Bkk40in2011
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2010
I know myself and I will not follow through with a fantastic trip report like the rest of you so I will just tell you some highlights or suggestions that I felt might be helpful. It was a fantastic trip and we felt so blessed to get to enjoy it.
TRAVEL
Drove from TX. We decided to leave around 2pm and eat at 6pm in Beaumont, TX. Then hit the road for the long haul except for gas stops. We stopped for breakfast in Tallahassee so we could miss traffic. Even at that it took us 20 clock hours (1 hour was the time change). We had an SUV and so we were relatively comfortable and all of us had great attitudes but I am not sure I would do it again. Those last 6 hours were very difficult. Staying overnight would have been a great option but we didn't have the extra day and didn't want to hit traffic. Overall 6 because it was fine but not sure we would choose to do that again. I had driven to AZ the month before and it was the same distance but we stayed in a hotel and broke up the trip. MUCH better way to do things in my opinion.
WBC
Wyndham Bonnet Creek is amazing and what everyone on this board tells you is correct. We used Ken and Denise Price with Vacation Upgrades and it was an easy and seamless reservation system. The resort is extremely impressive when you get there. We arrived early on April 30 around 1pm after grocery shopping but didn't get into the room until 4pm because it wasn't ready. No problem because we packed a bag and had swimsuits available. The atmosphere here is wonderful. Elisha was our guest relations person and she was fantastic. We were in room 358 and had requested that day a room with a lower level and view of the lake. The view was beautiful and even had a fountain right outside our window. The first night I woke up and was so excited to see that what I thought was thunder was fireworks from Epcot and Hollywood Studios that I could see partially from my patio. Hindsight I would pick another day to spend at the resort. We had 3 1/2 down days there but it was so fun with all the pools that I would have enjoyed another day. We cooked most of our meals. The kitchen was well stocked and everything worked perfectly. The kids loved having their own space and we enjoyed our master suite. Bring a little extra cash for ice cream sundaes ($3 I think) which they had almost everyday at the main building I think. Kids enjoyed the karaoke as well at pool 3 I think. It was appropriate for all ages. My teens loved the pirate pool and the pool with the lazy river that goes in the tube (building 5?). Overall I can't imagine staying anywhere else at Disney it was that great. (I have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and Pop Century and loved those but the ability to spread out was really nice.) Also for those who love Disney but get a little overwhelmed with the grandness of it all - all the time - this is a great alternative. An easy way to escape the noise and over stimulation.
HAVING A CAR
Love, love, loved this. Disney transportation is incredible so I am not knocking it. Just really enjoyed the ability to drive to the store, see Celebration, go to any park etc and be there in a few minutes and be back home in a few minutes. It was a great feature that I would probably do even if we stayed onsite again.
UNIVERSAL
These parks were impressive. Disney still holds it's own but Universal did a great job filling in the gaps that Disney hasn't decided to fill. The larger roller coasters, the simulator rides, the walk through their downtown area to get to the parks from the garage. That was really cool. My kids loved these parks but loved Disney as well. The theming here is over the top for every single area and it was visually very stimulating. We loved the Harry Potter sections. Gringotts was my absolute favorite. The single rider lines helped us to spend 1 day in both parks and we road 24 rides and ate at 3 broomsticks on a Sunday. We did not have Express Passes. My family minus my son all had problems on Forbidden Journey. The simulator ride was just too much motion and flying. We had taken bonine for 3 days prior and didn't eat lunch until after and still chose not to ride it again. That is saying a lot because my daughter is a HUGE Harry Potter fan. All of the other rides were fantastic.
The Dudley Do Right ride gets you SOAKED. This is more like Kali than Splash so you will need a change of clothes or walk around sopping wet. Dryers were available for $5 which I thought was nice but exploitive.
Here is where I may get flamed. I was thinking about the cost for those of you who will buy 2 day or more tickets to see both parks. You have to buy park to park tickets to ride the Hogwart's Express but that is the only thing that you need park to park for if you are staying more than 1 day. If my calculations are correct then you would pay $30-40 a ticket to upgrade to park to park just to ride a 5 min ride 2 x. That is WAY expensive and in my opinion didn't warrant the cost. We used park to park because we had only one day to experience it all but to do it just for the train may not be the best use of your $100 - $200. IMHO so take it or leave it.
3 Broomsticks was a fantastic value. 4 people can eat like Kings for $50. No where in any park is there a value this good. The food was great.
Frozen butterbeer is worth every dime. $6.50 I think. I made a copy cat at home and it stunk. So glad we tried the real thing because it was probably one of my favorite snack things the entire trip. Share it because you probably need to but you won't want to share.
Also don't drink it before the simulator rides. I do think that sugar doesn't help with the stomach issues on those rides.
The drive to Universal on a Sunday from Disney was very easy. Lots of signage. We had no traffic. Parking was $17 like at Disney.
DISNEY PARKS
Again I love to drive my own car. We never quite figured out where we were but with GPS it was very easy to get around and the signage was great. I thought the parks were just as clean as they always were. The rides did seem to be down a bit more but maybe I am not remembering from our last trip 6 years ago. Also we all know instantly when a ride is down because of the new Disney app so maybe that intensifies the feeling of things being down more often.
Fast pass+ was perfect for us. We really enjoyed the ability to plan a little without being a slave to a schedule or a kiosk We rode 25 rides on a 3 crowd day at MK (opening left at 3:30 back at 5, then left for good at 9pm. We left to eat at Trail's End. 20 rides on a 6 crowd day (opening, left 1:30 - 6:30 then went to close at midnight) and saw Captain Jack's show, met with Gaston and left for 5 hours to go to downtown disney to see Avengers. Since there are not really any single rider lines at Disney we just took advantage of down times and ended up with 1 fourth FP on each day that we used at night. I think this is incredible and really felt that we got our money's worth. We didn't see any characters except those listed and rode all headliners except 7 dwarves multiple times.
Love DHS, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT. The Perry Adventure at EPCOT was so cute. We used it at Japan and really had a great time. Recommend.
Pirates was not a wet ride in my opinion. However I refused to ride in the front and those people may have gotten wet. Splash was a wet ride in that you won't feel completely comfortable after you ride it but it was actually nice since it was a little warm.
Best part of the trip - Jungle Cruise opened up on our last night at 10:30pm. We just happened to glance over and it was open with a 5 min wait. I told everyone I saw after that because I know we were disappointed that we weren't going to be able to ride it. The painting really did wonders for it and it seemed like a new ride to me.
Swiss family treehouse is gorgeous at night.
I really liked 7 dwarves which we only rode on fast pass. Very smooth ride.
Love Disney and they do parks well. The rides were as fun as I remember and I am so glad we had such a great experience. I did notice cast members that weren't all that friendly this time but again the friendly ones more than made up for it.
RESTAURANTS
Trail's End - By far our best meal of the trip. The food was incredible and going over to Ft. Wilderness was such a nice relaxing part of our day. Nice to get away from the noise for a while. Every single item on the buffet was incredible. Our price that night was approx $24 each so you that was good for a Disney meal. The price varies by season. Didn't get name of our waiter but he was great and really took good care of us.
50's Prime Time - We had Richard from Springdale PA was incredible. The food was good but Richard is really what made the meal. We did the sampler plate and split it. Good choice.
Star Wars Galactic Breakfast - Characters were incredible. Meal wasn't that great. I think $250 (4 people, tip) for this meal was way overpriced and would not do it again. For some reason they put strange things on the menu when a normal breakfast at a lower price would be a better option. The picture is no longer included in the price of the meal so I was disappointed by that but they did let us use our camera. Bring things to trade with the Jawas. They were very cute about this. Took in a wanted poster of DD and the Storm Troopers were great to play along. Again characters were the saving grace of this experience.
Cosmic Ray - split a burger 3 ways for a late night snack and it was delicious at 10:00pm.
Biergarten - This was way better than I remembered. The atmosphere is beautiful and this time I really loved the food. Such a great show and our waitress was really good.
GIFT SHOP
Bring $12 for the bubble wands they sell in the kiosks at night. They were awesome and the kids have used them a lot since we bought them. Also in the Pirates gift shop at MK there are leather bracelets that they will engrave for you for $10. I bought one and brought it back as a bday present. Maps were a big thing for my kids too for $6.
MOVIES at DTD
We saw Avengers once in the Dine in movies and then saw it again in the regular theatre. Tickets were $13 I think for dine in and $10 for regular so not bad. The chairs were awesome, big and comfy. The kids liked the dine in and had burgers I think. I had BBQ quesadillas and they weren't all that great but ok for the movie experience. We had pizza the second time and just ordered it outside and brought it into the movies.
BRAZILIANs and CHEERLEADERS
This seems crazy to have to put this as a category but people always go on here asking about them. Both were here during my trip and I found them to be wonderful. Brazilians are beautiful people so it gave you something to admire while standing in line. I asked a man from the US who was Brazilian why so many people from Brazil go to Disney and he reminded me that Brazil is land mass size near to US without Alaska and 5th in the worldwide economy. They have expendable income and they like to travel especially to Disney. I thought that was funny. So not only do they have beautiful people but they are wealthy and have good taste in vacations. See I learned a lot at EPCOT. Cheerleaders or gymnasts if that is what they were, were very well behaved and they looked adorable in their big hair bows.
WEATHER
Rain forecast everyday just about and we got a light mist on Tuesday. That's it. I brought home 12 rain ponchos. May is beautiful weather. It was a little cooler than normal at 81-85 and the humidity was not bad. Definitely shorts weather. Very nice and comfortable.
SO that's it. If I think of anything else I will let you know. It was an amazing trip and we loved every minute of it. I am most likely not going back because I want to see new things in this amazing world we live in so I was really happy that we had such a wonderful time.
Any other questions - post them and I will check back..
TRAVEL
Drove from TX. We decided to leave around 2pm and eat at 6pm in Beaumont, TX. Then hit the road for the long haul except for gas stops. We stopped for breakfast in Tallahassee so we could miss traffic. Even at that it took us 20 clock hours (1 hour was the time change). We had an SUV and so we were relatively comfortable and all of us had great attitudes but I am not sure I would do it again. Those last 6 hours were very difficult. Staying overnight would have been a great option but we didn't have the extra day and didn't want to hit traffic. Overall 6 because it was fine but not sure we would choose to do that again. I had driven to AZ the month before and it was the same distance but we stayed in a hotel and broke up the trip. MUCH better way to do things in my opinion.
WBC
Wyndham Bonnet Creek is amazing and what everyone on this board tells you is correct. We used Ken and Denise Price with Vacation Upgrades and it was an easy and seamless reservation system. The resort is extremely impressive when you get there. We arrived early on April 30 around 1pm after grocery shopping but didn't get into the room until 4pm because it wasn't ready. No problem because we packed a bag and had swimsuits available. The atmosphere here is wonderful. Elisha was our guest relations person and she was fantastic. We were in room 358 and had requested that day a room with a lower level and view of the lake. The view was beautiful and even had a fountain right outside our window. The first night I woke up and was so excited to see that what I thought was thunder was fireworks from Epcot and Hollywood Studios that I could see partially from my patio. Hindsight I would pick another day to spend at the resort. We had 3 1/2 down days there but it was so fun with all the pools that I would have enjoyed another day. We cooked most of our meals. The kitchen was well stocked and everything worked perfectly. The kids loved having their own space and we enjoyed our master suite. Bring a little extra cash for ice cream sundaes ($3 I think) which they had almost everyday at the main building I think. Kids enjoyed the karaoke as well at pool 3 I think. It was appropriate for all ages. My teens loved the pirate pool and the pool with the lazy river that goes in the tube (building 5?). Overall I can't imagine staying anywhere else at Disney it was that great. (I have stayed at Port Orleans Riverside and Pop Century and loved those but the ability to spread out was really nice.) Also for those who love Disney but get a little overwhelmed with the grandness of it all - all the time - this is a great alternative. An easy way to escape the noise and over stimulation.
HAVING A CAR
Love, love, loved this. Disney transportation is incredible so I am not knocking it. Just really enjoyed the ability to drive to the store, see Celebration, go to any park etc and be there in a few minutes and be back home in a few minutes. It was a great feature that I would probably do even if we stayed onsite again.
UNIVERSAL
These parks were impressive. Disney still holds it's own but Universal did a great job filling in the gaps that Disney hasn't decided to fill. The larger roller coasters, the simulator rides, the walk through their downtown area to get to the parks from the garage. That was really cool. My kids loved these parks but loved Disney as well. The theming here is over the top for every single area and it was visually very stimulating. We loved the Harry Potter sections. Gringotts was my absolute favorite. The single rider lines helped us to spend 1 day in both parks and we road 24 rides and ate at 3 broomsticks on a Sunday. We did not have Express Passes. My family minus my son all had problems on Forbidden Journey. The simulator ride was just too much motion and flying. We had taken bonine for 3 days prior and didn't eat lunch until after and still chose not to ride it again. That is saying a lot because my daughter is a HUGE Harry Potter fan. All of the other rides were fantastic.
The Dudley Do Right ride gets you SOAKED. This is more like Kali than Splash so you will need a change of clothes or walk around sopping wet. Dryers were available for $5 which I thought was nice but exploitive.
Here is where I may get flamed. I was thinking about the cost for those of you who will buy 2 day or more tickets to see both parks. You have to buy park to park tickets to ride the Hogwart's Express but that is the only thing that you need park to park for if you are staying more than 1 day. If my calculations are correct then you would pay $30-40 a ticket to upgrade to park to park just to ride a 5 min ride 2 x. That is WAY expensive and in my opinion didn't warrant the cost. We used park to park because we had only one day to experience it all but to do it just for the train may not be the best use of your $100 - $200. IMHO so take it or leave it.
3 Broomsticks was a fantastic value. 4 people can eat like Kings for $50. No where in any park is there a value this good. The food was great.
Frozen butterbeer is worth every dime. $6.50 I think. I made a copy cat at home and it stunk. So glad we tried the real thing because it was probably one of my favorite snack things the entire trip. Share it because you probably need to but you won't want to share.
Also don't drink it before the simulator rides. I do think that sugar doesn't help with the stomach issues on those rides. The drive to Universal on a Sunday from Disney was very easy. Lots of signage. We had no traffic. Parking was $17 like at Disney.
DISNEY PARKS
Again I love to drive my own car. We never quite figured out where we were but with GPS it was very easy to get around and the signage was great. I thought the parks were just as clean as they always were. The rides did seem to be down a bit more but maybe I am not remembering from our last trip 6 years ago. Also we all know instantly when a ride is down because of the new Disney app so maybe that intensifies the feeling of things being down more often.
Fast pass+ was perfect for us. We really enjoyed the ability to plan a little without being a slave to a schedule or a kiosk We rode 25 rides on a 3 crowd day at MK (opening left at 3:30 back at 5, then left for good at 9pm. We left to eat at Trail's End. 20 rides on a 6 crowd day (opening, left 1:30 - 6:30 then went to close at midnight) and saw Captain Jack's show, met with Gaston and left for 5 hours to go to downtown disney to see Avengers. Since there are not really any single rider lines at Disney we just took advantage of down times and ended up with 1 fourth FP on each day that we used at night. I think this is incredible and really felt that we got our money's worth. We didn't see any characters except those listed and rode all headliners except 7 dwarves multiple times.
Love DHS, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT. The Perry Adventure at EPCOT was so cute. We used it at Japan and really had a great time. Recommend.
Pirates was not a wet ride in my opinion. However I refused to ride in the front and those people may have gotten wet. Splash was a wet ride in that you won't feel completely comfortable after you ride it but it was actually nice since it was a little warm.
Best part of the trip - Jungle Cruise opened up on our last night at 10:30pm. We just happened to glance over and it was open with a 5 min wait. I told everyone I saw after that because I know we were disappointed that we weren't going to be able to ride it. The painting really did wonders for it and it seemed like a new ride to me.
Swiss family treehouse is gorgeous at night.
I really liked 7 dwarves which we only rode on fast pass. Very smooth ride.
Love Disney and they do parks well. The rides were as fun as I remember and I am so glad we had such a great experience. I did notice cast members that weren't all that friendly this time but again the friendly ones more than made up for it.
RESTAURANTS
Trail's End - By far our best meal of the trip. The food was incredible and going over to Ft. Wilderness was such a nice relaxing part of our day. Nice to get away from the noise for a while. Every single item on the buffet was incredible. Our price that night was approx $24 each so you that was good for a Disney meal. The price varies by season. Didn't get name of our waiter but he was great and really took good care of us.
50's Prime Time - We had Richard from Springdale PA was incredible. The food was good but Richard is really what made the meal. We did the sampler plate and split it. Good choice.
Star Wars Galactic Breakfast - Characters were incredible. Meal wasn't that great. I think $250 (4 people, tip) for this meal was way overpriced and would not do it again. For some reason they put strange things on the menu when a normal breakfast at a lower price would be a better option. The picture is no longer included in the price of the meal so I was disappointed by that but they did let us use our camera. Bring things to trade with the Jawas. They were very cute about this. Took in a wanted poster of DD and the Storm Troopers were great to play along. Again characters were the saving grace of this experience.
Cosmic Ray - split a burger 3 ways for a late night snack and it was delicious at 10:00pm.
Biergarten - This was way better than I remembered. The atmosphere is beautiful and this time I really loved the food. Such a great show and our waitress was really good.
GIFT SHOP
Bring $12 for the bubble wands they sell in the kiosks at night. They were awesome and the kids have used them a lot since we bought them. Also in the Pirates gift shop at MK there are leather bracelets that they will engrave for you for $10. I bought one and brought it back as a bday present. Maps were a big thing for my kids too for $6.
MOVIES at DTD
We saw Avengers once in the Dine in movies and then saw it again in the regular theatre. Tickets were $13 I think for dine in and $10 for regular so not bad. The chairs were awesome, big and comfy. The kids liked the dine in and had burgers I think. I had BBQ quesadillas and they weren't all that great but ok for the movie experience. We had pizza the second time and just ordered it outside and brought it into the movies.
BRAZILIANs and CHEERLEADERS
This seems crazy to have to put this as a category but people always go on here asking about them. Both were here during my trip and I found them to be wonderful. Brazilians are beautiful people so it gave you something to admire while standing in line.
I asked a man from the US who was Brazilian why so many people from Brazil go to Disney and he reminded me that Brazil is land mass size near to US without Alaska and 5th in the worldwide economy. They have expendable income and they like to travel especially to Disney. I thought that was funny. So not only do they have beautiful people but they are wealthy and have good taste in vacations. See I learned a lot at EPCOT. Cheerleaders or gymnasts if that is what they were, were very well behaved and they looked adorable in their big hair bows.WEATHER
Rain forecast everyday just about and we got a light mist on Tuesday. That's it. I brought home 12 rain ponchos. May is beautiful weather. It was a little cooler than normal at 81-85 and the humidity was not bad. Definitely shorts weather. Very nice and comfortable.
SO that's it. If I think of anything else I will let you know. It was an amazing trip and we loved every minute of it. I am most likely not going back because I want to see new things in this amazing world we live in so I was really happy that we had such a wonderful time.
Any other questions - post them and I will check back..
