wdw22009
02-24-2009, 06:35 AM
I'm going to write a quick-ish trip report here, not sure it's the right palce to put it but I asked for and got a lot of help here and have the answers to some of my questions now.
Southwest Airlines - flights were on time, smooth, employees were nice and helpful. The downside was the stress of having to be online 24 hours in advance to have a chance to sit together (3 of us). Going there and coming back there were VERY angry people who could not sit together. I've never seen anything like that on the many flights I've taken (all have had assigned seating) and it was upsetting. I wouldn't fly Southwest again if I have a choice, but could hack it if it was the only way to go.
Happy Limo - LOVE them!!!! One of the best parts of the trip! I somehow failed to call in advance (which was funny, since I had my PS in August for the Feb trip and am an over-planner). I called them from the airport before we departed and asked if we could have a towncar that afternoon. They didn't have any available at the time we needed, but could have one 30 minutes later. I was happy to get one at all, and said we would make that work. We got a call after we had our luggage and headed for parking spot
45. As we approach we think someone else is in our spot, because this beautiful black stretch Cadillac Escalade can't possibly be for us. It was! What a wonderful surprise, and the same thing happened on our way back to the airport - the surprise this time was a white stretch Lincoln Navigator complete with red carpet! Both times we lucked out because the cars were already in that area, and we were thrilled!
Pop Century check in was smooth, the 17 year old liked it better than the nicer resorts we saw because she thought it seemed younger and more "Disney". Food court was nice, with good food. We upgraded to park hopper passes there and that was smooth. I had accidently destroyed my Magic Rewards card and they told me to get a new one through Guest Services at any park and then call the CC company to have the money added - very smooth, too. Another good thing was where Pop has it's own bus rather than shared at the All-Stars. That alone was a big plus. My only complaints were it was the smallest hotel room I have ever seen (note-I live in a small house with small rooms-I'm used to small). It would've been perfect for 2 people, was quite crowded with 2 adults and a teen. We only had one towel/washcloth creature during our 5 days there-kind of disappointing. I've read about people leaving a tip every day rather than at the end of the stay, but I disagree with paying in advance to get decent service-I'd rather tip based on decent/good service. We may have had more towel creatures had we done it that way. We got the building we requested (with Mowgli and Balloo in front of it), requested a view of pool or lake (if possible) and the highest floor possible. What we got was bottom floor, corner by the stairs in the back. Disappointing, but we didn't feel like fighting it and figured at the end of a long day we'd be glad we didn't have to do stairs/elevator.
First stop, on arrival day, was taking the monorail to Chef Mickey's. We thought the food was pretty good, and had plenty of character time. A fun experience!
Next morning was a quick stop at Epcot before going to DHS (Drince's idea - thank you!!!). We were there before rope drop, but what a mess it was that morning. On a personal note I was very saddened that the fountain was boarded up....bummer. it's so beautiful, and one of my favorite things at Epcot. I knew the rides and attractions that were closed in all the parks, but somehow missed that the fountain was closed. It looked worse than any park rehab I have ever seen, but part of that could be that it's such a focus point.
The crowds were unbelievable that am. When the rope dropped almost every person headed for Soarin' because Test Track was down. By the time we got there and waited in line for Fastpasses (so we could go on it twice that am) there was a 20 minute wait (that was longer than that). We were afraid this was how our two days at the parks would be - super crowded. We rode Soarin', walked on to Nemo with no wait (that ride is fantastic! beautiful queue and ride portion. a huge upgrade from before!) Back to Soarin with fastpass, then the boat to DHS. Got to DHS around 11:30 am - went to Toy STory first to see if Fatspasses were already gone for the day (they were and there was a 110 wait). Went to ToT for Fastpasses, grabbed a quick lunch, went to Mermaid (as wonderful as ever!) and were told a 40 minute wait but were lucky enough to get in to the next show (maybe a 10 minute wait). The wait times were longer for most rides than I'm used to, but we made the most of Fastpass. After ToT (and buying the funny picture!) they did the single rider line for RnR -60 minutes instead of 90 and during that time I got Star Tours fastpasses for us. Did Star Tours then went to Hollywood and Vine for lunch/dinner at 3:30. Food was pretty good here, too. We got the Fantasmic ticket and did have to enter through the main entrance with everyone else, but did not have to wait in line. Had pretty good seats and the show was great!
Headed back to do Great Movie Ride (now only a 20 minute wait), checked Toy Story again sometime late in the afternoon -140 minute wait! There is nothing there I would wait that long for and fortunately we all agreed! (We could've tried for fastpasses in the early am but went to soarin and nemo instead, and were fine with that trade-off). Had another Fastpass to use at ToT and that was our last ride of the day. At three different places I asked if we could use the Fastpass after the time it was issued for. All three said yes, we used them later, there weren't any problems.
The next day was MK, and it was perfect and wonderful! We were there early, did Splash Mountain twice, Big Thunder twice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion - all were walk-on or less than a 5 minute wait. Awesome! Did FP for Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Peter Pan. There were a lot of people there, but I don't think we waited in a line longer than 20 minutes. Saw the princesses in toon town (line for Tinkerbell and fairies was 75 minutes so skipped that!). Did everything we wanted to do (almost) and more! The only bummer was we had been told by a character handler that not only were Tom Cruise and family in the park (no problem there), but also Angelina and daughters were staying in the castle. Here's where the bummer came in to play: 17 year old's most wanted to do ride was Pooh, we had a FP and that was to be our last ride of the night. While in the Peter Pan ride, a cast member yelled out to the PP cast member "Angelina!!!", the PP cast member was very excited and skipping. After we're done on the ride we go to Pooh and it's suddenly been closed. I asked if the ride was having problems - they said no, I asked if someone was injured-they said no. I asked if it was closed to the public so Angelina and kids could use it. She asked how I knew about that and said they weren't allowed to say. Maybe that was the truth, maybe not but it was a huge disappointment that it was closed unexpectedly. Mechanical issues, injuries, I would understand - this I did not.
Day three was Discovery Cove, and since this is a Disney site I won't use up too much space other than to say - AMAZING. Opposite of our Disney days, at the end of this day we felt relaxed and rejuvenated. Dolphin swim was fun, but the pool, lazy river, tropical fish were great too. The best part of the day was swimming with the HUGE rays who would glide right underneath us within hand's reach. Expensive, but money well spent. Very organized there, easy to maneuver park, nice people, pay one price and the food is included including snacks and drinks all day. Also they limit the number of people in the park each day so it never feels crowded. What a day!
Last day was Lilo and Stitch's breakfast at Polynesian. Very crowded and took a long time to get seated (even with PS from last August). Once we were in the restaurant all was fine - good food and characters, didn't feel busy and crowded like it had in the waiting area and the crowd was very slimmed down by the time we left (a late am PS). Check out was smooth at Pop Century, had the wonderful ride in the stretch Lincoln navigator, flights were fine, too.
A fun time was had by all, though we came home exhausted in typical Disney fashion! In a dream world there would be a way to go and avoid the crowds, long days and exhaustion, but I haven't found it yet!
Southwest Airlines - flights were on time, smooth, employees were nice and helpful. The downside was the stress of having to be online 24 hours in advance to have a chance to sit together (3 of us). Going there and coming back there were VERY angry people who could not sit together. I've never seen anything like that on the many flights I've taken (all have had assigned seating) and it was upsetting. I wouldn't fly Southwest again if I have a choice, but could hack it if it was the only way to go.
Happy Limo - LOVE them!!!! One of the best parts of the trip! I somehow failed to call in advance (which was funny, since I had my PS in August for the Feb trip and am an over-planner). I called them from the airport before we departed and asked if we could have a towncar that afternoon. They didn't have any available at the time we needed, but could have one 30 minutes later. I was happy to get one at all, and said we would make that work. We got a call after we had our luggage and headed for parking spot
45. As we approach we think someone else is in our spot, because this beautiful black stretch Cadillac Escalade can't possibly be for us. It was! What a wonderful surprise, and the same thing happened on our way back to the airport - the surprise this time was a white stretch Lincoln Navigator complete with red carpet! Both times we lucked out because the cars were already in that area, and we were thrilled!
Pop Century check in was smooth, the 17 year old liked it better than the nicer resorts we saw because she thought it seemed younger and more "Disney". Food court was nice, with good food. We upgraded to park hopper passes there and that was smooth. I had accidently destroyed my Magic Rewards card and they told me to get a new one through Guest Services at any park and then call the CC company to have the money added - very smooth, too. Another good thing was where Pop has it's own bus rather than shared at the All-Stars. That alone was a big plus. My only complaints were it was the smallest hotel room I have ever seen (note-I live in a small house with small rooms-I'm used to small). It would've been perfect for 2 people, was quite crowded with 2 adults and a teen. We only had one towel/washcloth creature during our 5 days there-kind of disappointing. I've read about people leaving a tip every day rather than at the end of the stay, but I disagree with paying in advance to get decent service-I'd rather tip based on decent/good service. We may have had more towel creatures had we done it that way. We got the building we requested (with Mowgli and Balloo in front of it), requested a view of pool or lake (if possible) and the highest floor possible. What we got was bottom floor, corner by the stairs in the back. Disappointing, but we didn't feel like fighting it and figured at the end of a long day we'd be glad we didn't have to do stairs/elevator.
First stop, on arrival day, was taking the monorail to Chef Mickey's. We thought the food was pretty good, and had plenty of character time. A fun experience!
Next morning was a quick stop at Epcot before going to DHS (Drince's idea - thank you!!!). We were there before rope drop, but what a mess it was that morning. On a personal note I was very saddened that the fountain was boarded up....bummer. it's so beautiful, and one of my favorite things at Epcot. I knew the rides and attractions that were closed in all the parks, but somehow missed that the fountain was closed. It looked worse than any park rehab I have ever seen, but part of that could be that it's such a focus point.
The crowds were unbelievable that am. When the rope dropped almost every person headed for Soarin' because Test Track was down. By the time we got there and waited in line for Fastpasses (so we could go on it twice that am) there was a 20 minute wait (that was longer than that). We were afraid this was how our two days at the parks would be - super crowded. We rode Soarin', walked on to Nemo with no wait (that ride is fantastic! beautiful queue and ride portion. a huge upgrade from before!) Back to Soarin with fastpass, then the boat to DHS. Got to DHS around 11:30 am - went to Toy STory first to see if Fatspasses were already gone for the day (they were and there was a 110 wait). Went to ToT for Fastpasses, grabbed a quick lunch, went to Mermaid (as wonderful as ever!) and were told a 40 minute wait but were lucky enough to get in to the next show (maybe a 10 minute wait). The wait times were longer for most rides than I'm used to, but we made the most of Fastpass. After ToT (and buying the funny picture!) they did the single rider line for RnR -60 minutes instead of 90 and during that time I got Star Tours fastpasses for us. Did Star Tours then went to Hollywood and Vine for lunch/dinner at 3:30. Food was pretty good here, too. We got the Fantasmic ticket and did have to enter through the main entrance with everyone else, but did not have to wait in line. Had pretty good seats and the show was great!
Headed back to do Great Movie Ride (now only a 20 minute wait), checked Toy Story again sometime late in the afternoon -140 minute wait! There is nothing there I would wait that long for and fortunately we all agreed! (We could've tried for fastpasses in the early am but went to soarin and nemo instead, and were fine with that trade-off). Had another Fastpass to use at ToT and that was our last ride of the day. At three different places I asked if we could use the Fastpass after the time it was issued for. All three said yes, we used them later, there weren't any problems.
The next day was MK, and it was perfect and wonderful! We were there early, did Splash Mountain twice, Big Thunder twice, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion - all were walk-on or less than a 5 minute wait. Awesome! Did FP for Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, Peter Pan. There were a lot of people there, but I don't think we waited in a line longer than 20 minutes. Saw the princesses in toon town (line for Tinkerbell and fairies was 75 minutes so skipped that!). Did everything we wanted to do (almost) and more! The only bummer was we had been told by a character handler that not only were Tom Cruise and family in the park (no problem there), but also Angelina and daughters were staying in the castle. Here's where the bummer came in to play: 17 year old's most wanted to do ride was Pooh, we had a FP and that was to be our last ride of the night. While in the Peter Pan ride, a cast member yelled out to the PP cast member "Angelina!!!", the PP cast member was very excited and skipping. After we're done on the ride we go to Pooh and it's suddenly been closed. I asked if the ride was having problems - they said no, I asked if someone was injured-they said no. I asked if it was closed to the public so Angelina and kids could use it. She asked how I knew about that and said they weren't allowed to say. Maybe that was the truth, maybe not but it was a huge disappointment that it was closed unexpectedly. Mechanical issues, injuries, I would understand - this I did not.
Day three was Discovery Cove, and since this is a Disney site I won't use up too much space other than to say - AMAZING. Opposite of our Disney days, at the end of this day we felt relaxed and rejuvenated. Dolphin swim was fun, but the pool, lazy river, tropical fish were great too. The best part of the day was swimming with the HUGE rays who would glide right underneath us within hand's reach. Expensive, but money well spent. Very organized there, easy to maneuver park, nice people, pay one price and the food is included including snacks and drinks all day. Also they limit the number of people in the park each day so it never feels crowded. What a day!
Last day was Lilo and Stitch's breakfast at Polynesian. Very crowded and took a long time to get seated (even with PS from last August). Once we were in the restaurant all was fine - good food and characters, didn't feel busy and crowded like it had in the waiting area and the crowd was very slimmed down by the time we left (a late am PS). Check out was smooth at Pop Century, had the wonderful ride in the stretch Lincoln navigator, flights were fine, too.
A fun time was had by all, though we came home exhausted in typical Disney fashion! In a dream world there would be a way to go and avoid the crowds, long days and exhaustion, but I haven't found it yet!