Just back from whirlwind weekend trip to the World. Our first ever Christmas season trip and it was AMAZING!!
Day 1: Friday morning woke our DD's at 5am from a sound sleep, they had no idea we were planning this trip and we excited beyond belief even at 5am. Off to the airport, brief delay but we were walking into MK by 12:30. The plan was to try and squeeze in as much as we could in the afternoon at MK and then head to HS for the Osbourne Lights. Was expecting "relatively low" crowds even though it was a MVMCP night.
Ended up FP test track while the girls ate lunch at Tortuga Tavern. Have to say the service was AWFUL. I walked to Space Mountain and back they my wife was STILL WAITING for the food. Not sure if it's a function of less workers during the slow season, but it wouldn't be the last time we were disappointed with service. After lunch we waited in the standby line for Jingle Cruise (20 minutes, not bad) and Jingle Cruise was, as expected, goofy in a good sort of way. DD's and I then went on Space Mountain which is one of their absolute favorites. DW FP'd Buzz while we were waiting and after Space Mountain all 3 ladies went on TTC while I grabbed a smoothie and a break. Another service snafu on BUZZ, DW and DD rode together and I guess DD got a little aggressive with the spin control and my wife's bag FELL OFF THE RIDE. Luckily we saw it and it was laying undisturbed very close to the end of the ride. EVERYTHING we had was in the bag, tickets, credit cards, $$$$$, DW's camera, EVERYTHING. Obviously a little upset my wife approached a CM at end of the ride and explained the situation, his response was, "Nothing we can do, you have to wait until the park closes and we can get it for you" We were SHOCKED, explained again that the bag is laying in clear sight and if a CM rode with my wife it would be easy to retrieve. "No, can't stop the ride until after the park closes". At this point I'm getting a little heated. I demand to talk to another CM, this one showed a little more Disney attitude and agreed to ride with DW and retrieve the bag, Crisis averted!!
Decided at that point to head to Swan and check in, then off to HS for Osbourne Lights. It was our first time seeing the lights and we were not disappointed. ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!! Watching the looks on my DD's faces brought me to tears, they were AMAZED!!!!!
Feeling MUCH better we headed to Kouzzina for dinner. Service again was VERY POOR! Waitress forgot to order app's, everything was very slow and the restaurant was not at all crowded. Again I wonder if other people experience a downturn in service during "off peak" times? Exhausted at this point we headed to the Swan to get to bed. Another FULL Day planned for day 2, which was supposed to be our last day.
DAY 2: Woke up early as I always do and got breakfast for everyone at the Boardwalk Bakery. The weather for Connecticut was looking very bad for our return the next day so I made a Command Decision to extend our trip for a day, Southwest is great, no change fees, and the folks at the Swan were very accommodating. Woke up the girls and surprised them AGAIN with the news of an extra day! Off to HS to get in ToT and RnR, before spending the rest of the day at EPCOT. Arrived at HS at around 9:30am, walked onto ToT with both DD's while wife FP'd RnR for us. Took youngest on RnR, did a little shopping and we were out of the park by 11am.
The plan was to head to EPCOT and try to FP both TT and Soarin' but Disney app was showing TT down all morning. By the time we arrived at the park Soarin' FP was already 7:20pm-8:20pm. Not that big a deal since we were spending the day at EPCOT walking around World Showcase for all the Christmas stuff. Ended up having a great day. Figment, SSE, Norway and Mexico boat rides, a bunch of Xmas stories, dinner at Hacienda and then Soarin'. Girls were pretty tired at that point so again we headed back to Swan and got to bed early. The plan was to take full advantage of our extra day and boy did we!
DAY 3: Woke up early again to get breakfast and it was pouring rain, but the storm moved on quickly and we were able to get a FULL day in. Headed to AK, walked onto Everest twice in a row with DD's and then walked onto Dinosaur. Wife, who does not do rides, was able to tour some of the park while we were riding. Left AK by 11am and headed to EPCOT to try and get onto TT. FP was 2:50 by the time we arrived, so we toured more of World Showcase, had a great lunch of QS favorites in France and England. Caught the World Showcase Players in the UK and they were AWESOME. Rode TT and then headed to MK to see the Castle lighting. We were able to get onto BTM and then headed to Castle Lighting which was great. Headed to Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner, first time we had ever been and we were AGAIN disappointed by the service. Food was just OK, suffice it to say we probably won't be back. Headed to Swan and decided to power through for a bit longer, headed back to EPCOT! Watched Illuminations, which I LOVE!! Totally exhausted, we headed back to SWAN and got to sleep. Content that we had seen everything we had hoped to see.
All in all a GREAT TRIP!!! My DD's were beyond happy and seeing the parks decked out for Christmas was AMAZING. In spite of lapses in service, another fantastic trip to the World.
And the best news is we'll be back again in 141 DAYS!!!
Day 1: Friday morning woke our DD's at 5am from a sound sleep, they had no idea we were planning this trip and we excited beyond belief even at 5am. Off to the airport, brief delay but we were walking into MK by 12:30. The plan was to try and squeeze in as much as we could in the afternoon at MK and then head to HS for the Osbourne Lights. Was expecting "relatively low" crowds even though it was a MVMCP night.
Ended up FP test track while the girls ate lunch at Tortuga Tavern. Have to say the service was AWFUL. I walked to Space Mountain and back they my wife was STILL WAITING for the food. Not sure if it's a function of less workers during the slow season, but it wouldn't be the last time we were disappointed with service. After lunch we waited in the standby line for Jingle Cruise (20 minutes, not bad) and Jingle Cruise was, as expected, goofy in a good sort of way. DD's and I then went on Space Mountain which is one of their absolute favorites. DW FP'd Buzz while we were waiting and after Space Mountain all 3 ladies went on TTC while I grabbed a smoothie and a break. Another service snafu on BUZZ, DW and DD rode together and I guess DD got a little aggressive with the spin control and my wife's bag FELL OFF THE RIDE. Luckily we saw it and it was laying undisturbed very close to the end of the ride. EVERYTHING we had was in the bag, tickets, credit cards, $$$$$, DW's camera, EVERYTHING. Obviously a little upset my wife approached a CM at end of the ride and explained the situation, his response was, "Nothing we can do, you have to wait until the park closes and we can get it for you" We were SHOCKED, explained again that the bag is laying in clear sight and if a CM rode with my wife it would be easy to retrieve. "No, can't stop the ride until after the park closes". At this point I'm getting a little heated. I demand to talk to another CM, this one showed a little more Disney attitude and agreed to ride with DW and retrieve the bag, Crisis averted!!
Decided at that point to head to Swan and check in, then off to HS for Osbourne Lights. It was our first time seeing the lights and we were not disappointed. ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR!! Watching the looks on my DD's faces brought me to tears, they were AMAZED!!!!!
Feeling MUCH better we headed to Kouzzina for dinner. Service again was VERY POOR! Waitress forgot to order app's, everything was very slow and the restaurant was not at all crowded. Again I wonder if other people experience a downturn in service during "off peak" times? Exhausted at this point we headed to the Swan to get to bed. Another FULL Day planned for day 2, which was supposed to be our last day.
DAY 2: Woke up early as I always do and got breakfast for everyone at the Boardwalk Bakery. The weather for Connecticut was looking very bad for our return the next day so I made a Command Decision to extend our trip for a day, Southwest is great, no change fees, and the folks at the Swan were very accommodating. Woke up the girls and surprised them AGAIN with the news of an extra day! Off to HS to get in ToT and RnR, before spending the rest of the day at EPCOT. Arrived at HS at around 9:30am, walked onto ToT with both DD's while wife FP'd RnR for us. Took youngest on RnR, did a little shopping and we were out of the park by 11am.
The plan was to head to EPCOT and try to FP both TT and Soarin' but Disney app was showing TT down all morning. By the time we arrived at the park Soarin' FP was already 7:20pm-8:20pm. Not that big a deal since we were spending the day at EPCOT walking around World Showcase for all the Christmas stuff. Ended up having a great day. Figment, SSE, Norway and Mexico boat rides, a bunch of Xmas stories, dinner at Hacienda and then Soarin'. Girls were pretty tired at that point so again we headed back to Swan and got to bed early. The plan was to take full advantage of our extra day and boy did we!
DAY 3: Woke up early again to get breakfast and it was pouring rain, but the storm moved on quickly and we were able to get a FULL day in. Headed to AK, walked onto Everest twice in a row with DD's and then walked onto Dinosaur. Wife, who does not do rides, was able to tour some of the park while we were riding. Left AK by 11am and headed to EPCOT to try and get onto TT. FP was 2:50 by the time we arrived, so we toured more of World Showcase, had a great lunch of QS favorites in France and England. Caught the World Showcase Players in the UK and they were AWESOME. Rode TT and then headed to MK to see the Castle lighting. We were able to get onto BTM and then headed to Castle Lighting which was great. Headed to Grand Floridian Cafe for dinner, first time we had ever been and we were AGAIN disappointed by the service. Food was just OK, suffice it to say we probably won't be back. Headed to Swan and decided to power through for a bit longer, headed back to EPCOT! Watched Illuminations, which I LOVE!! Totally exhausted, we headed back to SWAN and got to sleep. Content that we had seen everything we had hoped to see.
All in all a GREAT TRIP!!! My DD's were beyond happy and seeing the parks decked out for Christmas was AMAZING. In spite of lapses in service, another fantastic trip to the World.
And the best news is we'll be back again in 141 DAYS!!!
