Our Party of 9 Wilderness Trip Report - Part 1

[wildernesslady]

This is my first trip report. After years of reading I am excited to finally be participating.

Dates: March 5 - 11
Where: First night POFQ due to change in flight plans. Then onto a 2 bedroom villa at the Wilderness Lodge. Our home resort.
Who: Myself (45)
My DH (50)
Our 3 DDs (27,25, & 20)
Our DSIL (30) His first trip
Our 3 DGS (8,3, and 8 months) This was the first trip for the 2 youngest grandsons.

Sat, March 5 - We arrived at MCO at 4:30 and were at POFQ by 5:30. This was our first stay here and liked the size of the resort. We did not have a refurbished room and that was fine since we would only be here one night. We took the boat to DD for our reservations at T-Rex. DD was packed. I know better than to go there on a Sat. night, but this was our only available time. All in all it was an easy travel day with the little ones and we were off to a great start.

Sun. March 6 - I headed to the WL while everyone else headed to DHS for ESPN weekend. Check-in at the lodge was smooth and I joined the family about an hour later. They are working on the bus stop at WL so it has been relocated to the parking lot. It was a little inconvenient, but not too bad. DHS was crazy busy this day. I have not seen Disney this busy in years. We were able to do everything we wanted with Fastpass except Toy Story Mania. I guess we have to go back again. Dinner that night was at Prime Time Cafe. I arrived in Disney getting over a stomach bug so I was glad to be able to order something not too exotic. All in all is was a great meal and day.

Mon, March 6 - This was MK day. We took our favorite boat ride over from the lodge. It is so relaxing. This park was packed. It was the trend for the whole week. We had preordered the photopass CD so we had tons of pictures taken. Looking at them now is great. It will be a great value for us. We never made it to fantasyland this day. It was that busy. We did take about an hour away to go to CR for a QS lunch. We just needed a break. We did do all the other major rides with a fastpass. Dinner that night was 'Ohana. The host/hostess kept extending our wait times and we did speak to a manager about this. If it was going to be 45 min late, that's fine, be honest at first. They kept on quoting us different times. Once inside the food and service were excellent. We always enjoy the meal. When talking to the manager, he said they are looking into making 'Ohana more of a dinner show with 3 different seating times. He was hoping it would keep people from overstaying. This is however very long term. We did not leave the restaurant until 11:00 and took a cab back to the resort. It was the best money spent of the trip. It was another great day. We are loving having the first timers with us.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

What time was your Ohana reservation?

[faline]

I've been hearing the parks are quite crowded! Even though you neeed to deal with the crowds, you had a nice few days! It's really fun to be able to travel with your extended family!

[wildernesslady]

What time was your Ohana reservation?

Our reservation was for 8:30. There were many large parties staying for the fireworks and were holding up the parties trying to get seated. I think the new system may work out better, but the manager did say it would not be anytime soon.

[buzznwoodysmom]

We must have hit the parks perfectly. We were in WDW the very same week and every trip report I read says how packed the parks were. We did not find the parks to be all that packed. Ok, I admit there were lots of people, but the lines weren't that long on the days we were in the parks. We never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for anything, and fastpasses were always available, except for Toy Story Maina. We were with a few other families and none of them thought the parks were very crowded, and this is a crew with totals of 14 trips, 9 trips, and 5 trips. I am noticing in reading reports that we didn't go to the same parks as the families in the reports I'm reading. I think we just lucked out. Glad your first few days were great!

[mouseketeer mom]

This is so exciting! Your children and your grandchildren are with you, thats fantastic. I agree about the money well spent at Ohana's, a true treasure in our eyes.

[wildernesslady]

We must have hit the parks perfectly. We were in WDW the very same week and every trip report I read says how packed the parks were. We did not find the parks to be all that packed. Ok, I admit there were lots of people, but the lines weren't that long on the days we were in the parks. We never had to wait more than 10-15 minutes for anything, and fastpasses were always available, except for Toy Story Maina. We were with a few other families and none of them thought the parks were very crowded, and this is a crew with totals of 14 trips, 9 trips, and 5 trips. I am noticing in reading reports that we didn't go to the same parks as the families in the reports I'm reading. I think we just lucked out. Glad your first few days were great!

We did do everything we wanted but for most rides only once. We are accustomed to riding our favorites multiple times. I see you are from Louisianna. We thought the whole state showed up. I did see ahead that it was your school break. Everyone was very friendly though. On Tuesday, Mardi Gras day, all we could see was purple, gold, and green. It was great to see such pride for your state.

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[Joannelet]

What a great family trip! Great first day! I am sure you have made wonderful memories!

[KylesMom]

It's amazing how Disney seems to be recession-proof right now. While the crowds were heavy your first couple of days, it sounds like you still had a great time. What a wonderful family gathering with several newbies! Glad to hear the transition from POFQ to WL was seamless and you were able to rejoin your family quickly.

Couldn't agree more - isn't PhotoPass a gem for family pictures, especially with the pre-order deal? Love it!

We've encountered some difficult waits as well at Ohana. It seems the later the ADR, the further it gets pushed back. I'll be very interested to see what the future brings for this place, as it's a must-do each trip and even without DS participating that much in the games any longer, it is still a 2+ hour meal for us.

Great report! Looking forward to reading more. :mickey:

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report! :smickey:

[yjgirl32]

Great report.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Our reservation was for 8:30. There were many large parties staying for the fireworks and were holding up the parties trying to get seated. I think the new system may work out better, but the manager did say it would not be anytime soon.

Thanks we are trying it next trip. It will be our first visit to Ohana and to WL...Thanks for the report:mickey:

[magicman]

I hate that it was so crowded for you, but I love the fact that you are seeing the magic through all of those young eyes!

Hmmm...I wonder if they have deisgnated shows at O'Hanas if they could charge two Table Services per person. That would cut down on the crowds (and me).

Thanks for the report!