Trip Report 2/12 - 2/16 (wl)

Hi everyone. We just returned from a 5 day trip to WDW. We had a great time and the weather was pretty nice. This was a shorter trip for us, our second trip this year ONLY because we bought the annual pass and didn't want it to go to waste!!

DAY 1 -

We left Chicago (9 degrees and snowing) around 8am on Monday and arrived by lunch time. Our flight on UAL was good, left on time and was pretty uneventful. I'm not a fan of flying, but I did ok. We prefer flying out of Milwaukee on Midwest Air but flew out of O'hare because of the fare was so good. When we landed, it was cloudy and drizzling but we didn't care - it was in the low 70's and we'll take anything above 50 at this point!!

We rented a car from Budget (we always get a RED rental car for some reason and I hate the color red!) but the upgraded us for free so all was good. We drove straight to the WL and checked-in. Our room wouldn't be ready til about 3pm, so we visited the gift shop, walked around to see what was going on at the pool (we knew it would be closed) and had lunch at Roaring Forks. I had been craving the vegetarian salad there for months, so I was so happy when we finally sat down for lunch! Several people commented on the salad ("Oh, that looks good, where can I get it"). I know, I know, I'm going on and on about a SALAD but it really IS that good and I highly recommend it!! I need to get the recipe for the dressing and buy some beets and millet so I can make it at home!

After lunch, we checked our voicemail, made a few phone calls home (we're throwing a surpise party for my parents so we had several calls about that that we needed to return.) We sat in the rocking chairs by the creek in the lobby and by then our room was ready! We were REALLY impressed with the view from our room, and the room itself had been recently renovated and we noticed it immediately. We requested a room above the fifth floor facing the castle and they gave us room 6028. Below us was a small pond and we had a clear view of the lake and beautiful woods. The Contemporary was in the distance, we caught a glimse of the Polynesian and loved watching the monorail pass by. :sohappy: We could even see the entrance to the Magic Kingdom and the castle through the trees! Needless to say, we were very happy. We usually get the Courtyard view, but with the pool being closed, we chose the woods view and may continue to do so next time.

The bellman brought up our luggage and we unpacked / freshened up and took the boat to the Magic Kingdom to pick up our tickets for the Pirates and Princess Party! We walked around mainstreet and through the shops. We were walking around in a dream -- like, "are we really here?" We wanted to save the rides, etc for later since the party didn't really start until 7:30pm and we had dinner reservations at Artist Point at 5:45. Families were already arriving, though, for the party and the kids looked cute all dressed up. I saw a lot of girls dressed as pirates which was fun.

We took the boat back to WL for dinner. Our waitress was really nice and explained the architecture of the WL, the meaning behind the murals and the naming of the restaurant. It had never been explained to us before so that was neat. We shared the frisee salad and enjoyed the crusty bread. Both of us ordered the Chive Potstickers and they were as good as we remembered. I love the edamame they serve with it. :slurp: We had NO room for dessert! My husband's birthday is coming up, so as an early surprise, I handed him a small wrapped gift. Inside was a gift certificate I had created, with the details for the Segway tour I had booked for Thursday. He was SO surprised as we've never done a tour before and he's terrible at keeping secrets, so he was wondering how I had kept this a secret for so long. I'm a pro, I guess! :lol: That was a good end to the meal, so we headed back to the Magic Kingdom for the party.

We had been debating over whether to spend the extra $$ for tickets but we were both impressed with the Pirates & Princess Party. It was worth it alone to get some extra hours in the magic kingdom, especially if you're not staying for long. With it being February and the parks closing earlier and extra magic hours at the MK only on Friday (the day we left) we were glad we did it. We were handed our booty bag and treasure map and walked the red carpet, through the fog into the MK. By this time, the skies had cleared and it was pretty nice out. Cooler in the evening but no rain. Mainstreet was cool - the buildings were constantly changing colors as was the castle. The CM's were dressed up as pirates and having sword fights in the streets. We watched Mickey's stage show in front of the castle and it was really good. I love Donald so we laughed at his antics and were impressed with the new costumes (their eyes and mouths move).

Afterwards, we waited for the parade to start. The park wasn't too busy so it wasn't hard to find a good spot to watch. I loved the parade music and the pirates ship and tinkerbell were fun to watch. We then made our way to Pirates of the Caribbean, and made it on to the ride with no wait. We were both a little nervous about the changes, but were pleasantly surprised. The new effects didn't take anything away from the original ride and Jack Sparrow was so realistic! The fire scenes were also a nice change. We rode the Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Magic Carpets, Space Mountain, TTA, Steamboat, etc. We watched the special fireworks and thought they were really good. Oh, we also watched the Jack Sparrow show which was funny - the kids really got into the sword fighting! My husband got a photo with Goofy and we thought the dance party in Tomorrowland was hilarious. We just watched it for a minute and the kids were really breaking it down! I don't know how they were doing it at that hour, because WE were exhausted.

We didn't really do the treasure hunt, only once did we have our booty bag filled with candy. We were mainly there just to enjoy the rides, fireworks and parade and really did enjoy it. It WAS worth it and we're glad we were able to experience it. By 11 pm, we were soooo tired :snore: so we headed back to the WL, by boat again, and hit the hay.

More to come....

 

[Jerm]

Can't wait for the rest. Sounds like you had a nice relaxing first day.

J

 

[justducky78]

Day 2 -

We woke up early for breakfast at Chef Mickey's. The weather was great - my husband could wear shorts so he was happy. By February, Chicago is extremely depressing (weather-wise) so we were soaking up the sunshine on the boat ride over to the Contemporary. Breakfast was good, I wasn't overly impressed with the buffet, but we were there more for the atmosphere than the food. You can't beat the monorail gliding past! Food-wise, I do prefer the buffet at the Yacht Club. We got pictures with Mickey, Goofy, Minnie and most importantly, Donald!

After breakfast, we walked around the shops at the Contemporary and then hopped the monorail to Epcot. We spent the morning in Future World and we were so happy to see Ellen's Universe of Energy open. There were some really annoying people sitting behind us - they kept talking loudly and the guy even answered his cell phone and had a conversation. :fork: We then hit Test Track (fastpass!) and Finding Nemo for the first time. It was a really cute ride and the line went really quick. We walked around some shops, etc and then took the monorail back. We wanted to spend some time by the pool but it started raining so we were a little bummed.

We had a quick lunch again at Roaring Forks and took a nap. :snore: We drove to the Animal Kingdom for dinner at Jiko and loved it. The wall that changes color (like an african sunset) was neat and the menu looked good. Our waiter helped us decide on the Taste of Africa appetizer (several different breads and dipping sauces) and a white bean soup. We shared the vegetarian entree which was huge. For dessert, we had the apple trifle - yum! :slurp:

We then made our way to Epcot to walk around the World Showcase and watch Illuminations. We found a really good spot in front of Japan. We met a nice couple from AZ and talked a bit. Later, we got some gelato at the Beach Club. They have the absolute best mango gelato I've ever had!

Day 3 -

Happy Valentine's Day! We woke up to another day of nice weather. We had breakfast in our room, and drove to MGM early. We went to TOT (fastpass!), Rock-n-Roller, Great Movie Ride and had lunch at the Sci-Fi Drive-In. It was so nice and warm out, we headed back to the resort to spend the afternoon by the pool. My husband swam while I read my book and it felt sooo good to be outside in the sun. The main pool was closed but the villa pool was open.

We had a dinner reservation at Narcooses so we made our way over to the GF. We looked through a few shops and took a walk outside. We saw a bride and her dad in a horse-drawn carriage, slowing making their way to the wedding pavillion. They had a perfect day for it! Dinner was great - I had the pear salad and my husband had the caeser. We both had the red pepper risotto which was delicious. This was our first time dining there and we really enjoyed it. The view was great as it's right on the water and you can see the castle in the distance.

We finished dinner just in time to make it to the Magic Kingdom and catch Spectromagic. This is my all-time favorite parade so we had to see it at least once on this trip. We then hit Pirates again and the Jungle Cruise. We left the park as the fireworks were going off and just missed the huge crowds leaving the park. We had dessert (Macadamia Tart and Volcano Cake - yum!) for dessert and listened to the live music and hula dancing in the lobby. We got married in Hawaii and it made us both a little teary eyed when we heard TWO songs that were played at our wedding. It brought back many happy memories from that day. It made this Valentines Day very special for us!

More to come...

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Sounds like a great trip - keep the reports coming

 

[justducky78]

Day 4 -

We had breakfast in our room again. I had the same thing every day - a croissant, a cup of chamomile tea and some grits! It was a lot colder today than it had been (maybe 55 degrees) so we made sure to dress warm. Luckily the sun was out so we didn't freeze our buns off! I am so glad I brought my gloves along because it was COLD.

We had to leave earlier today for Epcot as we had an 8:30am booking for the Segway tour. We arrived 15 minutes early as they requested. We had to sign a release form and then waited for the others in our group to arrive. There were only 10 people in our group, so we got a lot of personal attention. We were escorted to Innoventions, into a small room to get fitted with a helmet and watch a short powerpoint movie about the tour and safety precautions. We then were able to spend a full hour learning how to use the segway. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it. They teach you how to step onto it correctly and manuever it left, right, in a circle. We had to take our segways up a small incline, down the incline, around some cones.

Our instructors (we had two) were both very helpful and friendly. They told us we could opt out of the tour (and get our $$ back) if we didn't feel comfortable after testing them out. When everyone was pretty comfortable on the Segways, we made our way outside to the World Showcase. It was fun to zip around on the Segways (even though in "turtle" mode they only go 6 mph). My husband built up some speed on his (over 6mph) and the bar pushed back at him and freaked him out, so he fell off his (he landed on his feet!) but didn't get hurt. After that, he stayed slow and steady! :lol: I was laughing and the instructor said it usually happens to the big tough guys (like my husband) which makes it all the more funny. :ROFLOL:

We zipped along through the World Showcase, which was fairly empty except for some crews watering the flowers, cleaning the sidewalks, etc. We stopped a few times in the different countries so our guide could explain a bit about them. It was neat to see the park so empty. We took a 5-10 minute break so everyone could get their picture taken in front of Spaceship earth (in the distance) and test their skills around some cones, etc. We then made our way back towards Future World. The park was starting to open so we passed a lot of guests who were pointing at us and taking pictures.

Another one of our group, fell off his Segway while going up a hill (he was in his 70's I think) but he was ok. The key is to place your heels near the back of the platform and bend your knees to slow yourself down. After the tour, we received a postcard and a pin. I would do it again, maybe in the spring/summer when we're guaranteed a warmer day.

We went to Soarin to get a fastpass and then watched the Circle of Life movie. We had a nice lunch in Mexico. I was so sad to see the ride all boarded up, even though I knew it would be. I hope they don't ruin it with the changes - I loved it the way it was!! We walked the World Showcase, headed to Norway, then Soarin and Mission Space. My husband rode the Green version and said it was boring and very closed in. I opted out because I don't like tight spaces and he said it's a good thing I did. We finally hit Spaceship earth before leaving the park for the day. We took a nap, read my book and then headed back out for the night to MGM for extra magic hours.

We were going to have dinner at Mama Melroses but we couldn't get reservations, so we had burgers/fries at Beaches and Cream instead. We love the Yacht/Beach Club and enjoyed walking around. We caught a boat to MGM for Muppet 3D and TOT. We walked through the shops and then decided to see Disney's Animation and the Little Mermaid, which we've never seen before! The show was actually pretty cute (I like the puppets), but they really love to get you wet! My jacket was soaked when we left. We couldn't get that song out of our heads, either!! :hammer:

I like MGM at night, but I have to say, we were SO annoyed by the loud music they had pumped throughout the park. It was really obnoxious and took away from the atmosphere. We literally had to yell to hear each other to hear anything.

Day 5 -

We packed our bags, had breakfast and checked out before heading to the Magic Kingdom. We had the WL print out our e-tickets for us, which was nice. We tried to hit all of the rides we didn't already, like Carousel of Progress and Snow White. We decided to pass on Peter Pan and Small World because the lines were so ridiculous. We rode the TTA one last time and did some shopping. We watched the Dapper Dans on mainstreet, bought some popcorn and rode the train to the front of the park. We caught the tail-end of the Family Fun Days parade and saw a family riding with Daisy Duck (so we assumed they were the winners of the castle stay).

We noticed we didn't see the Dream Squad anywhere while we were in the parks. Not once! We did see maybe 4 families with the dream ears on (during our entire stay), but didn't see anyone win which was kind of disappointing. It would have been fun to see someone awarded with a something. Oh well...

We had a late lunch at the Kona Cafe (we shared the volcano cake again, yum! and they even substituted Tofutti for the ice-cream since I don't do well eating dairy) and then slowly made our way to the airport. Our flight was delayed only 10 minutes and we had a good flight home. We played UNO and I did a word search and read the People magazine to catch up on the whole Anna Nicole gossip. She sure lead a strange life. It was FREEZING when we landed, but it is Chicago.

Well, it was a great trip! We can't wait to plan another trip back. Hopefully, it's not too far away...

Thanks for reading - hopefully it wasn't too boring a report for you all!