Trip report, 6/4-6/15

Just back from one of the best trips ever. Stayed 3 nights at Poly, 4 at Beach Club, 4 at W-Lodge. Hadn't stayed at Poly in 10 years, forgot how truely wonderful this resort is, the new pool and slide are great. First time at Beach Club, beautifully decorated room, one of the newly refurbished, water view room looking straight at Boardwalk, great night time view. Storm Along Bay is the best resort pool no question. Finished up at the Lodge as is our tradition every trip, our all time favorite resort, 6th time we have stayed there. Courtyard view room looking towards the MK, right over the pool. This place is the best on the property.

June 4- Land at 6:00 PM, rented rag top Sebring, drove off in a torential downpour. Arrive about 7:30 PM at Poly, rain stopped. Checkin, get 7 day park hopper. Take a dip and then off to Fantasia Golf (another 1st night tradition), no crowd at all. Back to Poly for another dip

June 5 - First day to AK, arrived early, very low crowd. Had 10:00 PS for Restaurantosaurus, castmember was at entrance offering immediate seating, went for it, done eating by 9:30, average buffet, lots of character time. Straight to Dinosaur, little line but ride is down. Waited about 10 minutes, CM informs they do not know when ride will operate, stood around for another minute and ride opens. Fast passed coming off ride and straight to P-Whirl, first time ride, good coaster/not great. Back to Dino for 2nd ride, my son really likes this ride. Went to Safari expecting the worst, only 15 minute wait for standby. Did everything else and was back at Dino for a third ride by 5:00 PM. Back to Poly for swim and off to DD for 7:30 PS at Fultons, great meal. PI looked very crowded with Gay week guests. Walked DD and back to Poly for late dip. The more I go to AK the more I like it.

June 6- Off to MK for 8:20 PS at Crystal Palace, good buffet, sparse crowd, lots of open tables. Overall low crowd at MK, very little wait time on all attractions, still used fast pass for Space and Splash mountain. Rode everything we wanted multiple times. Dinner at Liberty, one of my favorites, great meal and service. Again, lots of available tables, CM out front offering immediate seating. Stayed for E-Ride night, scored 270k on Buzz, my all time high. One of our best days ever at MK, Pooh down for refurb. Returned to room to find letter advising of high crowd expected for Saturday 6/7 at MK (Gay day) and suggesting trying another park on that day. Late night dip (poly pool is open until midnight).

June 7 - Check out of Poly, have bags transferred to BC. Head for Studio's and early open, Star Wars weekend, lots of costumed guests entering park. Rode TT3 times and RnR twice before 9:30. TT is an outstanding attraction, the new sequences are great.
GMR closed, CM out front advising the ride is opening tomorrow.
Lunch at SciFi, average food/decent service, same flick. One of my son's favorite places to eat. Had a 12 noon PS and was seated by 12:15, not bad for SciFi. Millionaire was all Star Wars trivia, lots of SW stuff going on in the park . Thunderstorm started right as parade was finishing up, quick storm. RnR closed in afternoon due to quest passing out on ride. Fantasmic package at Brown Derby, great food/got a good seat for show. Took boat back to BC, disappointed to find out pool closes at 10:00 PM, went to Beaches and Cream for first time, wow. Evening resort cup refills only available at B&C, no self serve. You must use to-go line, kind of an inconvenience, B&C closed at 11:00 PM.


June 8 - Character breakfast at Cape May then off to Blizzard Beach, threat of rain kept crowd low. T-storm shut down all pools and beach area for about 45 minutes, really cleared out the park, got in lots of sliding when it all reopened. Returned to BC for swim at SAB, what a pool!! Smee jr says the slide is the best at any resort, I agree. Clam Bake buffet for dinner, very good. Golf at Winter/Summerland, played both,very slow. Even though rules say max group size of 4, we counted 15 in one group, jumped ahead. Walked around Boardwalk, took another swim. Lifeguards were checking resort IDs and wrist banding pool patrons. Guests from other resorts may not swim at SAB, but BC quests may hop to other resort pools.

I'll have to finish up another time,assuming anyone iinterested.

 

[careship]

I'm interested.

 

[mikec2003]

Sounds like a great trip...would love to hear more! :sohappy:

 

[Smee]

More Smee trip report:

June 9 - Off to Epcot, entered through International Gateway, seemed to get in 10 minutes before offical opening time, only about 25 guests at gate. Walked straight to TT, absolutely nobody around,we beat the front gate crowd. Walked on ride and got first car of the day. Front gate crowd had arrived by the time we got off. Fast passed TT and went for UoE, again no line, sat in front row. Off UoE and went for Body Wars, no line again. Back to TT for FP ride, got all the way to preshow and ride down for problems. Exited ride, kept fast pass for later. Over to Land, FP for LwL, did Food Rocks (mostly empty), ate lunch, rode LWL, good place for midday break. Over to Imagination, rode JII for first time since return of Figment, no one in line. I'll say it is improved but still no where near the original for enjoyment. 10 minute wait at HISTA. Back to test track, got all the way to the loading gate and ride shut down for rain, really pouring. Provided with VIP pass and told to return through exit when ride reopens.
Off to Mexico and Norway, no line at ERdT, 10 minutes posted wait at Norway, fast pass not working, waited 20. Walked around showcase, returned to TT, rain stopped and ride is working, entered through exit and right onto ride, finally. Back to BC for swimming. Have 7:00 PM PS at Yachtsmans Steakhouse, outstanding food and service, if you have never been here, you have to try it, little pricey but worth it. Boat reserved for Illuminations, beautiful evening. Problems with globe results in different show, globe still moved but light display not working properly. They compensated by increasing pyro display. Great boat captain, extra long basin tour. Back to BC for more swimming
and Beaches and Cream, decadent place, love it. Great Epcot day aside from TT problems.

June 10-Off to IOA for opening bell. Rode Spiderman first thing, 5 minute wait then express passed. Rode Hulk, 10 minute wait, fantastic coaster. Back to Sman for xpass ride them back to Hulk. Decided to purchasebook of xpress passes to optimize available time ( IOAclosing at 7:00 PM), $15 per book for 1 ticket to all rides except P-teranadon Flyers, hope Disney never starts selling fast passes. Straight to Jurassic Park, 10 minute wait, saved xpass for later, some dinos not working properly. Tried to ride P-flyers, alas Smee Jr is above the height limit of 56 inches and adults cannot ride without an eligible kid, found a family with a kid under the limit to enter with but wait time is 45 minutes and no xpasses on this ride, skipped it. Rode Dueling dragons ice coaster, posted 15 minute wait so decided to save xpass for fire coaster, actual wait 40 minutes including time to add 2nd train. (this seemed to occur regularly once the park got a little crowded, posted wait times were generally half of actual). Went to Seuss land, moderate lines used some xpasse. Made PS time for lunch at Mythos, good food, recommend this place. Straight to Poseidon's Fury for first time ride, I liked it, little slow at first but final part is real good. Over to Dudley and Popey Bilge Barges, real hot day and the wet is welcome. Spent rest of day using up xpasses, it really made a difference buying the booklet but I still don't like the concept of selling xpasses. Out of park by 6:30, all in all a good day at IOA, I really like this park, rode everything multiple times, spiderman is one of the best rides anywhere. Back to BC for swimming and room service pizza by the pool,(and a few libations) stayed until closing, more B&C to go.

June 11 - Up early for check out and bag transfer to W-Lodge. Onward to Discovery Cove, did the Dolphin encounter and snorkeled all over, coral reef, stingray tank. This is a great place, beautiful, all inclusive, lunch was very good, they really take care of the guests, highly recommend, somewhat expensive. Got some great pictures. Over to Seaworld around 5:00 PM (DCove closes at 5:30) free parking and admission with DCove admission. Rode Kraken and Atlantis multiple times, had 7:30 PS for Dining with Shamu dinner,weather threatening but rain held off. Enjoyed this meal, above average buffet and private Shamu performance, table right at the tank rail, got a little wet from Shamu splashes. After dinner did Polar experience (simulator ride) and back to Kraken and Atlantis again for more multiple rides, both are real good attractions. Out of park at 10:00 PM after fireworks, great day. Return to Lodge for checkin and late swim, love this place, best room ever.

More to come later....

 

[dec]

Sounds like a busy and fun trip so far.

 

[scottsalisbury]

Boat for Illuminations

What boat did you reserve for Illuminations? Where did you call to reserve it?

Scott

 

[Smee]

The Illuminations boat cruises leave out of the Yacht Club marina, cost $120, I think up to 12 per boat (?). I think the number was the same as for golf reservations, don't have it now. You may have seen the boats parked under the bridge near France during the show, great view of Illuminations anda tour of the resort basin and waterway to MGM. You can pay extra for dessert, drinks, B-day party, etc. 90 day advance reservations, they go quickly.

Final trip report installment...

June 12- Boat from WL to MK in time for early open, lots of characters on main street, stopped at Main Street Bakery, it all looks delicious, great stuff. All over MK once again, multiple rides on eveything we wanted to go on. Crowd much larger than last week and really hot day, made big use of fast pass. Rode Buzz 4 times, myself and Smee jr score all time personal bests, 640K for me, 676K for Smee jr. It's true, target on inside of orange robot's left hand is 100K reward. All over the park today, lunch at Pinocchio village, table looking down at small world loading area is another tradition of ours. Still no COP/no timekeeper. Big thunderstorm in mid afternoon. Had the all time monotone tour guide on Jungle, guide last week was best ever. Out of park around 4:30, really hot day, back to WL for swim, pool is very crowded. Thunder clouds appear and pool is shutdown, grab seat at Salmon Bar and have a libation or 3. Take bus to TTC and board monorail to Epcot to head for 7:50 PS at Rose and Crown, shooting for patio table to watch Illuminations during dinner. Got to ride in pilots cabin over and back from Epcot, another tradition, love the ride through Future World. Upon arrival find our LaL pictures for first time since we did them 2 years ago. Have time for Spaceship Earth ride (no line at all) then hustle down to R&C. Request table on patio and are seated in about 10 minutes with a perfect view of lagoon, top level under the awning. Still raining a little but stops in time for show, good food/great CM serving us. Had the sausage with bubbles and squeek, Mrs. Smee gets the fish and chips, and Smee Jr gets prime rib. Show starts and fire barge is not working due to threat of lightening (so I'm told). Again compensated with increased pyro, at least globe is fully functional this time. This has to be the best place to see Illuminations, we do it every trip (and the beer is great). Leisurely walk back to Monorail for return to Lodge in time for late swim.

June 13- Up and at em and back to Universal in time for opening to use up 2nd day of pass, head for the movies. Buy xpress booklet as we enter, Shrek opened yesterday, crowd heads straight for it, we go to rear of park and get 3 quick rides on MinB and once on Back to Future, no lines at all. ET breaks down during ride and strands us for about 5 minutes in ET's home. Recieve xpress pass good for any ride in park upon exiting for having to wait, nice touch. Now can check out Shrek 2x. Cover entire park in quick time, I'm picked out of the audience at Earthquake to be part of the special effects preshow. Use xpress pass to ride Shrek 4D, still waited about 20 minutes, stand by line is 75 minutes-looks longer. Decent preshow, standard 3D effects, moving theater seats, stark auditorium (no Tough to be a Bug for sure). Ride Jimmy Neutron, good kid simulator experience. Back to Shrek again to use our pass from ET, for all the advance hype, it's good not great (TTBABug is better). Nobody collected our all ride xpress pass when we entered Shrek so I looked for 3 deserving people to give it to. Found a mother with 2 little kids who had just looked at the stand by line for Shrek and told her kids no way, gave her the pass, she couldn't believe it, her little boy asked me if I was an angel (I'm not kidding). Exit park about 4:00 PM, back to Lodge for quick swim then off to MK for E-ride night. PS for 5:40 at Tony's for dinner, good food and service. After dinner head to Adventure land to ride Jungle and Pirates before E-ride start at 7:00 PM, (I love Pirates). Ride everything multiple times although this was the most crowded e-night I have ever experienced. Again back to Lodge for late dip. Note - I observed more poor line behavior at Universal and IOA in the first 2 hours than in all the time at WDW, although WDW had some bad moments as well. Certain groups seem to feel 1 person in line reserves a spot for as many friends and family as they care to pull in, bugs me a lot.

June 14 - Last full day and last day of park hopper, our traditional multi park day. Start at MGM for early open, big computer problems at turnstiles, some are not operating at all, big holdups. CM are manually entering guests one at a time. Twice the lines we are in are shutdown. Finally get in and head for ToT and RnR. GMR is open, Mrs Smee scores in top ten on Millionaire, As we are waiting to enter Millionaire a cast member comes out and says a guest has just won the 1 million point prize, 3 night cruise. This holds up things, wait almost 45 minutes. I think they were doing pictures and cleaning up streamers and confeti. Winners come out carrying bags of prizes, including what looks like a winners leather jacket. Since we waited so long we received an extra long session. Exit MGM and head for AK, ride everything we wanted to hit again, got soaked on Kali-loved it,no line at Dino, multiple rides. Watch parade and head back to Lodge, drop souvenirs, straight to boat for MK. Grab dinner at Columbia house (best counter service food in MK). Ride HM multiple times (we all love this ride). Ride all the big rides again, stake out parade spot near Pecos Bill Cafe,after parade walk down to MS to watch fireworks, hustle out to boats for trip back to lodge and late swim. Feeling sad,we go home in the AM.

June 15 - Pack and call bellman, PS at 8:30 breakfast at W-Canyon, all the usual CM antics, some extra stuff due to Fathers day. Walk the lodge one last time, pack the car and go, everyone quiet. Ride past Pop Century on way to airport, most looks ready.
Long security lines at airport.

Summary - It would be very easy to write more but I'm verbose enough(and sorry for the typos). We came home exhausted, broke,and very satisfied. Another great vaca at WDW and Orlando, the best ever. The only things we did not do that we wanted to try for was Typhoon and D-Quest, just ran out of time. Already thinking about the plan for the next trip. Thank you cast members, you are all great.

 

[dox]

Great trip report, very informative. You mentioned several things I would like try out on my next trip especially the Illuminations Cruise. A question: were you and your family the only people on your cruise? And did you or can you order any extra stuff for the cruise such as drinks or can you bring them yourself.

As for Universal, I can't believe they are charging extra for their equivalent of a fast pass. Six Flags Great Adventure up here in Jersey is doing the same thing. Its a bit different in that it is a computerized plastic thing-a-majig you carry around. But it is about $40 for two people and $10 for every extra person. I really hope disney doesn't sink to that level. That would be depressing.

Which was your favorite Disney resort? I've stayed at BC b4, which is ok. It's pool is the best thing. What ar eyour thoughts on Poly v. WL.

Finally, I have to apologize to alot of people on this board given something you mentioned in your report regarding people holding places in lines for large groups. I made a comment on a thread about this that I had never really experienced this but I was so wrong. Here you are talking about experiencing during this very recent trip and the friend i go to disney just commented that we have had similar stuff happen to us. I just totally ignored it i guess. :hammer:

thanks for the report!:wave:

 

[Smee]

The way I remember it the Illuminations Cruise had packages you could order. The birthday package, wine & cheeze, Dessert, etc. Similar to the fireworks cruises at 7 seas lagoon. I don't believe they allow you to bring on your own food & drink. We had planned to have 5 on our boat , only had 3 as 2 family members didn't go. There is plenty of room. It was the 2nd time for us, probably a tradition from now on. Reserve early, 90 day advance I believe, they go quickly.

Poly vs WL is a hard choice now that I've gone back to Poly for the first time in some years. Being on the monorail line is a big plus, you can walk to GF, great food... But if forced to make a choice I'll probably always go to WL, just my kind of place, and great value for the price.

 

[tomman710]

Universal makes you buy the "fast passes?" And they reject riders if they are over the height limit? That is lame.

Good report! Sounds like fun.

 

[Epcot is my fav]

Originally posted by tomman710
Universal makes you buy the "fast passes?" And they reject riders if they are over the height limit? That is lame.

Good report! Sounds like fun.

you can by a booklet full of every attractions express pass....you dont need a time for these and dont need to wait online or wait till your previous time is up.....i never do it thou....seems like a waste of money when you can just get them for free..it just takes more time

 

[billybaruch1]

Smee, will you adopt me? I'd love to go on a vacation with you. :king:

Nobody collected our all ride xpress pass when we entered Shrek so I looked for 3 deserving people to give it to. Found a mother with 2 little kids who had just looked at the stand by line for Shrek and told her kids no way, gave her the pass, she couldn't believe it, her little boy asked me if I was an angel (I'm not kidding).

Thanks for providing a description of an ideal trip. Just great! You are one lucky guy. Plus, you got picked out of the audience at Earthquake. :lol: