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April 1-6th Trip Report

I've never posted a trip report before, but since I enjoy reading them, I hope others do too:) (BTW, if you don't feel like reading the whole thing, just go to the bottom, I've summed up the main things I learned from this trip.)

SATURDAY MARCH 31ST

Family of 5 (Dad, Mom, Me, Adam and Alyssa) flew into Tampa from Milwaukee, WI. We live in Green Bay, but even counting driving time, parking costs, van rental once in FL, still cheaper to fly from Mil. to Tampa instead of Green Bay to Orlando.

First time since I was 7 that we stayed off property. Didn't much care for it; we stayed at the Double Tree Guest Suites in DTD, and the accommodations were very nice. A few free continental breakfasts, space to sleep 6 (but we have 7...ooops ), close driving time but...

Really missed those Disney busses. I'm sure some out there are going, "Is she freaking kidding me?” but I really did. And I missed the Orlando Airport. And Magic Express. And I'm not one of those people who didn't enjoy staying off property because we're normally at a monorail resort or any such thing...we always stay at All Star Music or Movie, and we love it. And my parents are very picky about resorts, hotels, etc. but for the price, the location, and easy transpo, we've loved the All Stars for as long as they've been around.

It usually feels like you're at Disney the moment you step on that bus (at least for our family...I'm sure if you're normally at a monorail resort, the same could be said for the monorail), but it took us all the way until we entered the Magic Kingdom and saw the castle for it to really sink in that we were at Disney.

ANYWAYS, back to the trip...

We got to the Tampa Airport, rented our van, drove to DTD (I DID really like seeing all the green highway signs directing you to all the different parks...that was exciting...seriously, it doesn't take much for me ), and pulled up to our hotel. My Aunt Cindy and cousin Jenny came running out, helped us get our bags, and we hurried upstairs to change for dinner.

Went to Portobello Yacht Club - my family had eaten there, but myself, Jenny and Aunt Cindy hadn't...had THE MOST DELICIOUS STEAK EVER. Including Canada. Seriously, it was so good, I almost died. (True, I'd been on Weight Watchers for like 2 months and hadn't had a really great meal until that point...so it was doubly special.) My cousin and I split it - we split EVERYTHING the whole trip. They just give you so much food - for the people who do the Dining Plan, HOW DO YOU DO IT???? If we got an appetizer, we got one for everyone to share (they give you bread at like EVERY MEAL), and if we got dessert, we split that too. Otherwise we'd be too full to move!

Walked into Raglan Road and listened to an Irish quartet...awesome!! Then back to the Doubletree via van at 10:30...and while circling around our van, I literally walked into someone else's HUGE VAN SIDE MIRROR, disfiguring my arm for the rest of the trip. Swear to God, I looked like an abuse victim the bruise was so big (and as I work in a DV shelter, I know this to be true). And the mirror was fine. Sonova...

SUNDAY APRIL 1ST

Was so excited to see the Welcome show at MK, that we made sure to get up super early so we'd be at MK by 8 a.m. But this stupid speed skater race was going on, and they had to re-route everyone through Epcot who got stuck going that way. I won't lie - I was SO angry...I'm sorry if anyone here was one of those skaters, but how stupid. There were no signs saying, "Don't go this way," or ANYTHING. So we lost about 1/2 hour doing that.

Thought we missed the Welcome Show (we got there at 8:05), but turns out because it was such a busy week, they didn't DO the Welcome Show. Which made me even angrier. (And normally, I am the HAPPIEST person, I swear. But I was just so disappointed - I wanted my Aunt and cousin to see it because they never had.) Anyways, after those initial disappointments, we get into the park to find it's practically EMPTY!!!

We hit Buzz, Space, Thunder, Splash, Peter Pan, Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Mickey's Philharmagic, all by 10 a.m. It was AWESOME!!!

Then it really started to get busy, so we used Fastpasses, ate lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern (SO DELICIOUS!), did more rides, then headed to the hotel and then to church (Palm Sunday.) Church was long, the singer was good, the priest was like Fire and Brimstone, and almost had my Mom in tears because he was yelling so much about people vacationing during Holy Week. Not the best audience, sir. So we headed back to MK and watched Spectro and Wishes from right in front of the castle. So while the day didn't start out so great, it improved a lot!!

MONDAY APRIL 2ND

Got off to a majorly late start to Epcot - didn't get there 'til 9:40, and it was frickin’ pandemonium. After we got off Soarin’, FastPasses for MISpace, and TT were already for 4 p.m. It was ridiculous…so after we did Soarin’, we went to get our picture taken for the Disney Visa Club. It was really cute – the characters were adorable, and made everyone feel really special. We got FP for TT, then headed over to Alfredo’s to eat, where we had the most delicious lasagna bolenegse (however you spell it) ever. Then we learned from the waiter that Alfredo’s is closing end of July. Tear…that’s our FAVORITE place at Epcot!! We were seriously bummed. But the drinks helped ;~)

Then we headed back to FW for Imagination, UoE (Ellen is just fricking funny, there’s nothing else to say), and TT. Then we walked around the countries, listened to the British Invasion, and had dinner at the Rose n Crown Pub in Britain. Delicious, although our food took about 25 minutes – when it finally came out, they covered it up so we could go out on the patio and watch Illuminations, which I cried at. I love that music!! We pretty much closed the pub, then were some of the last people out of Epcot – it was just so relaxing and awesome!!

TUESDAY APRIL 3RD

FINALLY! A day to relax! We all slept til about noon, then headed over to the GF for lunch at the GF Café. Great food, relaxed atmosphere – we walked the beaches, took pictures, listened to the pianist play a Little Mermaid Medley, which made me cry…again.

Then it was back home for about 3 hours by the pool, drinks, then dinner at Fulton’s in DTD.

VERY DISAPPOINTED in Fulton’s. The food was OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive, the service was just alright, the atmosphere was really nothing special, and then, when the food came, it wasn’t even very good. At ALL the other restaurants we went to, they split the food for us on separate plates, with our own little potatoes, veggies, etc. But here, at THE most expensive place we ate at, they did not. The portions were teeny (I know, I know, I just complained about how unnecessarily large all the portions are at Disney…so I’m hypocritical…sue me.) and the salmon was not good. We’ve had better salmon at The Union Hotel in DePere, 5 miles from Green Bay, landlocked and a city of like 12,000. The rest of my family really didn’t enjoy their food either, but we got to see family who was visiting down there and visit with them through the meal, so that was cool. But we will not be going back to Fulton’s, that’s for sure.

Then we went into Raglan Road and listened to another Irish group, then shopped a little and headed back to the hotel to crash.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4TH

MGM, FINALLY! I just love this park, and we got there super early…but I forgot how small the park is, and how it just doesn’t handle crowds well. It was LITERALLY wall-to-wall people…turning around or staying with your party was almost impossible.

My mom finally said, You know what? If this were our first trip to Disney, we’d never come back!

Seriously, if you didn’t know about FastPasses, about which lines were faster than others, which side of the parks to do first, to do rides while the parades are going on, HOW you could’ve done anything or gone on anything that week, I don’t know. We won’t ever go back during Spring Break week, that’s for sure.

Anyways, we did lunch at Sci Fi, which was surprisingly really good (the burgers, again, were huge, so we split and I got the BLT soup…YUMMY!) and I still can’t get that stupid “The Blob” song out of my head!

Then there was Indy (which has added a few new lines, thank God!), Ariel, Stunt Show, and Muppets, then dinner at Prime Time 50’s, where our waitress, Jen, was HYSTERICAL!!

Then Fantasmic, where I sat next to two British children who I found utterly charming…they thought I was hysterical. (Since I cried through most of the show, they kept trying to console me with popcorn…I eagerly took them up it!) Seriously, EVERY single person I sat next to in a show or talked to in line were just SO NICE!!! It may’ve been busy, but people were fantastic!

My Aunt loved Fantasmic – first time seeing it, couldn’t stop talking about it. She’s a 2nd Grade teacher and was already inventing slideshows for her kids where she could use the Illuminations, Wishes and Fantasmic music!

THURSDAY APRIL 5TH

Animal Kingdom – so we’re not big animal people. We didn’t expect to spend much time there, but we did. We did the Safari (I know, I know…it’s one of our favorites and yet we don’t like animals? Doesn’t make a lot of sense.) We did EE twice – my brother did it 4x – (the Yeti was SCARY!), then went to wait in line at 11 for the 11:30 Finding Nemo show. We didn’t get in – it was just so crazy busy!! So we went and did Rainforest Café for lunch, then did Lion King, and then Finding Nemo. We headed out of there about 4 p.m. The ‘rents went back to the hotel, and us kids headed to the Grand Floridian where I’d forgotten my sunglasses. Thank God someone turned them in – they’re prescription.

So we hopped a bus there, took some more pics, took the monorail to Epcot to meet my Mom and Aunt Cindy, and waited for them to do the American Adventure. Paul Revere and the Somethings was playing – my Mom and Aunt Cindy were totally crazy for them, and my bro, sis, couz and I were like, “Paul and the who?”

We did AA, then headed over to LeCellier in the rain where we waited for like half an hour (and we had priority seating!), then had some severely delicious steak and potatoes, wine and bread, and some nice chocolate!! My dad was sick, so we were sad that he missed it, since it’s one of his favorites, but even being absent, he still paid…LOL.

So we took the bus back to the hotel – waited in the rain for 20 min-, then finally got on and were lucky to get a seat. People were packed standing one right in front of the other to nearly the front of the bus. It was also like 9 million degrees inside. So we’re thinking, Ok, we’re headed back to the DTDStrip of Hotels. Nope. Suddenly our 99.999% pulls up in front of MGM Studios!! We fit four whole people on the bus…it was ridiculous!!

So back we went, stopping at each hotel along the way. And we hit curbs, got honked at, and at one point, ran over some landscaping…no I am not kidding or exaggerating. And our bus driver was IMPOSSIBLE to understand. I am not saying this to be in any way politically incorrect, but we could not tell if he was foreign, or if he just had a speech impediment. No one on our bus could understand a word. So finally, there’s just us left and another family. (There are 6 of us.) So he calls out SOMETHING about the DoubleTree…we’re not sure, because obviously we can’t understand him. We yell (ALL 6 of us) “We’re going to the Doubletree!” Twice, just to make sure he heard. The rest of us are like half asleep, and I hear my mom yell out, “EXCUSE ME! SIR!” And we’re pulling out of the Double Tree parking lot. He drove through the parking lot, making no attempt to stop at the bus stop, let alone anywhere else, and was stopped at the red light leading out of the hotel.

So we all kind of run up there, and he says something like, “Sidda!” Which we assumed meant sit down, but my Mom is like, “I’m sorry Sir, but we need to get off here, we told you that 5 minutes ago!” And the family behind us is like, “They did, sir.” So he starts yelling (and by yelling, throwing his arms in the air and saying something like, “I say Doublwee, oww say YES!” My mom at the end of her patience, and said, “Sir, you need to speak clearly so we can understand you. We need to get off now.” Only after we got off did she tell us she smell alcohol when she got near him…so, needless to say, our CRAZY DRUNK BUS DRIVER gave us a major laugh over the next couple days.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6TH

Us kids woke up super early, waited nearly 40 minutes for the bus, and headed to MK where from 8-9:30, we did Space, Splash, Thunder, Philharmagic, Pirates, and Buzz. It was awesome! Then, because it was Good Friday, we searched for non-meat options. We didn’t like any of them, though, and the ‘rents were back at the hotel, so we headed to Casey’s Corner and ate hotdogs and fries. SO GOOD!! Then the girls went and got our faces painted, and then we went to meet up the ‘rents at Epcot. They ate fish, we sat with them, then they decided they were going to drink their way around Epcot since it was like a day of fasting (that mean’s food, kids, not drinks, my father said), we hit the boat to MGM, and did RRC and ToT and the GMR.

My brother got some sort of sun rash on his arms, so we went to First Aid (very nice, didn’t have to wait at all) where she just handed him some Benodryl (sp?) and some skin gel stuff. Didn’t really work, but he felt a little better after the Benodryl.

Met the parents on the monorail to MK, got in, did Splash and Thunder again, then went and got a spot for Wishes, where I cried. Again. Then because it was after midnight, we went to Pizza Uno’s and got pizza at like 12:30. Delicious. :~)


So that was our vacation – to sum up, never go during Spring Break, (or Holy week, apparently), eat everything you can (I’d been doing Weight Watchers, and I thought, Crap, I’m going to come home like 20 lbs. heavier, but with ALL the food I ate, I didn’t gain or lose. So we must’ve walked off everything – yay!!), and stay on property. More magical, a time saver, and just more convenient. Thanks for listening!!:wave:
 

mouselvrmom

Well-Known Member
Thanks so much for the trip report! There haven't been many new ones lately and I have been missing them!:)

It sounds like you had a great time even if you didn't stay on site! I swear once you stay on site, you never want to stay off again!
 

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
I've never posted a trip report before . . .<SNIP>
Paul Revere and the Somethings was playing – my Mom and Aunt Cindy were totally crazy for them, and my bro, sis, couz and I were like, “Paul and the who?” <SNIP>
:eek: Well, at least your Mom and Aunt have good taste:kiss: . Paul Revere and the Raiders put on a good show. That would have been a fun day.
 

Chickapin Chick

New Member
Really missed those Disney busses. I'm sure some out there are going, "Is she freaking kidding me?” but I really did. And I missed the Orlando Airport. And Magic Express.
You won't hear that from me. The Disney buses, despite occasional problems, are an integral part of my WDW experience. I love them!

FINALLY! A day to relax! We all slept til about noon, then headed over to the GF for lunch at the GF Café. Great food, relaxed atmosphere – we walked the beaches, took pictures, listened to the pianist play a Little Mermaid Medley, which made me cry…again.
You sound a lot like me. I'm glad to meet another emotional Disney fan. It doesn't take much for the Disney magic to overtake me (especially medleys). Regarding "The Little Mermaid," I get chills when the main theme plays (in the "Wishes" opening, for example, I lose it when you hear Ariel giggle and say, "I wish...oh, I wish I could be part of that world." The orchestra behind her brings on major goosebumps). And your Fantasmic story is absolutely wonderful. The British kids consoling you with popcorn must have been very comforting. I love chatting with foreigners at WDW - they are so charming! (Have you seen the Disneyland version by any chance? If you haven't, I don't recommend wearing mascara when you do. When you see Mickey and the original Mark Twain riverboat coming around the bend, you won't be able to restrain your tears.)

So we all kind of run up there, and he says something like, “Sidda!” Which we assumed meant sit down, but my Mom is like, “I’m sorry Sir, but we need to get off here, we told you that 5 minutes ago!” And the family behind us is like, “They did, sir.” So he starts yelling (and by yelling, throwing his arms in the air and saying something like, “I say Doublwee, oww say YES!” My mom at the end of her patience, and said, “Sir, you need to speak clearly so we can understand you. We need to get off now.” Only after we got off did she tell us she smell alcohol when she got near him…so, needless to say, our CRAZY DRUNK BUS DRIVER gave us a major laugh over the next couple days.

That must have been a crazy experience, and I applaud you for having a good sense of humor. I would have been seething. Did you report the driver? Because if you could smell alcohol, then that is definitely cause for concern. By the way - I couldn't stop laughing at the way you wrote "Sidda." Very funny.


So that was our vacation – to sum up, never go during Spring Break, (or Holy week, apparently), eat everything you can (I’d been doing Weight Watchers, and I thought, Crap, I’m going to come home like 20 lbs. heavier, but with ALL the food I ate, I didn’t gain or lose. So we must’ve walked off everything – yay!!)
This is exactly what I've been thinking about for my upcoming trip. It's so ironic - I'm dieting and exercising to lose weight for a trip during which I plan to pig out! You hit the nail on the head as to why you didn't gain weight - if you play your cards right, you should technically break even. I've read that you can log in as many as 13 miles walked a day in WDW. You might feel a little puffy after an especially big meal, but you're likely to always burn it off. Thanks for confirming that I can eat what I want and keep my waistline from expanding.

Thanks for the very entertaining trip report. I'm so glad you had a great time!
 

amykissangel

Member
Original Poster
Thank you all for your comments :~)))) It's so fun to come back and be able to talk about your favorite place with people who share your same thoughts and opinions. And Chickapin, YES, Fantasmic is just so wonderful...the one in Disneyland is better? I can't imagine...I must plan a trip!! :wave: (When you described the Wishes Little Mermaid, I got major goosebumps just sitting in my office...what is the point of shaving your legs anymore, I ask you?:lol: )
 

Chickapin Chick

New Member
Thank you all for your comments :~)))) It's so fun to come back and be able to talk about your favorite place with people who share your same thoughts and opinions. And Chickapin, YES, Fantasmic is just so wonderful...the one in Disneyland is better? I can't imagine...I must plan a trip!! :wave: (When you described the Wishes Little Mermaid, I got major goosebumps just sitting in my office...what is the point of shaving your legs anymore, I ask you?:lol: )

People may disagree with me on this, but I most definitely believe Fantasmic is better in Disneyland. The seating is bit more - shall we say - intimate, but the show itself is indescribable. There are a few minor differences - if I remember correctly, the WDW version features scenes from Pocahontas and The Lion King, whereas the Disneyland version does not. However, the emotional impact of the Disneyland show - knowing that you are in Walt's original theme park, that you are seeing the original Mark Twain Riverboat, that this is where Fantasmic was born - is simply overwhelming.

Oh, and AMEN on leg shaving. That's why I usually where pants in the parks. :)
 

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