Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 11:05 am Post subject: Our trip to Orlando!!
Well, our trip to Orlando was full of fun, excitement, adventure, and frustration! Here’s a breakdown of the vacation:
Wednesday: Attempted to fly out of Providence to Orlando…Southwest had other ideas. After a delay due to mechanical issue, our flight is subsequently canceled due to fog in Providence. The BEST they can do is the same flight the next night. Well, we’ve now just lost an entire day (vacation time, DVC points, etc). YAY. We decide to get a hotel for the night near the airport and call it a night.
Thursday: We leave the hotel at 2pm for our 7:25pm flight. We decide to see if we can grab an earlier flight on stand-by. We had 3 shots at it before our regular flight, but none of them panned out. Oh well, at least THIS time the flight left Providence. Yay, we’re finally on our way to Orlando!! Unfortunately, we don’t get to bed until after 1am. But Magical Express was just that…Magical. Easy and fun.
Friday: We’re up by 6:30 so we can eat breakfast in our room. Bay Lake Tower is beautiful. The room is fantastic and very roomy. Our bed was quite comfortable, but the pull-out my daughter and her boyfriend used wasn’t too good. It was wide enough, but not long enough. My daughter, who is 5’2”, had her feet hanging off the end of the bed. While sitting on the balcony, enjoying my coffee, deb and I notice that we can see Epcot, AK, and DHS from there!! And if we look out and right, we can see MK!! Not bad for a room classified as a Lake View!! So it was off to Epcot for the day. And this was the ONLY day we had any rain, and what we had was about 45 minutes while we were shopping and having dinner. Epcot was fun and we got to do everything we wanted, and then some. But it was a long day and by the time we got back to the hotel (which we had to do via bus since the monorail was shut down by the time we left), it was after midnight and we weren’t in bed until 1am. But hey, who needs sleep!!
Saturday: Up at 6am so we can be to AK before 8am. The bus system was MUCH faster than expected and we were in AK long before the gates opened. We had breakfast at Tusker House. The food was good, the characters were fun, but I was disappointed that they didn’t have an omelet station. We did all the attractions we wanted (Everest, Safari, Kali, Dinosaur, ITTBAB) and left before we had to endure Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade!! We went back to the hotel for a nap and some resort fun before heading to DtD for the evening. It was another long day, but this time we were back before midnight!!
Sunday: Up at 6:30 so we could have breakfast at ‘Ohana’s at 7:45. Good breakfast and the characters were fun. I love the Poly!! Spent the 1st half of the day plotting out what we wanted to do. We had to leave MK by 3pm to get over to Fort Wilderness for Hoop-Dee-Doo at 5 (needed to get our tickets). Our daughter also wanted to play Sorcerer of the Magic Kingdom, so we did that while hitting most of the attractions we wanted. We even strolled through Fantasyland to see the new enhancements. The park was crowded but we never really waited in line too long. HM queue was fun, and I was a bit disappointed in Tiki Room. I wasn’t sure if I was trying to compare it too much to California but I felt that they cut too much from the songs. But regardless of a short show, it was still MUCH better than Under New Management!! I waited to get a Citrus Swirl until we returned that evening since the line was too long and not moving. Hoop-Dee-Doo was a blast. The food was awesome and the show was great. We had a great table. I was even Dolly’s special guy!! We returned to MK after the show and finished all the attractions we wanted. It was getting late and went to Sunshine Terrace so I could get a Citrus Swirl, but it happened to be right after Wishes, so getting from Tomorrowland to Adventureland was tough! And I was too late!! They were closed. No Orange Bird for me. The monorails were not running again, so we walked back to the hotel. Another night of getting to bed after midnight…but what a night!!
Monday: Up at 6:30 again for breakfast at Chef Mickey’s and then off to Universal and WWOHP. Breakfast was good, characters were fun, but again; no omelet station. We rented a car from the Car Care Center by the MK toll gate. What a great service. They picked us up, I got the car and they told us when we returned it, they would take us wherever we wanted to go on property! The drive to USO was quick and easy. We parked in Preferred and headed straight to IOA. The park was packed! We went straight to WWOHP. My daughter is a HUGE Harry Potter fan and this place did not disappoint her one bit! We went straight to the castle where there was a 60 minute wait (the longest line we stood in the whole time) and it was worth every minute. Man did Disney miss the boat on NOT taking Harry Potter. And the attraction itself…WOW!! Honestly, I think Universal hit a HUGE homerun with this and did it so well. It puts Disney to shame. This was a prime example on how Disney goes for the money and lacks the imagination and creativity. We did everything they had to offer except for Olivander’s (it was down) and something else about riding a broom. We left by 1pm to head back to DHS for lunch at 50’s Prime Time and spend the rest of the day there (we were supposed to do that on Thursday, but Southwest had other plans). Lunch was fantastic. The food was good, as usual, but our server (Cousin Mikey) was the best server we’ve ever had there!! And we’ve been going there for 14 years!! He was so good, we gave him a 25% tip!! He really made the day great. We actually got to do everything we wanted in DHS and then some except for the 2 big shows (Indy and the Car stunt show). It was just too late for those. But we were out of the park by 10pm and in bed before midnight!! But this was also our last full day. When we returned, I took a hot, whirlpool bath and then we packed.
Tuesday: up early again for breakfast at Whispering Canyon Café. We also finished packing and checked out. When we went to Bell Services, we couldn’t do Airline Check-in because the system was down. They stored our bags and told us to come back at 12:30. It was 30 minutes earlier than we wanted, but we figured we could do last minute shopping and get lunch. Breakfast at WCC was the best we’ve ever had there, and we’ve been going there for close to 14 years! Or server (Bridget) was AWESOME. Almost as good as Cousin Mikey. We laughed the entire time. The biggest laugh was this; our daughter was wearing her Birthday Button so after we were done with breakfast, Bridget brought out a cupcake, QUICKLY sang Happy Birthday, then proceeded to unwrap the cupcake. Other servers were excited by the cupcake and they all proceeded to get forks and EAT THE CUP CAKE IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER! Then Slim came over and took the rest of it and shoved it in his mouth!! It was a riot!! They made a complete mess, had a ball and gave us nothing!! AWESOME. Then they brought her another cupcake and didn’t eat that one! It was just too funny. We then returned to MK for some last minute things, and play more Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom. I even got my Citrus Swirl and an Orange Bird cup!! When we returned to the hotel, we attempted to check the bags but couldn’t due to something with the airline (Yay Southwest!) and had to bring our bags and check-in at the airport. So we stored our bags again and had lunch and relaxed. The rest of the trip went well, and we were slightly delayed getting back home. We were back in our house by 9pm.
So in Summary:
Southwest is a pain
Magical Express is AWESOME
The parks were fantastic
Bay Lake Tower is fabulous
Weather was great
WWOHP is fantastic and puts Disney to shame _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
Joined: Nov 13, 2005 Posts: 9891 Location: Arizona/Colorado
Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 5:34 pm Post subject:
With the start seemingly a big mishap - what an awesome trip - made me feel like I was hanging with you - someday Ma will get to WDW and experience all that is there - until then I more than happy to visit DLR as often as I can and hope that you can share in that experience with us again soon
onecutemoose Bouncing Between Wonderland & Neverland
Joined: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 6730
Posted: Thu May 24, 2012 8:55 pm Post subject:
Oh what a wonderful trip you had!!! I'm so sad to have missed out on the fun! I'm SOOO happy you loved BLT and WWOHP---(I love them too) though I do not like the lake view…whenever we try to have an early night the water parade keeps me up!!! The view is spectacular though!
I'm already starting to plan the DLR Christmas trip---week after Thanksgiving don't know how many days we'll do this year, but you know you're always welcome in our travel parties!!
Sounds like a fun trip (despite the rough start). I liked your strategic avoidance of the abominable Jammin' Jungle parade.
I, too, was a bit disappointed by the abbreviated version of restored Tiki Room at MK. The Tiki Room at Disneyland had already cut out the Offenbach segment and is still plenty popular, so it's not like the show had fat that needed trimming. MK Attractions needs to find some money in its budget to restore the magic fountain. The magic mister just doesn't cut it.
You've also convinced me to try the Whispering Canyon Cafe on my next trip (whenever that may be). Sounds like top notch service, but the real question I have is about the food. What did you have for breakfast and was it good?
onecutemoose Bouncing Between Wonderland & Neverland
Joined: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 6730
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 9:12 am Post subject:
"You've also convinced me to try the Whispering Canyon Cafe on my next trip (whenever that may be). Sounds like top notch service, but the real question I have is about the food. What did you have for breakfast and was it good?"---Uncle nostril
I've only been for supper, but we have been our last three trips and and don't plan to miss it in the future. The food is good. In the evenings it is a country barbecue menu and it is good! We always get family style and they refill anything we like-the service is fun, but not over the top like some of the other restaurants--which after a really long day, is nice.
I recommend giving them a try!! Make sure you have your reservation!!
You've also convinced me to try the Whispering Canyon Cafe on my next trip (whenever that may be). Sounds like top notch service, but the real question I have is about the food. What did you have for breakfast and was it good?
Its standard fare for what we had (breakfast skillet). Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, Mickey waffles, breakfast potatoes, biscuits and gravy. Its good food and plenty of it. It’s a relaxed place, not crowded, no characters, so it makes for nice dining. What makes it great are the servers, and that holds true for all meals, not just breakfast.
What we found in all the restaurants was the food was pretty much the same, just prepared by different people. We had dinner at Whispering Canyon one night and had almost the exact food at Hoop-Dee-Doo. Mostly, you’re there for the atmosphere and entertainment. If it’s just the food, you can go anywhere in WDW and get that. _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
onecutemoose Bouncing Between Wonderland & Neverland
Joined: Nov 09, 2005 Posts: 6730
Posted: Fri May 25, 2012 9:43 am Post subject:
I agree DP--we really found this on our last "long" trip, when we were there seven nights.
This is why we LOVE eating at EPCOT so much. The food in the pavilions is the most dissimilar to the resort foods. We also imagine this is why getting the ADRs for these places is so much more difficult--but well worth it.
Whispering Canyon---a great stop! hope you all can make it on your next trip!!!
Joined: May 22, 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posted: Tue May 29, 2012 10:40 am Post subject:
Wow, you guys pack a lot of activity into a trip! My itinerary usually includes an afternoon nap at the hotel. That's too bad about the delayed departure...on the upsdie, maybe if you HADN'T been delayed, you would have gone to DHS earlier in the trip and missed out on Cousin Mikey. My husband and I got delayed by a day when we took our first trip to Germany (mechanical issues on the plane) - we missed out on staying on a houseboat our first night, but we wound up seeing the Olympic torch come through Berlin on its way to Athens. If we hadn't been delayed, we would have been elsewhere that day. Things have a strange way of working out.
I'm glad you enjoyed WWOHP so much. My mom just retired, and I'm giving her a stay in the Contemporary (a dream she's had since it opened), and we're going to take a day to go to Universal. Mom's HP fandom rivals my Star Wars fandom. _________________ Beth's Blog
Wow, you guys pack a lot of activity into a trip! My itinerary usually includes an afternoon nap at the hotel. That's too bad about the delayed departure...on the upsdie, maybe if you HADN'T been delayed, you would have gone to DHS earlier in the trip and missed out on Cousin Mikey. My husband and I got delayed by a day when we took our first trip to Germany (mechanical issues on the plane) - we missed out on staying on a houseboat our first night, but we wound up seeing the Olympic torch come through Berlin on its way to Athens. If we hadn't been delayed, we would have been elsewhere that day. Things have a strange way of working out.
I'm glad you enjoyed WWOHP so much. My mom just retired, and I'm giving her a stay in the Contemporary (a dream she's had since it opened), and we're going to take a day to go to Universal. Mom's HP fandom rivals my Star Wars fandom.
Thanks for this Beth!! We didn't look at it this way, but you are so right. The only thing I really regret is we had planned some down time and that was what we gave up to do everything else we wanted. But you gave me a far better prospective of what we did have.
As for WWoHP, she's going to love it!!! I never read the books, only saw the movies and man oh man, was I blown away. My daughter, who is a HUGE HP fan was awestruck and squealing!! She loves Disney, but this was the best for her! _________________ When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.
--Walt Disney
Joined: May 22, 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Atlanta, GA
Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 4:00 pm Post subject:
daveypoo wrote:
As for WWoHP, she's going to love it!!! I never read the books, only saw the movies and man oh man, was I blown away. My daughter, who is a HUGE HP fan was awestruck and squealing!! She loves Disney, but this was the best for her!
I fully expect my mom to squeal, too. We saw Tom Felton at a con, and right after he came out for his Q&A, she leaned toward me and said, "Oh, my gosh, he sounds JUST LIKE Draco Malfoy!" _________________ Beth's Blog
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