disneynarula
11-07-2012, 04:04 AM
I am too jet lagged and too into my post disney blues to do a detailed report but here is a quick re cap of our last week. I am not proof reading it so excuse the grammar.I am not going to bog it down with the dining reviews. Look for those in the dining forum.
Cast:
Me
DH
DSs (6 and 9)
DD (2.5)
Step MIL (Just MIL to me, really)
We spent the second week on our trip on-property at Art of Animation. The kids loved the theming. I was not a big fan but will do a better review in the accomomdations section.
We had seven day park hoppers and used them all. We also had the water parks and more options.
Friday- Checked into AoA. Keys did not work to get into the room. Mousekeeping let us in to the room.Went back to the desk and had them rekeyed. We spent the afternoon at DHS. We rode all the key attractions except for TSM. We had dinner at the Captain's Grille. After dinner we went back to Art of Animation. The keys still did not work. This time someone from the front desk came with us to the room to make sure they worked.
Saturday- DH and DS slept in and the rest of us took the resort bus to the MK. Halfway there I realized the DH had everyone's park hoppers. We did an early ticket pick up and our tickers were not on our KTTW. We had to wait for DH to come. I should have just taken the bus back. It took him an hour and a half to get to the MK by car. Someone was hosting an event at the Grand Floridian and paid to have monorail shut down. Line for the ferry was 45 minutes. Despite the late start we had a great day at the Magic Kingdom. The evening ended with dinner at Kona Cafe.
Sunday- Fab morning at the Magic Kingdom. No line was longer than thirty minutes. We rode almost everything and then spent the rest of the day at Epcot. The boys loved doing the Agent P Adventure. I met up with a friend of mine from Maryland that moved to Tampa a few years ago. It was awesome seeing her again. It was like our DSs(8) were never apart. We had a great day with our friends.
Monday-DD and I had breakfast at Cape May with MIL. DD was very cute. She loved the characters and would scream with delight every time she saw one. Spent the morning at Epcot. It was not very crowded and we managed to see mostly everything. We had lunch at the Tangerine Cafe. We ended the evening with dinner at Boma. I took DS(8) to the EMH at the Magic Kingdom. We stayed the whole time and loved it. We don't get time alone together very often.
Tuesday- Great day at the Magic KIngdom with very short lines. Lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe. We had dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Express. DD, MIL and I did some shopping and then went back to the room. DH took the boys to Disney Quest. The boys loved it. DH was not impressed.
Wednesday- Great day at the Animal Kingdom. No waits for anything. Saw Nemo for the first time and loved it! Lunch at Saana. Dinner at Captain's Grille.
Thursday-Hollywood Studios. Got there shortly after opening and got a fastpass for TSM. We got in the standby line and rode TSM. We had lunch at two different places. Backlot express was not allergy friendly at all. Rode most the rides without any wait lines. We had dinner at Boma again. We were supposed to eat at Marrakesh but did not want to go to Epcot in the pouring rain just to eat dinner. On a good note this was the only real rain we saw on the trip.
Friday-We packed up and checked out of AoA.Spent the morning at MK. Our flight was delayed so we got to spend almost the whole day there. Besides a short cloudburst the rain held off.
Getting out of Orlando: We got to the airport and boared the plane four hours after the initial departure time. After about 45 minutes of flying DH notices that the plane is turning around on his flight tracker. Sure enough the captain comes on and says that they never fixed the de icer on the winshield (the reason for the deley)and we have to turn around and land in Orlando where it is warmer. We landed, got our new boarding passes and were on our way to RDU again. We were supposed to get in at 6:30 and actually got there at 12:30 the next day. We were really sad because we were flying to North Carolina to see family we have not seen in three years. We had to miss the big dinner they held for us.
Furthermore, everything in our suitcases was soaked from sitting out in the rain on the taramac. I had to put everything in the dryer and was up until 3:00 dealing with it. DH was able to take the boys to a Wolfpack game but I had to leave that morning to visit my sister in Texas.
Final Thoughts: We had a great trip. It was everything that I wished for. We took it at a decent pace and did not push the kids to stay up too late.
We loved MNNSHP, something I was unsure about. We go to see the New Fantasyland! I will forever cherish spending time at EMH with DS. DD was cute as she could be, seeing it all for the first time.
I can't wait to go back again.
However...I grew up going to Disney, and pretty much only Disney for vacations. Living overseas has given me a new perspective for travel. I think it is important for the kids to have a variety of travel experiences, even when we are forced to keep our travel within the USA. I will probably keep the WDW trip to every three years or so.
Cast:
Me
DH
DSs (6 and 9)
DD (2.5)
Step MIL (Just MIL to me, really)
We spent the second week on our trip on-property at Art of Animation. The kids loved the theming. I was not a big fan but will do a better review in the accomomdations section.
We had seven day park hoppers and used them all. We also had the water parks and more options.
Friday- Checked into AoA. Keys did not work to get into the room. Mousekeeping let us in to the room.Went back to the desk and had them rekeyed. We spent the afternoon at DHS. We rode all the key attractions except for TSM. We had dinner at the Captain's Grille. After dinner we went back to Art of Animation. The keys still did not work. This time someone from the front desk came with us to the room to make sure they worked.
Saturday- DH and DS slept in and the rest of us took the resort bus to the MK. Halfway there I realized the DH had everyone's park hoppers. We did an early ticket pick up and our tickers were not on our KTTW. We had to wait for DH to come. I should have just taken the bus back. It took him an hour and a half to get to the MK by car. Someone was hosting an event at the Grand Floridian and paid to have monorail shut down. Line for the ferry was 45 minutes. Despite the late start we had a great day at the Magic Kingdom. The evening ended with dinner at Kona Cafe.
Sunday- Fab morning at the Magic Kingdom. No line was longer than thirty minutes. We rode almost everything and then spent the rest of the day at Epcot. The boys loved doing the Agent P Adventure. I met up with a friend of mine from Maryland that moved to Tampa a few years ago. It was awesome seeing her again. It was like our DSs(8) were never apart. We had a great day with our friends.
Monday-DD and I had breakfast at Cape May with MIL. DD was very cute. She loved the characters and would scream with delight every time she saw one. Spent the morning at Epcot. It was not very crowded and we managed to see mostly everything. We had lunch at the Tangerine Cafe. We ended the evening with dinner at Boma. I took DS(8) to the EMH at the Magic Kingdom. We stayed the whole time and loved it. We don't get time alone together very often.
Tuesday- Great day at the Magic KIngdom with very short lines. Lunch at Grand Floridian Cafe. We had dinner at the Wolfgang Puck Express. DD, MIL and I did some shopping and then went back to the room. DH took the boys to Disney Quest. The boys loved it. DH was not impressed.
Wednesday- Great day at the Animal Kingdom. No waits for anything. Saw Nemo for the first time and loved it! Lunch at Saana. Dinner at Captain's Grille.
Thursday-Hollywood Studios. Got there shortly after opening and got a fastpass for TSM. We got in the standby line and rode TSM. We had lunch at two different places. Backlot express was not allergy friendly at all. Rode most the rides without any wait lines. We had dinner at Boma again. We were supposed to eat at Marrakesh but did not want to go to Epcot in the pouring rain just to eat dinner. On a good note this was the only real rain we saw on the trip.
Friday-We packed up and checked out of AoA.Spent the morning at MK. Our flight was delayed so we got to spend almost the whole day there. Besides a short cloudburst the rain held off.
Getting out of Orlando: We got to the airport and boared the plane four hours after the initial departure time. After about 45 minutes of flying DH notices that the plane is turning around on his flight tracker. Sure enough the captain comes on and says that they never fixed the de icer on the winshield (the reason for the deley)and we have to turn around and land in Orlando where it is warmer. We landed, got our new boarding passes and were on our way to RDU again. We were supposed to get in at 6:30 and actually got there at 12:30 the next day. We were really sad because we were flying to North Carolina to see family we have not seen in three years. We had to miss the big dinner they held for us.
Furthermore, everything in our suitcases was soaked from sitting out in the rain on the taramac. I had to put everything in the dryer and was up until 3:00 dealing with it. DH was able to take the boys to a Wolfpack game but I had to leave that morning to visit my sister in Texas.
Final Thoughts: We had a great trip. It was everything that I wished for. We took it at a decent pace and did not push the kids to stay up too late.
We loved MNNSHP, something I was unsure about. We go to see the New Fantasyland! I will forever cherish spending time at EMH with DS. DD was cute as she could be, seeing it all for the first time.
I can't wait to go back again.
However...I grew up going to Disney, and pretty much only Disney for vacations. Living overseas has given me a new perspective for travel. I think it is important for the kids to have a variety of travel experiences, even when we are forced to keep our travel within the USA. I will probably keep the WDW trip to every three years or so.