octmom
04-18-2011, 12:07 PM
I haven't posted much in this forum, but I did read a bunch of very helpful threads and wanted to say THANKS and to share a bit about our trip. We were at WDW from April 3 until April 8 and had a great time! This was our first family trip there and we will definitely go back. :) I went a couple of times in the early/mid-70s when I was really young and don't really remember anything from those trips and I went again in the late 80s on a h.s. trip, but so much has changed since then!
First, we stayed at Beach Club and LOVED it. I booked in late January or early February when there was a special rate. It was a great hotel. The rooms were really nice, the lobby/ common areas were also very nice, the pool (Stormalong Bay) was terrific, and the location was fabulous. My parents went along on the trip too and I requested adjoining rooms when we booked, but as many of you know, they can't guarantee that. When we checked in, the person at the desk told us that they had us in a room with only one queen bed and a daybed, which is not what we booked, so she switched us. I think we ended up getting upgraded, because we paid for a garden view and we got a pool view. She couldn't be sure that my parents would end up near us, but they ended up in the adjoining room, so it worked out great. We were on the first floor, with two queen beds, a daybed, and a nice little patio that overlooked one of the "quiet" pools. My parents' room was the mirror image of ours. Our room was located on the end of the hotel nearest to the back entrance of Epcot, which was terrific. It was a very short walk to Epcot and to the Boardwalk. DH and I walked around the Boardwalk one evening while my mom watched the kids, but we didn't spend a lot of time there. We did go to Epcot several times during our stay, and it was great to be so close.
We bought Parkhopper tickets and I am really glad that we did. It gave us flexibility about where we ate dinner and alllowed us to spend time on a few days in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, our favorite parks. We also did the Disney Dining Plan, which we decided to do just a couple of weeks before the trip. It was worth it for us. In general, we ate breakfast in the rooms and did counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. We used two table service credits one evening to go to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, which everyone really enjoyed. The kids absolutely howled with laughter the entire time. The only downside of that show was that the location (Fort Wilderness) felt realy remote to us, but we had a lot of fun.
A bit about our other table service meals: the food at Restaurant Marrakesh for dinner on our first night was good, but the service was quite slow. The kids liked watching the bellydancer. Tony's Town Square Retaurant in MK was quite good and we walked out just a few minutes before the Electrical Parade and had a GREAT spot right in front of Town Hall to watch the parade. Crystal Palace in MK (booked at the last minute) was our only character meal and the kids liked it a lot. The food (buffet) was fine, but certainly not spectacular. The location is great.
Our counter service meals: Cosmic Ray's in MK was very good, Pizza Planet at DHS was fine (the salad was better than I expected, but the pizza looked pretty marginal to me), Flame Tree Grill in Animal Kingdom was great, and Sunshine Seasons in Epcot was also really great. We got pizza from a walk-up window in Epcot's Italy for dinner one evening and again for lunch on the day we left. It was tasty and when we used a C/S credit from the dining plan, it came with a cannoli too. The kids liked that.
We made good use of Fast Pass to meet Mickey and Minnie and the princesses at MK, as well as for a few rides there. Fast Pass was the best for Soarin' at Epcot (we all LOVED Soarin') and for the Safari at the Animal Kingdom (also GREAT). I am not a coaster person, so DH did the single rider line for Expedition Everest at AK and got through much quicker than the regular line.
The kids got to meet lots of characters and get their autographs, but we skipped some when the lines were crazy long, like Tinkerbell at Epcot. There was no wait to meet Terrence, so we met him instead and it was fine. :lol: We all liked seeing the character topiaries at Epcot, which I guess are part of the flower & garden show.
DH thinks we didn't give DHS a fair shake, but we went there on the one day we had rain and DD is terrified of storms, so I spent most of our time there comforting her and dealing with her issues and didn't really get to do much. Even on a nice day, I think it would rank last for me among the four parks. The others just had more stuff that appealed to me and the kids. DS and DH did get to ride Toy Story Mania when a really nice woman handed us Fast Pass tickets that she wasn't going to use because they had a lunch reservation. It was such a kind thing for her to do, and we did the same for someone else in the MK another day when we didn't need some Fast Passes we had pulled.
All in all, it was a great trip. I think we will probably try to go back in two years, maybe after the Fantasyland expansion is complete. Thanks again for the great information so many of you have shared here!
First, we stayed at Beach Club and LOVED it. I booked in late January or early February when there was a special rate. It was a great hotel. The rooms were really nice, the lobby/ common areas were also very nice, the pool (Stormalong Bay) was terrific, and the location was fabulous. My parents went along on the trip too and I requested adjoining rooms when we booked, but as many of you know, they can't guarantee that. When we checked in, the person at the desk told us that they had us in a room with only one queen bed and a daybed, which is not what we booked, so she switched us. I think we ended up getting upgraded, because we paid for a garden view and we got a pool view. She couldn't be sure that my parents would end up near us, but they ended up in the adjoining room, so it worked out great. We were on the first floor, with two queen beds, a daybed, and a nice little patio that overlooked one of the "quiet" pools. My parents' room was the mirror image of ours. Our room was located on the end of the hotel nearest to the back entrance of Epcot, which was terrific. It was a very short walk to Epcot and to the Boardwalk. DH and I walked around the Boardwalk one evening while my mom watched the kids, but we didn't spend a lot of time there. We did go to Epcot several times during our stay, and it was great to be so close.
We bought Parkhopper tickets and I am really glad that we did. It gave us flexibility about where we ate dinner and alllowed us to spend time on a few days in the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, our favorite parks. We also did the Disney Dining Plan, which we decided to do just a couple of weeks before the trip. It was worth it for us. In general, we ate breakfast in the rooms and did counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. We used two table service credits one evening to go to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue, which everyone really enjoyed. The kids absolutely howled with laughter the entire time. The only downside of that show was that the location (Fort Wilderness) felt realy remote to us, but we had a lot of fun.
A bit about our other table service meals: the food at Restaurant Marrakesh for dinner on our first night was good, but the service was quite slow. The kids liked watching the bellydancer. Tony's Town Square Retaurant in MK was quite good and we walked out just a few minutes before the Electrical Parade and had a GREAT spot right in front of Town Hall to watch the parade. Crystal Palace in MK (booked at the last minute) was our only character meal and the kids liked it a lot. The food (buffet) was fine, but certainly not spectacular. The location is great.
Our counter service meals: Cosmic Ray's in MK was very good, Pizza Planet at DHS was fine (the salad was better than I expected, but the pizza looked pretty marginal to me), Flame Tree Grill in Animal Kingdom was great, and Sunshine Seasons in Epcot was also really great. We got pizza from a walk-up window in Epcot's Italy for dinner one evening and again for lunch on the day we left. It was tasty and when we used a C/S credit from the dining plan, it came with a cannoli too. The kids liked that.
We made good use of Fast Pass to meet Mickey and Minnie and the princesses at MK, as well as for a few rides there. Fast Pass was the best for Soarin' at Epcot (we all LOVED Soarin') and for the Safari at the Animal Kingdom (also GREAT). I am not a coaster person, so DH did the single rider line for Expedition Everest at AK and got through much quicker than the regular line.
The kids got to meet lots of characters and get their autographs, but we skipped some when the lines were crazy long, like Tinkerbell at Epcot. There was no wait to meet Terrence, so we met him instead and it was fine. :lol: We all liked seeing the character topiaries at Epcot, which I guess are part of the flower & garden show.
DH thinks we didn't give DHS a fair shake, but we went there on the one day we had rain and DD is terrified of storms, so I spent most of our time there comforting her and dealing with her issues and didn't really get to do much. Even on a nice day, I think it would rank last for me among the four parks. The others just had more stuff that appealed to me and the kids. DS and DH did get to ride Toy Story Mania when a really nice woman handed us Fast Pass tickets that she wasn't going to use because they had a lunch reservation. It was such a kind thing for her to do, and we did the same for someone else in the MK another day when we didn't need some Fast Passes we had pulled.
All in all, it was a great trip. I think we will probably try to go back in two years, maybe after the Fantasyland expansion is complete. Thanks again for the great information so many of you have shared here!