We are a family of five, but we're in that life stage of where we have two in college at Temple U and one in high school. My daughter who is a senior at Temple was accepted into the Disney College program. She left August 21st with her boyfriend who also is in college and was accepted into the program. My daughter has been a Disney fanatic, along with her parents, since she was a toddler. We live in Pennsylvania. I used to work for a company that was headquartered in Melbourne, FL so on my yearly visits the family would come down with me and we'd commute over to Disneyworld for a few days. My daughter, who is the oldest, has been to Disney twenty times before this year. It has been a dream of hers to be a part of the Disney family.
My wife and I decided to fly down and spend a long weekend with my daughter and her boyfriend who both got the weekend off. We arrived late Thursday and we picked my daughter up from her Disney apartment. I was very impressed with the campus. It literally was a campus of condos with a gate and several guards on duty; very secure. My daughter and her boyfriend stayed with us at our condo because they said it would feel like a vacation for them too.
Since my daughter put in a certain amount of hours with the program, she was awarded free hopper tickets. My wife and I didn't have to purchase any tickets, but we had to be in the park with our hosts to use the tickets. Big savings. She set us up with Fastpass access to Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari. We did those back to back and went over to ride Dinosaur. Of course our most anticipation was for Flight of Passage. The wait was crazy. Something happened with one of the simulators and the line stalled in the 90 degree heat. We were in line for 2 hours, but after it was all over I could say it was worth it. What an experience ! The queue is interesting; especially the lab. The pre-ride DNA matching with your Avatar is pretty detailed. It's just to delay you until the simulator is ready. It's a technical masterpiece how this ride is configured.
After the ride we went to Rainforest Cafe for some appetizers because we had reservations later that evening for The Boathouse at Disney Springs. We hopped over to Hollywood Studios. This is where my daughter's boyfriend works on the street detail for Hollywood Blvd. It was neat because the workers all noticed him and they would stop and talk. They're very close and bond together. We had Fastpass access to Toy Story which wasn't even necessary. The line was only 30 minutes since they added another track. We had no other Fastpasses and both TofT and RR were over 60 minutes. It was my first time in the park since the Movie Ride shut down. Depressing. We hit our late reservation for The Boathouse.Great food and great service. I had the oysters for an appetizer and we shared the calimari. I ordered the coriander crusted ahi tuna. Best piece of tuna I ever had.
Saturday was spent at Universal Studios. My daughter and her boyfriend each bought yearly passes there so we got free parking and nice discounts on food. Stayed there until we ended up at the NBC restaurant where we watched the entire Penn State game with six other PSU fans. Had a blast.
My daughter had training Sunday morning at the Contemporary Resort where she's a lifeguard. So we drove over to Epcot where she rode the monorail and met us. Her boyfriend drove over to meet us. It was my first time experiencing the Wind and Food Festival. We bought the food card (which I recommend). OK, here's what I remember...crispy chicken, red curry beef, smoked corned beef brisket, bratwurst, goat cheese pie, crispy pork belly. We couldn't finish all of the booths because we were stuffed. Very interesting selections. I left my daughter and her boyfriend 8 food tickets so they could head over one evening and have their dinner. Great stuff. We will return.
My daughter got us free tickets through the program for Mickey's Halloween. This was our first time attending. I must say this event rivals Mickey's Christmas which we've probably been to 10 or 12 times. The music played throughout the park is seasonal. The decorations are terrific. The longest wait for any ride was Pirates which was about 20 minutes. That's what I love about these Disney special events. Even though the event was sold out, it's still limited access so wait times are minimal. Outside of the Haunted Mansion they had different characters speaking to the audience. That was different, but very cool. We purchased the Fireworks Dessert package with special seating. I must say it wasn't worth it. Mini cupcakes and parfait with super sweet drinks. We had lawn seating on the Square. We sat there and watched people funnel through the one exit onto the lawn. So why did we pay $50 per person when these weasels were sneaking into our "special" seating. Very frustrating. We stayed for the late night Hocus Pocus show. It was worth it. By the time it was over and we got out of the park it was 12:30am. We had to be up at 3:30 am for an early flight.
Have never been to FL this time of year. Let me just say HUMID. Waiting in long lines was brutal. I bought one of those Disney cooling towels to wear around my neck; highly recommended. It was interesting to see how the my daughter and her fellow cast members interacted. They become family. They spend alot of time together at the parks during their downtime. They have a common bond; a love for all things Disney. I was happy to see that.
The good thing is we're heading back in late October. This time my mom and my youngest son will join us. We're all very excited ! Sorry for being so detailed.
My wife and I decided to fly down and spend a long weekend with my daughter and her boyfriend who both got the weekend off. We arrived late Thursday and we picked my daughter up from her Disney apartment. I was very impressed with the campus. It literally was a campus of condos with a gate and several guards on duty; very secure. My daughter and her boyfriend stayed with us at our condo because they said it would feel like a vacation for them too.
Since my daughter put in a certain amount of hours with the program, she was awarded free hopper tickets. My wife and I didn't have to purchase any tickets, but we had to be in the park with our hosts to use the tickets. Big savings. She set us up with Fastpass access to Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari. We did those back to back and went over to ride Dinosaur. Of course our most anticipation was for Flight of Passage. The wait was crazy. Something happened with one of the simulators and the line stalled in the 90 degree heat. We were in line for 2 hours, but after it was all over I could say it was worth it. What an experience ! The queue is interesting; especially the lab. The pre-ride DNA matching with your Avatar is pretty detailed. It's just to delay you until the simulator is ready. It's a technical masterpiece how this ride is configured.
After the ride we went to Rainforest Cafe for some appetizers because we had reservations later that evening for The Boathouse at Disney Springs. We hopped over to Hollywood Studios. This is where my daughter's boyfriend works on the street detail for Hollywood Blvd. It was neat because the workers all noticed him and they would stop and talk. They're very close and bond together. We had Fastpass access to Toy Story which wasn't even necessary. The line was only 30 minutes since they added another track. We had no other Fastpasses and both TofT and RR were over 60 minutes. It was my first time in the park since the Movie Ride shut down. Depressing. We hit our late reservation for The Boathouse.Great food and great service. I had the oysters for an appetizer and we shared the calimari. I ordered the coriander crusted ahi tuna. Best piece of tuna I ever had.
Saturday was spent at Universal Studios. My daughter and her boyfriend each bought yearly passes there so we got free parking and nice discounts on food. Stayed there until we ended up at the NBC restaurant where we watched the entire Penn State game with six other PSU fans. Had a blast.
My daughter had training Sunday morning at the Contemporary Resort where she's a lifeguard. So we drove over to Epcot where she rode the monorail and met us. Her boyfriend drove over to meet us. It was my first time experiencing the Wind and Food Festival. We bought the food card (which I recommend). OK, here's what I remember...crispy chicken, red curry beef, smoked corned beef brisket, bratwurst, goat cheese pie, crispy pork belly. We couldn't finish all of the booths because we were stuffed. Very interesting selections. I left my daughter and her boyfriend 8 food tickets so they could head over one evening and have their dinner. Great stuff. We will return.
My daughter got us free tickets through the program for Mickey's Halloween. This was our first time attending. I must say this event rivals Mickey's Christmas which we've probably been to 10 or 12 times. The music played throughout the park is seasonal. The decorations are terrific. The longest wait for any ride was Pirates which was about 20 minutes. That's what I love about these Disney special events. Even though the event was sold out, it's still limited access so wait times are minimal. Outside of the Haunted Mansion they had different characters speaking to the audience. That was different, but very cool. We purchased the Fireworks Dessert package with special seating. I must say it wasn't worth it. Mini cupcakes and parfait with super sweet drinks. We had lawn seating on the Square. We sat there and watched people funnel through the one exit onto the lawn. So why did we pay $50 per person when these weasels were sneaking into our "special" seating. Very frustrating. We stayed for the late night Hocus Pocus show. It was worth it. By the time it was over and we got out of the park it was 12:30am. We had to be up at 3:30 am for an early flight.
Have never been to FL this time of year. Let me just say HUMID. Waiting in long lines was brutal. I bought one of those Disney cooling towels to wear around my neck; highly recommended. It was interesting to see how the my daughter and her fellow cast members interacted. They become family. They spend alot of time together at the parks during their downtime. They have a common bond; a love for all things Disney. I was happy to see that.
The good thing is we're heading back in late October. This time my mom and my youngest son will join us. We're all very excited ! Sorry for being so detailed.