I apologize in advance for the lack of a narrative here, but In lieu of a detailed trip report, I'd just like to post a list of highlights and my family's impressions following our visit to Walt Disney World last week. For background, DH and I are professionals in our mid-30s from rural upstate NY. It was my sixth visit and DH's third, and the first visit for our two children, son aged six and daughter aged four.
Our general schedule was: Day 1 - Travel and Magic Kingdom (Adventureland, Liberty Square and Frontierland); Day 2 - Animal Kingdom and Epcot (Future World); Day 3 - Epcot (rest of Future World and World Showcase), and Magic Kingdom (start on Tomorrowland); Day 4 - Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney; Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland, rest of Tomorrowland, and revisit all favorites); Day 6 - 'Ohana character breakfast at the Polynesian, revisit Magic Kingdom. I won't mention every attraction we did, but we covered 95% of the Magic Kingdom (many things multiple times), 85% of Epcot (many things multiple times), 75% of the Animal Kingdom and 50% of Hollywood Studios.
The flight down: although our plane was delayed for a few minutes for de-icing when we left Syracuse, NY, we arrived at MCO early and the kids were so enamored with the novelty of Jet Blue's in-flight TVs, their first adventures with rolling luggage, and the MCO shuttle to the main terminal that we started to think the Disney attractions might be anticlimactic for them.
Magical Express: ran smoothly, and the air-conditioned comfort and welcome video set the perfect tone. We arrived at MCO at 10:00am on a Saturday and the Magical Express lines were horrific -- there had to be 150 people ahead of us, heading to our resort. Notwithstanding the large number of people, we waited only 20 minutes before we were loaded onto a bus. This was a mercy, as we were still dressed in long pants for the freezing temps we'd left behind in NY. We'd brought shorts in DH's backpack, but were afraid to step out of the line to change, lest we miss the bus.
Port Orleans Riverside: although I know the time savings is hit-or-miss, in our case, Online Check-in allowed us to check in immediately instead of hopping in a 10-party-long line for "regular" registration. We had requested Alligator Bayou, Building 16, and were assigned Alligator Bayou, Building 17, which was not only "close enough" to make us happy, but our room was ready for us on arrival, before 11:00am. We stopped in the food court for our mugs and then made our way to the room, admiring the greenery and the "quiet pool" just outside our building, and unpacked. The newly-refurbished room was spotlessly clean, complete with Mickey towel arrangement on the bed, and everything was in good working order. My only possible complaints -- and they are minor ones -- are that the ceiling soundproofing was lacking (we could hear EVERYthing from above, even benign things like someone opening a drawer -- thankfully our neighbors were quiet!), and that there was no TV channel guide anywhere. (I don't know if this is something they don't provide, or if it was missing from our room, but the couple of times we watched TV it was annoying to have to flip through every channel to find what we needed.) Overall, we thought the resort was absolutely beautiful, and would gladly stay there again.
WDW Bus Service: overall, we had phenomenal luck with buses. We took WDW bus transportation between our resort and the parks at least twice per day, and seldom had to wait more than 5 minutes. The only exception was trying to get from the Magic Kingdom back to PORS. Two of the times we tried to do it, there was a problem. First, at 8pm on Saturday, a bus broke down and another had to be called. Meanwhile, 2 ECV users showed up and the "replacement" bus driver seemed to have huge problems getting them loaded and secured -- this process alone took more than 10 minutes. As a result, it took 45 minutes for us to get back to PORS, where we were greeted by an angry mob that had been waiting for nearly an hour at the South Depot for a bus to the Magic Kingdom. The next time we had to go from MK to PORS, we stood waiting for half an hour while three buses came and went for the French Quarter, and none came for PORS. Finally we said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," got on a French Quarter bus, and then walked the pretty Sassagoula River pathway up to PORS. Other than those two occasions, we were very lucky with the buses. It wasn't until about our tenth ride that my daughter finally asked, "Mommy, where is OUR baloney?" Confused, I asked her why she thought we should have some. She replied, "Because every time we get off the bus, they tell us to 'gather your baloneys and take small children by the hand." Of course, she had simply misheard "belongings," but "gather your baloneys" became the catch-phrase of the trip.
Magic Kingdom: Magic Kingdom was our first stop, last stop, and favorite place to be on Disney property. Unexpected pleasures included our first Dole Whip floats and citrus swirls, as well as those frozen Nestle pineapple bars. We couldn't get enough of them, and nothing tasted more refreshing in the unseasonable heat and high humidity. Also unexpected: although we knew the children would love POTC, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, etc., and they did, they also went nuts for the Enchanted Tiki Room and the PeopleMover, and asked to experience them multiple times. Unexpected hits for DH and I were the Carousel of Progress, Buzz's Space Ranger Spin (somehow I scored 999,999 without knowing what I was doing -- boo-ya!) and Mickey's Philharmagic (we'd never done it before) and the Little Mermaid dark ride, which we got to see in "dress rehearsal" and DH really loved. He must have a thing for redheads in clamshell bras that I didn't know about... Also, I love that the opossums are back on Big Thunder Mountain. I don't think they spin like they used to, but they are cute! We also loved seeing Country Bear Jamboree again (notwithstanding the truncated refurbed version, in which the audio is still as fuzzy as the bears) and riding the WDW Railroad, which I think is a great unsung attraction, not to mention a handy way to get from one end of the park to another when your feet are growing tired.
Here we are, enjoying our first-ever meal from Casey's. It hit the spot!
Here are the kids on the Teacups. Man, were we dizzy!
Animal Kingdom: We experienced Dinosaur for the first time (fun but jerky!) and also Expedition Everest (just me and our daredevil son - great coaster, yeti was disco but at least I got to see him). We'd done everything except the live shows and Rafiki's Planet Watch by lunchtime, but were so exhausted from the walking trails (and walking the park in general) that we skipped out on Festival of the Lion King, which we'd planned to see. Something for next time, if it's still running then, and if we don't bypass this beautiful-but-sparse park altogether.
The tigers were strutting their stuff in full view on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. So gorgeous!
Hollywood Studios: We loved Toy Story Mania so much, our "shooting arms" were sore for the rest of the day. We got there at park opening to be among the first to get there, and pulled fastpasses to do it again. We loved the new Star Tours and spent way too much money in the gift shop into which it exits. (What do you give the man who has everything? A Chewbacca bomber hat and a rebel blaster, of course!) The Disney Jr., Muppets 3D and Little Mermaid shows were adorable. We skipped the Backlot Tour, Lights Motors... and Beauty and the Beast (the kids can only handle so many lengthy sit-down experiences, and frankly, so can we). The six-year-old insisted on trying the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. It's a favorite of mine and I loved it, but his reaction was, "It was fun, but I feel sick. Oh, and 'those Smith guys' music is AWFUL."
Epcot: With Test Track down, it was all about Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Mission:Space, which we did multiple times each, with the kids begging for more. We did the milder, "green" version of Mission:Space, which I thought was a fantastic option -- still fun, still immersive, but without the day-long nausea I had the time I tried the orange version. We did the World Showcase circuit one time, but with the Food and Wine crowds clogging the walkways and shops -- a mostly adult crowd that wasn't looking out for children and kept stepping on ours -- we didn't get to savor it as much as we would have liked, and the kids aren't at the right age (or patience level) to spend much time there. We also hit Club Cool for the first time, which was a blast! (They need a hand-washing station in there, though. All that drippy pop = lots of sticky fingers!)
We got to World Showcase just before it opened, and were able to see the "opening ceremony" for the Mexico pavilion, which was cute -- "Cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno, TEQUILA!" -- and be the first family on the Gran Fiesta boat tour.
The People: With the exception of a couple of bad apples, we met a lot of really lovely people. There were friendly folks from all over the country (and several from Australia, England and Ireland) who struck up conversations with us on the buses or in line for attractions, people who resisted the temptation to be badly-behaved on attractions that are prone to it (e.g., we saw only one incident of line cutting, there was no stroller ramming, no shouting over the Ghost Host's narration on Haunted Mansion, everybody was respectfully quiet in Hall of the Presidents, the two Brazilian tour groups we saw were being tame). At the same time, people joined in and whooped it up at all the right times (e.g., clapping for the Country Bears, singing along with the Splash Mountain characters). We saw folks give up seats for older bus riders, clean up their own dining tables in crowded counter service locations so someone else could use them right away, and generally just do the right thing and spread the magic around. In fact, the biggest jerk I saw at Disney World turned out to be ME. (We were in line for Buzz and a couple of people kind of shoved their way ahead of me. I was annoyed and yelled something like, "That's okay, just cut in front of us, why don't you!??!" and my husband gently informed me that "those people are taking care of a group of mentally disabled adults that just went in. They went to park the wheelchairs and they're just catching up with their charges." Then he asked if I'd like him to track down some crippled children to mock and puppies to kick. )
Less than Magical:
I hate to use the word "disappointments," because that seems too harsh, so I'll call this our "less-than-totally-magical-experiences." They were limited to the POTC overlay for DH and I (we love the addition of Jack Sparrow lurking here and there, but the rest seemed pointless and distracting -- why does Barbossa have a crew of one? Why are the townspeople helping Jack? Why do we care? Also, the cannon effects weren't working two of the six times we rode...), some of the more obvious non-working animatronics (turtles in Splash Mountain, the dinosaur that is eating another in Dinosaur, a couple of conspicuously-missing dolls in it's a small world), the number of times Haunted Mansion stopped (we rode 4 or 5 times during our stay, stopping 2 times minimum each time -- the first go-round, we stopped FIVE TIMES for 2-4 minutes each -- it took us more than 20 minutes to complete the omnimover portion, and the continuity and illusion of being in a haunted mansion were shattered by the constant announcements from cast members) and the behavior of a [happily small] number of guests (e.g., the people videotaping or taking flash-photos on dark rides, and the guy behind us on POTC who felt it was his duty to narrate the whole thing for everyone: "Hey, look at that ship! Look, they're going to fire those cannons! Did you see that? Oh, I heard a splash!..." Then there was the 'Ohana character breakfast -- the food was good, but both the service and the character "greetings" were so ridiculously rushed (wham, bam, hug-ya-m'am -- I didn't even get a shot of Stitch because in the five seconds it took me to lift my camera and turn it on, he'd dashed up, given each kid a pat on the head and was gone!) that I felt it was a total waste of a dining credit. However, these little things were just a "drop in the bucket," and didn't dampen our experience in any meaningful way.
Also, one thing that was a startling "less than magical' moment for me, but that my DH would probably call "highly magical": we saw a French-speaking family strolling around the Magic Kingdom with their son, who looked to be about 10, and their teenaged daughter, who looked to be about 14. She was wearing the oddest pair of "Daisy Dukes" I'd ever seen -- the legs were cut asymmetrically from crotch to hip, so that there was literally no inseam, and her butt cheeks were hanging out the back on both sides, completely exposed. It was like The World's Most Uncomfortable G-string. I couldn't believe that her parents, and the cast members in the area, were letting this "cheeky" girl walk around with her Adventureland all exposed.
Rules we Broke:
Before we left, my rules included: (1) we are not wasting our time in line for character greetings; (2) we are not wasting money on more than one inexpensive souvenir per person; and (3) since we're doing the dining plan, we are not spending more money out-of-pocket for food or drinks. Of course, by day 2, I had broken down and bought autograph books, was happily standing in line with the children to meet characters (we timed them well and used fastpasses so we never waited more than 10 minutes), had bought the kids 3 souvenirs apiece (and ended up with two myself), and enjoyed an out-of-pocket lunch at 50's Primetime and beer flights at Biergarten and Raglan Road. I am such an unrepentant, rule-breaking rebel! Breaking those "rules" turned out to be worth every moment and every penny.
Here is my son, who was the very first child of the day to meet Mickey after rope drop one morning. (My daughter and I were next door meeting the princesses. They were beautiful and charming, but there was one odd thing: although Princess Aurora spoke just fine, whenever anything was said to her, she'd look at the PhotoPass photographer, who would repeat it, "translating" it into smaller, simpler sentences. I couldn't figure out if she was hearing-impaired or just a trifle dim-witted. Still, she was sweet.)
Overall Impression:
First, going to Disney World in the "off-season," which I'd never done before, was awesome!!! Between arriving at park opening and using fastpasses judiciously, we didn't have to wait more than 10-15 minutes for any attraction, ever, and most of the time we were walking on. (One exception: we got in line for Big Thunder Mtn. RR with a 20-minute posted standby wait time. There were technical difficulties and we ended up in line for nearly 45 minutes. However, it was our last thing on the to-do list that day and we could watch portions of the Electric Light Parade from the line, so we opted to stay.) We got to experience all of our favorites multiple times, and could enjoy everything at a leisurely pace. Everywhere we ate, the food was delicious -- our favorite dishes were the aforementioned Dole offerings, Serious Steaks and Bread-and-Butter Pudding at Raglan Road, the pulled beef sandwiches at Tamu Tamu, the BBQ slaw dog and Chicago dog at Casey's Corner, lobster bisque at the Coral Reef, the spicy tuna hand roll at the Food and Wine Japan kiosk, the Liberty Tree Tavern dinner (especially those sweet little rolls), shawarma platters at the Tangierine Cafe (those flavors are so refreshing!) and the Biergarten buffet (pretzel rolls, first-rate sauerkraut and a tasty berry compote to boot - ja, das schmeckt mir gut!). All four of us had a fantastic time, and we can't wait to come back.
Thank you to all of you who gave me advice, shared your own stories and, by your posts and comments on this board, helped us plan a wonderful vacation! You've helped to make our Disney World planning nearly as much fun as Disney World itself.
Until next time! : )
Our general schedule was: Day 1 - Travel and Magic Kingdom (Adventureland, Liberty Square and Frontierland); Day 2 - Animal Kingdom and Epcot (Future World); Day 3 - Epcot (rest of Future World and World Showcase), and Magic Kingdom (start on Tomorrowland); Day 4 - Hollywood Studios, Downtown Disney; Day 5 - Magic Kingdom (Fantasyland, rest of Tomorrowland, and revisit all favorites); Day 6 - 'Ohana character breakfast at the Polynesian, revisit Magic Kingdom. I won't mention every attraction we did, but we covered 95% of the Magic Kingdom (many things multiple times), 85% of Epcot (many things multiple times), 75% of the Animal Kingdom and 50% of Hollywood Studios.
The flight down: although our plane was delayed for a few minutes for de-icing when we left Syracuse, NY, we arrived at MCO early and the kids were so enamored with the novelty of Jet Blue's in-flight TVs, their first adventures with rolling luggage, and the MCO shuttle to the main terminal that we started to think the Disney attractions might be anticlimactic for them.
Magical Express: ran smoothly, and the air-conditioned comfort and welcome video set the perfect tone. We arrived at MCO at 10:00am on a Saturday and the Magical Express lines were horrific -- there had to be 150 people ahead of us, heading to our resort. Notwithstanding the large number of people, we waited only 20 minutes before we were loaded onto a bus. This was a mercy, as we were still dressed in long pants for the freezing temps we'd left behind in NY. We'd brought shorts in DH's backpack, but were afraid to step out of the line to change, lest we miss the bus.
Port Orleans Riverside: although I know the time savings is hit-or-miss, in our case, Online Check-in allowed us to check in immediately instead of hopping in a 10-party-long line for "regular" registration. We had requested Alligator Bayou, Building 16, and were assigned Alligator Bayou, Building 17, which was not only "close enough" to make us happy, but our room was ready for us on arrival, before 11:00am. We stopped in the food court for our mugs and then made our way to the room, admiring the greenery and the "quiet pool" just outside our building, and unpacked. The newly-refurbished room was spotlessly clean, complete with Mickey towel arrangement on the bed, and everything was in good working order. My only possible complaints -- and they are minor ones -- are that the ceiling soundproofing was lacking (we could hear EVERYthing from above, even benign things like someone opening a drawer -- thankfully our neighbors were quiet!), and that there was no TV channel guide anywhere. (I don't know if this is something they don't provide, or if it was missing from our room, but the couple of times we watched TV it was annoying to have to flip through every channel to find what we needed.) Overall, we thought the resort was absolutely beautiful, and would gladly stay there again.
WDW Bus Service: overall, we had phenomenal luck with buses. We took WDW bus transportation between our resort and the parks at least twice per day, and seldom had to wait more than 5 minutes. The only exception was trying to get from the Magic Kingdom back to PORS. Two of the times we tried to do it, there was a problem. First, at 8pm on Saturday, a bus broke down and another had to be called. Meanwhile, 2 ECV users showed up and the "replacement" bus driver seemed to have huge problems getting them loaded and secured -- this process alone took more than 10 minutes. As a result, it took 45 minutes for us to get back to PORS, where we were greeted by an angry mob that had been waiting for nearly an hour at the South Depot for a bus to the Magic Kingdom. The next time we had to go from MK to PORS, we stood waiting for half an hour while three buses came and went for the French Quarter, and none came for PORS. Finally we said, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," got on a French Quarter bus, and then walked the pretty Sassagoula River pathway up to PORS. Other than those two occasions, we were very lucky with the buses. It wasn't until about our tenth ride that my daughter finally asked, "Mommy, where is OUR baloney?" Confused, I asked her why she thought we should have some. She replied, "Because every time we get off the bus, they tell us to 'gather your baloneys and take small children by the hand."
Of course, she had simply misheard "belongings," but "gather your baloneys" became the catch-phrase of the trip.
Magic Kingdom: Magic Kingdom was our first stop, last stop, and favorite place to be on Disney property. Unexpected pleasures included our first Dole Whip floats and citrus swirls, as well as those frozen Nestle pineapple bars. We couldn't get enough of them, and nothing tasted more refreshing in the unseasonable heat and high humidity. Also unexpected: although we knew the children would love POTC, Big Thunder Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, etc., and they did, they also went nuts for the Enchanted Tiki Room and the PeopleMover, and asked to experience them multiple times. Unexpected hits for DH and I were the Carousel of Progress, Buzz's Space Ranger Spin (somehow I scored 999,999 without knowing what I was doing -- boo-ya!) and Mickey's Philharmagic (we'd never done it before) and the Little Mermaid dark ride, which we got to see in "dress rehearsal" and DH really loved. He must have a thing for redheads in clamshell bras that I didn't know about... Also, I love that the opossums are back on Big Thunder Mountain. I don't think they spin like they used to, but they are cute! We also loved seeing Country Bear Jamboree again (notwithstanding the truncated refurbed version, in which the audio is still as fuzzy as the bears) and riding the WDW Railroad, which I think is a great unsung attraction, not to mention a handy way to get from one end of the park to another when your feet are growing tired.
Here we are, enjoying our first-ever meal from Casey's. It hit the spot!
Here are the kids on the Teacups. Man, were we dizzy!
Animal Kingdom: We experienced Dinosaur for the first time (fun but jerky!) and also Expedition Everest (just me and our daredevil son - great coaster, yeti was disco but at least I got to see him). We'd done everything except the live shows and Rafiki's Planet Watch by lunchtime, but were so exhausted from the walking trails (and walking the park in general) that we skipped out on Festival of the Lion King, which we'd planned to see. Something for next time, if it's still running then, and if we don't bypass this beautiful-but-sparse park altogether.
The tigers were strutting their stuff in full view on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. So gorgeous!
Hollywood Studios: We loved Toy Story Mania so much, our "shooting arms" were sore for the rest of the day. We got there at park opening to be among the first to get there, and pulled fastpasses to do it again. We loved the new Star Tours and spent way too much money in the gift shop into which it exits. (What do you give the man who has everything? A Chewbacca bomber hat and a rebel blaster, of course!) The Disney Jr., Muppets 3D and Little Mermaid shows were adorable. We skipped the Backlot Tour, Lights Motors... and Beauty and the Beast (the kids can only handle so many lengthy sit-down experiences, and frankly, so can we). The six-year-old insisted on trying the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. It's a favorite of mine and I loved it, but his reaction was, "It was fun, but I feel sick. Oh, and 'those Smith guys' music is AWFUL."
Epcot: With Test Track down, it was all about Soarin', Spaceship Earth and Mission:Space, which we did multiple times each, with the kids begging for more. We did the milder, "green" version of Mission:Space, which I thought was a fantastic option -- still fun, still immersive, but without the day-long nausea I had the time I tried the orange version. We did the World Showcase circuit one time, but with the Food and Wine crowds clogging the walkways and shops -- a mostly adult crowd that wasn't looking out for children and kept stepping on ours -- we didn't get to savor it as much as we would have liked, and the kids aren't at the right age (or patience level) to spend much time there. We also hit Club Cool for the first time, which was a blast! (They need a hand-washing station in there, though. All that drippy pop = lots of sticky fingers!)
We got to World Showcase just before it opened, and were able to see the "opening ceremony" for the Mexico pavilion, which was cute -- "Cinco, quatro, tres, dos, uno, TEQUILA!" -- and be the first family on the Gran Fiesta boat tour.
The People: With the exception of a couple of bad apples, we met a lot of really lovely people. There were friendly folks from all over the country (and several from Australia, England and Ireland) who struck up conversations with us on the buses or in line for attractions, people who resisted the temptation to be badly-behaved on attractions that are prone to it (e.g., we saw only one incident of line cutting, there was no stroller ramming, no shouting over the Ghost Host's narration on Haunted Mansion, everybody was respectfully quiet in Hall of the Presidents, the two Brazilian tour groups we saw were being tame). At the same time, people joined in and whooped it up at all the right times (e.g., clapping for the Country Bears, singing along with the Splash Mountain characters). We saw folks give up seats for older bus riders, clean up their own dining tables in crowded counter service locations so someone else could use them right away, and generally just do the right thing and spread the magic around. In fact, the biggest jerk I saw at Disney World turned out to be ME. (We were in line for Buzz and a couple of people kind of shoved their way ahead of me. I was annoyed and yelled something like, "That's okay, just cut in front of us, why don't you!??!" and my husband gently informed me that "those people are taking care of a group of mentally disabled adults that just went in. They went to park the wheelchairs and they're just catching up with their charges." Then he asked if I'd like him to track down some crippled children to mock and puppies to kick.
)Less than Magical:
I hate to use the word "disappointments," because that seems too harsh, so I'll call this our "less-than-totally-magical-experiences." They were limited to the POTC overlay for DH and I (we love the addition of Jack Sparrow lurking here and there, but the rest seemed pointless and distracting -- why does Barbossa have a crew of one? Why are the townspeople helping Jack? Why do we care? Also, the cannon effects weren't working two of the six times we rode...), some of the more obvious non-working animatronics (turtles in Splash Mountain, the dinosaur that is eating another in Dinosaur, a couple of conspicuously-missing dolls in it's a small world), the number of times Haunted Mansion stopped (we rode 4 or 5 times during our stay, stopping 2 times minimum each time -- the first go-round, we stopped FIVE TIMES for 2-4 minutes each -- it took us more than 20 minutes to complete the omnimover portion, and the continuity and illusion of being in a haunted mansion were shattered by the constant announcements from cast members) and the behavior of a [happily small] number of guests (e.g., the people videotaping or taking flash-photos on dark rides, and the guy behind us on POTC who felt it was his duty to narrate the whole thing for everyone: "Hey, look at that ship! Look, they're going to fire those cannons! Did you see that? Oh, I heard a splash!..." Then there was the 'Ohana character breakfast -- the food was good, but both the service and the character "greetings" were so ridiculously rushed (wham, bam, hug-ya-m'am -- I didn't even get a shot of Stitch because in the five seconds it took me to lift my camera and turn it on, he'd dashed up, given each kid a pat on the head and was gone!) that I felt it was a total waste of a dining credit. However, these little things were just a "drop in the bucket," and didn't dampen our experience in any meaningful way.
Also, one thing that was a startling "less than magical' moment for me, but that my DH would probably call "highly magical": we saw a French-speaking family strolling around the Magic Kingdom with their son, who looked to be about 10, and their teenaged daughter, who looked to be about 14. She was wearing the oddest pair of "Daisy Dukes" I'd ever seen -- the legs were cut asymmetrically from crotch to hip, so that there was literally no inseam, and her butt cheeks were hanging out the back on both sides, completely exposed. It was like The World's Most Uncomfortable G-string. I couldn't believe that her parents, and the cast members in the area, were letting this "cheeky" girl walk around with her Adventureland all exposed.
Rules we Broke:
Before we left, my rules included: (1) we are not wasting our time in line for character greetings; (2) we are not wasting money on more than one inexpensive souvenir per person; and (3) since we're doing the dining plan, we are not spending more money out-of-pocket for food or drinks. Of course, by day 2, I had broken down and bought autograph books, was happily standing in line with the children to meet characters (we timed them well and used fastpasses so we never waited more than 10 minutes), had bought the kids 3 souvenirs apiece (and ended up with two myself), and enjoyed an out-of-pocket lunch at 50's Primetime and beer flights at Biergarten and Raglan Road. I am such an unrepentant, rule-breaking rebel! Breaking those "rules" turned out to be worth every moment and every penny.
Here is my son, who was the very first child of the day to meet Mickey after rope drop one morning. (My daughter and I were next door meeting the princesses. They were beautiful and charming, but there was one odd thing: although Princess Aurora spoke just fine, whenever anything was said to her, she'd look at the PhotoPass photographer, who would repeat it, "translating" it into smaller, simpler sentences. I couldn't figure out if she was hearing-impaired or just a trifle dim-witted. Still, she was sweet.)
Overall Impression:
First, going to Disney World in the "off-season," which I'd never done before, was awesome!!! Between arriving at park opening and using fastpasses judiciously, we didn't have to wait more than 10-15 minutes for any attraction, ever, and most of the time we were walking on. (One exception: we got in line for Big Thunder Mtn. RR with a 20-minute posted standby wait time. There were technical difficulties and we ended up in line for nearly 45 minutes. However, it was our last thing on the to-do list that day and we could watch portions of the Electric Light Parade from the line, so we opted to stay.) We got to experience all of our favorites multiple times, and could enjoy everything at a leisurely pace. Everywhere we ate, the food was delicious -- our favorite dishes were the aforementioned Dole offerings, Serious Steaks and Bread-and-Butter Pudding at Raglan Road, the pulled beef sandwiches at Tamu Tamu, the BBQ slaw dog and Chicago dog at Casey's Corner, lobster bisque at the Coral Reef, the spicy tuna hand roll at the Food and Wine Japan kiosk, the Liberty Tree Tavern dinner (especially those sweet little rolls), shawarma platters at the Tangierine Cafe (those flavors are so refreshing!) and the Biergarten buffet (pretzel rolls, first-rate sauerkraut and a tasty berry compote to boot - ja, das schmeckt mir gut!). All four of us had a fantastic time, and we can't wait to come back.
Thank you to all of you who gave me advice, shared your own stories and, by your posts and comments on this board, helped us plan a wonderful vacation! You've helped to make our Disney World planning nearly as much fun as Disney World itself.
Until next time! : )
