mydisneygirls
09-05-2013, 11:13 AM
This is my first try at this, so bear with me.
Our JetBlue flight was at 7 am and we had to leave the house in time to drive to the express bus to Logan Airport. I’m known for always being late, so we left the house at 3:30 am (with no sleep since Friday night). We arrived in time to catch the 4:30 am bus (it was amazing how many people were on it) and arrived at Terminal C around 5:15 am. My girls can no longer say that I’m always late!!! Okay, next time the 5 am bus will be better. On the positive of getting there so early, there were NO lines at the airport and we got right through. We had a great flight and the flight attendants were awesome. We flew into Tampa because of the cheaper airfare. I always liked Tampa airport because it’s smaller and easy to get around. Rented a car from Hertz because I got a great rate through AAA. The one thing I learned was to inspect the car before driving away with it. There were so many scratches all over the car plus the front had damage so I made them note it so I wouldn’t be responsible.
On the drive up to Orlando, we stopped for a bite to eat. We arrived at WL a little after noon. I booked a standard view as usual. I knew it being August we wouldn't be upgraded like we had in the past but when we got to the room, we had the view of the green roof and service area. I went back down to the lobby, asked how crowded the resort was (told it wasn’t full) and requested a different room. Second room, higher floor looking at the same green roof and service area. Back to lobby to request yet another room. Finally got a room on the 6th floor with a view of the villas and partial main parking lot. I know I only booked a standard view but paying $300 a night, I'd like to look at something more than a green roof and a parking lot with utility vehicles. The atmosphere and views are the reasons I stay at a deluxe resort. Maybe they should build a deck or something to cover up the roof/parking lot….like a big balcony with some sort of water hole like you would find in the mountains with benches and plants around it. Disney should be ashamed of themselves charging what they do for those rooms. Okay, I’ll stop ranting!!!
After dropping our luggage in the room, we headed over to MK. The girls wanted to head straight to Space Mountain but as we passed Mickey’s Philharmonic there wasn’t a wait so we went in. From there we just worked our way around the park. I was expecting extremely hot/humid weather but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that bad. The weather we had here in the Northeast in the beginning of the summer was worse! We had reservation at 1900 Park Fare at 5, so we hopped the monorail over to GF. The entertainment was great, but food wasn’t so much. See my review under dining. After dinner, we headed back over to MK. By about 10 p.m., I was running out of steam so I asked the girls if they wouldn’t mind heading back to the room. They didn’t sleep the night before so our game plan was to get a good night’s rest.
I can’t remember what we did day to day, but we spent one full day at Animal Kingdom which we’ve never done before. What a great day we had. The girls rode Mt Everest I don’t know how many times but I passed since I get sick on it when it starts to go backwards. We saw the Nemo show, It’s Tough to be a Bug and we rode the rapid ride a few times and got completely soaked. This was our first time riding this and we liked it a lot. If you can believe, we never got to the safari which we really like….next time. Oh, and after reading reviews on here about Flame Tree Barbecue, we had to try it. This will now be a must do counter service at AK.
The rest of the week, we park hopped all around. Went to Epcot and had some snacks at the bakery in France. Wow, how different. Somehow I like the old bakery better….just seemed more quaint like a bakery would be in France. Now it seems more commercialized. Anyway, I had a ham and cheese croissant and the girls had pastries. We tasted each other’s and we all thought everything was good. My daughter’s 16th birthday is coming up so we went to the perfume store. After smelling I don’t know how many fragrances, she finally picked out one she liked. She was so happy!!! We rode Soarin and Test Track quite a few times. I like the new Test Track….not that I didn’t like the old one.
I was really surprised that during the whole week we were there (except for the day we left, Sunday, Sept. 1), the crowds/lines weren’t bad at all. I would say the most we waited was about 20 minutes and that was even for Space Mountain. Just about always, we kept getting right back on with no wait. To get a break, I let the girls go on SM while I went over to the Carousel of Progress. The girls were laughing at me about how many times I saw it. Why is it that the ride with the longest wait time is always Peter Pan???? I have to ride it at least once since it brings back memories for me when I used to take my girls on it when they were younger.
Our last night, we made sure we saw the Electrical Parade. It just sealed the icing on the cake for our trip.
Dining: I wrote a couple of review under dining for 1900 Park Fare and Captain’s Grille. 1900 PF --- I can now understand why there are always reservations available here. The entertainment was great but food wasn’t so much. Captain’s Grille --- loved it. We all had steak and it was tender and cooked to perfection. O’Hana, my absolute favorite. This was the only restaurant that we actually had to wait to be seated. All others, 5 to 10 minutes at most. Although I’ve read mixed reviews, we ate at Crystal Palace. I thought it was good (much better than 1900). My girls wanted to do the buffets because they still like getting their pictures taken with the characters. We are at Cape May for the first time, really liked it and will definitely go again. We also liked Chef Mickey’s. I had mentioned in my review of 1900 that I didn’t see the standard chicken nuggets (chicken legs instead). Thought I would mention that I did see them at Chef Mickey’s and Crystal Palace for those of you who have children that it’s the only thing they eat!!
The Sunday we left, we headed over to Downtown Disney. We had the Dining Plan and still had counter service meals and snacks so we stopped at Earl of Sandwich and picked up something for the plane ride home. Left for the airport, caught out 8 p.m. flight, arrived in Boston around 11 and we were back in our house around 12:30 a.m. For those who travel from the Boston area, I found the Logan Express but a great way to avoid driving to and parking at the airport. The bus ran exactly on schedule and the parking rate was much less than the airport.
All in all it was a great trip and can’t wait until our next one.
Our JetBlue flight was at 7 am and we had to leave the house in time to drive to the express bus to Logan Airport. I’m known for always being late, so we left the house at 3:30 am (with no sleep since Friday night). We arrived in time to catch the 4:30 am bus (it was amazing how many people were on it) and arrived at Terminal C around 5:15 am. My girls can no longer say that I’m always late!!! Okay, next time the 5 am bus will be better. On the positive of getting there so early, there were NO lines at the airport and we got right through. We had a great flight and the flight attendants were awesome. We flew into Tampa because of the cheaper airfare. I always liked Tampa airport because it’s smaller and easy to get around. Rented a car from Hertz because I got a great rate through AAA. The one thing I learned was to inspect the car before driving away with it. There were so many scratches all over the car plus the front had damage so I made them note it so I wouldn’t be responsible.
On the drive up to Orlando, we stopped for a bite to eat. We arrived at WL a little after noon. I booked a standard view as usual. I knew it being August we wouldn't be upgraded like we had in the past but when we got to the room, we had the view of the green roof and service area. I went back down to the lobby, asked how crowded the resort was (told it wasn’t full) and requested a different room. Second room, higher floor looking at the same green roof and service area. Back to lobby to request yet another room. Finally got a room on the 6th floor with a view of the villas and partial main parking lot. I know I only booked a standard view but paying $300 a night, I'd like to look at something more than a green roof and a parking lot with utility vehicles. The atmosphere and views are the reasons I stay at a deluxe resort. Maybe they should build a deck or something to cover up the roof/parking lot….like a big balcony with some sort of water hole like you would find in the mountains with benches and plants around it. Disney should be ashamed of themselves charging what they do for those rooms. Okay, I’ll stop ranting!!!
After dropping our luggage in the room, we headed over to MK. The girls wanted to head straight to Space Mountain but as we passed Mickey’s Philharmonic there wasn’t a wait so we went in. From there we just worked our way around the park. I was expecting extremely hot/humid weather but was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that bad. The weather we had here in the Northeast in the beginning of the summer was worse! We had reservation at 1900 Park Fare at 5, so we hopped the monorail over to GF. The entertainment was great, but food wasn’t so much. See my review under dining. After dinner, we headed back over to MK. By about 10 p.m., I was running out of steam so I asked the girls if they wouldn’t mind heading back to the room. They didn’t sleep the night before so our game plan was to get a good night’s rest.
I can’t remember what we did day to day, but we spent one full day at Animal Kingdom which we’ve never done before. What a great day we had. The girls rode Mt Everest I don’t know how many times but I passed since I get sick on it when it starts to go backwards. We saw the Nemo show, It’s Tough to be a Bug and we rode the rapid ride a few times and got completely soaked. This was our first time riding this and we liked it a lot. If you can believe, we never got to the safari which we really like….next time. Oh, and after reading reviews on here about Flame Tree Barbecue, we had to try it. This will now be a must do counter service at AK.
The rest of the week, we park hopped all around. Went to Epcot and had some snacks at the bakery in France. Wow, how different. Somehow I like the old bakery better….just seemed more quaint like a bakery would be in France. Now it seems more commercialized. Anyway, I had a ham and cheese croissant and the girls had pastries. We tasted each other’s and we all thought everything was good. My daughter’s 16th birthday is coming up so we went to the perfume store. After smelling I don’t know how many fragrances, she finally picked out one she liked. She was so happy!!! We rode Soarin and Test Track quite a few times. I like the new Test Track….not that I didn’t like the old one.
I was really surprised that during the whole week we were there (except for the day we left, Sunday, Sept. 1), the crowds/lines weren’t bad at all. I would say the most we waited was about 20 minutes and that was even for Space Mountain. Just about always, we kept getting right back on with no wait. To get a break, I let the girls go on SM while I went over to the Carousel of Progress. The girls were laughing at me about how many times I saw it. Why is it that the ride with the longest wait time is always Peter Pan???? I have to ride it at least once since it brings back memories for me when I used to take my girls on it when they were younger.
Our last night, we made sure we saw the Electrical Parade. It just sealed the icing on the cake for our trip.
Dining: I wrote a couple of review under dining for 1900 Park Fare and Captain’s Grille. 1900 PF --- I can now understand why there are always reservations available here. The entertainment was great but food wasn’t so much. Captain’s Grille --- loved it. We all had steak and it was tender and cooked to perfection. O’Hana, my absolute favorite. This was the only restaurant that we actually had to wait to be seated. All others, 5 to 10 minutes at most. Although I’ve read mixed reviews, we ate at Crystal Palace. I thought it was good (much better than 1900). My girls wanted to do the buffets because they still like getting their pictures taken with the characters. We are at Cape May for the first time, really liked it and will definitely go again. We also liked Chef Mickey’s. I had mentioned in my review of 1900 that I didn’t see the standard chicken nuggets (chicken legs instead). Thought I would mention that I did see them at Chef Mickey’s and Crystal Palace for those of you who have children that it’s the only thing they eat!!
The Sunday we left, we headed over to Downtown Disney. We had the Dining Plan and still had counter service meals and snacks so we stopped at Earl of Sandwich and picked up something for the plane ride home. Left for the airport, caught out 8 p.m. flight, arrived in Boston around 11 and we were back in our house around 12:30 a.m. For those who travel from the Boston area, I found the Logan Express but a great way to avoid driving to and parking at the airport. The bus ran exactly on schedule and the parking rate was much less than the airport.
All in all it was a great trip and can’t wait until our next one.