- Background Info -
I am Chris, I live in IL, and I am a huge WDW fan, obviously. I went to WDW with the parents when I was young twice, though I don't remember it. Then in the middle school years I went twice with an aunt and uncle. Upon my GF's graduation we went to WDW and have been hooked. My GF and I took my sister on a trip to WDW two years later. Nearly 1 1/2 years later the three of us took two others (her BF, and my cousin) for their first trips to WDW. Now, two weeks ago we were in WDW again. This time it was me (Chris 24/m), my fiancee (25/f), my sister (18/f), my sister's BF (19/m), and my fiancee's niece (9/f). This is the breakdown of our trip...
Thursday (12/29)…
I got off of work semi-early and we left the Chicago area around 8 at night. My fiancée drove for most of IL before reluctantly letting me take over very early in the morning the following day.
Friday (12/30)…
After convincing my fiancée and her over-worried niece to let me continue driving past southern IL and through KY, the drive continued without much news. Shortly after passing through Atlanta though, there was a heavy traffic jam that held us up for 30-60 minutes. Only minor delays in southern GA and northern FL occurred for the rest of the drive. We checked-in to the Hilton Hotel at Downtown Disney as soon as we arrived (5 pm), and then we went to DTD to eat and shop.
We were all pretty upset at the shopping, as there wasn’t anything that blew us away. Bongo’s Cuban Café was nearly an hour wait, and others were making it worse by repeatedly asking for a table though they had been told to wait at least 45 minutes. The food was awesome, a band did play, and as a whole it was a successful night, as we don’t expect too much from our first night in WDW.
Saturday (12/31)…
We arrived at the MK at park opening after dealing with un-Disney transportation for the first time. We chose to stay at MK instead of trying to parkhop, because we were afraid we would be turned away when we tried to re-enter the MK at night. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority all within an hour. We knew BLSRS would be closed later in the trip so we Fast-Passed that and waited only 20 minutes in SM. We tried to get on Stitch’s Great Escape, but though posted standby waiting time was 20 minutes, we had waited 15 without getting nearly halfway to the entrance.
We left SGE to ride our FP’s for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mickey’s Philarmagic was absolutely empty, so we headed there next. After a little over two hours, on New Year’s Eve no less, we had pretty much conquered more than we thought we would end up experiencing the whole day.
However, then it got crazy. The park was packed, and the only attractions we didn’t use an FP for the rest of the night were Carousel of Progress, TTA, ant the Hall of Presidents. We later FP’ed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain to avoid any wait over 30-45 minutes. The rest of the day was pretty much spent shopping and eating while trying to deal with the crowds. I did get a pineapple float from Aloha Isle, as well as a cherry turnover and cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery. We ate lunch at El Pirata Y el Perico Restaurante, and pretty much just pieced together a meal for dinner.
Noisemakers made walking through the parks pretty annoying, but we were funneled toward Main Street’s entrance backstage because it was so crowded through the usual areas. But, we did get a spot near the turnaround, in front of the Main Street Railroad Station, to watch the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks and share in the countdown to the New Year.
To get back to the Hilton without having to experience non-Disney transportation, we took the Monorail to the Contemporary Hotel and then took a bus to DTD. We then just walked back.
Sunday (1/1)…
We spent most of the day getting checked-in to Port Orleans: French Quarter. It wasn’t until 3 PM until our room was ready, but we did get a chance to eat at our hotel’s counter-service. Huge taco salads, just huge, Then, we went to EPCOT for the night and rode Mission: Space, though the youngest bowed out. Because of the lack of FP’s for Soarin’ and Test Track, we left Epcot early to make our PS at Boatwright’s. The jambalaya wasn’t impressive, but afterwards we took a carriage ride from Prince Charming through both Port Orleans resorts.
Monday (1/2)…
We woke up early to get to Animal Kingdom. Kilamanjaro Safaris was above average. No giraffe or lion movement, but the gazelles were awesome. They were lined up together and looked awesome. Dinosaur was great, and I bought a poster to celebrate. Later, I found out it was laminated, so I was psyched. It’s Tough to be a Bug was next, and though I love the show, that pre-loading area is pretty unnerving as it fills for 20 minutes. Did the menu at the Flametree Barbeque change? My sister couldn’t get the chicken sandwich she got last time.
Festival of the Lion King was awesome, especially because all of us had never seen it before. But, after learning Kali River Rapids was temporarily stopped, we left the park. Conveniently, we walked directly past Expedition: Everest. It is going to rock, just rock. Like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad without the bats and falling rocks.
Tuesday (1/3)…
We headed over to the Disney-MGM Studios. We spent the whole time in the park, making it to the second showing of Fantasmic!, and we pretty much got on everything we wanted. My fiancée conquered her fear of the Rock’n Rollercoaster, and we went through the Magic of Disney Animation for the first time as well. We achieved dead-on voiceovers for the Scar and Simba scene. Also, we ate at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, and I can now highly recommend it to anyone. I can’t believe people still pay money to eat at Pizza Planet.
Wednesday (1/4)…
Our second day at the MK, and we pretty much were pretty much just hitting the rides we missed in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We had late lunch PS’s for Cinderella’s Royal Table, and it was a lot better than I expected. Everything was so well themed, and I didn’t expect the chance to get our picture with Cinderella. Upstairs, my fears were all for naught, as the Major Domo was incredible. Plus, the dessert was perfect, and I also got the Bippity Boppity Brew. I can’t say enough about how surprised I was with the whole ordeal. At night we rode BTMRR and Splash Mountain again, but for the second time we were lucky enough to meet Ines. If you take one thing from this, understand that Ines is a superstar. After seeing Wishes (not the Holiday version we had seen before), we waited to say goodnight to the castle. It was a perfect day.
Thursday (1/5)…
It was a very, very early morning for our crew. We had 8:30 PS’s for the Princess Storybook Breakfast. It wasn’t outstanding, but the food was good and the characters were pleasant. Because we were at the park so early, we got FP’s for everything we wanted to. We rode M:S again, but without a last minute bail from our youngest attendee. Test Track was great after we had missed it last time. I was overwhelmed by Soarin’. First, I didn’t know we would get a Seinfeld reference in the pre-show, and secondly, I wasn’t aware of just how elevated the seats became during the ride. It was beautiful and the experience was great, but I need to do it a couple more times to really enjoy it without the fear of falling. The seat felt like I could slip out at any time. I also made the group go on Journey into your Imagination with Figment, but I was the only one who enjoyed it.
Before we left Soarin’ we got 10 total FP’s for our group of 10, but they would be wasted because we went to eat at Beaches and Cream. Renovations were being done near the pool area of the Beach Club Resort, and it made lunch very noisy. In addition, we waited nearly an hour for a table, and the Kitchen Sink just didn’t carry the same appeal it did last time we ate it. After realizing our FP’s had expired we went on Spaceship Earth and just headed back to FO:FQ. We called Boma and made PS’s for the nighttime, and took a nap until then. Though we had to drive to avoid a hassle getting to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it was well worth it.
Before dinner we saw zebras and giraffes in the savannah. AKL blew me away. It’s definitely a destination we need to stay at again. Our waiter at Boma was perfect, and we left the place stuffed.
Friday (1/6)…
As always we spent our last day in WDW at the MK. We did anything we wanted. The CoP was somewhat alarming, as the first sequence featured a drenched Rover dripping liquids all over the stage. Though it was the coldest day in WDW we still planned on going on Splash Mountain again; however, it was temporarily stopped for the last hour the park was open, forcing us to once again frequent the BTMRR. After multiple rides on the wildest ride in the wilderness, we finally got a picture with Ines. The rides and a final Wishes and stroll down Mainstreet USA capped of our vacation.
Saturday (1/7)…
We checked out at 6 AM, and the ride home was extremely smooth, minus a closed on-ramp due to the marathon in WDW. An Xpress sign won the alphabet game for myself and the 20 hour ride seemed so much longer on the way home that it had on the way to WDW.
If anybody wants any pictures, I have finally burned all of them to CD, however I haven't uploaded them to our computer/internet at all yet. And, still no word back from the Greatest BTMRR EnginEAR ever, Ines!
I am Chris, I live in IL, and I am a huge WDW fan, obviously. I went to WDW with the parents when I was young twice, though I don't remember it. Then in the middle school years I went twice with an aunt and uncle. Upon my GF's graduation we went to WDW and have been hooked. My GF and I took my sister on a trip to WDW two years later. Nearly 1 1/2 years later the three of us took two others (her BF, and my cousin) for their first trips to WDW. Now, two weeks ago we were in WDW again. This time it was me (Chris 24/m), my fiancee (25/f), my sister (18/f), my sister's BF (19/m), and my fiancee's niece (9/f). This is the breakdown of our trip...
Thursday (12/29)…
I got off of work semi-early and we left the Chicago area around 8 at night. My fiancée drove for most of IL before reluctantly letting me take over very early in the morning the following day.
Friday (12/30)…
After convincing my fiancée and her over-worried niece to let me continue driving past southern IL and through KY, the drive continued without much news. Shortly after passing through Atlanta though, there was a heavy traffic jam that held us up for 30-60 minutes. Only minor delays in southern GA and northern FL occurred for the rest of the drive. We checked-in to the Hilton Hotel at Downtown Disney as soon as we arrived (5 pm), and then we went to DTD to eat and shop.
We were all pretty upset at the shopping, as there wasn’t anything that blew us away. Bongo’s Cuban Café was nearly an hour wait, and others were making it worse by repeatedly asking for a table though they had been told to wait at least 45 minutes. The food was awesome, a band did play, and as a whole it was a successful night, as we don’t expect too much from our first night in WDW.
Saturday (12/31)…
We arrived at the MK at park opening after dealing with un-Disney transportation for the first time. We chose to stay at MK instead of trying to parkhop, because we were afraid we would be turned away when we tried to re-enter the MK at night. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and the Tomorrowland Transit Authority all within an hour. We knew BLSRS would be closed later in the trip so we Fast-Passed that and waited only 20 minutes in SM. We tried to get on Stitch’s Great Escape, but though posted standby waiting time was 20 minutes, we had waited 15 without getting nearly halfway to the entrance.
We left SGE to ride our FP’s for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Mickey’s Philarmagic was absolutely empty, so we headed there next. After a little over two hours, on New Year’s Eve no less, we had pretty much conquered more than we thought we would end up experiencing the whole day.
However, then it got crazy. The park was packed, and the only attractions we didn’t use an FP for the rest of the night were Carousel of Progress, TTA, ant the Hall of Presidents. We later FP’ed Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain to avoid any wait over 30-45 minutes. The rest of the day was pretty much spent shopping and eating while trying to deal with the crowds. I did get a pineapple float from Aloha Isle, as well as a cherry turnover and cinnamon roll from the Main Street Bakery. We ate lunch at El Pirata Y el Perico Restaurante, and pretty much just pieced together a meal for dinner.
Noisemakers made walking through the parks pretty annoying, but we were funneled toward Main Street’s entrance backstage because it was so crowded through the usual areas. But, we did get a spot near the turnaround, in front of the Main Street Railroad Station, to watch the Fantasy in the Sky Fireworks and share in the countdown to the New Year.
To get back to the Hilton without having to experience non-Disney transportation, we took the Monorail to the Contemporary Hotel and then took a bus to DTD. We then just walked back.
Sunday (1/1)…
We spent most of the day getting checked-in to Port Orleans: French Quarter. It wasn’t until 3 PM until our room was ready, but we did get a chance to eat at our hotel’s counter-service. Huge taco salads, just huge, Then, we went to EPCOT for the night and rode Mission: Space, though the youngest bowed out. Because of the lack of FP’s for Soarin’ and Test Track, we left Epcot early to make our PS at Boatwright’s. The jambalaya wasn’t impressive, but afterwards we took a carriage ride from Prince Charming through both Port Orleans resorts.
Monday (1/2)…
We woke up early to get to Animal Kingdom. Kilamanjaro Safaris was above average. No giraffe or lion movement, but the gazelles were awesome. They were lined up together and looked awesome. Dinosaur was great, and I bought a poster to celebrate. Later, I found out it was laminated, so I was psyched. It’s Tough to be a Bug was next, and though I love the show, that pre-loading area is pretty unnerving as it fills for 20 minutes. Did the menu at the Flametree Barbeque change? My sister couldn’t get the chicken sandwich she got last time.
Festival of the Lion King was awesome, especially because all of us had never seen it before. But, after learning Kali River Rapids was temporarily stopped, we left the park. Conveniently, we walked directly past Expedition: Everest. It is going to rock, just rock. Like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad without the bats and falling rocks.
Tuesday (1/3)…
We headed over to the Disney-MGM Studios. We spent the whole time in the park, making it to the second showing of Fantasmic!, and we pretty much got on everything we wanted. My fiancée conquered her fear of the Rock’n Rollercoaster, and we went through the Magic of Disney Animation for the first time as well. We achieved dead-on voiceovers for the Scar and Simba scene. Also, we ate at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano, and I can now highly recommend it to anyone. I can’t believe people still pay money to eat at Pizza Planet.
Wednesday (1/4)…
Our second day at the MK, and we pretty much were pretty much just hitting the rides we missed in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. We had late lunch PS’s for Cinderella’s Royal Table, and it was a lot better than I expected. Everything was so well themed, and I didn’t expect the chance to get our picture with Cinderella. Upstairs, my fears were all for naught, as the Major Domo was incredible. Plus, the dessert was perfect, and I also got the Bippity Boppity Brew. I can’t say enough about how surprised I was with the whole ordeal. At night we rode BTMRR and Splash Mountain again, but for the second time we were lucky enough to meet Ines. If you take one thing from this, understand that Ines is a superstar. After seeing Wishes (not the Holiday version we had seen before), we waited to say goodnight to the castle. It was a perfect day.
Thursday (1/5)…
It was a very, very early morning for our crew. We had 8:30 PS’s for the Princess Storybook Breakfast. It wasn’t outstanding, but the food was good and the characters were pleasant. Because we were at the park so early, we got FP’s for everything we wanted to. We rode M:S again, but without a last minute bail from our youngest attendee. Test Track was great after we had missed it last time. I was overwhelmed by Soarin’. First, I didn’t know we would get a Seinfeld reference in the pre-show, and secondly, I wasn’t aware of just how elevated the seats became during the ride. It was beautiful and the experience was great, but I need to do it a couple more times to really enjoy it without the fear of falling. The seat felt like I could slip out at any time. I also made the group go on Journey into your Imagination with Figment, but I was the only one who enjoyed it.
Before we left Soarin’ we got 10 total FP’s for our group of 10, but they would be wasted because we went to eat at Beaches and Cream. Renovations were being done near the pool area of the Beach Club Resort, and it made lunch very noisy. In addition, we waited nearly an hour for a table, and the Kitchen Sink just didn’t carry the same appeal it did last time we ate it. After realizing our FP’s had expired we went on Spaceship Earth and just headed back to FO:FQ. We called Boma and made PS’s for the nighttime, and took a nap until then. Though we had to drive to avoid a hassle getting to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, it was well worth it.
Before dinner we saw zebras and giraffes in the savannah. AKL blew me away. It’s definitely a destination we need to stay at again. Our waiter at Boma was perfect, and we left the place stuffed.
Friday (1/6)…
As always we spent our last day in WDW at the MK. We did anything we wanted. The CoP was somewhat alarming, as the first sequence featured a drenched Rover dripping liquids all over the stage. Though it was the coldest day in WDW we still planned on going on Splash Mountain again; however, it was temporarily stopped for the last hour the park was open, forcing us to once again frequent the BTMRR. After multiple rides on the wildest ride in the wilderness, we finally got a picture with Ines. The rides and a final Wishes and stroll down Mainstreet USA capped of our vacation.
Saturday (1/7)…
We checked out at 6 AM, and the ride home was extremely smooth, minus a closed on-ramp due to the marathon in WDW. An Xpress sign won the alphabet game for myself and the 20 hour ride seemed so much longer on the way home that it had on the way to WDW.
If anybody wants any pictures, I have finally burned all of them to CD, however I haven't uploaded them to our computer/internet at all yet. And, still no word back from the Greatest BTMRR EnginEAR ever, Ines!
:sohappy: :sohappy: :sohappy: :animwink: 