Fun in the Sun (and the Rain)

[big_red_s]

"US" - mother, father, daughter 9 and son 7.

Second trip to all of us, but my son does not recall his first trip at all (he was 3 or so).


Day 0 – Saturday

We told the kids we were staying at a hotel overnight – just for fun (we sometimes do that), we managed to pack and load up the car without them noticing. When we were about to leave I told the kids that I forgot a package on the table and if they could bring it out.

On the table were the magic bands.

We stayed at the hotel overnight (park & fly package), woke up early and off we went.

Day 1 – Sunday – Check in & Magic Kingdom
Day 2 - Hollywood Studios
Day 3 - Epcot
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom
Day 5 - Downtown Disney
Day 6 - Magic Kingdom & Halloween Party
Day 7- Animal Kingdom

 

[big_red_s]

Day 1 – Sunday – Check in & Magic Kingdom

We got off the plane and were picked up by the Magical Express Bus to the Pop Century Resort. We didn’t know what to expect since last time we stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, but we figured that even Disney’s low end resorts can’t be that bad.

Took us between an hour to an hour and a half to check in!

Actually for the whole week everything in Pop Century was in slow motion, the magic bands seem to confuse mainly the employees who had to deal with them. Anyway, we finally got a room, the packages we had delivered from Amazon haven’t arrived yet, nor our luggage, so we headed off to the Magic Kingdom.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom just in time for the parade, which was excellent and even better than we remembered. The kids loved it, the characters interacted and danced and the Maleficent Dragon was impressive. On the down side, this is the first time we encountered the “new” Disney of many employees – one cast member was berating a lady for having the wheel of her stroller over the line – heavens forbid.

The guy was talking to her like he’s a cop in an NYC parade, giving her orders that she has to be “behind the line” – so stupid. I offered the lady to be in my spot to see if the bully would take on someone his own size, but she managed and the guy walked away.

Unfortunately this was not the last time we experienced such rigid and unforgiving bureaucratic behavior which leads me to believe it’s a management issue.

From the parade we ambled over to the Liberty Tree Tavern (which doesn’t serve ale) for our first ADR. Great atmosphere, great service, OK food.

Went on the Buzz Lightyear ride (a hit throughout), walked nonchalantly admiring the beautiful park (my favorite part) and rode some less popular rides (Aladdin, Jungle cruise, etc.).

Back to the hotel for an early dinner and turn in since we woke up at 5 AM and wanted to get up and running to Hollywood Studios.

 

[big_red_s]

Let's face it, Disney is a "hard" vacation but one of the many upsides is the beautiful pictures. This one is my favorite I took of our daughter.

 

[big_red_s]

Day 2 – Hollywood Studios

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

Kids are excited and we had time to kill so we walked around taking some pictures of the resort.

Ate a quick breakfast at the hotel (our package of cereal from Amazon has arrived) and off we went to Hollywood Studios to catch the first bust to …. Wait in the front of the line. Passed the time by talking to the other guests and the kids started trading pins. I’m a collector so it was painful to watch them trade, but they had fun and traded for the sake of trading.

Gates open and a mad rush started to get the kids signed up for the Jedi Training – we made it … yay.
W
ent on Star Tours (a favorite), Muppets, took some photos and make FastPass selections. Now it was time for the Jedi Academy. After being measured for robes the kids were marched to the stage and taught how to use a lightsaber. Once the training was over, Darth Vader made an appearance and fought each kid (my son got ribbed by the Jedi master for wearing a Vader shirt).

After the excitement was over we went to the Buzz Lightyear ride and walked the park and saw a few shows (Beauty and the Beast and Frozen Sing along), and off to dinner at the Sci-Fi Drive In. This one was recommended by our travel agent from Small World Vacations and I have to say that it was great. At first they sat us at a limo (tables and chairs), but we asked to be sat in a car which was accommodated, our services was excellent and the food was very good. I recommend the milkshakes if you can.

At this point it started to rain, we headed over to see the Indiana Jones stunt spectacular but only got to see a third of it due to the weather.

 

[big_red_s]

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

If I knew how much my kids would have enjoyed Epcot I would have scheduled another day.

We started off at Spaceship Earth, did the obligatory character meet and greet and Nemo, slowly making our ways to the countries. The kids picked up Perry the Platypus scavenger hunt.

And then it started raining.

And then Mommy and Daddy discovered the joys of the Food & Wine festival.

We did manage to go on Maelstrom before it closed though and make our way to France for dinner at Chefs de France which was delicious. On our way around we met Marry Poppins, Alice and even got to go into Christopher Robin’s bedroom to meet Pooh & Tigger.

After a viewing a full rainbow across the world we got on Test Track, the kids designed a car and we got to race against it (the first and last fast ride for my beloved wife). The ride was very cool, not only the design part, but the fact that you get to see how it did and drive your virtual vehicle afterwards.

 

[big_red_s]

Day 4- Magic Kingdom

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

This is a slow day, no reason to hurry – everyone wakes up slowly (except me), I take the kids to walk around the resort.

We entered the Magic Kingdom and made our way over to our ADR at Be Our Guest for an early lunch. I have to say, the imageneers at Disney did a fantastic job building this place, it is absolutely magnificent. The staff is competent, efficient, friendly, the atmosphere is cordial, food is good and the whole experience is relaxed. This was certainly one of the highlights of our meal plan. We even ordered The Gray Stuff (it’s delicious) which the kids really got a kick out of.

Walking around the new section of Fantasyland was really a treat, the kids wanted to do the Seven Dwarfs roller coaster but I wouldn’t waste two hours of our precious vacation standing in line and there were no FastPasses available a few weeks prior to our vacation and on that day (a rant on that later on). However, we did get on other rides and went on Goofy’s Barnstormer (all he wanted to do was “a” rollercoaster”) which saved the day.

From there we went to Story Time with Belle, which was a nice surprise. The idea is that the kids, and kids at heart, will surprise Belle with a Beauty and the Beast play. Our daughter got to be The Beast and our son… Mrs. Potts – pictures which I will treasure as future blackmail and embarrass him at his wedding.

I highly recommend this attraction, the kids had a great time and memories, I also recommend for the adults to participate if possible.

A few more attractions but it started raining, but we had FastPass to Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid, which I have to say was very disappointing. A new ride utilizing technology from 50 years ago, not creative or Disney-like whatsoever… but it got us out of the rain.

From there we split, the boys went to Splash Mountain, the ladies to the carousel and Winnie the Poe Adventures. That was due to my son’s insistence to ride the Seven Dwarfs – but the line was still too long.

For dinner we went to 1900 Grand Fare, again great service, nice interaction with the Cinderella / Wicked Sister crew and OK food. I did get a cake for my wife as a surprise which was beautiful and delicious.

 

[big_red_s]

Day 5- Downtown Disney

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

My wife wanted to go to Downtown Disney because all her girlfriends said it’s a “must”. By now we both agree that it was a wasted day overall – except that we got to go back and enjoyed the resort.

There are no “deals”, very few merchandise which we can’t buy elsewhere and our lunch (Wolfgang Puck) was disappointing, my steak was good, wife’s Mahi-Mahi was good but was gone within 5 bites, son’s Mac & cheese was not edible at the least but my daughter’s pizza was actually delicious – if we were not on the dining plan and had to shell out $150 (food + drinks + tax + tip) for the lunch I would have been fuming. The huge Lego displays were cool but not enough, for us, to merit a whole day.

 

[big_red_s]

Day 6- Magic Kingdom & Halloween Party

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

Early breakfast at the Crystal Palace – we were here last time and really liked it, plus we get into the park early and take some fantastic pictures without hundreds of people around us.

From there we went to the Pirate League which was a really great experience. Son and I were pirates and daughter was a mermaid (we brought customs from home). The cast at the League were funny and very professional. I had the makeup done with all the eyes and eyes on my lids which was very freaky and cool.

We walked around some more and … low and behold… the line for the Seven Dwarfs rollercoaster was only 40 minutes long – we immediately entered.

A small part of the line incorporated some props as well as video games which I thought was a wonderful idea which Disney should implement on the rest of the rides, our Pirate League makeup was a hit with all the bored people. The ride itself was good, a slow rollercoaster which we all enjoyed (sans the wife). Later we found out that PhotoPass made a video of the ride incorporating us on it – now that’s Disney!!!

We were going to the Halloween party that evening, so we headed back to the resort to rest.

But wait, my wife’s vacation would not be complete without a DoleWhip… a mandatory stop and we got to say hello to Peter Pan while we were at it.

Of course the definition of “rest” is different among the family members – at least one of us (wife) got to adhere to the traditional definition of it.

The Halloween Party was great, we splurged on a caramel apple and the interaction of the characters with the kids was amazing. Mickey said “hello little guy” to my son, Cruella DeVil scared the heck out of him, Alice & the Mad Hatter where ribbing me, a Zombie lady freaked out my daughter and Captain Jack acknowledged my son and I (dressed as pirates from earlier).

Again, we encountered some of the new cast members mentality of bureaucracy and idiocracy over common sense, but we didn’t let it ruin our fun.

My only advice (besides all the other great advice on the forum) if you do these nightly events is not to plan anything aggressive the next day.

 

[big_red_s]

Day 7- Animal Kingdom

Wake up, chocolate croissant, coffee!

This was half a day, but honestly we didn’t do much. After packing up, checking out and checking into the magical express (all went smoothly) we boarded the bus to Animal Kingdom. We should have known better because there isn’t much you can do there for a few hours, we should have either scheduled a whole day or not go at all.

That’s it – we had a wonderful time, a tiring time, excellent family pictures and a lifetime of memories.