Intro:
Let me first start out by explaining the purpose of my trip. Walt Disney World has long been my favorite place to visit in the world, period. As a child, adolescent, and young adult my family would vacation there almost every year. However, in recent years I have elected to vacation in other destinations such as the Caribbean, Key West, Marco Island, Italy, London, and Paris. However, I never lost interest or my passion for the “World” and continued to follow the progress of the property via the Internet, Travel Channel, and trip planning DVD’s. But, recently I have gone through some significant challenges in my life and decided that it once again time to escape to this magical place. Having not been since a long trip in 1997 and a short trip 1998 I was extremely excited to experience everything that was new to me and revisit the classics that we all hold dearly in our hearts. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my trip was that I did it solo. My fiancé is tied up with things at work and was not available to go away. So, I decided to take the trip on my own. In one simple statement; it was invigorating, therapeutic, and of course…magical. Here is the report.
Highlights:
Right off the bat I can tell you that Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park BLEW ME AWAY. I have closely followed the development and growth of these two areas, but could not believe their actual beauty, warmth, and meaningfulness until I actually experienced them for myself.
The Lodge is a very special place. In many respects I believe it to be Disney’s crowning achievement in what a vacation destination should be. The Park is spectacular. The landscaping alone is worth a half day visit to just explore and enjoy. The Festival of the Lion King show is worth the price of admission alone. It’s Tough to be a Bug is cute and entertaining. Dinosaur is fun, fast, and scary. Kilimanjaro Safaris is arguably the best overall theme park attraction anywhere. Expedition: Everest will be dynamite. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, Kali River Rapids is way too tame of a ride to get that damn wet. Here’s hoping they improve it somewhere down the line and make it a true e-ticket attraction. All in all, I found the Lodge and the Park absolutely spectacular.
I love thrill rides, so I was eager to finally experience Mission: Space, Test Track, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and the new Tower of Terror for the first time. None of them disappointed. I walked away from Mission: Space thinking how the hell did they create an attraction that made your body actually feel like that? Test Track was even better than I expected and I couldn’t believe the speed during the final phase of the ride. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was just down right fun. I road it six times during the trip and lines was never longer than five minutes. I found it exciting to see Disney make a thrill ride of that magnitude. I never thought I’d see a rollercoaster go upside down in Lake Buena Vista. The new Tower of Terror with random drop sequences is great and much more exciting than simply dropping once.
Magic Kingdom was wonderful as always. Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain were just as great as I remembered them. Space Mountain seemed faster than I remember.
The parks and entire property for that matter appeared to be very clean and well kept up. That was something I had a close eye on the entire time I was there due to a lot of the discussion board messages I have read in recent years about that aspect going downhill.
I found that the new resorts seem to just keep getting better and better. And the older ones seem to be aging well and are certainly well maintained. As mentioned above, I thought the Animal Kingdom Lodge was great. I also enjoyed visiting Saratoga Springs, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, and Beach Club Villas. Coronado Springs and Pop Century (where I stayed) were very nice as well. My favorite resort, the Wilderness Lodge, still looks as beautiful today as it did when it opened over ten years ago. The entire Epcot Resort Area is beautiful. I really enjoy the fact that they now offer a wide array of resorts in all different price categories.
Being a chef and owner of a café and catering business I was eager to dine at some of the properties gourmet restaurants. The four nights I was there I dined at Jiko, Citricos, Flying Fish Café, and the California Grill. I had eaten at the California Grill in the past and found it to still be just as good now as it was years ago. I think it’s just a great all around restaurant with superb food, service, and décor. Citricos and Flying Fish Café were very good, but not outstanding. Jiko was the biggest surprise to me. Extraordinary flavors, ingredients, and wine list. A must visit for foodies.
I should also mention that I saw a notable improvement throughout the property in other aspects of their food and beverage operation over past trips. Even simple things such as coffee, baked goods, snacks, and affordable lunches seemed much better now than in the past.
Questions:
1.) When will Disney-MGM Studios get a third e-ticket? This seems desperately needed at this point. At a minimum, either the Indiana Jones ride from Disneyland or a new Star Tours movie is necessary.
2.) What will be made of the River Country and Discovery Island areas? It seems to me that the River Country space and the land to the left of the Villas at Wilderness Lodge could be developed into the long rumored Wilderness Junction. This would make for a spectacular fifth moderate resort. It also seems that the Discovery Island space could be developed into perhaps something they could call Wilderness Island. It could be a high-end, exclusive property. This could round out the beautiful “Wilderness Resort Area” with an offering of a campground, moderate, deluxe, and exclusive property.
3.) Will the land in front of the Contemporary ever be developed? Why not build a Contemporary Vacation Club property there that consists of eight to twelve two or three story buildings. That way they would not block the view from Bay Lake to the Magic Kingdom.
4.) What will they do with the old Treehouse Villas and condominiums that line the forest along the way to the new Saratoga Springs? At this point they are nothing short of an eyesore. People spending good money to buy into the latest Disney Vacation Club property are not going to want to drive past those units every time they leave their spanking new resort at Saratoga Springs. Maybe they can be used as something else or simply be dismantled and landscaped over.
5.) Doesn’t vacationing in Walt Disney World just motivate you to want to buy into the Disney Vacation Club? Just to feel like you actually own a piece of something so special.
Final Thoughts:
In closing it was simply a fantastic trip with many magical memories. The Disney cast members provided a lot of funny and special moments. A highlight was during a lunch break at the Pop Century food court when almost the entire staff stopped what they were doing and broke into a large scale production of DO THE HUSTLE! I certainly will not be waiting another seven or eight years to get back. I’m already thinking about an eight to ten night trip sometime next year with the fiancé. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading. Take care everyone!
Let me first start out by explaining the purpose of my trip. Walt Disney World has long been my favorite place to visit in the world, period. As a child, adolescent, and young adult my family would vacation there almost every year. However, in recent years I have elected to vacation in other destinations such as the Caribbean, Key West, Marco Island, Italy, London, and Paris. However, I never lost interest or my passion for the “World” and continued to follow the progress of the property via the Internet, Travel Channel, and trip planning DVD’s. But, recently I have gone through some significant challenges in my life and decided that it once again time to escape to this magical place. Having not been since a long trip in 1997 and a short trip 1998 I was extremely excited to experience everything that was new to me and revisit the classics that we all hold dearly in our hearts. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of my trip was that I did it solo. My fiancé is tied up with things at work and was not available to go away. So, I decided to take the trip on my own. In one simple statement; it was invigorating, therapeutic, and of course…magical. Here is the report.
Highlights:
Right off the bat I can tell you that Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park BLEW ME AWAY. I have closely followed the development and growth of these two areas, but could not believe their actual beauty, warmth, and meaningfulness until I actually experienced them for myself.
The Lodge is a very special place. In many respects I believe it to be Disney’s crowning achievement in what a vacation destination should be. The Park is spectacular. The landscaping alone is worth a half day visit to just explore and enjoy. The Festival of the Lion King show is worth the price of admission alone. It’s Tough to be a Bug is cute and entertaining. Dinosaur is fun, fast, and scary. Kilimanjaro Safaris is arguably the best overall theme park attraction anywhere. Expedition: Everest will be dynamite. No doubt about it. Unfortunately, Kali River Rapids is way too tame of a ride to get that damn wet. Here’s hoping they improve it somewhere down the line and make it a true e-ticket attraction. All in all, I found the Lodge and the Park absolutely spectacular.
I love thrill rides, so I was eager to finally experience Mission: Space, Test Track, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and the new Tower of Terror for the first time. None of them disappointed. I walked away from Mission: Space thinking how the hell did they create an attraction that made your body actually feel like that? Test Track was even better than I expected and I couldn’t believe the speed during the final phase of the ride. Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster was just down right fun. I road it six times during the trip and lines was never longer than five minutes. I found it exciting to see Disney make a thrill ride of that magnitude. I never thought I’d see a rollercoaster go upside down in Lake Buena Vista. The new Tower of Terror with random drop sequences is great and much more exciting than simply dropping once.
Magic Kingdom was wonderful as always. Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain were just as great as I remembered them. Space Mountain seemed faster than I remember.
The parks and entire property for that matter appeared to be very clean and well kept up. That was something I had a close eye on the entire time I was there due to a lot of the discussion board messages I have read in recent years about that aspect going downhill.
I found that the new resorts seem to just keep getting better and better. And the older ones seem to be aging well and are certainly well maintained. As mentioned above, I thought the Animal Kingdom Lodge was great. I also enjoyed visiting Saratoga Springs, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge, and Beach Club Villas. Coronado Springs and Pop Century (where I stayed) were very nice as well. My favorite resort, the Wilderness Lodge, still looks as beautiful today as it did when it opened over ten years ago. The entire Epcot Resort Area is beautiful. I really enjoy the fact that they now offer a wide array of resorts in all different price categories.
Being a chef and owner of a café and catering business I was eager to dine at some of the properties gourmet restaurants. The four nights I was there I dined at Jiko, Citricos, Flying Fish Café, and the California Grill. I had eaten at the California Grill in the past and found it to still be just as good now as it was years ago. I think it’s just a great all around restaurant with superb food, service, and décor. Citricos and Flying Fish Café were very good, but not outstanding. Jiko was the biggest surprise to me. Extraordinary flavors, ingredients, and wine list. A must visit for foodies.
I should also mention that I saw a notable improvement throughout the property in other aspects of their food and beverage operation over past trips. Even simple things such as coffee, baked goods, snacks, and affordable lunches seemed much better now than in the past.
Questions:
1.) When will Disney-MGM Studios get a third e-ticket? This seems desperately needed at this point. At a minimum, either the Indiana Jones ride from Disneyland or a new Star Tours movie is necessary.
2.) What will be made of the River Country and Discovery Island areas? It seems to me that the River Country space and the land to the left of the Villas at Wilderness Lodge could be developed into the long rumored Wilderness Junction. This would make for a spectacular fifth moderate resort. It also seems that the Discovery Island space could be developed into perhaps something they could call Wilderness Island. It could be a high-end, exclusive property. This could round out the beautiful “Wilderness Resort Area” with an offering of a campground, moderate, deluxe, and exclusive property.
3.) Will the land in front of the Contemporary ever be developed? Why not build a Contemporary Vacation Club property there that consists of eight to twelve two or three story buildings. That way they would not block the view from Bay Lake to the Magic Kingdom.
4.) What will they do with the old Treehouse Villas and condominiums that line the forest along the way to the new Saratoga Springs? At this point they are nothing short of an eyesore. People spending good money to buy into the latest Disney Vacation Club property are not going to want to drive past those units every time they leave their spanking new resort at Saratoga Springs. Maybe they can be used as something else or simply be dismantled and landscaped over.
5.) Doesn’t vacationing in Walt Disney World just motivate you to want to buy into the Disney Vacation Club? Just to feel like you actually own a piece of something so special.
Final Thoughts:
In closing it was simply a fantastic trip with many magical memories. The Disney cast members provided a lot of funny and special moments. A highlight was during a lunch break at the Pop Century food court when almost the entire staff stopped what they were doing and broke into a large scale production of DO THE HUSTLE! I certainly will not be waiting another seven or eight years to get back. I’m already thinking about an eight to ten night trip sometime next year with the fiancé. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading. Take care everyone!
