Wow…Where should I start?
The trip consisted of my wife, our 16-month-old daughter and myself. We try to visit at least once a year and have done so mostly over the past 9 years.
Well...this trip was from Wednesday, April 20th through Wednesday, April 27th. We stayed at The Hampton Inn in Lake Buena Vista on Palm Parkway (about $59.00/night + Taxes). Usually when we come down we stay either on property at a Value Resort or at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista.
We were VERY happy with the hotel. It was very clean and quite. We got a different (slightly larger than continental) breakfast every morning that seemed to change every 3rd-4th day during our trip. We WILL stay there again. Swimming was not a necessity for us, but we tried, but there were too many centipede like creatures in the water, and the baby didn’t seem to have interest either. It wasn’t too big of a deal for us though. We would like to apologize for anyone who stayed on floor 3 near the elevators during any of these nights (mostly Sat-23rd & Sun 24th) as the baby had a few rough nights and was extremely loud.
Again…Thank you to The Hampton Inn for a great stay. :sohappy:
Now on to the parks…
Thursday, April 21st we went to MK for an all day venture. Started off great…went to Dumbo and stayed in Fantasyland for the baby all morning. Had lunch at the NEW Starlight and we all enjoyed it very much. After that went to Tomorrowland and got a fastpass for SM, then rode TTA and shopped for awhile. By then went to SM stood in line for 25 minutes then it broke down. While in line a CM told us it’d be about 20 minutes or so I (and many others) decided to leave and come back later, by the time we got to the end and back outside another CM told us the ride would be up in just seconds…by then out spot in line was already gone. That sucked.!
I never did get to go back and ride SM on my vacation.
Friday, April 22nd went to MGM and headed right to R&RC….it was down and they were not giving out any fastpasses, so we left and headed for The Great Movie Ride. Went and did some other attraction and all was fine. Headed back to R&RC an hour or so later and it was still down. I never did get to ride it on my vacation. The rest of the day went well at MGM and we went to Belz for shopping the other half.
Saturday, April 23rd went to Epcot. My wife headed to ride soaring and I went to get FP’s for Test track. When I got back at the exit to soaring waiting for her I met a very nice lady from NJ who was waiting for her family to get off Soarin as well. I am scared of heights and she has motion sickness. When our families came off (almost at the same time) my wife watched the baby as I went to try Soarin and continued to talk with the lady. As we stood in line I met her two daughters and husband. They were all very nice people. They also included me in their party when the CM asked how many was in their party. It was a great feeling and I appreciated that. Even more when I saw that the people behind me were stopped. After long delays due to Soarin’s sound system we finally rode. I was in row 3 (the back) and I thought it was still pretty high. Row 1 is really high. The ride was fun and had great scenery. I might do it again.?!?!
While exiting, I asked the family to pose with me for a photo and they did. We took 2 photos of our families. On the risk of getting cheesy…it was a great Disney moment for me. I appreciate their being friendly to me and will never forget the first time I rode Soarin. Oh, on a side note… The lady didn’t care for Soaring and I doubt she rides it ever again. :lol:
Rest of the day was fun and good as we mostly did World Showcase. Did want to mention that we had the character dinner at Akerhaus and we both agreed that it was much better the way it was before. The new style of serving didn’t go well for us. The price is crazy as well. Don’t think we’ll at there again, until the baby gets a lot older and or forces us to see the Princess again.
Sunday, April 24th went to back to MK and thought is was way to crowded so after 3-4 hours we left back to Epcot. Day went very well…EXCEPT the time when I caught 2 CM’s getting into a slight large argument at the beginning of the FastPass entrance. I’m not totally sure on this but, It seemed to me that the female CM wasn’t letting someone through because their time on the fast pass wasn’t exact. The male CM told the female that all is ok and to not let it bother her. She didn’t take to that well. Some arguing went back and forth for approx. 30 seconds and then the female CM just decided to walk away. I felt very weird watching this before my eyes cause I have never seen this at WDW before. I don’t know what happened after that, as I went to ride.
Monday, April 25th at AK went well. We got to finally see the Tarzan show and loved it. We got to see Expedition Everest and see the progress of it. It was a decent day there.
Tuesday, April 26th we went to Epcot in the morning and did the World Showcase for a second time. Later in the day we went back to MK and finished up other attractions there. About mid-afternoon it started to scatter rain until about 9pm, then it came down like a cats and dogs. WOW. Another CM experience on this night did not go well for us at all.!!!! We went to get some ice cream in tomorrowland this evening in between the rain droppings and before we left the parks for good. We went to the vendor located just to the right of the Tomorrowland Speedway. A middle aged lady was working there as we approached. My wife asked for the ice cream “Mickey Ears ”. The CM asked with a very smart tone...whick Mickey Ears? My wife said the “Classic/Premium” ones, I then asked “Can I get the Choc Chip Ice cream sandwich”.? The CM asked which ones.? I looked at the menu and again said the ” Choc Chip Ice cream sandwich”. There was no reply. The CM reached down and retrieved 2 items and tossed them in our directions across the board of the ice cream stand. I looked at my wife and we both gave each other the BIG EYE DANG look. I reached to my item and it was my wife’s bar, and my wife had been tossed my Choc Chip one. I gave the lady my cash and no other words were exchanged between us as the change was given back. I walked away downright stunned and MAD.! I told my wife I had to tell someone, but wasn’t sure where to go. I debated on it the entire way to Main Street. We need to get our last minute shopping done due to this being our last night in the parks, and unfortunately after the shopping and the rain downfall, I had slightly forgotten it and only remembered when I was driving on my way back to the hotel. Still makes me mad.!!
I did want to mention that everywhere we went we noticed that people were smoking. Mostly while we were walking and just out and about. I know there are designated areas for this, but they didn’t seem to be used much from the many people we saw just walking while trying to conceal the cigarette. I know a lot of people do follow rules and I imagine a lot did, but WOW, a lot didn’t as well. Anyone else see get this.? :veryconfu
All in all a fun trip and can’t wait to go back. It definitely stills a magical place for me. Hopefully it’ll be within 6 months to a year at most until I get back. Hope you enjoyed the post.? Thanks for reading.
I’m sure I forgot something, but will add it later.
LOU
The trip consisted of my wife, our 16-month-old daughter and myself. We try to visit at least once a year and have done so mostly over the past 9 years.
Well...this trip was from Wednesday, April 20th through Wednesday, April 27th. We stayed at The Hampton Inn in Lake Buena Vista on Palm Parkway (about $59.00/night + Taxes). Usually when we come down we stay either on property at a Value Resort or at the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista.
We were VERY happy with the hotel. It was very clean and quite. We got a different (slightly larger than continental) breakfast every morning that seemed to change every 3rd-4th day during our trip. We WILL stay there again. Swimming was not a necessity for us, but we tried, but there were too many centipede like creatures in the water, and the baby didn’t seem to have interest either. It wasn’t too big of a deal for us though. We would like to apologize for anyone who stayed on floor 3 near the elevators during any of these nights (mostly Sat-23rd & Sun 24th) as the baby had a few rough nights and was extremely loud.
Again…Thank you to The Hampton Inn for a great stay. :sohappy:
Now on to the parks…
Thursday, April 21st we went to MK for an all day venture. Started off great…went to Dumbo and stayed in Fantasyland for the baby all morning. Had lunch at the NEW Starlight and we all enjoyed it very much. After that went to Tomorrowland and got a fastpass for SM, then rode TTA and shopped for awhile. By then went to SM stood in line for 25 minutes then it broke down. While in line a CM told us it’d be about 20 minutes or so I (and many others) decided to leave and come back later, by the time we got to the end and back outside another CM told us the ride would be up in just seconds…by then out spot in line was already gone. That sucked.!
I never did get to go back and ride SM on my vacation.
Friday, April 22nd went to MGM and headed right to R&RC….it was down and they were not giving out any fastpasses, so we left and headed for The Great Movie Ride. Went and did some other attraction and all was fine. Headed back to R&RC an hour or so later and it was still down. I never did get to ride it on my vacation. The rest of the day went well at MGM and we went to Belz for shopping the other half.
Saturday, April 23rd went to Epcot. My wife headed to ride soaring and I went to get FP’s for Test track. When I got back at the exit to soaring waiting for her I met a very nice lady from NJ who was waiting for her family to get off Soarin as well. I am scared of heights and she has motion sickness. When our families came off (almost at the same time) my wife watched the baby as I went to try Soarin and continued to talk with the lady. As we stood in line I met her two daughters and husband. They were all very nice people. They also included me in their party when the CM asked how many was in their party. It was a great feeling and I appreciated that. Even more when I saw that the people behind me were stopped. After long delays due to Soarin’s sound system we finally rode. I was in row 3 (the back) and I thought it was still pretty high. Row 1 is really high. The ride was fun and had great scenery. I might do it again.?!?!
While exiting, I asked the family to pose with me for a photo and they did. We took 2 photos of our families. On the risk of getting cheesy…it was a great Disney moment for me. I appreciate their being friendly to me and will never forget the first time I rode Soarin. Oh, on a side note… The lady didn’t care for Soaring and I doubt she rides it ever again. :lol:
Rest of the day was fun and good as we mostly did World Showcase. Did want to mention that we had the character dinner at Akerhaus and we both agreed that it was much better the way it was before. The new style of serving didn’t go well for us. The price is crazy as well. Don’t think we’ll at there again, until the baby gets a lot older and or forces us to see the Princess again.
Sunday, April 24th went to back to MK and thought is was way to crowded so after 3-4 hours we left back to Epcot. Day went very well…EXCEPT the time when I caught 2 CM’s getting into a slight large argument at the beginning of the FastPass entrance. I’m not totally sure on this but, It seemed to me that the female CM wasn’t letting someone through because their time on the fast pass wasn’t exact. The male CM told the female that all is ok and to not let it bother her. She didn’t take to that well. Some arguing went back and forth for approx. 30 seconds and then the female CM just decided to walk away. I felt very weird watching this before my eyes cause I have never seen this at WDW before. I don’t know what happened after that, as I went to ride.
Monday, April 25th at AK went well. We got to finally see the Tarzan show and loved it. We got to see Expedition Everest and see the progress of it. It was a decent day there.
Tuesday, April 26th we went to Epcot in the morning and did the World Showcase for a second time. Later in the day we went back to MK and finished up other attractions there. About mid-afternoon it started to scatter rain until about 9pm, then it came down like a cats and dogs. WOW. Another CM experience on this night did not go well for us at all.!!!! We went to get some ice cream in tomorrowland this evening in between the rain droppings and before we left the parks for good. We went to the vendor located just to the right of the Tomorrowland Speedway. A middle aged lady was working there as we approached. My wife asked for the ice cream “Mickey Ears ”. The CM asked with a very smart tone...whick Mickey Ears? My wife said the “Classic/Premium” ones, I then asked “Can I get the Choc Chip Ice cream sandwich”.? The CM asked which ones.? I looked at the menu and again said the ” Choc Chip Ice cream sandwich”. There was no reply. The CM reached down and retrieved 2 items and tossed them in our directions across the board of the ice cream stand. I looked at my wife and we both gave each other the BIG EYE DANG look. I reached to my item and it was my wife’s bar, and my wife had been tossed my Choc Chip one. I gave the lady my cash and no other words were exchanged between us as the change was given back. I walked away downright stunned and MAD.! I told my wife I had to tell someone, but wasn’t sure where to go. I debated on it the entire way to Main Street. We need to get our last minute shopping done due to this being our last night in the parks, and unfortunately after the shopping and the rain downfall, I had slightly forgotten it and only remembered when I was driving on my way back to the hotel. Still makes me mad.!!
I did want to mention that everywhere we went we noticed that people were smoking. Mostly while we were walking and just out and about. I know there are designated areas for this, but they didn’t seem to be used much from the many people we saw just walking while trying to conceal the cigarette. I know a lot of people do follow rules and I imagine a lot did, but WOW, a lot didn’t as well. Anyone else see get this.? :veryconfu
All in all a fun trip and can’t wait to go back. It definitely stills a magical place for me. Hopefully it’ll be within 6 months to a year at most until I get back. Hope you enjoyed the post.? Thanks for reading.
I’m sure I forgot something, but will add it later.
LOU
