was a 50 minute wait. After being on line for over 50 minutes, I saw someone famous walk into the fast pass line with the Disney VIP people. (I do not know who it was some guy with blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail...he had big sunglasses on)
Seconds later they make an announcement that the whole ride was shut down.....so we got off line since we had to go to head to Epcot for our later dinner reservations and didn't want to spend the whole day in Hollywood Studios. (not sure if the ride was really shut down or if they shut it down because of who was on it....it may have been just a coincedence)
We later went to Epcot and went to the Very Member Mixer (for DVC members) This was soo much fun!!! Characters were there, we got some wonderful pictures! FREE snacks, water, and cider. There was music and dancing. When we left we got an ornament. We had a wonderful time. We had dinner at Teppan Edo (everyone's first time) This place was GREAT!!! We had such a great time and the food was DELICIOUS! Our chef was Kenta. He was extremely funny! We highly recommend this place.
After this we headed to our hotel. I have to say the bus service was horrendous. It was very cold. My dad walks pretty slow so by the time we got out of the park, illuminations had just ended and of course the whole park was then trying to get their buses. My 1 year old was eventually sleeping and after a 15 minute wait for ANY bus to come to our stop, we had 2 ECV's that had to board ahead of us (mind you it is FREEZING). The 2 ECV's board (took about 10 minutes) and the people on them walk to their seats. We all board. For some reason the bus driver never shut the back door. Once we were all boarded she tried to shut it and it wouldn't shut. During this time the 2 women that were on the ECV's start talking to my dad. THey tell him that they did the Segway Tour that day in Epcot and it was wonderful. (they rented the ECV's because they don't like walking long distances) My dad was not happy....why do people abuse the ECV situation? There are people that really NEED it. 45 MINUTES LATER a techie comes and gets the DOOR to shut for 2 ECV's that boarded for 2 people that didn't even NEED THEM! IT took us 2 hours to get to our hotel that night. Needless to say we drove the rest of the week.
Dec 4th: Forecast was RAIN. I met up at DTD with a family that I hadn't seen in 2 years. We went to the lego store and grabbed something to eat. After we were done eating it was DOWNPOURING rain!!! This put a damper on the rest of the day...you can't do much with a 1 year old in the rain. This night we had dinner at Kona at the Polynesian. Another place I highly recommend. We were going to head to the Contemporary and GF to see the Christmas stuff there but there was a 1 hour wait to get the monorail.....plus again downpour so we decided to go home afterwards.
December 5th. My mom and I got up at 5am and got to DTD at 5:30am for the annual passes and DVC member Shopping Event at WOD store. THis was sooo much fun!!! They had discounts on select items at such great PRICES and we got a free vinylmation. It was well worth getting up that early for!
We then went for breakfast at our hotel and then it got really really cold. We went to DHS again and did American Idol. Since it was cold after we did that my parents decided to take the baby back with them to the hotel and my hubby and I headed out in the rain to Epcot. We did some more rides there that we can't do w/ the baby and then it started to clear up and ended up doing 2 countries with the Kim Possible Mission thing...this was hysterical and we had such a great time!!! We did China and Norway. There were too many people doing it so it cut us off at the end of our 2nd country or we would have done one more.
We met my mom and dad in Italy they were eating at Tutto Italia that night with the baby while my hubby and I were having a meal to ourselves that night at YS. My mom and dad had a bad experience at TI. My hubby and I had a wonderful experience at YS. Our waiter David was wonderful and the food was out of this world!
We met up afterwards and we did Test Track with my dad.
Dec 6th Breakfast at GF at 1900 park fair (loved it!!!) My DS1 loved the characters. The food was DELICIOUS. We will definitely be doing this one again. we headed to MK and we walked in and the Jonas brothers were performing for the Christmas parade. I got to tape them and take some pics of them for my niece (who am I kidding..I acted like a teenager and was screaming for them LOL)
We did some character meetings and watched some of the parade taping...this was hysterical to watch since there was so much downtown in between takes that the characters were so amusing to watch......We then met up with my cousin and her friend and went on its a small world which was a 40 minute wait. I don't think I will ever go to WDW during the parade taping again. It was just too much CHAOS everywhere and SOOO MANY PEOPLE. It wasn't enjoyable. I think I got yelled at about 10 times from cast members because I was standing in the wrong place or going in the wrong direction due to the taping. I'm not a fan of not being able to walk around MK where I want to or when I want to get somewhere...its hard to do all this with a stroller and 6 adults.
I had my first dole whip float. I absolutely LOVED IT!!!
We left MK and went to Epcot for our dinner at Garden Grill. We asked to add my cousin and friend onto our ressie and they did so without a problem. I liked it here...not sure I'd do it again but it was cute and the food was good.
We then went on Soarin and then we headed to DHS for the osborne lights. Of course we loved this!!!! all in all it was a great day!
Dec 7th. ah, lo and behold the crowds have left!!! Animal Kingdom was wonderful. We did everything with NO wait!!! Ate breakfast at Tusker House. The whole waiting thing there is always so not fun. I don't know why animal kingdom can't get their ressie situation under control....but they haven't been able to do this for years now. They are always an hour behind....not much of a selection food wise again GF 1900 park fair is a high priority character breakfast for us now)
We spent the entire day and night here (EMH that evening here)
We headed home at closing and the baby had an early night. :) He was a happy camper. :)
Next day (our last) went to MK. AGAIN NO WAIT on anything!!! We did everything here. :) Saw Julianne Moore and her family get onto Buzz Lightyear Ride. :) that was fun.
We had a wonderful end to our trip. We also did the lighting of the castle that night. OMG was that beautiful!!!! Its beyond words.
All in all it was a great trip. We made some very good memories!!! :)
But I will not be going to WDW during the 1st week of December again .....its way too crowded now.....we always did this week but I think this is defiinitely our last.
Also, no more dining plan. Just can't eat that much. So its not worth it for my family to use all those counter services on top of the table services and snacks. I also think I am done with doing that many table services. Maybe 2 or 3 during the week...otherwise they take over the whole trip and I dont' want it to only be about the food now that we have a child.
One thing I have to rave about here is the Baby Centers. MY gosh these are a godsend!! I am a germaphobe and they are the cleanest and quietest places! I wish there were more of them in each park! My husband even loved going in them and that is saying A LOT!!! it was such a great place so I thank Disney a million and one times for having these!!! :)
Disney at Christmas is wonderful. I was in the candlelight processional in 1998 when I was a cast member so even though we didn't do it this time I highly recommend this show. I could hear it when i was walking around Epcot and happily sang the tunes as they were sung :)
But please if you are headed to the world do not miss this show. Its beautiful. If you are there for Brian Dennehy narrating it OMG you are soo lucky!!! He was my favorite narrator when I performed in it and I am jealous if you get to see him do it!! He is the best!!!
Thanks for reading my trip report!! :)