Meanwhile, back at WDW...

Well, another trip in the books, lets take a look and see how it went.

This year's cast of characters included my wife and daughter (19mo), my parents, my sister-in-law and her daughter (4). Helen and Molly had joined us for a previous trip (read about it here), but this was the first trip to Disney for my parents since we made 2 day trips to Magic Kingdom and the then EPCOT Center in 1985. The other 2 parks weren't around back then.

We were scheduled for a week at Kindani village. We had hoped for a spot at the Boardwalk, but there were no 2 bedroom suites available the week we were looking for.

Since we are DVC, staying on points, we have always paid for our trips in pieces. You know, plane tickets.. dining plan.. park tickets.. etc.. This year, the park tickets were the last big piece we paid for. That made it difficult to get fast passes for the some of the more popular attractions. We were unable to get fast passes for the new 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, or for Toy Story. There were several meet and greets that were full as well.

The best priced flights were out of BUF, so we drove the hour down the thruway (I-90). We had an early (ish) morning flight, so we booked a night at the Marriott across the street and made arrangements to park our cars there for the week. Once we were checked in, we headed over to Charlie the Butchers for some great beef on weck.

In the morning we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and boarded the plane. It was the first time that Evelyn had been on a plane, and despite having being up at 5am, she was awake and active for the entire 2 hour flight, right up until the instant we touched down in Orlando, when she went out like a light. We arrived at MCO shortly before noon on Saturday the 14^th, and we headed down to the first floor of the airport where the Disney Magic Express buses whisk you away to your resort. When we stepped off the elevator, we were a bit surprised to see how busy it was. One of the reasons we had picked this week was that traditionally, it was a relatively light crowd week at Disney.

But despite being fuller than I have ever seen it, our line moved fairly well, and in about 20 minutes, we were on a bus and on our way to the hotel. When we got there, we checked in and got our room assignment. I had gotten the texts that let us know the room was ready, but that we would need to check in at the front desk to get our room assignment. We head to the elevators and make the trek to the room. We had requested a room on the Sunset Savannah, near the lobby. We got one of those. Although, by the way the crow flies, it wasn't that far from the lobby, but you can't walk across the savannah to get there. The hotel is built like a large looping 'w', with the lobby being the center point. We called down to see if there was a different room closer to the lobby, but the hotel was booked solid. There would be an opening the next night, so we agreed to move the next day and we headed over to Hollywood Studios. With all the recent closings there and the group not being big on thrill rides, there isn't a lot to draw us there, but we did want to catch the Osborne lights. We hadn't been there for Christmas, and this was going to be the last year of them. My dad also wanted to see the Lights Motors Action show.

This was our first visit to Hollywood Studios since the Hat came down. I didn't have the hatred towards the hat that may people did, but that is probably because I had only been there when it was there. I can't say I liked it, but I can't say I didn't either. It just sort of was. I did like the background it made for photos as you enter the park, but the Chinese Theater does a nice job on its own. We didn't have a meal planned for the first day, so we hit up the Back Lot Express for dinner.

The Osborne lights were amazing. They completely covered the Streets of America in Christmas lights. The lights danced with the music and it even was snowing. It was quite crowded, but not so bad that you couldn't move through the crowd as you needed. It is too bad that they are going away after this year, but I am looking forward to what they will be doing with the new Star Wars world that will be going in its place. I'm sure they will be doing a light display somewhere else on property. Probably not to the scale of Osborne, but I'm sure there will be something. We had fast passes for Fantasmic! but it had been a long day, so we decided to forgo it and went back to the resort.

Sunday morning, we packed up our stuff, and left it together near the door for bell services to pick up and take to our new room. We had reservations for the new breakfast at the Garden Grill at Epcot, so we hopped the bus and headed to the park. This was one of the places we wanted for dinner, but were unable to secure reservations. When they announced a couple of months ago that they were adding breakfast, I jumped on it, and was able to secure a reservation. One of the criteria I was trying to keep to when picking where would eat was to try to stick with the all you can eat places, since we were traveling with an infant (by Disney standards, anyone under 3 is an infant), and would be able to eat off our plates at no extra charge. The fact that Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale were there were a bonus. The food was great, and we ate ourselves silly on cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, tater tots, Mickey waffles, biscuits and gravy and fruit, all washed down with that famous POG juice.

By mid afternoon, our new room had been secured, but our luggage had been misplaced. My wife and her sister took the kids to the community room to relax while my parents and I stayed at Epcot. Before long, our luggage had been located and delivered to our new room, much closer to the lobby. In fact, we were moved to the closest room to the lobby. It made for much shorter walks to the gift shop for refills for our mugs.

It was the last day of the Food and Wine festival. I had been to Epoct during the festival, but never really experienced it. I was looking forward to trying some of the offerings from the kiosks set up from around the world. A new option on the dining plan this year allows you to get 3 'snacks' for 1 quick service meal credit. I was looking forward to using this option for dinner. I ended up getting my dinner from the Brazil kiosk. I had Brazil's take on shepherds pie, pork belly and a drink. Both were very good, but the servings were very small. My dad chose to eat at Belgium. He got a dinner waffle, a desert waffle and a drink. My mom went a couple kiosks down and went into the Tangarine Cafe, and got a regular quick service meal. When she came back to the table that we had secured to watch Illuminations from, we were shocked how much more food she had than we did.

Monday morning saw us at Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom. In our planning, I was unable to secure a fast pass for the new 7 Dwarfs Mine Train. It was under construction the last 2 times we were there, and I was looking forward to riding it. I figured that this would be our best chance to ride it without an hour + wait. We made a mad dash to the ride as soon as they let us in. When we got there, the line already wrapped almost completely around the ride. There was a cast member there holding a sign indicating the beginning (or end?) of the line. He assured us that the ride had just started, and despite looking long, it would move right along now that the trains were running. Sure enough, it moved right along and before long, we were climbing into the cars. The theming was fantastic. The animatronics inside the mine were great. It isn't a supper intense roller-coaster, but with the technology they have put into it, it is worth riding at least once. Of course we also hit the traditional must-do's. The trinity of Magic Kingdom rides, Jungle Cruise (or Jingle Cruise, as it is this time of year), Haunted Mansion and Pirates. No trip to Magic Kingdom is complete without a ride on these. After the several month long renovation of Pirates, I was looking forward to riding the newly refurbished ride. We were in the front row, which has gained the reputation of getting you wet on the initial plunge near the start of the ride. I'll just say that I have never gotten wetter on all my rides on Splash Mountain. I was disappointed that the fog waterfall wasn't working, but it was working on later rides. The Jingle Cruise was fun, but I found myself missing the traditional jokes that were replaced in favor of the Christmas jokes.

Lunch that day was at the Columbia Harbor House. It was another place I had not eaten at, but had heard good things about. I chose the salmon dish. It came with steamed broccoli and couscous. Being a quick service, I wasn't sure what to expect. When I was in line, I was planning on ordering something different, but someone ahead of me ordered it, and it looked good, so I changed my mind, and was glad I did. It was very good, and at a menu price of $12.50, it was a very good use of a quick service credit.

One thing we had been looking forward to was Evy's first haircut. She is just about 19 months, and we have been holding out for the first haircut package at the barber shop on Main Street USA. We weren't sure how it would go. Some new things she is good with, others, not so much. She had slept most of the morning as we pushed her in the rented stroller. When it was time to check in at the barber shop, we got her up and started to wake her up. I was surprised how small the barber shop is, just 3 chairs, and a very little waiting space. All 3 chairs were in use when we checked in, but after a few minutes, she was in the chair. The stylist did a great job. She started by putting Mickey stickers all over Evy's arms and legs and handed her a toy to keep her occupied. When she was done, she put a 'First Haircut' Mickey ears on her head and gave us a small satchel with the hair clippings.

Dinner that night found us at The Wave in the Contemporary, so a brief monorail ride over and we were checking in. It was another first time for us. I don't think that it will be on our list to return. It was nice, and the food was good, but it was loud, and the service wasn't great. Maybe I was just over tired, but I didn't fall in love with this place. After we ate, we went upstairs to a balcony that overlooked the Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes, the nightly fireworks display. We had plans on going up to the Top of the World Lounge, the lounge exclusively for DVC members, but by the time we finished eating, we didn't have time to go over there.

Tuesday night, Hollywood Studios was hosting an employee party, so it was scheduled to close early. I figured it would be a good day to go back and hit the things we missed Saturday, since it was a short day. It was. We lined up at rope-drop for Toy Story, another ride we couldn't get fast passes for. We hit a few things that we missed Saturday and re-did a couple that we wanted to do again. After an afternoon break, we returned to the park to catch the boat to the Yacht Club resort for dinner at The Captain's Grille. This was hands down, the best meal of the trip. Everyone loved their meals. I went with the chef's pasta creation. It was egg noodles cooked in veal stock, tossed with braised short ribs and topped with Parmesan and fresh arugula. Highly delicious, highly recommended. After dinner we walked to Epcot, and caught a bus back to the resort.

The only park we had yet to visit was up for Wednesday morning. Magic hours had us arriving at The Animal Kingdom shortly before 8am. We made our way to the Safari for an early morning ride. I was a little disappointed with the animal participation that morning. For lunch we tried the new Harambe Market. I really enjoyed the beef gyro. The milk tart desert as different, and tasty. Our dinner that night was going to be late, so my wife and her sister took the girls to Epcot for dinner, while my parents and I looked forward to the seafood buffet at Cape May at the Beach Club resort. If you are a seafood lover (more specifically a shellfish lover), this is the place for you.

Since they announced breakfast at Be Our Guest, I was intrigued. I had eaten there for lunch, and was interested in trying their breakfast option. I was unable to get a reservation for all 7 of us, but was able to get one for 4. Kathy and Helen took Molly for some meet and greets, while my parents and I took Evy to dine with the beast. I had been planning on ordering the open faced sandwich. When it arrived, it was served with scrambled eggs. I was almost half way through before I remembered it was supposed to be poached. I flagged down a waitress to let her know, she offered to replace it, but by that point, I didn't think it was worth it, and it was a half hearted offer. I have no doubt they would have, but I just didn't want to deal with it. My mom ordered the Croque Madame, it arrived luke warm, and she was dissatisfied. Overall, it wasn't a great experience. I wouldn't call it a bad one, but by Disney standards, it was pretty low.

We did the usual things you do at the Magic Kingdom, including the new Festival of Fantasy. I'm not usually much for parades, but this one is pretty cool. The floats are very well done, and the dragon is pretty cool. We had another relatively late dinner, so Kathy and Helen set a earlier dinner at The Plaza while we waited for a visit to the Trails End at the Fort Wilderness resort. It was a Christmas party night, so the park was closing at 7, our diner was at 7.30p. On our way out of the park, we caught the show of freezing the castle. It was pretty cool seeing it. It is amazing how they can project pictures onto the castle and have them be animated and recognizable. It's not like it is a smooth, flat surface. The lights they have hung on the castle really make it look like it is ice. We took the boat to the resort and made our way to the Trails End. I really enjoyed it. It had all the comfort food you could want, including a baked potato bar, complete with cheese, bacon, butter etc. The only thing I would do to improve it would be to make it a bit bigger. The buffet area was a bit cramped, and it was tough to jump in and get what you want. It was like you had to go through the line each time. After we ate, a quick boat ride back to the Kingdom, and a bus ride back to our hotel for the night.

Friday was extra magic hours again early at Animal Kingdom. I was pretty tired after the past week walking 7-10 miles a day, so I decided to take a break, and not hit the park so early. Kathy and Helen took Molly early, and my parents, Evy and I took our time getting ready and getting to the park. We met up at Dinoland. After a ride on the Triceratops spinner, the line was forming to meet Santa Goofy, so we got in line. I moved a fast pass for the Kali River ride that we had missed by getting to the park late and hit a couple other things we had either missed on Wednesday, or wanted to do again. Dinner that night was at Tusker House. It featured Safari Donald Duck and his friends, Goofy, Daisy and Mickey, all also dressed for a safari. This buffet had plenty of space, but there was less on it that I was interested in. The meat at the carving stations was over cooked. The characters were great, and Evy loved meeting each of them. The park closed at 6, and our reservation was for 6, so as most of the people were heading for the exits, we were sitting down for dinner. This gave us the opportunity to see the Tree of Life all lit up, with few people around. It is quite the sight.

On our past trips, our flight home was early enough that there really isn't much time do do anything besides pack up and burn any unused snack credits before we head to the airport, but this time, our flight wasn't until 8.30, so we had all day. We had breakfast at Boma, so we took a quick walk to the Jambo house. We had eaten there for dinner on a previous trip, but breakfast would be a new experience for us. It has some African themed dishes as well as more traditional American type breakfast options. It also had the famous POG juice. I really enjoyed it, and would keep it on the 'would return' side of the ledger. After breakfast, we returned to our room to pack up everything and we dropped our bags off at bell services. We checked in for our flights and had our boarding passes printed. We still had several hours to use, so we headed to Magic Kingdom to wrap our trip. It was a nice way to end our stay. We had already done all the must do's on our list, so everything we did was gravy. It was now the first day of Thanksgiving week, and a weekend, so the crowds were higher than we had seen earlier in the week, but we weren't pressing. We had some fast passes, but we had a pretty relaxed last day at the park. After the afternoon parade, we headed for the bus back to the resort for the last time. We collected our things from bell services, used the last of our snack credits and headed for the Magic Express.

When we got to the airport, and through security, we headed for our gate. Once there, we were notified that our plane was going to be late. A front had moved in, and the plane that we were supposed to be on had been diverted to Jacksonville, and didn't have an ETA for Orlando. So we waited. And waited. Eventually, our plane arrived. We boarded our 8.30p flight just before 11, and touched down in Buffalo about 2am. We called the hotel and caught the shuttle back to our car and drove home.

Some final thoughts on the trip. The weather was great. Not too hot. We had some rain on Wednesday and Thursday, but not enough to ruin anything. I think that I am over the Food and Wine fest. As someone who doesn't drink, there really isn't much to draw me to it. The snacks, while good, are small and pricy, even by Disney standards. I kind of liked the magic bands and fast pass system last time we went, but this time, it was a bit less convenient. Perhaps because we didn't buy the park passes early enough to get the ones we wanted, perhaps it is because we were trying to manage a larger group.

Planning a day with kids is much different than it is as just a couple of adults. We should have scheduled either non park days, or at least ½ days to take advantage of the activities at the resorts, whether it is games in the community room, activities around the pool, including the movies under the stars or whatever. We can't be park commandos until Evy is a bit older, but by then, we very well could be too old ourselves to do it!

There are quite a range of views of the dining plan. I like it for the convenience of having all your meals prepaid for, but the hassle of making reservations for each day can get tedious. Don't get me wrong, I think that the dining is as much a part of a Disney trip as the rides and shows, but it isn't super convenient getting to and from other resorts (especially those not on the monorail), and some of the best places to eat are at the resorts, not in the parks. A couple of changes in how I will plan for meals in the future, is to not be so opposed to booking lunches for one, and another is to skip the dining plan all together and just pick the 3 or 4 meals we want to do and buy gift cards months in advance to use on food. That way, the meals are still prepaid for, and we can be a bit more free in what we order and how we experience the restaurant.

I'm glad we got to see the Osborne lights before they go dark for ever. I would have liked to see Wishes from in the Magic Kingdom, but when you visit in a week that has 3 nights closed early for the Christmas party, it makes it tough to schedule.

We don't have any hard plans for our next trip. It doesn't look like it will be for over a year at this point. I would like to see the parks in the spring, but not during spring break, March or April, but not near Easter. Perhaps for the garden fest. There is a good chance that parts of Avatar will be open at Animal Kingdom will have opened, and maybe even parts of Star Wars land will be taking shape. If not, Hollywood Studios might not even be on our agenda. The new Frozen ride at Epcot will be open and the River of Light show at Animal Kingdom will be on, so we'll have those to look forward to. I keep saying one of these trips, I'm going to get on a golf course.. maybe next time will be the time.

My Country 'Tis of Thee

As I have mentioned in the last few posts, I have been traveling a lot lately. One thing that I have learned looking out the window of a plane at more than 15,000 feet up is that there are a lot of softball fields in the northeast! They are all over the place.. and not just at schools either.. I have seen complexes that have 4 or 6 or more fields close together.. I saw one today that was in a clearing of trees, with nothing really close..

I love looking out the window of an airplane from the air. I love trying to pick out landmarks as I fly over them. I have seen Citi Field, the Statue of Liberty, Arthur Ashe stadium and more in New York.. The Charlotte Motor speedway in North Carolina.. the 3 sports venues in Philadelphia.. The Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, the Mall in DC.. to name a few.

I have seen countless golf courses, strip mines and quarries, big rivers, small streams, big farms and big cities.

One thing I have to say is anyone who says that this country is overpopulated, has probably never left the island of Manhattan or LA county.. There is a whole lot of nothin’ out there.

This country is beautiful. I would encourage everyone to take a drive, get on a plane, go somewhere and see what this country has to offer. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it either…

I don’t care where you fall on the political spectrum, go see Washington DC. Flights to DCA (Reagan National) are reasonable, and there is a Metro stop right there, $6 will buy you a round trip fair to the Mall where you can get lost in the Smithsonians. No matter what your interests are, there is at least 1 that will pique your interest. From the Air and Space Museum (where you can see everything from the Wright Brothers plane to the Spirit of St Louis to a rocket that went into space) to the American History (where you can see everything from one of Google’s original server towers, to the dress that Nancy Reagan wore when her husband was inaugurated to a sunken battle ship from the Civil War to Miss Piggy) or Natural History (where you can see everything from the Hope Diamond to a moon rock to a T-Rex skeleton), not to mention all the art exhibits. 

And you can’t forget about all of the national monuments. There are the ones that have been there for ever (Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson) as well as the new ones like FDR. Go honor our war dead at the Vietnam wall, the Korean War Memorial, the new WWII Memorial, and of course the rows and rows of fallen heroes at Arlington. I can’t help but wonder what the lone Marine guarding the Tomb of the Unknown is thinking as he marches back and forth.

All that, and I haven’t’ mentioned the Capital or the White House.

Did I mention that all of these are free? (well.. you pay for them every April 15^th.. but you can go in them free all year)

The only thing that disappoints me about the museums is how much of the stuff for sale in the countless gift shops is made in China. You would think that in our nation’s capital, they would make a point to stock American made products.

There are some great places for photos, it is a great place to people watch. You can usually find a school group or 10 around. If you are there early, watch out for all the joggers!

Have you been to DC lately? What did you like most? Let me know in the comments!

My New Career

After almost 15 years in call centers, I have finally changed careers. I can’t really get into too many details because there is an element of undercover in my job, but it does involve a lot travel. I am about a week and a half into the new job and so far, I love it.

I plan on writing a little about my experiences. Places I go, restaurants I eat at, things I see etc..

Last week, I was in 8 different airports. While in the Buffalo airport, I saw a group of guys who just stepped off a plane from 1972. They were all dressed to the 9s, ready for a night at Studio 54. One guy had a powder blue puffy shirt, one had a patchwork sport coat, one had a hat. They all were different, but all were ready for a night on the town.

I took the chance to see a piece of American history, the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. I walked Uptown Charlotte. I sat in the cock pit of a 767, the one that has the fold flat seats in first class the ones that make a little bed, so you can sleep on those long international flights.

I will be writing about future adventures, without going into too much detail about why I am there. I don’t want to blow my cover.

Every Person Comes Out Tired (part 1)

Space Ship Earth

Next on the chopping block is EPCOT. I know it hasn’t been the EPCOT Center for several years.. but I still catch myself calling it that now and then. I love what EPCOT can be, but I think it misses the mark. It is close, but not quite there. Sure it has its main attractions (Sorin’, Test Track, and Mission: Space), but it also has The Universe of Energy, probably the biggest waste of space in Disney.

EPCOT is divided into 2 main areas, Future World and the World Showcase. When you first walk into the park, you are in Future World and are greeted by the giant golf ball, known as Space Ship Earth. Inside this giant sphere, we learn the history of communication, narrated by Dame Judy Dench. Most of the rides are in Future World, and most of them have a sciencey/educational motif. There is so much to do here, I think I will break EPCOT into 2 posts.

One of the most popular rides at Disney is in The Land. It is a high flying hang gliding trip over the key features of California called Sorin’. On it you fly over orange groves, the Golden Gate Bridge, the high desert, Pebble Beach golf course, Downtown LA at night, and ending at Disneyland during the fireworks display. The concept for this ride was created in the garage of one of Disney’s Imagineers, using his old erector set from when he was a kid. Each seat on the ride has a fan above you to blow air in your face to help simulate you are actually flying, and in certain scenes, they inject a scent into the fan to enhance the experience, like when you are flying over the orange grove, you can smell citrus. This ride often has wait times in excess of an hour, and fast passes often sell out quick, so go there first if you are there on a busy day. I would like to see them tweak this a bit. First off, they should take a duster to the giant dome screen, and fix the few black spots on the screen. I also think it would be cool if they would change up the scenes you fly through. They could take a page from the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios and change up the scenes every ride. Still finish up at Disneyland, but make the journey there different every time. Also, of all the movies they have, this one seems most suited to getting the 3D treatment.

Also in the Land pavilion is one of the hidden gems (at least in my book), Living with the Land. It is a gentile boat ride that highlights agriculture. It goes through a green house showing different types of food plants, fruits, vegetables etc.. from all over the world, and some that have been genetically engineered to be more efficient or bug resistant. One such plant is a tomato tree. There is seldom much of a line here, so it is a nice respite.

Time for lunch? Stop by Sunshine Seasons at the Land. It is routinely ranked among the best quick service places in the entire ‘World’. I have only been there for breakfast, but there is something for everyone.

Next to the Land pavilion, is the Seas. Here you will find a Nemo ride, Turtle Talk with Crush and other aquatic activities. On the Nemo ride, you board a clam shell car (similar to the Doombuggies at the Haunted Mansion) and go through some of the scenes from the movie. The coolest part of the ride is towards the end, when you go through and under aquariums that have Nemo characters projected into them. It looks like our friends from the movie are swimming among actual live fish. It’s pretty slick. Once you finish the ride, there are several aquarium exhibits featuring all sorts of sea life, including dolphins, sharks, manatees, rays, and more.

Another big draw in Future World is Test Track. This was recently re-done to re-brand it with Chevy as a title sponsor. As you stand in line, you design your car at a touch screen computer. You design everything from the type of vehicle (sporty.. compact.. truck.. etc), the shape, color, wheelbase, designs and accessories. After you design your car, you then put it to the test. It goes through breaking, swerving, hot and cold conditions, then for a speed test. At different points through the ride, you go past screens with testing results of your car. The speed test takes place around the outside of the building. The day we rode it, when we came out of the building for the speed test, we were staring straight into the morning sun. In one of the few instances of poor planning on behalf of the Disney Imagineers, the camera is right there. Because of this, most of the pictures taken, show people shading their eyes. After the ride, you are let out into a room with several Chevy based exhibits. You can sit in a new Camaro, Volt, S-10 or other Chevy vehicles. You can have your picture taken with the care you just designed, and you can race your car in a video game similar to the old ‘Off Road’ arcade game.

One ride that is a big draw, but I did not like is Mission: Space. On it, you board a rocket bound for Mars, narrated by Lt Dan. It is a centrifuge ride, and you experience some serious G-forces. It was too much for me to handle, but if you like that sort of thing, you would probably enjoy it.

One of the least impressive rides at all of Disney is here. It is The Universe of Energy. It is a long (45min) ride. In it you are in a dream of Ellen DeGeneres. It is an old movie, (special guests Alex Trebek has a mustache and Jamie Lee Curtis has red hair) where Bill Nye the Science Guy teaches Ellen about energy and where it comes from. Part of the ride does take you through a large room of animatronic dinosaurs, which are pretty cool, but not cool enough to rescue this ride. Unless you are looking for a place for a nap in a dark, air conditioned area, I’d skip this. This ride is definitely due for a redesign.

The world of imagination could use a re-boot, the Capitan EO movie with Michael Jackson is very dated, and it’s time to retire it. It does have some fun interactive things that kids can play, but it isn’t as cool as I remember it when I went in 1986.

The last thing that I will cover in today’s posting is another of the coolest parts of Future World. It is Club Cool, sponsored by Coke. In here, you can try several beverages bottled by Coke from around the world. In the last few weeks, they replaced all the flavors here, so I can’t comment on any of them except for the newly added Inca Kola, since I had it when I was down in Peru several years ago. I really liked the sample they had from Israel, and will miss it. Perhaps I will find a new favorite next time we go down there.

Next time, I will cover the back half of the park, the World Showcase.

Our Latest Disney Trip

So, I’ve just recently returned from my 2^nd ever Disney trip, so obviously, I’m something of an expert at this point. I know all there is to know about all things Disney World, or as we experts call it, ‘the Parks’.

This time we stayed in a Savannah view suite at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village. It was a very nice room, especially with as many people as we had traveling with us. It sleeps 9 (we had 6 adults and 2 children), and has 3 full bathrooms, and a nice long balcony overlooking the aforementioned savannah (more on that in a moment). It also boasts a full kitchen (complete with plates, pitchers, roasting pans, utensils, etc…) and a washer and drier in the unit. It is basically a 2 bedroom apartment.

The property has a nice pool area with a spray park and hot tub, a fitness facility, an arcade, and other activities available.  I took advantage of the hot tub one night, but after long days at the parks, when we got back, I didn’t want to walk over to the pool area (which wasn’t that far, but it wasn’t close..), we just wanted to crash..

View from our balcony

From the balcony or from any of the several viewing areas, we could see all sorts of African wildlife. Some of the animals we saw included giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, ostriches, several types of deer and antelopes and African cows (I don’t remember the actual name for them) and several types of birds. It was cool to see them. One thing I would have liked to see was a card or poster in the room that included pictures of the animals and a little about them. There was no visible fence, but there was a barrier that is difficult to see unless you are looking for it, so it looks like they could come right up to your window.

View from the lobby

We really didn’t spend a lot of daylight hours in the room, so we really didn’t take advantage of the amenities of the hotel. Luckily, it is a short walk to the Disney Transportation bus stop and a quick ride to the parks.

In our last 2 trips, I have ridden on most of the rides in the 4 parks at least once. A couple of the ones that I have missed (well, not missed, just not ridden) include the rides that are regular carnival rides with a Disney twist, the sorts of rides that you can do at your local amusement park (i.e. tea cups, the Dumbo ride, etc…) and the 3 big coasters (Space Mountain, Expedition Everest and the Rocken’ Roller Coaster). I am not a huge fan of roller coasters, so they aren't high on my list of things to do, although, I would like to get on them at least once.

A couple of my favorite rides are the Jungle Cruise, Pirates and Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom, Soarin’ at EPCOT, Toy Story, the Back Lot tour and Great Movie Ride at Hollywood Studios and The Safari, Kali River Rapids and Tough to be a Bug at Animal Kingdom (probably my favorite of the 4 parks). The first time we went to Hollywood Studios, we got there shortly after opening and went straight to the Toy Story ride to get a FastPass, by the time we got there, the return times for the FastPass was already 4.30p. We had dinner reservations for 5, at a resort, so we didn't get them. An hour or so later, we happened past the ride, and they had already covered up the FastPass machines, and were not issuing more for the day. a couple days later we went back to that park, and it was much slower, so we were able to get on the ride. I now know why the wait is so long. It is a similar ride to the Buzz Lightyear ride in Magic Kingdom, but it is much better.

The advantage of going at the time of year that we went is the crowds are so much smaller. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a ghost town, but wait times are rarely more than 20-30 min for most rides and some rarely have any wait at all. Not sure I would want to go during the peak times.. especially in July or August when in addition to everyone being there, it is 1000 degrees.

Lady and the Tramp fountain

 

I wasn’t in love with most of the places we ate on this trip. Some were good, others, not so much. The first night we ate at Tony’s Town Square at Magic Kingdom. It is the Italian restaurant from Lady and the Tramp. I really enjoyed it. I got the steak, and it was cooked perfectly. The bread and oil was good and the vanilla gelato was a great way to finish it. The service wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. She didn’t add anything to the experience, but she didn’t detract from it.  I would eat there again.

The next night, we went to Boma, an ‘African’ buffet in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was good, but not great. There wasn’t a huge selection, but what I tried, I mostly liked. Deserts were pretty plain, cookies and cakes.. typical buffet deserts, nothing really to write home about. This place probably wouldn’t be high on my list to return.

Next on the dinner schedule was one of my favorites, Liberty Tree Tavern in Magic Kingdom. This is a colonial themed restaurant that has a fixed menu that is like thanksgiving dinner, served family style, all you can eat. The meal includes salad and rolls (didn’t love the house made dressing, but it isn’t my taste), then they bring out the dinner. Sides of mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, mixed veggies (mostly zucchini), and sautéed green beans, and then the main courses.. roast beef, smoked pork and turkey, with stuffing. Everything is delicious. Just when you can’t eat any more, they bring out desert, a white cake with crasins in it, topped with vanilla ice cream, with a cranberry sauce to top it off. This is definitely a place we would go to again.

Dinner at Chef Mickey

Chef Mickey’s in the Contemporary was the next stop on our dinner menu. It is a character dinner buffet that features the ‘Fab 5’, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. I don’t really care about meeting the characters, but it is fun. This was a good buffet. There was plenty of selection, from sushi, to mac and cheese to carved beef and pork. If you couldn’t find something to fill yourself up with, you are too picky. It is in the lobby of the Contemporary hotel, one of the originals at WDW. One of the cool things about the location of Chef Mickey’s is that you can watch the monorails go by as they come in and out of the hotel. This is a good place to eat, and would consider a return trip to eat with the gang.

A Hawaiian themed setting greeted us for our next dinner at Ohana, in the Polynesian resort. This is another set menu served family style. They brought out the bread, (which I didn’t love), then the salad (which I didn’t love) and a couple appetizers, wings and a sort of chow mien.  A little background about my tastes would be good here.. I am not a fan of sweet sauces for meats. I don’t like honey ham, I don’t put cranberries on my turkey and I don’t understand mango chutney. That being said, the food served here wasn’t bad. It is all cooked on skewers over an open fire in the middle of the restaurant, and the servers bring around the skewers until you tell them to stop. They have shrimp, chicken, steak and pork. The pork was very good, the chicken wasn’t bad, but the steak was too sweet. I tried the shrimp it wasn’t bad, but I am normally not a fan of crawling seafood.  The one saving grace of the Ohana was the bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce for desert. That was very good. This is not a place to go for an intimate setting. It is a large open floor plan with servers coming and going with skewers of freshly cooked meats. It is very busy and not quiet. I don’t think it will be on the list for a return visit. The food was quality, just not my taste.  (Although, I would like to stay at the Polynesian on a future stay, and now that they are building DVC Villas, we will be staying there on a future visit.)

Our final dinner was at the Coral Reef at EPCOT. It is in the same building as the Nemo ride, but has a separate entrance.  This is one of the smaller restaurants, but its main feature is that it shares a wall with one of the large aquariums. You can watch all sorts of sea life (including sharks and rays, and the occasional SCUBA diver) swim by as you eat. That was pretty cool. The food is served menu style and is predominately a seafood restaurant, but they have other options like chicken or steak. I opted for the steak. The steak was over cooked, I ordered medium-rare, and it came out more medium-well.

On this trip, we took advantage of the pre-sale of the PhotoPass+. We did the regular PhotoPass last year, which lets you get as many pictures as you want from the PhotoPass photographers around the parks, which you can add boarders to and have a CD of them all for future use. You can also order custom photo themed items such as mugs, tee-shirts, calendars, etc. The difference between the PhotoPass and the PhotoPass+, is the + includes pictures from the rides (Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, Buzz Lightyear, etc..) as well as the photo packages from other events, like dinner at Chef Mickey’s and the Pirate experience. Definitely a cool thing, but not something I would buy every trip, just on the special ones. Pre-ordering it saves you about $50. As a group, we got around 350 pictures, and I’ll be playing with the pictures for a bit to add boarders, stickers, etc.. then order the disk and share the pictures with everyone that went on the trip.

One thing Disney does big, is holidays. Halloween is no exception. On several nights in September and October, they host “Mickey’s not-so-Scary Halloween Party”. It is a separately ticketed event, so it is in addition to the park admissions you have already paid for. It gives you an opportunity to trick-or-treat in the park, in costume. The special ticket is required, so the crowds are a bit low. They have a special Halloween parade (which I didn’t see) and a special version of Wishes, their nightly fireworks display. This was a very good display. You can also take advantage of more and unique PhotoPlus opportunities. You can have your picture taken next to the horseless carriage in front of the Haunted Mansion, they then photo-shop in a ghostly driver. We had more pictures taken, but they have yet to show up on my page, I have emailed their help desk to research it and have it added, but no luck yet.

In the fall, EPCOT hosts the Eat to the Beats Concert series. They bring in bands for a couple days each and they do a couple shows a night. We happened to see Air Supply. I have to say, those old guys still put on a pretty good show they played for about 20 min, 5 songs or so. Other bands this year included Starship, Sugar Ray, The Go-Gos and more.

As part of the basic dining plan we had selected for food. This includes 1 table service meal, 1 quick service meal and 1 snack per person, per night of the stay as well as the souvenir refillable mug. The refillable mug is a cool thing, as long as you don’t have to pay extra for it. It is good at you’re the resort you are staying at for soft drinks. A couple of things to make it better would be to let it be good at a couple of places in the parks, or to make it a little bigger. It is currently about 12oz, if they made them 20-32oz, it would make for a more usable option. In the 2 places we have stayed (AKL this year and Saratoga Springs last year), the walk to where the soda fountains are is a bit of a hike, almost not worth it for such a small serving of soda.

A couple of the notable things we enjoyed on the trip include the cinnamon bun from the new Gaston’s Tavern, literally, the size of a baby’s head. We also got the Dole Whip float, a must have for all trips to the Magic Kingdom. As part of the new expansion of the Fantasy Land in Magic Kingdom, a new restaurant opened up. It is modeled after the Beast’s castle from Beauty and the Beast. It is a hot ticket for dinner, and is completely booked up months in advance. A couple months ago, I tried getting a dinner for our trip in January, there was nothing available. They are, however, a quick service for lunch, and the wait times can be close to 3 hours. We were able to secure a ‘fastpass’ of sorts and were able to jump the line and get in. The food was the standard type of quick service meals around the parks, but it is in the ballrooms that serve as dining rooms for the highly sought after table service dinner. There are 3 different rooms, all right from the movie. One featured the torn paintings and the rose under glass, one was the main dance hall and the other is the main entry way of the castle. Since it is so busy, it is tough to find a table. If you don’t have a MagicBand, they give you a RF pager so they know where you sit, and they bring you your food right to your table.

Since we have established that I am an expert in all things Disney World, I wanted to take a few moments to make suggestions to make a great experience better…

First off, there needs to be huge Ferris wheel at Magic Kingdom. Something similar to the one in Niagara Falls. Something that can get high enough to see a good part of the park from the top of the wheel. I enjoy people watching, and I like seeing things from above. I think that an aerial view of the park at night, or maybe during the Wishes fireworks display would be a cool way to see the park.

My next suggestion would be a couple of additions/tweaks to the rides that have photo-ops. I would add a photo-op to the Haunted Mansion in the part of the ride where the mirror is, that shows the computer generated spooks in the doom-buggy with you. Another suggestion would be to either re-locate the camera, or add an additional camera to that switches based on the time of day to Test Track. As it is now, it is right after you come out of the dark building to the fast part of the ride. When we rode it, it was early morning, and we come out looking straight at the sun. If they add another camera on the back end that they use in the morning, and keep this one and use it in the afternoons, it would avoid everyone who rides the ride in the morning from having to block the sun when the picture is taken.

So now that I am in Disney cool-down, I will begin ramping up for our low-key trip in January shortly. We will be going back to Saratoga for what will probably be our last trip for a year or so. I look forward to seeing if the 7 Dwarves train ride will be open by then (it looked pretty close this trip).