This trip report is a bit late, but I've had a busy few weeks after getting back. A bit of backgrond info: My fiance and I (both age 25) planned this trip at the last minute--only about 6 weeks in advance. We had just been to WDW in January, but we decided that we wanted to take a short return trip to celebrate our graduation from law school. This was my 12th trip to WDW, and it was our 4th together. Because I did a pretty extensive trip report for the January trip, I'll confine this one to my observations about new stuff, or stuff we did differently because it was our second visit in just 5 months.
Dining (Restaurants we tried for the 1st time)
We ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe for lunch. It was our first time there. I liked the food (and my bottomless milkshake) well enough, but I'm glad we knew in advance what type of environment we were getting ourselves into. I would recommend it as long as people in your dining party have a good sense of humor about themselves and aren't looking for a quiet meal.
We also had lunch at Garden Grill one day while in EPCOT and loved it! It never seems to get mentioned much on these boards (though I could just be looking in the wrong places), so I was a bit hesitant about eating there, but it was great! I really liked how it overlooked Living with the Land, the food was very good, and the set-up of the booths really allows for a more private interaction with the characters. I will probably still also go to Crystal Palace in the future b/c I like seeing Pooh and friends, but I think I like Garden Grill's atmosphere better.
Another restaurant we tried for the first time was Citrico's. Again, I liked the atmosphere. There were two wedding parties eating in the dining room w/ us while we were there, which made everything fancy but festive. I tried the tofu entree (I'm not vegetarian but like to eat tofu occasionally), and it was actually really flavorful, and definitely better than the meatless options at some other restaurants.
The only real disappointment we had with dining was Les Chefs de France. We ate there for dinner on our last night. Because we added this extra day unexpectedly, we had to get a last-minute dinner reservation, and this was one of the only ones left. There was nothing wrong with our meal, it just didn't measure up to the ones we had had during the rest of our trip (we returned to Artist Point and California Grill b/c we'd loved them so much in January). I'd still consider trying Bistro de Paris, but I wouldn't go back to LCDF again.
Finally, one food picture (b/c it looked too good not to photograph):
Sundae from Beaches & Cream (sorry it's sideways)!
"New" (to us) Stuff
EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival: This was our first time seeing it. Definitely glad we did! So pretty!
MILF: whenever we were in Tomorrowland, the wait for this was 5 minutes! We saw it twice. No, I didn't die laughing, but it had funny moments. I think the audience can really make or break the experience for the interactive attractions (MILF and Turtle Talk). When the audience is really into it, you have much more fun.
Gran Fiesta Tour: I know there has been a LOT of debate on this on other threads, so I'll be brief. I had a lot of nostalgic affection for El Rio, but I understood that it needed an update. Everything looks much brighter, the sound seemed better, and I didn't even mind the addition of the 3 Caballeros. I just wish there was some way to add a *little* bit more substantive information on the history and culture of Mexico. But overall we came away with positive feelings (though I miss the old song!).
New bus audio: we only experienced this once--on the way home from EPCOT EMH on the last night of our trip. The bus pulled up to our (WL) bus stop at EPCOT with "Port Orleans" on the front. We got on (we were first in line) and mentioned this to the driver, who said "I wonder how that happened; that's not right." Then I think he fixed it. I thought the audio itself was nice (and it wasn't too loud, maybe b/c it was late), but we only heard it once.
Project Tomorrow: This was pretty cool. We played all of the games, which were fun. I'd recommend doing it during EPCOT EMH instead of during the day, b/c the lines were shorter when we did that.
One other small note about Spaceship Earth: I rode it 4 or 5 times during the trip, and one time the audio was not working at all in my time machine vehicle. It didn't really matter to me, since I'd been on it so many times, and it was actually kind of cool b/c I paid much more attention to the audio in each different scene of the ride. When I got off, I told the CM at the unloading platform. He asked which vehicle I'd been in, I pointed it out, and he said they wouldn't put people in it until it was fixed. Seemed like the right thing to do to me!
Boat Question
For most of our trip, only 2 kinds of boats would show up at the WL dock: the small launches, and the big, double-decker enclosed boats. However, on our last full day, this boat showed up to take us to MK:
I had never seen it before. Is it new, is it only used during certain times, or have I just never noticed it before?
I guess I have two final observations: first, we would definitely go in mid-May again. The weather was great (mid-70s to mid-80s the whole time), and we NEVER felt overwhelmed by the crowds (we went early enough to avoid Memorial Day weekend).
Second, I really enjoyed the pace of this trip. Typically, we usually wait 1-2 years between trips, so when we finally do go, we're at maximum speed the whole time (i.e. returning to our hotel only to sleep at night). This time, we still did a lot, but we took more time to relax: spent a few hours at the pool one morning; sat in one of WL's sitting areas and read during the peak of afternoon heat one day; etc. One evening we got to MK around 7:30; I went and got us a spot at the Main Street train station balcony, my fiance got ice cream, and then we ate, talked, and people-watched until SpectroMagic. Here's a picture to give you an idea of our view:
We also had a different strategy for where we went: in January, we went everywhere (minus the water parks). This time, we skipped the water parks and DTD, spent one EMH night at MGM, 3/4 of a day at AK, and spent the rest of our time at MK, EPCOT, and different resorts. I definitely enjoyed the change of pace. By the end of the trip, I felt relaxed, but I still got plenty of exposure to all of my favorite rides and shows. In the future, our approach will definitely depend on how long it's been since our last trip (and, in several more years, the ages of our children), but I've definitely been converted from a total "park commando" type to someone who's willing to take a slower approach once in a while.
Dining (Restaurants we tried for the 1st time)
We ate at Whispering Canyon Cafe for lunch. It was our first time there. I liked the food (and my bottomless milkshake) well enough, but I'm glad we knew in advance what type of environment we were getting ourselves into. I would recommend it as long as people in your dining party have a good sense of humor about themselves and aren't looking for a quiet meal.
We also had lunch at Garden Grill one day while in EPCOT and loved it! It never seems to get mentioned much on these boards (though I could just be looking in the wrong places), so I was a bit hesitant about eating there, but it was great! I really liked how it overlooked Living with the Land, the food was very good, and the set-up of the booths really allows for a more private interaction with the characters. I will probably still also go to Crystal Palace in the future b/c I like seeing Pooh and friends, but I think I like Garden Grill's atmosphere better.
Another restaurant we tried for the first time was Citrico's. Again, I liked the atmosphere. There were two wedding parties eating in the dining room w/ us while we were there, which made everything fancy but festive. I tried the tofu entree (I'm not vegetarian but like to eat tofu occasionally), and it was actually really flavorful, and definitely better than the meatless options at some other restaurants.
The only real disappointment we had with dining was Les Chefs de France. We ate there for dinner on our last night. Because we added this extra day unexpectedly, we had to get a last-minute dinner reservation, and this was one of the only ones left. There was nothing wrong with our meal, it just didn't measure up to the ones we had had during the rest of our trip (we returned to Artist Point and California Grill b/c we'd loved them so much in January). I'd still consider trying Bistro de Paris, but I wouldn't go back to LCDF again.
Finally, one food picture (b/c it looked too good not to photograph):
Sundae from Beaches & Cream (sorry it's sideways)!
"New" (to us) Stuff
EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival: This was our first time seeing it. Definitely glad we did! So pretty!
MILF: whenever we were in Tomorrowland, the wait for this was 5 minutes! We saw it twice. No, I didn't die laughing, but it had funny moments. I think the audience can really make or break the experience for the interactive attractions (MILF and Turtle Talk). When the audience is really into it, you have much more fun.
Gran Fiesta Tour: I know there has been a LOT of debate on this on other threads, so I'll be brief. I had a lot of nostalgic affection for El Rio, but I understood that it needed an update. Everything looks much brighter, the sound seemed better, and I didn't even mind the addition of the 3 Caballeros. I just wish there was some way to add a *little* bit more substantive information on the history and culture of Mexico. But overall we came away with positive feelings (though I miss the old song!).
New bus audio: we only experienced this once--on the way home from EPCOT EMH on the last night of our trip. The bus pulled up to our (WL) bus stop at EPCOT with "Port Orleans" on the front. We got on (we were first in line) and mentioned this to the driver, who said "I wonder how that happened; that's not right." Then I think he fixed it. I thought the audio itself was nice (and it wasn't too loud, maybe b/c it was late), but we only heard it once.
Project Tomorrow: This was pretty cool. We played all of the games, which were fun. I'd recommend doing it during EPCOT EMH instead of during the day, b/c the lines were shorter when we did that.
One other small note about Spaceship Earth: I rode it 4 or 5 times during the trip, and one time the audio was not working at all in my time machine vehicle. It didn't really matter to me, since I'd been on it so many times, and it was actually kind of cool b/c I paid much more attention to the audio in each different scene of the ride. When I got off, I told the CM at the unloading platform. He asked which vehicle I'd been in, I pointed it out, and he said they wouldn't put people in it until it was fixed. Seemed like the right thing to do to me!
Boat Question
For most of our trip, only 2 kinds of boats would show up at the WL dock: the small launches, and the big, double-decker enclosed boats. However, on our last full day, this boat showed up to take us to MK:
I had never seen it before. Is it new, is it only used during certain times, or have I just never noticed it before?
I guess I have two final observations: first, we would definitely go in mid-May again. The weather was great (mid-70s to mid-80s the whole time), and we NEVER felt overwhelmed by the crowds (we went early enough to avoid Memorial Day weekend).
Second, I really enjoyed the pace of this trip. Typically, we usually wait 1-2 years between trips, so when we finally do go, we're at maximum speed the whole time (i.e. returning to our hotel only to sleep at night). This time, we still did a lot, but we took more time to relax: spent a few hours at the pool one morning; sat in one of WL's sitting areas and read during the peak of afternoon heat one day; etc. One evening we got to MK around 7:30; I went and got us a spot at the Main Street train station balcony, my fiance got ice cream, and then we ate, talked, and people-watched until SpectroMagic. Here's a picture to give you an idea of our view:
We also had a different strategy for where we went: in January, we went everywhere (minus the water parks). This time, we skipped the water parks and DTD, spent one EMH night at MGM, 3/4 of a day at AK, and spent the rest of our time at MK, EPCOT, and different resorts. I definitely enjoyed the change of pace. By the end of the trip, I felt relaxed, but I still got plenty of exposure to all of my favorite rides and shows. In the future, our approach will definitely depend on how long it's been since our last trip (and, in several more years, the ages of our children), but I've definitely been converted from a total "park commando" type to someone who's willing to take a slower approach once in a while.
