Trip Report Feb 5-12

Our family which includes me, my wife, and 3 kids, ages 8, 6, and 3 had an absolutely fantastic time on our trip last week. Posting my trip report will give me a chance to relive all the fun. We stayed at POR, as we did 3 years ago, and it was great. Beautiful landscaping, terrific theming. The refurbishment is now complete, and we had a great room in Bldg 27 in Alligator Bayou.

Day 1, Saturday, Feb 5-

After arriving very late Fri night (12:30am) at POR, we planned for an easy day that Sat. We headed over for a late character breakfast at Chef Mickey's. I had never been there before, and I don't think I had ever been inside the Contemporary before. What a cool place. The kids loved meeting Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Chip and Dale. We then rode the monorail on a full circle around Seven Seas Lagoon. Very cool was the chance for my wife and kids to ride in the front cab with the driver between MK and TTC (only 4 allowed up front, I was the odd man out, but maybe next time). We then rode the monorail over to Epcot just to see it and to further get the adrenaline flowing for the next week.

After a swim in the pool, we took the boat down the Sassagoula River to Downtown Disney for a dinner at the House of Blues and a little shopping at the World of Disney, before calling it a night.

Day 2, Sunday, Feb 6-

Our first day in the parks, and with 3 young children, an easy decision to head to MK to start. There right at opening as we usually like to do. Such a great feeling walking down Main St and seeing Cinderella's Castle. We headed for Buzz first, let the kids drive around the Tomorrowland Speedway, and then rode Peter Pan, before meeting Ariel in her Grotto. Dumbo was not up and flying yet, and not suppose to be until the day after we were leaving, but we were hopeful it might open earlier than expected.

At 10am, we were there to open Mickey's Toontown. On our last trip, my then 5yo was to scared to ride Goofy's Barnstormer. Not this time. All 3 kids, including my 3yo rode and loved it, including me. Into the Judge's tent to meet some more characters. Snow White planted a big red kiss on my little guy. His reaction was priceless, and it wouldn't wash off for the next 3 days.

We finished up the morning using FP for Pooh, and then catching Philarmagic. What a fantastic attraction. Everyone in our family loved it, and we agreed that it probably was our most favorite thing we did that morning. Another milestone was my 8yo's first experience in the Haunted Mansion. She covered her eyes when the zombies started popping out from behind the gravestones. I think I remember doing the exact same thing on that part of the ride when I was her age. Overall, I think she enjoyed it, and was very proud of herself that she worked up the courage to go inside.

We met up with my wife and 2 younger kids at Cosmic Ray's for lunch, before heading back to POR, but not before buying ears for all the kids and then getting their names engraved on the back at The Chapeau.

After another swim in the pool, we finished the day by heading to Epcot. After Spaceship Earth, we strolled over to Japan, for a PS we had at the Tepinyaka Steakhouse. This is definately my favorite restaurant at WDW. Before dinner we watched the hillarious living statue in Italy, and after dinner, we watched the Chinese acrobats and took a ride on Maelstrom. Illuminations would have to wait for the next night.

Absolutely exhausted that night, but what a fantastic first day in the parks.

 

[Pan]

Day 3, Monday, Feb 7-

Back to MK that am, again there at opening. The place was empty that morning, because I think everyone was over at Epcot with the EMH. This time we headed for Adventureland, and got on the first ride on Aladdin. I love riding as much as the kids. Soaring around Adventureland with views of the castle in the distance and hearing "A Whole New World" is so great. It always makes me smile just thinking about it.

Over to Fronteirland, and another milestone for our family. Not only my 8yo, but my 6yo and 3yo(almost 4) came on Big Thunder with me and my wife. The girls absolutely loved it. I had not wanted to take my 3yo on but he got quite upset when told he was going to sit this one out. He handled it ok, but had a look on his face during the ride like what the heck did I get myself into. My daughters wanted to go on immediately again since there was no wait, and rode several more times during our stay, but the 3yo made it clear that once was enough this trip.

We then did Pirates, Country Bears, and the Tiki Room, before doing lunch at Pecos Bills. It was time to use our FP on Splash. Interestingly, my 8yo didn't want to go on because of the drop, so I took my 3yo son on it, and my wife rode with my 6yo daughter. The only one who didn't love the ride was my wife(she doesn't like drops either).

After a mid-day break, it was back to Epcot. Mission Space was a walk on. Very cool ride, but really didn't live up to all the hype for me. We had fish and chips in England, met Pooh and friends there, Genie in Morrocco, and the Beast in France. We took the kids around the kidcot stops including France, Morocco, USA, Italy and Germany. Had some dessert from the Boulangerie Patisserie, eating it at an outdoor table. It was then time for Illuminations, which the kids had not seen before. We watched it from between Germany and China which was an ok spot. The show was spectacular, and was well worth keeping the kids up for.

A big queue at the bus stop which we expected, forcing us to take a cab back to POR, which worked out fine and only cost $9 incl tip. Well worth it with tired kids. Plans to sleep in the next morning.

Of note, until now we had not rented any strollers. However after carrying my 3yo all over Epcot 2 nights in a row, this would soon change.

More to come.

 

[monorail256]

I was there the same time as you... and was also staying at POR.

Glad to see so far that you had a great time...

I cant wait to go back! :wave:

 

[Pan]

Day 4, Tuesday, Feb 8-

After sleeping in a bit, we headed for AK. The weather was absolutely perfect today, 76 degrees and sunny. It was already nearly 11am when we got there. We headed for the Festival of the Lion King. I think this is by far the best live performance show that is offered in any of the parks. After lunch, we rode Kilamanjaro Safaris with the FPs. Even at midday, lots of animals to see, and more enjoyable than the last time we did this 3 years ago, probably because it was so warm compared to the 55 deg am we had that time. We had to decide between the Bird show vs Pocahontas, and went with the birds which was probably a good call. A fun show. Over to Tarzan Rocks, which I must admit was pretty lame. I had never seen the show before so wanted to do it, but in retrospect, I wish we had used our time walking the Maharajah Jungle Trek instead. I then rode Primeval Whirl for the first time while the kids played in the Boneyard. What a great ride. I've read on here a lot of people bashing this ride but I thought it was a blast. After injuring myself going down one of the spiraling slides in the Boneyard, we were able to drag the kids out of there to catch a bit of the parade, and take my 2 youngest on Kali River Rapids. Again my oldest wanted no part of a water ride. She was probably smart because we got soaked pretty good. It was fun, even though the ride was way to short. We then ran back to Dinoland right before closing at 5pm. My wife took the younger 2 on Triceratops Spin, and I convinced my 8yo to join me on Primeval Whirl again. She loved it, and what was extremely cool is that at the end of the ride, the ride operators asked if we wanted to go around again. Apparently at the end of every day, one of the ride operators has to ride the ride to make sure everything feels ok. She didn't want to ride alone so she had us jump in the car with her, and we got a bonus ride on the coaster after everyone else had cleared out. We felt very lucky.

We took our time exiting the park, stopping to take pictures, shopping, and meeting some characters near the exits. We were among the last ones standing at the bus loading area waiting for the POR bus, and headed back for dinner at the foodcourt. It was another good day, and while I don't enjoy AK as much as MK and Epcot, it was a good change of pace from the first 2 days.

 

[Pan]

Day 5, Wed, Feb 9-

Over to MGM this am, there at opening. Since the kids weren't too interested in RnR Coaster or ToT, we headed for Muppetvision to start. Sort of a bad start to the day. We waited through the preview portion, but when we went inside the theater, they couldn't get the show to work, so we had to leave. Instead we went on StarTours, another first for my girls, and was enjoyed by all. We then caught the Indiana Jones Stunt show for the first time, and thought it was great. In the past we thought all the explosions would scare them. This was certainly not the case this time. We then headed to the 30 min wait to get in Playhouse Disney. This was much appreciated by my 3yo as it was by my 2 older kids the last time we were here. Of couse this time they were "too cool" to get up and dance with all those preschoolers but I still think they secretly enjoyed the show.

We wrapped up the AM with Voyage of the Little Mermaid and again this was a show enjoyed by all in the family. After lunch and meeting some characters we headed back to POR. Up to 78 degrees today which definately waranted some time in the pool that afternoon.

Back to MK that pm. Extra Magic Hours were in effect that night. We had PS for the Crystal Palace for dinner. This is a great place to eat. Good food and atmosphere, and meeting Pooh, Tigger, etc was fun. We then caught the Castle show, and road on the Peoplemover(TTA) before heading to Main Street to watch Wishes. I think this was the best firework show I've seen. There have been shows where more fireworks are set off, but nothing can compare to standing in that spot on Main Street, and staring at the Castle with all that great music playing-very moving.

At 7pm EMH went into effect, and I must admit it was pretty disappointing. Nothing like the hour at the start of the day. MK was swamped, with lines at all the rides. We did get on the Tea Cups and Caroussel, which is beautiful to ride on at night. We caught Philarmagic again, and stood in line to ride on Buzz one more time. Adventureland was a bit less crowded, and were able to get on Aladdin again without much wait, but by now it was after 9 and the younger 2 were pretty much done, so it was time to head home.

A nightmare wait at the busstop. 45 min and 4 buses later we were able to get on for the trip back to POR. I was holding a sleeping 3yo and trying to comfort a cranky 6yo by then. In retrospect, it was not worth going out to MK that night, given the few rides we could get on, and the hassle factor that we experienced. A learning experience though.

 

[Pan]

Day 6, Thursday, Feb 10-

After the late night, we needed to sleep in, and planned the AM off. After lunch at POR, we headed back to Epcot for 1 last time. Rode Universe of Energy, and pulled some FP for TestTrack for later. Didn't get into the Living Seas or Honey I Shrunk the Audience, but the kids weren't too interested in that anyway.

We had a PS in Les Chefs de France for dinner, but before that we met Belle and the Beast in France and Mulan in China. The kids finished the kidcot stops in China, Norway, and Mexico. We were able to meet Aladdin in Morocco, but no Princess Jasmine that day. Caught the American Adventure, which the kids were old enough to start to appreciate, and then headed to a nice dinner in France.

A couple more kidcot stops in the UK and Canada, and listening to a few tunes from the British Invasion, we then headed to TestTrack. Again my now brave 2 daughters had no problem going on this and loved it. After having been on several times over the years, I've come to the conclusion that this is a reallly overated ride. The 30 seconds at the end in fun, but prior to that, the ride is actually pretty lame. Just my opinion.


Day 7, Friday, Feb 11-

Up way too early to get to early entry at MK, but well worth it. The bus was absolutely packed, standing room only even at 7:15 in the AM. Very cold this AM, only 46 degrees at 8am, and it only got to 58 for the high.

We headed straight for the Tomorrowland Speedway at the request of my 3yo. This time he got to drive much to the displeasure of my 8yo. Pooh was not working, so we headed to Peter Pan, but on the way spotted that Dumbo was up and flying 2 days earlier than expected. Yes!!!!! I was bummed that AstroOrbitor and Small World couldn't be experienced this trip by the kids, but this certainly helped make up for that.

After Dumbo and Peter Pan, we squeezed on 1 more ride on Buzz (able to score over 800,000 since the ride kept stopping), grabbed some FP for Space Mountain for later, and headed to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin for the 9am usual opening. From there, we headed to Big Thunder but this too was down not operating. Instead another chance to ride Splash. Since it was near freezing, no wait. This time my wife sat it out, but my 8yo had a change of heart and all 3 kids came on with me. My son and I had the first row, which I was hoping to avoid. We did get a bit wet, but not too bad. Once again, despite her initial hesitation, my 8yo found that she loved the ride.

Big Thunder was still not working, so we jumped on Pirates again with no wait. I love the PoC, a classic. Unfortunately though it broke down when we were just 2 boats away from getting off, and we had to sit there for 20 min watching the drunken pirates shooting their guns. Annoying, but I can think of worse rides to get stuck on.

I just realized that I forgot to mention going on the Jungle Cruise on Day 3, catching this after Splash, before we headed back to POR at midday.

After meeting Peter Pan again but this time with Wendy, we headed over to Big Thunder again, and this time it had just opened so we hopped on. A lot of malfunctions that day. Somewhere on these boards I read that there was some computer glitch that affected rides at all 4 parks.

After lunch, we decided that since it was too cold to go swimming, and since it was starting to sink in that our trip was soon coming to a close way too soon, we decided to just hang around in MK without taking a break with plans to hop over to MGM later. We watched Belle in her Fairytale Garden, and then our girls got to experience Space Mountain for the first time. What a blast. Mission Space and TestTrack may be more technically advanced but these rides don't come close to the fun of SM. This instantly replaced Big Thunder as my girls favorite ride. My 3yo stuck with the Speedway as his choice.

Over to MGM, via ferryboat to the TTC, and then bus. We had time for 1 ride before dinner and incorrectly chose the Backlot Tour over the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure. We had never done it before. With the exception of Catastrophe Canyon, this was totally lame, and a waste of 45min. My 8yo asked "is that it?" when it was over. You live you learn.

We did the Fantasmic Dinner Package with a 4:30 PS at Mama Melroses. Good atmosphere and service and large portions, but pretty questionable quality. I would not recommend the veal unless you like pot roast. Should have stuck with the pasta. We wanted to catch StarTours after dinner, but we were in there until 6:15, and had to head to Fantasmic, with the understanding that we had to be at the special entrance before 6:30 to get in. I'm not sure if this was completely true.

Fantasmic was a great show, but I think I still liked Wishes better. I'm not quite sure why anyone would wait for 2 hours to see it as I'm told can happen in high season. A super show, but not THAT good. The dinner package was well worth it. It was cold that night, and we only had to sit there for 20 min before it started. Also, the location of our seats, high on the right, allowed for a quick getaway at the end of the show through the side exit where we came in. This allowed us to get to the bus stop well before most of the crowd, and we were able to get on the first bus that came. Much nicer than the experience at MK Wed night.

 

[Pan]

Day 8, Saturday, Feb 12-

A bittersweet day. A fun day planned, but a bit sad knowing it is our last day in the parks, with our trip soon to be over.

We totally surprised our kids this AM. We had somehow managed PS at Cinderella's Castle for the Princess Breakfast just 1 week before our trip. There must have been a cancellation, and we got lucky. It was for 8:50am before the park was open, so we got to walk up an empty Main Street which is always very cool. The kids were still unsuspecting even when we walked into the castle gates. I cannot describe the excitement on my daughters faces when we stopped at the check in desk. They are also old enough to understand how difficult it is to get a reservation in the castle for breakfast, which I think added to their appreciation of the whole thing. The food was really good, and we got to meet Cinderella, her Fairy Godmother, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and Mary Poppins.

Before leaving for MGM, we jumped on 1 more ride on Goofy's Barnstormer and then took the WDW Railroad from ToonTown to Main Street, caught the monorail to the TTC, and then the bus to MGM.

We got there in time to see the Beauty and the Beast Show (probably the next best live performance show to the Festival of the Lion King), ran over for another ride on StarTours, and got to catch Muppetvision that had broke down on us the other day. One last ride to conquer for my 8 yo. By now she (and to some extent my 6yo) had become a veteran of the thrill rides. The Tower of Terror was her final conquest. Up until that AM, I don't think she had planned to go on, but having enjoyed everything she tried that week, even rides she was hesitant about, I think she gained a lot of confidence in what she can handle. ToT was great. It scared the hell out of me, but she took it all in stride. Her 6 and 3 yo siblings were stunned and amazed listening to what their big sister had just bravely endured. I feel like I watched my little girl grow up a lot that week. It was all very cool.

Back to MK for the finals hours of our trip. Amazingly, it was not too crowded considering it was Saturday. We caught the end of the afternoon parade and then let the kids have an hour run around Tom Sawyer Island. It really is an underappreciated attraction. Another ride on Big Thunder with a child swap pass that we had earlier in the week, and then dinner at Pecos Bills. We hadn't been up the Treehouse yet so we did this, and we finally met Princess Jasmine with Aladdin in Adventureland. The kids wanted to see Cinderella's Surprise Celebration again. We then rode Space Mountain one last time with FPs that we pulled that AM after breakfast. We endured the 30 min wait to get my 3yo on his favorite ride, the Tomorrowland Speedway,and then ate some sundaes from Mrs. Pott's over in Fantasyland. Ran out of time to see Philarmagic again or ride the Carousel. I pulled some FPs for Pooh for after the parade, but we headed to Big Thunder again, for the final ride on it. I wanted to squeeze another ride on Splash with some FPs we had, but it was time for Spectromagic, which we watched from Fronteirland. I forgot how long it takes for the parade to get to that area of the park, and it didn't end until 9:40p. We wanted to be at the exit before Wishes started at 10, so the plans to ride Pooh quickly faded. In retrospect, we should have skipped the parade. We could have easily done Splash, Aladdin(no wait right before 9pm), Pooh and the Caroussel. Even then, I probably still wouldn't have been satisfied. Oh well. The whole trip was awesome. The fireworks started to go off right when we got to the candy store at the start of Main Street. The kids each got to pick out something, and we had to walk out of that incredibly wonderful place.

We learned our lesson the other night. Instead of standing in what was a pretty long line for the POR bus, we jumped right on the POFQ bus that pulled up. The plan was to then walk to POR(15min) or take the boat from POFQ. Luckily half the bus wanted to go to POR so the driver made a extra stop. We were very thankful.

The next day, we did a little fishing in the Fishing Hole at POR. Didn't catch anything but the kids liked it. We then packed up and headed to the airport with Tiffany Towncar.

An incredible trip. We've been back a week now, and I'm still missing the place. Next trip in 2 years. Until then I'll keep reading these boards to get my Disney fix. Thanks for letting me relive our trip here.

 

[Pan]

I was there the same time as you... and was also staying at POR.

Glad to see so far that you had a great time...

I cant wait to go back! :wave:

It was a great time. I'm sure you appreciated the weather as much as we did. Where did you stay at POR?

 

[Debbie]

Nice trip report. I was there 2/7-12. The weather was great until Thursday nite; when the cold front came through. I found Friday afternoon to be unbearably crowded in Magic Kingdom; considering it was still 'off season'. POR is my favorite, I want to stay there again, next time I go.