Trip Report The "we took a trip to Disney World just so we could write a trip report" trip report

Hello fellow Disney-folk! Early this year me (Scott) and my CDP (co-Disney-Phile) Lyn started hatching a spring trip to WDW. We've never done a real trip report before so we thought it would be fun. Lots of pictures too. Enjoy!

Our "incredible" vacation (er...long weekend, anyway) ended up during St Patrick's Day weekend. Planned in advance with reservations at Pop Century, snagging pretty decent rates too. Magic Bands customized, ordered, and received! Not really into planning things out very much but since FP+ was available, we used it (more on that later).

One day I got two(!) boxes in my mailbox from Davenport Florida. Magic Bands!

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Are we Disney-nerds? Yup. Hadn't done this before though: Mousekeeping tipping envelopes (available from WDW Prep School). This was kind of an experiment. Tipping at hotels has been a contentious point recently. Even though I travel quite a bit I'd never heard of leaving tips at hotels before reading about tipping "mousekeeping". I won't start a debate about the practice, but this was something we wanted to try in our (my?) own odd way.

More exciting news about that later on. Stay tuned!

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photoflight

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Day Two

Up and early(ish), ready to face a happy day of Disneytude. Remember I said we used the bus service one day? This was the day. The Magic Kingdom was it.

Helpful hint #187: If you're staying "on property" and have a car, still consider using the bus service for The Magic Kingdom. Taking a car means you have to park in a massive parking lot, wait for and ride a tram (or walk) to the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC), then get in line to take the Monorail or a Ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom. Usually I plan 30-45 minutes extra each way for that.

For first-time visitors I think the boat ride is the best introduction to MK. It's like you're really taking a trip to a hidden place - probably more-so for kids.

On the other hand, the bus stop at The Magic Kingdom is just a couple minute walk to the park entrance. Jump off the bus and you're practically in.

Back to our adventure...this was our bus ride to the park. Kind of crowded but no scooters (er, ECVs) to load. I stood trying hard not to crowd the guy in front of me (with the red Magic Band). Meanwhile CDP-Lyn got a seat in the back of the bus. Good for her.

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photoflight

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We're here! The Magic Kingdom! Actually...this was later on in the day but I forgot to take a picture when we got there :)

Anyway...the bag-check line was a breeze as was our first day trying the new Magic Bands at the park (I carried my AP just in case but it wasn't necessary).

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No big crowds at MK yet. Without much of a real plan we decided on looking at details, shopping, and keep it free for whatever we wanted to do on a whim. We've both been to WDW enough that we wanted to make it a relaxing, not-hurried day. Rides would wait until after dark; weeks before the trip we did make Fastpass+ plans, all of them for that night. Just happened that way.

There was a little surprise that popped up right before the trip though. It was...no...no, you'll have to read about it later :)

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The Emporium! Can't visit without strolling through and looking. We managed to not buy any Mickey or Minnie dolls.

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Wandering down Main Street USA to see the sites on a cool spring morning. The flowers are...ah...ah...in bloom. So nice.

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Balloons!
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Getting near the "hub"
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At "the hub". More flowers in...ahhhh...ahhhhhhhh... bloom!

Sniff

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photoflight

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Day Two continues!

Cinderella Castle with a twist. Replacing the spires? Painting? What's up with this? I'd neglected keeping up with the news about it. CDP-Lyn is a walking encyclopedia of everything-Disney but she was tight-lipped about it. What a nunu.

We were later told they were "reglazing" the tops of the spires.

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And this? The "moat" has been drained? How have I not kept up with this stuff? This is where our duo of Disney nerds stood and gawked at the remnants of the Swan Boat tracks. See them? It's like WDW archaeology!

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The other side of the hub...more Swan Boat tracks! COOL!

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photoflight

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Back on track toward Liberty Square. Somehow we completely skipped browsing in Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe. My CDP missed that for some reason...now we'll have to take another trip down there. Darn.

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WDW's Liberty Bell in Liberty Square. We've seen this bell here again and again but never really looked at it much. Not long ago I read about this bell. It isn't just a cheap display piece for decoration. No, there's more to it than that.

From the Disney Parks Blog: "The bell was cast for Walt Disney World in Annecy-le Vieux, France by the Paccard Fonderie, using the exact same mold as the original Liberty Bell. The Liberty Square bell stands eight feet tall, weighs two and a half tons, and is comprised of copper, tin, lead, zinc, arsenic, gold and silver. It was hoisted into its present location by a crane, just in time for the 1989 Independence Day Celebration."

So, MK's Liberty Bell is about as close to the real thing as you can get without going to see the original. That's kind of neat.

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Hall of Presidents!
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photoflight

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Day Two: Lunch Surprise

Fantasyland...and time for a surprise. Just minutes before I left for the airport in the DME I got an email from Disney. The email was inviting us to join a test of a new Fastpass system they're using at the Be Our Guest restaurant. We normally would have grabbed a burger or something, so this looked like a nice idea and I went for it.

Here's how the system works: you get online and make a time-slot reservation. It's similar to making a ride FP+ reservation. We had something like 11:15-11:45 but there were lots of options. Then you're sent to a menu page to order your food. It's dirt simple. Just find what you want and select the quantities. You finish up by verifying everything and that's it. Just show up on time and eat.

Here, we're looking at the landscaping over the bridge at Be Our Guest
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When we arrived at Be Our Guest the line was typically long (it went around the corner behind us to the right). For us though? No line. Check in just before the bridge to Be Our Guest, then walk up to the door. They verify your Fastpass reservation at both places.

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The only down-side to no line is not being able to soak-in everything along the way...but we tried anyway.

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Ordering-line on the left, our line on the right (or rather, lack of a line). Walked right in...
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We weren't on a dining plan nor did we have a credit card linked to our rooms. That seemed to be a hitch to the "walk in and eat" idea. At least they gave me that impression. Not a big deal though. Just inside the door they printed out a receipt for what we'd ordered, then we had to go into the library and pay for it like everyone else. Not quite sure what the procedure would have been had we been on a dining plan or something else.

Total time from checking in to sitting down was 5-7 minutes.

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photoflight

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We found a table in the "grand ballroom". Honestly I can't say if the other rooms were full or not - but we were happy here.

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It's an impressive room :)

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Sitting down with our red hockey puck that looks like a rose. Nerdy it might be, but this thing really fascinated me. I figured it would light up or something, but no - it just sat there and the server homed-in on us. Must be done with satellites, right?

Amusing story: there was a frantic mother that arrived near us. You know the kind? Really hyper and over-caffeinated. Everyone and everything has to be just right. You sit here, I'll sit there, did we forget anything? Maybe we should have gone over there. Is this ok? What time is it? Oh my gosh is that the time? Oh no, oh no... then she starts freaking out "How are they going to know where we are? Where's our food? Go find someone and tell them where we are so they know!"

Wow.... the food found her though, no problem :)

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photoflight

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Our food found us too. Homed-in on us just like magic. See? Here it is. Our feast!

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For CDP-Lyn I guessed correctly with the Roast Beef sandwich. This ain't an Arby's lunch sandwich either. "Carved Prime Chuck Roast Beef Sandwich - Served warm on a Baguette with Horseradish Sour Cream and Pommes Frites."

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I had my simple sandwich at last. A "Carved Turkey Sandwich". Just like it's name it was made with real carved turkey. Looked just like it was sliced off a Christmas Turkey and just as good.

Disney's full description is "Carved Turkey Sandwich served warm on a Baguette with Dijon Mayonnaise and Pommes Frites".

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Personally I think sometimes people's expectations of some of these restaurants is a wee bit much. Face it, Pecos Bill's and Cosmic Ray's are fast food. Be Our Guest does deserve slightly higher expectations than those, but even so I only expected a decent sandwich; in the end though, both of us were really impressed with what we got. Nothing "fancy" here but it was fresh, tasted good, and the portions were just right for us.

The prices for lunch weren't too horrible either. The Roast Beef sandwich was $12.49, the Turkey was $11.49. In comparison, a week later we ate at a nationwide brand sit-down restaurant and a simple burger with fries was $10. With the amusement-park and WDW premiums the price was reasonable.

Bottom line: Lunch was good. Very good. Just right on all counts. Not sure I'd stand in line for an hour to get it, but I'd do the fastpass thing again for sure.
 
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photoflight

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...but wait! There's more!

We had to try a cupcake too! Pre-ordered as well, here it is. Gray stuff 'n all, "The Master's Cupcake - Chocolate Sponge Cake topped with Lumiere’s special 'Grey Stuff'"

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After we started eating we decided to dissect this sucker and see what was inside.

Here's what we found: grey stuff.


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The cake portion of the dessert was very tasty and moist. It reminded me very much of...oh please, what I am? A food critic? Enough foody-wordy drivel. It was a cupcake and a decent one at that. If you like frosting you'll like the grey stuff. If you don't, you won't. Simple. We liked it.

Helpful hint #188: If you do the fastpass pre-order deal you'll be asked what "special event" you're celebrating (if any). You will, supposedly, receive a plate with a sampling of "grey stuff" if you say you're celebrating something...or so I'm told. Maybe they do that anyway. Maybe not. Doesn't hurt to try.
 

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