I never got around to posting this when I had just gotten back so I figured better late than never...prepare for babbling...
We were only in WDW for two nights this time around (we had been in Florida for a handful of days prior to this visiting family, etc...) but we managed to get so much in that I might as well have been there for my normal trip length of 5-7 days.
We arrived at our hotel, the Contemporary, around 10-11am the first day. I know my way around this place like you wouldn't believe at this point, so I charged straight through the lobby, jumped in line, and bought E-ride passes (for the next night) for the four of us from Guest Services. Normally I would have also gone through the check-in process, etc, but some of our family members that dropped us off, who weren't going to be staying in Disney (this trip was just "us kids", haha, the four of us who are between 18-21,) took care of it for us so that we could haul it over to the monorail and set off for the MK.
The most wonderful part of this trip was the fact that everywhere we had been for the past few days had been absolutely soaked by rain, and yet, as soon as we stepped off the monorail and heard that familiar "...and we hope you enjoy the Magic Kingdom!" the sky was totally blue and the sun was shining! (We didn't get a single drop of rain the entire time.) Anyways, we headed down to Pirates, Big Thunder, Splash, and a few others as well as loading up on Standard Magic Kingdom Snacks like churros before bailing around mid-afternoon (we skipped a few of the big rides with long waits because we knew we would be coming back for the e-ride the following night.)
When we got back to the hotel, we were in for a huge surprise! We went to the front desk expecting to move all our stuff to our room (we had booked a wing room because we were trying to keep costs down,) when we were informed that we had been upgraded to 5th floor tower (marina view, absolutely lovely,) and all our stuff was already there! I was thrilled, and totally shocked - this had happened to me a couple years ago too, I never thought they'd come through again - without ANY prompting from us - we never asked for an upgrade, and we weren't charged anything extra!
So the four of us went swimming in the pool, rented a pontoon boat and went around checking out the sights around the lake, and then went back for our dinner at the California Grill (a favorite of mine,) after a wonderful dinner we hopped a bus to Downtown Disney and checked out the shops for a few hours before going back to the hotel (though not before running back into the MK just before close to ride Pirates, haha.)
The next day we split Epcot (in the morning,) and MGM (in the evening.) After checking out stuff in FW, we made our lunch reservations at the San Angel Inn in Mexico (which was nice to finally eat at after years of walking past it.) Both parks were enjoyable as always, crowds all around were a little thick but nothing like the Easter-time insanity I'm used to. We got back from MGM just in time to make it to our hotel, unload some of our purchases (we had gone straight from Epcot to MGM without stopping back, and I can't leave World Showcase without buying SOMETHING,) and get going back to the MK for E-ride night.
I was a bit wary of this when we first got there because little by little I saw more and more folks with wristbands - I thought for sure this was some rip-off and that the park would actually still be packed. But sure enough, a few more minutes passed and the crowds totally dissipated. We rode Splash three or four times (twice consecutively,) were the last group on Big Thunder, caught Buzz, HM, and Space before 1am hit and it was time to go back (we walked back to the Contemporary, which needless to say was a bit brutal on our exhausted legs!) (This exhaustion didn't stop two of the people in our party from swimming when they got back, haha!)
The next morning we had just enough time to make a quick but nice breakfast at the Concourse Steakhouse (Chef Mickey's was very crowded and this was a little more what we were looking for,) before heading to the airport (most unwillingly on my part. I believe my exact words were, "NO.")
Fortunately for me I have friends from school who _also_ wanted to check out Disney this summer, so in a few short weeks I'll be back - this time at the Polynesian - for four days just before school kicks in again. I'll try to make that trip report a bit more timely.
We were only in WDW for two nights this time around (we had been in Florida for a handful of days prior to this visiting family, etc...) but we managed to get so much in that I might as well have been there for my normal trip length of 5-7 days.
We arrived at our hotel, the Contemporary, around 10-11am the first day. I know my way around this place like you wouldn't believe at this point, so I charged straight through the lobby, jumped in line, and bought E-ride passes (for the next night) for the four of us from Guest Services. Normally I would have also gone through the check-in process, etc, but some of our family members that dropped us off, who weren't going to be staying in Disney (this trip was just "us kids", haha, the four of us who are between 18-21,) took care of it for us so that we could haul it over to the monorail and set off for the MK.
The most wonderful part of this trip was the fact that everywhere we had been for the past few days had been absolutely soaked by rain, and yet, as soon as we stepped off the monorail and heard that familiar "...and we hope you enjoy the Magic Kingdom!" the sky was totally blue and the sun was shining! (We didn't get a single drop of rain the entire time.) Anyways, we headed down to Pirates, Big Thunder, Splash, and a few others as well as loading up on Standard Magic Kingdom Snacks like churros before bailing around mid-afternoon (we skipped a few of the big rides with long waits because we knew we would be coming back for the e-ride the following night.)
When we got back to the hotel, we were in for a huge surprise! We went to the front desk expecting to move all our stuff to our room (we had booked a wing room because we were trying to keep costs down,) when we were informed that we had been upgraded to 5th floor tower (marina view, absolutely lovely,) and all our stuff was already there! I was thrilled, and totally shocked - this had happened to me a couple years ago too, I never thought they'd come through again - without ANY prompting from us - we never asked for an upgrade, and we weren't charged anything extra!
So the four of us went swimming in the pool, rented a pontoon boat and went around checking out the sights around the lake, and then went back for our dinner at the California Grill (a favorite of mine,) after a wonderful dinner we hopped a bus to Downtown Disney and checked out the shops for a few hours before going back to the hotel (though not before running back into the MK just before close to ride Pirates, haha.)
The next day we split Epcot (in the morning,) and MGM (in the evening.) After checking out stuff in FW, we made our lunch reservations at the San Angel Inn in Mexico (which was nice to finally eat at after years of walking past it.) Both parks were enjoyable as always, crowds all around were a little thick but nothing like the Easter-time insanity I'm used to. We got back from MGM just in time to make it to our hotel, unload some of our purchases (we had gone straight from Epcot to MGM without stopping back, and I can't leave World Showcase without buying SOMETHING,) and get going back to the MK for E-ride night.
I was a bit wary of this when we first got there because little by little I saw more and more folks with wristbands - I thought for sure this was some rip-off and that the park would actually still be packed. But sure enough, a few more minutes passed and the crowds totally dissipated. We rode Splash three or four times (twice consecutively,) were the last group on Big Thunder, caught Buzz, HM, and Space before 1am hit and it was time to go back (we walked back to the Contemporary, which needless to say was a bit brutal on our exhausted legs!) (This exhaustion didn't stop two of the people in our party from swimming when they got back, haha!)
The next morning we had just enough time to make a quick but nice breakfast at the Concourse Steakhouse (Chef Mickey's was very crowded and this was a little more what we were looking for,) before heading to the airport (most unwillingly on my part. I believe my exact words were, "NO.")
Fortunately for me I have friends from school who _also_ wanted to check out Disney this summer, so in a few short weeks I'll be back - this time at the Polynesian - for four days just before school kicks in again. I'll try to make that trip report a bit more timely.
