Well we got back from our trip very early Saturday morning, and now that a few days have passed I figured I’d begin the trip report. I am hoping to post daily. There probably will not be many pictures as I am technologically challenged. I’ll try to emphasize the positive aspects of the trip, but we had a few not so positive issues that will be addressed.
The Cast.
We have myself, a self described Disney Geek TouringPlans.com Len Testa type park commando, my DW of a similar type to myself, and my two 8 year old boys. As mentioned, one of my sisters in laws signed on about 3 weeks ago, and last week another sister in law, her husband, and their 11 year old son, and 13 year old daughter signed on last week. These people live in Ontario, and we do not get to see them often. Our resort was the Wilderness Lodge.
Day 1 March 31st
We woke this morning all ready to go to the airport, everything had been packed in advance and the kids just couldn’t wait to go. One worry was the weather. I could tell that where the airport was located might be foggy, which is a very common occurrence up here. As it turned out it was foggy enough that I was not confident that our flight would get out.
Luckily we did, leaving St. John’s at around 12:45 pm. The 3 ½ hour flight to Toronto was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I was stuck in steerage with the boys, while DW was enjoying salmon, red wine and coffee with Baileys up front!! I did manage to watch “Up in the Air” which was interesting. Toronto airport is crazy busy, and the 1 ½ hour connecting time that we had is tight as US customs has to be navigated before you board your US flight. It went well though, and before long we are on an afternoon flight to Tampa, where once again I am in steerage with the boys while DW is hobnobbing with the elite up front. On this leg I got to see the first half of Avatar. We arrived at about 7:00pm and was met by my mother and father, and my aunt and uncle who have places in Largo. We picked up our rental car, and drove to Largo getting there about 8:00 pm. We managed to get the kids in bed by 9:30, and we headed to bed early to get rested for the next day. SIL #1 flew into Orlando this afternoon from Ottawa, and SIL #2 and her family came in early this same morning from Toronto. They all used Magical Express with no problems. I believe they stayed in the resort that evening eating at Whispering Canyon Café.
Day 2 April 1st
DW and I were up before dawn, due to the excitement and the 1 and ½ earlier time zone (6 am in FLA is 7:30 am in NL). We had the kids up, fed, the car repacked and the GPS unit figured out early enough so that we could be on the road for 8:00 am. The drive took just under two hours, and was a pretty good drive. DW is a nervous passenger, and she did as well as she can on such a busy road. We arrived at the Wilderness lodge right at 10:00 am, got our bags on a cart and parked the car, little did I know that the car would not move again for a week until we left.
I had mentioned several days in advance to the in-laws that they should get to EPCOT as early as they could manage, and that we would call them when we got there to see if we could meet up. When we got the WL they were just sitting down for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and I began to be concerned that this would be the pattern for the week. My brother in law, who can be very stubborn, stated that it wasn’t necessary to get there early. We were not able to get into our room but put our stuff into one of the other rooms and got ready to head to EPCOT. My family’s plan for the day was really just to have our lunch and dinner at EPCOT and probably spend the rest of the day at the pool. Having spent the last three Easter weeks in the World we knew how crazy the park would be, and we tend not to fight such crowds. As mentioned in the pre trip report, we tend to be there fore rope drop, tour heavily until about noon or 1 pm and then leave for the day.
After everyone was ready we headed to the bus depot to get the EPCOT bus. It came within 5 minutes and off we went. A point should be made here; Disney transportation was exceptional for us the entire week. The few times we got a little hung up it was the fault of our travelling companions. One point is that it was hot. Highs for the whole week were mid to high 80’s. We all got to the park just about noon, and it was pure madness. Now an extra complication had happened not long before our trip. SIL #2 has slipped on some ice and reinjured some old injuries, and she wasn’t very mobile, we suggested that she get a wheel chair in each park. This of course slowed our admission to the park.
Here is DW waiting to get rolling
My two boys are heading over to see their aunt in the wheelchair
We went to Test Track to see how bad it was. Standby was 120 minutes, and Fastpasses were quickly running out. The Fastpass time for us was no good as it was the same time as our evening ADR at Le Cellier. The other family dithered about what to do until the Fastpasses had indeed all been issued. DW and I then decided that touring was done for the day for us. I have mentioned that one of the goals of this trip was to see as many of the things we have not seen in our previous trips, so with that in mind we all headed over to Club Cool.
As it was April 1st I suggested everyone should try the Beverly, and it worked!! Man that stuff is vile, all I could think of was the worst medicine I had when I was a kid. BIL suggested it was meant to be mixed with some type of booze, I can’t imagine ruining even the worst rotgut with this stuff, Bleech!! It was decided that the families would split up. Our family along with SIL #1 and 2 went to our lunch time ADR at the Coral Reef and BIL and his two kids decided to skip lunch and brave the standby line at Test Track and maybe some other rides. BIL mentioned that having only four full days in their trip, they were going to try to get as much out of each day as they could. Silently I thought, “ouch”
Our meal was good, I remember we shared an appetizer for two we both had a fish entrée, which IIRC was fish of the day and was good, I remember having the butterscotch Crème Brulee which was great. I’d eat there again.
After finishing Lunch the four of us took the MK monorail, switched to the express monorail, and then took the boat over to the Lodge. It was an interesting trip but not as quick as the bus. We were then able to get into our room; I spent time getting our stuff, and DW gooped up the kids with sunscreen before I took them to the main pool at around 3:30. The room was the typical WL standard room with the queen beds. In 2007 and 2009 we had stayed at the two Port Orleans resorts and had liked them very much. We found the moderate rooms quite nice. When we booked the WL we were looking forward to the bigger rooms, not that we needed them, but as a perq. We found after being in the room for a week that while the rooms are bigger on paper, the arrangement of the room is not as efficient at the WL. The actual living space the beds occupy seems to be no bigger than the Port Orleans rooms. Don’t get me wrong, the rooms were very nice, just no better than the Port Orleans rooms. We then spent two or three hours at the main pool. The pool was beautifully themed, and the kids loved it. I loved the number of Disney Lifeguards around it. It was crowded, and in many respects it reminded me of the Old Man Island pool at POR. I was pretty sure that for many of the afternoons to come we would be in the quiet pool. Just before we were to get out of the pool and get ready to go back to EPCOT for dinner at Le Cellier, the rest of our party returned from EPCOT. They had ridden Test Track, and Nemo, and Journey into Imagination. They then proceeded to go to the pool even though they were getting close to their ADR time at the Biergarten.
We headed back to EPCOT and made our ADR at Le Cellier. DW had the mussels followed by the Filet, and the Mousse. I had the Caesar salad, followed by the Filet and the Maple Crème Brulee. My meal was one of the highlights of the culinary week. We left the restaurant, just in time to catch Illuminations, which I love. After the show we were supposed to meet the others at the Canadian pavilion. I was unsure if the others had even come back, and our cell phone was dead. We hung around for a while, and then decided to leave as we were all exhausted. We had found out that it was an extra magic evening, so we decided to check out future world and do a ride, just to allow the hordes to leave before we headed out to the bus. As it turned out we got onto Nemo with no wait, went to see Turtle Talk for the first time, and got into Spaceship Earth for the first time. This left Test Track and Journey into Imagination on my “to do” list, and we were scheduled to come back to EPCOT two more times. The park had mostly cleared by now, and we had no trouble getting the bus. As a matter of fact one was there when we got the assigned areas. This was to happen many times. We ran into the others back at the lodge. They got to the Biergarten just before it closed, and they managed to get some food, but the entertainment had ended for the evening. We got back to our room and went to bed, after what was a pretty good day.
The Cast.
We have myself, a self described Disney Geek TouringPlans.com Len Testa type park commando, my DW of a similar type to myself, and my two 8 year old boys. As mentioned, one of my sisters in laws signed on about 3 weeks ago, and last week another sister in law, her husband, and their 11 year old son, and 13 year old daughter signed on last week. These people live in Ontario, and we do not get to see them often. Our resort was the Wilderness Lodge.
Day 1 March 31st
We woke this morning all ready to go to the airport, everything had been packed in advance and the kids just couldn’t wait to go. One worry was the weather. I could tell that where the airport was located might be foggy, which is a very common occurrence up here. As it turned out it was foggy enough that I was not confident that our flight would get out.
Luckily we did, leaving St. John’s at around 12:45 pm. The 3 ½ hour flight to Toronto was pretty uneventful, except for the fact that I was stuck in steerage with the boys, while DW was enjoying salmon, red wine and coffee with Baileys up front!! I did manage to watch “Up in the Air” which was interesting. Toronto airport is crazy busy, and the 1 ½ hour connecting time that we had is tight as US customs has to be navigated before you board your US flight. It went well though, and before long we are on an afternoon flight to Tampa, where once again I am in steerage with the boys while DW is hobnobbing with the elite up front. On this leg I got to see the first half of Avatar. We arrived at about 7:00pm and was met by my mother and father, and my aunt and uncle who have places in Largo. We picked up our rental car, and drove to Largo getting there about 8:00 pm. We managed to get the kids in bed by 9:30, and we headed to bed early to get rested for the next day. SIL #1 flew into Orlando this afternoon from Ottawa, and SIL #2 and her family came in early this same morning from Toronto. They all used Magical Express with no problems. I believe they stayed in the resort that evening eating at Whispering Canyon Café.
Day 2 April 1st
DW and I were up before dawn, due to the excitement and the 1 and ½ earlier time zone (6 am in FLA is 7:30 am in NL). We had the kids up, fed, the car repacked and the GPS unit figured out early enough so that we could be on the road for 8:00 am. The drive took just under two hours, and was a pretty good drive. DW is a nervous passenger, and she did as well as she can on such a busy road. We arrived at the Wilderness lodge right at 10:00 am, got our bags on a cart and parked the car, little did I know that the car would not move again for a week until we left.
I had mentioned several days in advance to the in-laws that they should get to EPCOT as early as they could manage, and that we would call them when we got there to see if we could meet up. When we got the WL they were just sitting down for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe, and I began to be concerned that this would be the pattern for the week. My brother in law, who can be very stubborn, stated that it wasn’t necessary to get there early. We were not able to get into our room but put our stuff into one of the other rooms and got ready to head to EPCOT. My family’s plan for the day was really just to have our lunch and dinner at EPCOT and probably spend the rest of the day at the pool. Having spent the last three Easter weeks in the World we knew how crazy the park would be, and we tend not to fight such crowds. As mentioned in the pre trip report, we tend to be there fore rope drop, tour heavily until about noon or 1 pm and then leave for the day.
After everyone was ready we headed to the bus depot to get the EPCOT bus. It came within 5 minutes and off we went. A point should be made here; Disney transportation was exceptional for us the entire week. The few times we got a little hung up it was the fault of our travelling companions. One point is that it was hot. Highs for the whole week were mid to high 80’s. We all got to the park just about noon, and it was pure madness. Now an extra complication had happened not long before our trip. SIL #2 has slipped on some ice and reinjured some old injuries, and she wasn’t very mobile, we suggested that she get a wheel chair in each park. This of course slowed our admission to the park.
Here is DW waiting to get rolling
My two boys are heading over to see their aunt in the wheelchair
We went to Test Track to see how bad it was. Standby was 120 minutes, and Fastpasses were quickly running out. The Fastpass time for us was no good as it was the same time as our evening ADR at Le Cellier. The other family dithered about what to do until the Fastpasses had indeed all been issued. DW and I then decided that touring was done for the day for us. I have mentioned that one of the goals of this trip was to see as many of the things we have not seen in our previous trips, so with that in mind we all headed over to Club Cool.
As it was April 1st I suggested everyone should try the Beverly, and it worked!! Man that stuff is vile, all I could think of was the worst medicine I had when I was a kid. BIL suggested it was meant to be mixed with some type of booze, I can’t imagine ruining even the worst rotgut with this stuff, Bleech!! It was decided that the families would split up. Our family along with SIL #1 and 2 went to our lunch time ADR at the Coral Reef and BIL and his two kids decided to skip lunch and brave the standby line at Test Track and maybe some other rides. BIL mentioned that having only four full days in their trip, they were going to try to get as much out of each day as they could. Silently I thought, “ouch”
Our meal was good, I remember we shared an appetizer for two we both had a fish entrée, which IIRC was fish of the day and was good, I remember having the butterscotch Crème Brulee which was great. I’d eat there again.
After finishing Lunch the four of us took the MK monorail, switched to the express monorail, and then took the boat over to the Lodge. It was an interesting trip but not as quick as the bus. We were then able to get into our room; I spent time getting our stuff, and DW gooped up the kids with sunscreen before I took them to the main pool at around 3:30. The room was the typical WL standard room with the queen beds. In 2007 and 2009 we had stayed at the two Port Orleans resorts and had liked them very much. We found the moderate rooms quite nice. When we booked the WL we were looking forward to the bigger rooms, not that we needed them, but as a perq. We found after being in the room for a week that while the rooms are bigger on paper, the arrangement of the room is not as efficient at the WL. The actual living space the beds occupy seems to be no bigger than the Port Orleans rooms. Don’t get me wrong, the rooms were very nice, just no better than the Port Orleans rooms. We then spent two or three hours at the main pool. The pool was beautifully themed, and the kids loved it. I loved the number of Disney Lifeguards around it. It was crowded, and in many respects it reminded me of the Old Man Island pool at POR. I was pretty sure that for many of the afternoons to come we would be in the quiet pool. Just before we were to get out of the pool and get ready to go back to EPCOT for dinner at Le Cellier, the rest of our party returned from EPCOT. They had ridden Test Track, and Nemo, and Journey into Imagination. They then proceeded to go to the pool even though they were getting close to their ADR time at the Biergarten.
We headed back to EPCOT and made our ADR at Le Cellier. DW had the mussels followed by the Filet, and the Mousse. I had the Caesar salad, followed by the Filet and the Maple Crème Brulee. My meal was one of the highlights of the culinary week. We left the restaurant, just in time to catch Illuminations, which I love. After the show we were supposed to meet the others at the Canadian pavilion. I was unsure if the others had even come back, and our cell phone was dead. We hung around for a while, and then decided to leave as we were all exhausted. We had found out that it was an extra magic evening, so we decided to check out future world and do a ride, just to allow the hordes to leave before we headed out to the bus. As it turned out we got onto Nemo with no wait, went to see Turtle Talk for the first time, and got into Spaceship Earth for the first time. This left Test Track and Journey into Imagination on my “to do” list, and we were scheduled to come back to EPCOT two more times. The park had mostly cleared by now, and we had no trouble getting the bus. As a matter of fact one was there when we got the assigned areas. This was to happen many times. We ran into the others back at the lodge. They got to the Biergarten just before it closed, and they managed to get some food, but the entertainment had ended for the evening. We got back to our room and went to bed, after what was a pretty good day.
