Sunday, March 02, 2008

Our Disney Vacation!



We just got back from our "grown-up" vacation to Disney World. We had a great time. We stayed on site and that was great. It let us into some parks early and we got to stay late at others, depending on the Magic Hours that were available. But this is the time to go...there was no wait on any of the rides. Our longest wait was 25 minutes! It was great!
The above picture is at Liberty Square around 10 am on Wednesday morning. The park did get busier but I thought this was great. We had the whole street to ourselves! The only glitch in the whole trip was my bout with food poisoning on Wednesday night from eating at Animal Kingdom. But even with the food poisoning, Animal Kingdom was still our favorite!
On Tuesday we went first to Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) and did the rides we wanted to from there and then planned on going on to the Magic Kingdom, but when we saw the lines for the monorail to MK and the one to Epcot, we went to Epcot. We did EVERYTHING there and our longest line was for Soaring and that was only about 20 minutes. When we were done there, we headed over to Magic Kingdom and did four rides before it started pouring down rain. We stayed in the Haunted Mansion for four rides till it was not pouring then braved it to purchase our lovely $7 each ponchos. So after that we called it a day, our feet were so happy! The next day we visited Magic Kingdom and did almost everything there within about 3 hours and then went to Animal Kingdom for the rest of the day and we rode everything there at least twice. The only disappointing thing was the hotel. It was loud and of all the hotels ours had the least amount of buses. We stayed at the Pop Century. It was cheap and easy but the next time we will stay at one with a boat or monorail to the park. The other thing was the food. I was expecting better food. We did the meal plan and there was plenty of food, but the quality was not good at all...Monday night we went to Downtown Disney and that had good food, so we will try eating there for our large meals next time. It would be worth the small trip on the bus. Just some hints if you ever plan to go. If you have kids, get the Unofficial Guide to Disney, it had great hints and do make reservations for dinner if you go during a busy time. If you think you want to do without the all inclusive food package, think again. It is so worth getting it. One of our dinners for just dinner, soda & dessert was over $60. Also, if you can, go in February, just not the week of Presidents Day, but it was slow. Maybe a little chilly, but that makes it less busy. Also you can honestly skip going to Epcot and to Hollywood Studios if you have small children, but if you have time and a park hopper pass, go ahead. There is just less there for kids, but fun for adults. I look for Disney to really change Hollywood Studios alot in the next years to come. It seems outdated to me. I wonder (hope) they may make it into more of a thrill junkie kind of place with more coasters and such. But it was a ton of fun whether you are 2 or 80. Well worth the trip and it was surprisingly not a budget breaker, just know how much you are going to spend, use your food pass and stick to it and you will have a great time!!!