I had a work-related meeting in Orlando in May and decided to add in a trip to WDW and Universal!
Short version: weather was hot, ate some food, did some rides.
Long version:
My family consists of me, wife, and five kids. But, three of my children were still in school during the trip time frame. So, only my oldest son (24) and I went on this trip. We both had a few days left on our Universal passes, but my Disney Silver passes expired back in December 2018, my son’s expired during this trip. We purchased a Florida 3-day park hopper for my son and a 4-day for me that were good through June 30. Paid for a good chunk of those with my Disney Chase rewards dollars.
We drove to Orlando - four hours from our driveway (we live in the Florida panhandle) to the check-in desk at All Star Music. Two queen beds for two of us so we had plenty of room. Music is not my favorite resort, not even my favorite All Stars, but we weren't planning on hanging around the resort much so this worked out fine.
We stayed 6 nights at decent rates. Friday, 5/17, through Thursday, 5/23. First two nights at $127, next one at $102, and the final three at $94. And of course, various taxes and fees including the $12.09 parking fee. I recently had a trips to DC and got hit for $39 a night to park my rental car, and my wife paid a $60 parking fee in Chicago in April, so this was not bad in comparison. We declined maid service and got a $50 gift certificate, as well. (Which I forgot to use, but they never expire.)
We arrived around noon on Friday and headed straight to Universal Studios. This isn't a Universal forum, so I will just say we did some rides in a quiet park and drank some butterbeer. Universal closed at 6 so we headed to Disney Springs for dinner.
We had reservations at Morimoto at 8:45 pm. The place was not very busy, so we got seated right away and had great service. The food was good, but not exceptional. We had spicy yellowtail rolls as an appetizer, I had Angry Chicken (spicy, and a big serving), my son had Ebi Chili (shrimp). I've had food just as good from my local Asian restaurants at home. Based on that, I would say they were over-priced. This is the first time anyone from my family has been here, so we'll give it another try in the future before deciding if this is a restaurant we will continue to visit or not.
Saturday was Universal again during the day. Dinner was Whispering Canyon at 7:30. The place was moderately busy, plenty of the usual craziness going on. It was early enough for there to be lots of little kids to running around with ketchup bottles and having a parade. We tried the new skillets. I had the Land and Sea version, my son the Pig version. We both decided we preferred the original skillet.
Sunday we hit Epcot. Bunch of rides (Soarin’, Nemo, Mexico, Test Track, etc.). We’re fastpass experts so the longest we waited in line was probably 5 minutes. Crowds were very light in my opinion. We had lunch at Boulangerie Patisserie des Halles in France. Good sandwiches, and the raspberry-lime macaron was great! First time I’d tried one. It’s going to be a regular for me from now on.
For dinner, we had reservations at Cape May Cafe in the Yacht Club. We had eaten here many years ago (2004?) and enjoyed it. The place was maybe ¾ full, our server was very nice and attentive. The food was OK. I’m not a huge seafood fan, I prefer the turf in turf and surf. But my son picked this dinner. He ate a lot of crab and shrimp, not sure how he packed it all in. I was surprised when I got the bill. I was expecting thirty-something like other buffets – Whispering Canyon skillets, Liberty Tree. I was surprised to see it was $52 per person. We both agreed it was not worth that price. Other than the seafood options, it was standard buffet fare. We will not be coming back. This is based on the price, not the quality of the food.
Monday was Animal Kingdom. The park was quiet. This was my first time on Flights of Passage. Great ride, look forward to doing it again. We had fastpasses, but we still waited about 20 minutes for the ride. The standby line was huge! Hours in line for a 3 minute ride, crazy. But, I realize that most people only make one trip to WDW, so they don’t have a choice if they want to ride. They can’t say “next time” like those who visit regularly.
Lunch at Yak and Yeti. Tried the Ahi Tuna nachos – not a repeat. Should have gone with the firecracker shrimp. I’ve had those before and loved them. The rest of our meal was standard restaurant quality, nothing special.
Once we’d done what we wanted in AK, we headed back to room for a rest, then drove over to Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights and a stroll around the resort. Boatwrights was great. We’ve eaten there many times and never been disappointed. I had the shrimp and grits, my son the Nashville hot chicken. Boatwrights was very quiet. At most ¼ full.
Tuesday was my work day. My son went to Hollywood Studios while I was busy off site. We then went to Magic Kingdom around 3 pm. The park was moderately busy and so hot. I think it was close to 100 degrees. I saw a lot of sunburned, dehydrated people. Needless to say, they did not appear to be enjoying themselves. We rode a couple of the mountains and Haunted Mansion, had some Dole Whip, and left around 8:45 for dinner at Kona Cafe in the Polynesian. Sushi Sampler for my son, I had the Big Kahuna burger. We both enjoyed our selections very much.
Wednesday we were back in MK. Hot again. So many people not prepared for the heat. Went on plenty of rides, despite a crowded park. Gotta love the fastpasses. We stayed in MK until about 1:00 pm, then hopped the monorail to Epcot. Had a quick lunch in the Land Pavilion, then wandered around World Showcase. Watched some movies, rode some rides, the usual. Dinner at Spice Road was excellent. My son had lamb slides, I had kabobs.
Headed home Thursday morning.
I bought all four of the park Starbucks mugs while there. This is the new “Been There” series of WDW mugs. Not as nice as the “You Are Here” series, but I still like them.
By the way, there are no pictures in this post. I really don’t think I could add any unique shots of WDW that aren’t already out there (on this forum or elsewhere). And, I prefer eating my food to snapping photos of it.
So …
The parks were not very crowded (except MK on Wednesday - extra magic hours), we had plenty of opportunities to get on attractions with no waiting. The weather was hot, some rain would have been welcome for a change. Mixed bag on the food. Some places were great (Kona, Boatwrights, Les Halles, Spice Road), some were not (Cape May, Yak and Yeti). It was a nice relaxed trip, due in no small part to it being just me and my adult son. Coming down here with all 7 of us, including a 9 and 10 year old, results in a very different trip.
With all the changes coming in the next few years, we’re not planning to come back for 2 or 3 years. We figured we’ll wait until all these new attractions are completed and come back to try all the new stuff. And there’s a lot coming: space restaurant, Guardians ride, Ratatouille, Toy Story restaurant, Star Wars, gondolas, new hotels, Tron, MK 50th, …
At least, that’s the plan. If WDW offers Florida residents some great deals, then who knows?
Short version: weather was hot, ate some food, did some rides.
Long version:
My family consists of me, wife, and five kids. But, three of my children were still in school during the trip time frame. So, only my oldest son (24) and I went on this trip. We both had a few days left on our Universal passes, but my Disney Silver passes expired back in December 2018, my son’s expired during this trip. We purchased a Florida 3-day park hopper for my son and a 4-day for me that were good through June 30. Paid for a good chunk of those with my Disney Chase rewards dollars.
We drove to Orlando - four hours from our driveway (we live in the Florida panhandle) to the check-in desk at All Star Music. Two queen beds for two of us so we had plenty of room. Music is not my favorite resort, not even my favorite All Stars, but we weren't planning on hanging around the resort much so this worked out fine.
We stayed 6 nights at decent rates. Friday, 5/17, through Thursday, 5/23. First two nights at $127, next one at $102, and the final three at $94. And of course, various taxes and fees including the $12.09 parking fee. I recently had a trips to DC and got hit for $39 a night to park my rental car, and my wife paid a $60 parking fee in Chicago in April, so this was not bad in comparison. We declined maid service and got a $50 gift certificate, as well. (Which I forgot to use, but they never expire.)
We arrived around noon on Friday and headed straight to Universal Studios. This isn't a Universal forum, so I will just say we did some rides in a quiet park and drank some butterbeer. Universal closed at 6 so we headed to Disney Springs for dinner.
We had reservations at Morimoto at 8:45 pm. The place was not very busy, so we got seated right away and had great service. The food was good, but not exceptional. We had spicy yellowtail rolls as an appetizer, I had Angry Chicken (spicy, and a big serving), my son had Ebi Chili (shrimp). I've had food just as good from my local Asian restaurants at home. Based on that, I would say they were over-priced. This is the first time anyone from my family has been here, so we'll give it another try in the future before deciding if this is a restaurant we will continue to visit or not.
Saturday was Universal again during the day. Dinner was Whispering Canyon at 7:30. The place was moderately busy, plenty of the usual craziness going on. It was early enough for there to be lots of little kids to running around with ketchup bottles and having a parade. We tried the new skillets. I had the Land and Sea version, my son the Pig version. We both decided we preferred the original skillet.
Sunday we hit Epcot. Bunch of rides (Soarin’, Nemo, Mexico, Test Track, etc.). We’re fastpass experts so the longest we waited in line was probably 5 minutes. Crowds were very light in my opinion. We had lunch at Boulangerie Patisserie des Halles in France. Good sandwiches, and the raspberry-lime macaron was great! First time I’d tried one. It’s going to be a regular for me from now on.
For dinner, we had reservations at Cape May Cafe in the Yacht Club. We had eaten here many years ago (2004?) and enjoyed it. The place was maybe ¾ full, our server was very nice and attentive. The food was OK. I’m not a huge seafood fan, I prefer the turf in turf and surf. But my son picked this dinner. He ate a lot of crab and shrimp, not sure how he packed it all in. I was surprised when I got the bill. I was expecting thirty-something like other buffets – Whispering Canyon skillets, Liberty Tree. I was surprised to see it was $52 per person. We both agreed it was not worth that price. Other than the seafood options, it was standard buffet fare. We will not be coming back. This is based on the price, not the quality of the food.
Monday was Animal Kingdom. The park was quiet. This was my first time on Flights of Passage. Great ride, look forward to doing it again. We had fastpasses, but we still waited about 20 minutes for the ride. The standby line was huge! Hours in line for a 3 minute ride, crazy. But, I realize that most people only make one trip to WDW, so they don’t have a choice if they want to ride. They can’t say “next time” like those who visit regularly.
Lunch at Yak and Yeti. Tried the Ahi Tuna nachos – not a repeat. Should have gone with the firecracker shrimp. I’ve had those before and loved them. The rest of our meal was standard restaurant quality, nothing special.
Once we’d done what we wanted in AK, we headed back to room for a rest, then drove over to Riverside for dinner at Boatwrights and a stroll around the resort. Boatwrights was great. We’ve eaten there many times and never been disappointed. I had the shrimp and grits, my son the Nashville hot chicken. Boatwrights was very quiet. At most ¼ full.
Tuesday was my work day. My son went to Hollywood Studios while I was busy off site. We then went to Magic Kingdom around 3 pm. The park was moderately busy and so hot. I think it was close to 100 degrees. I saw a lot of sunburned, dehydrated people. Needless to say, they did not appear to be enjoying themselves. We rode a couple of the mountains and Haunted Mansion, had some Dole Whip, and left around 8:45 for dinner at Kona Cafe in the Polynesian. Sushi Sampler for my son, I had the Big Kahuna burger. We both enjoyed our selections very much.
Wednesday we were back in MK. Hot again. So many people not prepared for the heat. Went on plenty of rides, despite a crowded park. Gotta love the fastpasses. We stayed in MK until about 1:00 pm, then hopped the monorail to Epcot. Had a quick lunch in the Land Pavilion, then wandered around World Showcase. Watched some movies, rode some rides, the usual. Dinner at Spice Road was excellent. My son had lamb slides, I had kabobs.
Headed home Thursday morning.
I bought all four of the park Starbucks mugs while there. This is the new “Been There” series of WDW mugs. Not as nice as the “You Are Here” series, but I still like them.
By the way, there are no pictures in this post. I really don’t think I could add any unique shots of WDW that aren’t already out there (on this forum or elsewhere). And, I prefer eating my food to snapping photos of it.
So …
The parks were not very crowded (except MK on Wednesday - extra magic hours), we had plenty of opportunities to get on attractions with no waiting. The weather was hot, some rain would have been welcome for a change. Mixed bag on the food. Some places were great (Kona, Boatwrights, Les Halles, Spice Road), some were not (Cape May, Yak and Yeti). It was a nice relaxed trip, due in no small part to it being just me and my adult son. Coming down here with all 7 of us, including a 9 and 10 year old, results in a very different trip.
With all the changes coming in the next few years, we’re not planning to come back for 2 or 3 years. We figured we’ll wait until all these new attractions are completed and come back to try all the new stuff. And there’s a lot coming: space restaurant, Guardians ride, Ratatouille, Toy Story restaurant, Star Wars, gondolas, new hotels, Tron, MK 50th, …
At least, that’s the plan. If WDW offers Florida residents some great deals, then who knows?
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Then my 16 YO nephew said he would happily tag along! I am DVC but booked music because it was $82! A night and it was just the two of us. I canceled it today because we will now be 4 people and I assume the rooms would be so small. Boardwalk here I come.
