FantasmicDad!
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- May 26, 2016
Just returned from my 12th trip to the World and once again it was a memorable trip. This trip included my DW and fellow Disney lover and our two children DS age 23 and DD age 21. I can't believe that we took our first family trip together in 1999 when my kids were ages 5 and 3 and now they are both adults, Fortunately, neither of my kids has lost their love for Disney as they have grown older and that is one of the beautiful things about Disney. We have been fortunate to have many memorable trips together over the years but I have to admit that it was a little weird (and expensive) "drinking around the world" for the first time as a family.
My wife and I booked this trip as a bounce back offer while we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary trip last September. We were staying at the CB at the time and we initially booked two rooms at this resort for this trip. We usually stay at PC but we both enjoyed CB and thought our kids would like it as well. Our plans changed a few times since initially booking the trip. First, we decided that the construction issues at CB would be too much so we switched to CS. Second, for financial reasons we decided to cancel one of the rooms and share a room. I was a little apprehensive about four adults in one room but we are a family that really only uses the room for sleep and we were willing to make some sacrifices in order to go to Disney. Plus, with the renovated rooms at the CS resort it might not be so bad. With that being said, I made a call to the resort a week before our arrival and requested a renovated room in the Cabanas section. I know that room requests are just that "requests" and there are no guarantees but I was keeping my fingers crossed!
Day 1 - Friday 12/15/17 - "Best Laid Plans"
This trip was a long time in the making and when the countdown hit zero we were once again experiencing the excitement of travelling to Disney again. We had a 10:55am flight from Newark, NJ. with an estimated arrival time at MCO at 1:25pm. We always rent a car as we like the freedom of driving to the parks when we want so the plan was to pick up the rental car and head directly to AK. I was so happy with my plans for this day as everything seemed to fall perfectly in place. I had a 3:35 FP for NRJ, 4:30 dinner reservations at Y&Y, 5:30 FP for EE and FP for ROL at 7:15. Well, as the title for this day indicates, things did not go well. Our flight was delayed an hour and the line at the Budget rental car was excruciating slow. You would think maybe Budget would have more than 2 people working! We missed our FP time for NRJ which was disappointing but honestly we were more looking forward to our FP for FOP that we had later in the week. We made our dinner at Y&Y which is a favorite of my wife and kids. We had a wonderful meal and I would highly recommend trying the fried won-ton with cream cheese filling, pineapple and Vanilla ice cream dessert. It was delicious! FYI, we got the free standard dining package with our bounce-back offer when we booked this trip. Having a FP for EE after dinner probably wasn't the best plan as no one was really excited about riding after stuffing our face. We decided to skip EE for now and get our seats for ROL. We have never seen this show so despite some luke-warm reviews, we were still looking forward to seeing this show. Fantasmic! is our favorite Disney show and ROL would not change that. The show was ok but we felt it lacked in story and drama. There are no "goosebump" moments like you get with Fantasmic! After ROL we watched some of the "Awakenings" projections on the Tree of Life which was cool and then we headed to our resort. I had received a text earlier in the day that our room (8683) in Cabanas 8B was ready. We got to our assigned room and bummer, it was a non-renovated room. I was immediately disappointed but I tried not to let it bother me as I was still in my happy place. Upon further inspection of our room my demeanor did not change. The furniture had big gouge marks, the wallpaper trim along the ceilings was coming apart from the wall, the carpet was dingy looking and there was a hair on the wall in the bathroom. I would expect a room like this at a Super 8 motel but not at a Disney moderate resort. I called the front desk and voiced my displeasure. I explained that I understood that room requests are just that but I was really disappointed in the condition of this room that I was paying full price for. I was told that there was no newly renovated rooms available this night but that I would be put on a list for a new room for the next day. We received a call back later that night informing us we would be moved to a new renovated room the next day.
Day 2 - Saturday 12/16/17 - "Joy and Sadness"
The plan for today was to head to MK. I had FP scheduled for the "Mountains", SM, BTMRR and SM with a 7:15pm dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon Café. My son woke up with a fever and a sore throat.
We received a call that we would be moving to our new room today and that we would need to vacate this room by 11am. Bell services would come and take our bags and then deliver them to our new room for us. My DW and DD went to the Pepper Market for breakfast before heading to MK. The MK at Christmas time is breathtaking but boy was it crowded. My daughter had made plans to meet up with a friend of hers that was at Disney doing the college program. Her friend called my daughter to tell her that she was denied entry to the MK as an employee because they were close to capacity. My daughters friend told her that there were over 80,000 people at the MK this day. My son was able to meet up with us later in the day at MK and join us for our BTMRR and SM FP's. I received a text at 1:45pm that our new room (7173) in Cabanas 7A was ready. My DW and DD left the MK early to head to our new room and get ready for dinner. My DS and I stayed at MK and went on POC standby. While on the line we nearly witnessed a brawl between some members of a sorority group and other women. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and there was no incident. My DS and I met up with my DW and DD at our new room prior to our dinner reservations. What a difference as the newly renovated rooms at CS are beautiful. We had a corner room to boot! We had never eaten at WCC before so we were looking forward to this experience. The WL resort lobby is magnificent especially with the Christmas tree and other decorations. My DS was less impressed and compared the lobby to a Great Wolf Lodge resort near our hometown in PA. I told him he was crazy. We all enjoyed the food atmosphere at WCC and would definitely dine there again. My DW and DD decided that they wanted to head back to the room after dinner but my DS and I decided to take the ferry boat to the MK as it was open until midnight. The MK was still crowded with wait times between 45 and 90 minutes for most major attractions. We did standby on Mickey's Philarmagic, IASW and HM and then called it a night.
That's it for now. Coming up will be MVMCP, an unexpected FOP and a crowded Candlelight Processional.
My wife and I booked this trip as a bounce back offer while we were celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary trip last September. We were staying at the CB at the time and we initially booked two rooms at this resort for this trip. We usually stay at PC but we both enjoyed CB and thought our kids would like it as well. Our plans changed a few times since initially booking the trip. First, we decided that the construction issues at CB would be too much so we switched to CS. Second, for financial reasons we decided to cancel one of the rooms and share a room. I was a little apprehensive about four adults in one room but we are a family that really only uses the room for sleep and we were willing to make some sacrifices in order to go to Disney. Plus, with the renovated rooms at the CS resort it might not be so bad. With that being said, I made a call to the resort a week before our arrival and requested a renovated room in the Cabanas section. I know that room requests are just that "requests" and there are no guarantees but I was keeping my fingers crossed!
Day 1 - Friday 12/15/17 - "Best Laid Plans"
This trip was a long time in the making and when the countdown hit zero we were once again experiencing the excitement of travelling to Disney again. We had a 10:55am flight from Newark, NJ. with an estimated arrival time at MCO at 1:25pm. We always rent a car as we like the freedom of driving to the parks when we want so the plan was to pick up the rental car and head directly to AK. I was so happy with my plans for this day as everything seemed to fall perfectly in place. I had a 3:35 FP for NRJ, 4:30 dinner reservations at Y&Y, 5:30 FP for EE and FP for ROL at 7:15. Well, as the title for this day indicates, things did not go well. Our flight was delayed an hour and the line at the Budget rental car was excruciating slow. You would think maybe Budget would have more than 2 people working! We missed our FP time for NRJ which was disappointing but honestly we were more looking forward to our FP for FOP that we had later in the week. We made our dinner at Y&Y which is a favorite of my wife and kids. We had a wonderful meal and I would highly recommend trying the fried won-ton with cream cheese filling, pineapple and Vanilla ice cream dessert. It was delicious! FYI, we got the free standard dining package with our bounce-back offer when we booked this trip. Having a FP for EE after dinner probably wasn't the best plan as no one was really excited about riding after stuffing our face. We decided to skip EE for now and get our seats for ROL. We have never seen this show so despite some luke-warm reviews, we were still looking forward to seeing this show. Fantasmic! is our favorite Disney show and ROL would not change that. The show was ok but we felt it lacked in story and drama. There are no "goosebump" moments like you get with Fantasmic! After ROL we watched some of the "Awakenings" projections on the Tree of Life which was cool and then we headed to our resort. I had received a text earlier in the day that our room (8683) in Cabanas 8B was ready. We got to our assigned room and bummer, it was a non-renovated room. I was immediately disappointed but I tried not to let it bother me as I was still in my happy place. Upon further inspection of our room my demeanor did not change. The furniture had big gouge marks, the wallpaper trim along the ceilings was coming apart from the wall, the carpet was dingy looking and there was a hair on the wall in the bathroom. I would expect a room like this at a Super 8 motel but not at a Disney moderate resort. I called the front desk and voiced my displeasure. I explained that I understood that room requests are just that but I was really disappointed in the condition of this room that I was paying full price for. I was told that there was no newly renovated rooms available this night but that I would be put on a list for a new room for the next day. We received a call back later that night informing us we would be moved to a new renovated room the next day.
Day 2 - Saturday 12/16/17 - "Joy and Sadness"
The plan for today was to head to MK. I had FP scheduled for the "Mountains", SM, BTMRR and SM with a 7:15pm dinner reservation at Whispering Canyon Café. My son woke up with a fever and a sore throat.
We received a call that we would be moving to our new room today and that we would need to vacate this room by 11am. Bell services would come and take our bags and then deliver them to our new room for us. My DW and DD went to the Pepper Market for breakfast before heading to MK. The MK at Christmas time is breathtaking but boy was it crowded. My daughter had made plans to meet up with a friend of hers that was at Disney doing the college program. Her friend called my daughter to tell her that she was denied entry to the MK as an employee because they were close to capacity. My daughters friend told her that there were over 80,000 people at the MK this day. My son was able to meet up with us later in the day at MK and join us for our BTMRR and SM FP's. I received a text at 1:45pm that our new room (7173) in Cabanas 7A was ready. My DW and DD left the MK early to head to our new room and get ready for dinner. My DS and I stayed at MK and went on POC standby. While on the line we nearly witnessed a brawl between some members of a sorority group and other women. Luckily, cooler heads prevailed and there was no incident. My DS and I met up with my DW and DD at our new room prior to our dinner reservations. What a difference as the newly renovated rooms at CS are beautiful. We had a corner room to boot! We had never eaten at WCC before so we were looking forward to this experience. The WL resort lobby is magnificent especially with the Christmas tree and other decorations. My DS was less impressed and compared the lobby to a Great Wolf Lodge resort near our hometown in PA. I told him he was crazy. We all enjoyed the food atmosphere at WCC and would definitely dine there again. My DW and DD decided that they wanted to head back to the room after dinner but my DS and I decided to take the ferry boat to the MK as it was open until midnight. The MK was still crowded with wait times between 45 and 90 minutes for most major attractions. We did standby on Mickey's Philarmagic, IASW and HM and then called it a night.
That's it for now. Coming up will be MVMCP, an unexpected FOP and a crowded Candlelight Processional.
