OL60
06-11-2008, 06:53 AM
DAY ONE
Flew in to Sanford from Chattanooga, TN via Alligent Airlines on Sunday. The stewardess at least made the announcements humorous...which was cool for me - but could have also freaked out some newer travellers...but I enjoyed it anyway. They also had a raffle while in-flight. That is a new one on me...
So then had to transfer to AKL (Posted about that on the Transportation Thread if interested in hearing about the near death experiences)
Since we flew and MK had late magic hours - we hit the park on day of travel (A first for my family since we normally drive and take the night off from parks)
You can read about the bus luck we had in the Transportation section...summary is kinda long wait.
It was ok...piddled around in Fantasyland and got it pretty well done. We ate at Picnoccio (I can not spell it) Table and it was normal counter service food. Saw Spectral Magic and it was as good as normal - though Cephabog did not open up which was a bummer for me since he is my favorite part of the whole thing. Rode Haunted Mansion for the first time at night and first time since the refurb...I found it was cooler than previous trips. As we came out Wishes had started so off we rush to try and catch it. Wishes was ok but not as impressive as it will be when we watch it tomorrow night since we were behind the castle in Fantasyland (And if I put the wrong land in - please do not ban me from here).
From there back to hotel for some sleep - around 00:30 when we get to room (Will post about our room in another thread...some may find the review of it useful...)
DAY TWO
Woke up around 0930 and get ready and head to pool. Pool is nice as always...the kids love the slide though I still wish it was more fun - but as long as they like it I am there with them. Did have one scare when the 4 year old missed a turn the first (And only) time we let him go the long way around to the slide steps...he missed the turn and wound up on other side of deep pool area. We played in the pool until around 1130 or so I think...
We grab some lunch at Mara's (Again typical counter service for me since I had a burger but on of the others had a turkey chibata (Or something like this) and said it was great...
Again had to wait for bus as multiple buses for the parks we did not want came and went...there was a guy there that seemed to be tracking the bus runs and noticed this since out queue was the only one with lines of people (Who were turning into unhappy customers) - then poof - two EPCOT buses show up right behind each other and a third bus was sitting just inside the entrance with a blank display board.
Off to EPCOT around 1430. We do Innovations, The Seas, Turtle Talk (Our first time), and Honey I shrunk the audience (Which of course given our luck scared the kids)
We did the Grand Gathering Adventure of the International Buffet and Dessert with SpectroMagic viewing. It was pretty good. They had a little bit of food from different countries. The White Chedder soup was incredible and the Roasted Pork with sweet cabbage was nice. The Kids menu was just horrible. It seems to me that with like 10 options for the adult to choose from - the kids cold have more than 2. There was chicken nuggets, Peanut Butter and Jelly Crustable sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and apple slices. That is it...
The dessert part of the night was not too impressive. The desserts were not wide variety (I think there were 4 - maybe 5 different things) and the drinks were limited to water, fruit punch, coffee, and hot tea.
But the viewing of SpectroMagic was awesome. I mean so close that I broke a sweat from the heat coming off the fireball in the middle of the lagoon.
We then had some bad information and tried to go water taxi to Hollywood Studios for some fun. Got to water taxi and found out that HS did not have late hours. But got to ride the water taxi (Again another first for us)
Rode it to HS and then took the bus on back to AKL...in room probably around 1130.
DAY THREE
To me the first two days seemed like we were missing out and not getting a lot accomplished in the way of experiencing WDW. So we decided that we would go old school and leave for the parks at 0930
So went down and grabbed breakfast at Mara's (Again normal breakfast fare for counter service) and headed to the HS.
Bus wait was not too bad this morning but did see like 2 EPCOT buses while we waited but that is all.
Got to HS and first thing was to fast pass Rocking Rollercoaster. Then watched High School Musical 2 show. The show was ok...the kids had fun and I like the songs from the movie so was nice. One thing to note on this is that they will block off the entire courtyard in front of the hat in the beginning while you wait. So we chose a spot behind a small hill right next to the fence where we could see the entire courtyard. Then once the little stage that they rode came in and got parked in front of the hat - they moved the ropes on both sides and the people from there crowded in and blocked our view of the dancers on the ground but we could still see the main singers on the stage.
Then we hit Star Tours. Was a normal run. The family that is with us liked it...my 4 year old...not so much - but he quickly forgot the fact when I tickled him afterwards.
Then we watched the Jedi Training show. It was nice and I wish my son was more outgoing and would have done it (I want to do it myself). The lead person was pretty darn good and the jokes (Which probably half of them were scripted in) were delivered well.
We then did Muppet Vision 3D and it was the same as always...I just hope to actually find that key one day.
Off to the Honey I Shrunk the Kid playground. Found that you can get out of the sun by sitting in the ant hill while your son runs all around it.
Then to Rocking Rollercoaster. Was awesome as always. Did it back to back. Adults in families with us loved it - kids in families with us....not love it so much.
Then ate at Momma Melrose. Did the Fantasmic Package. Was a good meal all around. I even splurged and got a glass of wine. I had the Pork Marsala. The pork was just a touch salty but was tasty none the less. And the cheesecake...OH MY...highly recommended.
It rained pretty good while we ate and for a bit afterwards so we bummed around one of the shops until it slacked off.
Watched Beauty and the Beast. Same show. Four for a dollar were still good.
Then to Fantasmic. I am still of the opinion that I really never need to see that show again...I just do not enjoy it as much as any of the other shows. But that is just personal opinion.
After Fanstamic we realized we had time left before close and rushed to Toy Story Mania. It is a cool ride. It is something I never would have imagined and really enjoyed the ride. I do not see waiting the 60 minutes that is on the standby boards...but is worth waiting 20-30 minutes for I would imagine. Base your desire to wait on this ride on how long you are willing to wait to do Buzz Lightyear ride in MK.
The park was closed by the time we got done with that ride (Which I came out with the highest score of my group btw and won the contest) so we decided against hopping to EPCOT since we have an early morning.
So in the morning I will be headed to Grand Gathering Tony's Breakfast with Phillahar-Magic show.
Flew in to Sanford from Chattanooga, TN via Alligent Airlines on Sunday. The stewardess at least made the announcements humorous...which was cool for me - but could have also freaked out some newer travellers...but I enjoyed it anyway. They also had a raffle while in-flight. That is a new one on me...
So then had to transfer to AKL (Posted about that on the Transportation Thread if interested in hearing about the near death experiences)
Since we flew and MK had late magic hours - we hit the park on day of travel (A first for my family since we normally drive and take the night off from parks)
You can read about the bus luck we had in the Transportation section...summary is kinda long wait.
It was ok...piddled around in Fantasyland and got it pretty well done. We ate at Picnoccio (I can not spell it) Table and it was normal counter service food. Saw Spectral Magic and it was as good as normal - though Cephabog did not open up which was a bummer for me since he is my favorite part of the whole thing. Rode Haunted Mansion for the first time at night and first time since the refurb...I found it was cooler than previous trips. As we came out Wishes had started so off we rush to try and catch it. Wishes was ok but not as impressive as it will be when we watch it tomorrow night since we were behind the castle in Fantasyland (And if I put the wrong land in - please do not ban me from here).
From there back to hotel for some sleep - around 00:30 when we get to room (Will post about our room in another thread...some may find the review of it useful...)
DAY TWO
Woke up around 0930 and get ready and head to pool. Pool is nice as always...the kids love the slide though I still wish it was more fun - but as long as they like it I am there with them. Did have one scare when the 4 year old missed a turn the first (And only) time we let him go the long way around to the slide steps...he missed the turn and wound up on other side of deep pool area. We played in the pool until around 1130 or so I think...
We grab some lunch at Mara's (Again typical counter service for me since I had a burger but on of the others had a turkey chibata (Or something like this) and said it was great...
Again had to wait for bus as multiple buses for the parks we did not want came and went...there was a guy there that seemed to be tracking the bus runs and noticed this since out queue was the only one with lines of people (Who were turning into unhappy customers) - then poof - two EPCOT buses show up right behind each other and a third bus was sitting just inside the entrance with a blank display board.
Off to EPCOT around 1430. We do Innovations, The Seas, Turtle Talk (Our first time), and Honey I shrunk the audience (Which of course given our luck scared the kids)
We did the Grand Gathering Adventure of the International Buffet and Dessert with SpectroMagic viewing. It was pretty good. They had a little bit of food from different countries. The White Chedder soup was incredible and the Roasted Pork with sweet cabbage was nice. The Kids menu was just horrible. It seems to me that with like 10 options for the adult to choose from - the kids cold have more than 2. There was chicken nuggets, Peanut Butter and Jelly Crustable sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and apple slices. That is it...
The dessert part of the night was not too impressive. The desserts were not wide variety (I think there were 4 - maybe 5 different things) and the drinks were limited to water, fruit punch, coffee, and hot tea.
But the viewing of SpectroMagic was awesome. I mean so close that I broke a sweat from the heat coming off the fireball in the middle of the lagoon.
We then had some bad information and tried to go water taxi to Hollywood Studios for some fun. Got to water taxi and found out that HS did not have late hours. But got to ride the water taxi (Again another first for us)
Rode it to HS and then took the bus on back to AKL...in room probably around 1130.
DAY THREE
To me the first two days seemed like we were missing out and not getting a lot accomplished in the way of experiencing WDW. So we decided that we would go old school and leave for the parks at 0930
So went down and grabbed breakfast at Mara's (Again normal breakfast fare for counter service) and headed to the HS.
Bus wait was not too bad this morning but did see like 2 EPCOT buses while we waited but that is all.
Got to HS and first thing was to fast pass Rocking Rollercoaster. Then watched High School Musical 2 show. The show was ok...the kids had fun and I like the songs from the movie so was nice. One thing to note on this is that they will block off the entire courtyard in front of the hat in the beginning while you wait. So we chose a spot behind a small hill right next to the fence where we could see the entire courtyard. Then once the little stage that they rode came in and got parked in front of the hat - they moved the ropes on both sides and the people from there crowded in and blocked our view of the dancers on the ground but we could still see the main singers on the stage.
Then we hit Star Tours. Was a normal run. The family that is with us liked it...my 4 year old...not so much - but he quickly forgot the fact when I tickled him afterwards.
Then we watched the Jedi Training show. It was nice and I wish my son was more outgoing and would have done it (I want to do it myself). The lead person was pretty darn good and the jokes (Which probably half of them were scripted in) were delivered well.
We then did Muppet Vision 3D and it was the same as always...I just hope to actually find that key one day.
Off to the Honey I Shrunk the Kid playground. Found that you can get out of the sun by sitting in the ant hill while your son runs all around it.
Then to Rocking Rollercoaster. Was awesome as always. Did it back to back. Adults in families with us loved it - kids in families with us....not love it so much.
Then ate at Momma Melrose. Did the Fantasmic Package. Was a good meal all around. I even splurged and got a glass of wine. I had the Pork Marsala. The pork was just a touch salty but was tasty none the less. And the cheesecake...OH MY...highly recommended.
It rained pretty good while we ate and for a bit afterwards so we bummed around one of the shops until it slacked off.
Watched Beauty and the Beast. Same show. Four for a dollar were still good.
Then to Fantasmic. I am still of the opinion that I really never need to see that show again...I just do not enjoy it as much as any of the other shows. But that is just personal opinion.
After Fanstamic we realized we had time left before close and rushed to Toy Story Mania. It is a cool ride. It is something I never would have imagined and really enjoyed the ride. I do not see waiting the 60 minutes that is on the standby boards...but is worth waiting 20-30 minutes for I would imagine. Base your desire to wait on this ride on how long you are willing to wait to do Buzz Lightyear ride in MK.
The park was closed by the time we got done with that ride (Which I came out with the highest score of my group btw and won the contest) so we decided against hopping to EPCOT since we have an early morning.
So in the morning I will be headed to Grand Gathering Tony's Breakfast with Phillahar-Magic show.