Went on a last minute Disney trip (2/23-3/2) and had a wonderful time!
Resorts:
Resort hopped and stayed at the Port Orleans - Riverside, Caribbean Beach, and Saratoga Springs.
Port Orleans - Riverside: stayed in the Alligator Bayou section, long but nice walk to the lobby, merchandise store, and food court, the room seemed updated and was always clean. Riverside Mill Food Court and Fulton's General Store are my favorite food court and merchandise locations of all of the moderate resorts.
Caribbean Beach: This was my first stay at this resort. I was in the Martinique section and was very close to the dining area. My room seemed freshly refurbished, it even smelled new. I loved walking around this resort, very beautiful grounds.
Saratoga Springs: This was my first stay at this resort. Didn't rank as one of my favorites but the room was very clean and the cast members were nice. I drove to the parks, so I didn't experience this resort's transportation system.
Animal Kingdom:
Resorts:
Resort hopped and stayed at the Port Orleans - Riverside, Caribbean Beach, and Saratoga Springs.
Port Orleans - Riverside: stayed in the Alligator Bayou section, long but nice walk to the lobby, merchandise store, and food court, the room seemed updated and was always clean. Riverside Mill Food Court and Fulton's General Store are my favorite food court and merchandise locations of all of the moderate resorts.
Caribbean Beach: This was my first stay at this resort. I was in the Martinique section and was very close to the dining area. My room seemed freshly refurbished, it even smelled new. I loved walking around this resort, very beautiful grounds.
Saratoga Springs: This was my first stay at this resort. Didn't rank as one of my favorites but the room was very clean and the cast members were nice. I drove to the parks, so I didn't experience this resort's transportation system.
Animal Kingdom:
- The is my favorite park when it comes to aesthetics, even with all of the construction walls. I love the details in the signage around the park, as well as the various lighting fixtures. I obsessively take pictures of both. The landscaping around the park looked fantastic.
- Park was moderately crowded but not jammed. The weather was sunny and cool.
- The new roots in front of the Tree of Life looked great in person and seemed to be popular with guests.
- Took the last safari of the day and saw more animals than I thought I would. As for the other major attractions, it seemed most of the effects were working on each of them. I even rode Dinosaur and had forgotten how amusing the pre-show can be.
- I could see some of the new structure in the Avatar section and there were bulldozers working behind Pizzafari.
- I always enjoy the sights and sounds of this park. Was great to see the hat down, the view was great!
- Stopped by the new Starbucks to get one of the theme park mugs, but they were out. I liked the theming of the store and it was not as crowded as the Starbucks in the Magic Kingdom.
- The wait time for Toy Story Mania seemed to average around 60 minutes, however the Tower of Terror was up to 120 minutes throughout the day. Maybe it was just being in a great mood, but the effects on the attractions seem to be in good working order. For the first time, noticed the smoke effects on the Starspeeder 1000 with R2D2. Not sure if I somehow missed this effect before or maybe it wasn't working the last few times I rode this attraction.
- Had lunch at the traditional lunching spot - The Hollywood Brown Derby. Service was great and there was only a 10 minute wait for walk ins.
- Watched Fantasmic for the first time in about 5 years. All of the effects seem to be working and the response from the crowd seemed very positive throughout the show.
- Both days at the Magic Kingdom were chilly and rainy, but the crowds were moderate to heavy. The cast members did a fantastic job of making guests smile during the rainy weather.
- I participated in the Keys to the Kingdom tour. Really enjoyed it and met some great people. Even though the backstage parts of the tour were brief, I found it fascinating. The host stated their guiding principles are safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency. During this visit, the cast members seemed to be using all of these principles, so my kudos to them.
- I was there when they opened up the new side of the hub next to Tomorrowland. The astro turf doesn't look too bad in person and I love the open spaces. It was nice to see the fountains outlined with the mini Disney characters. I enjoyed watching the castle show from the new hub area.
- I loved the new queue for Peter Pan, I thought it was well done. Kids and adults alike seem to really enjoy the pixie dust falling on them.
- Even though Tomorrowland could use a major overhaul, it is still one of my favorite sections of the park. This section of the park always seem to inspire hope when I was a kid.
- Splash Mountain seemed to be in great condition, even the blue bird near the end of the ride was working.
- The flower quilts looked beautiful for the Flower and Garden Festival. I liked the Mickey pattern.
- The effects on Spaceship Earth seem to be working. Oh how I miss the old decent with the Jeremy Irons narration.
- Test Track only had a 30 minute wait so rode it several times. Ellen's Energy Adventure was jammed with guests. There seem to be new rock work and water features on the right hand side of the boat in the greenhouse section of the Living with the Land attraction. I always found it strange that when they redid the narration on this attraction, the female narrator survived for only a minute or so before you enter the greenhouse but the rest of the attraction has a male narrator.
- Innoventions was empty for the most part but there were long lines for the StormStruck attraction.
- Lots of beautiful flowers around World Showcase and many of the topiaries were out.
