My DS and I visited WDW October 13th through the 19th.
Without getting too maudlin, my DW lost her battle with cancer in March. I planned this trip to give my DS and I something to focus on. We have been a couple of zombies. My DW was, like I believe most DWs are, the anchor of the family.
My DW and I had made a trip to WDW as a sort of a second honeymoon while DS was in college, however DS had not been since he was a pre-teen. As a teen Disney wasn’t cool anymore and he didn’t want to go.
I wanted this trip to be first class, town car to and from the airports, both Logan and MCO, first class airline tickets and we stayed in the main tower of the Contemporary. I was afraid they might have gone “overboard” on the Incredibles theming, but I found it very low-key.
We were really ‘sweating” over hurricane Milton but mercifully there were no delays or issues.
We arrived on Sunday and hit the Magic Kingdom and boy was it packed, I had forgotten it was Columbus day, weekend. As part of our package, we could book Lightning lanes up to seven days in advance. My DS however informed me that he was on vacation and didn’t want to book everything as if it were a dentist appointment. As soon as he saw the crowds boy did he change his toon and started booking everything he could.
I had to laugh, as we walked through the Magic Kingdom my DS remarked, “I remember this park as being a lot bigger.” I told him “no, you were a lot smaller.”
Because it was so packed the first day we did the large venues, e.g., people eaters. My DS enjoyed the carousel of progress and remarked that the 1940’s kitchen looked just like his great aunt’s when he was little. It did, my aunt was not one to replace an appliance unnecessarily. He also enjoyed the new country bears, he remembered the old show as boring, the new version is fun. He didn’t like the Tiki Room as he remembered the “under new management” version. In Mickey’s Philharmagic, the woman next to me asked if I was OK. At our wedding the first song my DW and I danced to was “A whole new world” and the tears started to flow when that sequence appeared.
Over the rest of the week, the crowds were manageable, but I did see a lot of children, I was told that in the south schools start earlier and there is an October vacation week which would account for the amount of children. At least I think that was the reason, I remember the hassle we had when we took our DS out of school for a week.
We visited all the parks. We attended the Halloween party, great fun and easy access to all attractions.
At Hollywood Studios my DS now in his late 20’s loved the Star Wars attractions, which we did several times. He indulgenced me and between Star Wars and we rode one of my favorites, Toy Story Mania. My DS was disappointed that there was very little love for the Muppets. He found one T-shirt for them on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom but little merchandise anywhere else. I told him they might be on their way out, and I believe they have already been replaces in California.
We rode the Sky-liner for the experience and enjoyed the food and wine festival. We ate dinner one night in Steakhouse 71. The food was OK, but the service was very slow. We didn’t care for the new menu at the California Grill but enjoyed the Biergarten and Via Napoli in the world showcase.
The only hitch in the entire trip was when we were leaving the Contemporary. I had scheduled a Mears private coach; and we got a link to “track your driver.” The link indicated that the driver was at home and must have been asleep because he didn’t move, and our ride never showed up. The bell captain at the resort was wonderful, she got us a taxi voucher, called a cab which got us to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
A few comments and observations.
Without getting too maudlin, my DW lost her battle with cancer in March. I planned this trip to give my DS and I something to focus on. We have been a couple of zombies. My DW was, like I believe most DWs are, the anchor of the family.
My DW and I had made a trip to WDW as a sort of a second honeymoon while DS was in college, however DS had not been since he was a pre-teen. As a teen Disney wasn’t cool anymore and he didn’t want to go.
I wanted this trip to be first class, town car to and from the airports, both Logan and MCO, first class airline tickets and we stayed in the main tower of the Contemporary. I was afraid they might have gone “overboard” on the Incredibles theming, but I found it very low-key.
We were really ‘sweating” over hurricane Milton but mercifully there were no delays or issues.
We arrived on Sunday and hit the Magic Kingdom and boy was it packed, I had forgotten it was Columbus day, weekend. As part of our package, we could book Lightning lanes up to seven days in advance. My DS however informed me that he was on vacation and didn’t want to book everything as if it were a dentist appointment. As soon as he saw the crowds boy did he change his toon and started booking everything he could.
I had to laugh, as we walked through the Magic Kingdom my DS remarked, “I remember this park as being a lot bigger.” I told him “no, you were a lot smaller.”
Because it was so packed the first day we did the large venues, e.g., people eaters. My DS enjoyed the carousel of progress and remarked that the 1940’s kitchen looked just like his great aunt’s when he was little. It did, my aunt was not one to replace an appliance unnecessarily. He also enjoyed the new country bears, he remembered the old show as boring, the new version is fun. He didn’t like the Tiki Room as he remembered the “under new management” version. In Mickey’s Philharmagic, the woman next to me asked if I was OK. At our wedding the first song my DW and I danced to was “A whole new world” and the tears started to flow when that sequence appeared.
Over the rest of the week, the crowds were manageable, but I did see a lot of children, I was told that in the south schools start earlier and there is an October vacation week which would account for the amount of children. At least I think that was the reason, I remember the hassle we had when we took our DS out of school for a week.
We visited all the parks. We attended the Halloween party, great fun and easy access to all attractions.
At Hollywood Studios my DS now in his late 20’s loved the Star Wars attractions, which we did several times. He indulgenced me and between Star Wars and we rode one of my favorites, Toy Story Mania. My DS was disappointed that there was very little love for the Muppets. He found one T-shirt for them on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom but little merchandise anywhere else. I told him they might be on their way out, and I believe they have already been replaces in California.
We rode the Sky-liner for the experience and enjoyed the food and wine festival. We ate dinner one night in Steakhouse 71. The food was OK, but the service was very slow. We didn’t care for the new menu at the California Grill but enjoyed the Biergarten and Via Napoli in the world showcase.
The only hitch in the entire trip was when we were leaving the Contemporary. I had scheduled a Mears private coach; and we got a link to “track your driver.” The link indicated that the driver was at home and must have been asleep because he didn’t move, and our ride never showed up. The bell captain at the resort was wonderful, she got us a taxi voucher, called a cab which got us to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
A few comments and observations.
- I was so proud of myself, a man in his 70’s keeping up with DS a man in his 20’s. My DS said to me “Dad you have an ankle pinned together; you have had 4 knee surgeries including full replacement on both knees. You have a bad hip and bad back, rent an ECV.” I didn’t want to, I walked 8-9 miles a day, the first 2 days were hard, and I needed to sit down some but after that everything loosened up.
- Joffrey coffee in my opinion is undrinkable. The first day I got a cup from the Contempo Café, it was watery and Luke warm. I had to “nuke” it for 30 seconds to get it to an enjoyable temperature I drank half a cup and threw it away. The next morning, I did the same thing, after that I switched to Tea. As soon as I got home I went and got a cup of Dunkins.
- I am amazed at the strength and elasticity of spandex.
- On our Disney-moon a waitress at the Grand Floridian Café saw we were newlyweds. She gave us a piece of advice my DW and I found to be true. Don’t bring a child to WDW until they are 6 or 7. They won’t remember anything and there will be fewer “meltdowns.” I know each family has it’s own logistics and situations, but we found that advise priceless.
