Trip Report "Seriously...?!?", "Umm is that a loaf of bread?" DisneyPrincess5's 10/30-11/6 Trip

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 7, 2014

On the way to the airport at 5am, I realize that after like 5 random nights of waking up at 3am to remember to pack the camera, I forgot it. Seriously? We don't take a ton of photos anymore anyway but I think I was more surprised at how I forgot than anything.

TRANSPORTATION
Our flight to and from MCO is around 2.5 hours long. On our flight, I had the pleasure of sitting next to a gentleman who before the flight took off made a phone call where I hear him mumble "I better not come home to more bullets in the walls". Seriously...you know he'd be next to me. Despite that our flight there was great as was our flight home despite some turbulence (empty seat next to me!!!) We also did just carryons for the first time which was super easy and convenient. We had really great attendants who made the experience easier. Jetblue-great job as always.

One not so fun thing-Ryan struggles with flying for various reasons and this time around, he was super dizzy and nauseous on the flight there and felt this way periodically through out the trip. Poor hubs. After all the flights we had during the month, he was toast. I felt so bad because he wanted to do so much and eat a ton but he just didn't feel that good on and off.

We rent a car every trip as we usually go to Universal and grocery store and we just like the general convenience and freedom. We shopped around for the best rate and we landed on Dollar, which saved us around $100. Yay! We go down to the rental counters and the only line that exists, which is about 25 families long is but of course Dollar. Seriously... Other than that, we had no problem with them.
We chatted with a great couple from Minneapolis and about an hour later we get our rental car. We ended up with a 2014 2 door Toyota Yaris that has hand crank windows yet Bluetooth capability. Seriously? We had a great laugh about the window situation and reminisced a bit as we had a car with hand powered windows on our first trip together. Awww.

RESORT
We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for the very first time. We had visited a few times in the past for Boma and when all DVCs we had wanted were taken for our desired trip dates, we took AKL. While beautiful and spacious and with more than enough amenities for us, I never had truly wanted to stay here due to it being a deluxe with no special transportation and not being close to our favorite park which is MK. But we felt thankful for being gifted the points and decided we were excited for this to be our resort.

We pulled in, parked our clown car, and entered our resort. Lobby was gorgeous as always and our room was great. We had a savannah view and saw giraffes, zebra, red river hogs (my fave!), and a ton more. What a great experience to have those animals so close. The balcony was private, despite the 6 year old grandson of our neighbors dangerously poking his head around the safety barrier to see us and ask "you can see the animals too?" Seriously? The room was lovely and we really enjoyed the "sitting room" area and kitchenette. The room met all our needs and was beautiful.

My mom had warned me that with DVC studios, they only give you towels every 4 days and not many of them. I didn't think much of it but when we experienced it, wow. On the fourth day we were given 5 big bath towels and some hand towels and washcloths and they had taken the trash. No vacuuming, no new linens or even making the bed, squat. It's fine I just wasn't prepared for that. And not for nothing but my mom has spent some serious coin on DVC and they barely attend to the room? Again, if this is how they do things okay but I was surprised. And to boot, after putting a privacy notice in our door, a housekeeper tried letting herself in and when it didn't work due to the two indoor locks, she frantically pounded the door to check our fridge for something she left in it. Seriously?!?! We laughed forever.

BUSES
I can only speak to our first park day on Halloween going to MK. The bus was very crowded as we had expected on Halloween and there was very poor, almost disrespectful management of a very handicapped woman in a wheelchair and on the way home it was worse. It ticked my husband off so much that we drove to parks every other day. I mourned the loss of the Disney transport experience for a minute, then realized how much more convenient it was for us having our car. And don't forget we parked free as we are resort guests. Score!

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 7, 2014

PARKS

MAGIC KINGDOM: We went for 3 days of our trip. Magical as ways. I adore it here and always have. So many great memories and so much nostalgia. We saw Halloween and then Christmas decor which was beautiful. Kinda weird to see Christmas stuff up the first week of November (Seriously?) but this makes the Xmas party more festive I guess. Our hearts remain with Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, and Peter Pans Flight. We really enjoyed the Mine Train as well. Snow White is my favorite princess and one of my all time favorite Disney movies so the Mine Train helped heal my broken heart after they closed Snow Whites Scary Adventures. We rode the Haunted Mansion on Halloween which was fun and memorable. We had some funny moments like a family taking out a full sized loaf of Italian bread out of a back pack and rip it to shreds while in line for Space Ranger Spin. Seriously-awesome. And a dad yelling at his kid "Git your sword and git over here!!!!" Not everyday a dad orders his child to retrieve his sword. Also, while exiting Space Mountain one time, a teenage girl behind us asked her friend how to spell "screaming" as she texted. Seriously... We got to see the first night of the Frozen castle lighting and see Main Street lit up-so beautiful. We do almost every ride and attraction here and loved it all!

DHS: We spent two half days here. Enjoyed it as always. We absolutely love Tower of Terror and Toy Story Mania. TSM was actually my favorite ride of the trip. Andy's room is always impressive to me. We love RNRC but never got to ride as one day Ryan didn't feel well and I didn't want to leave him alone, then the next day we went it was closed. We also never rode Star Tours which we both love, again from him not feeling well. I think we learned on this trip that we can do without some attractions. I absolutely adore The Muppets and always have but I cannot do that show anymore. Same thing for years and I have too much respect for those fuzzy things to sit bored through the show. I think we're also done with Voyage and Indiana Jones. We do enjoy GMR but we're never in the mood. I really hope the suits do something productive with some dead space going on here. Let's hope the rumors of a great big beautiful tomorrow are true. Fun story: Ryan's name gets mistaken for Brian constantly as of course it sounds almost identical. So much so that as a joke, I call him Brian half the time now. Someone yelled "Brian!" at the park and Ryan turned around in response to it. We were hysterical. We loved One Mans Dream as always, but appreciated it more this time after watching the movie. I never thought I'd be sad to see the Backlot Tour go but it was kind of sad not being able to do it. We said our final goodbyes to the Hat and look forward to it being gone.

ANIMAL KINGDOM: We spent one half day here. It was chilly, which I'll speak on later, and my husband wasn't feeling well this day again. We had a great safari with lots of close animals, had a great ride on Everest, and loved Bugs Life. We ended up not riding Dinosaur as our FP was too late in the day (2pm-sad that that's late!) and we left already and hmm that's about all we do here. This is a half day park for us now but we did enjoy our short time there. It'll be interesting when Avatar opens.

EPCOT: We spent a half day here only because again my husband didn't feel well and we had a shorter trip than usual. If we had stayed longer we likely would've gone another day. We rode Spaceship Earth and Nemo and Test Track. Yes you read right. We ended up not doing Soarin as we missed our FP when hubs was ill and by the time we returned, the standby line was insane, naturally. LWTL which is one of my faves never happened nor did my beloved Mexico boat ride. And let's not talk about Maelstrom. We also missed the American Adventure which just stinks. We did enjoy some very calm and leisurely walking around the entire park to help him feel better which we usually don't have the time or patience for so that was a great treat. Loved the shops and I wish I got the states pillow from the US pavilion! I love anything colonial and patriotic so that shop is my favorite.

We typically visit Universal but never did per Ryan's condition. Spending $500 on the day to have him either not ride things or feel like trash and worse afterwards was just not worth it. Oh well-Harry, we will see you on another trip.

FASTPASS+/MAGICBANDS
We enjoyed using our FP+ but didn't make each one as sometimes our days would change but overall I'd say our experience with it was positive. Every FP+ line was fast and simple. We loved using our bands (blue and orange) to gain park entry, access our DDP and room-much simpler than constantly whipping out a room card. I'm not sure if it's obvious or if I'm just uneducated in the topic it I'm not convinced Disney has this whole FP+ thing figured out. I'll speak on this more in the Crowds section.

DINING
I have a shellfish allergy as of 2012 and everywhere we dined was great at accommodating it. I never have to worry about it here. We also used the DDP.

I have to say that we did not have a bad meal all trip, sit down or quick service. Some QS highlights were breakfast platter and panini at Sunshine Seasons, half chicken meal at Cosmic Rays, and many great meals at Mara at AKL. We end up eating a lot at our resort and really enjoyed Mara. It was spacious and had great options. Very happy with it.

Boma: Hadn't been in a little bit and wow did we miss it! It was quite busy when we went but we were seated on time and LOVED the food. Plus it was awesome to just simply take an elevator back to our room.

Hollywood Brown Derby: Delicious. We both got the filet of beef which came with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Melts in your mouth-sooooo good. Dessert was just ok. Ryan missed the large single desserts and I missed the big berry cobbler.

California Grill: WOW. Just wow. We loved the rehab and its opennesses. We had a window table overlooking MK and the Seven Seas Lagoon and of course the Poly and GF which was so special. Hubs had the pork two ways with goat cheese polenta (WHAAAAT!) and I had the beef with tomato risotto. Unreal. So delicious and high quality and filling. Dessert was good too. I had the banana cinnamon fritters and he had the chocolate pudding something or other. We will be returning next trip.

Crystal Palace: This was suppose to be San Angel Inn but Ryan wasn't feeling well so we forfeited our ADR and got charged. Well technically it was suppose to be a 50s Prime Time lunch but I had changed it to Mexico on another day when he expressed how crappy he felt. I quickly scanned what was at MK the next day to make up for the lost table service credit and found a few lunch openings for CP and snagged a 12pm for 2. I always enjoyed it here and this lunch was no different. Very good food with great variety and it was fun to see a see a few characters. I was STARVING but for my safety, we had to wait for the chef to come over to explain the options for me. I said to Ryan "Just our luck, we will be waiting for nothing. I doubt there's shellfish for lunch". Sure enough, we waited about 10 minutes and he told us that there was no shellfish. We died laughing. Seriously?!?

Be Our Guest: First time dining here and it was more than we expected. We enjoyed the our dinners (chicken for me and seafood for Ryan) and dessert was good too. I had the lemon cupcake and he had the strawberry one. Ryan asked our waitress what the grey stuff was and she wouldn't tell us and literally said "it's delicious-don't believe me, ask the dishes!" Seriously...she was either extreme dedicated to her role or loved watching us not know what the heck it was. I'm guessing the first.
Inside the castle was GORGEOUS. We sat in the Grand Ballroom against a wall so we could see the whole room. Our waitress told us the ceiling was filled with paintings of the imagineers babies as Angels-fun fact! The detail was just wow, especially the snow, and we loved exploring the rooms. We most loved the room filled with art and the Beast and Belle rotating statue. Also it was very cool how the Beast entered the room at 5 to take his place for photos in the next room. Glad we tried it here.

Food & Wine Festival: I got a kielbasa and pierogi dish from the Poland pavilion and it was delicious. Ryan had beef from the Canada pavilion and he enjoyed it very much. Wish we got to eat more!

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 7, 2014

WEATHER
So we were told and found through research that the weather is typically sweatshirt required a bit after sun up and after sun down and pretty warm during the day. We found this to be true with the exception of the weekend which was unseasonably cold. Good thing we each had a pair of jeans and a few hoodies. It got MUCH warmer towards the end which was great. The weather was good overall and we never saw a drop of rain.

CROWDS
We were under the impression that it wasn't suppose to be even close to busy when we were there but we were wrong! I swear there's no down time anymore. It wasn't terrible but there were definitely more bodies than we thought. Decent waits, FP+ and down rides creating longer standbys, and screaming children everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Now when I say screaming, I mean SCREAMING at the absolute highest pitch their little bodies could muster. Like WOW we should enter them all in a decibel contest kind of screaming. It actually made us laugh hysterically sometimes because it was so wild. And yes we know children are a part of WDW so we always expect this but somehow it seemed more Obnoxious than usual. Oh well-thank God we didn't hear it while at the resort. We couldn't figure out if it seemed more crowded with longer wait times due to some attractions having FP that didn't before or what??? Well, maybe it was truly more crowded as we saw big lines at QS restaurants. Never seen that before!

Some random yay moments:

We saw THE George Lucas and his wife and daughter exiting Peter Pans Flight on Halloween. It was like seeing an angel, that bearded, billionaire genius. So cool!

Ryan not feeling well led us to relax more than usual in the room and prevented extreme exhaustion. This ended up being great and helpful and we really enjoyed this relaxation-we really needed it.

We saw Holly Madison and her husband talking with a cast member at the Contemporary. She's gorgeous!

As I mentioned briefly in the Epcot segment, we spent A LOT of time window shopping and exploring stores and just leisurely walking around, taking in the sights at all the parks. Ryan wanted to be there desperately despite not feeling well so this was how we took advantage of the space and time. It was a new twist for us and it was really wonderful.

We typically vacation for at least 9-10 days so this was a hair shorter yet felt very long! It was the perfect amount of time.

While a great CM helped us print our boarding passes at the MK Guest Relations (took 30 minutes due to a computer, then printer glitch-seriously...only us), we saw two families reunite with beloved lost toys. Faith in humanity: restored.

While at Guest Relations, a couple came in to get engagement buttons after he popped the question seconds earlier on Main Street. They were so happy and excited and it brought back awesome memories of Ryan's proposal and our engagement. In fact, we saw a lot of Just Engaged buttons on our travels. Awww love it!

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 7, 2014

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, it was a great trip. The timing made for some stress but we managed just fine. We took it easy and truly relaxed. No rushing or worrying. And best of all-no alarm clocks allowed! We enjoyed staying at AKL but we think this will be our only stay simply because the location doesn't work for the way we do things. We decided to stay in the Boardwalk area or on the monorail line next time. We need a bit more convenience and immersion. We enjoyed this time of year but we're thinking of trying a new month next. Thoughts on March??? (When it's not close to Easter!) We loved our dining and Ryan can't stop talking about California Grill. Why can't I eat this great every day?!?

I found myself reminiscing a lot on this trip. Like Simon and Garfunkle "Bookends" kind of thinking. Disney has changed so much since my first trip at 3 years old in 1990 (Cue grandma voice: "back in my day, a character walked up to you on the street! You didn't have to schedule a fastpass plusamajiger to meet that Elsa gal! And you wore clean pressed outfits to the park-not One Direction T-shirts or pajamas bottoms!")
I look back on the past fondly, feeling lucky that I got to experience it in this special certain way. In a more pure and innocent form, I feel. Thanks, Walt. Seriously...the world would've been a dark place without you.

While we begin to settle into our new home in the next few weeks, life will naturally change in a very positive way and we are focusing on that. Ryan and I are both interested in moving on to new jobs within the next few years and me possibly returning to school for my Masters degree.

With all that in mind, we are tentatively planning to return to WDW next in 2017. I will be turning 30 years old that year and it'll be our 4th wedding anniversary but 10 years together so that's a big, fun milestone for us. It's kind of sad to think about not returning for 3 YEARS (Major GASP) but this will make us hungry for it and allow us to focus on other things or possibly vacationing elsewhere in between. COLLECTIVE GASP! SERIOUSLY-are we nuts? :-D

Hope you enjoyed our trip report! Thanks so much for reading!!!

Mickey2006 · Nov 7, 2014

Enjoyed your report! I, too, have stood in line at the Dollar counter. I joined their free membership club and can now skip the counter and go directly into the garage to pick a car when I use them.

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 7, 2014

Mickey2006 said:
Enjoyed your report! I, too, have stood in line at the Dollar counter. I joined their free membership club and can now skip the counter and go directly into the garage to pick a car when I use them.

Thank you! Oh wow thanks good to know! I'm going to look into that.

FlaggNL · Nov 18, 2014

Wow, what a detailed TR! Thanks for sharing!

DisneyPrincess5 · Nov 18, 2014

FlaggNL said:
Wow, what a detailed TR! Thanks for sharing!

Thanks so much for reading! Yeah I just realized how much I wrote yikes haha

FlaggNL · Nov 19, 2014

DisneyPrincess5 said:
Thanks so much for reading! Yeah I just realized how much I wrote yikes haha

Don't yike

Off course most ppl want to see pictures with some slight describtions of the day. But I also like much longer describtions. Every person 'lives' his own way when in a Disney park! And sometimes you get good tips and tricks when checking ppl's TR!

Trip Report "Seriously...?!?", "Umm is that a loaf of bread?" DisneyPrincess5's 10/30-11/6 Trip

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

Mickey2006

Member

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member

DisneyPrincess5

Well-Known Member

FlaggNL

Well-Known Member