Travelmum’s Orlando Holiday Trip Report

[WAMUMOF4]

Loving reading your TR

 

[OziJo]

Am lovin' reading your TR! Your piccies are fantastic and as with Battymum's TR I'm taking lots of notes for our trip.

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks for the kind words as I was wondering if it was a bit boring because I'm not witty like some of the other TR's. Ozi Jo, that is exactly one of the ways I learnt too - by reading TR's so I'm pleased to hear mine is helpful

 

[australiankaren]

your not boring..now hurry up with the rest of it

 

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

I'm not bored at all. I'm eagerly awaiting another update luv

 

[kyl]

Really enjoying the read. Thanks also nice to see a photo of you....I can now put your face to your post!

 

[admel00]

Not bored either here! Love seeing how a family of 5 does it....lots of note taking here.

 

[Travel Mum]

Thanks for your kind words everyone and I'll keep on with it. I fear the next post might be quite long-winded so skim it if you prefer

 

[Travel Mum]

Thursday 06 October – Fantasmic

Of the WDW night time entertainment offered, I chose for us to see Illuminations, Fantasmic and the MNSSHP fireworks at DL. At the time I was planning the trip, Fantasmic was only scheduled to be playing two nights a week and therefore all touring plan sites said that going to Hollywood Studios on a day that Fantasmic was scheduled would mean the park would be packed. Hence I was determined to choose a non-Fantasmic day for our touring of HS and decided to just go into HS in the evening this night to see Fantasmic. I also had no desire to queue for two hours for it so, since we were on Disney Dining, I immediately decided to use a TS credit for the Fantasmic Meal package at Mama Melrose.


This was all good until the dining reservations opened and the only time we could get a table for 5 at Mama Melrose on the Fantasmic dining package that day was at 3.30 pm! That really mucked up my plan because I had thought we would do a water park during the day (as we didn’t have Park Hoppers, it couldn’t be another theme park) and then go into HS for dinner and Fantasmic. I knew the dinner package times were early but I’d been hoping for a 4.30 pm or even 5 pm. So this day was a bit jumbled by the 3.30 pm time but I still went away on holiday planning on us getting to the water park at the 10am opening and doing a few hours there.

(Oh and my plans were further mucked up by Disney, a few weeks before we left, putting Fantasmic on every night of the week we were there meaning my HS touring day was no longer a non-Fantasmic day ).

Sorry for the long-winded explanation but that is how we ended up with this day. In the end, we didn’t go to the water park or even leave the resort! We just didn’t feel bothered to make the effort to go out for just a few hours so put Typhoon Lagoon off until our check-out day on the Saturday. That morning we relaxed around POR and we got a load of washing done in the laundry while the girls swam in the adjacent quiet pool. As much as I tried for us not to eat lunch (since we were having “linner” at 3.30pm), everyone was hungry by then so we couldn’t avoid it and ate at the food court.

After lunch we rented a surrey bike (didn’t have the camera on me so didn’t take a photo) and rode along the riverside path around the resort which was a great way to see the rest of the resort. I must say that I was so relieved we were in building 18 because some of the other buildings were so far away from the main area with the food court, shop and reception. It is all such a beautiful resort though.

So eventually it was time to go into HS for our “linner” and we got there in time to grab fastpasses for Tower of Terror to use later.

We made our way to Mama Melrose and got seated in a nice, comfy booth. The atmosphere is lovely in there and, although it was much bigger than the small, neighbourhood eatery it is trying to emulate, it was still pleasant surroundings. Now, I wish we had been hungry because using a TS credit here on the Fantasmic package is such great value! Not only do you get an entree and a dessert but you also get an appetiser! We ate our appetisers which were all really yummy but then we were full! Along came our entrees and, although DH made a good effort at this, the girls and I struggled to eat much at all. Such terrible waste and we certainly could not even contemplate dessert. We were disappointed because the food was really nice at Mama Melrose and it’s annoying that they offer Fantasmic packages at such a silly time of 3.30pm. We walked out with our coupon for entrance to the special seating area at Fantasmic though so all not lost.

During our meal, DD13 had snuck out and got Star Tours fastpasses so, after our linner, we rode Star Tours again.

Got a look at the show as we entered the Star Tours building:

Then I we did the Great Movie Ride and eventually headed down to ride Tower of Terror. When we got down to near Tower of Terror, we immediately noticed this huge queue of people which confused me momentarily until I realised it was the queue for Fantasmic. The gates has not opened yet so there hundreds and hundreds of people waiting to get in. When we came out of the ride, the queue had gone so the gates had been opened but there were still heaps of people continuously streaming through them. With the Fantasmic dining seating, you need to go in at least 30 minutes prior to the start as that is when they open the special seating area to everyone. It is recommended that you go in 45 minutes prior. I knew this but, when we came off the ride, it didn’t make much sense to go off elsewhere in the park so we hung around and looked in the nearby shops etc. DD10 tried to see if we could ride the nearby Rockin Rollcoaster standby but the wait was more than an hour so we just took a photo this time!

Seeing all those people streaming in through the gates really unnerved me and finally, about an hour before the show, I couldn’t wait any longer and we went in! Well, by doing so, we got great seats (right to the far left edge of the Fantasmic seating so almost centre) but gosh, it was such a long wait for the show to start! I could tell DH was not looking too impressed, the girls were bored and I really began to wonder and stress if all this effort to see this show would be worth it.

Waiting for the show to start:

One of the last parts of the show:

Anyway, to make a long story short, Fantasmic was very good and we did all enjoy it. However, I do think that another time (how I wish there would be one), if they had Fantasmic scheduled for every night, I would not bother with the Dining package and would risk just going in once the initial queue had been seated. While we were sitting there during out hour of waiting, the stadium did totally fill up but, up until about 45-30 minutes prior to the start , people were still turning up and getting decent seats.

Just as the last fireworks were going off, I noticed a few people starting to leave. I presumed they were “in the know” so we left too and high-tailed it all the way out of the park and to the POR bus station. We didn’t want to wait it out like we had done at Epcot after Illuminations the other night and were determined to be one of the first to the bus stop which we were. When the bus that we got on left HS, it was absolutely packed but at least we were on and I can only imagine how many thousand people were still on their way to the bus stops!!

 

[battymum]

Yes, I am a bit dissappointed we never got to our Mama Melrose dinner - even though we had a coveted 4:50 timeslot - We never did get to see Fantasmic - I dont know whether it showed on our night or not - there was a massive storm in the afternoon.

If I had known, we could have gone on our HS day - after eating at 50s Prime Time. Cest La Vie!!!


Great TR by the way!!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I'm one of those that have always walked in to Fantasmic 30 minutes before showtime. But then, I've been fortunate enough to be there when Fantasmic is on every night and with two show on Saturday and Wednesday. I've always caught the later show...and yes, I am sitting towards the back of the arena; but DS doesn't like loud noises and the back is about as close as he wants to venture.

Thanks for the update and your views about the dining plan. I've always thought about it and wondered if I should pay the money and then get a guaranteed premium seat. Looks like I'll stick with walk-up.

 

[Mum from oz]

I'm glad you enjoyed Fantasmic. Pity about all the mishaps though. I am coming up to ADR booking and was seriously considering the Fantasmic package but I think I will change plans and dine somewhere else at DHS and do the walk up.

 

[Travel Mum]

I'm glad you enjoyed Fantasmic. Pity about all the mishaps though. I am coming up to ADR booking and was seriously considering the Fantasmic package but I think I will change plans and dine somewhere else at DHS and do the walk up.

If you will be on the Dining plan, I'd still suggest you see if you could get a decent dining time on the package when your reservation window opens. If you could get a 4.30 pm or 5pm time and then use a dining credit for the meal, it would probably be worth it I think.

 

[Mum from oz]

As we will be offsite there's no dining plan. I wanted to do a restaurant in DHS and I really wanted to try Sci Fi. It was that or Mama Melrose but only for Fantasmic, not as I was dying to go there. As we will be paying ourselves, I think we will just choose something different. Thanks for all your advice though.

 

[Travel Mum]

Yes Sci-Fi was fun and certainly more of a unique experience than Mama Melrose.

 

[Travel Mum]

Supposed to be working but, shussh, here is our next day!

 

[Travel Mum]

Friday 07 October – Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party

Tour Guide Mike recommends finishing your WDW holiday on a high so I always planned to do MNSSHP on our last night. All the advice also says to have a quiet, relaxing day so that you have the energy for the late night party. So I had always planned for us to do that.

Originally there was going to be a rocket launch at the Kennedy Space Centre the day after this so we changed our rental car to pick it up this day so that we could be ready to zoom over to Cape Canaveral for the launch the next day. Subsequently the rocket launch was postponed but we still had our car booked to pick up at 10 am this day.

The car was booked from Hertz and their closest depot was at the Courtyard Marriot Hotel. The offer a pickup service and I had the number to call when we were ready to be picked up. We had a relaxing morning at the resort and just before 10 am, I called to say we were ready to be picked up. As I was dialling, I read my itinerary closely and I noticed I was supposed to call an hour BEFORE we were ready to be picked up! Yikes, we had an 11.30 am lunch ADR for Saana at Kidani Village and needed time to figure out how to drive there! Luckily the Hertz guy said he would be there in 30 minutes and he was. He drove us all to the Courtyard (what a great service) and we picked up our Full Size car. It was the dirtiest rental car I have ever had and had a few dents – I was shocked that it was a Hertz car but it didn’t really matter because, after all, we were about to put 3 children into it who would no doubt mess it up anyway! Plus we had no time to lose because we had about 20 minutes to get to Saana. We only had a Disney onsite map (and we were offsite at that time!) and DH hadn’t driven in the U.S. in five years so it was a bit of a stressful ride as you can imagine.

We made it to Kidani Village though with a few moments to spare and that’s when it started to drizzle with rain. We had a nice lunch at Saana but didn’t really see all that many animals. After lunch, we had a quick look outside between the showers and there were a couple of zebras and antelope but the giraffes were far away in the distance.

Here we all are at Saana:

Finally remembered to take a food photo for you and here is my Saana dessert:

Outside Sanna, there were a few animals:

So back to the resort we went in preparation for MNSSHP. Before we left N.Z., I had let the girls chose a costume each from Amazon so that is another of the packages that we had sent to the resort prior to our arrival. Off to MK we went and got there just after 4pm which is the earliest you can enter on the party ticket.

Well what a night this was and not completely what I had been expecting! I am going to try to abbreviate this as I know I tend to go on a bit! The night involved a lot of walking back and forward to the Town Square Theatre! As we had not yet Minnie (DD6’s favourite) yet, I promised her we would go into Mickey and Minnie’s Meet and Greet while we were at MK for MNSSHP (last chance of our holiday to meet her). So soon after we arrived, we went into the Meet and Greet, we went into it and, when we got inside the room where they would be, only Mickey was there. They told me they never knew if Minnie would be there or not and so could never tell us. I was disappointed but we went ahead and got a photo etc with Mickey and I told DD6 we would try back later. So we went off and toured the park, going on our favourite rides and doing a couple we had missed the other day. Later we went back down to the Town Square Theatre to meet Minnie and I asked the cast member outside the door if Minnie was there. They said they didn’t know. How lame is that?! So, it left us no choice but to go into the room in the hope she was there. Well, she wasn’t and how embarrassing that was to tell Mickey that we actually didn’t want to see him again! (explained as nicely as we could and scooted out as fast as we could). Very frustrating but, since we were there, we met the princesses too and, even though we had met them at Akershus, doing this meant we got some nice photopass photos.

On the Teacups:

I wonder what advice Aurora was giving DD13?:

This is out of order now but, much later in the night and after the fireworks, I marched the family back down Main Street to try again! This time, to our huge relief, both Mickey and Minnie were there! Plus Mickey had changed clothes so we got photos with them both and he was wearing a different outfit that in our earlier photos. It was a bit awkward for the girls trying to explain to Mickey that they only wanted Minnie’s autograph and not his as they already had it. I don’t think he understood and signed it anyway. But that was great to put a big tick against meeting Minnie Mouse.

So back to earlier when we came across the last bit of a parade down Main Street – I’m not quite sure what parade it was but it was cute. Anyway, as we were heading back down Main Street ourselves (read above!) we followed the end of parade and one of the cast members handed the rope for DD10 and DD6 to hold. So they got to march down Main Street helping the cast members carry the rope and so were kind of in the parade which was fun.

Late at night at about 6.45 pm we went into the queue for Space Mountain. The ride broke down for about 10 minutes when we were in the queue but eventually we rode it. When we came off the ride and into the gift shop (as you do at Disney!), the gift shop was packed and we initially did not know why. Then we looked outside and knew why. It was pouring with rain. Oh dear, I hadn’t brought our ponchos because there we no big water rides to go on. There was a huge queue at the counter and I realised everyone was buying Disney ponchos. I’d specifically brought cheapo ones from N.Z. because I didn’t want to pay the Disney prices but it turns out we had no choice if we ever wanted to leave that gift shop! So about US$40 later, out we went into the rain decked out in our ponchos. So much for wearing costumes to the party.

Anyway, we started our trick-or-treating and it was fun because at least it wasn’t cold and rainy. The treat stations had all moved under shelter so were still giving out candy and heaps of it. We filled our little Disney treat bags and the, when they were full, we dumped the candy into DH’s backpack and started out again. It worked well and DH’s pack got very heavy. We continued to trick or treat and ride the rides and the rain slowed down and then stopped completely.

The Haunted Mansion was fun to to at Halloween:

We rode rides during the first parade as all advice had said the second one was less crowded. We watched the 9pm fireworks from in front of the castle and they were amazing.

Getting stuck into the lolly loot while we wait for the fireworks to begin:

Later we watched the 10.30 pm parade and, although I was disappointed the headless horseman did not ride (guess the wet pavement was too risky), the parade was great. In fact I think MNSSHP was great and I’m so glad we went.

After the parade was over, we headed down the MK Main Street for the last time and it hit me that it may well be the last time ever. I always knew whilst planning this trip that this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us. We will more than likely get back to DL but going all the way to Florida is so much for $$ for us that it is a long shot we will get back. So, thinking of this, I really felt a bit emotional as we started to walk under the tunnel, and I stopped to turn around and take it all in. After a few seconds of doing that, I blew MK a kiss, turned around and walked out. My DH was just shaking his head and having a quiet laugh at me – he really does not understand our passion my Disboard friends!

 

[OziJo]

Fantasmic is not showing at all when we are there in Jan. I am a bit disappointed about that. We will see Illuminationst though and have a ADR at La Hacienda which I have planned will let us finish dinner in time to get a nice viewing position.

After the parade was over, we headed down the MK Main Street for the last time and it hit me that it may well be the last time ever. I always knew whilst planning this trip that this was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us. We will more than likely get back to DL but going all the way to Florida is so much for $$ for us that it is a long shot we will get back. So, thinking of this, I really felt a bit emotional as we started to walk under the tunnel, and I stopped to turn around and take it all in. After a few seconds of doing that, I blew MK a kiss, turned around and walked out. My DH was just shaking his head and having a quiet laugh at me – he really does not understand our passion my Disboard friends!

I know how you must have felt. It will be the same for us.

 

[Travel Mum]

OziJo, I really hope you do a TR when you get back as I will be so keen to know what it is like at WDW in January. I can see your girls are older than ours but this was the last year that we will be able to take them out of school as no sooner will one daughter be finished with NCEA than the other starts and then the third. So that resigns us to travelling in January if we want any trips longer than two weeks. Not that realistically we will be back at WDW but it doesn't stop me dreaming!

 

[Travel Mum]

Earlier in the day, I took a few photos of the resort but planned to take more the next day before we checked out. Unfortunately the weather did not participate the next day so I didn't get many:

While we were waiting outside reception for the Hertz guy, I took this one looking over to the South Bus Depot which was the one we used from building 18:

I took this one from outside reception as a bus passed us on the way to the South Depot. We found the whole Disney bus system to be really good and a very relaxing way to get to and from the parks.

I was annoyed I'd forgotten to take a photo of us on our Surrey bike so I saw that family on one in the distance and snaped this photo:

Here is Riverside Mill (the POR food court) at a quiet time of the day:

Gosh, I really did love POR