Having been to all four theme parks before, we knew where we wanted to spend more time (Magic Kingdom and Disney Studios) and where we could spend less time (Animal Kingdom). We managed to hit all four parks again, rode all of the roller coaster rides and other major attractions, and had a sit-down character breakfast, lunch, and dinner (two of the three were princess meals for BabyGirl G. - TheBoy didn't mind as long as he got to ride roller coasters with daddy...) We had a little weather-related unpleasantness the first part of the trip - it poured Sunday and Monday afternoons, to the end of minor flooding in some of the low-lying areas! Aside than that, though, the weather was spectacular - Florida in April is just starting to get really warm, but not uncomfortably so yet.
We stayed in a cabin in Fort Wilderness - basically, it's a one-bedroom mobile home - which was easily twice the size of the hotel room we had at the value resort from last year's visit. It had bunk beds for the kids and a full size bed for each adult (they claim it sleeps six. Ha!), meaning that everyone had their own space with no sharing necessary. The cabin had a full sized refrigerator, a range and oven, and even a dishwasher - we could have cooked all of our meals in the cabin quite easily (we did cook up pizza in the oven one night and had Pop-Tarts and coffee for breakfast a couple of times). If the A/C had worked properly (it crapped out our last night there, meaning we spent our last night at a somewhat uncomfortable 80ºF) it would have been just about perfect - we will gladly go back.
Having our own vehicle made a huge difference this time. People asked if, since we were staying on Disney property, we would be taking the Disney buses everywhere, and I can unequivocally state not just no but hell no. The campground is enormous - we didn't get a chance to explore even a tenth of what they had to offer - and you have to take buses just to get to locations inside the campground, let alone outside. If we had relied on buses, we would have had to walk ~ ½ a mile to the campground bus stop, wait 5-10-15 minutes for a bus, take that bus to the main office, wait another 5-10-15 minutes for another bus, and then finally take that bus to whatever theme park. Instead, we walked out of our cabin, got in our car, and drove to the theme park.
One thing's for certain: Disney owns that section of FLA. The signs directing you to each park or resort are clear, visible, and very easy to follow - we didn't need our GPS even once and never got lost. The only PITA was the Magic Kingdom - you'd get out of your car, walk to the tram, which then brought you to the transportation center, where you caught the monorail or a ferry to the Magic Kingdom itself. All other parks you parked in the lot and the tram brought you to the main entrance. Since we sprang for the "Park Hopper" option, we would simply park at Epcot and take the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom if needed. Oh, and parking is free if you are staying on Disney property - it's $14 a day otherwise. That makes a difference if you're trying to chose between staying onsight or not...
There were a couple of areas where it seemed like things had gone downhill from our last journey. Perhaps it was simply the crowds - the Northeast was on school vacation last week, so there were a lot of people from MA/CT/NY at the parks - and the workers were flustered with the mass influx of humanity - it seemed like customer service took somewhat of a hit. The other area was the food itself - it seemed that both the quantity and the quality were simply not as good this year as last. Now, once again, this could possibly be due to the sheer number of people; however it's hard to believe that Disney doesn't know how to handle crowds at peak times... It would also be nice if the counter service meals didn't consistently screw the order up - I think only once or twice out of the six meals we had did they actually get everything right the first time...
Here's another example of the customer service aspect. At one of the character meals, our waiter knocked a full glass of soda over as he put my plate down, drenching me in Diet Coke and breaking the glass on the table. He was very apologetic and worked frantically to clean up the mess, and was joined by several other employees in cleaning up the floor and table. At no point whatsoever did anyone attempt to assist me in cleaning up - which I can understand given that most of the soda went in my lap - nor did anyone from the restaurant even talk to us about the incident. No apologies, no free drinks or desserts, nothing - had it happened in any chain restaurant, I'd bet even money that at least my meal would be comp'd. Instead, I didn't even get the "Gee, we're so sorry" talk from a manager-type person...
On the plus side, though, all the major attractions were up and running again - last year, Space Mountain, "It's A Small World", and the Hall of Presidents were all out of commission when we went. I knew the kids would love Space Mountain (and boy did they ever; I think we went on it a good half-dozen times!); and I figured that if I had to be subjected to the Hall of Presidents as a child, so would my own children. Besides, I was curious to see how badly propagandized it was - put it this way, they devoted a full five minutes at the end to one of Øbama's speeches (I turned to Mrs. G. and whispered, "That can't be Barack Øbama - there's no teleprompter nearby" [she laughed]) but mentioned Reagan only in conjunction with a snippet of a speech he gave after the Challenger disaster - no mention of him winning the Cold War whatsoever.
Epcot was quite pleasant - they were hosting the annual flower show, and it was more breathtaking than usual - and I only wish we had more time to explore it more fully. We went on Soarin' and Test Track for the adrenaline junkies in the group, participated in "Turtle Talk with Crush" (if your kids - or you - liked "Finding Nemo" this is a must-see), and walked the International Pavilion several dozen times. The "giant evil golf ball" was an endless source of amusement - at one point, TheBoy commented that it seemed like no matter where you were in the park, the Epcot ball was always somewhere in the background, like it was following you. That quickly devolved into the "giant evil golf ball", which would dissolve both kids into hysterical laughter any time they saw (or thought of) the ball itself... It's really fun seeing the world through a child's eyes - you remember what it was like when you yourself were entertained simply by poking fun at things... (Or, like me, you never grow out of it...)
Disney Studios is home to some of our favorite attractions. Toy Story Mania is just oodles of fun (and I out-shot TheBoy more than two-to-one, so ol' Dad had braggin' rights for once); the Rockin' Roller Coaster is worth every second of the wait (even with the Fastpass, which is an absolute godsend and whoever thought of it should be given a bonus at least twice a year); and the Tower of Terror is good for a quick shot of pure adrenaline once or twice, too. The one complaint I had with Disney Studios is that it's too popular for its size - it gets really crowded during peak times, almost to the point of being too packed to negotiate the more popular areas. The more popular rides have very long Fastpass times - at 10 AM, Toy Story Mania was backed up to about 4 or 5 - and distribute all Fastpasses very quickly (they were out by 1 or 2), so you get there right when they open and maybe get on the popular rides once or twice.
We had the bad timing to go to Animal Kingdom on "Earth Day", which made for some interesting juxtapositions. Yeah, I like being lectured by some 20-something liberal arts major about saving the planet when the gift shops for miles around are stuffed to the gills with cheap crap made in Chinese sweatshops by child labor. Oh, and they use enough electricity in the "Parade of Lights" in one night to power my house for a good couple years - so forgive me if I don't trade my SUV in on a pair of hemp birkenstocks to walk home. Oh, and handing out plastic water bottles as a way of reducing the carbon footprint was an interesting choice BTW... On the plus side, the wait times for Everest and the Kalahari Rapids weren't too bad...
Don't get me wrong - we had a great time all around. The kids are getting to the point of needing minimal supervision, which makes for a much more enjoyable experience for everyone. We had our own transportation to and from the parks; we had a nice cozy place to come home to; and both kids were finally tall enough to go on all the rides (BabyGirl G. just barely squeaked by on the Rockin' Roller Coaster and a couple other rides with a 48" height requirement - she's like 47.9" tall). We're already talking about another trip next year, factoring in school, airfare, and other related costs, but we will be going back soon. We're getting the whole Disney process down, and figure our third trip should be even smoother than the first and second one.
Besides, isn't this what it's all about:
Two Kids and a Rodent
Cuteness. We haz it.
That is all.
4 comments:
Yay! Welcome home, I'm glad you had fun!
Next trip you can add MGM and Sea World and maybe even Bush Gardens in Tampa for something different. The magic starts to fade with too much exposure.
....and get your flight plans in early --- like next week.
The allure of driving straight through has faded, has it? I did it once, and won't do it again. Yes air travel is a pain, but the alternative (driving) is worse. Not sure if there is a train that goes there, and not sure I would dare take it. You still need a car when you get there.
Welcome back, it will be good to get back to work to get some rest!
That's what it is all about. Definitely. You've not experienced Disneyland/World unless you've done it in the company of children.
And Libertyman, Amtrak has a train that runs down the east coast that can carry your car with you called (surprisingly enough) Auto-Train.
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