stephicakes
01-29-2014, 01:01 PM
January 22th-27th. Cast: Me (37), DH (41), DD (68). This trip gave my dad something to look forward to after going through the first tough holidays without Mom (she lost her battle with cancer in October). My Dad is a big kid at heart and enjoys Disney!! :D
WED 1/22: We flew out of ROC on a 6am flight connecting in Midway Chicago. We had changed our flights a couple weeks back in order to get down to Orlando earlier in the day than we originally had booked. Thank goodness my DH connected us in Chicago and nowhere near the eastern seaboard! Approx 3,000 flights were canceled/delayed due to severe winter weather that day. Our flights were on time and uneventful and we landed in MCO around noon and down to ME. No lines anywhere! We were first in line for our bus and must have just missed one because we waited about 20mins for the next one (seems like an hour when you’re excited for Dis!). No need for ME tickets anymore - they didn't even ask for them. Just one person in our party needed to scan their MagicBand and we were good to go. Our line grew pretty long but we were on the bus before we knew it. We boarded a yellow Mears bus and not the usual ME bus with the familiar Mickey movie or welcoming announcement from the driver when we went under the WDW gate. Oh well. It was the same drop-off pattern as usual when we stay at BC. The order is CBR, Boardwalk, BC and then YC. We were at the resort by 1:35pm. (We scheduled our arrival for 1:30 so right on the money!) The weather was sunny but only around 53 degrees but it was -8 when we left Rochester that morning so we’ll take it! We were greeted by a CM right away (“Welcome home!”) and because we were staying in the DVC villas and did online check-in beforehand, we were escorted straight to the villas for check-in… no main lobby check-in this time. So we veered left outside on the walkway toward the little mermaid statue and were quickly checked in with assistance by a CM with a handheld tablet. The only thing they used the computer for was checking that our MagicBands were working properly & to link credit cards to them. We got an awesome corner studio villa with a huge balcony facing the quiet pool. Second floor room #260. Great location & tidy as always. We were starved by then so we headed straight to ESPN on the boardwalk for lunch. Always good. Then off to check out WS for the first time. Busy. Lots of Brazilian kids with tour groups but mostly well behaved this trip (only once did we experience a loud group in AK but nothing horribly bad). The only issue with these large groups is that they often stop in the middle of a path and create a huge bottleneck in the flow of traffic. One would think they could find a better meeting place (designated area) for these large groups. We walked around WS for a bit. We had FP+ for Maelstrom 4pm-5pm which was a good thing because the line was backed up to Akershus and we think it was because the people who were waiting for the “Frozen” princesses just jumped in line to kill time. It always seemed like a mad house in Norway that week because of the huge draw to see those princesses. Then on to a quick ride with the Three Caballeros on the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. By now we are tired from being up since 3:30am so we hoofed it back to BC thru International Gateway. Night cap at Martha's Vineyard, quick shower to get off the trail dust, and off to bed. Set alarm for 5am. Tomorrow EMH at MK in am.
THURS 1/23: We are up a little before 5am. I didn’t sleep great - the bed is hard and the sheets are rough. Guess I’m used to my pillow-top king mattress and my 1,000 thread count sheets because this princess felt every pea! :sheep: I always wonder why the beds at Disney are so uncomfortable. Is it just me or does anyone else think the beds are less than desirable? Guess I may need to start bringing my own sheets from home. Weather forecast for today: sunny, high of 55 (got up to about 63) and very chilly in the morning. This is the first time I ever wore a hat & mittens in Disney – feels strange. Saw opening ceremony for MK at 8am. Always great and gets me a little teary!! Gates opened right at 8am but Adventureland & Frontierland were still closed until 9am. Weird. I have never seen this before with morning EMH. Has anyone else? I wonder if it has anything to do with FP+ reservations? Is there a glitch somewhere with that here? Hmmmm. Maybe because of the off season low crowds. So we hit what we could leaving Tomorrowland for another day. We did Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Philharmagic, IASW, Jungle Cruise, HM, BTMRR, and rode the railroad around the park. PotC closed due to technical difficulty. Splash was down for refurb and it appears they are working on the outside façade quite a bit this Jan. We didn’t have FP+ at MK that morning since we reserved them for the afternoon in AK. So we left around 11:30 when the crowds were just coming in. Back to BC to eat lunch & rest. Got lunch at the Marketplace and brought salads & sandwiches back up to our room. Love their homemade potato chips! Went to AK in the afternoon. Our FP+ were for: 2-3pm Safari, 3-4pm EE, 4-5pm Dinosaur. But honestly it was give or take with the FP+ reservations - waiting for the time our FP+ to be available was about the same time as waiting in line. So, meh. The park was busy but wait times weren't bad unless a BTG popped up. We did our reserved rides plus Primeval Whirl and ITTBAB but had no interest in the other things that day (besides a drink at the Dawa Bar) so we left by 4:30pm. The bus was packed with standing room only because the park closed at 5pm. We had dinner at Big River Grille on the Boardwalk. BEST BURGER ON PROPERTY - Hands down!! :D This is a tradition for us. We also got the beer sampler and really enjoyed their version of an unfiltered Hefeweizen called ‘Weizen Bock’ (brewed with wheat & pal malts, slightly spicy clove-like flavor, hint of banana). DELISH. :beer: Back to BC to pick up something for our daughter at the Pearl Factory and then back to the room and eventually off to bed.
FRI 1/24: Our plan was EPCOT FW in the AM with FP+. No AM EMH. Weather says chillier today than yesterday but at least clear skies. I still put on my hat & mittens in the morning wind. I see little ones in t-shirts and short-sleeved princess dresses. Brrrr! It is barely 50 degrees out & windy! I wonder how many sweatshirts Disney sold this week?? Instead of selling cold drinks the carts were selling blankets! Hats & mittens were available for purchase at most gift shop registers. Our FP+ reservations were for: 10-11am Soarin’, 12-1pm SE, 1-2pm Nemo. We were able to ride Test Track twice before going on Soarin’. It was weird having FPs for SE but they came in handy since the line was long by 10:30 and it was very chilly under the ball with the wind whipping through. We also hit Figment and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons after a ride on LwtL. We never used our FPs for Nemo since the line was short so we just jumped in. Did some shopping in Mouse Gears. My Dad noticed a hat that my mom had tried on when we were all there together in 2010 and it brought some tears for us both. So if you saw two people teary eyed & hugging in the middle of the store… yep, that was us. :hug: We did everything we wanted to do in FW so it was back to BC again for some down time. My dad thought he had lost his phone (wasn’t in his phone case on his belt) somewhere either at BC earlier that morning or in FW so we wanted to head back to the resort to check there first. I decided to call the phone in case someone had found it and may answer – right then my dad’s pocket rung. Ha! Whew. :whew: We had a little down time and then off to EPCOT WS in the evening. We watched British Revolution in the United Kingdom per my dad’s request. He was hoping to hear a good collection of Beatles music but this session was more later 60’s variety rock n’ roll. For some reason lots of inebriated folks out tonight – not a big deal but when the same fella asks me to dance more than once, right in front of my hubby, and I decline… he better not do it again if you know what I mean. ;) So then another walk around WS. DH had a bratwurst in Germany at Sommerfest, and Dad and I split a pretzel we got across the way. Germany really is a great place to people watch for a spell and sip an Oktoberfest. We are early risers so a quick nightcap at Martha's Vineyard back at BC and off to bed...
WED 1/22: We flew out of ROC on a 6am flight connecting in Midway Chicago. We had changed our flights a couple weeks back in order to get down to Orlando earlier in the day than we originally had booked. Thank goodness my DH connected us in Chicago and nowhere near the eastern seaboard! Approx 3,000 flights were canceled/delayed due to severe winter weather that day. Our flights were on time and uneventful and we landed in MCO around noon and down to ME. No lines anywhere! We were first in line for our bus and must have just missed one because we waited about 20mins for the next one (seems like an hour when you’re excited for Dis!). No need for ME tickets anymore - they didn't even ask for them. Just one person in our party needed to scan their MagicBand and we were good to go. Our line grew pretty long but we were on the bus before we knew it. We boarded a yellow Mears bus and not the usual ME bus with the familiar Mickey movie or welcoming announcement from the driver when we went under the WDW gate. Oh well. It was the same drop-off pattern as usual when we stay at BC. The order is CBR, Boardwalk, BC and then YC. We were at the resort by 1:35pm. (We scheduled our arrival for 1:30 so right on the money!) The weather was sunny but only around 53 degrees but it was -8 when we left Rochester that morning so we’ll take it! We were greeted by a CM right away (“Welcome home!”) and because we were staying in the DVC villas and did online check-in beforehand, we were escorted straight to the villas for check-in… no main lobby check-in this time. So we veered left outside on the walkway toward the little mermaid statue and were quickly checked in with assistance by a CM with a handheld tablet. The only thing they used the computer for was checking that our MagicBands were working properly & to link credit cards to them. We got an awesome corner studio villa with a huge balcony facing the quiet pool. Second floor room #260. Great location & tidy as always. We were starved by then so we headed straight to ESPN on the boardwalk for lunch. Always good. Then off to check out WS for the first time. Busy. Lots of Brazilian kids with tour groups but mostly well behaved this trip (only once did we experience a loud group in AK but nothing horribly bad). The only issue with these large groups is that they often stop in the middle of a path and create a huge bottleneck in the flow of traffic. One would think they could find a better meeting place (designated area) for these large groups. We walked around WS for a bit. We had FP+ for Maelstrom 4pm-5pm which was a good thing because the line was backed up to Akershus and we think it was because the people who were waiting for the “Frozen” princesses just jumped in line to kill time. It always seemed like a mad house in Norway that week because of the huge draw to see those princesses. Then on to a quick ride with the Three Caballeros on the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. By now we are tired from being up since 3:30am so we hoofed it back to BC thru International Gateway. Night cap at Martha's Vineyard, quick shower to get off the trail dust, and off to bed. Set alarm for 5am. Tomorrow EMH at MK in am.
THURS 1/23: We are up a little before 5am. I didn’t sleep great - the bed is hard and the sheets are rough. Guess I’m used to my pillow-top king mattress and my 1,000 thread count sheets because this princess felt every pea! :sheep: I always wonder why the beds at Disney are so uncomfortable. Is it just me or does anyone else think the beds are less than desirable? Guess I may need to start bringing my own sheets from home. Weather forecast for today: sunny, high of 55 (got up to about 63) and very chilly in the morning. This is the first time I ever wore a hat & mittens in Disney – feels strange. Saw opening ceremony for MK at 8am. Always great and gets me a little teary!! Gates opened right at 8am but Adventureland & Frontierland were still closed until 9am. Weird. I have never seen this before with morning EMH. Has anyone else? I wonder if it has anything to do with FP+ reservations? Is there a glitch somewhere with that here? Hmmmm. Maybe because of the off season low crowds. So we hit what we could leaving Tomorrowland for another day. We did Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Philharmagic, IASW, Jungle Cruise, HM, BTMRR, and rode the railroad around the park. PotC closed due to technical difficulty. Splash was down for refurb and it appears they are working on the outside façade quite a bit this Jan. We didn’t have FP+ at MK that morning since we reserved them for the afternoon in AK. So we left around 11:30 when the crowds were just coming in. Back to BC to eat lunch & rest. Got lunch at the Marketplace and brought salads & sandwiches back up to our room. Love their homemade potato chips! Went to AK in the afternoon. Our FP+ were for: 2-3pm Safari, 3-4pm EE, 4-5pm Dinosaur. But honestly it was give or take with the FP+ reservations - waiting for the time our FP+ to be available was about the same time as waiting in line. So, meh. The park was busy but wait times weren't bad unless a BTG popped up. We did our reserved rides plus Primeval Whirl and ITTBAB but had no interest in the other things that day (besides a drink at the Dawa Bar) so we left by 4:30pm. The bus was packed with standing room only because the park closed at 5pm. We had dinner at Big River Grille on the Boardwalk. BEST BURGER ON PROPERTY - Hands down!! :D This is a tradition for us. We also got the beer sampler and really enjoyed their version of an unfiltered Hefeweizen called ‘Weizen Bock’ (brewed with wheat & pal malts, slightly spicy clove-like flavor, hint of banana). DELISH. :beer: Back to BC to pick up something for our daughter at the Pearl Factory and then back to the room and eventually off to bed.
FRI 1/24: Our plan was EPCOT FW in the AM with FP+. No AM EMH. Weather says chillier today than yesterday but at least clear skies. I still put on my hat & mittens in the morning wind. I see little ones in t-shirts and short-sleeved princess dresses. Brrrr! It is barely 50 degrees out & windy! I wonder how many sweatshirts Disney sold this week?? Instead of selling cold drinks the carts were selling blankets! Hats & mittens were available for purchase at most gift shop registers. Our FP+ reservations were for: 10-11am Soarin’, 12-1pm SE, 1-2pm Nemo. We were able to ride Test Track twice before going on Soarin’. It was weird having FPs for SE but they came in handy since the line was long by 10:30 and it was very chilly under the ball with the wind whipping through. We also hit Figment and had lunch at Sunshine Seasons after a ride on LwtL. We never used our FPs for Nemo since the line was short so we just jumped in. Did some shopping in Mouse Gears. My Dad noticed a hat that my mom had tried on when we were all there together in 2010 and it brought some tears for us both. So if you saw two people teary eyed & hugging in the middle of the store… yep, that was us. :hug: We did everything we wanted to do in FW so it was back to BC again for some down time. My dad thought he had lost his phone (wasn’t in his phone case on his belt) somewhere either at BC earlier that morning or in FW so we wanted to head back to the resort to check there first. I decided to call the phone in case someone had found it and may answer – right then my dad’s pocket rung. Ha! Whew. :whew: We had a little down time and then off to EPCOT WS in the evening. We watched British Revolution in the United Kingdom per my dad’s request. He was hoping to hear a good collection of Beatles music but this session was more later 60’s variety rock n’ roll. For some reason lots of inebriated folks out tonight – not a big deal but when the same fella asks me to dance more than once, right in front of my hubby, and I decline… he better not do it again if you know what I mean. ;) So then another walk around WS. DH had a bratwurst in Germany at Sommerfest, and Dad and I split a pretzel we got across the way. Germany really is a great place to people watch for a spell and sip an Oktoberfest. We are early risers so a quick nightcap at Martha's Vineyard back at BC and off to bed...