This is my first WDW trip report. I wrote one for Disneyland last summer. You can read that here if you like.
Me and my mom visited WDW from 12/2-12/8 2012. I am also writing this for my blog, so I might explain some things most of us already know. Most of the photos were taken with my Sony NEX-5N and a variety of lenses, some with my iPhone 5, my mom's Canon D10, or her phone.
Dramatis personae:
Me – Your humble narrator. I had developed a bad cough a couple days before the trip and got some medicine to help, so hopefully it will go away and I can really enjoy myself.
Moms – My mother, she repeatedly claims to want nothing to do with Disney parks, but once we get there you can’t pull her away.
Before I begin, a little history. Join me in letting your mind wander back to 1989, cell phones were actually about as big as they are now (I’m looking at you Galaxy Note 2), as far as we knew Ewoks and the Holiday Special would be the only blights on the Star Wars franchise, and Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios were still called EPCOT Center & Disney-MGM Studios respectively. As a seven year old, Moms took me to Disney World in the summer, because apparently we enjoyed the heat back then. I only have vague memories of that trip, but those are my earliest memories of the Disney Parks. So here we are going back 23 years later, during a more favorable time of year, as seasoned Disneyland vets. How would Walt’s original park fair in comparison? Would we constantly be lost? Is the internet right and Walt Disney World is a huge crumbling pile of disappointment? We’d have to travel to the other side of the country to find out.
We had a 7 am flight, which meant being at the airport during my sleep time. Luckily no one sat between us Phoenix to Charlotte so we could spread out a little. We only had about 40 minutes between our connecting flight which meant we basically ran across the Charlotte airport. Maybe next time I’ll get to sit in their rocking chairs. Someone sat between us on the final leg of our trip, but the flight was short so it didn’t bother me. Especially because I was probably just as excited to go to Disney World as the little kids in the aisle across from us.
One of the “perks” Disney has for staying on property at Disney World is a service called Disney’s Magical Express (DME). With DME, you get luggage tags to stick on your checked luggage before you leave home and Disney takes it off the plane and delivers it to your room a couple hours after you land. They’ll also take you from the Orlando airport to your hotel. It’s pretty nice skipping baggage claim and getting a free ride to your hotel.
The DME area features a number of lines each going to a different grouping of hotels. We found our line and after about a 10 minute wait, we were boarding our bus and headed on our way.
- we got a Disney Cruise Line bus to take us
- the park entry arches are so cool
Which hotel were we staying at exactly you ask? Well, that would be the Polynesian.
- outside the hotel
- inside the lobby
We checked in and were given a room in the Rarotonga building right next to the Great Ceremonial House (main lobby area). We briefly checked out Capt. Cook’s before heading to our room. Despite reading about Disney’s use of RFID for the locks on the rooms, I completely forgot about that when the time came to actually get in. Luckily there were some other guests in the hallway to help us out. The room was nice, and with the daybed, we had quite a bit of space.
- walking outside and seeing this is the moment I realized Disney World wasn’t playing around
- room details
After scoping the room out for a bit, we were feeling a little hungry and decided to go back to Capt. Cook’s for lunch. We explored a little of the hotel and went down to the Seven Seas Lagoon for a glimpse of Magic Kingdom Park as well as the Grand Floridian & the Contemporary hotels. That area is amazing. The Polynesian does a good job of giving you that tropical feeling when looking out over the water.
- Polynesian Resort grounds
- Seven Seas Lagoon
I had seen something called Pork Nachos at Capt. Cook’s and they were calling my name, so off we went for food. Moms had the pepperoni flatbread and I had the aforementioned nachos. The nachos were very good, but could have used more toppings (like all nachos). Moms thought her flatbread was so-so.
- cupcakes
- pork nachos
- pepperoni flatbread
- tropical Mickey & Minnie with I’m assuming Mickey’s nephews
to be continued with our first park visit
Me and my mom visited WDW from 12/2-12/8 2012. I am also writing this for my blog, so I might explain some things most of us already know. Most of the photos were taken with my Sony NEX-5N and a variety of lenses, some with my iPhone 5, my mom's Canon D10, or her phone.
Dramatis personae:
Me – Your humble narrator. I had developed a bad cough a couple days before the trip and got some medicine to help, so hopefully it will go away and I can really enjoy myself.
Moms – My mother, she repeatedly claims to want nothing to do with Disney parks, but once we get there you can’t pull her away.
Before I begin, a little history. Join me in letting your mind wander back to 1989, cell phones were actually about as big as they are now (I’m looking at you Galaxy Note 2), as far as we knew Ewoks and the Holiday Special would be the only blights on the Star Wars franchise, and Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios were still called EPCOT Center & Disney-MGM Studios respectively. As a seven year old, Moms took me to Disney World in the summer, because apparently we enjoyed the heat back then. I only have vague memories of that trip, but those are my earliest memories of the Disney Parks. So here we are going back 23 years later, during a more favorable time of year, as seasoned Disneyland vets. How would Walt’s original park fair in comparison? Would we constantly be lost? Is the internet right and Walt Disney World is a huge crumbling pile of disappointment? We’d have to travel to the other side of the country to find out.
We had a 7 am flight, which meant being at the airport during my sleep time. Luckily no one sat between us Phoenix to Charlotte so we could spread out a little. We only had about 40 minutes between our connecting flight which meant we basically ran across the Charlotte airport. Maybe next time I’ll get to sit in their rocking chairs. Someone sat between us on the final leg of our trip, but the flight was short so it didn’t bother me. Especially because I was probably just as excited to go to Disney World as the little kids in the aisle across from us.
One of the “perks” Disney has for staying on property at Disney World is a service called Disney’s Magical Express (DME). With DME, you get luggage tags to stick on your checked luggage before you leave home and Disney takes it off the plane and delivers it to your room a couple hours after you land. They’ll also take you from the Orlando airport to your hotel. It’s pretty nice skipping baggage claim and getting a free ride to your hotel.
The DME area features a number of lines each going to a different grouping of hotels. We found our line and after about a 10 minute wait, we were boarding our bus and headed on our way.
- we got a Disney Cruise Line bus to take us
- the park entry arches are so coolWhich hotel were we staying at exactly you ask? Well, that would be the Polynesian.
- outside the hotel
- inside the lobbyWe checked in and were given a room in the Rarotonga building right next to the Great Ceremonial House (main lobby area). We briefly checked out Capt. Cook’s before heading to our room. Despite reading about Disney’s use of RFID for the locks on the rooms, I completely forgot about that when the time came to actually get in. Luckily there were some other guests in the hallway to help us out. The room was nice, and with the daybed, we had quite a bit of space.
- walking outside and seeing this is the moment I realized Disney World wasn’t playing around
- room detailsAfter scoping the room out for a bit, we were feeling a little hungry and decided to go back to Capt. Cook’s for lunch. We explored a little of the hotel and went down to the Seven Seas Lagoon for a glimpse of Magic Kingdom Park as well as the Grand Floridian & the Contemporary hotels. That area is amazing. The Polynesian does a good job of giving you that tropical feeling when looking out over the water.
- Polynesian Resort grounds
- Seven Seas LagoonI had seen something called Pork Nachos at Capt. Cook’s and they were calling my name, so off we went for food. Moms had the pepperoni flatbread and I had the aforementioned nachos. The nachos were very good, but could have used more toppings (like all nachos). Moms thought her flatbread was so-so.
- cupcakes
- pork nachos
- pepperoni flatbread
- tropical Mickey & Minnie with I’m assuming Mickey’s nephewsto be continued with our first park visit
Come back to the World soon!