Yes, I knew it would be a crowd, but the week of 12/27-1/3 was the only time that my family's calendar aligned...so we had to grin and bear it. Here's my commentary:
12/27: We arrived and checked into the Polynesian for my parents' 50th Anniversary celebration/trip. I had never stayed at the Poly until this, and I guess it's my favorite on the monorail now - although the Contemporary is better for families, methinks, because of the monorail running through the building. After getting settled in, we went to Epcot, rode TestTrack and ate at Chefs de France. We always enjoy this restaurant. The food was especially good and the service was the best we had all week.
12/28: Went to Hollywood Studios this day. This place is pretty stripped down at the moment. Since there's not much to do, the existing attractions have very long lines. Ate lunch at the ABC Commissary. Food was fine. Peered over the wall into Star Wars Land; can't wait for it! ...but I wish they weren't marginalizing the original trilogy. (They're playing with fire there!) Everything else was unremarkably normal, except for the huge crowds. Went back to the hotel and ate at Captain Cook's quick service. CC's is waaaay too small; we had to wrestle for a table. Some of us went to Trader Sam's and ended the night on a high note. I got a Nautilus "glass." Trader Sam's is a great little South Seas themed bar with some artifacts from the Tiki Room "Under New Management." The place really needs to be expanded though...
12/29: Magic Kingdom! Straight to the Crystal Palace for the Pooh character breakfast. This breakfast is great, but it should be quicker than it is. It took 70 minutes for the characters to make the whole room. Since it's a buffet, we could have been out in under an hour. We rode what we could before Cinderella's Royal Table during the noon hour. This is always a great meal in a great space. Highly recommended! The only new thing we saw today was a GREAT new addition: the Muppets' "Great Moments in History, but Just the American Parts" in Liberty Square. I now have a new favorite thing at WDW. DO NOT MISS THIS! See both shows (there are only two). Both times when we saw the show there were maybe 75 folks gathered around. They really need to publicize it more. We spent lots of time in "New" Fantasyland - I'll say that the new additions are holding up well. Imagineering did a great job here. We finished up the day back at the Polynesian with the Luau. It was a thrilling show, complete with a fire eater!
12/30: Went to Epcot. We ate at the Land food court and the Biergarten for supper. I was lucky to meet "Martin," the leader of the German band. He has been performing there SINCE EPCOT OPENED!!! :-0 We had a fastpass for the Frozen ride - and I hate to say that I'm disappointed in it. Maelstrom was better. The animatronics have projected faces, and just don't look good at all. The rest of the ride is minimally decorated and just kind of *meh*. ...and they closed up the hole where the boats back out into the plaza below. No idea why they took out that neat touch. Fences are up for Ratatouille and for the construction of the new "sky buckets," so that is exciting. Another new thing we did was the "Pixar Film Festival." This is obviously a lazy place holder, but I gotta say that it's excellent anyway. Seeing those shorts on a big screen again is fun....and the three they chose are soooo goooood. Everything else at Epcot is as it has been, although with Energy being shuttered, what used to be a two day park is now barely a single day park. They gotta get crackin' on that place!
12/31: We got out early for New Year's Eve and went to Animal Kingdom. We had a fastpass for Flight of Passage, so we jumped straight in the 40 minute line for Navi River Journey. The biggest disappointment in Orlando is no longer the Gringotts ride, it's NRJ. Seriously, don't wait for longer than 15 minutes for this thing. The effects are beautiful, and the animatronic at the end is the most lifelike robot I've ever seen, but there is absolutely no story being told. Nothing. Zero. Imagineering spent the whole budget on back lights, so there was no money left for writers I guess. On top of this, the queue is a boring back and forth hog pen maze with very little theming. Huge thumbs down for this big attraction. On the flip side, as bad as NRJ is, Flight of Passage is that good. I won't give it away, but don't miss it when you go to WDW. It's probably the new best ride in Orlando, certainly at AK. Make sure you ride it! Pandora as a whole is well done, but I still scratch my head at Disney committing so much to this Intellectual Property. Why not Star Wars/Endor? Why not Tarzan? Jungle Book? Our group was itching to get back to the hotel, and we had reservations at Ohana, so we left before sunset. I regret that I didn't get to see Pandora at night. On Ohana: I've read people rave about Ohana for years, but I don't think I'll ever go back. Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil to the same thing better for less money. I'll go there instead. The fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian were awesome!
1/1: Back to the MK. The only thing worth reporting is that we ate lunch at Skippers Canteen and it is EXCELLENT! The food, theming and service were all very good. It was the best meal I ate at WDW. I'll definitely be back! After our cooooold day in the MK, we took the boat over to the Hoop De Doo Review at Fort Wilderness. What a great show! If you've never done this gem, take the time and do it. It was a great evening. My only complaint is that we were told it took two hours to get there. We got there in 30 minutes, then had 90 minutes to watch the kids pour money into video games then shiver in the cold. Once your'e on the boat, you're 25 minutes from the door, max.
1/2: Back to HS, then Disney Springs: Only thing new to report is that we ate at Rizzo's. The pizza was good, but the atmosphere was an afterthought. I hoped for more theming here. Nope. After touching the last bases here, we left early afternoon and went to Disney Springs. For the most part, this place is an outdoor mall now that doesn't seem to invite me back. It's so austere now. I did stick my head in The Edison, which wasn't open for business but the doors were open. It was a bit underwhelming. See my post on the dining page for more.
There were a few things I would change, but all in all we had a great trip, and celebrated my parent's 50th Anniversary in style! Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
12/27: We arrived and checked into the Polynesian for my parents' 50th Anniversary celebration/trip. I had never stayed at the Poly until this, and I guess it's my favorite on the monorail now - although the Contemporary is better for families, methinks, because of the monorail running through the building. After getting settled in, we went to Epcot, rode TestTrack and ate at Chefs de France. We always enjoy this restaurant. The food was especially good and the service was the best we had all week.
12/28: Went to Hollywood Studios this day. This place is pretty stripped down at the moment. Since there's not much to do, the existing attractions have very long lines. Ate lunch at the ABC Commissary. Food was fine. Peered over the wall into Star Wars Land; can't wait for it! ...but I wish they weren't marginalizing the original trilogy. (They're playing with fire there!) Everything else was unremarkably normal, except for the huge crowds. Went back to the hotel and ate at Captain Cook's quick service. CC's is waaaay too small; we had to wrestle for a table. Some of us went to Trader Sam's and ended the night on a high note. I got a Nautilus "glass." Trader Sam's is a great little South Seas themed bar with some artifacts from the Tiki Room "Under New Management." The place really needs to be expanded though...
12/29: Magic Kingdom! Straight to the Crystal Palace for the Pooh character breakfast. This breakfast is great, but it should be quicker than it is. It took 70 minutes for the characters to make the whole room. Since it's a buffet, we could have been out in under an hour. We rode what we could before Cinderella's Royal Table during the noon hour. This is always a great meal in a great space. Highly recommended! The only new thing we saw today was a GREAT new addition: the Muppets' "Great Moments in History, but Just the American Parts" in Liberty Square. I now have a new favorite thing at WDW. DO NOT MISS THIS! See both shows (there are only two). Both times when we saw the show there were maybe 75 folks gathered around. They really need to publicize it more. We spent lots of time in "New" Fantasyland - I'll say that the new additions are holding up well. Imagineering did a great job here. We finished up the day back at the Polynesian with the Luau. It was a thrilling show, complete with a fire eater!
12/30: Went to Epcot. We ate at the Land food court and the Biergarten for supper. I was lucky to meet "Martin," the leader of the German band. He has been performing there SINCE EPCOT OPENED!!! :-0 We had a fastpass for the Frozen ride - and I hate to say that I'm disappointed in it. Maelstrom was better. The animatronics have projected faces, and just don't look good at all. The rest of the ride is minimally decorated and just kind of *meh*. ...and they closed up the hole where the boats back out into the plaza below. No idea why they took out that neat touch. Fences are up for Ratatouille and for the construction of the new "sky buckets," so that is exciting. Another new thing we did was the "Pixar Film Festival." This is obviously a lazy place holder, but I gotta say that it's excellent anyway. Seeing those shorts on a big screen again is fun....and the three they chose are soooo goooood. Everything else at Epcot is as it has been, although with Energy being shuttered, what used to be a two day park is now barely a single day park. They gotta get crackin' on that place!
12/31: We got out early for New Year's Eve and went to Animal Kingdom. We had a fastpass for Flight of Passage, so we jumped straight in the 40 minute line for Navi River Journey. The biggest disappointment in Orlando is no longer the Gringotts ride, it's NRJ. Seriously, don't wait for longer than 15 minutes for this thing. The effects are beautiful, and the animatronic at the end is the most lifelike robot I've ever seen, but there is absolutely no story being told. Nothing. Zero. Imagineering spent the whole budget on back lights, so there was no money left for writers I guess. On top of this, the queue is a boring back and forth hog pen maze with very little theming. Huge thumbs down for this big attraction. On the flip side, as bad as NRJ is, Flight of Passage is that good. I won't give it away, but don't miss it when you go to WDW. It's probably the new best ride in Orlando, certainly at AK. Make sure you ride it! Pandora as a whole is well done, but I still scratch my head at Disney committing so much to this Intellectual Property. Why not Star Wars/Endor? Why not Tarzan? Jungle Book? Our group was itching to get back to the hotel, and we had reservations at Ohana, so we left before sunset. I regret that I didn't get to see Pandora at night. On Ohana: I've read people rave about Ohana for years, but I don't think I'll ever go back. Fogo de Chao or Texas de Brazil to the same thing better for less money. I'll go there instead. The fireworks from the beach at the Polynesian were awesome!
1/1: Back to the MK. The only thing worth reporting is that we ate lunch at Skippers Canteen and it is EXCELLENT! The food, theming and service were all very good. It was the best meal I ate at WDW. I'll definitely be back! After our cooooold day in the MK, we took the boat over to the Hoop De Doo Review at Fort Wilderness. What a great show! If you've never done this gem, take the time and do it. It was a great evening. My only complaint is that we were told it took two hours to get there. We got there in 30 minutes, then had 90 minutes to watch the kids pour money into video games then shiver in the cold. Once your'e on the boat, you're 25 minutes from the door, max.
1/2: Back to HS, then Disney Springs: Only thing new to report is that we ate at Rizzo's. The pizza was good, but the atmosphere was an afterthought. I hoped for more theming here. Nope. After touching the last bases here, we left early afternoon and went to Disney Springs. For the most part, this place is an outdoor mall now that doesn't seem to invite me back. It's so austere now. I did stick my head in The Edison, which wasn't open for business but the doors were open. It was a bit underwhelming. See my post on the dining page for more.
There were a few things I would change, but all in all we had a great trip, and celebrated my parent's 50th Anniversary in style! Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!
