HappyCamper
06-16-2003, 03:52 PM
Hello, my fellow Disney lovers!
Just returned from a wonderful trip to the World and would like to share a few highlights of our trip if you don’t mind. If this doesn’t belong in this area, please feel free to move to a more appropriate section.
Temps in the low to mid 90’s. It was hot. Rain for 4 or 5 days, which cooled temps for a little while. Humidity was high, which made the heat worse. Did I say it was HOT?
Lots of guests, imo. Lines weren’t too bad for the most part. Some did have 50 and 90 minute waits. Once at AK, the ITTBAB line was way past the attraction’s entrance!! The sign still said it was a 20 minute wait, but I know the line wait was longer than an hour. Let me just say, “Viva la Fast Pass!!” My hat’s off to the inventor/creator of that little idea!! (So, my dear MissBianca and smallworld0, I think that your stock is safe, :lol: . Lots of people spending money.)
AndyL and Radar: Fort Wilderness is still absolutely the best. As a matter of fact, we went into the 1500 loop and I heard it calling your name. Lol Everything is bright and green and blooming. (No mosquitoes, Sher.) Ate breakfast at the Trail’s End for the first time. It gets my vote for the best tasting breakfast, bar none, and the price is reasonable for a Disney buffet. (WillCAD, I think your group will really like meeting here.) Watched the peacocks roam and spotted the solid white one. Kids rode the horses and for the first time, we visited the back horse barn. Beautiful animals. (Golf cart rentals are on the rise, but if you rent for 7 days, you get 10% discount.) Buses ran often. My brother, his wife, and son met us for an afternoon at FtW and says that he now understands our frequent trips to WDW. (Well, FtW is part of the reason.) I did find out a little more about the afternoon activities and will let you know as soon as I unpack my notes.
Back to the parks. We did MK and EPCOT hopping on our first two days there. Saturday, June 7, we arrived at MK and headed directly for the barbershop. Maura cut DGD’s hair and as she braided it in the cutest style, told her all about styling the princesses’ hair. Then, she highlighted her hair with red gel and two Minnie clips. Michael did DGS and DH. DGS is three and Michael “spiked” his hair with blue gel and pixie dust. DH got a regular cut, but finished with green hair and PD. And, smack dab in the center of his cute little bald spot, Michael “painted” a green Mickey :rofl: and then added PD to top it off. The grandkids loved it and so did the ladies in the park. Guys, if you want female attention from the ladies, do something this daring! (Haircuts were reasonable. $15 each, including styling and gel, and we tipped high for all of the attention.)
Had a great time in the MK hitting favorites of the DGC. Peter Pan, Toon Town, Tea Cups, It’s a Small World …
A word here about Gay week in the MK. I think that it must have grown in the last few years. We had heard that Gay Day is not obvious. It most definitely is very obvious. Six year old had simple questions about some displays, but at her age, they were easily answered. If you’re uncomfortable with the life-style or discussing it with your children, or would rather postpone the discussion for later in their lives, don’t do the parks at this time of the year. I would venture that about half of the guests, if not more, on this day were participants in Orlando’s Gay Days.
AK was hot. Big crowds. Took the Safari ride at about 3 and saw lots of animals up-close. Rhinos so close you could have touched them by hand. Giraffes eating a few feet from the road and the lion and lioness perched on the rocks and easily viewable. Great pictures of all. Our “safari” guide was terrific and received one of our CM cards.
Tarzan was full force. Incredible performance with front row seats. DGS stood up several times and danced with the performers. At AK, CM spotted DH’s birthday badge and seated us in the very first row. DH did the animal sound at the show opening and both kids were picked to dance around the FotLK stage during the show. Magical to the max. That wonderful CM also received a CM appreciation card!!
LaMasquerade CMs spent lots of time with the DGC. Lots of pictures of that. Test Track still makes me laugh like a child. Spaceship Earth remains a favorite of all of us. (Thought about you, Deb.)
Ate with Cinderella at the Grand Floridian. Definitely not my cup of tea, thank you very much. (Hey, twinklepurplechrometoesies, thought about our CRT breakfast. Certainly different. ) The dining area is much too small and crowded for a buffet meal. Getting in and out of seats and trying to take pictures without chairs in the way made this awkward, at best. Easily aggravating. The food was bland and for the price, I would have hoped for more. We had only planned this trip about a month ago, so this was all that was available for little DGD’s favorite character. I’ll definitely be trying for CRT for our next trip! I am so very grateful to Disney for putting in another Cindy meal and I will take this before nothing, but it isn’t my first choice for a Cindy meal.
We did Universal for the first time in about 8 years. Wonderful improvements here. We were there on the first day that Shrek was open to the public. Great little show and the kids loved having their picture taken with Shrek. Did Jimmy Neutron and it was nice, but it meant more to the kids than to us. Loved Twister and my absolute favorite was MiB. 8) This ride is delightful and I’m sorry to say, puts Buzz to shame at the MK.
Rosebud, I never did find the cameras with the Express Passes in them. I wish that I would have because I needed a couple of waterproof cameras for Typhoon Lagoon and for the kids playing in the water at Universal. (Hey, LoriBeth, did Canon put the waterproof covers out for the A70’s yet?)
So, I bought the books of Express Passes at Universal for $15 each. At first, I thought it was expensive. But, had I not purchased them, we would have been back a second day to catch what we missed. They actually saved us money by not needing a second day of passes and now, imho, they’re well worth every cent we paid for them. We were taken in immediately on every single attraction and ahead of all those in stand-by lines. Best part of it all was not having to cross the park to get a FP or to wait until we could get another. Awesome touring tool!! You can ride/see so much when you don’t wait in any lines. What a way to tour!!
That’s all I can think of that stands out in the trip. Now, anyone want to help with the laundry? Lol
Hugs,
Debby, the happy camper who missed all of you!!
Just returned from a wonderful trip to the World and would like to share a few highlights of our trip if you don’t mind. If this doesn’t belong in this area, please feel free to move to a more appropriate section.
Temps in the low to mid 90’s. It was hot. Rain for 4 or 5 days, which cooled temps for a little while. Humidity was high, which made the heat worse. Did I say it was HOT?
Lots of guests, imo. Lines weren’t too bad for the most part. Some did have 50 and 90 minute waits. Once at AK, the ITTBAB line was way past the attraction’s entrance!! The sign still said it was a 20 minute wait, but I know the line wait was longer than an hour. Let me just say, “Viva la Fast Pass!!” My hat’s off to the inventor/creator of that little idea!! (So, my dear MissBianca and smallworld0, I think that your stock is safe, :lol: . Lots of people spending money.)
AndyL and Radar: Fort Wilderness is still absolutely the best. As a matter of fact, we went into the 1500 loop and I heard it calling your name. Lol Everything is bright and green and blooming. (No mosquitoes, Sher.) Ate breakfast at the Trail’s End for the first time. It gets my vote for the best tasting breakfast, bar none, and the price is reasonable for a Disney buffet. (WillCAD, I think your group will really like meeting here.) Watched the peacocks roam and spotted the solid white one. Kids rode the horses and for the first time, we visited the back horse barn. Beautiful animals. (Golf cart rentals are on the rise, but if you rent for 7 days, you get 10% discount.) Buses ran often. My brother, his wife, and son met us for an afternoon at FtW and says that he now understands our frequent trips to WDW. (Well, FtW is part of the reason.) I did find out a little more about the afternoon activities and will let you know as soon as I unpack my notes.
Back to the parks. We did MK and EPCOT hopping on our first two days there. Saturday, June 7, we arrived at MK and headed directly for the barbershop. Maura cut DGD’s hair and as she braided it in the cutest style, told her all about styling the princesses’ hair. Then, she highlighted her hair with red gel and two Minnie clips. Michael did DGS and DH. DGS is three and Michael “spiked” his hair with blue gel and pixie dust. DH got a regular cut, but finished with green hair and PD. And, smack dab in the center of his cute little bald spot, Michael “painted” a green Mickey :rofl: and then added PD to top it off. The grandkids loved it and so did the ladies in the park. Guys, if you want female attention from the ladies, do something this daring! (Haircuts were reasonable. $15 each, including styling and gel, and we tipped high for all of the attention.)
Had a great time in the MK hitting favorites of the DGC. Peter Pan, Toon Town, Tea Cups, It’s a Small World …
A word here about Gay week in the MK. I think that it must have grown in the last few years. We had heard that Gay Day is not obvious. It most definitely is very obvious. Six year old had simple questions about some displays, but at her age, they were easily answered. If you’re uncomfortable with the life-style or discussing it with your children, or would rather postpone the discussion for later in their lives, don’t do the parks at this time of the year. I would venture that about half of the guests, if not more, on this day were participants in Orlando’s Gay Days.
AK was hot. Big crowds. Took the Safari ride at about 3 and saw lots of animals up-close. Rhinos so close you could have touched them by hand. Giraffes eating a few feet from the road and the lion and lioness perched on the rocks and easily viewable. Great pictures of all. Our “safari” guide was terrific and received one of our CM cards.
Tarzan was full force. Incredible performance with front row seats. DGS stood up several times and danced with the performers. At AK, CM spotted DH’s birthday badge and seated us in the very first row. DH did the animal sound at the show opening and both kids were picked to dance around the FotLK stage during the show. Magical to the max. That wonderful CM also received a CM appreciation card!!
LaMasquerade CMs spent lots of time with the DGC. Lots of pictures of that. Test Track still makes me laugh like a child. Spaceship Earth remains a favorite of all of us. (Thought about you, Deb.)
Ate with Cinderella at the Grand Floridian. Definitely not my cup of tea, thank you very much. (Hey, twinklepurplechrometoesies, thought about our CRT breakfast. Certainly different. ) The dining area is much too small and crowded for a buffet meal. Getting in and out of seats and trying to take pictures without chairs in the way made this awkward, at best. Easily aggravating. The food was bland and for the price, I would have hoped for more. We had only planned this trip about a month ago, so this was all that was available for little DGD’s favorite character. I’ll definitely be trying for CRT for our next trip! I am so very grateful to Disney for putting in another Cindy meal and I will take this before nothing, but it isn’t my first choice for a Cindy meal.
We did Universal for the first time in about 8 years. Wonderful improvements here. We were there on the first day that Shrek was open to the public. Great little show and the kids loved having their picture taken with Shrek. Did Jimmy Neutron and it was nice, but it meant more to the kids than to us. Loved Twister and my absolute favorite was MiB. 8) This ride is delightful and I’m sorry to say, puts Buzz to shame at the MK.
Rosebud, I never did find the cameras with the Express Passes in them. I wish that I would have because I needed a couple of waterproof cameras for Typhoon Lagoon and for the kids playing in the water at Universal. (Hey, LoriBeth, did Canon put the waterproof covers out for the A70’s yet?)
So, I bought the books of Express Passes at Universal for $15 each. At first, I thought it was expensive. But, had I not purchased them, we would have been back a second day to catch what we missed. They actually saved us money by not needing a second day of passes and now, imho, they’re well worth every cent we paid for them. We were taken in immediately on every single attraction and ahead of all those in stand-by lines. Best part of it all was not having to cross the park to get a FP or to wait until we could get another. Awesome touring tool!! You can ride/see so much when you don’t wait in any lines. What a way to tour!!
That’s all I can think of that stands out in the trip. Now, anyone want to help with the laundry? Lol
Hugs,
Debby, the happy camper who missed all of you!!