Annie'sMom
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
Final Thoughts
This was our third trip in three years. People have constantly told me that DD is too young and she wonâÂÂt remember the trips. I beg to differ. She has very vivid memories of our trips. We look at the pictures and look at the video. And even if she doesnâÂÂt remember, I will! This trip was our best to date. It will also be the final year that we are able to go off season. DD will start kindergarten next year and I just canâÂÂt justify taking her out of school to go on vacation. I donâÂÂt mean this as a criticism for people who do that. I just donâÂÂt feel right about it. I think itâÂÂs important for kids to be in school. We will just have to go early in the summer. Here are some of my final thoughts:
Crowds: I was surprised by how crowded the parks were. Even CMs remarked about how crowded it was. They seemed to think that the parks will continue to get busier in the off season. I tend to agree with that. As people find out how much less crowded it is supposed to be, they will continue to go at this time of the year. Also, lots of kids are taken out of school or are home schooled, so those families can ignore the summers. Also, Disney has done a good job of advertising and attracting couples without kids or even singles. (I know I would relish the opportunity to spend 3-4 days at WDW by myself!) The only advantage I can see to going in the fall or winter is that the temperatures are much more pleasant. We didnâÂÂt wait in lines for anything except shows and character greetings. And we didnâÂÂtâ wait in any line longer than 30 minutes. I just refuse to stand in long lines and DD doesnâÂÂt do waiting in lines very well.
Accommodations: As I mentioned earlier, the Courtyard by Marriott is in need of a little bit of refurbishment. However, because of Freeride, I was able to stay there virtually free. Besides, the Courtyard has the same privileges that staying at a Disney-owned resort, so if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, try the Courtyard. As always, we loved the Contemporary. Last year we stayed in the Towers but this year we stayed in the North Garden Wing. Certainly, the view wasnâÂÂt as good, but the Tower rooms are about $50 more per night than the Garden wings. I would stay in the garden wing again in a moment. By the way, I got a MKC rate of around $189/night for our rooms. We love the Contemporary because itâÂÂs close to the MK and the rooms are really cool. As long as we spend the majority of our time at the MK, we will stay at the Contemporary; although, I would like to try the Polynesian and (someday) the Grand Floridian.
Transportation: We flew on Southwest Airlines. I know some folks donâÂÂt like them, but they work fine for us. I donâÂÂt stand in the cattle call line for boarding passes because we get to preboard anyway. The delayed flight to Orlando was frustrating, but it wasnâÂÂt SouthwestâÂÂs fault. The flight back was fine. Plus, when you book over the web, you get double the credit for their frequent flyer program. We rented a car through National and got a nine-day rate for around $160.00. I joined the Emerald Aisle for free (through Bizrate) and it really sped up our departure from the airport. We picked out a car and did the paperwork as we were leaving the garage. I am also satisfied with the customer service I received when I left one of my bags at the airport. WDW transportation was somewhat disappointing. Maybe our timing was bad, but we had relatively long waits for buses, both at the resort and at the parks. I also donâÂÂt like sharing buses with other resorts. One would think that the deluxe resorts would each have their own buses. ItâÂÂs not that big a deal with me and it wouldnâÂÂt matter at all if the buses werenâÂÂt so scarce. I think next time we will drive to the Studios and the AK. ItâÂÂs faster, especially when youâÂÂre leaving and that sort of thing really matters.
Food: On the whole, I was pleased with the quality of the food we had. We generally only ate one meal a day outside the room. We ate at the following places: Plaza Restaurant, PinocchioâÂÂs Village Haus, Backlot Express, Studio Catering Co, Pasta Piazza and the Sunshine Food Court. We also ate at McDonalds several times and at TGIFridays. Even the fastfood places had good food, and it was always hot. This is an area of improvement from our last trip. I know we didnâÂÂt do gourmet or sit down meals, but with a 4-year old, this was the best plan. We also didnâÂÂt do any character meals for the second year in a row. HereâÂÂs my rationalization: DD is a picky eater and generally doesnâÂÂt eat very much. Add characters to that, and she would probably be too excited to eat anything. I just canâÂÂt justify spending $8.00 for a meal that she wonâÂÂt eat. We saw plenty of other characters, so I donâÂÂt feel that we missed much. I hope the next trip we can do CinderellaâÂÂs for breakfast. DD loves the face characters and is always mesmerized by the castle. WeâÂÂll see.
CMs: We were very lucky with the character interactions this trip. As I mentioned in the report, DD got picked to dance with Bear in the Big Blue House and danced with both Minnie and Goofy in the Remember the Magic Parade. DD wore her GOH nametag every day, and I think that makes a difference. All the CMs who could, called her by name. By the way, Leslea gave me a tip for talking to CMs. Use their names when you speak with them. ThatâÂÂs why they wear those nametags. We were happy to be able to spend time with Leslea. It was very neat to go into the MK with her on Tuesday and be with someone who was connected. IâÂÂm just sorry DD was such a pain about being with Leslea. I also enjoyed hearing LesleaâÂÂs perspective on Disney. SheâÂÂs a great gal and will be a terrific teacher. The only grouch we ran into was the greeter at the Plaza Restaurant. She was pretty grouchy.
Final, final thoughts:
We wonâÂÂt be returning to WDW until June of 2002, and I am already starting to suffer from post-trip depression. I have tentatively planned a brief trip to Disneyland in June of 2001. Since the MK is our favorite park, IâÂÂm thinking weâÂÂll like Disneyland well. Also, we can take a shorter trip, since itâÂÂs only Disneyland (and possibly DisneyâÂÂs California Adventure). It wonâÂÂt be the same, but it will hold me until I can get back to WDW. I am also going to investigate buying into DVD. ItâÂÂs clear to me that we are going to be spending the foreseeable vacations of the future at WDW, and it seems that would be sounder financially to do that. WeâÂÂll see.
Thanks for sticking with me to this point. I so enjoy reading othersâ trip reports; I thought I needed to do my part. IâÂÂll be hanging around the boards participating vicariously in everyoneâÂÂs future trips.
This was our third trip in three years. People have constantly told me that DD is too young and she wonâÂÂt remember the trips. I beg to differ. She has very vivid memories of our trips. We look at the pictures and look at the video. And even if she doesnâÂÂt remember, I will! This trip was our best to date. It will also be the final year that we are able to go off season. DD will start kindergarten next year and I just canâÂÂt justify taking her out of school to go on vacation. I donâÂÂt mean this as a criticism for people who do that. I just donâÂÂt feel right about it. I think itâÂÂs important for kids to be in school. We will just have to go early in the summer. Here are some of my final thoughts:
Crowds: I was surprised by how crowded the parks were. Even CMs remarked about how crowded it was. They seemed to think that the parks will continue to get busier in the off season. I tend to agree with that. As people find out how much less crowded it is supposed to be, they will continue to go at this time of the year. Also, lots of kids are taken out of school or are home schooled, so those families can ignore the summers. Also, Disney has done a good job of advertising and attracting couples without kids or even singles. (I know I would relish the opportunity to spend 3-4 days at WDW by myself!) The only advantage I can see to going in the fall or winter is that the temperatures are much more pleasant. We didnâÂÂt wait in lines for anything except shows and character greetings. And we didnâÂÂtâ wait in any line longer than 30 minutes. I just refuse to stand in long lines and DD doesnâÂÂt do waiting in lines very well.
Accommodations: As I mentioned earlier, the Courtyard by Marriott is in need of a little bit of refurbishment. However, because of Freeride, I was able to stay there virtually free. Besides, the Courtyard has the same privileges that staying at a Disney-owned resort, so if you are looking for a cheaper alternative, try the Courtyard. As always, we loved the Contemporary. Last year we stayed in the Towers but this year we stayed in the North Garden Wing. Certainly, the view wasnâÂÂt as good, but the Tower rooms are about $50 more per night than the Garden wings. I would stay in the garden wing again in a moment. By the way, I got a MKC rate of around $189/night for our rooms. We love the Contemporary because itâÂÂs close to the MK and the rooms are really cool. As long as we spend the majority of our time at the MK, we will stay at the Contemporary; although, I would like to try the Polynesian and (someday) the Grand Floridian.
Transportation: We flew on Southwest Airlines. I know some folks donâÂÂt like them, but they work fine for us. I donâÂÂt stand in the cattle call line for boarding passes because we get to preboard anyway. The delayed flight to Orlando was frustrating, but it wasnâÂÂt SouthwestâÂÂs fault. The flight back was fine. Plus, when you book over the web, you get double the credit for their frequent flyer program. We rented a car through National and got a nine-day rate for around $160.00. I joined the Emerald Aisle for free (through Bizrate) and it really sped up our departure from the airport. We picked out a car and did the paperwork as we were leaving the garage. I am also satisfied with the customer service I received when I left one of my bags at the airport. WDW transportation was somewhat disappointing. Maybe our timing was bad, but we had relatively long waits for buses, both at the resort and at the parks. I also donâÂÂt like sharing buses with other resorts. One would think that the deluxe resorts would each have their own buses. ItâÂÂs not that big a deal with me and it wouldnâÂÂt matter at all if the buses werenâÂÂt so scarce. I think next time we will drive to the Studios and the AK. ItâÂÂs faster, especially when youâÂÂre leaving and that sort of thing really matters.
Food: On the whole, I was pleased with the quality of the food we had. We generally only ate one meal a day outside the room. We ate at the following places: Plaza Restaurant, PinocchioâÂÂs Village Haus, Backlot Express, Studio Catering Co, Pasta Piazza and the Sunshine Food Court. We also ate at McDonalds several times and at TGIFridays. Even the fastfood places had good food, and it was always hot. This is an area of improvement from our last trip. I know we didnâÂÂt do gourmet or sit down meals, but with a 4-year old, this was the best plan. We also didnâÂÂt do any character meals for the second year in a row. HereâÂÂs my rationalization: DD is a picky eater and generally doesnâÂÂt eat very much. Add characters to that, and she would probably be too excited to eat anything. I just canâÂÂt justify spending $8.00 for a meal that she wonâÂÂt eat. We saw plenty of other characters, so I donâÂÂt feel that we missed much. I hope the next trip we can do CinderellaâÂÂs for breakfast. DD loves the face characters and is always mesmerized by the castle. WeâÂÂll see.
CMs: We were very lucky with the character interactions this trip. As I mentioned in the report, DD got picked to dance with Bear in the Big Blue House and danced with both Minnie and Goofy in the Remember the Magic Parade. DD wore her GOH nametag every day, and I think that makes a difference. All the CMs who could, called her by name. By the way, Leslea gave me a tip for talking to CMs. Use their names when you speak with them. ThatâÂÂs why they wear those nametags. We were happy to be able to spend time with Leslea. It was very neat to go into the MK with her on Tuesday and be with someone who was connected. IâÂÂm just sorry DD was such a pain about being with Leslea. I also enjoyed hearing LesleaâÂÂs perspective on Disney. SheâÂÂs a great gal and will be a terrific teacher. The only grouch we ran into was the greeter at the Plaza Restaurant. She was pretty grouchy.
Final, final thoughts:
We wonâÂÂt be returning to WDW until June of 2002, and I am already starting to suffer from post-trip depression. I have tentatively planned a brief trip to Disneyland in June of 2001. Since the MK is our favorite park, IâÂÂm thinking weâÂÂll like Disneyland well. Also, we can take a shorter trip, since itâÂÂs only Disneyland (and possibly DisneyâÂÂs California Adventure). It wonâÂÂt be the same, but it will hold me until I can get back to WDW. I am also going to investigate buying into DVD. ItâÂÂs clear to me that we are going to be spending the foreseeable vacations of the future at WDW, and it seems that would be sounder financially to do that. WeâÂÂll see.
Thanks for sticking with me to this point. I so enjoy reading othersâ trip reports; I thought I needed to do my part. IâÂÂll be hanging around the boards participating vicariously in everyoneâÂÂs future trips.
