Mendelson
06-08-2015, 11:07 AM
After getting back from the cruise...
Saturday we got to the Beach Club at around 9:00. Our room was not ready, of course, and so we stored our luggage and headed over to the Boardwalk for a surrey bike rental - something we’ve always talked about doing but never have done. It was quite fun! I’m glad we did it early in the day because one builds up a sweat, especially going up the hill to cross the bridge near the Swan and Dolphin. But coming down the hill is a blast, though my wife implored me to slow down for fear that we’d tip over (we were in no way going to tip over). After that we went to DtD. I got an apple pie caramel apple from the Candy Cauldron (the first of a few of these that we shared this trip) and then there was a late lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which is such a great value.
Saturday night we went to Epcot and among other things got dinner at the quick service place in Morocco (Tangierine Café), which is one of the best on property, I’m convinced, right before Illuminations. That night after we settled into the room I wanted to go to MK, which was open until 3am, with EMH. Neither the wife nor daughter wanted to come along, so I ventured over alone. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at a park this late - I remember in 2004 being at MK until 1am and it was absolutely empty, which is what I expected this time. Nope! Wall-to-wall people at 11:30. Around midnight I decided I wanted some ice cream but the line for the Main Street ice cream shop had a line wrapped outside and down the sidewalk and most food vendors were the same. It’s just amazing, this company’s ability to make money. Consider that a Disney park is always open somewhere in the world and that the stores in said parks are always busy and I wonder if a three-second window ever goes by without a Disney park ringing up a sale. I bet not! I ate a massive caramel-chocolate apple while sitting in the relative calm near SFR Treehouse, then stood in a 30-minute line for HM and went back to the room. We were getting up early that morning and I just didn’t have it in me to stay until 3.
Sunday morning we were back at Epcot and starting at 11 enjoyed the World Showcase for a few hours, seeing Serveur Amusant (the guy who climbs the chairs in France...and scares the **** out of me) and Sergio in Italy. In addition, we grabbed lunch at Les Halles in France, which – forget what I just said about Tangierine Cafe – is perhaps THE best quick service place on property! When people complain about hockey-puck hamburgers and dried out chicken breast, they need to do their research to come here. Three different sandwiches (each on amazing bread) a bread-bowl soup, and three desserts was only something like $55 and it was delicious.The only issue was that there was no seating so we stood, which is...very French? To complete the country theming I also smoked and swore a lot while we ate.
This day also marked some blasts from the past – we saw Oh Canada, Impressions of France, and Ellen, none of which we’ve taken the time to see in years and years. I remember how much I liked the first two (but not the third).
We headed next to the Studios, where it was a Star Wars weekend. This matters little to us, but my son got to meet Queen Amidala, which meant nothing to him but A. the line was short and B. she had a very nice, long interaction with my son, which he really enjoyed and we got some good pictures. And this time he flipped out in the Star Tours line and so we bailed.
That night it was back to Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club, which is amazing. In fact, if it weren’t for really, really terrible mattresses (in the DVC section, at least...also, given that my daughter is now an adult, I kind of hate to make her sleep on fold-out sofas, which are notoriously awful.) I’d say that this is perhaps my favorite property I’ve ever stayed in at WDW. We had some great family time around the pool to close out the evening.
One note here on going from a cruise to the parks – in general, I’m okay with the CMs at Disney World, but the drop-off in service and CM interaction coming from a cruise is very drastic and stark and WDW doesn’t fare well. A few examples – a staff member at the Beach Club pool was making the rounds and I asked her if she had the time. She looked at each wrist (as though reflexively looking for a watch) and said, “I don’t,” and walked away. That was it. I saw her a few minutes later and thought she was coming back with the time. Nope. Another CM was standing by a towel area. I walked over and she handed me a couple and I asked if she was rationing out towels. She sighed and rolled her eyes “No…I’m just being lazy.” I wanted to make a payment on my account one evening with gift cards and the front desk CM didn’t want to be bothered with it and suggested a couple times that since I was nowhere near to the amount where my CC would be charged, I shouldn’t worry about it and to just take care of it later. ??? Now, the amount of obsequiousness on the cruise ships borders on embarrassing at times, I’ll admit, but darn it, I’m paying for it! And these college program kids who have been there two, three, four months should really understand the same when it comes to their role at Disney World, right?
While I’m on the subject, the attitudes of Photopass photogs could be better. More and more it seems like you’re bothering them when you ask for a picture. And is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that when you ask if they do magic shots they get this little look of defeat in their eyes, like it’s really putting them out? Hey, I’m buying the $170 Memory Maker, so I’d like some pictures with it, right??
Monday we headed out to Animal Kingdom, which I love more and more with each trip. Yes, there’s a lot of construction going on, but even so we had a great time and enjoyed this beautiful park. This day got off to a particularly good start in that almost immediately upon entering we saw DiVine. DiVine is my absolute favorite character. Favorite. Let’s just say that she inspires some magical feelings in me. :blush: Later in the day my son got to meet Baloo and King Louie and then Tarzan (and I nearly had to tackle my wife to keep her from running up to get in the photo, speaking of magical feelings), all new characters for him. In addition, we picked up a Wilderness Explorer guidebook for my son (which I think is relatively new) and while it is geared for kids a little older than him, he enjoyed taking time to earn “badges.” This is a great addition for kids at this park, and miles and miles better than the lame-ucational “Kidcot” stuff at Epcot.
The park has so much to see and absorb and details are absolutely everywhere. On the Pangani trail, near the exit, I saw in a rock formation a giant turtle, which excited me to make a new discovery. I took a picture and asked a few CMs if it was supposed to be a turtle but neither saw it (let alone knew about any intended design), but a search online reveals that others have spotted it. A Tweet to Joe Rohde has since gone unanswered. What a great job in building this park Disney did. We saw Nemo and FotLK, rode Everest a couple times, Dinosaur, and some other odds and ends and then dinner that night was at Yak and Yeti…yum. And we still left without getting to do everything we wanted.
Tuesday, our final day, I wanted to see the opening show at MK, which we missed on our previous MK day because of the 24-hour event. Got up and packed and cleaned out the room in time to make it to to the bus stop at 8am….only to see a MK bus pull away with at least 30 people still standing there. Sigh. We get in line and while we’re waiting two separate ECV parties pull up, totaling at least another 12 people. (Not to be insensitive, but I can’t ignore the irony that one of the big scooter rental companies I see is run by a company called “Walker.”) I asked a nearby cabbie how much it would be and he said $20, which seemed too much. I checked Uber and they were surge pricing, which also meant a hefty fee. So we waited. To Disney’s credit they pulled a bus from elsewhere to help with the crowd and we managed to squeeze in very tight and make it to MK…though not in time for the opening show. It should not take me 50 minutes from Beach Club bus stop to MK entrance, ever.
Nevertheless, it was a good final day, as the sun stayed tucked away and we made it on some favorites for one final spin (and more caramel apples!)
Somehow I came home from the trip having gained zero pounds. I attribute it to walking at least ten miles every park day (and 16 on one day), with a large portion of that having my son on my shoulders (which I prefer to dealing with a stroller). In addition, on the cruise the only time I was on the elevator was to take our luggage off on debarkation day. Plus, there was the CC 5K. But I’m really shocked, because I ate very poorly on this trip and showed little restraint at all. In fact, the last thing I ate before I boarded the ME bus was a giant cupcake!
After 12 days in Disney's hands I can look back and say we had a great experience and really enjoyed the concentrated family time that we had with all four of us together (with a daughter off at college in a not-so-close city). It was magical, tiring, thrilling, inspiring, hot, rushed, delicious, expensive, fun, and, most important, memory-making!
Saturday we got to the Beach Club at around 9:00. Our room was not ready, of course, and so we stored our luggage and headed over to the Boardwalk for a surrey bike rental - something we’ve always talked about doing but never have done. It was quite fun! I’m glad we did it early in the day because one builds up a sweat, especially going up the hill to cross the bridge near the Swan and Dolphin. But coming down the hill is a blast, though my wife implored me to slow down for fear that we’d tip over (we were in no way going to tip over). After that we went to DtD. I got an apple pie caramel apple from the Candy Cauldron (the first of a few of these that we shared this trip) and then there was a late lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which is such a great value.
Saturday night we went to Epcot and among other things got dinner at the quick service place in Morocco (Tangierine Café), which is one of the best on property, I’m convinced, right before Illuminations. That night after we settled into the room I wanted to go to MK, which was open until 3am, with EMH. Neither the wife nor daughter wanted to come along, so I ventured over alone. It’s been a long time since I’ve been at a park this late - I remember in 2004 being at MK until 1am and it was absolutely empty, which is what I expected this time. Nope! Wall-to-wall people at 11:30. Around midnight I decided I wanted some ice cream but the line for the Main Street ice cream shop had a line wrapped outside and down the sidewalk and most food vendors were the same. It’s just amazing, this company’s ability to make money. Consider that a Disney park is always open somewhere in the world and that the stores in said parks are always busy and I wonder if a three-second window ever goes by without a Disney park ringing up a sale. I bet not! I ate a massive caramel-chocolate apple while sitting in the relative calm near SFR Treehouse, then stood in a 30-minute line for HM and went back to the room. We were getting up early that morning and I just didn’t have it in me to stay until 3.
Sunday morning we were back at Epcot and starting at 11 enjoyed the World Showcase for a few hours, seeing Serveur Amusant (the guy who climbs the chairs in France...and scares the **** out of me) and Sergio in Italy. In addition, we grabbed lunch at Les Halles in France, which – forget what I just said about Tangierine Cafe – is perhaps THE best quick service place on property! When people complain about hockey-puck hamburgers and dried out chicken breast, they need to do their research to come here. Three different sandwiches (each on amazing bread) a bread-bowl soup, and three desserts was only something like $55 and it was delicious.The only issue was that there was no seating so we stood, which is...very French? To complete the country theming I also smoked and swore a lot while we ate.
This day also marked some blasts from the past – we saw Oh Canada, Impressions of France, and Ellen, none of which we’ve taken the time to see in years and years. I remember how much I liked the first two (but not the third).
We headed next to the Studios, where it was a Star Wars weekend. This matters little to us, but my son got to meet Queen Amidala, which meant nothing to him but A. the line was short and B. she had a very nice, long interaction with my son, which he really enjoyed and we got some good pictures. And this time he flipped out in the Star Tours line and so we bailed.
That night it was back to Stormalong Bay at the Beach Club, which is amazing. In fact, if it weren’t for really, really terrible mattresses (in the DVC section, at least...also, given that my daughter is now an adult, I kind of hate to make her sleep on fold-out sofas, which are notoriously awful.) I’d say that this is perhaps my favorite property I’ve ever stayed in at WDW. We had some great family time around the pool to close out the evening.
One note here on going from a cruise to the parks – in general, I’m okay with the CMs at Disney World, but the drop-off in service and CM interaction coming from a cruise is very drastic and stark and WDW doesn’t fare well. A few examples – a staff member at the Beach Club pool was making the rounds and I asked her if she had the time. She looked at each wrist (as though reflexively looking for a watch) and said, “I don’t,” and walked away. That was it. I saw her a few minutes later and thought she was coming back with the time. Nope. Another CM was standing by a towel area. I walked over and she handed me a couple and I asked if she was rationing out towels. She sighed and rolled her eyes “No…I’m just being lazy.” I wanted to make a payment on my account one evening with gift cards and the front desk CM didn’t want to be bothered with it and suggested a couple times that since I was nowhere near to the amount where my CC would be charged, I shouldn’t worry about it and to just take care of it later. ??? Now, the amount of obsequiousness on the cruise ships borders on embarrassing at times, I’ll admit, but darn it, I’m paying for it! And these college program kids who have been there two, three, four months should really understand the same when it comes to their role at Disney World, right?
While I’m on the subject, the attitudes of Photopass photogs could be better. More and more it seems like you’re bothering them when you ask for a picture. And is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that when you ask if they do magic shots they get this little look of defeat in their eyes, like it’s really putting them out? Hey, I’m buying the $170 Memory Maker, so I’d like some pictures with it, right??
Monday we headed out to Animal Kingdom, which I love more and more with each trip. Yes, there’s a lot of construction going on, but even so we had a great time and enjoyed this beautiful park. This day got off to a particularly good start in that almost immediately upon entering we saw DiVine. DiVine is my absolute favorite character. Favorite. Let’s just say that she inspires some magical feelings in me. :blush: Later in the day my son got to meet Baloo and King Louie and then Tarzan (and I nearly had to tackle my wife to keep her from running up to get in the photo, speaking of magical feelings), all new characters for him. In addition, we picked up a Wilderness Explorer guidebook for my son (which I think is relatively new) and while it is geared for kids a little older than him, he enjoyed taking time to earn “badges.” This is a great addition for kids at this park, and miles and miles better than the lame-ucational “Kidcot” stuff at Epcot.
The park has so much to see and absorb and details are absolutely everywhere. On the Pangani trail, near the exit, I saw in a rock formation a giant turtle, which excited me to make a new discovery. I took a picture and asked a few CMs if it was supposed to be a turtle but neither saw it (let alone knew about any intended design), but a search online reveals that others have spotted it. A Tweet to Joe Rohde has since gone unanswered. What a great job in building this park Disney did. We saw Nemo and FotLK, rode Everest a couple times, Dinosaur, and some other odds and ends and then dinner that night was at Yak and Yeti…yum. And we still left without getting to do everything we wanted.
Tuesday, our final day, I wanted to see the opening show at MK, which we missed on our previous MK day because of the 24-hour event. Got up and packed and cleaned out the room in time to make it to to the bus stop at 8am….only to see a MK bus pull away with at least 30 people still standing there. Sigh. We get in line and while we’re waiting two separate ECV parties pull up, totaling at least another 12 people. (Not to be insensitive, but I can’t ignore the irony that one of the big scooter rental companies I see is run by a company called “Walker.”) I asked a nearby cabbie how much it would be and he said $20, which seemed too much. I checked Uber and they were surge pricing, which also meant a hefty fee. So we waited. To Disney’s credit they pulled a bus from elsewhere to help with the crowd and we managed to squeeze in very tight and make it to MK…though not in time for the opening show. It should not take me 50 minutes from Beach Club bus stop to MK entrance, ever.
Nevertheless, it was a good final day, as the sun stayed tucked away and we made it on some favorites for one final spin (and more caramel apples!)
Somehow I came home from the trip having gained zero pounds. I attribute it to walking at least ten miles every park day (and 16 on one day), with a large portion of that having my son on my shoulders (which I prefer to dealing with a stroller). In addition, on the cruise the only time I was on the elevator was to take our luggage off on debarkation day. Plus, there was the CC 5K. But I’m really shocked, because I ate very poorly on this trip and showed little restraint at all. In fact, the last thing I ate before I boarded the ME bus was a giant cupcake!
After 12 days in Disney's hands I can look back and say we had a great experience and really enjoyed the concentrated family time that we had with all four of us together (with a daughter off at college in a not-so-close city). It was magical, tiring, thrilling, inspiring, hot, rushed, delicious, expensive, fun, and, most important, memory-making!