Two Trips in one - Browns head back to Disney World

ckb_nc

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 26, 2001
Background

We have been to Disney multiple times as a family, with the last in January 2012. Its a place we all love with my two DDs particularly fond of WDW. I was allowed to attend the Gartner Symposium at WDW in October and thus my wife and I started planning.

We planned for her to go down with me and then surprise the kids (DD17 DD15 and DS9) with a trip mid-week.

The Plan
The plan was for my wife and I to drive down and be there Sat through Wed., with the kids joining us. We booked Caribbean Beach for the two of us, then planned to move over to Port Orleans Riverside (it could fit us in a preferred room) - and then drive home Sunday evening.

About four weeks before we were to leave, my wife wrecked our minivan and it had to be retired. We bough a smaller SUV/crossover which meant we would fly - the plus is not driving down the minus is how to get back - we decided to rent a minivan one way on Sunday.

The kids were killing us as we told them that they were not going - I mean just badgering us non stop. I mean every night at dinner - but both girls through snooping found out along the way. So much for the surprise. We told DD9 about the same time we wrecked the car.
 
My motto is Plan and God laughs. no disrespect.

My dh has an Ameriquest Symposium, and we have been attending his for the last 5 years. It used to be Wednesday through Sat. And it is now only Thursday and a half a day on Friday. Just more time for Disney.
 
My wife and I flew down on Saturday, a straight shot from Charlotte to Orlando. I tried to upgrade our seats to first class starting Thursday and called for like the fourth time late Friday, and was informed our flight tomorrow was cancelled. We go rebooked for a later flight no problem. Came to figure our original flihgt was fine, it was the second leg of a two leg flight from Brazil. The first leg was the once cancelled. Oh well.

Really had no problems getting to the gate and flying down. Landed on time. I got the car from Hertz while my wife got our bags. We met up and headed off to Disney - did I mentioned it was really warm.

We had MagicBands with us for a stay later on at Port Orleans Riverside; and were surprised upon checking in at Caribbean Beach that we could use them. We were put up in Aruba - which was fine. I requested a king but only got a double. Seems that Gartner basically is a blind draw. Although Aruba is a bit of hike to the main lobby the bus for Gartner literally came to the door step.

We hit the pool and the beach for a while - I was just anxious and had some GI issues as well. Dinner was that night at Jiko - I had been a long time ago and my wife had never eaten at Jiko. I dropped her off to see the animals and parked the car. Dinner was good not great - but my dessert,the cheesecake, was maybe the best thing I ate all week. It was like nothing I have ever had and was beyond delicious.

We waddled out and I proceeded to lose the car. Not the first time I have lost a rental at WDW; right there we decided to do something about it -and Mike was born.

We had planned to go to the grocery store - which was great as the Parkway was closed for the Tower of Terror Ten Miler. We headed back to the hotel - we had a refrigerator which was great.

We started to lay around the room when we discussed going out - part of the plan was to do "adult" things until the kids showed up. My wife had always wanted to go to Jellyrolls - so we headed to the Boardwalk - and we had a blast. We just enjoyed the environment - although think that Food and Wine Festival meant we saw some very drunk folks.

Headed home by midnight, having enjoyed a good dinner, and a night out on the boardwalk.
 
Woke later than planned on Sunday -The plan for the day was for me to spend time at the conference then hit Epcot for the food and wine festival. I took the car over to the Boardwalk to walk over the Dolphin where the conference was based. Registration went well and I ended up staying longer than planned.

I headed back to the hotel and caught up with my wife - she was enjoying getting some sun. She really needed a break. Between having her mom die over the summer from a long battle with MS to dealing with our DD15 having some ongoing medical challenges, a few days away was what the doctor prescribed.

Via the conference, we got discounted tickets to WDW. Any ticket of 3 or more days included a plus one as well. So tonight was the Food and Wine Festival, the first time ever for us.

We drove back to Boardwalk, but now Mike was on-board. I bought a big green Mike car antenna topper - it was twice the size of the normal one. The car was christened Mike and it made finding the car the rest of the week so much easier. Best 8 bucks I spent all week. We grab the boat to Epcot and hit the International entrance.

We started in Britain and went clockwise - WOW- the food was simply great - we loved Canada (the beef was incredible) - I loved Hawaii- loved Argentina - basically we were fully by the time we hit Mexico - but kept going. After an hour and 15 mins we had spent plenty of money but had a blast. And ate some really good bites of food.

My wife picked a spot for Illuminations - and I had to go ride something - I could not enter a Disney Park and not ride a ride - so I went over to Test Track and enter the single rider line. Was maybe 10 to 15 minute wait. I was not impressed by the ride itself - but I did not do the whole create the vehicle experience either. I like old Test Track.

My wife had the perfect spot for Illuminations and we watched it from there - and it was the perfect end to a great evening. We had so much fun and both commented that it was the first time we really enjoyed Epcot ever. Food and Wine just went to the top of the list of must do..

Walked back to the Boardwalk, found Mike easily and headed back to the Caribbean - I had to hit the conference in the morning.
 


Monday came early - I bot up early and ran 4.6 miles - enjoyed the track around the lake at the Caribbean but the humidity - yeah I did not enjoy that.

My wife drove me over to the Dolphin after I grabbed some pastries for breakfast - the multi-grain croissant was a divine find. I spent the day at the conference while my wife went shopping. We met up late in the day - I had dinner reservations with with at Artist Pointe. I picked up a co-worker at the Polynesian and dropped her off at same time. Our plans was to meet up at the Grand Floridian for fireworks.

Dinner was good; I had the steak which was quite good and dessert was great. I took forever to get our bill - I found this true at every sit down meal we had - I would love to know why. It took like 20 mins to get our bill; I ended missing fireworks. I found my wife at the hotel - she had a rotten evening. Her dinner from Kona take out was screwed up and the lobby at the GF was way too loud. I did take her to Citricos for dessert. She had this chocolate creation that looked amazing.

My wife had left here credit card at one of stores so we made our way back (took some time since she was kinds of lost) - amazed the stores were open that late
 
Gartner has a party at a Disney park Tuesday night - 3 hours at a park with wine, beer and food - characters, rides, fireworks - basically an amazing evening. It costs $150 to have my wife come along - but it felt like it was part of the premise of having her come

I spent Tuesday at the conference although I did clear out by 4:30 - had enough listening and had some work to do. I finished up by 6 or so and we decided to eat dinner at the hotel quick service. The meal was really good. It was my first time using the new cups - typical Disney technology - really cool stuff.

The bus came by at 7:45 and we were off - and headed right to Toy Story Mania - we rode it 5 times in a row basically walk on - I clocked us riding 5 times in less than 50 minutes. Amazing - and I lost 3 to 2 to my wife. After 5 times we took a break - we got to see some characters and grab some food - very cool pictures and interactions - loved Wendy and Peter. They announced that Toy Story was closing at 10 - we rushed back there and it was mobbed - so much so that we bailed - I went over to Rock n Roll and rode it twice. We decided to head out about 10:45; and hit some shops. It was 11 when they announced fireworks - they had fireworks basically over the Mouse hat. I had never seen this - it was a very good show,

We had a great time - it was so much fun plus some pretty good food. I took a while to get back to hotel, like an hour. It was midnight getting in and tomorrow was a long day.
 
Today was the transition day - the kids arrive this evening. I packed up my stuff and headed over to the convention - I did get a run in first and it was much nicer. My wife met me late in the afternoon to check in at Port Orleans Riverside. And this is where things got interesting.

We got over to Port Orleans -and they were surprised we had used our bands - took them a while to get every thing squared a way - we ended up in room 1526 - very nice room and just enough space to squeeze in but no refrig. This actually changed some of our plans. As we unpacked, we realized we had left the remaining bands at CBR. Panic time- we went to the front desk, called over to CBR, etc.

We ate dinner at Boatwrights - a first for us - which was the worst meal we had all week - not sure if it was the seasoning - I had the beef ribs which were ok but tough - my wife had the fish which was just ok as well. By far our worst meal.

On the way to the airport, we stopped by CBR - actually went by our old room and knocked on the door but no one was there. Went by the front desk where the manager was simply awesome - and promised to call tomorrow. Which they did - long stroy short the bands never re-appeared and we had replacements. Disney did re-order the missing bands and will ship them to our house for free. Cant say enough nice things.

The kids plane was on-time and we picked them up at MCO -the olderkids were very tired and we scrapped plans to go see the Wishes from the beach at Poly. We went to the room and basically crashed; I spent time working on the replacement bands at the front desk and everything seemed to work out at the time.
 


the kids had arrived and were raring to go - today was early magic hours at MK; and we were determined to get there. Up before 7 and to the car at 7:30 - actually in the lot of MK at 7:45 - rope drop might be happening BUT the monorail was down - a theme for the week. So we jumped the ferry - I think this is the first time I have ever not ridden the monorail from the Ticket center to MK - just plain weird.

We hit Buzz first - a family favorite and always first - walked on and did it again then walked on Space mt with the girls while my DS and DW did Stitch - then we rode Space again while they did Indy - all by 9:15.

We had Fastpasses + for Buzz and Space later in the morning, so headed to new Fantasyland - and the new Ariel ride. Officially was a walk on and I would say amazing ride to experience but not a family favorite. Kind of hard to imagine waiting 50 minutes for this.

We had a snack at Gaston's then back to Tomorrowland, after we walked onto Pooh. When Pooh first came out, it was my now DD17 absolute favorite - of course she was DD5 then. Still a great ride. Along the way somewhere my DD15 and I did hit the new Rapunzel bathrooms but I can not remember when.

Back to Tomorrowland - the Fastpasses where a huge plus but I had forgot our hard media to do regular Fastpasses. It did not matter this day but I would remember them later in the trip.

Between Fastpass+ and regular Fastpasses you can really rack up some ride times. I think the system really tilts the playing field so strongly to staying on property now between magic hours and 3 guaranteed fast passes before you wake up that you schedule - Disney really is making the game unfair but hey its their game.

Lunch was at Casey's - good but nothing special. The ducks were very annoying.

The last ride of the day was planned to be Splash Mountain with a Fastpass +. We rode Pirates of the Caribbean along the way - which had a line!!

DS9 really wanted to ride Aladdin (it was one of his absolute favorite rides this trip) so DW went with him. This would become a sticking point later.

The two DDs and I did Splash - and got stuck on the ride for a while. We love Splash but I think its time for a major rehab. It was closed later that night and later that week as well.

We left the park - my daughters needed/wanted to nap - as did my wife. We head back to the hotel (which did not receive housekeeping but no biggy). DD9 wanted to stay in the room and watch youtube but he and I hit the pool. He had the best time - they had games going on and he jumped right in - and an hour are so later my wife joined me. Relaxing by the pool at Port Orleans was one the highlights of this part of this trip.

By 5:30 we headed back to rouse the girls. It was time for the Halloween party plus Kona Cafe. Kona is our absolute favorite restaurant at WDW. Hands down nothing else is close. We got there a little early and were seated right on time.

The bread there plus the butter - oh my gosh we devoured that stuff. We all had great meals although my steak was a little tough. Dessert was amazing. Seriously we were stuffed. We are Disney Chase Cardholders and I was using our Disney points for these meals - so eating it for free made all the better. In fact, all of our tickets and most of major meals were on the points so it made the trip much better on my wallet.

Time for the Halloween party - we had been before years ago and had been to the Christmas party. Some highlights - we managed to make it over to Big Thunder (Splash was closed) just as the first parade was going on. My wife got stuck on the other side so the DDs and I rode Big Thunder four times in a row walk on. From there we saw the fireworks - my son was plain worn out by now - my wife started to leave but my oldest daughter went on back with him so she could see the parade.

The parade at the Halloween party I think is the best one period. My wife loved it. DD15 and I did Haunted Mansion while she shopped and we made our way out of the park by 10:30 or so. We rode less rides this time as it was crowded but enjoyed the experience. Saw some truly great costumes.
 
After getting up early on Thursday, the alarm went off later. We had a 10:35 late breakfast at Ohanas - traditionally one of favorites. I went fro a run before as I am training for a half-marathon in December. Not my favorite run. We made it over to the Poly a bit early. Breakfast was good as always but it was not as exciting as we have done in the past. It might be something we put on the back burner in the future.

The plan was a water park, Blizzard Beach. We chose it over Typhoon Lagoon. We have been to both a long time ago, and I remembered Blizzards pre-teen area very specifically. We got there after noon, and it was busy but not too crowded. We found an area to sit over by the pre-teen area, and my son was off. Literally did not see him for two hours. My DD15 and I went off, taking a grand tour. She and spent the next 90 minutes (??) hitting all the slides. We walked to the far end of the park, and did one on every hill. Went red, purple, then finally gree. Double Dipper was a favorite but had the longest line. I loved Susher Gusher more than Summit Plummet. We convinced my wife DD17 and son to do Teamboat Springs and rode twice. Along the way we grabbed some food. We never did get to the lazy river. We left around 3:30 or so.

The evening was dedicated to Epcot. We had reservations to Coral for dinner which we cancelled. We had a FastPass+ to TestTrack which we did not use nor did we use the one to Turtle Talk; we just missed them but no one seem to complain.

The trip had a turn that I thought might happen; DD15 has a hurt foot and all the walking between Thursday and Blizzard Beach meant she was in some serious pain. So we rented a wheelchair for her and we pushed her. We stopped for my son and he did the Agent P game; he LOVED it. My wife took him over to Engald for fishes and chips while the girls and U used FassPasses to ride Soarin.

After Soarin, we made our way to Englad, grabbing food on the way. The Food and Wine festival was super crowded, more so than Sunday. The girls loved the idea - and we slowly grabbed food - Canada was a huge hit.

We met up, and my wife and the girls headed out while I finished up the game with my son. It took a while as the last clue was dependent upon a street sign that was painted over. But we got some help and finished the game.

We met up over in America - full. My son discovered Dr. Who stuff in Englad; DD15 is a huge fan. Shopping endued then we made our way to Turtle Crush - we caught the last show and also jumped on Nemo - literally at 9pm. We rolled out as Illuminations was ongoing. A great day of fun and food
 
After two trips, here are some family favorites

1. Canada - the beef was amazing
2. Argentina - see the beef
3. Greece - the cheese
4. I loved the Belgium waffles with the berries
5. Hawaii - pork sliders

My family (well not my son) loved this event.
 
It was EMH day at Hollywood Studios. I got up first and went to Chic-Fil-A for breakfast; clearly it was bribery. Came back and the family was ready to go.

We made it over to HS and got to park very close due to DD15. Grabbed a wheelchair and we were just made rope drop - it was crowded and people were headed for one place TSM. Got a wheeelchair for DD15 while DD17 went for fast passes on RR and ToT. My wife and son tried for Jedi but bailed and we all met at TSM - I got Faspasses for TSM - that were for 1:15pm by 8:30am - crazy crazy. We got in line for TSM which said 50 mins but was more like 20 - we never really stopped.

With DD15 in a wheel chair, we got in the handicapped entrance. The handicapped car has a BUTTON - along with the draw string. The BUTTON was amazing and I got the high score the day BUT my family it would not count it. I simply explained I used the facilities provided. We walked off and hit the facilities near by. Our FastPAss+ was near and then the park opened. We literally watches the second TSM wave hit amazing. We did TSM two more times. once on fast passes and once on FastPass+ last time then split up.

COMMENT: When Carsland comes, I wonder how it will affect TSM.

The girls and I went over to RocknRoll and Tower, which we did in a row. I forget what my wife and son did, but I think they waited again for TSM. My wife LOVES TSM. We got Fastpasses for Rock n Roll later in the afternoon.

The girls and my wife did the 11:15 show for Beauty and the Beast. DD17 loved the show; while my son hit Star Tours. we basically walked on; we survived the trip and then shopped. The store there is amazing and my son could be there all day.

We met up and decided to leave; we took the fastpasses and handed them out to random folks. As we headed out, I just knew that DD15 really wanted to ride Rock n Roll again. She and I literally walked out of the park and walked back in. My wife, DS and DD17 rode a bus back while DD15 and I went to play.

We rode RocknRoll; on the way in someone handed us two fastpasses for 1:15 - literally about the same time as the ones we had given ours away. We waited maybe 30 minutes to ride. We went to Starring Rolls for lunch, then rode RR twice in a row. One our FastPAss+ and the last time on the fastpasses we were handed. We rode three times plus had lunch in 2 hours - on a busy day with posted wait times of over 35 minutes. I call that success.

We went back to the hotel; DD17 , DD15 and my wife went to bed while my son and I hit the pool. He had a great time and it was relaxing. I was tired - I had not slept well the night before.

Dinner plans had been the steakhouse at the Yacht which we scraped. We instead tried out Olivia's at Old Key West. It was ok; nothing great. Neat place but service was a little slow.

DD15 was tired and she went back to the hotel. DDS wanted to do DisneyQuest while my wife and DD17 wanted to hit Dowtown Disney. I persuaded my son to go to an arcade as it was 8 and Disney Quest closed at 8 - which was a great thing as Downtwon Disney was impossible - we dropped my wife and DD17 off and made our way to the Contemporary.

I added $25 to his Disney card which he did not even exhaust - so glad we did not pay big bucks for DisneyQuest. My wife and DD17 made it home later and we all crashed.
 
The last day - Sunday was going to be busy. The day before I tried to change our FastPass+ on the MyDisneyExperience app on iPad. I tried for like 25 minutes; I ended up with 6 on then somehow before I gave up.

The kids and I went to breakfast at Port Orleans French Quarter to experience the resort and beignets. The beignets were ok. The resort looked really nice.

My wife packed us up - she is the queen. Never did find those lost bands during the trip but we did get them a week later from Lost and Found.

We hit MK (again parking close). The monorail was closed again; the second time this week. We walked over to the Poly to ride over on the boat; which took a good while. When we got to MK, the girls and used FastPass+ to ride SpaceMountain, and then got FastPasses for later. My wife and son grabbed lunch at the Contemporary (my wife is pin obsessed).

We then rode Buzz on FastPass+ twice in row (we ended up with two by mistake and the CMs honored them).

My wife really wanted to do the parade so she stalked out a spot for us while we ate at Pecos - it was mobbed. In fact the park was just a mob house. We saw a line for Stitch. What?

We saw the parade - and my wife would call it a disappointment - then the rode Splash Mountain. The girls and I went to Space for one last ride while my son rode Aladinn as his last ride.

We left MK one last time and rode the monorail. I got off to grab the car and met the family at the Poly, for one last meal at Konas. We had a great meal, reflected on our trip and ready to get on the road.

We swapped cars at the airport, picking up a minivan for the ride home. I ended up driving all the way home that night, getting in at 5:30am. I knew my DD15 needed to get home to her bed; she was really hurting. My son and DD17 managed to get a half day of school in.
 
Highlights of the Trip

1. Doing Disney with my wife in an adult way - the other side to WDW
2. Two new resorts - we really liked Port Orleans Riverside BUT I think we a DVC family (we rented points last time we went)
3. Food and Wine Festival
4. Blizzard Beach
5. FastPass+ - I have written plenty on the subject on other boards - but we used this system to our advantage with the crowds
6. Blizzard Beach and the pools - enjoyed the sun
7. Halloween party - crowded but super fun

Lowlights
1. None of the restaurants were amazing; although the bread at Konas was still crazy good.
2. Brazilians - they were not rude or crazy but simply everywhere. MK Sunday was over run.
3. The breakdowns - the monorail was down a bunch and Splash mountain was down a ton - and continues to struggle.
4. Never enough time - I could have stayed another day but honestly think DD15 and I were the only ones. Her love for Disney mirrors mine.
 

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