...granted i've been back from my trip for 3 weeks now but ive finally been able to get a chance to write anything! plus ive been in denial and havent even thought about WDW since coming home because its soooo sad to think that it will be years before i get to go back! reading all the threads makes me want to shed a little tear.... but anyway!
so i was in wdw from Aug 11th to the 19th. we stayed at the Old Key West Resort and it was fabulous as always. we always stay by the turtle pool which im sad to report, that the turtle shack was closed! supposedly for just the week but we were there over a week and alas it did not open. the new slide at the main pool is actually pretty impressive! you pick up a lot of speed going around those turns! anyway, needless to say Florida was HOT!!! the pools werent even really that refreshing. so anyway, this isnt going tobe a day by day recap more like a park by park recap cause i do not remember the order of everything we did. let me give you guys an idea: CommandoDisney is not just my forum name... its our attack plan! my family are the kind that some of you find annoying by making sure we get everything we want to done by planning everything out. we never stick to the plan exactly since we know everything depends on crowd flow and how we are feeling and everything but it works out great. we are at the parks when they open and are usually done, or just exhasted by mid afternoon, where we go back to the room and nap and show and swim until the evening activities. allright so here goes:
Typhoon Lagoon: we did it twice. the crush and gusher was incredible! and heres a tip for everyone: use the 3 person tubes! i swear all you need is 3 people and you literally go right past all the people waiting in line for the 2 person tubes. i would go on the ride and not even have to give up my tube, just climb the stairs again! also i did the shark reef for the first time, even though ive been going to TL since 89! it was so cool... literally the water is freezing, but it was so nice in that hot sun. we had almost little wait in lines since we went right when the park opens. we left around 2 when the lines and crowds got overwhelming.
Animal Kingdom: I dont know about you guys, but we usually get this park done in half a day. safari ride first of course, then the other big attractions. we did kali river like 3 times in a row because it was so freakin hot out! ps- i LOVE how festival of the lion king is now enclosed!! i was sooo excited to see that when i got there, because i had no read about that anywhere. i cant wait till everest is open, when i was there it looks like they were putting the snow on the mountain. i took pictures but im sure better ones have been put up since. i do NOT like hester and chesters tacky lame fun park or whatever its called. that roller coaster they got there HURTS!! it was not enjoyable at all. i understand the theme they were trying to accomplish, but it really just does not fit in in an animal themed park. i think they should use a redo on this one
Epcot: Soarin' is GREAT!!! to be honest i was very skeptical. i thought that u just sat in a tilting chair in front of a big screen. i didnt understand how the screen was curved so you are literally SURROUNDED by it. i agree with some peoples sentiments that they should add temperature changes and mist and stuff to REALLY make it realistic. lines were never bad, we did it first thing in the morning one morning and waited 30 minutes during extra evening hours another. turtle talk with crush was soooo cool! i hadnt gone in living seas i think the past two times i was in epcot. i look forward to the refurbs. mission space is great too, but i think a little over hyped. gary sinease looks a little scary, but maybe thats just me. i dont think the ride is intense at all, but i guess i can see how it would affect others. i just kept pressing random buttons the entire time shouting things like "R2, see if you can lock that down" or "thats right, R2, im setting a new course for the dagobah system" im a nerd, what can i say. i actually ate in an in park sit down restaraunt for the first time ever i think at the italian restaraunt. the service was fantastic. the pizza was allright. did illuminations change at all? i remember thinking it wasnt all that great, but this time i saw it and was blown away!
MGM- i LOVE tower of terror, always have, always will, and i LOVE the random sequences!! i will be honest, sometimes you dont fall very far, so the dropping sensation is not very intense but i love the uncertainty. both that and Rock and Roller Coaster did not have long waits, i believe the longest we waited was 15 minutes. i was an extra in Indiana Jones!!! this was my first time in MGM since turning 18 so it was a lot of fun, considering the show is getting a little old... just a little.... the new car stunt show is incredible! i had trouble picturing the magnitude of it all, but once i got there i was really excited. the back lot tour is a little lame now though. i mean they built the stunt show where the trains used to go, so its now pretty much a loop around the parking lot than through catastophe canyon. plus when we went there was no walk through tour since i guess they are changing it to narnia, and the preshow wasnt working either so we didnt get to see that either. ps- i love the disney villians and would really like to see more merch from them and an even bigger store in MGM
Magic Kingdom- what can i say about magic kingdom? this time was fun though because all summer i had been studying all the little facts and trivia about the parks so as we walked around i acted as tour guide for my family tellings them everything they did and didnt want to know! for some reason i dont think i had ever been on pooh, because when i went on it, i didnt remember anything! and i liked it! stich's escape? not so great. cute and funny, but to be honest i never saw the point of alien encounter either so my opinion didnt change much. after reading all the little bits of facts and stuff from people on these forums i noticed sooo much more while on rides like haunted manshion. i loved it! everything else was pretty much the same as when i had last been there. except wishes. wow. i mean a lot of you had raved about it, but u truly cant appreciate it till u see it, you know? absolutely amazing, i dont see how disney can do that every night. i really liked the look of the castle, way better than the birthday cake for the 25th. i took a lot of pictures of it.
Other stuff: we did disney quest again... i was done with that in about an hour. i dont like waiting in lines especially for mediocore video games. we did hoop-de-doo review again, which was again awesome. someone from our group got picked to be the indian scout and that was absolutely hilarious. also i went to pleasure island for the first time!! MAN is that fun! i cant wait till im 21. the comedy show was cool, but to be honest i think they were probably having one of their not too great shows. the stuff the got from the audience was just kinda weird making it hard to work with. but it was still entertaining. espn club, in my opinion is lame. its not even an ESPN Zone which would probably be better. bad overpriced food, even for disney!
overall it was a great trip, but really hot weather! crowds were not bad at all, if you got there early. we had my 6 and 4 year old cousins on their first trips so it was exciting to see it through their eyes. plus they went on every ride they were tall enough to go on!! the 4 year old did NOT like dinosaur or tower of terror and was in fact not trusting of any elevator after that. but they never cried and were little dare devils! my parents bought into the DVC!! they said they wanted to be able to give their kids and grandkids (who dont exist yet) something as we all got older, like their parents had for them. so this means we will probably get to go back in 3 years! we got to tour saratoga springs which is REALLY nice! once i figure out how to post pictures, i will have to put up a pic of the shirts we had made up for our trip. we got a lot of comments and one cast member asked to buy one. allright well tahts it for now! i hope you enjoy, i did the best i could, for writing this 3 weeks later. if anyone has any other questions about something i may have saw but forgot to talk about, let me know. im at school now so it may take a little while to get back to you, but i will do my best! thanks guys, enjoy!
so i was in wdw from Aug 11th to the 19th. we stayed at the Old Key West Resort and it was fabulous as always. we always stay by the turtle pool which im sad to report, that the turtle shack was closed! supposedly for just the week but we were there over a week and alas it did not open. the new slide at the main pool is actually pretty impressive! you pick up a lot of speed going around those turns! anyway, needless to say Florida was HOT!!! the pools werent even really that refreshing. so anyway, this isnt going tobe a day by day recap more like a park by park recap cause i do not remember the order of everything we did. let me give you guys an idea: CommandoDisney is not just my forum name... its our attack plan! my family are the kind that some of you find annoying by making sure we get everything we want to done by planning everything out. we never stick to the plan exactly since we know everything depends on crowd flow and how we are feeling and everything but it works out great. we are at the parks when they open and are usually done, or just exhasted by mid afternoon, where we go back to the room and nap and show and swim until the evening activities. allright so here goes:
Typhoon Lagoon: we did it twice. the crush and gusher was incredible! and heres a tip for everyone: use the 3 person tubes! i swear all you need is 3 people and you literally go right past all the people waiting in line for the 2 person tubes. i would go on the ride and not even have to give up my tube, just climb the stairs again! also i did the shark reef for the first time, even though ive been going to TL since 89! it was so cool... literally the water is freezing, but it was so nice in that hot sun. we had almost little wait in lines since we went right when the park opens. we left around 2 when the lines and crowds got overwhelming.
Animal Kingdom: I dont know about you guys, but we usually get this park done in half a day. safari ride first of course, then the other big attractions. we did kali river like 3 times in a row because it was so freakin hot out! ps- i LOVE how festival of the lion king is now enclosed!! i was sooo excited to see that when i got there, because i had no read about that anywhere. i cant wait till everest is open, when i was there it looks like they were putting the snow on the mountain. i took pictures but im sure better ones have been put up since. i do NOT like hester and chesters tacky lame fun park or whatever its called. that roller coaster they got there HURTS!! it was not enjoyable at all. i understand the theme they were trying to accomplish, but it really just does not fit in in an animal themed park. i think they should use a redo on this one
Epcot: Soarin' is GREAT!!! to be honest i was very skeptical. i thought that u just sat in a tilting chair in front of a big screen. i didnt understand how the screen was curved so you are literally SURROUNDED by it. i agree with some peoples sentiments that they should add temperature changes and mist and stuff to REALLY make it realistic. lines were never bad, we did it first thing in the morning one morning and waited 30 minutes during extra evening hours another. turtle talk with crush was soooo cool! i hadnt gone in living seas i think the past two times i was in epcot. i look forward to the refurbs. mission space is great too, but i think a little over hyped. gary sinease looks a little scary, but maybe thats just me. i dont think the ride is intense at all, but i guess i can see how it would affect others. i just kept pressing random buttons the entire time shouting things like "R2, see if you can lock that down" or "thats right, R2, im setting a new course for the dagobah system" im a nerd, what can i say. i actually ate in an in park sit down restaraunt for the first time ever i think at the italian restaraunt. the service was fantastic. the pizza was allright. did illuminations change at all? i remember thinking it wasnt all that great, but this time i saw it and was blown away!
MGM- i LOVE tower of terror, always have, always will, and i LOVE the random sequences!! i will be honest, sometimes you dont fall very far, so the dropping sensation is not very intense but i love the uncertainty. both that and Rock and Roller Coaster did not have long waits, i believe the longest we waited was 15 minutes. i was an extra in Indiana Jones!!! this was my first time in MGM since turning 18 so it was a lot of fun, considering the show is getting a little old... just a little.... the new car stunt show is incredible! i had trouble picturing the magnitude of it all, but once i got there i was really excited. the back lot tour is a little lame now though. i mean they built the stunt show where the trains used to go, so its now pretty much a loop around the parking lot than through catastophe canyon. plus when we went there was no walk through tour since i guess they are changing it to narnia, and the preshow wasnt working either so we didnt get to see that either. ps- i love the disney villians and would really like to see more merch from them and an even bigger store in MGM
Magic Kingdom- what can i say about magic kingdom? this time was fun though because all summer i had been studying all the little facts and trivia about the parks so as we walked around i acted as tour guide for my family tellings them everything they did and didnt want to know! for some reason i dont think i had ever been on pooh, because when i went on it, i didnt remember anything! and i liked it! stich's escape? not so great. cute and funny, but to be honest i never saw the point of alien encounter either so my opinion didnt change much. after reading all the little bits of facts and stuff from people on these forums i noticed sooo much more while on rides like haunted manshion. i loved it! everything else was pretty much the same as when i had last been there. except wishes. wow. i mean a lot of you had raved about it, but u truly cant appreciate it till u see it, you know? absolutely amazing, i dont see how disney can do that every night. i really liked the look of the castle, way better than the birthday cake for the 25th. i took a lot of pictures of it.
Other stuff: we did disney quest again... i was done with that in about an hour. i dont like waiting in lines especially for mediocore video games. we did hoop-de-doo review again, which was again awesome. someone from our group got picked to be the indian scout and that was absolutely hilarious. also i went to pleasure island for the first time!! MAN is that fun! i cant wait till im 21. the comedy show was cool, but to be honest i think they were probably having one of their not too great shows. the stuff the got from the audience was just kinda weird making it hard to work with. but it was still entertaining. espn club, in my opinion is lame. its not even an ESPN Zone which would probably be better. bad overpriced food, even for disney!
overall it was a great trip, but really hot weather! crowds were not bad at all, if you got there early. we had my 6 and 4 year old cousins on their first trips so it was exciting to see it through their eyes. plus they went on every ride they were tall enough to go on!! the 4 year old did NOT like dinosaur or tower of terror and was in fact not trusting of any elevator after that. but they never cried and were little dare devils! my parents bought into the DVC!! they said they wanted to be able to give their kids and grandkids (who dont exist yet) something as we all got older, like their parents had for them. so this means we will probably get to go back in 3 years! we got to tour saratoga springs which is REALLY nice! once i figure out how to post pictures, i will have to put up a pic of the shirts we had made up for our trip. we got a lot of comments and one cast member asked to buy one. allright well tahts it for now! i hope you enjoy, i did the best i could, for writing this 3 weeks later. if anyone has any other questions about something i may have saw but forgot to talk about, let me know. im at school now so it may take a little while to get back to you, but i will do my best! thanks guys, enjoy!
