Live report - 3 weeks in Orlando

[Miffy2003]

You are having a brilliant trip! Carry on enjoying

I have to say though.... Fourteen?!!! Are you mad?!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Did you manage to find anything out Beth on the T-mobile website?

Annette x

i couldn't figure out what i would need...

 

[Cyrano]

You are having a brilliant trip! Carry on enjoying

I have to say though.... Fourteen?!!! Are you mad?!!

Thanks Karen. It has really only been 11 as SIL2 has not come into the parks until after 11.15, as they have relied on off-site hotel shuttle.
However the other 11 although laughed at me most of the previous year have been fully indoctrinated

Today we headed back to Magic Kingdom. Thankfully not a EMH day. SIL2 even listened to the voice of reason . Pity they did not think to join us all at 9am, but heyho

We got back into our usual step this morning and apart from the wasted time for SIL2 really did well today.

First stop was Space Mountain for FP then join the others at Splash Mountain.
I was going to do a swap with Diane so that she could ride Big Thunder Mountain. Sadly there was a technical fault and it was not running this morning.
So BIL and I hotfooted over to Peter Pan for FP. We score another for Mickey's Philharmagic.

Next stop was Haunted Mansion. The new queue line(scenic route) is really very well done and worth the extra few minutes than the normal route.

The runners ( that will be BIL and myself) then headed to Buzz to pick up some further FP.

We waited a while with the others thinking SIL2 was going to join us, but instead they did a few rides in Fantasyland as they txt us to say they were in the Magic Kingdom.
Diane and I had let the others go already on Monsters Laugh Floor, which we knew they would all enjoy.

I was chuffed that I spotted the friend of Push before we headed over to a first visit to Pirates of the Caribbean. DD2 sadly chickened out because she finds this ride too scary.
We were watching the Pirates League Show when SIL2 turned up.
Lunch was a quick affair at Golden Oak Outpost.

The clan of 11 headed to POTC and Jungle Cruise while SIL2 headed to Splash Mountain.

We then completed our FP rides before watching the Celebrate parade on Main Street.
This was probably one of our best park days as well as best weather wise.

Everyone earned the did in the hotel pool before I headed out for takeaway pizzas for everyone.

At 7.30 we decided we would aim for our first evening show
Illuminations fitted the bill perfectly.

We arrived at EPCOT at 8pm and seeing a 5 min wait for Spaceship Earth decided to walk straight on. This was definitely a good idea as the gramps loved it. Will have to redo this so that I can emal the adventure back to them

Bagged a decent spot beside Mexio and readied ourselves for Reflections of Earth. It was great enjoyinging it with 6 people who had never seen it before.

All in all a very good park day

 

[DISWolves]

Another good day
Glad the weather held out and you had a good park day.
I do think Illuminations is a brilliant show
Looking forward to next update

 

[cannp123165]

Great updates! Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

 

[disneyholic family]

sounds like a great day!!

i see that despite the 3 weeks, you're still going pretty commando in the parks - using FP runners...
we always do the same ...even when we're there for 3 weeks...old habits die hard...on the bright side, that racing from side to side in the park is good for burning up extra calories....reward yourself with whatever it is you like (for me, that would be chocolate in any form )

by the way, what's the Pirates League Show?

 

[Disbabe]

Great Trip reports so far. Sounds like your really enjoying yourselves, despite the weather.
I'm really going to miss not going to WDW this year, but we're off to Cali Disneyland instead for a different experience. Can't wait.

Look forward to your next installment. Enjoy

 

[Miffy2003]

Going commando - it's the only way

 

[Cyrano]

Sorry my post did not go up As we are all tired after Fantasmic I will post up an update tomorrow.

4th July is always a day we tend to stay aware from the parks. DW enjoys as do the troops the most of the sales.
We went straight to Premium Outlets at the top of I drive. Around 2pm we headed to Florida Mall. Met SIL2 who had come there through getting a Lynx bus.
I bought a cheap watch as my favourite watch ( it is 20 years old) stopped working after getting caught in a bad downpour. Tried saving it by leaving it in a bag of rice. Hoping it may be the battery
The others had a very good day at the sales.

We ended up going back to Logan's for something to eat around 8pm

 

[Cyrano]

by the way, what's the Pirates League Show?

across from Pirates of the Caribbean is a small stage. There is an interactive show which gets the kids involved with Capt Jack Sparrow.

 

[disneyholic family]

across from Pirates of the Caribbean is a small stage. There is an interactive show which gets the kids involved with Capt Jack Sparrow.

thanks! i'll look out for it - my kids are big, but they usually enjoy stuff like that the most (the interactive entertainment)...

 

[disneyholic family]

my post keeps disappearing
in the end i'm going to end up with 20 duplicated posts

 

[Cyrano]

After our break from the park yesterday it was time to get back into the swing today.

Hollywood Studios was slated as the best part today for crowds, so DHS it was.

We were in the park from rope drop. The plan was ride Rockin Roller Coaster, get FP for the same and the ride Tower of Terror.
At the same time the others were heading off to ride Star Tours twice.

Mission accomplished we managed to pick up FP for Tower of Terror and then we met up and rode The Great Movie Ride with F/MIL, DW and DD2. Luckily our FP window was open so we picked up FP for Star Tours.

The others had not done very much of the Studios so we headed over to Muppet 3D.
They then headed for the Stunt Show while we mixed it with Phineas and Ferb, followed by Lightening McQueen and Mater.

The Stunt Show was due out in 5 mins so we waited for the rest of the clan before we all boarded Backlot Tour. Shame I remembered this ride differently

Lunch was a reasonable chicken curry, though the CMs warning that it was hot demonstrated that our pallets are made of sterner stuff

You will notice the absence of Toy Story Midway Mania, since the FP were done by 11.30.

We picked up FP for The Little Mermaid Show but never used them as when we next went by the show as 4.15pm.

The afternoon was rounded off with our FP - Star Tours, Rockin Roller Coaster (which DS joined) and Tower.

DBIL suggested grabbing FP for Tower at night. This was a fabulous idea.

I think we left the park about 3.10.

We had a nice easy Pizza Hut meat lovers and chicken supreme for supper tonight and then relaxed in the room.

We headed back into the Studios as we wanted to try for the 9.00pm Fantasmic show.
I think we parked up about 7.30pm and grabbed a tram almost immediately.

Fantasmic did not have a queue and we got straight in. The centre two blocks of seating were filled but we managed to get into the next on the left. We grabbed front row seats with a bench in front of the railing for the kids. We had a great view but got a little bit wet when the spray from the water projection blew over our way. Apart from having to keep wiping my glasses we would definitely sit there again as the view was spot on

Thankfully our exit queue brought us out right beside Tower Soweto made use of the FP.
The ride at night is even better than daytime.

Everyone was tired but happy when the heads hit the pillows at 10.30.

Bye bye Studios.

 

[Cyrano]

It is a sad day today on Wednesday. This is our last visit to EPCOT this trip.

We therefore made a big effort to get everyone down for breakfast early and parked in EPCOT nice and sharp.
The strategy of DBIL and I heading for rope drop and then FP for Soarin was the correct one. It let the others walk less briskly and more importantly allowed the runners to make it right to the front of the rope. We were 4th and 5th off the escalator and 1st and 2nd to the FP machines.
The others arrived soon after and we bagged the front row in the centre car, since it holds eleven. DMIL pleased that her favourite ride was completed with the joy of another ride later.

The oldies headed to Circle of Life and also bagged Living with the Land. While the rest of the clan headed over to Mission Space.
I realised we were a nine so agreed to go and get FP for Test Track. Since DW and DD2 would not go on TT that seemed a fair swap for Mission Space.
I also picked up FP for TT for DBIL2 and my niece who were meeting us later.

We met up with the oldies and walked to Crush since they had not done this yet.
They were thrilled that nephew was picked to ask a question. I was also asked 100 and 1 questions from DMIL/DFIL about how it worked. They were very fascinated by the cleverness of this attraction.

While on Crush DSIL2 phoned to say they had arrived at EP.

We headed over to Figment, a favourite of mine and DD2. Thereafter the others arrived as we headed anti-clockwise around Showcase.
No show were completed but we managed to get quite a few characters, plenty of looking around the shops before stopping for lunch.
Some went to China and lunched in Lotus Blossom Cafe while the rest of us headed to Mexico. Personally I think we had the better choice in Mexico

The shoppers headed to Mouse Gears while the rest of us went to Test Track. Both of our cars had a great ride and I am pleased to report that we all survived the crash test.

For our final ride in the park 13 of the 14 rode Soarin for the final time.

The entire group headed back to our hotel and we let the kids play in the pool for an hour or so. Then we all headed off to Sweet Tomatoes. We were impressed that they set up 2 tables for us at the back of the restaurant so we had an adult's and a kid's table.

With the DSIL2 dropped off we all headed back to Quality Suites.

Night night.

 

[disneyholic family]

wow!!! fabulous days at DHS and epcot!!!!

can i hire you as my commando runner for our trip? 1st at the soarin FP machine???? you're my hero!!!

and front row center!!! best place to be for sure!!!

 

[Julia Ann]

Sounds like you are having a fab time, i've just read all 7 pages of this post! 3weeks is so lucky but at least you can go at a relatively slower pace i guess.

Well done on that flight out there with your kids, a lot of changes, i would do in-direct for cheaper but my DH hates flying so i think 1 plane is the answer for his nerves. Last time we went was 2006 with Virgin, (Manc-Orl - wish they would fly from Brum!) no complaints but sounds like service has gone down a lot since we last went out.

So what's Team Boat Springs? How old are your children? how are they coping with the food, or are they not fussy eaters (like mine!).

Belated happy anniversary!

Are you gonna hit the Universal parks? or is disney the only interest for your kids? We thought of missing out IOA next time we go (first time with DD when she will be nearly 8) but then i remember i have just GOT to see Harry Potter!!!!

Enjoy, keep the report and photos coming!!! - you need to put names against the people in the pics

 

[wayneg]

3weeks is so lucky but at least you can go at a relatively slower pace i guess.

Wish it worked like that, this August will be 23 nights, more planned than any trip before, will need a holiday after it
We used to say we will go for longer and take it easier but it never happens.

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds like you are having a fab time, i've just read all 7 pages of this post! 3weeks is so lucky but at least you can go at a relatively slower pace i guess.

Well done on that flight out there with your kids, a lot of changes, i would do in-direct for cheaper but my DH hates flying so i think 1 plane is the answer for his nerves. Last time we went was 2006 with Virgin, (Manc-Orl - wish they would fly from Brum!) no complaints but sounds like service has gone down a lot since we last went out.

So what's Team Boat Springs? How old are your children? how are they coping with the food, or are they not fussy eaters (like mine!).

Belated happy anniversary!

Are you gonna hit the Universal parks? or is disney the only interest for your kids? We thought of missing out IOA next time we go (first time with DD when she will be nearly 8) but then i remember i have just GOT to see Harry Potter!!!!

Enjoy, keep the report and photos coming!!! - you need to put names against the people in the pics

This is our first trip in-direct and we found it worked out fine. As we need at least 1 flight to get to a major airport it was not that big of a deal.

Kids have coped fine with the food. They are ages 9,11 and 13. I did not think they were very fussy, but DS plate at Sweet Tomatoe's at the salad bar had only crutons on his plate. However they was plently in the soups, pizza and hot counter for him to have more than enough food.

Team Boat Springs is a fun, family raft ride at Blizzard Beach. I have a few videos but I don't think DW would appreciate it me posting them. Have a look at YouTube as I am sure someone has posted up a video.

Friday is our last day at LBV as we are heading up to Royal Pacific Resort for 4 days of Universal.

Wish it worked like that, this August will be 23 nights, more planned than any trip before, will need a holiday after it
We used to say we will go for longer and take it easier but it never happens.

I agree. Although we don't eat out that much we want to get the most value/enjoyment out of the trip.

Btw I forgot to say that I popped in a couple of times to Honey I Shrunk the Kids to say hiya to Beth. Despite a colleague saying she was on shift later we did not manage to catch up.

 

[alibeau]

Just to say, LOVING reading your updates

Ali

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I've kept up with your report & I must say I admire your stamina. By our 3rd week we are definitely in relaxed mode - getting up late - playing a game of crazy golf or going to the water park/pool for a hour or so certainly no rope drops for us!

I hope you continue to have a brilliant holiday - and am looking forward to your reports on Universal as we gave it a miss at Christmas.