Like others lately, the anticipation of our upcoming trip has me wanting to write this pre trip report proving that I am indeed a Disney Geek!!
The cast. We have DW, and my twin DS’s who are just about to turn nine. In 2007 we stayed at POFQ, in 2008 we stayed offsite and last year it was at the Magnolia Bend part of POR. We always come the week after Easter as that is when the schools here in Newfoundland have their break. We have been tempted to come late in August before our school year starts, but the thought of the summertime heat scares us stiff.
We booked our Aeroplan points flight tickets on Air Canada last April; arriving in Tampa and were planning to stay with my parents as they have a winter place in St. Pete’s. However, about two months ago it became apparent that my folks would not be there, and visiting their place and seeing them was our only reason for the trip. Refunding our points or changing our flights would cost too much money, so after some deliberation; we decided to return to the World.
After eating at Artists Point last year I had pretty much decided that my dream resort would be the WL. DW had entertained the Alligator Bayou section of POR for their shaded quiet pools, but after some discussion we decided to splurge and go to the WL. We are looking forward to the easy access to the MK via boat or very short bus ride and by extension to the monorail resorts and EPCOT. It looks like there are lots of fun things to do at the resort as well.
We are going to have a rental car for the first time to get from Tampa to the Orlando area, which we got using more of our hard to use Aeroplan points. If I had to guess, the car will be parked most of the week, as we have always found Disney Transportation to be from adequate to very good. I might use it to get to resort dining in the EPCOT area on days when we are not in EPCOT.
We purchased the deluxe dining plan. DW and I love the sit down meals, and the boys have always been pretty good with that style of dining even when they were five. We loved the regular dining plan in 2007, liked it less last year when the appetizers were dropped. DW has always liked the signatures so we found that we ran out of table service meals and snacks but we would have a counter service credit or two left over. This year we have selected a lot of signature dinners. We have some breakfast ADR’s, but I can see us grabbing coffees and croissants if we are in a hurry, allowing us to do more CSM’s. We have four lunchtime ADR’s as well, mostly on days when we don’t have breakfast ADR’s. If I had to guess we will use up our meal credits, but have a few snack credits left over, although maybe not if I get addicted to the Dole Whips along with my pre existing school bread habit.
A little bit about our touring style. On our previous trips when we were on property, we would be at the parks at either rope drop, or very close to it. Our time zone is 1 ½ hours ahead of Florida, i.e. an 8 am opening is 9:30 am to us, and thus getting there early is easy for us to do. We would always pick 4 or 5 headliners that we would hit quickly, and then visit the less busy attractions. Most days we opt for leaving the parks before 2 pm and head back to the resort for pool time. This was easy to do at POFQ and POR, it should be heavenly at the WL. We haven’t been huge nighttime fans as the time zone works against us here. Last years the kids did better in the evening, so I expect that evenings will be better for us. It is interesting that our own little strategy seems to match what underlies a lot of what the touringplans.com site uses in their plans. We have also never gone for the park hopper option, and after 2007, the water park option has not been selected. We find the resort pools satisfy our needs.
March 31st
We have a 1:00 pm departure from St. John’s, with a short but comfortable layover in Toronto, then a direct flight to Tampa, getting in just after dinner. We will pick up the rental car and drive to my Aunt’s for the night in St. Pete’s, as there is no way to get DW on the I-4 at night.
April 1st Thursday
We will drive up from St. Pete’s hopefully fairly early after saying good bye to my aunt and uncle. Our plan is to go to Sea World for pretty much a full day, as my wife and kids have never been, and I haven’t been since 1979!!. I don’t have a touring plan, but I am looking for one. I figure we will get to the Wilderness Lodge at 4pm or so. After we settle in, we might hit the pool, or check out the grounds. We have late ADR’s for dinner at Le Cellier, but will miss Illuminations I think.
April 2nd Friday
This year, the kids have chosen AK as the first day park, mainly due to the fact that in 2009 we didn’t make it to the AK. Also in 2007, and 2008 by the time we arrived in Dinoland the crowds were out of control. This year we will tour Dinoland’s three main rides as the focus of our touring plan. Dinoland will be followed by the Kali River Rapids, Maharajah Jungle Trail, and probably the Festival of the Lion King, (DW loves the shows). We have a Lunch ADR at the Whispering Canyon Café. We will probably enjoy the resort for the afternoon, followed by the Grand Floridian Café for dinner. I am not so keen on this selection, and I am working on changing it to something else. Watching the Electric Water Parade should close out the day.
April 3rd Saturday
This day starts with an early Supercalifragilistic Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian. Hopefully we will be at the MK at 8:45 am or so. The Magic Kingdom is the one park we have thoroughly toured, and the boys who are now nearly nine, are not interested in Fantasyland. The boys really like Big Thunder and Splash Mountain, so they will be on the list for early visits. I think they are now big enough for Space Mountain, but by the time I get my first Dole Whip ever I think Space Mountain might be very busy. We’ll play it by ear after getting 2 or 3 of the headliners done. As a guilty pleasure, I rarely visit the MK without going to the Tiki room, so I’ll try to squeeze it in. DW and the boys think I am crazy on this issue. DW and I have discussed how, with the exception of Minnie’s Confectionary, we seem to rush through Main Street USA on our way in and out of the MK. We are planning to linger here a bit. Dinner is at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. We should have the time to make it back for Wishes. Interestingly, this will be the fourth year in a row in the MK on the day before Easter.
April 4th Easter Sunday
We have a breakfast ADR at the Whispering Canyon Café at 7:30 am. We may immediately go to EPCOT via monorail, trying to hit Test Track and Soaring in the morning, but we will more likely take advantage of any Easter Egg hunt or similar activities which hopefully will be going on at the WL. We did something similar at FOPQ in 2007 and it was a hoot. More than likely we will get the park not much before lunch which will be at Le Cellier. We will tour the World Showcase for the entire afternoon before having dinner at Les Chef du France. We are planning to see Illuminations for the second year in a row, we loved it last year. This will probably be the only full afternoon in the parks.
April 5th Monday
We have a Grand Floridian Café ADR for breakfast. We’ll hop on the monorail to the TTC, jumping over to the monorail to EPCOT. We are planning a big Future World morning, hitting places we have not been. As the boys are now bigger, Test Track is on the agenda, as well as Spaceship Earth. I am not so sure about the mild Mission Space. I am planning to check out Club Cool, as I have never been there, (Beverly, anyone??). Lunch follows at the Coral Reef, and we will probably head back to the pool for the afternoon, possibly skipping the World Showcase. We have a Flying Fish Cafe ADR for dinner, and then maybe back into the World Showcase again for a beer or two and Illuminations. It will be cool to check out the World Showcase entrance, as DW has mentioned that in the future she would like to stay at one of the Epcot area Disney Deluxe resorts.
April 6th Tuesday
We have a Kona Café ADR at 8:00 am. After that we will take a Poly bus to the studios. The Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster are probably out for us, so we will try to get on Toy Story Mania ASAP. Whether that works or not, after that the only big thing we haven’t seen is Star Tours. The boys have discovered Star Wars this year, so they are looking forward to this. LCA has been done twice so we will skip that and surprisingly DW wants to pass on Beauty and the Beast this year. We might do the Indy stunt show. I am sure we will be done fairly early here. In past years we have always taken a day off from the parks, usually doing a Downtown Disney morning instead. This year, I think we might do this on this afternoon. Another possibility is that we might skip Hollywood Studios entirely as well, or at least postponing it until the last morning. Dinner ADR is at Narcoosee’s. This might be good night to watch Wishes from the Poly or GF beach.
April 7th Wednesday
This is an early morning EMH at the MK. Last year we were at the MK for 7:00 am early in the trip and had Tomorrowland to ourselves for the first hour. I think that if we get there early enough we could get the big three done very early in the day. We have an ADR at the Liberty Tree Tavern for Lunch. If we haven’t made it to Downtown Disney by then, we might spend the afternoon there, or maybe outlet shopping as the DW has mentioned it as well. Dinner ADR is at Artists Point.
April 8th Thursday
I have a breakfast ADR at the Whispering Canyon for that morning. Other than saying that we are going to try to get a late checkout time so we can access our room until we are ready to leave, this nearly full day is a wild card. A half day trip to a park is possible, so is a trip to Downtown Disney, or less likely a water park. We will certainly be playing it by ear. One note is that if any of our earlier day plans gets messed up, we’ll make it up here. Late in the day we will load up the car and head over to St. Pete’s arriving before nightfall.
April 9th Friday
Depart for Toronto at 2:00 pm arriving home about midnight.
The cast. We have DW, and my twin DS’s who are just about to turn nine. In 2007 we stayed at POFQ, in 2008 we stayed offsite and last year it was at the Magnolia Bend part of POR. We always come the week after Easter as that is when the schools here in Newfoundland have their break. We have been tempted to come late in August before our school year starts, but the thought of the summertime heat scares us stiff.
We booked our Aeroplan points flight tickets on Air Canada last April; arriving in Tampa and were planning to stay with my parents as they have a winter place in St. Pete’s. However, about two months ago it became apparent that my folks would not be there, and visiting their place and seeing them was our only reason for the trip. Refunding our points or changing our flights would cost too much money, so after some deliberation; we decided to return to the World.
After eating at Artists Point last year I had pretty much decided that my dream resort would be the WL. DW had entertained the Alligator Bayou section of POR for their shaded quiet pools, but after some discussion we decided to splurge and go to the WL. We are looking forward to the easy access to the MK via boat or very short bus ride and by extension to the monorail resorts and EPCOT. It looks like there are lots of fun things to do at the resort as well.
We are going to have a rental car for the first time to get from Tampa to the Orlando area, which we got using more of our hard to use Aeroplan points. If I had to guess, the car will be parked most of the week, as we have always found Disney Transportation to be from adequate to very good. I might use it to get to resort dining in the EPCOT area on days when we are not in EPCOT.
We purchased the deluxe dining plan. DW and I love the sit down meals, and the boys have always been pretty good with that style of dining even when they were five. We loved the regular dining plan in 2007, liked it less last year when the appetizers were dropped. DW has always liked the signatures so we found that we ran out of table service meals and snacks but we would have a counter service credit or two left over. This year we have selected a lot of signature dinners. We have some breakfast ADR’s, but I can see us grabbing coffees and croissants if we are in a hurry, allowing us to do more CSM’s. We have four lunchtime ADR’s as well, mostly on days when we don’t have breakfast ADR’s. If I had to guess we will use up our meal credits, but have a few snack credits left over, although maybe not if I get addicted to the Dole Whips along with my pre existing school bread habit.
A little bit about our touring style. On our previous trips when we were on property, we would be at the parks at either rope drop, or very close to it. Our time zone is 1 ½ hours ahead of Florida, i.e. an 8 am opening is 9:30 am to us, and thus getting there early is easy for us to do. We would always pick 4 or 5 headliners that we would hit quickly, and then visit the less busy attractions. Most days we opt for leaving the parks before 2 pm and head back to the resort for pool time. This was easy to do at POFQ and POR, it should be heavenly at the WL. We haven’t been huge nighttime fans as the time zone works against us here. Last years the kids did better in the evening, so I expect that evenings will be better for us. It is interesting that our own little strategy seems to match what underlies a lot of what the touringplans.com site uses in their plans. We have also never gone for the park hopper option, and after 2007, the water park option has not been selected. We find the resort pools satisfy our needs.
March 31st
We have a 1:00 pm departure from St. John’s, with a short but comfortable layover in Toronto, then a direct flight to Tampa, getting in just after dinner. We will pick up the rental car and drive to my Aunt’s for the night in St. Pete’s, as there is no way to get DW on the I-4 at night.
April 1st Thursday
We will drive up from St. Pete’s hopefully fairly early after saying good bye to my aunt and uncle. Our plan is to go to Sea World for pretty much a full day, as my wife and kids have never been, and I haven’t been since 1979!!. I don’t have a touring plan, but I am looking for one. I figure we will get to the Wilderness Lodge at 4pm or so. After we settle in, we might hit the pool, or check out the grounds. We have late ADR’s for dinner at Le Cellier, but will miss Illuminations I think.
April 2nd Friday
This year, the kids have chosen AK as the first day park, mainly due to the fact that in 2009 we didn’t make it to the AK. Also in 2007, and 2008 by the time we arrived in Dinoland the crowds were out of control. This year we will tour Dinoland’s three main rides as the focus of our touring plan. Dinoland will be followed by the Kali River Rapids, Maharajah Jungle Trail, and probably the Festival of the Lion King, (DW loves the shows). We have a Lunch ADR at the Whispering Canyon Café. We will probably enjoy the resort for the afternoon, followed by the Grand Floridian Café for dinner. I am not so keen on this selection, and I am working on changing it to something else. Watching the Electric Water Parade should close out the day.
April 3rd Saturday
This day starts with an early Supercalifragilistic Character Breakfast at the Grand Floridian. Hopefully we will be at the MK at 8:45 am or so. The Magic Kingdom is the one park we have thoroughly toured, and the boys who are now nearly nine, are not interested in Fantasyland. The boys really like Big Thunder and Splash Mountain, so they will be on the list for early visits. I think they are now big enough for Space Mountain, but by the time I get my first Dole Whip ever I think Space Mountain might be very busy. We’ll play it by ear after getting 2 or 3 of the headliners done. As a guilty pleasure, I rarely visit the MK without going to the Tiki room, so I’ll try to squeeze it in. DW and the boys think I am crazy on this issue. DW and I have discussed how, with the exception of Minnie’s Confectionary, we seem to rush through Main Street USA on our way in and out of the MK. We are planning to linger here a bit. Dinner is at the Yachtsman Steakhouse. We should have the time to make it back for Wishes. Interestingly, this will be the fourth year in a row in the MK on the day before Easter.
April 4th Easter Sunday
We have a breakfast ADR at the Whispering Canyon Café at 7:30 am. We may immediately go to EPCOT via monorail, trying to hit Test Track and Soaring in the morning, but we will more likely take advantage of any Easter Egg hunt or similar activities which hopefully will be going on at the WL. We did something similar at FOPQ in 2007 and it was a hoot. More than likely we will get the park not much before lunch which will be at Le Cellier. We will tour the World Showcase for the entire afternoon before having dinner at Les Chef du France. We are planning to see Illuminations for the second year in a row, we loved it last year. This will probably be the only full afternoon in the parks.
April 5th Monday
We have a Grand Floridian Café ADR for breakfast. We’ll hop on the monorail to the TTC, jumping over to the monorail to EPCOT. We are planning a big Future World morning, hitting places we have not been. As the boys are now bigger, Test Track is on the agenda, as well as Spaceship Earth. I am not so sure about the mild Mission Space. I am planning to check out Club Cool, as I have never been there, (Beverly, anyone??). Lunch follows at the Coral Reef, and we will probably head back to the pool for the afternoon, possibly skipping the World Showcase. We have a Flying Fish Cafe ADR for dinner, and then maybe back into the World Showcase again for a beer or two and Illuminations. It will be cool to check out the World Showcase entrance, as DW has mentioned that in the future she would like to stay at one of the Epcot area Disney Deluxe resorts.
April 6th Tuesday
We have a Kona Café ADR at 8:00 am. After that we will take a Poly bus to the studios. The Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster are probably out for us, so we will try to get on Toy Story Mania ASAP. Whether that works or not, after that the only big thing we haven’t seen is Star Tours. The boys have discovered Star Wars this year, so they are looking forward to this. LCA has been done twice so we will skip that and surprisingly DW wants to pass on Beauty and the Beast this year. We might do the Indy stunt show. I am sure we will be done fairly early here. In past years we have always taken a day off from the parks, usually doing a Downtown Disney morning instead. This year, I think we might do this on this afternoon. Another possibility is that we might skip Hollywood Studios entirely as well, or at least postponing it until the last morning. Dinner ADR is at Narcoosee’s. This might be good night to watch Wishes from the Poly or GF beach.
April 7th Wednesday
This is an early morning EMH at the MK. Last year we were at the MK for 7:00 am early in the trip and had Tomorrowland to ourselves for the first hour. I think that if we get there early enough we could get the big three done very early in the day. We have an ADR at the Liberty Tree Tavern for Lunch. If we haven’t made it to Downtown Disney by then, we might spend the afternoon there, or maybe outlet shopping as the DW has mentioned it as well. Dinner ADR is at Artists Point.
April 8th Thursday
I have a breakfast ADR at the Whispering Canyon for that morning. Other than saying that we are going to try to get a late checkout time so we can access our room until we are ready to leave, this nearly full day is a wild card. A half day trip to a park is possible, so is a trip to Downtown Disney, or less likely a water park. We will certainly be playing it by ear. One note is that if any of our earlier day plans gets messed up, we’ll make it up here. Late in the day we will load up the car and head over to St. Pete’s arriving before nightfall.
April 9th Friday
Depart for Toronto at 2:00 pm arriving home about midnight.
