First time to the great big world

[nic01002]

Nicholes Family 4/13/12-4/9/12 Pop Century
Driving from Kentucky, DD6, DD8, me 32, wife ageless
Disneyland Experts, Newbies to Disneyworld

This was our first time to Disneyworld. We use to live in Utah and would go to Disneyland every year, but two years ago we moved to Kentucky and have not been to any Disney theme park since. This was a last minute trip that my wife put together. We had been debating what to do for the girls spring break, so on the week before spring break started my wife decided we would go to Disneyworld. This was very tuff for a planner like me. So here was our trip.

Day 1 (Tuesday 4/3)- I left work a little bit early and just drove down to Knoxville Tennessee (we are up near Cincinnati) It was only a 4 hour drive but it was enough to make the 2nd part of the drive bearable. We pricelined a hotel and got a nice Best Western for only $50.
Day 2 (Wednesday 4/4)- We drove, uneventfully, to Orlando and checked into our hotel, Pop Century. A quick back story on our hotel choice. Our goal was to go relatively cheap as this would be just an exploratory trip for us so we would know what to do better next time we go. We had planned to stay at Port Orleans and even booked it but initially we were going to leave home on Wednesday and check in on Thursday. When I got a meeting cleared from my schedule and we could leave a day earlier we called to change our reservation but unfortunately they had no openings the night before and then we found out that since we got a package we could not pick up our tickets earlier than our check-in date (preventing us from just getting one night at a hotel off property. So we ended up changing our reservation to Pop Century which worried since it was Spring Break and we did not want to have a lot of teenagers running around.
Well we were pleasantly surprised with the hotel. We got the 1960s which was nice since it was by the main pool and eating complex but our room was on the opposite side of the pool so we did not get the noise. We also were at the very end on the 4th floor which allowed us a great view of the lake, the new animation resort, and also fireworks at night from Magic Kingdom (I think). It was a great full water view without paying more.

After we checked in we got to Animal Kingdom around 3:30 pm. We enjoyed it there. My wife headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris with the girls while I headed to get Fastpasses for DD8 and myself for Expedition Everest. After Safari we went on Rapids and got drenched which was good because it was so hot. This was followed by dinner at the Flaming Tree Barbecue which was great. We did a meal plan and since we were going to be using 2 credits of table service later in the week we knew we needed to try and save some extra quick service for the day we had no table service. So I got the rack of ribs while my wife got chicken and ribs. There was plenty for all of 4 of us to eat and we saved 2 meals. Before we ate I grabbed fast passes for Dinosaur for all four of us. After eating we went on Dinosaur then watched Finding Nemo. After that DD8 and I went on Everest while DD6 and DW went on triceratops spin. DD8 really liked Everest and wanted to go on it again. I liked it as well. We ended out the day with all of us going on Primeval World and letting the kids play in the Boneyard. We did not get to do anything but that was okay. This day had been added on and we did not think we were even going to get to do much with arriving so late and the parks being busy with Spring Break. But we all had fun and plan to spend more time in this park next time we come.

I will write the rest of our trip later. Stay tuned.

[yellowrosedtxn]

I will write the rest of our trip later. Stay tuned.

Can't wait to hear more!

[Guardboy21]

Yay, you are staying at Pop Century!!!! That's where i work!!!!

[Leslie]

Love Pop Century. Always stay there and will again May 2013. Cant wait...

[danyoung]

Nicholes Family 4/13/12-4/9/12

Wow - not only a WDW trip, but you did it going backwards in time!!!



Sorry, just teasing - loving the report so far!

[Barberella]

Bump

Did the DD's get to do a character meal? Did the family see any other park besides AK? Will they be going back to WDW? Inquiring minds want to know.

[nic01002]

Day 3 (Thursday 4/5)
Today was the big day. We were going to Magic Kingdom. We were worried about crowds so we made sure to get there early, which was about 6:30 am. It was Magic Morning hours so we got into the park at 7:00. We got to see the fun little show where the characters come in on the train and say hi to everyone. We have never seen anything like that at Disneyland so it was really nice. We knew were we wanted to go so we took off to Fantasyland and got on Peter Pan (we were the very first ones on it). After that we went on Dumbo, Barnstromer, Winnie the Pooh, Tea Cups, Snow White Scary Adventure, and got Fast Passes for Philamagic. This was all done in the first hour, we could not believe how uncrowded the park was. My guess is that people must have been sleeping in because the parks were all opened really late. After this we lined up by the rope between Small World and Haunted Mansion waiting for 8:00 oclock when the rest of the park opens. We were going to head for Haunted but they told us it would not be opening on time, so instead my family headed to Pirates while I got FP for Jungle Cruise, after Pirates we went to Splash, Country Bears, Magic Carpets, Jungle Cruise and then had to head back to see Philamagic. Then we did Haunted. All this was done before lunch. We thought it was great, but we could tell that the park was getting more crowded.
A quick word on some differences between Florida and California before I continue. I liked Haunted Mansions que a lot better, especially the cemetery and the ride seemed the same, Pirates on the other hand is so much better at Disneyland with the whole Bayou seen and the larger drop.
After HM we went on Small World which was nice, then it was almost time for lunch at the Crystal Palace, so we watched the 12:30 parade and then went and ate. I have to tell you I love doing the meal plan. I just had to be upset about the cost of the trip once at the very beginning, not everytime we sat down to eat. I dont really care if I even saved any money, it was just nice not to have to think about how much everything cost every time we sat down for food. After lunch we were quite tired so we decided to go back to the hotel and swim and rest. On the way out I grabbed FP for Space Mountain (DD8 favorite ride) and then we left.

After resting for a few hours we came back and ate dinner at the Columbia House (my wifes now favorite place to eat at in Magic Kingdome). It was quite, good food, and fun atmosphere. After Dinner we all went on the People Mover and Buzz, then DD8 and I went on Space Mountain while DW and DD6 went on Dumbo. After this was over the fireworks had begun so DD8 and I watched them from the ridge to tomorrowland and DW and DD6 watched from Dumbo. After this we were tired again so we headed back for a good nights sleep before Epcot the next day.

All in all it was a great day. We were suprised how much we were able to get done. We got to see several characters. Including Donald in his frontier land outfit and goofy in his Pirates outfit. Also I enjoyed this parade much more then the "Celebrate" parade but not as much as the Million Whishes parade. Judement is still out weather I like Dinseyland or Disneyworld better. It will have to wait untill the end of the trip report.

[betsyrina]

Sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to hear more.

I also purchased the dining plan for my trip in May, and I have been thinking the same thing. I'm glad it is already paid for, and I don't have to think about how much everything is going to cost when we sit down to eat.

[nic01002]

Sounds like so much fun! I can't wait to hear more.

I also purchased the dining plan for my trip in May, and I have been thinking the same thing. I'm glad it is already paid for, and I don't have to think about how much everything is going to cost when we sit down to eat.

Yes the dining plan is soooo nice. Also it is in my mind very flexible. We new we were going to be eating at a resteraunt that takes 2 table service meals so we were going one day with out a table service, so on a lot of our quick service meals we just got 2 or 3 meals instead of the full four, that way we had some left over on the day we had no table service. Plus it helped when we would get back from the park at night and someone would be a little hungry, we would use an left over meal at the hotel to grab something for a late night snack.

[fleming]

Day 3 (Thursday 4/5)

. I have to tell you I love doing the meal plan. I just had to be upset about the cost of the trip once at the very beginning, not everytime we sat down to eat. I dont really care if I even saved any money, it was just nice not to have to think about how much everything cost every time we sat down for food. .

There are many threads about whether the meal plan is a good deal, but I think for whoever is paying for the trip, this point above is so true. There is an added value of just 'getting whatever you want' and not looking at prices, it just makes the whole thing more enjoyable. For anyone on the fence, just do it, trust us.

[danyoung]

Without turning this into a do it or don't do it thread, I have to say that the dining plan is great if it works for your style of dining. It doesn't work well at all for my style - I always eat an appetizer (not covered) and rarely eat dessert (covered), and I like some nice wine with my meal (not covered). I'd end up having to shell out cash for every meal anyway. But if you eat the way the plan was designed, then it can be a good thing for you.

[TinaMouse]

Thanks for starting this......can't wait to read more!

[Ohthatjeff]

and also fireworks at night from Magic Kingdom (I think).

Probably IllumiNations.

Pirates on the other hand is so much better at Disneyland with the whole Bayou seen and the larger drop.

Drop any further in Florida and you'll hit the water table.

After HM we went on Small World which was nice, then it was almost time for lunch at the Crystal Palace, so we watched the 12:30 parade and then went and ate. I have to tell you I love doing the meal plan. I just had to be upset about the cost of the trip once at the very beginning, not everytime we sat down to eat. I don’t really care if I even saved any money, it was just nice not to have to think about how much everything cost every time we sat down for food.

I've never thought of it quite this way before. I like your thinking, though I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to stop myself from doing the math and keeping a running total of how much I spent/saved.

After resting for a few hours we came back and ate dinner at the Columbia House (my wife’s now favorite place to eat at in Magic Kingdome).

Mine too! (Though my favorite food items are the pork sandwich at Flaming Tree and Cannonballs! at Earl of Sandwich. (And the orange slush thing in Adventureland. I want another!)

Judement is still out weather I like Dinseyland or Disneyworld better. It will have to wait untill the end of the trip report.

Both is always an acceptable answer.