Belated Trip report 05/18-05/26

[yellowrice]

Part I

The Cast
Girlfriend 28 yrs old
Myself 28 years old

Facts
Flying from Vancouver Canada May 13 to do other Florida things
Staying at Pop Century
Arrive at Disney: May 18
Depart Disney: May 26

Other: Both first timers to WDW Ive wanted to go for 13 yrs asked enough questions on the board from the dining plan to how to find certain characters at the parks. My goal was to try a variety of restaurants and find Donald Duck, Stitch, Buzz Lightyear and hopefully the Seven Dwarfs since they are kind of a rarity.

May 15 (Monday)

Plan Miniature Golf Fantasia Gardens/ Bomas

We decided to head to Disney early to get with the magic with a round of miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens with a bet on the line with dinners at Bomas. I was overwhelmed with the size of the Disney property. It took us awhile to find the place and understand how the roads worked. I quite liked the theme of the course but maybe more since I won by two strokes but I still ended up paying since my girlfriend was down to her last $50 (she bought four pairs of shoes and spent $450.00 in three days). You can play the same course or another miniature golf course on property for half off as long as you show them your first receipt. Our ADR was for 6:00 at Bomas and it was good. We had to wait for about 15 minutes before our table was ready. I had a nice chat with other tourists around our table which is great because you can open up with talking about the parks or the food. The gentleman was celebrating his birthday and the CM serving him brought over a plate of different sweets wishing him a happy birthday. Animal Kingdom Lodge is a nice hotel to visit even if you dont stay there. They have an area where you can view some animals if they are out and about.

May 18 (Thursday)

We arrived at Pop Century at around 4pm to check-in. A new trainee helped checked us in which took awhile since they couldnt find a King bed so we settled for two queens in the 70s section facing the lake. Just remember to make sure that you get your Photopass coupon that entitles you to a free picture for staying at a Disney resort (I realized that we didnt get one till we got home).

We headed to Downtown Disney to get our wristbands and visited Pleasure Island. The Comedy Club was fun; just make sure you get there a little early so you get a good seat. I was surprised to see that the BET club was empty but then we checked out 8 Traks (a 70s 80s music club). It probably was best club at Disney with a mixture of different ages partying it up. The best place that I enjoyed was the Adventurers Club. We spent quite some time there listening to the stories and just being entertained. All and all it was a good night. Kungaloosh!

May 19 (Friday)

I decided to check this whole Star Wars thing out at the MGM since I grew up in that era but I wouldnt consider myself a hardcore fan, I was hoping to get a picture with Chewbacca. My advice: stay away from this park when Star Wars weekend is on. The place was packed especially busy around the Star Tours area. The neat thing upon entry of the park was that they had Storm Troopers on top of the entrance acting and stuff. The majority of the rides were fun, hitted up the Tower of Terror and then the Aerosmith coaster with a fast pass. We then went to watch the Indiana Jones Stunt show then Star Tours with another fast pass. Even the Star Wars shop was busy. We did see a bunch of Star Wars characters that you can take pictures with but the line ups were too long to bother.

After the Muppets 3D show we headed for lunch at the 50s Prime Time Caf. The wait wasnt long. We liked the theme restaurant and our server was entertaining as one would expect in the place. I got the fried chicken which was good with a glow cube in my drink while my girlfriend got the meatloaf. I would recommend this place to anybody that is in the mood for interactions and fun entertainment.

It was a pretty hot day so grab a couple of slurpees with our snack credits and watched the Camera Lights Action Stunt show spectacular which was entertaining especially those that like action car scenes in the movies. Then we hooked up with our first group of characters and checked Buzz Lightyear off.

We then rushed to return our Alamo car rental to the Dolphin. Drop-off is at the front of the resort, just tell the valet staff. We then headed back to MGM for the parade where I talked to a four year old that told me hes from the mall. After some more walking around and some browsing of the stores, we headed to Fantasmic about an hour early to grab good seats.

After, we took Mickeymacs advice and strolled over to Beaches and Cream to grab a snack. We had a hard time finding it at first. The Kitchen Sink looked pretty tempting but looked too much for two people so we just stuck to a burgers and shake that was good. We then walked the boardwalk and we went into Jellyrolls for some dueling pianos thanks to Klutchs suggestions. It was a good way to end a nice day overall.

[yellowrice]

May 20 (Saturday)

We headed to Epcot at opening, on our way to Soaring but changed directions since Characters Connection wasnt busy so we started our day with the Fab Five and Chip and Dale. Great way to start the day with the Big Cheese himself and I finally got my picture with Donald Duck `after all my failed attempts at DL. We then hit more characters (Alice and her Wonderland friends) on our way to Soaring but grab a fast pass instead of waiting for 30 minutes. Test Track was shut down for some reason but we did hit Mission Space. Since my girlfriend gets nauseous from certain rides we decided to do the tamer version of Space with no spinning. Anybody can do this unless they hate small spaces. After it was off to Soaring which was a nice ride and a quick dash back to Test Track which finally was operational.

We liked Epcot a lot, especially visiting the World Showcase. Its just nice to see the different cultures and entertainment there. We especially liked to watched people that were creating, painting, carving things it was quite neat to see. I recommend people to take the time and watch the shows that the WS has to offer. Its interesting to see the Japanese girl creating animals in candy, watching the acrobat dancers at China, seeing a lady in France paint, to acting at the United Kingdom.

Dinner took place at Alfredos. ADR was for 6:30, probably waited less then five minutes. I ordered the Salsicce e Fagioli all'Uccelletto which was alright; I didnt realize I ordered beans when I wanted pasta. I ended up eating more of my girlfriend dish. The desserts were pretty good as they bring out a tray of how all of them looks like. The night ended with Illuminations which was good except with the downtime of the globe moving into the center. More shopping and that was it for the day, went back to our hotel and soaked our feet in the tub.

May 21 (Sunday)

We headed to Animal Kingdom started off with getting a fast pass at Everest and then headed to Kilimanjaro Safari to see lions, zebras, elephants and more. I enjoyed the safari a lot. Cant say the same for Everest, I felt it didnt live up to its billing. With all the talk and how that girl on the Disney channels hyped it up, I was expecting more of a thrill ride. It had some good effects but I expected a way scarier ride (and I hate roller coasters).

We had lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ. Took awhile to find a place to sit, but the food was good and we were sitting in shade. We both enjoyed the Lion King show (Must See) and the Bugs Life 3D. The best spot for the parade would have to be where Africa is, you can catch the parade as it starts and when it finish.

We then headed to the Polynesian resort for dinner at Ohanas. The wait was about 10 minutes with our ADR. With our dining plan we discovered that we were entitled to a virgin smoothie each. As for dinner, I highly recommend this place. We enjoyed the food, the service and the atmosphere of this restaurant, and if you have kids, they have some children games that they play.

After we shuttled our way to watch the parade and fireworks at Magic Kingdom and since it was EMH pm hours, we stuck around to go on rides. You can check off a bunch of the rides during the EMH pm hours especially since you dont have to wait during the hot temperatures. We were able to accomplish the Jungle Cruise, the Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Country Bear show, Philharmagic and its a Small World. My girlfriend was getting tired so we headed back to Pop. The funny thing that happened when we were walking back through the castle was that somebody tapped me on the shoulder and I turn around and it was Chip from Chip and Dale. Surprising but it brought a smile to my face. The characters were out in front of the castle. Unfortunately my girlfriend was too tired to line up for a picture with both Mickey and Minnie in it. That would have made a nice photo. The only bad part of the night was the wait for the bus to get back to our resort. We probably waited close to an hour for our bus.

Long day but we covered what we wanted to do so we could take it easy the rest of the trip, but overall Animal Kingdom was interesting and personally, riding the rides at MK at night seems better. Go figure!

May 22 (Monday)

We headed to Typhoon Lagoon, got there in the morning and just take it easy. We enjoyed Slusher Gusher (keep your bum up), the wave pool and the lazy river. The crowd wasnt that bad to start but poured in more as the day went by. We then headed to Disney Quest. I enjoyed it. Cant really say its for everyone, but if you have boys, then I recommend it. You can do virtual fighting, animation, old arcade games etc. Even the ride up the elevator was fun with commentary from the Genie.

After a quick stop back to our hotel, we popped over to Epcot for our ADR at 6:30 at San Angels at Mexico. Time wait was about 10 minutes. The food was good, except that we both werent that hungry due to our late lunch. The atmosphere was nice and dark with a nice back drop (couldnt get a nice picture though) a bit romantic. We went for the ride after and it was nice to just relax after a nice meal.

We headed to Canada to watch the 360 film show. And you wonder why everybody thinks its cold in Canada? Half the film talked about some of the cities in the winter. They need to update that thing. But I did talk to the workers there to find out that if you work at a country in WS you have to be from there which was neat. Most of them are on one year visas. Another thing that we found neat is the stuff that we sell in Canada that you dont find in the US like certain chocolate bars and chips.

The rest of the evening was taking pictures of the flowers Epcot had. Especially those of Characters in flower shape around the park.

[yellowrice]

May 23 (Tuesday)

We started out the day at Blizzard Beach. Got there by 9 since both water parks are open an hour early for resort guests which was nice as always. We tried most of the rides, everything but Summit Plummets. That looked pretty crazy to do plus there was a lineup. I quite like the whole idea of the melted ski resort but I think in the end we preferred Typhoon Lagoon to Blizzard Beach. More of the rides at BB needed a slide or a tube to go down and we werent big of having to wait for one. We did for some reason ran into Goofy at the park and took a picture with our water camera (which I think is cheaper at Wal-mart).

After a quick shower and nap at our resort, we dressed and once again headed back into Epcot for our ADR at the Coral Reef for 4:50. I have heard people on the web board being 50/50 about Coral Reef, but I really enjoyed it. Besides the fact that we were lucky to sit next to the tank, I like the overall dcor of the restaurant. I recommend this place if youre on the dining plan and I highly recommend making ADR as early as possible since we had ours for 4:50 and it was sold out for the night and they were turning people away that were walk-ins.

It was EMH PM hrs at Epcot, so we hitted up the rides that we didnt do, Ellen Energy, Figment Imagination, the Viking ride, and Spaceship Earth. This is also a good time to go to Character Connection to see the Fab 5 I just couldnt believe that my batteries died after my picture with Mickey (I didnt bring my backpack with my extra set that night). Sigh Goofy saw this and he grabbed a Photopass photographer to get our pictures with him. But there werent any for Donald, Minnie, Pluto or Chip n Dale. Just my luck.

May 24 (Wednesday)

MGM was a lot way better then our first time around. We got there at opening and we basically rode one ride after another checking off everything off our list. We got our pictures with everybody that we wanted to see (everybody but the Power Rangers). I was disappointed with the Chronicles of Narnia though. I guess I expected more of a walk through. The only other thing that we didnt do was the animation area where they teach you how to draw a character. I think that would have been neat to do.

We took the boat from MGM to our fourth time at Epcot for our ADR at Les Chefs de France. I quite liked the food there since it is rich and creamy. The rest of our day here was pretty short. Decided to call it a night and watched the finals of American Idol, plus pack our bags since we were going to have a late night the next day before we departed on the 26th.

May 25 (Thursday)

We headed to Magic Kingdom and saw a bunch of characters out in the front which is a nice way to start the day. Started with Stitchs Great Escape which was fun and then the Buzz Lighyear ride. We were disappointed that the first show of Cinderellabration was cancelled. Then we headed to Splash Mountain and discovered that they were having mechanical problems as well. We then strolled to see PoTC closed, wasnt surprised but would have loved to ride it, but we stuck around to take pictures with Peter Pan and Hook! After a train ride to Toon Fair, we got more character pictures in and headed for our ADR at 12:00 at Cinderellas Royal Table for lunch. I have to say that although we were two adults, we were treated really well by all the CMs. Plus all the characters came and talked to us and posed for pictures even though we were adults.

We saw Jiminy Cricket but didnt line up to take a picture (Girlfriend thought the lineup was too long, and we didnt see him again). Later on we went to the Hall of Fame and saw a mystery character was there but didnt line up. I kept on wondering if that was Jiminy Cricket.

During the Share a Dream Come True Parade, Minnie Mouse acknowledge our t-shirts with Mickey Mouse on it, I actually got a nice up close picture of her (Pays to advertise!) We then went to Cosmic Rays with everybodys recommendations and enjoyed the entertainment of Sunny Eclipse. After we rode up Splash Mountain with a fast pass, grabbed a Dole Whip and visited the Tiki Room under New Management. After some much needed shopping we headed to our ADR for the night California Grill. Our ADR was at 9:30 and we showed up at 9:10. We didnt get seated until after the fireworks. My recommendations get an ADR for 8 or 8:30. The food there was great, everything from the appetizers (a lot) to the dessert. The waitress was nice and helpful to let us know that Epcot had EMH hours so we could catch the monorail back to Epcot to connect to our bus back to Pop. Plus we got to ride in the front of the monorail.

May 26 (Friday)

Our last day at Disney World. The neat thing that I found about Disney was that you can check into the airlines at the resort and not have to do it at the airport. So what is there really to do but head to the parks, do some shopping and see any characters that we can take pictures with. We headed to Magic Kingdom first and rode Splash Mountain, line up for the Hall of Fame to see Daisy Duck, bought more souvenirs and then headed to Epcot. Didnt really ride any rides, just tried the Coca Cola flavors at Epcot, ate at the Fish and Chips place at the United Kingdom and took a stroll around the Lagoon and one last look at the World Showcase.

After we took the Magical Express to the Airport where I ended up buying more souvenirs at the Disney store and that was that to a magical trip.

In Summary some of my opinions:

Do the dining plan you may not eat all of it or it would be too much food. But it gives you a better opportunity to try things you might not have gotten in the first place. Plus it will pay for your gratuities, so youll come out ahead by the end of it. Its fun planning which restaurants youll want to hit.

Go see some characters, what is Disney without interacting with them? We saw a family and only the mom was having fun with Captain Hook.

I think everybody should go into each park with an open mind and take each park for what they are. They are all unique and different. Whether its a thrill ride or an educational one, its neat either way.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to ask them (but there are way better veterans WDW posters on here). I apologize for not really proof reading. If you want me to summarize my advice and comment or want more details, I can do that too. Other then that, it was 13 years of waiting, loads of pictures and it was worth it. I hope it doesnt take that long to return. Im in a Disney Depression so Im currently planning a trip to Disneyland in California for September.

Just wanted to say once again, thanks to everybody on this board you guys made all of my planning easier!

P.S. I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time I found the 7 Dwarves with Snow White!

[rm3]

Sounds like you had a great trip! I agree about the characters ... sometimes it's annoying to wait in line for pics, but all of my favorite pictures from WDW are with characters ... my favorite is a picture with chip and dale! Those guys are adorable, and I swear they were flirting with my sister

[mzloolue]

I'm glad you had a good time and I enjoyed reading your report.

[yellowrice]

Thanks for reading... didn't really want to go into too much detail... and then again I felt like I didn't say much.

and yeah, I would attend to agree that Chip and Dale were fun. I tend to notice that those that are in pairs tend to me more interactive. Like Chip and Dale, Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum, Hook and Smee etc... but they were all great!

[SpamPutney]

Sounds like you had a great time! Good observation about the paired characters. Some of the best pictures & memories I have involved Tweedle Dee & Dum, Chip & Dale, etc.

[SuefromRI]

Enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. Hope you don't have to wait another 13 years to return.

[Wendi]

Great report, thanks for sharing!!!

OK... so where did you meet up with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs??? That is my ultimate goal. I know I have a better chance of seeing them at MNSSHP, but I'm not entirely sure I want to go to it again this year (even though it was fun.)

[wed@wdw]

Thanks for your report! I really enjoyed reading it! Reading the reports remind me of my visits and it's always nice to relive the memories. Have fun at DL! I know what you mean about Disney Depression.....I would have it too if not for planning a trip in August & possibly another in December!

[yellowrice]

Thanks for reading again guys. I could have written more but I didn't want it to be a novel, although I do think I should have went more into the dining part which probably be more helpful to readers.

SpamPutney: Definitely on the Chip & Dale etc... characters. Another good pair is like Aladdin and Genie, because Aladdin can actually talk to people which makes the interactions fun as well!

SuefromRI: I'm sure it won't be another 13 yrs... or at least I hope, just sucks when your on the other side of the continent in Vancouver BC Canada

Wendi: I got lucky, right place right time. It was the first day of Characters in Bloom at Epcot by Germany, there was a small lineup, and I ask whose everybody was waiting for and they told me the Dwarves or maybe just Snow White. Luckily I got both.

wed@wdw: You have a great trip too... i'm jealous that your going twice. We're still debating about DL though... my girlfriend said to me yesterday about going to Los Angeles: "we don't have to do DL in since we went to WDW"... I looked at her and said "Are you crazy?!?"

[wed@wdw]

my girlfriend said to me yesterday about going to Los Angeles: "we don't have to do DL in since we went to WDW"... I looked at her and said "Are you crazy?!?"

Sounds like it's time for a new girlfriend!!! Just kidding!!