Tag: Disney

Epcot

Last night we decided we should try to eat somewhere on property that was highly rated, so I booked a reservation for the Kona Cafe at Polynesian Village Resort for breakfast. We enjoyed their famous Tonga Toast before making our way over to Epcot.

I didn’t think we’d be at the park long, but we spent nearly six hours there. I was so happy the Seas area was open since it was under refurbishment last time we visited ten years ago.

We went on the Nemo & Friends ride first which was cute, but kinda boring, although I did like how they incorporated the animated characters in with real live fish. I felt bad for the solitary dolphin swimming in a fairly small tank with not much in it, though. That can’t be good for the animal’s mental health. We also saw a manatee and some sea turtles.

We had fast-passes for Test Track so we went on that next. We immediately noticed it was very different from when we rode it in 2005. The newer version is faster which made it much more fun than before.

Our next stop was to see Captain EO starring Michael Jackson (and Angelica Huston, which I totally forgot about). It was popular when I was a kid but was removed in the late 90’s. It was then brought back after Michael Jackson passed away. It was definitely cheesy, but I’m glad I got to see it again. It would have been nicer if the people sitting behind us didn’t feel the need to discuss the showing in great length during the show, though. So rude! I almost turned around and said something. Seriously, not only is that rude, but you’re missing what’s being said when you’re talking so much. Ugh!

Our next stop, just because it was right there, was Journey Into Imagination With Figment which is cute.

I like the area around Captain EO and Figment because it’s where the jumping fountains are located. I could have sworn you used to be able to walk on the area where the water comes from, but pictures from this awesome website called Yesterland that shows comparisons of different Disney theme park areas over the years has proved my memory incorrect.

After hanging around awhile to get a picture of the monorail, we made our way to Epcot’s World Showcase area.

It was the first day of the International Food & Wine Festival and it was crowded. We got a small lobster roll and beef slider at the Hops & Barley booth. The lobster roll was listed as a festival favorite but neither of us enjoyed it very much. The beef slider was very good, however.

Shortly after we ate it began to rain. We camped out in a gift shop while the worst of it passed over. Then we went on the Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros in Mexico before making our way out of the park.

Once we made it back to the hotel we decided to hang out in the pool for a bit before it started thundering. We were stuck in our room for a bit waiting for the rain to pass and getting increasingly hungry since the small lobster roll and beef slider were all we had eaten that afternoon.

It finally seemed to be letting up so we made our way to Downtown Disney (recently renamed Disney Springs) in search of food. The area is under construction but we found a parking garage which was really cool because it has censors over each parking space. When you enter the garage it tells you how many open spots there are on each level, and there’s a spot counter for each row as well. The actual boardwalk area of Disney Springs is rather dark and narrow so it felt claustrophobic since it was so crowded. They really need to add some additional lighting.

We had a heck of a time picking a place to eat. I had a coupon for Earl of Sandwich but we weren’t sure we wanted to spend our last night of vacation eating sandwiches so we kept looking. I told Joe I could go for either a steak or a burger, so we started checking out the menus. The burger at The Rainforest Cafe seemed overpriced so we decided on Fulton’s Crab House even though their filet is $47! The problem was when we walked in the atmosphere was icky. I don’t know how to explain it exactly, but for those prices I was expecting it to look nicer inside. I told Joe what I was thinking and he said, “let’s keep looking then” and we left.

Our next attempt was at The Boathouse. We were being led to a table right by where an extremely loud live band was playing, and I asked the hostess if she could seat us away from them. She agreed, but instead of taking us to any of the tables deeper into the restaurant, she led us to a table that was just a little further from the band. WTF??? As we were sitting there trying to speak to one another by screaming, I told Joe I couldn’t take it and wanted to leave. Luckily we hadn’t placed our orders yet, and didn’t touch the bread plate, so he said, “lets go”. I was sure he was going to kill me at that point, but he didn’t care. I can’t stand really loud music when I’m trying to dine and he agreed it was annoying. I guess that’s what happens when you’re trying to find food at 9:30 pm on a Friday night. We passed through their little food truck area and there were only two trucks even though four are listed on their website. We joked that’s one more truck than at the food truck “festival” we attempted to attend last weekend when E was over. There was literally one truck, and it was an ice cream one! But I digress.

At this point we were both getting frustrated and starving. House of Blues was too loud too, so we decided to leave. I consulted Yelp and found a place called Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers in Orlando a short drive away where we finally enjoyed some burgers and a monster turtle sundae. By the time we got back to the hotel we were exhausted and got to bed around midnight.

» Epcot photos on Flickr

Animal Kingdom – Hollywood Studios – Magic Kingdom

We slept in a bit (til after 7 am) on Wednesday since we were up late the night before and were planning on using the first half of the day to lounge in the pool. We went to Sizzler in Kissimmee for their breakfast buffet after a friend recommended it. A British couple eating nearby gave us two paper fastpasses they hadn’t used since they were leaving that day. I’ve never seen the type of passes before but they were good for any ride at the Magic Kingdom which was perfect since we planned on going there in the evening and wanted to ride the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but couldn’t secure a fastpass even though I checked almost two months ahead of time.

It was pretty cloudy out and looked like it was going to rain, so instead of going to the pool we decided to drive over to Animal Kingdom even though it was on our itinerary for Thursday morning.

We reasoned we’d use the extra time to check out the animals and then go on the rides we were interested in the next day. By the time we got there it was sunny and humid which sucked. We walked around Africa and Asia to see some animals, but were quickly dripping with sweat. We went on Dinosaur because it’s in an air-conditioned building (and it was fun!), and then got Mickey Ear ice cream bars in an attempt to cool off. It didn’t work too well, so we went back to the hotel and swam in the pool for awhile.

That helped to refresh us, so we decided to go back to Hollywood Studios were I was able to secure last minute fastpasses to ride Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and Star Tours, both of which we loved. I don’t remember the roller coaster being quite that intense before, but it was awesome nonetheless! According to Wikipedia riders experience 4.5 G (44 m/s2) as they enter the first inversion, more than an astronaut does on a space shuttle launch. Not sure how true that is but it is pretty damn intense!

As for Star Tours, it has definitely changed for the better with the 3D aspect thrown in.

From there were drove to the Magic Kingdom and planned to take the monorail from the Transportation Center but it wasn’t running so we had to take the Ferryboat instead which was fine since we’ve never done that before.

Much to our delight, the fastpasses the British couple had given us worked, and we were able to get on the the Seven Dwarfs ride with no wait. It was a lot of fun – I can see why the lines are so long for it! We also rode Dumbo the Flying Elephant and The Barnstormer, neither of which we’ve ridden in the past, and both of which we enjoyed.

We had skipped lunch, so we grabbed a jumbo turkey leg at the Cool Ship in Tomorrowland. We had to consult Google because we were convinced it wasn’t actually turkey since it tasted exactly like ham.

Apparently we sat around Tomorrowland a bit too long because by the time we made it to Main Street around 7:25 pm to secure a spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade, it was packed. We found a decent spot right behind two garbage cans to the left of Cinderella’s Castle where the parade turns to go into Liberty Square.

Before the parade started this Spanish woman tried to worm her way in front of me with her stupid iPad (I mean, really, who thinks they are going to get any decent pictures or videos on one of those things, particularly at night). She kept motioning to the spot like she expected me to move and let her in, and like an idiot I did. What’s wrong with me??? I was there first! It really pissed me off so I passive aggressively started bumping into her and she decided to leave right before I decided I was going to tell her to get out of my spot and go find her own. It’s not my fault she waited too long to find somewhere to view the parade. We didn’t cut in front of any of the people who were there first because that’s just rude. Unfortunately there are always people like that out in public and they ruin what would otherwise be an enjoyable event. In any case, the parade wasn’t all that and next time I’d take that opportunity to go on some rides instead.

We decided to leave the park after the parade but most people stayed put to wait for the fireworks. We laughed about the crowd with a fellow traveler later on the monorail back to the Transportation Center. He said he’s never seen so many people in one place before and we agreed. It was overwhelming and not so magical. At least now we know for next time to just skip it.

» Hollywood Studios photos on Flickr
» Magic Kingdom photos on Flickr

Magic Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

We had a quick breakfast consisting of donuts so we could catch Disney transportation to the Magic Kingdom. We arrived just as a bus was loading but some biotch cut in front of us in line (her kid ran in front of us so I guess instead of grabbing him she decided this gave her carte blanche). Talk about rude! I wouldn’t have been half as angry if they didn’t take the last two seats on the bus. It started to pull away with us standing, but we asked to be let off. The driver looked at Joe like he never heard such a request before. Sorry, but as frequently as those buses run I wasn’t about to stand the whole 10+ minute ride to the park. By the time we got back to the boarding area there was another bus ready to go and we got seats right in front.

We arrived before the park was officially open, but they did let us in 15 minutes early which was nice. They do a whole little countdown to opening too.

Last time we visited the park in October 2005 I don’t recall any Halloween related decor at all, but now they put up Mickey pumpkins which are cute.

I had purchased a $12 membership to this site where you can input all the rides you’re interested in and your fastpass+ reservations and it will put together an itinerary to minimize time waiting in line. That itinerary went out the window immediately because the first ride on our list, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, wasn’t open yet. I had to re-order a few things but the app definitely saved us from standing in line very long at all. Listed below are all the rides we went on.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – This was ok, but not so much that I’d waste my time going on it again.

Stitch’s Great Escape – Very lame. Honestly, I think Disney should scrap this and replace it with something more interesting.

Space Mountain – Only the right-hand side was open which was a bummer as it seemed more intense than I remember. Still fun, though. Plus we didn’t have to stand in line since I had a fastpass.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh – It was finally open at this point, and while cute, I’m not sure I’d ride it again. Plus the line was much longer than pretty much all the other rides we went on that day.

Mad Tea Party – I loved this ride! I’ve never gone on it before and I’m wondering why because it’s so much fun! Joe and I were quoting this kid during the ride because we were so dizz-aaaay, lol!

Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid – This was so cute, especially the part with all the sea creatures dancing.

It’s a Small World – A Disney classic you’re required to go on even though it’s not that exciting.

Splash Mountain – I didn’t know what to expect from this ride since we’ve never rode it in the past, but it was a lot of fun. It’s definitely in my top five now.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – Still a fave, but not long enough. I wish we had time to go on it again.

Haunted Mansion – Another classic ride that we love.

Pirates of the Caribbean was closed for refurbishment and we intentionally skipped the Jungle Cruise and Peter Pan’s Flight because they are lame.

There were a few other rides we skipped as well, but only because we knew we were coming back the next day and wanted something different to ride then.

It was nice that about half the rides were in air-conditioned buildings because it was very hot out and the humidity was stifling. We took the train from Frontierland to Main Street to look for somewhere to eat, and ended up in Liberty Square at Columbia Harbour House. We had chicken nuggets which were nothing special. We were so hot and sweaty, though, we didn’t really care; it was just nice to get away from the heat for awhile.

After lunch is when I believe we went on Haunted Mansion but I can’t remember for certain. I know we didn’t stay too much longer after that because our feet were extremely sore. I thought my pink sandals were very comfy but it turns out they were not supportive enough and my feet were killing me. It sucked to have to stand on the bus ride back to the hotel where we rested for a couple of hours.

A very freaky thing happened back at the hotel – we found the spray sunscreen we had thrown in the trash sitting on top of the table no longer broken. We threw it out that morning when the nozzle got clogged. We thought maybe the sunscreen got ruined from the flight since it was in our checked baggage. I remember on the bus ride to MK I mentioned to Joe that maybe we had been too hasty to trash it, but it was too late. How weird it was to see it sitting there when we got back to the room. Housekeeping (or Mousekeeping, as they are called at Disney) was next door so Joe asked the lady if she had fixed it and she said yes. She thought we had thrown it away on accident and when she saw it was clogged she fixed it. Talk about going above and beyond! Needless to say we gave her a nice tip. I joked to Joe later that maybe Disney was eavesdropping on our bus convo and put out an APB.

After cooling off in the pool and taking some pain reliever for our sore feet, we drove to Hollywood Studios where we stood in line for two agonizing hours to ride Toy Story Midway Mania. The posted wait time was 80 minutes, but I honestly thought it would be less than that since all the wait times at the Magic Kingdom were shorter than posted. I guess our luck ran out – the line moved soooooo slowly. It didn’t help that this lady was practically standing on top of me in line and kept bumping into me. I will never understand why people do that – it doesn’t make the line move any quicker! I finally asked her if she could give us some space and she backed off. There were also these two girls who kept cutting in front of people to get pictures of the props throughout the rooom which was dumb since if they would have been more patient they would have ended up right in front of them as the line moved along.

I’m still not sure why the heck the wait was so long. My theory is that three things contributed to the ridiculous wait time for the ride: its popularity, the ride length (5 minutes), and too many fastpasses being distributed. There were times where the line didn’t move whatsoever for several minutes, which given how quickly they were cycling people (eight at a time) didn’t make sense. And while it was really cool (you can watch it on YouTube if you’re interested), if we can’t get a fastpass next time, we’re skipping it.

We stayed past park closing at 7:30 pm to see Fantasmic! which was really cool. I liked how they projected cartoons on the water fountains. I didn’t care for the two girls behind us who kicked me in the back more than once, but the show itself was great.

I have to say, compared to Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios had the rudest people. We weren’t even there that long but people were getting under my skin like you wouldn’t believe.

» Magic Kingdom photos on Flickr
» Hollywood Studios photos on Flickr

When I was booking our flights for our Florida trip, there were two non-stop flights to Orlando to choose from – 6:30 am or 11:40 am. We went with the later one since Midway airport is a longer drive from the house than O’Hare. That gave us the ability to sleep to a decent hour, make sure everything was packed and the rats were fed, and stop at McDonald’s to grab breakfast on the way. We left Joe’s SUV at Midway’s Park Ride & Fly lot just like we did when we flew to Arizona in 2009. My only complaint with them is I printed a coupon for 20% off their posted rates and instead they just deducted one day of parking which screwed us out of $2.

Our flight was a lot bumpier than any past ones I’ve been on. Joe said it seemed normal to him, but I’m the anxious one, so I was freaked out by every move the plane made. It didn’t help that immediately after take-off, which started with a quick whip around the corner onto the runway (no holding of the brakes like most of the other takeoffs I remember), there were several sharp turns to get us on course. Due to our boarding position we were seated behind the wing too; I prefer to sit either over or in front of it.

Our flight to Orlando was just over two hours but due to the time change it was after 3 pm when we arrived. After picking up our rental car from Enterprise, we headed straight to the Art of Animation Resort to check out our room. We got the Little Mermaid suite with a king bed which was adorable. I didn’t take any pictures, but below are two I grabbed from Disney’s site to give you an idea of how it looked.

It wasn’t very big, but it was incredibly clean, not to mention cute. Plus we spent very little time in the room anyway.

After dropping off our luggage, we drove to the Target in Kissimmee to pick up some snacks. We got a case of bottled water, beer, Doritos, Cheez-Its, a box of Entenmann’s frosted chocolate donuts, and a bag of Little Debbie mini powdered donuts. It occurred to us we should have gotten dinner first, and then gone to Target, so we wouldn’t have been limited to buying non-perishables, but that didn’t end up being a big deal since the mini-fridge in our room didn’t get cold enough to trust it with anything other than drinks anyway.

We had dinner at a place called Rosie’s Smokin Hot BBQ. It was dead at the time we arrived so we were a little worried about the quality of the food, but it ended up being real good. I had a grilled chicken rice bowl and Joe had a brisket platter with sides.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to drop off my leftovers (this was before we realized the fridge didn’t get very cold) and then headed over to the Polynesian Village Resort to explore. It was dark by this point and we walked along their beach area past these cute bungalows on the water until we came across the main building that houses multiple restaurants and a gift shop. We were really loving the tropical theming; too bad the standard rooms start at $450/night and the bungalows go for $2400!

We bought a cute magnet at the gift shop (gotta love Disney’s Magicbands – you tie your credit card to them and use the band to make purchases) and then went outside to their Pineapple Lanai to grab a Dole® Whip Soft-serve Swirl which we took to the beach. We found two chairs and enjoyed our dessert while watching Disney’s Electrical Water Pageant. At the same time we could also see the Magic Kingdom’s Wishes Nighttime Spectacular in the distance. It was very fun and relaxing.

Afterwards we headed back to our resort to explore more and take photos of the area. Our immediate area was made up of three buildings with the Little Mermaid theme, but there are a total of four sections featuring The Lion King, Finding Nemo, and Cars.

This photo was actually taken later in our trip:

Photos of the Art of Animation resort on Flickr

Photos of the Polynesian Village resort on Flickr