Back today from a week at WDW

We were at WDW from April 24 and left this morning. It was wonderful. We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside - beautiful, comfortable, very close to bus stop. Stayed in building 85. Quiet. But it was a "commando" vacation - went hard, long hours, very tired, but worth it all the way.

We never stood in line longer than 40 minutes for ANYTHING all week. We did headliners like Test Track, Soarin', Rock n Roller Coaster, etc. first thing and then got fast passes and rode everything multiple times during our trip. Got lucky and Tower of Terror got stuck on our ride, so we got to ride it again immediately!!! We were met at the end of the ride by a cast member who asked if we wanted to ride again and were taken to a real elevator that took us back to the boarding area and we were put immediately on another ride and it was awesome!!!! Also got to ride BTM twice in a row - at the end of the first ride, the cast member told us to just stay on if we wanted!!!!! Most of the riders didn't think he was serious and left. We stayed, and 6 others did, too, and we got another ride on a nearly empty train!!!!! Don't know why (but it was early and not many in line) for sure but it was great.
We somehow managed to time things really well and avoided long lines all week. It was like we were charmed. LOTS of pixie dust on us, I guess.

Never made one single ADR and still ate everywhere we wanted - longest wait was 10 minutes. Very lucky there.

Rode boat to DTD one night - very enjoyable and relaxing.

Best part: Probably our last big family vacation before they all leave the nest, and it was perfect. THANKS!
 
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Imagummybear

New Member
Sounds like a perfect trip :).. Never waiting for more then 10 min would be awesome ...Glad you had good time....I cant wait to go back for my second trip
 
harveyt0206

harveyt0206

Well-Known Member
Sounds wonderful! I am happy to hear that you were able to eat where you wanted without ADRs. That seems to be something from a by-gone Disney era, so it's nice to know it can still happen if someone is willing to take the gamble. Good to hear. :wave:
 
Alztybrn

Alztybrn

Active Member
Did you have a car or did you use Disney Transportation? I am curious about using both as I am considering staying at Riverside my next trip. How was Disney Busses if you used them? How long did it take you to get to parks? Do you think it is quicker or easier to use busses vs using your own car?
 
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Cypress

New Member
Original Poster
TOT: We were stuck just as the elevator doors open and the "show" with the creepy shapes and stars and shattering window effect was supposed to start, but instead it just stopped and there was only darkness.... nobody freaked out or anything...we started laughing a little and making jokes, and then a voice said for us to stay in our seats and we'd begin moving soon....a few minutes later we did, but no show, just darkness and moving, then doors opening up, and got the full drop effects. Fun! Then we got to ride it again.

Bus vs. car: We did Disney transportation all week. We had to stand up only once. Many times the busses had only a few people on them. Busses were prompt and we waited no longer than 15 minutes for bus to show up anywhere we went. We used the east bus stop at Port Orleans Riverside and it was just fine. The rides to the parks weren't bad - 20 or 25 min or so, nothing extreme, and we didn't have to drive or park or keep up with keys so we didn't care. We had extreeeeeemly good luck and will do it again given the opportunity.

I'll post some pics when I figure out how.

The weather was glorious, too.

Good athletic shoes worked the best for us. I wore Crocs for part of one day and they ate my feet and hurt so badly that I went back to the resort and changed. I wear Crocs around the house, shopping and in the yard, but never on cement for that much walking and it was not a winner for me. Stay comfy, folks.

Glad we did our homework but didn't overplan. We stopped and literally smelled the roses (Flower and Garden thing going on at Epcot -- Spectacular!!!! ) But some guidance, preparation, and research is invaluable for a trip like this. I ran into some people who just had absolutely no clue about anything and I know they had fun, but I thnk you have so much more fun at Disney if you plan it out somewhat and know what to expect about certain things, like what the rides are like, what Fastpasses are, EMH hours, etc.
 
LowesChevy

LowesChevy

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you had a great week for low crowds. That happened to us on BTMRR last October, it was stuck and we got to ride again-woohoo. Glad you had fun :)
 
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Cypress

New Member
Original Poster
Yes, we were at the parks very early. We didn't always make rope drop but we didn't miss it by much. Yes, the early bird DOES get the worm at WDW. We had big intentions for staying very late at MK on Sunday as it was open until about 2am, but we were so tired that we just couldn't do it. Early was better. Late was for sleeping!
 

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