Trip Reports
02-21-2007, 09:17 PM
Cathy Sowa - November 2005 - Port Orleans Riverside, Port Orleans French Quarter
Time of Year: Holiday
Travel Method: Plane, rental car
Resort: POFQ, POR
Accommodations: Standard rooms
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie, Infrequent, Veteran
Cathy Sowa -- November 2005 -- Walt Disney World (POFQ, POR)
Trip Report – WDW November 25 through December 3
The Players:
Yours truly – 40 – Previous trips to WDW: 4/82, 11/89, 1/97, 2/00, 10/03, 10/04
Younger Sister 1 (MK) – Previous trips to WDW: 4/82, 1/97, 2/00, 10/03
Youngest Sister (JM) – Previous trips to WDW: 1982
Youngest Sisters Husband (JW) – No previous trips to WDW
Transportation:
Airlines, Disney’s Magical Express, Rental Car, Disney On-site transportation, and even a taxi on site
Accommodations:
2 Rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ) 11/25-12/3; 1 room at Port Orleans Riverside (POR) 12/3-12/4
The Planning:
At the end of our last trip, MK and I decided we would like to visit WDW to see all the Christmas stuff (including being inspired by a review of the Yuletide Magic Tour on MousePlanet last year http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm041215ar). About 2.5 years ago, JM and JW had thought about going to WDW for their honeymoon, but that never panned out for them. So MK and I approached them about joining us (MK’s husband is more than happy to let her join me on these trips, as long as he doesn’t have to come too!) They were game for the idea, and we decided to try for 2 rooms at POFQ (the next ‘moderate’ on the list of resorts MK and I wanted to try) – and with the understanding that being together 24/7 was not a requirement of this vacation. As siblings and siblings-in-law, we get along great – but we do all live in 3 different states now, so we knew we needed to decide upfront that full-time-togetherness was not necessarily going to happen. It was much better for us to REMAIN on good terms if someone was getting on someone else’s nerves!
I made the reservations in July, and purchased an AP voucher for myself, hoping that AP discount rates would come out for at least the 2nd part of our trip. I made two different reservations because of the dates of Disney’s “Value” season – that started on the 27th, so we had two nights at regular rates and the remaining at value. It did save us money to make the split. Alas, Disney soon came out with the “Passholder Best Rate” which at that point did not allow multiple rooms, so it wasn’t going to work for us. The others got 6 day Park Hoppers for their admission media (skipping the hopping part was not an option for our style of touring).
Everyone made their individual flight arrangements, and the other three were able to get on the same flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando, so they all were scheduled to arrive in Orlando at the same time. Originally, I was on a Southwest flight (with a free trip coupon) that arrived about the same time they did, and left about the same time on Saturday the 3rd, as well. So we were going to be able to get the rental car, make a quick grocery stop, and all arrive together.
All of this was done by mid-August, and we even had our major plan worked out. I was able to make reservations for the Candlelight Dinner Package for our preferred night/time and restaurant (Le Cellier) the day they opened up those reservations, and the rest of our ADRs shortly thereafter. I also made reservations for the Yuletide Magic Tour, with the Disney Visa discount.
I may be off on when I actually made all the reservations. I DO know for sure that they were not made between August 28 and September 18, because I made them from my home in the New Orleans area, and due to a little storm named Katrina, I was not home during those 3 weeks. I was VERY fortunate that I had very little damage to my house from the storm, and as soon as they allowed residents back into my Parish, I made my way back home from Dallas, TX. (I live in Jefferson Parish; ‘next door’ to Orleans Parish – civics lesson – Louisiana is divided into Parishes, not Counties.) What I DID do from Dallas was change my flights.
Right after Katrina, Southwest cancelled all flights that had previously been scheduled out of New Orleans. They said they would add them back after the airport reopened and demand called for it. Well, I wasn’t willing to risk them not flying yet by the time our vacation rolled around, so I switched to Delta. When I booked the flight, I was going to have to leave Orlando 3 or 4 hours before the others, and that just wasn’t acceptable to me, so instead, I booked the same flight on the next day, and got an extra night at POR for myself (kept trying to switch it to POFQ until the day they left, but POFQ was overbooked). It was very fortunate I did that, because although I booked my flight online and used an email address, Delta didn’t bother to tell me that my flight times were changed drastically on the trip from Orlando to New Orleans – instead of 2:00pm, the one direct flight between the two cities left at 9:15 am! (The flight to Orlando changed too, but only by 15 minutes). I only found out because I checked on line and it said my seats weren’t assigned, so I called to find out whey they’d been ‘unassigned’ and they told me I’d been rebooked! I don’t know if I’d have found out about the change in the Orlando-New Orleans flight when I checked in at New Orleans or not – it would have been a VERY rude surprise when I went to check in and found out I missed it by a few hours! And shortly before our vacation, Southwest was flying again, but they still aren’t up to the number of direct flights as pre-Katrina. (And even as I’m editing this in February, the airport is seeing about ½ of the flights that they had in August.)
Everything was all settled (except for the last minute flight snafu) and all we had to do was wait. Well, MK and I did have a slight diversion in mid October in a trip to DL. I flew out to Orange County and she drove from her house to meet me for a long weekend to enjoy the 50th celebration at the park that actual is 50 years old. One other thing I did in the last month was order a Disney Dining Experience Card. It’s only available to annual passholders and Florida Residents, with passholders getting a discount so the card was only $50 (I believe the price has now increased a little). It offers a discount of 20% off food and drink (including adult beverages) at essentially all sit-down restaurants, and a few counter service locations where there aren’t sit-down places (like POFQ and Animal Kingdom). It more than paid for itself with the 4 of us, and made a good dent in making my AP cost the same as their park hoppers.
But finally (as I’m sure you’re saying reading this), it was time for our flights!
Friday, November 25, 2005
Original Plan: Arrive, rental car with grocery stop, check in, dinner at Jiko
Execution: I flew into MCO from New Orleans and, arriving significantly earlier than the others, took Disney’s Magical Express to the resort and checked in, went to DTD to exchange my voucher for a real AP, and waited for the others. They were picking up the car (Budget) and making a quick grocery stop for water, beer, coffee and snacks. They flew from Portland, Oregon (JM and JW) and Bakersfield, California (MK), meeting up in Salt Lake City. Since MK and I had just been to DL, we got the other two a ‘gift bag’ of some Disney snacks for the flight, to start their vacation off on the right foot.
They picked up the car with no hassles (even though it was in my name, and nobody has the same last name as I do anymore), stopped for a few groceries, and drove the rest of the way to the resort. There was a bit of an issue with them getting INTO the resort, since the reservations were in my name, but I’d already checked in, so the guard didn’t have my name on the ‘ok to let in without the pass’ list. I’m not sure how we could have made that part smoother, though – but I did have my phone on me if they’d needed to call and have me walk to the guard house to vouch for them.
The resort is GREAT. I think this is my favorite of the moderates. It’s also the smallest, which I think has a big part to play in my choice. (MK and I have stayed in all the moderates except Coronado Springs now.) There is only one bus stop, and we were in a great building (next to the main building with the food court and lounge), plus the boat trip to DTD is a nice change of pace from the buses. With the exception of the Magic Kingdom bus, though, I think POFQ and POR shared a bus – it wasn’t too bad, for us, as I think getting on the bus we were always the first stop, but sometimes the bus would go to POR to drop off first.
There was only one issue with our rooms – JM and JWs room smelled a little of smoke – we were in a non-smoking building. It was worse by the door, and we think someone probably smoked right in the doorway or right outside their room recently. Fortunately, I travel with some room scented sprays, so with a few sprays of that, it got rid of the worst of it. If it was still bad the next day, we would have asked to be moved.
Our plan for the first day was for me to get my voucher turned into an AP (which I did before they arrived), and have dinner at Jiko, plus look at the decorations at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It took us about an hour to get to AKL (boat to DTD, bus to AKL), which was a bit longer then we thought it would take, but we did make it in time. We had a great dinner at Jiko – I think this is the only meal I actually wrote down what we had – after sharing some olive flatbread, we started out with
Pea Soup;
Cucumber, Tomato and Red Onion Salad with organic arugula, cottage cheese and watermelon vinaigrette;
Lamb "Patis" - pulled lamb rolled in phyllo, onion salad, and mint-cilantro chutney; and
Lemon-Cumin Marinated Ahi Tuna with heirloom beans and "Zough" yogurt sauce.
We then had
Wood-Grilled Filet Mignon with macaroni and cheese and red wine sauce;
Broiled Filet of Wild King Salmon with roasted and curried ratatouille, edamame, black chick peas and cucumber yogurt;
Malay Shrimp Curry with potatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet peas and grilled onions; and
Wood-Grilled Pork Tenderloin with sweet potato dumplings and mushroom ragout. (Thanks to AllEarsNet.com, I didn’t have to write down these full descriptions, since they post full menus for all the restaurants)
I was going to get the halibut entrée, but a table near us complained about it loudly to their server that it was overdone and dry, so I got the pork instead. We ended up with a chocolate flourless torte with peanut butter ice cream, and another dessert of lime sorbet, apple slaw, and buttermilk yogurt. The meal was fantastic, and I think it was the best of the trip.
We then rolled back to our resort and crashed for the night.
Saturday (11/26) – To the Magic Kingdom!
Original Plan: Magic Kingdom to start; Disney-MGM Studios; then back to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes.
Execution: We got a decent start in the morning, which was very good considering 3 of the 4 of the bodies were on Pacific Time. We started out on Dumbo (JM has to ride this every trip, ever since her first visit to DL where (as a 3 year old) she fell in love with the attraction – and I had no problem joining her), while MK and JW got us FPs for Buzz. They didn’t have to wait too long for us, and since we had a little more time before our Buzz FPs were ready, we watched Mickey’s Philharmagic too. I still say this is one of the best ‘full family’ attractions at WDW – no height restrictions, no health warnings, no scare factor – the only people who I’ve talked to who didn’t like it were the really little ones who don’t like 3-D of any sort (well, I talked to their parents) We then hit Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, TRIED to watch TimeKeeper (this was the only day it was scheduled to be open, but it was experiencing technical difficulties while we were waiting, and they didn’t know when it would be back up). We did see Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl go to their Meet & Greet area at the entry-way – it takes a really self-confident woman to portray Elastigirl – how many of us could handle EXTRA padding on our backsides?!
We then took at spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and through the Carrousel of Progress before experiencing Stitch. I was able to see this last year during soft openings, and I think they’ve ‘calmed’ it even from then. I THINK there is a longer time with lights on (instead of pitch-black dark), even though there is nothing to look at. MK, who enjoyed Alien Encounter probably more than I did (which is saying quite a bit!) was VERY disappointed in the change to this attraction, and JM and JW wish they had that time back, as well.
After that, it was time to head to a new land, and grab a bite to eat. Pecos Bill’s called our name (JW wanted a greasy hamburger – something he doesn’t eat much of at home) and so away we headed. However, JM is a vegetarian of sorts (she will eat seafood, which makes life MUCH easier in WDW then if she were a strict vegetarian or a vegan!) and they had NOTHING on the menu for her – so we trekked over to El Pirata y el Perico for some bean tacos for her. While the others were ordering, I went to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which we rode after a visit to the Country Bears Holiday version.
After that, it was time to head to the Studios. We’d decided earlier that it was really silly to go to the Studios, then BACK to the Magic Kingdom for the night-time stuff, so we switched the nights we had planned for Fantasmic! and the Osborne Lights for tonight and would do SpectroMagic and Wishes on the night we’d planned to do the Studios. At the Studios, we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Little Mermaid, and the Wild West side of the Great Movie Ride. We stopped by the Osborne lights (which I totally enjoyed, and there was just the right amount of snow), Star Tours, Fantasmic!, Tower of Terror, and Rock-n-Rollercoaster. We had beer and pizza from the counter service places on Hollywood Blvd – but why does the place that sells pizza not also sell beer? And then they would only sell us one beer per person – come on, the other two were getting the pizza! And I have to say “Way to go, girl!” to JM here – she’s not a fan of the dropping rides, so her riding Tower of Terror (she only did it once on the trip) was a major accomplishment. I was going to let her ‘chicken out’ if she wanted, but she figured if she got herself that far, she might as well go all the way!
After finishing up at the Studios, we had a beer at the Scats Cat Lounge in POFQ. They had a Jazz band that wasn’t too bad, either. One thing about this lounge vs. the one in POR – it is much more ‘adult’ – the one at POR seems to have a TON of kids in it, which does not allow for a relaxing adult beverage to end the evening. I’m not sure if it’s just the size of the resort, or the type of music played (Jazz trio vs. interactive piano player), but it was nice to be able to stop off here after a day in the parks and just chill for a few minutes.
Sunday (11/27) – Merry Christmas – Part One!
Plan: Animal Kingdom and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Execution: We got to do most everything we wanted to in the Animal Kingdom, starting with the Safari. After that, we rode the train to the conservation station, where we got to watch part of a laparoscopic procedure on a large bird> It was quite interesting to watch. After that, we rode Kali River Rapids, getting a bit wet, but not TOO bad. We dried off a little watching It’s Tough to be a Bug and the Lion King show. I think we were all dry by the end of that. We then trekked to the Tusker House for lunch, which was good for what it was. We then went to Dinoland and rode Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and Triceratops Spin. As we were leaving that area, we saw we MIGHT be able to make Tarzan, so we hot-footed it up there and watched the show. Sorry to all you fans out there, but this one just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not too terribly sorry that it closes before my next visit. I’m not positive I stayed awake, but I was darn close to nodding off a couple of times. After that, JM and JW went back to the resort, while MK and I stayed behind to watch the parade. The floats and ‘puppets’ are decked out for the holidays in the parade, and it’s pretty cute. The families riding along didn’t seem to be that into it, though (we were watching fairly near the entrance, so they were only about ½ done with the route). We killed a little time waiting for the crowds, and then MK and I headed back to the resort, too.
Before we headed out to the party, MK and I had a small bite to eat at the food court, in retrospect, we should have ALL eaten before we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Once we got to the party, JW and MK rode Splash, while JM and I went to get cookies (it was too cool for me to ride Splash, and JM doesn’t like drops). We then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, went to the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World After All, and then watched the Fireworks. At this point, JW and JM were in need of something more substantial then cookies and hot chocolate, but Pecos Bills (with no veggie option) and Cosmic Ray’s were the only things open – and that JUST had the chicken side open AND didn’t even have all the options on their menu! VERY disappointing in the food department. We were told later that we should have asked for the manager, because they can ‘always’ fix a vegetarian option, even if it’s not on the menu. It was a bit of a mad-house there, though, so I’m not sure how well that would have worked.
The hot chocolate, however, was the right temperature, and all the cookies were soft snicker doodles. Sugar cookies with royal icing are more ‘festive’ IMHO but I’m sure they wouldn’t hold up as well. After the food foraging, we rode Buzz Lightyear and Astro Orbiter. While we were riding Astro Orbiter, MK (who doesn’t do spinning rides like that) went to look at the party-specific merchandise, and they had a nice ornament that she got for all three of us girls. We then watched the parade, and I watched the end of it while the others went to the Indy Speedway. I REALLY liked this parade; it has a TON of different units, including quite a few different musical units. I think my favorite was the marching band of Green Army Men (from Toy Story) actually playing the instruments. I caught up with the others at the Speedway (I saw them getting into their cars – I really like the ‘grandstands here for waiting), we rode the Teacups (which MK can handle), Pooh, and Snow White. We tried to get on Peter Pan, but were just a little too late to catch that.
I enjoyed the Christmas party quite a bit, and since I will never (in the foreseeable future) attend close to Christmas, this will be the only way I can see the Christmas parade, which to me is just about worth the price of admission, particularly when you include in the special fireworks with the awesome 360 degree shell launch.
Monday (11/28) – Merry Christmas – Round 2
Plan: Sleep in, breakfast at Kona Café; Epcot (including Candlelight)
Execution: We had a late breakfast at Kona Café, having made the reservations the night before. I really like the Tonga Toast, but it is a bit much to eat a whole serving myself (so I split it and an egg/potato/meat breakfast with MK). I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I DO enjoy the Kona Blend in the Press Pot.
After breakfast, we walked over to the TTC, and JM and I got to ride in the nose with the pilot and a couple celebrating their first anniversary (I did offer to let one of the others ride with JM, since I’d gotten to ride up front the previous year, but MK and JW knew I’d enjoy it a lot!). We first went to try to get FP for Soarin’, but with our Candlelight and dinner reservations, the return was at a bad time – so we went to Test Track, Mission:Space, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. It was sad to walk buy the double-helix at the entrance to the Life Pavilion – I was there the day they had the grand opening of that pavilion in 1989, but being with an almost 3 year old and a 7 month pregnant sister-in-law, we didn’t spend a ton of time there, but I still remember that trip fondly. We went to the Living Seas, which was fairly crowded waiting for Turtle Talk, but everything else wasn’t too bad, but I must have hit a sugar low after my breakfast at this point, and had to wait outside where it wasn’t as crowded, the air was fresher, and I could enjoy a diet coke. After this, we decided to head around World Showcase, making our way to the Theater for the first show of Candlelight. Part of the goal on the way to the theater was to get a beer in every country – I’m not sure if we succeeded, but I CAN tell you that the chocolate iced gingerbread boys and the Oktoberfest beer from Germany go surprisingly well together. We got FANTASTIC seats for Candlelight – right on the center aisle, right in front of where the ‘official’ photographer was set up. Phil Donahue did a nice job with the narration, though he did say at the end that he’d messed up, but only the conductor, musicians, and choir knew it, because the conductor had covered it so well for him. One thing that was interesting to me, was that everyone stood when they got to the Halleluiah Chorus – I’m not sure if we weren’t ‘feeling it’ as much as the others (no, it couldn’t have been from the beer!), or if it’s traditional to do so (like with the National Anthem) and we just don’t know that.
After Candlelight, we went to our dinner reservations at Le Cellier. We had to wait a little bit, but not too bad, but we were the only ones waiting outside because it was a little cool out – but we were able to wait under the overhang when the rain came down. When we first made our reservations, Candlelight packages were not eligible for using Table Service Credits on the dining plan, so that was a part of our decision NOT to get the dining plan. They changed that ‘ruling’ before we went, though. This was the only meal where we had 1 appetizer, entrée, and dessert each (even at Jiko, where the others hadn’t eaten much that day, we shared two desserts), so for us, the dining plan would have contributed to eating more than we did. I know you don’t HAVE to clean your plate, but none of us are the type that can do that easily. After dinner, we watched Illuminations and then headed back to the resort.
Tuesday (11/29)– Merry Christmas – Round 3
Plan: Yuletide Tour/Shopping/Daytona/Progressive Dinner
Execution: Today started with the three of us ‘girls’ going on the Yuletide Magic Tour. JW decided he’d rather sleep in and just hang around the resort for the morning – I think he may have gone to DTD, too (though that may have been later in the day). It was raining this morning, but they nicely provided Mickey ponchos for those without for the tour! We started out in Epcot going to a number of different countries – Germany, Italy, the U.S., talking about the holiday traditions that ‘we’ get from there – and talked about Hanukah and Kwanzaa, too. We then went to the Studios, where we talked about how movies influenced our ideas of the Christmas Season, and talked about the Osborne Family that donated the lights (and no, it was NOT Ozzy and Sharon!). After that we went to the Grand Floridian to look at the decorations there, the Magic Kingdom to look around there, and then the ‘most backstage’ part of the tour – to the Christmas shops. The staff was working on getting back fully onto day shift, after having gone on the overnight shift to set up all the decorations. They talked a little bit about how the decorations are selected for the different locales, and how there are very few Mickey Christmas decorations – the staff has found out that any Mickey ornaments rarely get back to the shop at the end of the season, despite being wired to the trees. They also talked a little bit about the Grand Floridian tree’s electrical requirements. Seems like an odd thing to talk about, but the tree is equipped with LED lights, and it’s a HUGE tree, yet the power draw is very minimal. I wonder if the Grand Californian will put LED lights on the new tree it gets there (after the fire this past December). We then headed back to Epcot where we got a very cute pin of Tinkerbelle sitting on an ornament. This was only the second day of the tour, and this was a new pin for the tour this year. Last year they BARELY had enough for the last tour.
I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants something a little different for their December trip to WDW – the tour guides really like doing this tour, and it shows, and they bring quite a bit of their own stories to the tour, and try to get the group to share their own family traditions. It really does focus on Christmas (although not exclusively), so those who celebrate other holidays might not appreciate it like we did. We (as well as others) were told that cameras were not allowed on the tour – and it’s true they don’t want you to take pictures backstage – but they encouraged us to take lots of pictures while we were onstage, and we regretted not being able to take pictures of some of the various things while we were talking about them. This was the last of the Christmas part of our itinerary, and overall everything we did, in addition to all the decorations around the parks and resorts, really helped to put me into a more Christmas-y mood for the season, which (for me, anyway) was sorely needed after the eventful fall.
It was a bit after one o’clock when we got off the bus, and JM went back to the resort to pick up JW, the car, and head to Daytona for the day. They had a good time there, but did have an issue with paying for the different things there – You could buy the track tour separate from the ‘museum’ part, but you couldn’t go to the museum part without paying for the track tour. They didn’t know that, and paid for the track tour first, and were not given a credit when they went to got to the museum, so if you DO go to the Speedway, make sure you ask about EVERYTHING you want to do from the start. They had dinner at Fulton’s Crab House, and they said although the food was great, they were put in a back hallway, where all the staff kind of hung out, and did not get good service at all.
Meanwhile, MK and did a little shopping damage at DTD (which actually wasn’t that much this time around), and got ready for our planned progressive dinner. By the way you can NOT get to DTD from the TTC, despite what guest services at Epcot may tell you! The progressive dinner was something we’d dreamed up on or after our last trip, as a way to get to try more of the restaurants at the Monorail Resorts and see the decorations at the resorts, and was another of the reasons we didn’t do the dining plan. The plan was Appetizers at the Wilderness Lodge, Entrees at the Grand Floridian, and Dessert at the Contemporary. We had ADRs for Narcoossee’s and California Grill, the latter timed to be able to watch the fireworks from the Contemporary during the Christmas party that night. However, it took so long to get from our resort to the MK to the Wilderness Lodge, that we only had time for a quick drink and a quick look around the resort before we had to head back. In hindsight, we probably should have taken the bus, as via boat and monorail, it took us an hour to get from the Wilderness Lodge to the Grand Floridian.
Fortunately, Narcoossee’s wasn’t too busy, so we were still able to eat, even though we were over ½ hour late. We ended up getting salads there, as well as our entrees, and they were both ok but not spectacular (though my sister got carded, and she’s at an age where it’s a major compliment!) The décor SEEMED really casual and beach-y to me – but there was a party having dinner post-wedding (everyone all dressed up) so it was not a flip-flop place. We had plenty of time to walk around the resort, get to the Contemporary, and walk around there to see all the Christmas decorations (including Gepetto’s workshop made of gingerbread and chocolate) and swing through all the shops on the Concourse level. We didn’t want to be too early, because we wanted to see the fireworks from the restaurant, so we really spent some time wandering around there. We probably would have enjoyed spending A LITTLE more time at the Grand Floridian, but given the travel issues we were having that day, we didn’t want to risk having the monorail break down on us, or something!
Dessert at the California Grill was FANTASTIC, and when we told the waiter we weren’t in a huge hurry to order the dessert (after telling him that’s all we were getting), he gave us JUST the right amount of time to decide so that we were enjoying the sweets with the fireworks. We had seats by the window, so we didn’t have to go to a viewing area to watch the fireworks. Since this was during a Christmas party, they did the 360 degree finale, which you can REALLY see how far away they set them off from.
Overall, the Progressive Dinner was a bit of a disappointment, due to the fact that for the dinner to be progressive, you have to travel around the resorts. Maybe if we’d had appetizers at the Polynesian instead, it would have been a little smoother. I DO know that I would like to have another meal at Artist’s Point (MK and I ate there in 97 or 2000) and California Grill is high on my list for my next ‘real’ vacation to the World (not just a long-weekend)! I’d probably try Citros’ before I try Narcoossee’s again, though, but there are a few other restaurants higher on the ‘to do’ list than either of those.
Wednesday (11/30)– Picking up Missed Attractions – Part One
Plan: Epcot and the Studios
Execution: First, the big parts of the plan for the day were changed when we didn’t need to end the day at the Studios, since we’d already seen Fantasmic! But we decided we didn’t HAVE to go to the MK to see Spectro and the ‘regular’ fireworks after having seen the Christmas parade and special fireworks.
We started out with a quick bite at Starring Rolls (I love the Apple turnover there!), While everyone was finishing, I went to get FPs for Lights, Motors, Action, but the crowds were so light today, they were not using fast passes at all. While waiting for the others at the entrance to the Backlot Tour, I ducked in to get the Big Cheese to sign a postcard for a friend’s daughter who was going to be visiting at the end of the month. I was next in line when they all walked by (I LOVE this location to see Mickey, the lines are usually quite short), so they just had to wait a minute for me. As we were going into the Backlot Tour, they asked two of us to volunteer to be Deck Crew. They really asked JM and MK to do it, but JM did NOT want to (especially since she had NO clue as to what was coming), so MK and I did it. We got all dressed up, and had to ‘swab the deck’ until it came under attack. We had fun really being hams about it – at one point we both almost jumped into each others arms (I don’t think EITHER option would have worked gracefully, but simultaneously there was no way! We fortunately stopped short from ending up on the deck!) JM did get a GREAT picture when one of the big splashes appeared to be overtaking us. We did not get wet under the raingear, but the guy who played the Engineer, his hood came off or something, and he got fairly wet! It was a lot of fun to do that, but it was kind of a bummer that they don’t have a monitor that the actors can see the results of their action.
After that, there was a little time before the next Millionaire show, so we popped in to see One Man’s Dream, but skipped the film. Everyone else enjoyed Millionaire almost as much as I do, and JM even ended up #2 on the leader board at the end of the game. I think all three of us girls got on the list during that show, and subsequent shows as well, though nobody ever made it into the hot seat this trip. We grabbed some pizza from Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade and then walked to the LMA stadium and ate while waiting for the show to start, which wasn’t a problem (and I recommend it as a good use of the wait time, if you can carry the food you want there). I thought the show was pretty good, and definitely aimed at the opposite demographic from the one the Princess’ are aimed at. They had an ad running for the show that involved a teenage son getting more and more psyched watching the show, and Dad taking the car keys away from him by the end of it, because he was NOT in the proper mood to be driving the family sedan. I think that ad sums it up well! We did another Millionaire, saw Muppets, and rode Rock’n’ Rollercoaster again, before heading out of the studios.
We took the boat to Epcot, and at some point after our arrival, went to Guest Services and made ADRs for San Angelo’s for a later dinner. We had to go with a little later time then we would have otherwise selected, but, even with the Candlelight packages, we WERE able to get in the same day (it was a couple of hours before we ate that we made the reservations). First up, a ride on Soarin’ – we’d all ridden this on previous trips to Disney’s California Adventure, and knew we’d like it. It was posted 20 minute wait, but I don’t think it was that long – we didn’t stop walking until after the fastpass merge point! We even got to ride in the front row, without asking. Another round of Test Track and Mission:Space followed, as did a trip through time on Spaceship Earth.
After that, it was time for our ADRs – though we MAY have ridden El Rio de Tiempo before our meal (or else right after). The food was interesting, not quite what we expected, and I’m glad we tried the restaurant, but I’m not in a huge rush to repeat it. We headed back to the hotel afterwards, and were able to get out of the park just before Illuminations.
Thursday (12/1) – Stretching our Observation Skills
Plan: Mini-mouse adventure/Dole Whip Meet/ Studios
Execution: Thursday was the day for the first of the MouseFest stuff we were participating in (though we WERE at the Millionaire show that was part of the festivities, just didn’t realize it). Because this was a Mini Mouse Adventure, it only covered two lands, although we did venture into Adventureland to obtain one of the scavenger hunt items. JM and JW decided they’d sleep in, so it was just MK and I up with the early birds for this. We went to Fantasyland first, stopping on a bench near the castle to do the puzzles to see what we needed to find there. After that, on to Main Street, where one of the quests had some details in honor of two of the posters at MousePad, though I couldn’t quite put it together until Mark told me. The quest was concerning who paid more for lunch, and how much did they pay, and was a ‘contest’ between Mike and Tom! We had a little bit of a tough time finding one window on Main Street as part of another quest, but were able to figure out the quest without it. There was also part where we had to count ‘the teacups’ at the Mad Tea Party – Everyone else just counted the ride vehicles – we counted ALL the teacups; the pictures on the ALL the signs, and the 3-D decorations! I guess that comes from reading the recaps of the full Mouse Adventures!
Then it was time for the Dole Whip meet. Quite a few people showed up for that, including another poster from MousePad (glad you could make it, Mayan Lily) It was nice sitting in the sunshine (even if it was a little cool out for those of us not escaping snow) and visiting with people!
After that, we met up with JM and JW – Before we met up with them, they did a couple of attractions, and we made reservations for Tony’s, since we’d thought about Italian for dinner last night – but for a late lunch. Before our ADRs, we did the Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and Splash Mountain (for JW and me) as well as some other stuff on that side of the park. JM, who hadn’t seen the ‘New Management’ yet was far from impressed. One of the other reasons we wanted to make the ADRs for Tony’s was because we’d had SUCH bad luck with restaurants in the Magic Kingdom, and we didn’t want that to be what JM remembered! Plus, when we were making the ADRs, we mentioned that JM was vegetarian and had a tough time at the party – the CM helping us was also vegetarian and said that Tony’s had a lot of options that would fit in with her dietary preferences. It was a good lunch – I don’t recall what we ate, but when we sat down, we were pretty hungry, so I know we had breadsticks, because I told the waitress we ‘needed’ them!
We then headed to the Studios for another shot at Millionaire (we all got a Nike question wrong, but before that, the three sisters were all on the board!), Rock n Rollercoaster, and Tower of Terror (for JW and me only). We walked over to the Boardwalk and had dinner at the ESPN club. They were REALLY busy when we walked in, so instead of waiting, we ate in the bar. The Chicken Wings there are a very large order, so make sure you’re all really hungry. After that, we took a Taxi back to POFQ (I think it was $10 with tip), and I hit the sack. The others stayed and listened to the Jazz band for a while.
Friday (12/2) – Shhhh, Don’t tell Mickey!
Plan: Universal Studios and Pleasure Island
Execution: When we first started discussing this trip, JM and JW expressed a fairly strong interest in doing Universal Studios. Since MK and I hadn’t done that on our previous trips, we were game. I looked online to see what our ticket options were, and they had a 2 park, 1 day ticket. When we went to buy them, they weren’t available on line, but WERE available over the phone, so that’s what we did.
The place was VERY empty! One or two rides may have had waits over 10 minutes. We were able to do everything but the shows and ultra-kiddy rides in the two parks! I would have been VERY disappointed if we’d paid for the ultra-fastpass thing they have – I think ONE attraction (if that) was there any sort of advantage to having it. I can see, though, in busier times, where it would be worth it.
Hulk was fun, though I think the design principle of that rollercoaster was “how many times can we turn them upside down”. The Mummy was cool – and so was Men In Black. I think my favorite, though, was Spiderman. VERY good job there.
Initially, our plan was to go to Pleasure Island – but we were all pretty tired – so I called over to POR and got reservations for Boatwright’s, and we ate there. There were a LOT of people trying to get in, but our wait wasn’t long at all after I checked in (though there was a line to do that).
Saturday (12/3) – C you real soon!
Plan: Last ‘real’ day, Mega Mouse Meet, Schocolate Mousse Meet, Ultimate Orlando Adventure
Execution: This was the last day for the rest of the crew, and the last day in the parks for me. I got up early and went over to POR to check in for my last night, and they actually had a room ready for me! The walk was a bit with the luggage (thank goodness it rolls!), but not bad at all. I got back just as the others were ready to head to the Magic Kingdom, having gotten their boarding passes and checked their luggage.
Magic Kingdom – OH MY – Saturday, the first non-holiday weekend with the Christmas décor – and they were filming the parade for the Christmas day show! It was a mad house! We did Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear, and then I had to leave everyone to go be a greeter at the mega Mouse Meet. I’m not sure what all the rest of them did, but they made it back to the airport and home safely! I did the orientation for greeters, went and grabbed some lunch at the Dolphin casual place (Tubby’s, I think), and then went to meet some of the authors, web masters, and the like, and then did my greeter duties at the end. It was a lot of fun, and I actually won one of the MousePlanet T-shirts!
I then walked to the Boardwalk, Yacht, and Beach Clubs to see the decorations (very cool – especially the Carousel that actually moves!) before the Schocolate Mousse meet. I HAD been debating about rushing over to the Studios to catch a Millionaire show, but decided to stay to the end of the Meet and see the decorations at the other hotels instead (it was a decision I was very happy with). I got to meet a few more people from MousePad, which was cool, and we toasted Mike and Tom, who inspired the whole meet (yes, the same Mike and Tom from the Mini Mouse Adventure). I’d never had the Mousse there before – very yummy and chocolatey (thank goodness I wasn’t counting my Weight Watchers points on this trip!) I then did the Ultimate Orlando Adventure, which was part of Mouse Fest – there were 3 teams of 2 and one team of one (me) actually doing it – and I’m proud to say I came in DEAD LAST, without a doubt! There was an Eye Spy of lamp posts! Do you know how hard it is to see the top of the lampposts in the dark? One quest involved getting a German paragraph translated, and I didn’t ask for help from a cast member (and should of – I know no German! But I didn’t think it was ‘allowed’) – but was able to figure out that I was looking for prices of things in the candy shop. And the other involved a ‘Jumble’ from Japan – and I couldn’t figure out one of the key letters. But I DID show up at the end!
After talking with the people there for a while, it was noted that the finale of Candlelight had just started, so I headed out of there to get to the Magic Kingdom in time for Wishes and the second Spectromagic. Even though they weren’t filming the parade any longer, there were still a TON of people there. I did a couple of rides (unfortunately, the wait for Peter Pan was too long, that was the only thing I REALLY wanted to make sure and hit), ate at the Noodle Terrace (very good for theme park Pad Thai – decent amount of noodles AND shrimp, though I’ve since read online that they’ve made the portions a bit smaller) and saw both the fireworks and the parade. I even had time to grab a peppermint ice cream between the two!
Sunday (12/4) – Final Departure Day
Originally, I was going to depart on Saturday with the rest of the group, but Katrina messed up all the flights out of New Orleans, so instead of leaving 3 hours before them, I decided to stay an extra night. Unfortunately, the flight was scheduled for 9:15 (and it was on time) but that means to have my bag checked in at the stand in the resort 3 hours before flight time, I had to be walking there at 6 in the morning – with DME picking me up at 6:30. One thing, even though I’d called Disney with my revised flight information, they hadn’t associated it correctly with my POR reservation, so I’d had to call THEM when I got back to the room after the late night in the Magic Kingdom to find out what time I was supposed to show up. That has GOT to make it tough on them making sure they don’t overfill the buses when those sorts of things happen, fortunately, it was just one of me!
I made it home safe, and REALLY want to go back again! Touring with three other people requires a lot more compromise than with just one – and there are some things I’d have done differently if I’d been on my own – but we had a GREAT time, and I got to share one of my favoritist places with 3 members of my family – so that was great, too.
Future Trips:
Well, I do have an AP ‘burning a hole’ in my pocket! I almost did a last minute, short trip the weekend of the 17th (of December), and probably would have done it if the flights were back to pre-Katrina selection. When planning to get my AP, I intended to visit in the spring after Expedition Everest opens, and then again in October for the Food & Wine Fest – both for long weekends taking only 1 or 2 days off of work. That plan changed when they announced previews for Expedition Everest for the last weekend in January, and I’ve already ‘been there, done that’ by the time I submitted this. (It’s a GREAT ride!). I am still going to go in early May (over Mother’s Day Weekend) to see the Flower and Garden show at Epcot, though – and there’s no way I’ll miss the Food & Wine Fest – in fact already arranged to rent points from a DVC member and have a confirmation number! Also, my brother and his family are moving to Southern Georgia soon, so we may have to find a way to get together in WDW.
And just a word to anyone considering attending a “Meet” of any sort with other Disney fans: Just Do It! EVERYONE I’ve met has been great – and you’re in a safe, public place with LOTS of people around, so it really is a great way to get to meet others with a similar obsession.
See you in the Parks!
Cathy Sowa
Time of Year: Holiday
Travel Method: Plane, rental car
Resort: POFQ, POR
Accommodations: Standard rooms
Ages Represented in Group: Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Rookie, Infrequent, Veteran
Cathy Sowa -- November 2005 -- Walt Disney World (POFQ, POR)
Trip Report – WDW November 25 through December 3
The Players:
Yours truly – 40 – Previous trips to WDW: 4/82, 11/89, 1/97, 2/00, 10/03, 10/04
Younger Sister 1 (MK) – Previous trips to WDW: 4/82, 1/97, 2/00, 10/03
Youngest Sister (JM) – Previous trips to WDW: 1982
Youngest Sisters Husband (JW) – No previous trips to WDW
Transportation:
Airlines, Disney’s Magical Express, Rental Car, Disney On-site transportation, and even a taxi on site
Accommodations:
2 Rooms at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ) 11/25-12/3; 1 room at Port Orleans Riverside (POR) 12/3-12/4
The Planning:
At the end of our last trip, MK and I decided we would like to visit WDW to see all the Christmas stuff (including being inspired by a review of the Yuletide Magic Tour on MousePlanet last year http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=mm041215ar). About 2.5 years ago, JM and JW had thought about going to WDW for their honeymoon, but that never panned out for them. So MK and I approached them about joining us (MK’s husband is more than happy to let her join me on these trips, as long as he doesn’t have to come too!) They were game for the idea, and we decided to try for 2 rooms at POFQ (the next ‘moderate’ on the list of resorts MK and I wanted to try) – and with the understanding that being together 24/7 was not a requirement of this vacation. As siblings and siblings-in-law, we get along great – but we do all live in 3 different states now, so we knew we needed to decide upfront that full-time-togetherness was not necessarily going to happen. It was much better for us to REMAIN on good terms if someone was getting on someone else’s nerves!
I made the reservations in July, and purchased an AP voucher for myself, hoping that AP discount rates would come out for at least the 2nd part of our trip. I made two different reservations because of the dates of Disney’s “Value” season – that started on the 27th, so we had two nights at regular rates and the remaining at value. It did save us money to make the split. Alas, Disney soon came out with the “Passholder Best Rate” which at that point did not allow multiple rooms, so it wasn’t going to work for us. The others got 6 day Park Hoppers for their admission media (skipping the hopping part was not an option for our style of touring).
Everyone made their individual flight arrangements, and the other three were able to get on the same flight from Salt Lake City to Orlando, so they all were scheduled to arrive in Orlando at the same time. Originally, I was on a Southwest flight (with a free trip coupon) that arrived about the same time they did, and left about the same time on Saturday the 3rd, as well. So we were going to be able to get the rental car, make a quick grocery stop, and all arrive together.
All of this was done by mid-August, and we even had our major plan worked out. I was able to make reservations for the Candlelight Dinner Package for our preferred night/time and restaurant (Le Cellier) the day they opened up those reservations, and the rest of our ADRs shortly thereafter. I also made reservations for the Yuletide Magic Tour, with the Disney Visa discount.
I may be off on when I actually made all the reservations. I DO know for sure that they were not made between August 28 and September 18, because I made them from my home in the New Orleans area, and due to a little storm named Katrina, I was not home during those 3 weeks. I was VERY fortunate that I had very little damage to my house from the storm, and as soon as they allowed residents back into my Parish, I made my way back home from Dallas, TX. (I live in Jefferson Parish; ‘next door’ to Orleans Parish – civics lesson – Louisiana is divided into Parishes, not Counties.) What I DID do from Dallas was change my flights.
Right after Katrina, Southwest cancelled all flights that had previously been scheduled out of New Orleans. They said they would add them back after the airport reopened and demand called for it. Well, I wasn’t willing to risk them not flying yet by the time our vacation rolled around, so I switched to Delta. When I booked the flight, I was going to have to leave Orlando 3 or 4 hours before the others, and that just wasn’t acceptable to me, so instead, I booked the same flight on the next day, and got an extra night at POR for myself (kept trying to switch it to POFQ until the day they left, but POFQ was overbooked). It was very fortunate I did that, because although I booked my flight online and used an email address, Delta didn’t bother to tell me that my flight times were changed drastically on the trip from Orlando to New Orleans – instead of 2:00pm, the one direct flight between the two cities left at 9:15 am! (The flight to Orlando changed too, but only by 15 minutes). I only found out because I checked on line and it said my seats weren’t assigned, so I called to find out whey they’d been ‘unassigned’ and they told me I’d been rebooked! I don’t know if I’d have found out about the change in the Orlando-New Orleans flight when I checked in at New Orleans or not – it would have been a VERY rude surprise when I went to check in and found out I missed it by a few hours! And shortly before our vacation, Southwest was flying again, but they still aren’t up to the number of direct flights as pre-Katrina. (And even as I’m editing this in February, the airport is seeing about ½ of the flights that they had in August.)
Everything was all settled (except for the last minute flight snafu) and all we had to do was wait. Well, MK and I did have a slight diversion in mid October in a trip to DL. I flew out to Orange County and she drove from her house to meet me for a long weekend to enjoy the 50th celebration at the park that actual is 50 years old. One other thing I did in the last month was order a Disney Dining Experience Card. It’s only available to annual passholders and Florida Residents, with passholders getting a discount so the card was only $50 (I believe the price has now increased a little). It offers a discount of 20% off food and drink (including adult beverages) at essentially all sit-down restaurants, and a few counter service locations where there aren’t sit-down places (like POFQ and Animal Kingdom). It more than paid for itself with the 4 of us, and made a good dent in making my AP cost the same as their park hoppers.
But finally (as I’m sure you’re saying reading this), it was time for our flights!
Friday, November 25, 2005
Original Plan: Arrive, rental car with grocery stop, check in, dinner at Jiko
Execution: I flew into MCO from New Orleans and, arriving significantly earlier than the others, took Disney’s Magical Express to the resort and checked in, went to DTD to exchange my voucher for a real AP, and waited for the others. They were picking up the car (Budget) and making a quick grocery stop for water, beer, coffee and snacks. They flew from Portland, Oregon (JM and JW) and Bakersfield, California (MK), meeting up in Salt Lake City. Since MK and I had just been to DL, we got the other two a ‘gift bag’ of some Disney snacks for the flight, to start their vacation off on the right foot.
They picked up the car with no hassles (even though it was in my name, and nobody has the same last name as I do anymore), stopped for a few groceries, and drove the rest of the way to the resort. There was a bit of an issue with them getting INTO the resort, since the reservations were in my name, but I’d already checked in, so the guard didn’t have my name on the ‘ok to let in without the pass’ list. I’m not sure how we could have made that part smoother, though – but I did have my phone on me if they’d needed to call and have me walk to the guard house to vouch for them.
The resort is GREAT. I think this is my favorite of the moderates. It’s also the smallest, which I think has a big part to play in my choice. (MK and I have stayed in all the moderates except Coronado Springs now.) There is only one bus stop, and we were in a great building (next to the main building with the food court and lounge), plus the boat trip to DTD is a nice change of pace from the buses. With the exception of the Magic Kingdom bus, though, I think POFQ and POR shared a bus – it wasn’t too bad, for us, as I think getting on the bus we were always the first stop, but sometimes the bus would go to POR to drop off first.
There was only one issue with our rooms – JM and JWs room smelled a little of smoke – we were in a non-smoking building. It was worse by the door, and we think someone probably smoked right in the doorway or right outside their room recently. Fortunately, I travel with some room scented sprays, so with a few sprays of that, it got rid of the worst of it. If it was still bad the next day, we would have asked to be moved.
Our plan for the first day was for me to get my voucher turned into an AP (which I did before they arrived), and have dinner at Jiko, plus look at the decorations at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It took us about an hour to get to AKL (boat to DTD, bus to AKL), which was a bit longer then we thought it would take, but we did make it in time. We had a great dinner at Jiko – I think this is the only meal I actually wrote down what we had – after sharing some olive flatbread, we started out with
Pea Soup;
Cucumber, Tomato and Red Onion Salad with organic arugula, cottage cheese and watermelon vinaigrette;
Lamb "Patis" - pulled lamb rolled in phyllo, onion salad, and mint-cilantro chutney; and
Lemon-Cumin Marinated Ahi Tuna with heirloom beans and "Zough" yogurt sauce.
We then had
Wood-Grilled Filet Mignon with macaroni and cheese and red wine sauce;
Broiled Filet of Wild King Salmon with roasted and curried ratatouille, edamame, black chick peas and cucumber yogurt;
Malay Shrimp Curry with potatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, sweet peas and grilled onions; and
Wood-Grilled Pork Tenderloin with sweet potato dumplings and mushroom ragout. (Thanks to AllEarsNet.com, I didn’t have to write down these full descriptions, since they post full menus for all the restaurants)
I was going to get the halibut entrée, but a table near us complained about it loudly to their server that it was overdone and dry, so I got the pork instead. We ended up with a chocolate flourless torte with peanut butter ice cream, and another dessert of lime sorbet, apple slaw, and buttermilk yogurt. The meal was fantastic, and I think it was the best of the trip.
We then rolled back to our resort and crashed for the night.
Saturday (11/26) – To the Magic Kingdom!
Original Plan: Magic Kingdom to start; Disney-MGM Studios; then back to MK for Spectromagic and Wishes.
Execution: We got a decent start in the morning, which was very good considering 3 of the 4 of the bodies were on Pacific Time. We started out on Dumbo (JM has to ride this every trip, ever since her first visit to DL where (as a 3 year old) she fell in love with the attraction – and I had no problem joining her), while MK and JW got us FPs for Buzz. They didn’t have to wait too long for us, and since we had a little more time before our Buzz FPs were ready, we watched Mickey’s Philharmagic too. I still say this is one of the best ‘full family’ attractions at WDW – no height restrictions, no health warnings, no scare factor – the only people who I’ve talked to who didn’t like it were the really little ones who don’t like 3-D of any sort (well, I talked to their parents) We then hit Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain, TRIED to watch TimeKeeper (this was the only day it was scheduled to be open, but it was experiencing technical difficulties while we were waiting, and they didn’t know when it would be back up). We did see Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl go to their Meet & Greet area at the entry-way – it takes a really self-confident woman to portray Elastigirl – how many of us could handle EXTRA padding on our backsides?!
We then took at spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and through the Carrousel of Progress before experiencing Stitch. I was able to see this last year during soft openings, and I think they’ve ‘calmed’ it even from then. I THINK there is a longer time with lights on (instead of pitch-black dark), even though there is nothing to look at. MK, who enjoyed Alien Encounter probably more than I did (which is saying quite a bit!) was VERY disappointed in the change to this attraction, and JM and JW wish they had that time back, as well.
After that, it was time to head to a new land, and grab a bite to eat. Pecos Bill’s called our name (JW wanted a greasy hamburger – something he doesn’t eat much of at home) and so away we headed. However, JM is a vegetarian of sorts (she will eat seafood, which makes life MUCH easier in WDW then if she were a strict vegetarian or a vegan!) and they had NOTHING on the menu for her – so we trekked over to El Pirata y el Perico for some bean tacos for her. While the others were ordering, I went to get FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, which we rode after a visit to the Country Bears Holiday version.
After that, it was time to head to the Studios. We’d decided earlier that it was really silly to go to the Studios, then BACK to the Magic Kingdom for the night-time stuff, so we switched the nights we had planned for Fantasmic! and the Osborne Lights for tonight and would do SpectroMagic and Wishes on the night we’d planned to do the Studios. At the Studios, we saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Show, Little Mermaid, and the Wild West side of the Great Movie Ride. We stopped by the Osborne lights (which I totally enjoyed, and there was just the right amount of snow), Star Tours, Fantasmic!, Tower of Terror, and Rock-n-Rollercoaster. We had beer and pizza from the counter service places on Hollywood Blvd – but why does the place that sells pizza not also sell beer? And then they would only sell us one beer per person – come on, the other two were getting the pizza! And I have to say “Way to go, girl!” to JM here – she’s not a fan of the dropping rides, so her riding Tower of Terror (she only did it once on the trip) was a major accomplishment. I was going to let her ‘chicken out’ if she wanted, but she figured if she got herself that far, she might as well go all the way!
After finishing up at the Studios, we had a beer at the Scats Cat Lounge in POFQ. They had a Jazz band that wasn’t too bad, either. One thing about this lounge vs. the one in POR – it is much more ‘adult’ – the one at POR seems to have a TON of kids in it, which does not allow for a relaxing adult beverage to end the evening. I’m not sure if it’s just the size of the resort, or the type of music played (Jazz trio vs. interactive piano player), but it was nice to be able to stop off here after a day in the parks and just chill for a few minutes.
Sunday (11/27) – Merry Christmas – Part One!
Plan: Animal Kingdom and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party
Execution: We got to do most everything we wanted to in the Animal Kingdom, starting with the Safari. After that, we rode the train to the conservation station, where we got to watch part of a laparoscopic procedure on a large bird> It was quite interesting to watch. After that, we rode Kali River Rapids, getting a bit wet, but not TOO bad. We dried off a little watching It’s Tough to be a Bug and the Lion King show. I think we were all dry by the end of that. We then trekked to the Tusker House for lunch, which was good for what it was. We then went to Dinoland and rode Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and Triceratops Spin. As we were leaving that area, we saw we MIGHT be able to make Tarzan, so we hot-footed it up there and watched the show. Sorry to all you fans out there, but this one just doesn’t do it for me. I’m not too terribly sorry that it closes before my next visit. I’m not positive I stayed awake, but I was darn close to nodding off a couple of times. After that, JM and JW went back to the resort, while MK and I stayed behind to watch the parade. The floats and ‘puppets’ are decked out for the holidays in the parade, and it’s pretty cute. The families riding along didn’t seem to be that into it, though (we were watching fairly near the entrance, so they were only about ½ done with the route). We killed a little time waiting for the crowds, and then MK and I headed back to the resort, too.
Before we headed out to the party, MK and I had a small bite to eat at the food court, in retrospect, we should have ALL eaten before we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. Once we got to the party, JW and MK rode Splash, while JM and I went to get cookies (it was too cool for me to ride Splash, and JM doesn’t like drops). We then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, went to the Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World After All, and then watched the Fireworks. At this point, JW and JM were in need of something more substantial then cookies and hot chocolate, but Pecos Bills (with no veggie option) and Cosmic Ray’s were the only things open – and that JUST had the chicken side open AND didn’t even have all the options on their menu! VERY disappointing in the food department. We were told later that we should have asked for the manager, because they can ‘always’ fix a vegetarian option, even if it’s not on the menu. It was a bit of a mad-house there, though, so I’m not sure how well that would have worked.
The hot chocolate, however, was the right temperature, and all the cookies were soft snicker doodles. Sugar cookies with royal icing are more ‘festive’ IMHO but I’m sure they wouldn’t hold up as well. After the food foraging, we rode Buzz Lightyear and Astro Orbiter. While we were riding Astro Orbiter, MK (who doesn’t do spinning rides like that) went to look at the party-specific merchandise, and they had a nice ornament that she got for all three of us girls. We then watched the parade, and I watched the end of it while the others went to the Indy Speedway. I REALLY liked this parade; it has a TON of different units, including quite a few different musical units. I think my favorite was the marching band of Green Army Men (from Toy Story) actually playing the instruments. I caught up with the others at the Speedway (I saw them getting into their cars – I really like the ‘grandstands here for waiting), we rode the Teacups (which MK can handle), Pooh, and Snow White. We tried to get on Peter Pan, but were just a little too late to catch that.
I enjoyed the Christmas party quite a bit, and since I will never (in the foreseeable future) attend close to Christmas, this will be the only way I can see the Christmas parade, which to me is just about worth the price of admission, particularly when you include in the special fireworks with the awesome 360 degree shell launch.
Monday (11/28) – Merry Christmas – Round 2
Plan: Sleep in, breakfast at Kona Café; Epcot (including Candlelight)
Execution: We had a late breakfast at Kona Café, having made the reservations the night before. I really like the Tonga Toast, but it is a bit much to eat a whole serving myself (so I split it and an egg/potato/meat breakfast with MK). I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I DO enjoy the Kona Blend in the Press Pot.
After breakfast, we walked over to the TTC, and JM and I got to ride in the nose with the pilot and a couple celebrating their first anniversary (I did offer to let one of the others ride with JM, since I’d gotten to ride up front the previous year, but MK and JW knew I’d enjoy it a lot!). We first went to try to get FP for Soarin’, but with our Candlelight and dinner reservations, the return was at a bad time – so we went to Test Track, Mission:Space, and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. It was sad to walk buy the double-helix at the entrance to the Life Pavilion – I was there the day they had the grand opening of that pavilion in 1989, but being with an almost 3 year old and a 7 month pregnant sister-in-law, we didn’t spend a ton of time there, but I still remember that trip fondly. We went to the Living Seas, which was fairly crowded waiting for Turtle Talk, but everything else wasn’t too bad, but I must have hit a sugar low after my breakfast at this point, and had to wait outside where it wasn’t as crowded, the air was fresher, and I could enjoy a diet coke. After this, we decided to head around World Showcase, making our way to the Theater for the first show of Candlelight. Part of the goal on the way to the theater was to get a beer in every country – I’m not sure if we succeeded, but I CAN tell you that the chocolate iced gingerbread boys and the Oktoberfest beer from Germany go surprisingly well together. We got FANTASTIC seats for Candlelight – right on the center aisle, right in front of where the ‘official’ photographer was set up. Phil Donahue did a nice job with the narration, though he did say at the end that he’d messed up, but only the conductor, musicians, and choir knew it, because the conductor had covered it so well for him. One thing that was interesting to me, was that everyone stood when they got to the Halleluiah Chorus – I’m not sure if we weren’t ‘feeling it’ as much as the others (no, it couldn’t have been from the beer!), or if it’s traditional to do so (like with the National Anthem) and we just don’t know that.
After Candlelight, we went to our dinner reservations at Le Cellier. We had to wait a little bit, but not too bad, but we were the only ones waiting outside because it was a little cool out – but we were able to wait under the overhang when the rain came down. When we first made our reservations, Candlelight packages were not eligible for using Table Service Credits on the dining plan, so that was a part of our decision NOT to get the dining plan. They changed that ‘ruling’ before we went, though. This was the only meal where we had 1 appetizer, entrée, and dessert each (even at Jiko, where the others hadn’t eaten much that day, we shared two desserts), so for us, the dining plan would have contributed to eating more than we did. I know you don’t HAVE to clean your plate, but none of us are the type that can do that easily. After dinner, we watched Illuminations and then headed back to the resort.
Tuesday (11/29)– Merry Christmas – Round 3
Plan: Yuletide Tour/Shopping/Daytona/Progressive Dinner
Execution: Today started with the three of us ‘girls’ going on the Yuletide Magic Tour. JW decided he’d rather sleep in and just hang around the resort for the morning – I think he may have gone to DTD, too (though that may have been later in the day). It was raining this morning, but they nicely provided Mickey ponchos for those without for the tour! We started out in Epcot going to a number of different countries – Germany, Italy, the U.S., talking about the holiday traditions that ‘we’ get from there – and talked about Hanukah and Kwanzaa, too. We then went to the Studios, where we talked about how movies influenced our ideas of the Christmas Season, and talked about the Osborne Family that donated the lights (and no, it was NOT Ozzy and Sharon!). After that we went to the Grand Floridian to look at the decorations there, the Magic Kingdom to look around there, and then the ‘most backstage’ part of the tour – to the Christmas shops. The staff was working on getting back fully onto day shift, after having gone on the overnight shift to set up all the decorations. They talked a little bit about how the decorations are selected for the different locales, and how there are very few Mickey Christmas decorations – the staff has found out that any Mickey ornaments rarely get back to the shop at the end of the season, despite being wired to the trees. They also talked a little bit about the Grand Floridian tree’s electrical requirements. Seems like an odd thing to talk about, but the tree is equipped with LED lights, and it’s a HUGE tree, yet the power draw is very minimal. I wonder if the Grand Californian will put LED lights on the new tree it gets there (after the fire this past December). We then headed back to Epcot where we got a very cute pin of Tinkerbelle sitting on an ornament. This was only the second day of the tour, and this was a new pin for the tour this year. Last year they BARELY had enough for the last tour.
I highly recommend this tour for anyone who wants something a little different for their December trip to WDW – the tour guides really like doing this tour, and it shows, and they bring quite a bit of their own stories to the tour, and try to get the group to share their own family traditions. It really does focus on Christmas (although not exclusively), so those who celebrate other holidays might not appreciate it like we did. We (as well as others) were told that cameras were not allowed on the tour – and it’s true they don’t want you to take pictures backstage – but they encouraged us to take lots of pictures while we were onstage, and we regretted not being able to take pictures of some of the various things while we were talking about them. This was the last of the Christmas part of our itinerary, and overall everything we did, in addition to all the decorations around the parks and resorts, really helped to put me into a more Christmas-y mood for the season, which (for me, anyway) was sorely needed after the eventful fall.
It was a bit after one o’clock when we got off the bus, and JM went back to the resort to pick up JW, the car, and head to Daytona for the day. They had a good time there, but did have an issue with paying for the different things there – You could buy the track tour separate from the ‘museum’ part, but you couldn’t go to the museum part without paying for the track tour. They didn’t know that, and paid for the track tour first, and were not given a credit when they went to got to the museum, so if you DO go to the Speedway, make sure you ask about EVERYTHING you want to do from the start. They had dinner at Fulton’s Crab House, and they said although the food was great, they were put in a back hallway, where all the staff kind of hung out, and did not get good service at all.
Meanwhile, MK and did a little shopping damage at DTD (which actually wasn’t that much this time around), and got ready for our planned progressive dinner. By the way you can NOT get to DTD from the TTC, despite what guest services at Epcot may tell you! The progressive dinner was something we’d dreamed up on or after our last trip, as a way to get to try more of the restaurants at the Monorail Resorts and see the decorations at the resorts, and was another of the reasons we didn’t do the dining plan. The plan was Appetizers at the Wilderness Lodge, Entrees at the Grand Floridian, and Dessert at the Contemporary. We had ADRs for Narcoossee’s and California Grill, the latter timed to be able to watch the fireworks from the Contemporary during the Christmas party that night. However, it took so long to get from our resort to the MK to the Wilderness Lodge, that we only had time for a quick drink and a quick look around the resort before we had to head back. In hindsight, we probably should have taken the bus, as via boat and monorail, it took us an hour to get from the Wilderness Lodge to the Grand Floridian.
Fortunately, Narcoossee’s wasn’t too busy, so we were still able to eat, even though we were over ½ hour late. We ended up getting salads there, as well as our entrees, and they were both ok but not spectacular (though my sister got carded, and she’s at an age where it’s a major compliment!) The décor SEEMED really casual and beach-y to me – but there was a party having dinner post-wedding (everyone all dressed up) so it was not a flip-flop place. We had plenty of time to walk around the resort, get to the Contemporary, and walk around there to see all the Christmas decorations (including Gepetto’s workshop made of gingerbread and chocolate) and swing through all the shops on the Concourse level. We didn’t want to be too early, because we wanted to see the fireworks from the restaurant, so we really spent some time wandering around there. We probably would have enjoyed spending A LITTLE more time at the Grand Floridian, but given the travel issues we were having that day, we didn’t want to risk having the monorail break down on us, or something!
Dessert at the California Grill was FANTASTIC, and when we told the waiter we weren’t in a huge hurry to order the dessert (after telling him that’s all we were getting), he gave us JUST the right amount of time to decide so that we were enjoying the sweets with the fireworks. We had seats by the window, so we didn’t have to go to a viewing area to watch the fireworks. Since this was during a Christmas party, they did the 360 degree finale, which you can REALLY see how far away they set them off from.
Overall, the Progressive Dinner was a bit of a disappointment, due to the fact that for the dinner to be progressive, you have to travel around the resorts. Maybe if we’d had appetizers at the Polynesian instead, it would have been a little smoother. I DO know that I would like to have another meal at Artist’s Point (MK and I ate there in 97 or 2000) and California Grill is high on my list for my next ‘real’ vacation to the World (not just a long-weekend)! I’d probably try Citros’ before I try Narcoossee’s again, though, but there are a few other restaurants higher on the ‘to do’ list than either of those.
Wednesday (11/30)– Picking up Missed Attractions – Part One
Plan: Epcot and the Studios
Execution: First, the big parts of the plan for the day were changed when we didn’t need to end the day at the Studios, since we’d already seen Fantasmic! But we decided we didn’t HAVE to go to the MK to see Spectro and the ‘regular’ fireworks after having seen the Christmas parade and special fireworks.
We started out with a quick bite at Starring Rolls (I love the Apple turnover there!), While everyone was finishing, I went to get FPs for Lights, Motors, Action, but the crowds were so light today, they were not using fast passes at all. While waiting for the others at the entrance to the Backlot Tour, I ducked in to get the Big Cheese to sign a postcard for a friend’s daughter who was going to be visiting at the end of the month. I was next in line when they all walked by (I LOVE this location to see Mickey, the lines are usually quite short), so they just had to wait a minute for me. As we were going into the Backlot Tour, they asked two of us to volunteer to be Deck Crew. They really asked JM and MK to do it, but JM did NOT want to (especially since she had NO clue as to what was coming), so MK and I did it. We got all dressed up, and had to ‘swab the deck’ until it came under attack. We had fun really being hams about it – at one point we both almost jumped into each others arms (I don’t think EITHER option would have worked gracefully, but simultaneously there was no way! We fortunately stopped short from ending up on the deck!) JM did get a GREAT picture when one of the big splashes appeared to be overtaking us. We did not get wet under the raingear, but the guy who played the Engineer, his hood came off or something, and he got fairly wet! It was a lot of fun to do that, but it was kind of a bummer that they don’t have a monitor that the actors can see the results of their action.
After that, there was a little time before the next Millionaire show, so we popped in to see One Man’s Dream, but skipped the film. Everyone else enjoyed Millionaire almost as much as I do, and JM even ended up #2 on the leader board at the end of the game. I think all three of us girls got on the list during that show, and subsequent shows as well, though nobody ever made it into the hot seat this trip. We grabbed some pizza from Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade and then walked to the LMA stadium and ate while waiting for the show to start, which wasn’t a problem (and I recommend it as a good use of the wait time, if you can carry the food you want there). I thought the show was pretty good, and definitely aimed at the opposite demographic from the one the Princess’ are aimed at. They had an ad running for the show that involved a teenage son getting more and more psyched watching the show, and Dad taking the car keys away from him by the end of it, because he was NOT in the proper mood to be driving the family sedan. I think that ad sums it up well! We did another Millionaire, saw Muppets, and rode Rock’n’ Rollercoaster again, before heading out of the studios.
We took the boat to Epcot, and at some point after our arrival, went to Guest Services and made ADRs for San Angelo’s for a later dinner. We had to go with a little later time then we would have otherwise selected, but, even with the Candlelight packages, we WERE able to get in the same day (it was a couple of hours before we ate that we made the reservations). First up, a ride on Soarin’ – we’d all ridden this on previous trips to Disney’s California Adventure, and knew we’d like it. It was posted 20 minute wait, but I don’t think it was that long – we didn’t stop walking until after the fastpass merge point! We even got to ride in the front row, without asking. Another round of Test Track and Mission:Space followed, as did a trip through time on Spaceship Earth.
After that, it was time for our ADRs – though we MAY have ridden El Rio de Tiempo before our meal (or else right after). The food was interesting, not quite what we expected, and I’m glad we tried the restaurant, but I’m not in a huge rush to repeat it. We headed back to the hotel afterwards, and were able to get out of the park just before Illuminations.
Thursday (12/1) – Stretching our Observation Skills
Plan: Mini-mouse adventure/Dole Whip Meet/ Studios
Execution: Thursday was the day for the first of the MouseFest stuff we were participating in (though we WERE at the Millionaire show that was part of the festivities, just didn’t realize it). Because this was a Mini Mouse Adventure, it only covered two lands, although we did venture into Adventureland to obtain one of the scavenger hunt items. JM and JW decided they’d sleep in, so it was just MK and I up with the early birds for this. We went to Fantasyland first, stopping on a bench near the castle to do the puzzles to see what we needed to find there. After that, on to Main Street, where one of the quests had some details in honor of two of the posters at MousePad, though I couldn’t quite put it together until Mark told me. The quest was concerning who paid more for lunch, and how much did they pay, and was a ‘contest’ between Mike and Tom! We had a little bit of a tough time finding one window on Main Street as part of another quest, but were able to figure out the quest without it. There was also part where we had to count ‘the teacups’ at the Mad Tea Party – Everyone else just counted the ride vehicles – we counted ALL the teacups; the pictures on the ALL the signs, and the 3-D decorations! I guess that comes from reading the recaps of the full Mouse Adventures!
Then it was time for the Dole Whip meet. Quite a few people showed up for that, including another poster from MousePad (glad you could make it, Mayan Lily) It was nice sitting in the sunshine (even if it was a little cool out for those of us not escaping snow) and visiting with people!
After that, we met up with JM and JW – Before we met up with them, they did a couple of attractions, and we made reservations for Tony’s, since we’d thought about Italian for dinner last night – but for a late lunch. Before our ADRs, we did the Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise, and Splash Mountain (for JW and me) as well as some other stuff on that side of the park. JM, who hadn’t seen the ‘New Management’ yet was far from impressed. One of the other reasons we wanted to make the ADRs for Tony’s was because we’d had SUCH bad luck with restaurants in the Magic Kingdom, and we didn’t want that to be what JM remembered! Plus, when we were making the ADRs, we mentioned that JM was vegetarian and had a tough time at the party – the CM helping us was also vegetarian and said that Tony’s had a lot of options that would fit in with her dietary preferences. It was a good lunch – I don’t recall what we ate, but when we sat down, we were pretty hungry, so I know we had breadsticks, because I told the waitress we ‘needed’ them!
We then headed to the Studios for another shot at Millionaire (we all got a Nike question wrong, but before that, the three sisters were all on the board!), Rock n Rollercoaster, and Tower of Terror (for JW and me only). We walked over to the Boardwalk and had dinner at the ESPN club. They were REALLY busy when we walked in, so instead of waiting, we ate in the bar. The Chicken Wings there are a very large order, so make sure you’re all really hungry. After that, we took a Taxi back to POFQ (I think it was $10 with tip), and I hit the sack. The others stayed and listened to the Jazz band for a while.
Friday (12/2) – Shhhh, Don’t tell Mickey!
Plan: Universal Studios and Pleasure Island
Execution: When we first started discussing this trip, JM and JW expressed a fairly strong interest in doing Universal Studios. Since MK and I hadn’t done that on our previous trips, we were game. I looked online to see what our ticket options were, and they had a 2 park, 1 day ticket. When we went to buy them, they weren’t available on line, but WERE available over the phone, so that’s what we did.
The place was VERY empty! One or two rides may have had waits over 10 minutes. We were able to do everything but the shows and ultra-kiddy rides in the two parks! I would have been VERY disappointed if we’d paid for the ultra-fastpass thing they have – I think ONE attraction (if that) was there any sort of advantage to having it. I can see, though, in busier times, where it would be worth it.
Hulk was fun, though I think the design principle of that rollercoaster was “how many times can we turn them upside down”. The Mummy was cool – and so was Men In Black. I think my favorite, though, was Spiderman. VERY good job there.
Initially, our plan was to go to Pleasure Island – but we were all pretty tired – so I called over to POR and got reservations for Boatwright’s, and we ate there. There were a LOT of people trying to get in, but our wait wasn’t long at all after I checked in (though there was a line to do that).
Saturday (12/3) – C you real soon!
Plan: Last ‘real’ day, Mega Mouse Meet, Schocolate Mousse Meet, Ultimate Orlando Adventure
Execution: This was the last day for the rest of the crew, and the last day in the parks for me. I got up early and went over to POR to check in for my last night, and they actually had a room ready for me! The walk was a bit with the luggage (thank goodness it rolls!), but not bad at all. I got back just as the others were ready to head to the Magic Kingdom, having gotten their boarding passes and checked their luggage.
Magic Kingdom – OH MY – Saturday, the first non-holiday weekend with the Christmas décor – and they were filming the parade for the Christmas day show! It was a mad house! We did Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear, and then I had to leave everyone to go be a greeter at the mega Mouse Meet. I’m not sure what all the rest of them did, but they made it back to the airport and home safely! I did the orientation for greeters, went and grabbed some lunch at the Dolphin casual place (Tubby’s, I think), and then went to meet some of the authors, web masters, and the like, and then did my greeter duties at the end. It was a lot of fun, and I actually won one of the MousePlanet T-shirts!
I then walked to the Boardwalk, Yacht, and Beach Clubs to see the decorations (very cool – especially the Carousel that actually moves!) before the Schocolate Mousse meet. I HAD been debating about rushing over to the Studios to catch a Millionaire show, but decided to stay to the end of the Meet and see the decorations at the other hotels instead (it was a decision I was very happy with). I got to meet a few more people from MousePad, which was cool, and we toasted Mike and Tom, who inspired the whole meet (yes, the same Mike and Tom from the Mini Mouse Adventure). I’d never had the Mousse there before – very yummy and chocolatey (thank goodness I wasn’t counting my Weight Watchers points on this trip!) I then did the Ultimate Orlando Adventure, which was part of Mouse Fest – there were 3 teams of 2 and one team of one (me) actually doing it – and I’m proud to say I came in DEAD LAST, without a doubt! There was an Eye Spy of lamp posts! Do you know how hard it is to see the top of the lampposts in the dark? One quest involved getting a German paragraph translated, and I didn’t ask for help from a cast member (and should of – I know no German! But I didn’t think it was ‘allowed’) – but was able to figure out that I was looking for prices of things in the candy shop. And the other involved a ‘Jumble’ from Japan – and I couldn’t figure out one of the key letters. But I DID show up at the end!
After talking with the people there for a while, it was noted that the finale of Candlelight had just started, so I headed out of there to get to the Magic Kingdom in time for Wishes and the second Spectromagic. Even though they weren’t filming the parade any longer, there were still a TON of people there. I did a couple of rides (unfortunately, the wait for Peter Pan was too long, that was the only thing I REALLY wanted to make sure and hit), ate at the Noodle Terrace (very good for theme park Pad Thai – decent amount of noodles AND shrimp, though I’ve since read online that they’ve made the portions a bit smaller) and saw both the fireworks and the parade. I even had time to grab a peppermint ice cream between the two!
Sunday (12/4) – Final Departure Day
Originally, I was going to depart on Saturday with the rest of the group, but Katrina messed up all the flights out of New Orleans, so instead of leaving 3 hours before them, I decided to stay an extra night. Unfortunately, the flight was scheduled for 9:15 (and it was on time) but that means to have my bag checked in at the stand in the resort 3 hours before flight time, I had to be walking there at 6 in the morning – with DME picking me up at 6:30. One thing, even though I’d called Disney with my revised flight information, they hadn’t associated it correctly with my POR reservation, so I’d had to call THEM when I got back to the room after the late night in the Magic Kingdom to find out what time I was supposed to show up. That has GOT to make it tough on them making sure they don’t overfill the buses when those sorts of things happen, fortunately, it was just one of me!
I made it home safe, and REALLY want to go back again! Touring with three other people requires a lot more compromise than with just one – and there are some things I’d have done differently if I’d been on my own – but we had a GREAT time, and I got to share one of my favoritist places with 3 members of my family – so that was great, too.
Future Trips:
Well, I do have an AP ‘burning a hole’ in my pocket! I almost did a last minute, short trip the weekend of the 17th (of December), and probably would have done it if the flights were back to pre-Katrina selection. When planning to get my AP, I intended to visit in the spring after Expedition Everest opens, and then again in October for the Food & Wine Fest – both for long weekends taking only 1 or 2 days off of work. That plan changed when they announced previews for Expedition Everest for the last weekend in January, and I’ve already ‘been there, done that’ by the time I submitted this. (It’s a GREAT ride!). I am still going to go in early May (over Mother’s Day Weekend) to see the Flower and Garden show at Epcot, though – and there’s no way I’ll miss the Food & Wine Fest – in fact already arranged to rent points from a DVC member and have a confirmation number! Also, my brother and his family are moving to Southern Georgia soon, so we may have to find a way to get together in WDW.
And just a word to anyone considering attending a “Meet” of any sort with other Disney fans: Just Do It! EVERYONE I’ve met has been great – and you’re in a safe, public place with LOTS of people around, so it really is a great way to get to meet others with a similar obsession.
See you in the Parks!
Cathy Sowa