Trip Report Our (slightly) Unexpected Disney World Trip

You can never start a trip report too soon, so I’m starting this one as I’m waiting to check out of our hotel, sadly going home today.

The reason this trip is slightly unexpected is that six months ago we had no intention of going to Walt Disney World any time soon. Personally, I wanted to wait until things got a little more normal. But then my daughter threw a wrench in the works and got accepted to the Disney College Program. Since she’ll be working here for 6 months, we realized we HAD to come and visit her at her job launching boats in Mexico.

It was basically what I’d call a small trip (although my wife thinks we jammed so, so, so much into our five full days here.

Cast of characters: Myself (Steven), my wife (Jennifer), and youngest daughter, (Mik). Our cast member daughter (Samantha) was able to get a couple of days off so we were able to spend some time together.

One thing I have to say is my family has an aversion to having their pictures taken too much, so they’re missing from a lot of photos, but trust me, they were there.

Due to budgetary reasons, we stayed at the cheapest on-property room available: The All-Star Sports. I have to say I was not excited. I generally find the over-the-top theming obnoxious. No decent restaurant. The bus stops don’t have covering. I don’t even like sports. That said, we had a phenomenal time here. The grounds were immaculate. EVERY cast member seemed to go out of their way to be helpful. I had to speak to the manager a couple of times just to tell him how awesome everything was. I made several cast member compliments on the app. While I still have resorts I’d rather stay at, I’d stay here again without regrets.

I took a few thousand photos so I need time to download and sort, so there will be more to follow!

See you real soon!
 
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fractal

Well-Known Member
FIRST!

Looking forward to the report!

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Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We left LAX at “Oh-dark-thirty” in the morning. At first I was bummed that my wife and daughter and I couldn’t get seats together for the flight, but then I ended up sitting next to this guy, so I took his elaborate Disney tattoos as a good omen.
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I was anxious to get there the whole flight, so I kept checking.
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Despite a bumpy flight, we landed on time. I admit that Magical Express would have been more convenient, but Mears has their act together and we got our transportation to WDW pretty quickly. We were even the second group to be dropped off.
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When I got off the bus, I did what every good Disney fan (or the Pope) does, and kissed the ground.
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I have to say I was not excited about staying at All Stars, but they gave the BEST service. Right after checking in, my cast member daughter, Samantha was there to greet us. We hadn’t seen her since January.
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Since we weren’t getting into any parks that first day, we went to dinner at Port Orleans Riverside and checked out Disney Springs before seeing the Disney housing my daughter is staying at. No pictures allowed, but I will say it’s a very nice complex. Very much like a nice college dorm.

We knew we had to get up real early the next day, so we hit the sack fairly early, but with the time change and adrenaline rush we were still on, I have no idea what time it actually was.

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Since most of our travel was done on the plane that day, our steps were pretty small, but that would soon change.
 

Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1: Epcot
We started up bright and early to make it to the early opening for resort guests. As I headed to the food court for a quick breakfast, I really was able to appreciate the architecture of the place.
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Also, for some reason people tend to post photos of their food, so here was my breakfast. I don’t get it, either.
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After a quick bus ride we were entering Epcot.

(To be continued…)
 
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Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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I know that if I tell every little anecdote this will take forever, so I’ll try to cut down on most of the commentary and let the pictures speak for themselves. I will say that park day 1 was great because Epcot is my favorite park, and my daughter, Samantha had the day off. We did stop and visit some of her cast mates at the Mexico pavilion, though.
First, we bee-lined straight to Ratatouille and waited in about a 20 minute wait, so not bad.
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It’s also become a tradition to take a photo with this troll, so we did.
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Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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One funny thing that happened. It’s a Small World is supposed to be at Magic Kingdom, but that day it was at Epcot, because as we were walking through World Showcase, I ran into Keith Coogan and his wife, Kristen. You may remember Keith from such movies as Adventures in Babysitting, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, Toy Soldiers, as well as a few others and a bunch of young child stuff. He also did one of the main voices in the Fox and Hound, so there is that Disney connection. We have some mutual friends so it was a nice little reunion.
 
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Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We worked our way around World Showcase Lagoon, so we could make our lunch reservations at Le Cellier.
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Of all the countries represented in the World Showcase, I have spent the most time in Canada, except for the US, of course. So I was looking forward to showing off my knowledge of the Canadian language. Unfortunately, the international cast members still aren’t back yet, so throwing all those “eh’s” at the end of my sentences was lost on the cast members.
Still, the food was good, although I think I would have been happier with our original choice, Chefs de France. I changed it because my daughter wanted to eat at Le Cellier instead. Live and learn.
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Since riding the Skyliner was on my to do list, we took a quick ride from the International Gateway to the first station and back again.
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Sbk1234

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Original Poster
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But then we got anxious to get back to Epcot, so we did. We worked our way around the rest of World Showcase, rode my daughter’s ride, Grand Fiesta Tour, watched Harmonious, and finally made it back to our resort. I find a nice quiet walk after a day in the parks helps me wind down from all the excitement.
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Samantha pointed out the hidden Mickeys in the ride, like this one. (Look at the bowls in the boat.)
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By the end of the day, I had walked this far.
 

Sbk1234

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm in for your report. I just got back yesterday from WDW, I was at the All Star Movies.
I stayed at the All Star Movies about 23 years ago. I wasn’t too impressed at the time, but that may have only been my expectations. We were in the Mighty Ducks section. Another section may have felt more “Disney.”
How was your stay?
 

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