Trip Report Captain Hooks Trip Report with a short and well thought out, snappy title

CAPTAIN HOOK · Sep 2, 2015

Day 13 A tale of two Kingdoms (for some) Today was our second and last visit to Animal Kingdom. It's no longer the "half day park" that many have christened it and it has plenty on offer - with great potential ahead as the building work progresses. Like our last visit we had a mid morning breakfast planned at Tusker House but today we didn't have any FP booked - they were booked for our afternoon visit to MK.
Carol, Rebecca and I went into AK for as early as we could manage - we arrived about 20 minutes after opening. We headed straight for Everest. Carol was a little quiet today and elected to wait outside the gift shop for our return. Stand by was at a minimal wait time and the first time that we encountered people standing still was inside the loading station. We'd ridden and returned to the gift shop area within 10-15 minutes. We then walked from Asia into Africa and headed to Kilimanjaro Safari. The posted wait time was 20 minutes yet we were boarding our truck in less than that. Our driver / guide Heather was brilliant and very knowledgable.
Having completed the safari it was time to wander the short distance over to Tusker House where we were meeting Nicola and Chris. They arrived spot on time and we checked in. About 5 minutes later we were eating another tasty breakfast. A little disconcerting was that as we were finishing off our meals, staff were starting to cover and remove some of the foods, yet there were still plenty of other guests dining.
From Tusker House we headed around the corner to The Lion King show in plenty of time for the midday performance. The show is old yet it is far from tired, it was pleasing to see that on the two occasions that we watched it the theatre was full.
After that we went our separate ways. Carol was feeling unwell and elected to return to AKL alone, leaving the four of us to enjoy AK, first on the list was Kilimanjaro Safaris (a second safari that day for two of us). There was still only a 20 minute stand by line posted and we were soon on our way. As the safari was concluding our driver, looking up to the skies remarked that we were in for a storm very soon. After the safari we headed from Africa back to Asia and Everest. As we walked between the two continents the skies were grumbling and huge thunder claps could be heard. As we approached Everest the cast members had cleared both lines and closed the ride in anticipation of the approaching rain. They didn't have to wait long. It started slowly enough, light enough for us to start back towards DInoland, Discovery Island and the park exit - judging by the skies, this rain was here for the duration. The nearer the park exit we got, the heavier the rain came down. We stopped to put on waterproof jackets and then hurried for the busses back to AKL. By this time the rain was coming down in buckets.
When I got back to the room Carol was resting on the bed, she had symptoms similar to those that I'd experienced a little earlier in the trip. She was dosing up on the cold and flu tablets which had assisted my recovery. Having changed from our wet clothes, we waited for a break in the weather. In the meantime I was able to get on my phone and adjust the MK FP timings so that hopefully we wouldn't miss out on too much later.
Late afternoon, the rain had stopped and we all headed off to MK. Carol was feeling a little better and didn't want to miss out on the fun. Once at MK we headed for our FP choices. Space was to have been first but I moved this back until after Wishes, so first up was Seven Dwarves which we were really enjoying, and then a walk across to Frontierland and Big Thunder. We then headed towards Crystal Palace and our dinner.
After dinner we found a good spot on Main Street to watch MSEP. During the parade Carol became unwell, she was hot and "having a melt down" so she had to go into the entrance of one of the nearby shops to take advantage of the air conditioning. Happy that she was ok for a few minutes I continued taking photos of the parade.
I then escorted Carol back to the buses and off to AKL and bed. Once at the bus stop she was happy to make her own way back to the resort. So, I turned around and re-entered MK and battled my way through the crowds on Main Street and got to around Casey's where I stood to watch Celebrate The Magic and Wishes. I knew that I had little chance of finding Nicola, Chris and Rebecca before I took Carol back to the bus, so we arranged to make our own way back to AKL at the end of the night. I told them that I wouldn't be riding Space as I would be going back to the resort to check on Carol. It turns out that we were actually stood about 20 yards apart on Main Street but in the dark and the masses of people we just didn't see each other.
Carol was in bed asleep when I got back to our room, and I'm happy to report that by the next morning she was feeling a lot better (thanks for wondering !!!)

Coming next - Our last full day :-(

CAPTAIN HOOK · Sep 2, 2015

Day 14 Our last full day :-( Well it happens every trip. It creeps up on you unannounced, but you know that right from the start that its getting nearer and nearer. What am I talking about ? Your last full day in WDW, that's what. Its your last opportunity to take full advantage of your stay.
Well, it was planned to be an EPCOT day originally (a family tradition we always do EPCOT last) and the FP were all booked for it. Our evening meal booked at Via Napolie.
Yet, as Nicola pointed out, Chris had yet to see much of MK in the dry and daylight hours, so we switched parks. We'd head off to MK today instead. The previous evening I'd managed to switch the FP around and to be honest we got a pretty decent selection for MK at the last minute which was surprising.
Carol was still feeling a bit under the weather so she decided to skip breakfast and lie in. Nicola and Chris texted that they didn't sleep well that night and would also skip breakfast but would join us later in MK. A bit annoyed and disappointed Rebecca and I went down for our last Boma breakfast. I was concerned about them charging us because a reservation for 5 had suddenly become a reservation for 2. Everything was ok though and the two of us enjoyed breakfast and then headed off to MK.
The first FP was BTMRR and our plan was to ride Splash first and by the time we were done it should be FP time back at BTMRR. However on arrival all was quiet and the logs weren't going round. In fact three or four could be seen, empty and stuck in the water after the big drop. All the CM could say was it was down and they were hoping to get it going sometime during the day. Big Thunder had little or no stand by line so we rode that instead. Splash was still down when we'd finished (although empty logs were circulating) and we were still too early for the Big Thunder FP so we wandered off to Jungle Cruise and rode that. We then walked back to Big Thunder and could hear the screams from Splash - it was running again. We rode BTMRR FP and then joined the 40 minute stand by line for Splash. About 20 minutes later I got a text from Nicola saying that they were just at the park entrance. As we finished Splash and walked through the gift shop and the area being used by Buzz and Woody for a meet and greet (whatever happened to Brer Fox and Brer Bear being there ?) we saw Nicola and Chris in the Splash line - Chris had to ride front row on Splash. They joined us at the exit about 25 minutes later.
As Nicola and Chris hadn't had breakfast and we'd had an early one we decided to do The Haunted Mansion before getting lunch at Columbia Harbour House. The stand by line for Haunted Mansion was around 25-30 minutes and by the time we'd exited we were more than ready to eat. Thankfully, it wasn't that busy.
From here we went over to Tomorrowland for a FP ride on Buzz, checking out the stand by for Seven Dwarves as we walked past - almost two hours. So, a final ride on Buzz which Chris won quite convincingly and we were back to the buses to meet Carol at AKL and get ready for dinner at EPCOT.
By the time we got to EPCOT there wasn't much time to do anything other than walk around the World Showcase to Italy and Via Napolie. The food was nice, the air con was draughty and very cold and the service strange. One girl arrived and took a drinks order, another one came and took the food order. When we had finished the entree the girl who came with the dessert menu couldn't take an order for alcohol so another girl came. Neither were willing or able to clear the dirty plates so we were left viewing the dessert menus over our dirty table, the plates were eventually cleared in time for the desserts to be served.
It was then outside into the warm evening and the final showing of Illuminations. Something which we did notice as we left Italy after Illuminations - as we walked back through Germany and China, the Frozen Fireworks from DHS started and could clearly be seen over the top of Japan and America. With that it was back to the buses and our last night at AKL.

Coming Last - Ohana breakfast

Tiggertoo56 · Sep 2, 2015

Lovely TR, brings back so many memories of the parks. Unable to go back for a couple of years - need to save up some cash to afford the trip from UK. Sorry to hear about the rain!

, and you can always do Sea World on your next visit. That was the park we chose not to do so that we had more time on WDW property (even our rest days became park days!).

CAPTAIN HOOK · Sep 2, 2015

Day 15 Ohana breakfast + home time This was it, the last day and it was upon us. We had breakfast booked at Ohana (yet another first) and FP booked for MK. The original plan was to get up and pack, load the car then head out for breakfast and then do MK, grab an early dinner before returning to AKL to collect the car and drive to the airport.
How things change over the passage of time. We got up and Carol Rebecca and I headed to MK and the shops on Main Street - Carol wanted to purchase a WDW exclusive charm for her Pandora bracelet. Task accomplished and it was out to the resort monorail and a quick trip to The Polynesian where we waited for Nicola and Chris to join us. We checked in for breakfast and waited to be seated - it was quite a lengthy wait to be honest. Anyway, we were eventually shown to our table and the server came for the drinks order. Soon afterwards out came the pan containing the first servings of our buffet breakfast. It was only when reading a thread on here a few days before we left the Uk that I found out about the difference in the buffet breakfast at Ohana and the other buffets. Anyway, the food offering was cold. When the second helpings appeared the food was found to be equally as cold and when the server came back with more drinks I complained about the poor quality food. She went back and returned very soon afterwards with a third pan of food. I ate some, it was warm and I was too hungry by now to really care.
Our minds were taken away from the food as the characters arrived at the tables. Then a manager appeared and asked how things were. She'd clearly been briefed by our server and came over to chat. This was unexpected, I didn't ask to speak to anyone to complain but I took the opportunity to explain how disappointing the meal had been. She went into the usual banter of how sorry she was (and she was quite genuine about this) and asked where we were from, how long were we at Disney for etc. As I explained that we were from the UK and this morning was our last I saw her face drop, she was now running short of possible solutions to offer. So, she turned the tables and asked me for a possible solution, so I said that a discount on the bill would be most acceptable and with that we got 20% off our bill. it was a nice gesture, however, a hot breakfast would have been nicer - it's what we went for. As I had explained to her, we'd done buffet breakfasts at 1900, Boma, Crystal Palace and Tusker House and all of them had been hot and enjoyable.
A possible reason for this was the Ohana polished wooden tables onto which the pans with the food in were placed directly. If the pans are too hot then they mark the wood. If the temperature is only warm then the table is protected but it doesn't keep the food inside it warm while it is waiting to be taken to a table.
Anyway, breakfast over and it was out to the monorail and MK. We'd been fortunate enough to get a two hour extension on our room and so didn't need to be out by 1pm. However, it was now gone 1130 and we still had one case to pack (mine) and get all the bits and pieces into the hand luggage. So Carol and I went on to the bus stops to return to AKL while Nicola, Rebecca and Chris entered MK for a final couple of hours. Chris needed to be back at AKL to catch the 3pm ME to Orlando International.
We waited for an AKL bus for over 30 minutes. By the time we got to AKL and to the room it was 1255 - officially we had 5 minutes to pack and vacate the room !!!!
While Carol packed the final suitcase I took two others and a rucksack out to the car. When I returned back to the room the other two suitcases were ready for the same journey, so it was off to the car again. When I got back to the room again, I found out that housekeeping had been knocking on, they were very understanding and co-operative and told Carol to take the time that she needed. My third journey to the car was with the last three rucksacks - I'm certain that the corridors were getting longer with each journey. We vacated the room 55 minutes later than anticipated and took the final walk to the lobby with Chris's suitcase and rucksack and my rucksack.
We collapsed into one of the many comfortable chairs in the vast lobby and sat with a long deserved drink (using up our DDP snack allowance) while we waited for the three others to return from MK.
They came back in plenty of time and we sat and chatted until it was time for Chris to go. Once he was safely on board and the tears had been wiped away, it was decision time - what do we do now. We needed to grab dinner somewhere but didn't have the time to go to DTD and find something light, so we sat in the AKL lobby with a drink before going downstairs to eat.
Then, as if by magic, the rain came heavy and hard. It was obviously making a point of not letting us forget its too frequent appearances during our two weeks.
The app on my phone was showing that journey time to Orlando International was increasing, this was as a result of the heavy rain and the start of the rush hour traffic.
It was time to go - I'd rather get to the airport early, than find ourselves stuck in traffic. The journey there was easy and the traffic was relatively light. That was until we got to the airport - thank goodness for the sat nav that came with the vehicle because the hire car returns depot is not that clearly marked.
The car handover was simple and we walked across to the terminals.
The line for checking in at the Thomas Cook desks was snaking all over the concourse and there were only TWO staff checking in a full aircraft. The line at Seven Dwarves was shorter.
We got through security and took a quick look at duty free and it was almost time to board. We were due to take off at 2215 but by this time we were still sat on the tarmac. Then the Captain then made an announcement. Apparently the catering firm were unaware that there was another flight that night and somebody had to go in and get several hundred meals done and transported to Orlando Int. We were delayed 80 minutes.
The meal that was subsequently served was a meat and two veg dish, there wasn't a choice (other than go hungry) and dessert was a bag of crisps and a packet of M&Ms. It wasn't even served on a tray.
I have already emailed my complaint to Thomas Cook. I appreciate that this wasn't their fault but, I am their customer and I will take up my issue with them. Thomas Cook must seek their own recompense with their stateside supplier.

To sum up our 15 days in Florida -

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great resort, it has lovely theming with spectacular views of the savannahs from the public viewing areas and those rooms fortunate enough to have it. The dining rooms are equally well themed and the pool area is very nice. Its only downside was the regularity of the buses. Most days there was nothing more than a 10-15 minute wait, our wait of 30 minutes on our last day was totally unacceptable and we weren't even the first in the queue.

Cast members were hit and miss - most greeted us and spoke first, they were pleasant. There were some who ignored us, this was both in the parks and in the resort. Table serve staff on the whole were great, then there were some who really let Disney down.

Restaurants - we visited some old favourites during this trip and we tried a lot of new places -
Raglan Road (previously an old favourite) was let down by a sour server once he found out we were on the DDP, as did the female server at The Plaza, which was a new destination for us. Ohana's (also a new restaurant) was let down by cold food.
Biergarten, Tutto Italia, Via Napolie, Portabella Italian, Wolf Gang Puck Grand Cafe, Be Our Guest, Cafe Cape May and Mama Melrose were all new to us and are destinations that we would return to and eat there again when we get to return to WDW.
Boma, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Planet Hollywood and The Rose & Crown we've visited previously and our visits to them this trip was based upon those previous visits. They didn't fail to impress this time either.

The parks -
MK - While undergoing some construction work it was well balanced and business as usual. But why close Pirates Of The Caribbean for refurb during peak summer months ???
EPCOT - Another great visit to our favourite park, a shame about Maelstrom closing
AK - Getting better all the time
DHS - My least favourite park this time. Too many closures all at once, The Hat being taken down for a sound stage, and Frozen everywhere you turn.

The rest -
Magic Bands worked well, we liked them and with technology leaping forward at the rate it does then the possibilities for it are almost endless.
MDE - Great website / app. Used it more at home than when in WDW (mainly due to data roaming costs and limited internet when away from the resort and the parks). Really assisted with the holiday planning stages and the occasional changes to FP that I made while away from the parks
FP+ - works well in conjunction with MDE. However, the thing that I didn't like was having to book everything 2 months before travelling. Choosing your park to book your dining reservations 6 months out is acceptable, but now that you're choosing FP before you even pack your suitcases is a bit too much. There needs to be a better balance of making your FP selection before getting to the park and running across the park collecting paper FP tickets. This needs a bit of tweaking.

The weather - Well Florida threw all sorts at us - highs of 34 and torrential downpours with thunder and lightning. We survived both extremes and we're ready to return to The Happiest Place on Earth.

A final, final note. During this trip I wore a Fitbit throughout my stay. Now the steps walked are meaningless as a tool for comparison as my stride is twice as long as my wifes and therefore difficult to compare against anybody elses strides. However, miles walked is interesting.
From waking up on the morning of Wednesday August 12th (departure day) to getting onto the plane at Orlando International I walked, wait for it............77.91 miles !!!!

And that's your lot, or in the words of a famous cartoon producer "That's All Folks"

There's only one thing left to say - Thank You.
Thank you for reading the trip report. I hope you enjoyed the report as much as I did in writing it, and as much as we did in actually making the report possible by spending time at WDW and creating the memories.

Coming next - The photographs

WishIWasAtWDW · Sep 2, 2015

I love your trip report title!

I feel the same way about the last day of a trip. No matter what you do, it always creeps up on you and it's always sad. I like to make sure I have another trip planned before I leave so although it's my last day of this trip, I already have another countdown going for the next one. It makes the leaving part a little bit easier.

Thanks for sharing! I can't wait to see all of your pictures.

CAPTAIN HOOK · Sep 2, 2015

PS - forgot to mention -
1) Alcohol in the parks. By all means sell it when a patron is buying a meal. However, I don't find the sight of people walking around drinking beer a pretty one. If you need a beer that badly find a pub, not an entertainment theme park where children are out and about.
2) Parades and pavement sitters. We encountered an awful lot of people camping out on the pavements early to get a good spot to watch the parade. No objections here, we've done it ourselves. What I do object to is families or groups taking over vast areas of a pavement and marking out their territory with blankets or beach towels. Spreading themselves out on it (in some cases lying down) and being most objectionable if you try to squeeze into the small gaps that they forgot to stake out.

myhappyplace · Sep 2, 2015

Excellent report, sir! Crazy how many miles we walk when there, but yet if someone told me to go take a mile walk I would sooner keel over.

sophie_the_pooh · Sep 3, 2015

Thank you, excellent report, makes it even harder to wait until next Wednesday to get to the World!

fractal · Sep 3, 2015

Top notch report! Ohana's is one of our favorites for dinner, sorry to hear about the poor breakfast.

Not surprised about the miles walked. We did about 11 mile in one day a few weeks ago. Looking forward to the pics!

smk · Sep 4, 2015

CAPTAIN HOOK said:
Day 15 Ohana breakfast + home time This was it, the last day and it was upon us. We had breakfast booked at Ohana (yet another first) and FP booked for MK. The original plan was to get up and pack, load the car then head out for breakfast and then do MK, grab an early dinner before returning to AKL to collect the car and drive to the airport.
How things change over the passage of time. We got up and Carol Rebecca and I headed to MK and the shops on Main Street - Carol wanted to purchase a WDW exclusive charm for her Pandora bracelet. Task accomplished and it was out to the resort monorail and a quick trip to The Polynesian where we waited for Nicola and Chris to join us. We checked in for breakfast and waited to be seated - it was quite a lengthy wait to be honest. Anyway, we were eventually shown to our table and the server came for the drinks order. Soon afterwards out came the pan containing the first servings of our buffet breakfast. It was only when reading a thread on here a few days before we left the Uk that I found out about the difference in the buffet breakfast at Ohana and the other buffets. Anyway, the food offering was cold. When the second helpings appeared the food was found to be equally as cold and when the server came back with more drinks I complained about the poor quality food. She went back and returned very soon afterwards with a third pan of food. I ate some, it was warm and I was too hungry by now to really care.
Our minds were taken away from the food as the characters arrived at the tables. Then a manager appeared and asked how things were. She'd clearly been briefed by our server and came over to chat. This was unexpected, I didn't ask to speak to anyone to complain but I took the opportunity to explain how disappointing the meal had been. She went into the usual banter of how sorry she was (and she was quite genuine about this) and asked where we were from, how long were we at Disney for etc. As I explained that we were from the UK and this morning was our last I saw her face drop, she was now running short of possible solutions to offer. So, she turned the tables and asked me for a possible solution, so I said that a discount on the bill would be most acceptable and with that we got 20% off our bill. it was a nice gesture, however, a hot breakfast would have been nicer - it's what we went for. As I had explained to her, we'd done buffet breakfasts at 1900, Boma, Crystal Palace and Tusker House and all of them had been hot and enjoyable.
A possible reason for this was the Ohana polished wooden tables onto which the pans with the food in were placed directly. If the pans are too hot then they mark the wood. If the temperature is only warm then the table is protected but it doesn't keep the food inside it warm while it is waiting to be taken to a table.
Anyway, breakfast over and it was out to the monorail and MK. We'd been fortunate enough to get a two hour extension on our room and so didn't need to be out by 1pm. However, it was now gone 1130 and we still had one case to pack (mine) and get all the bits and pieces into the hand luggage. So Carol and I went on to the bus stops to return to AKL while Nicola, Rebecca and Chris entered MK for a final couple of hours. Chris needed to be back at AKL to catch the 3pm ME to Orlando International.
We waited for an AKL bus for over 30 minutes. By the time we got to AKL and to the room it was 1255 - officially we had 5 minutes to pack and vacate the room !!!!
While Carol packed the final suitcase I took two others and a rucksack out to the car. When I returned back to the room the other two suitcases were ready for the same journey, so it was off to the car again. When I got back to the room again, I found out that housekeeping had been knocking on, they were very understanding and co-operative and told Carol to take the time that she needed. My third journey to the car was with the last three rucksacks - I'm certain that the corridors were getting longer with each journey. We vacated the room 55 minutes later than anticipated and took the final walk to the lobby with Chris's suitcase and rucksack and my rucksack.
We collapsed into one of the many comfortable chairs in the vast lobby and sat with a long deserved drink (using up our DDP snack allowance) while we waited for the three others to return from MK.
They came back in plenty of time and we sat and chatted until it was time for Chris to go. Once he was safely on board and the tears had been wiped away, it was decision time - what do we do now. We needed to grab dinner somewhere but didn't have the time to go to DTD and find something light, so we sat in the AKL lobby with a drink before going downstairs to eat.
Then, as if by magic, the rain came heavy and hard. It was obviously making a point of not letting us forget its too frequent appearances during our two weeks.
The app on my phone was showing that journey time to Orlando International was increasing, this was as a result of the heavy rain and the start of the rush hour traffic.
It was time to go - I'd rather get to the airport early, than find ourselves stuck in traffic. The journey there was easy and the traffic was relatively light. That was until we got to the airport - thank goodness for the sat nav that came with the vehicle because the hire car returns depot is not that clearly marked.
The car handover was simple and we walked across to the terminals.
The line for checking in at the Thomas Cook desks was snaking all over the concourse and there were only TWO staff checking in a full aircraft. The line at Seven Dwarves was shorter.
We got through security and took a quick look at duty free and it was almost time to board. We were due to take off at 2215 but by this time we were still sat on the tarmac. Then the Captain then made an announcement. Apparently the catering firm were unaware that there was another flight that night and somebody had to go in and get several hundred meals done and transported to Orlando Int. We were delayed 80 minutes.
The meal that was subsequently served was a meat and two veg dish, there wasn't a choice (other than go hungry) and dessert was a bag of crisps and a packet of M&Ms. It wasn't even served on a tray.
I have already emailed my complaint to Thomas Cook. I appreciate that this wasn't their fault but, I am their customer and I will take up my issue with them. Thomas Cook must seek their own recompense with their stateside supplier.

To sum up our 15 days in Florida -

Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great resort, it has lovely theming with spectacular views of the savannahs from the public viewing areas and those rooms fortunate enough to have it. The dining rooms are equally well themed and the pool area is very nice. Its only downside was the regularity of the buses. Most days there was nothing more than a 10-15 minute wait, our wait of 30 minutes on our last day was totally unacceptable and we weren't even the first in the queue.

Cast members were hit and miss - most greeted us and spoke first, they were pleasant. There were some who ignored us, this was both in the parks and in the resort. Table serve staff on the whole were great, then there were some who really let Disney down.

Restaurants - we visited some old favourites during this trip and we tried a lot of new places -
Raglan Road (previously an old favourite) was let down by a sour server once he found out we were on the DDP, as did the female server at The Plaza, which was a new destination for us. Ohana's (also a new restaurant) was let down by cold food.
Biergarten, Tutto Italia, Via Napolie, Portabella Italian, Wolf Gang Puck Grand Cafe, Be Our Guest, Cafe Cape May and Mama Melrose were all new to us and are destinations that we would return to and eat there again when we get to return to WDW.
Boma, Crystal Palace, 1900 Park Fare, Planet Hollywood and The Rose & Crown we've visited previously and our visits to them this trip was based upon those previous visits. They didn't fail to impress this time either.

The parks -
MK - While undergoing some construction work it was well balanced and business as usual. But why close Pirates Of The Caribbean for refurb during peak summer months ???
EPCOT - Another great visit to our favourite park, a shame about Maelstrom closing
AK - Getting better all the time
DHS - My least favourite park this time. Too many closures all at once, The Hat being taken down for a sound stage, and Frozen everywhere you turn.

The rest -
Magic Bands worked well, we liked them and with technology leaping forward at the rate it does then the possibilities for it are almost endless.
MDE - Great website / app. Used it more at home than when in WDW (mainly due to data roaming costs and limited internet when away from the resort and the parks). Really assisted with the holiday planning stages and the occasional changes to FP that I made while away from the parks
FP+ - works well in conjunction with MDE. However, the thing that I didn't like was having to book everything 2 months before travelling. Choosing your park to book your dining reservations 6 months out is acceptable, but now that you're choosing FP before you even pack your suitcases is a bit too much. There needs to be a better balance of making your FP selection before getting to the park and running across the park collecting paper FP tickets. This needs a bit of tweaking.

The weather - Well Florida threw all sorts at us - highs of 34 and torrential downpours with thunder and lightning. We survived both extremes and we're ready to return to The Happiest Place on Earth.

A final, final note. During this trip I wore a Fitbit throughout my stay. Now the steps walked are meaningless as a tool for comparison as my stride is twice as long as my wifes and therefore difficult to compare against anybody elses strides. However, miles walked is interesting.
From waking up on the morning of Wednesday August 12th (departure day) to getting onto the plane at Orlando International I walked, wait for it............77.91 miles !!!!

And that's your lot, or in the words of a famous cartoon producer "That's All Folks"

There's only one thing left to say - Thank You.
Thank you for reading the trip report. I hope you enjoyed the report as much as I did in writing it, and as much as we did in actually making the report possible by spending time at WDW and creating the memories.

Coming next - The photographs

I have been seeing posts from people there right now. September 3rd and the parks are EMPTY. I mean total walk on on everything, every park. IF and when you return consider this time, the week before our labor day. It seems like a good time to go!

Sorry I had to quote you whole post but each time I just tried to post a comment my computer took me another site about making a reservation, I have not idea why?

Thanks for a great post, I enjoyed reading it!

CAPTAIN HOOK · Sep 4, 2015

smk said:
IF and when you return consider this time, the week before our labor day. It seems like a good time to go!

Thanks for the tip, Unfortunately my wife's a teacher and we're therefore restricted to travelling when school is closed ie the summer holidays

Trip Report Captain Hooks Trip Report with a short and well thought out, snappy title

CAPTAIN HOOK

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CAPTAIN HOOK

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Tiggertoo56

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CAPTAIN HOOK

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WishIWasAtWDW

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CAPTAIN HOOK

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myhappyplace

Crazy Cat Lady

sophie_the_pooh

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fractal

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smk

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CAPTAIN HOOK

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