For the first time in @3 years, way back to when I started blogging on MSN Spaces, I didn’t keep a daily journal of our family vacation activities. Even when I didn’t have access to the Internet at our hotel, I’d find a way to keep a written journal each day for future posting. But not this time. The reason? Well, this time the family and I found ourselves getting up before the crack of dawn each day running around like crazed headless chickens, just to take in everything we could of that wondrous corner of the earth known as: Walt Disney World. *harp plays*

So instead, I’ve recorded a bunch of thoughts from our Disney experience and divided them into 2 categories: Things We Loved About Our Disney Vacation and Things We Did NOT Love About Our Disney Vacation.

Note: ITCM takes complete responsibility for any/all grammar related issues from this point forward. That’s the beauty of blogging. Strap on the blinders if it becomes problematic for you.

Things We Loved About Our Disney Vacation:

• The short walking distance from our Beach Resort hotel to Epcot Center. Absolutely key in allowing us to get over there on the fly, because that’s basically how we operate while on vacation: Fun at a moment’s notice.
• Everything about the resort pool-beach. The CK’s loved how the sand actually covered the bottom of one side of the pool, along with the spiffy pirate ship water slide. Not only that, but Mom and Dad enjoyed jamming out to music and dancing the ‘YMCA’ with the deejay and other old-timers.
• Complimentary ~H2O+ soap, shampoo, conditioner, lotion and shower gel in the room. It even smells beach-y.
• Funky folded towels and washcloths, ala our cleaning diva. She was that creative. So much that we should’ve left her a tip. *eeks*
• The RIDES. Especially the Tower of Terror, Splash Mountain, Expedition Everest, Soarin’ and Space Mountain. A-MA-ZING.
• Beach Club Marketplace. Where we had take-out every night, mostly because I was hooked on the hot ham and cheese sandwiches and chardonnay.
• Jacob, our personal concierge. After Jacob went above and beyond the call of duty and messengered a stuffed Yeti to our resort from Animal Kingdom for CS who couldn’t go home without one, we officially nominated Jacob for sainthood. Not only that, but Jacob hand delivered the Yeti to our room without accepting a tip. Seriously! (I’m writing a letter to his supervisor for that particular act of kindness.)
• The transportation. Boats, trams, monorails, buses… you name it, we rode it. All were clean, timely and with friendly drivers who seemed genuinely excited about taking us to the parks.
  Disney’s Magical Express even gave us rides to and from the airport. Who needs a rental car with all that going on?
• IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. That’s right, fireworks every night at Epcot, and not just your run-of-the-mill kind of fireworks either. Disney fireworks rocked our world like no other.
• Waiting time signs. All of the popular rides displayed nice little signs out front letting us know how long we’d be waiting in line. A 70 minute wait at Space Mountain? Hmmm, maybe we’ll try Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin with a shorter wait time and come back later. Who needs FastPass with that kind of convenience?
• Entertainment in lines. So what if we actually wanted to go on a ride that happened to have a long wait time? Well, the Disney folks put their heads together and made the wait fun with entertainment along the way. My favorite was the interactive big screen games at Soarin’. Groups of us competed by flying like birds, popping balls, etc., etc. It was so fun that we wanted to stand in line longer to finish our games.
• Fan spray bottles. Worth the investment, even though $17 seemed pricey at first. Our spray bottle eliminated more meltdowns than you can imagine.
• Spritzer stations. No water bottle? No problem. Several park locations offered water spritzer stations where water sprayed out on park visitors. After getting sprayed with water, we walked around the park all refreshed in a cool dew-like coat, at least until reaching the next spritzer.
• Gift shop package delivery. Like most people, I don’t enjoy lugging souvenirs around the park. They get annoying and heavy on me. Disney nipped that issue in the bud by delivering my stuff right to the hotel room. Gotta love that kind of service.
• Talking Trashcan. While standing in Tomorrowland, CS ran into a trashcan that actually walked and talked. Strangely, CH could’ve sworn he saw someone with a remote control nearby. *ssshhh* We’ll never tell.
• Auntie Rosie. Entering MGM Studios 15 minutes before the park opened, we were greeted by Auntie Rosie, a loud and obnoxious actress with big red lips. She was a total HOOT and cracked us up until it was time for the rides to start up.
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror Cat Dude. CG and I browsed in MGM’s Tower of Terror gift shop where we were greeted by Cat Dude. After chatting, we found out he had a cat named, get this, SMOKIE! A gray, female American short haired cat! He tried to pawn a barn cat off on us, but we turned him down. Sorry but one cat is plenty at our house.
• Peter from Kenya. CH asked me to keep an eye out for an anniversary gift, and I struck gold at Epcot where Peter sold me a hand carved statue from his African storefront. Unique and quite elegant, if I do say so myself. (Photo later when I receive it from CH.)
• The Food. Our favorites: Bratwurst w/sauerkraut @Epcot’s Biergarten; pizza @Animal Kingdom’s Pizzafari and MGM’s Toy Story Pizza Planet; ham and cheese sandwiches @Beach Club Marketplace. We didn’t do any fancy sit-down restaurants, mostly because it would’ve been a big waste of time and money for a family with 2 picky eaters who manage to get by on pizza and peanut butter sandwiches just fine.
• Last but not least: Resort luggage claim AND check. Having the resort staff take care of our bags at the airport and hotel was the best perk imaginable. Who wouldn’t want to avoid the long lines? Disney took excellent care of our luggage by delivering it to our room when we arrived, and then checking it for us while we relaxed and took pictures in the lobby during our final morning at the resort. Talk about royal treatment.

Things We Did NOT Love About Our Disney Vacation:

• T-Shirt prices. Child or adult sized, embroidered or appliquéd, we were looking at @$30 per t-shirt at the gift shops. I’m no cheapskate, but that’s highway robbery if you ask me.
• Parade times. The parade schedule was just plain inconvenient for us, and we missed every single one of them. As I remember from our Disney honeymoon 14 years ago, the parades were awesome and well worth seeing… bummer.
• Stitch’s Great Escape! Enough said.
• Florida weather. Bursts of rain, thunder and lightening were quick and without warning. No wonder you can’t find a decent forecast on television in Florida. It’s completely unpredictable.
• International Food & Wine Festival. For a family with young kids, this festival was a big nuisance to us. Crowds of people carrying food and alcoholic beverages milled around making it downright difficult to reach the rides at Epcot. Not a good first impression of Disney for the CK’s as we arrived, but we tried our best to reassure them that the rest of the park wouldn’t be so bad. The look of dread on their faces was undeniable.
• And finally: Infants & toddlers at Walt Disney World. Seriously, people. Not only are little ones at that age totally oblivious of the Disney experience, but bringing a baby to Disney World is utter torture for the caretakers and other park visitors forced to trip over strollers. Advice? Save your money and come back when the kids are in grade school, or at least when they’re tall enough to ride all the rides. We’re extremely glad we did.

Whew! Notice how the ‘Loved’ list is so much longer than the ‘Not Loved’? That’s because our Walt Disney World vacation experience was just that good, without a doubt. And 3 days after returning, it’s safe to say we’re still on cloud nine. Now excuse me while I get busy with that letter I promised for Jacob’s supervisor. Dear Walt Disney…

Comments RSS