EdmondD
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2014
The Lodging:
We (two adults, one grown daughter, and one son, 6) spent one night at AoA, the first time we'd been on this property. What great theming! My son saw the pool on the way in and was beside himself, but alas, it was late. We hit the pool in the morning before heading to the parks and we loved walking around here in the morning - just incredible scenery. (I was not the dude who got arrested at AoA, btw.)
The rest of the trip, eight nights, was at the Beach Club Villas - third time here and we love it very much. The new room decor is toned down a bit, and honestly my son would have been happy to stay at AoA. But we love the smell, the location, the pool, etc. Hey, btw, the Villas have (has?) their (its?) own laundry facility. You don't have to be the moron who walks 1/3 mile to the laundry in the regular hotel. Leave that to me.
The Nighttime Shows:
We saw Fantasmic for the first time in....well, in a long time. I really like it and am sorry I've been away for so long.
Illuminations - you know. It is what it's been for almost 20 years. Salright.
Rivers of Light...well, what to say about this? Not sorry we went, it was better than what people had let on, but it is certainly not something I'd make a point to do every trip, if it means sacrificing some family sleep some night. It is very pretty and I like the music.
Star Wars fireworks - much different from RoL, of course, but I was left with the same feeling as RoL. This may have been because prior to seeing this we'd already been spoiled by seeing on multiple nights...
Happily Ever After. As I'd posted elsewhere, this just blew us away. We weren't super sentimental Wishes people, so I get it if the change is too much for you who are, but we were completely awestruck by this. See it close to the castle. It's just amazing. I've watched it on the Dis youtube channel four times since getting home 44 hours ago.
The Consumption:
Highway in the Sky - we had a very nice time doing this on May 16. When we checked in the monorail was down and they were arranging for boats, but then, huzzah, the monorail magically came back to life. Talked to some very nice people (though it was a bit surreal to talk for hours with other adults and have the conversation revolve almost entirely around Disney) and enjoyed the event, overall. The entree was quite the let down (especially the fish) and the dessert was nothing to overly praise, and the view of HEA from way back is a bit disappointing. And at times I felt a bit ridiculous that an entire monorail train was being held up for us to load. BUT we were happy we did it, if for just to have a nice date night while at WDW. If you're going to drop some major coin on a dinner at a CA Grill or similar, I'd recommend this, just for the novelty and social aspects. One warning - I wanted to go hungry, and went hungry, and then was nearly slurring my words by stop #3 (but I'm not much of a drinker, so...).
We went for the first time to: Sanaa, Skipper's Canteen, and Sci-Fi. The bread/dipping sauce at Sanaa lived up to its reputation! Wonderful! Overall the meal was quite good and it was our first time in Kadani Village. Beautiful. Love everything about AKL...except the location. Skipper's Canteen had some really excellent appetizers but the entrees were just so-so, and my daughter's duck-noodle soup was so salty as to almost be inedible. But we liked this place and the decor is great. Sci-Fi is...odd.
Some of the best food we had in general was from festival stands, food trucks at the Springs, and snacks around the parks (like the Trilo Bites buffalo chicken chips, for example). Also, Ample Hills is pretty amazing. And I love me some oversized caramel-chocolate apples. I ate three. Well shared. Shared a little.
We did the Cape May Cafe breakfast for the second time. Food was great, as in the past. Easily the best buffet breakfast I've had on property. My son dressed in his swim outfit to match the characters and we got some great pics.
The Parks:
Our son got to fight Darth! It was really awesome and I consider us very lucky. Well, 50-50 lucky, since those are the odds for which line of kids goes where (I was told that getting at your designated show time early no longer guarantees you fight Darth, as parents were coming back earlier, and earlier... Go figure, right?
) I couldn't believe how many people were in line in front of me for sign up, despite us getting to the park at about 8:10. It was okay, because we got an evening slot, after the temps dropped a bit. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Man, what I wouldn't have given to have had that experience when I was his age! (thought every dad standing there watching).
Our daughter's friend is a CM and she met up with us in Epcot. As we were getting near to a character meet she told us that her friend is a friend of Goofy's, and Goofy would be coming onstage in 10 minutes. We let some people go by us and when Goofy saw his good CM friend he made sure to give my son a lot of extra attention and hugs and stuff. It was great!
THANKS, DISBOARDS - We asked for gate b, row 1 on Soarin' both times and were obliged both times. Great tip.
Here's my own tip - turn down seating at the back of the Jungle Cruise. With the motor there, it's hard to hear the skipper and really, why else are you on that thing but to hear the terrible jokes?
First time rides for my son: Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, and Splash Mountain. He was very brave!
We also had some awesome character interactions with Olaf, BB8, Ariel, and Kylo Ren.
My son finished his Wilderness Explorer book (it took three WDW trips for this) and they had a special little ceremony for him and he got some applause - it was really nice. He took it to school today to show his friends.
As he's gotten older we experience the parks differently. In addition to the Wilderness Explorer badges, we played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom for the first time. Pretty cool. And he searched for the hidden eggs in the World Showcase (found them all!).
Somehow, and I really don't know how, and I consider this an incredible failure on my part, we did not ride Peter Pan or visit the Tiki Room. I mean, that's like going to the Grand Canyon and not looking down in.
Odds and ends:
One day my son did the Pirate cruise from the Beach Club. A good spend of $40! He's also become a bit of a nut about finding hidden Mickeys, and has gotten good at it. Perhaps better than a hidden Mickey, my daughter noticed that in the Sci-Fi Dine-Inn theater, on the back of the screen on the plywood, where you enter the restaurant, “MGM Studios” still exists in paint on one of the panels, way up high, while all others have been changed.
Going back to MyDisneyExperience seems so harsh now. It coldly says, “Welcome to the My Disney Experience planning page. To begin, we’ll help you connect your reservations, tickets and friends.”
LIKE IT CAN’T EVEN RECOGNIZE WE’VE BEEN INSEPARABLE FOR THE LAST 15 DAYS. DONTCHYA KNOW ME, MDE APP??? IT'S ME! WHY SO FORMAL??
Overall, it was a really fantastic vacation. My son is at that sweet spot where he's big enough to ride the big rides but young enough to still light up at seeing the characters. The weather was not too hot and the crowds not too bad. We had several firsts this trip, which is always a plus, and did I mention how much we loved HEA?
Okay, time to sort through about 400 Memory Maker pics! (And it's time to update the magic shots, Disney.)
We (two adults, one grown daughter, and one son, 6) spent one night at AoA, the first time we'd been on this property. What great theming! My son saw the pool on the way in and was beside himself, but alas, it was late. We hit the pool in the morning before heading to the parks and we loved walking around here in the morning - just incredible scenery. (I was not the dude who got arrested at AoA, btw.)
The rest of the trip, eight nights, was at the Beach Club Villas - third time here and we love it very much. The new room decor is toned down a bit, and honestly my son would have been happy to stay at AoA. But we love the smell, the location, the pool, etc. Hey, btw, the Villas have (has?) their (its?) own laundry facility. You don't have to be the moron who walks 1/3 mile to the laundry in the regular hotel. Leave that to me.
The Nighttime Shows:
We saw Fantasmic for the first time in....well, in a long time. I really like it and am sorry I've been away for so long.
Illuminations - you know. It is what it's been for almost 20 years. Salright.
Rivers of Light...well, what to say about this? Not sorry we went, it was better than what people had let on, but it is certainly not something I'd make a point to do every trip, if it means sacrificing some family sleep some night. It is very pretty and I like the music.
Star Wars fireworks - much different from RoL, of course, but I was left with the same feeling as RoL. This may have been because prior to seeing this we'd already been spoiled by seeing on multiple nights...
Happily Ever After. As I'd posted elsewhere, this just blew us away. We weren't super sentimental Wishes people, so I get it if the change is too much for you who are, but we were completely awestruck by this. See it close to the castle. It's just amazing. I've watched it on the Dis youtube channel four times since getting home 44 hours ago.
The Consumption:
Highway in the Sky - we had a very nice time doing this on May 16. When we checked in the monorail was down and they were arranging for boats, but then, huzzah, the monorail magically came back to life. Talked to some very nice people (though it was a bit surreal to talk for hours with other adults and have the conversation revolve almost entirely around Disney) and enjoyed the event, overall. The entree was quite the let down (especially the fish) and the dessert was nothing to overly praise, and the view of HEA from way back is a bit disappointing. And at times I felt a bit ridiculous that an entire monorail train was being held up for us to load. BUT we were happy we did it, if for just to have a nice date night while at WDW. If you're going to drop some major coin on a dinner at a CA Grill or similar, I'd recommend this, just for the novelty and social aspects. One warning - I wanted to go hungry, and went hungry, and then was nearly slurring my words by stop #3 (but I'm not much of a drinker, so...).
We went for the first time to: Sanaa, Skipper's Canteen, and Sci-Fi. The bread/dipping sauce at Sanaa lived up to its reputation! Wonderful! Overall the meal was quite good and it was our first time in Kadani Village. Beautiful. Love everything about AKL...except the location. Skipper's Canteen had some really excellent appetizers but the entrees were just so-so, and my daughter's duck-noodle soup was so salty as to almost be inedible. But we liked this place and the decor is great. Sci-Fi is...odd.
Some of the best food we had in general was from festival stands, food trucks at the Springs, and snacks around the parks (like the Trilo Bites buffalo chicken chips, for example). Also, Ample Hills is pretty amazing. And I love me some oversized caramel-chocolate apples. I ate three. Well shared. Shared a little.
We did the Cape May Cafe breakfast for the second time. Food was great, as in the past. Easily the best buffet breakfast I've had on property. My son dressed in his swim outfit to match the characters and we got some great pics.
The Parks:
Our son got to fight Darth! It was really awesome and I consider us very lucky. Well, 50-50 lucky, since those are the odds for which line of kids goes where (I was told that getting at your designated show time early no longer guarantees you fight Darth, as parents were coming back earlier, and earlier... Go figure, right?
) I couldn't believe how many people were in line in front of me for sign up, despite us getting to the park at about 8:10. It was okay, because we got an evening slot, after the temps dropped a bit. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Man, what I wouldn't have given to have had that experience when I was his age! (thought every dad standing there watching).Our daughter's friend is a CM and she met up with us in Epcot. As we were getting near to a character meet she told us that her friend is a friend of Goofy's, and Goofy would be coming onstage in 10 minutes. We let some people go by us and when Goofy saw his good CM friend he made sure to give my son a lot of extra attention and hugs and stuff. It was great!
THANKS, DISBOARDS - We asked for gate b, row 1 on Soarin' both times and were obliged both times. Great tip.
Here's my own tip - turn down seating at the back of the Jungle Cruise. With the motor there, it's hard to hear the skipper and really, why else are you on that thing but to hear the terrible jokes?
First time rides for my son: Space Mountain, Expedition Everest, and Splash Mountain. He was very brave!
We also had some awesome character interactions with Olaf, BB8, Ariel, and Kylo Ren.
My son finished his Wilderness Explorer book (it took three WDW trips for this) and they had a special little ceremony for him and he got some applause - it was really nice. He took it to school today to show his friends.
As he's gotten older we experience the parks differently. In addition to the Wilderness Explorer badges, we played Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom for the first time. Pretty cool. And he searched for the hidden eggs in the World Showcase (found them all!).
Somehow, and I really don't know how, and I consider this an incredible failure on my part, we did not ride Peter Pan or visit the Tiki Room. I mean, that's like going to the Grand Canyon and not looking down in.
Odds and ends:
One day my son did the Pirate cruise from the Beach Club. A good spend of $40! He's also become a bit of a nut about finding hidden Mickeys, and has gotten good at it. Perhaps better than a hidden Mickey, my daughter noticed that in the Sci-Fi Dine-Inn theater, on the back of the screen on the plywood, where you enter the restaurant, “MGM Studios” still exists in paint on one of the panels, way up high, while all others have been changed.
Going back to MyDisneyExperience seems so harsh now. It coldly says, “Welcome to the My Disney Experience planning page. To begin, we’ll help you connect your reservations, tickets and friends.”
LIKE IT CAN’T EVEN RECOGNIZE WE’VE BEEN INSEPARABLE FOR THE LAST 15 DAYS. DONTCHYA KNOW ME, MDE APP??? IT'S ME! WHY SO FORMAL??
Overall, it was a really fantastic vacation. My son is at that sweet spot where he's big enough to ride the big rides but young enough to still light up at seeing the characters. The weather was not too hot and the crowds not too bad. We had several firsts this trip, which is always a plus, and did I mention how much we loved HEA?
Okay, time to sort through about 400 Memory Maker pics! (And it's time to update the magic shots, Disney.)
