Shanti
Momketeer
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2015
Overview
We're back from our "Water Parks" vacation. Well, it was originally planned as such, but ended up including all four Disney theme parks and three deluxe resorts. Who am I kidding, after all? My son could have a blast on an all-water-parks Orlando trip without turning a weepy eye to the Disney theme parks, but I can't. So we added on just a day at Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, because of the new rides, and it all just kind of spiraled from there. Once you open pandora's box...
Day 1: Friday, July 15th: Flight, Grand Floridian, and Hoop Dee Doo Revue
At 8:50am, my 11 year-old son, my significant other, and I, flew from our home in central Texas to the Orlando airport, using Southwest Airlines. The flight was exactly on time and pleasant. Early Bird check-in really helped us board the plane early enough to secure very good seats together, and TSA pre-check made security at the airport a breeze.
We arrived at MCO at 12:30pm, and went straight to the Magical Express area. There was no line. We were scanned in and placed on what became a full bus right when we sat down in it, so were immediately whisked away to WDW. I didn't particularly enjoy the WDW infomercial that ran for most of the trip- wish they'd do cartoons instead. The DME bus stopped first at the Poly, then at the Grand Floridian.
Are there words to describe my quiet excitement at getting to stay at Disney's flagship resort, which is so beautiful that I can remember admiring it as a pre-teen during my very first trip to WDW so many years ago? Many people describe the Grand as an ideal resort for Christmas, but to me, its Victorian white wood facade says "summer". It has a light, airy feel, inside and out.
We were only staying here for our arrival night, the day before our morning at the Magic Kingdom, as the rest of our trip centered around the other theme parks & water parks. But even our one night at the Grand left us with special memories.
Upon arrival, as we waited for the DME driver to give us our bags, a Grand Floridian cast member dressed in a white suit gave wooden GF coins to each of the children, including my son. Nice momento.
We checked in and were told our theme park view room in Sago Cay (the building I'd requested) was ready, even though it was only a little after 1pm. Upon arrival at our room, we found the shower curtain down in the bathroom, and an unmade pillow and pillowcase laying at the end of the tightly-made bed...which was a king bed, btw, & we were 2 adults and a child. So we called the front desk (the first of many such calls during this trip- but they were always pleasant calls). The manager quickly came up & apologized, saying that the room had been released too early by mistake. I got the impression that if we'd acted a bit P.O.'d that we'd have gotten extra FPs or something out of the situation, but we didn't choose to give anyone a hard time or milk the situation. We were joyful.
After a long morning we were glad to have gotten early access to our room, we were at the gorgeous Grand, the housekeepers were already there, eager to finish our room, & we wanted to go explore the resort & have an early dinner, anyway.
The view from our resort room was very special: the monorail was to our left, and Cinderella's Castle was straight ahead. Wow. My son agreed that it was worth his sleeping on a sofa bed for our one-night GF stay (because the room only had a king bed, not 2 doubles), so that we all could enjoy that view & watch Wishes from our balcony.
We wandered through the resort, inside and out, and looked forward to swimming/hot tubbing after dinner. At around 3pm, we boarded the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and from there boarded the boat to Fort Wilderness for a 4pm dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue. My significant other had never seen the show before, so I was especially happy that we got a perfect table, front and center but not adjacent to the stage.
I was surprised to eat in a more than half-empty Pioneer Hall: the previous 2 HDDRs I'd been to had looked full. The show was solid, as usual, although it seemed just a bit less rowdy & spirited than usual, given the lack of a big crowd to provide lots of laughter and applause. It also seemed that the show began a bit late, & that there were longer than previous periods of quiet between the skits as we all ate our meals. Maybe an off day or showtime for them? Davy Crockett's angel got a big laugh, & became a running joke for us during the night- which of our friends would make the silliest-looking angel.
Upon returning to the room around 6:30, we found everything in order, 2 GF chocolates on the desk, and our 3 pieces of check-in luggage already in our room. Didn't unpack much as we'd be switching resorts the next day. We got our swimsuits & sunscreen on, dashed out to the pool...to be greeted by the fact that it had just closed due to lightning.
Very persistent, all-evening lightning.
My son was crushed, as he'd wanted to swim in the Beach Pool, but recovered. We spent the evening relaxing on the small balcony watching the monorail, boats, castle, and later, fireworks.
I'd earlier called to ask what channel to put the tv on to hear the wishes music during the fireworks, but that didn't work, so I called again, talked to 2 people, and eventually was told that although the Contemporary theme park view guests have access to the soundtrack on their tvs, they are the only guests with that access. No such luck if you're at the GF. Annoying that more staff wasn't aware of that in the first place, but oh well.
Day 2: Saturday, July 16th: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios & the Boardwalk Inn
Day 2 will post soon...
We're back from our "Water Parks" vacation. Well, it was originally planned as such, but ended up including all four Disney theme parks and three deluxe resorts. Who am I kidding, after all? My son could have a blast on an all-water-parks Orlando trip without turning a weepy eye to the Disney theme parks, but I can't. So we added on just a day at Magic Kingdom, then Epcot, because of the new rides, and it all just kind of spiraled from there. Once you open pandora's box...
Day 1: Friday, July 15th: Flight, Grand Floridian, and Hoop Dee Doo Revue
At 8:50am, my 11 year-old son, my significant other, and I, flew from our home in central Texas to the Orlando airport, using Southwest Airlines. The flight was exactly on time and pleasant. Early Bird check-in really helped us board the plane early enough to secure very good seats together, and TSA pre-check made security at the airport a breeze.
We arrived at MCO at 12:30pm, and went straight to the Magical Express area. There was no line. We were scanned in and placed on what became a full bus right when we sat down in it, so were immediately whisked away to WDW. I didn't particularly enjoy the WDW infomercial that ran for most of the trip- wish they'd do cartoons instead. The DME bus stopped first at the Poly, then at the Grand Floridian.
Are there words to describe my quiet excitement at getting to stay at Disney's flagship resort, which is so beautiful that I can remember admiring it as a pre-teen during my very first trip to WDW so many years ago? Many people describe the Grand as an ideal resort for Christmas, but to me, its Victorian white wood facade says "summer". It has a light, airy feel, inside and out.
We were only staying here for our arrival night, the day before our morning at the Magic Kingdom, as the rest of our trip centered around the other theme parks & water parks. But even our one night at the Grand left us with special memories.
Upon arrival, as we waited for the DME driver to give us our bags, a Grand Floridian cast member dressed in a white suit gave wooden GF coins to each of the children, including my son. Nice momento.
We checked in and were told our theme park view room in Sago Cay (the building I'd requested) was ready, even though it was only a little after 1pm. Upon arrival at our room, we found the shower curtain down in the bathroom, and an unmade pillow and pillowcase laying at the end of the tightly-made bed...which was a king bed, btw, & we were 2 adults and a child. So we called the front desk (the first of many such calls during this trip- but they were always pleasant calls). The manager quickly came up & apologized, saying that the room had been released too early by mistake. I got the impression that if we'd acted a bit P.O.'d that we'd have gotten extra FPs or something out of the situation, but we didn't choose to give anyone a hard time or milk the situation. We were joyful.
After a long morning we were glad to have gotten early access to our room, we were at the gorgeous Grand, the housekeepers were already there, eager to finish our room, & we wanted to go explore the resort & have an early dinner, anyway.The view from our resort room was very special: the monorail was to our left, and Cinderella's Castle was straight ahead. Wow. My son agreed that it was worth his sleeping on a sofa bed for our one-night GF stay (because the room only had a king bed, not 2 doubles), so that we all could enjoy that view & watch Wishes from our balcony.
We wandered through the resort, inside and out, and looked forward to swimming/hot tubbing after dinner. At around 3pm, we boarded the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, and from there boarded the boat to Fort Wilderness for a 4pm dinner at Hoop Dee Doo Revue. My significant other had never seen the show before, so I was especially happy that we got a perfect table, front and center but not adjacent to the stage.
I was surprised to eat in a more than half-empty Pioneer Hall: the previous 2 HDDRs I'd been to had looked full. The show was solid, as usual, although it seemed just a bit less rowdy & spirited than usual, given the lack of a big crowd to provide lots of laughter and applause. It also seemed that the show began a bit late, & that there were longer than previous periods of quiet between the skits as we all ate our meals. Maybe an off day or showtime for them? Davy Crockett's angel got a big laugh, & became a running joke for us during the night- which of our friends would make the silliest-looking angel.
Upon returning to the room around 6:30, we found everything in order, 2 GF chocolates on the desk, and our 3 pieces of check-in luggage already in our room. Didn't unpack much as we'd be switching resorts the next day. We got our swimsuits & sunscreen on, dashed out to the pool...to be greeted by the fact that it had just closed due to lightning.
Very persistent, all-evening lightning.My son was crushed, as he'd wanted to swim in the Beach Pool, but recovered. We spent the evening relaxing on the small balcony watching the monorail, boats, castle, and later, fireworks.
I'd earlier called to ask what channel to put the tv on to hear the wishes music during the fireworks, but that didn't work, so I called again, talked to 2 people, and eventually was told that although the Contemporary theme park view guests have access to the soundtrack on their tvs, they are the only guests with that access. No such luck if you're at the GF. Annoying that more staff wasn't aware of that in the first place, but oh well.
Day 2: Saturday, July 16th: Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios & the Boardwalk Inn
Day 2 will post soon...
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