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Hi all,
Here is my trip report for our trip to WDW from March 20-26. I went with my parents who are both in their 60s , my sister and 2 nieces ages 7 and 10. Fast Pass rules use it all you can! This was our first trip where both nieces were tall enough to pretty much ride anything and they were excited to try out some big rides. Stayed offsite and never had a problem getting to or leaving any park. All of our Breakfasts and Dinners were done off site by our hotel. No fancy meals just Dennys and Perkins and Bennigans. We usually got to the parks around 10-10:30.
March 20 Tuesday
Left the Detroit area around 10 AM and flew to Orlando on Northwest airlines. Rented a mini van from Dollar and checked in to the Days Inn Suites in Kissimmee. We bought 4 day hopper passes from some place down there that was recommended by the chamber of commerce and we saved about $7 a ticket. The Days Inn we stayed at is right next to a place called Old Town that is one long street with various gift stores and some rides so we hung out there the first night.
March 21 Wednesday Magic Kingdom
Drove to Disney transportation center which was only like 15 minutes from our hotel and decided to take the ferry to the park instead of the monorail. Got to park around 10-10:30 While walking down Main Street my 7 year old niece who loves horse posed for a picture with one who proceeded to lick her head. She was thrilled and it was a great start to our trip.
We decided to head over to Frontierland to get a fast pass for Splash Mountain and ride Big Thunder Mountain. I guess because it was in the morning and not hot at all, Splash Mountain had less then a 10 minute wait so we rode it 2 times in a row. We then rode Big Thunder and during the ride my 41 year old sister asked the best question of the trip. She asked and she was serious “How do they get those donkeys to stand in one place so long?” She thought they were real. We had fun with that question all trip. Headed over to the Haunted Mansion and waited maybe 15 minutes. Still my favorite ride in the park.
Went to Fantasyland and reality set in. Almost every single ride had an hour wait. While the kids waited for the carousel we went over to Space mountain and got fast passes.
We went and had lunch at Cosmic Rays which between people wanting different foods, long lines and trouble finding a table took like an hour and half. Never again on a busy day.
Went back and rode Snow White which only had like a 25 minute wait. I have always hated that ride and everyone in our party pretty much agreed it badly needs to be updated.
We watched the daytime parade Disney’s Magical Moments Parade and my younger niece joined in with Beauty and the Beast and Snow White. The older niece did not want to join in but we all enjoyed the parade. The Barbershop Quartet that entertained before the parade sang right in front of us and that was pretty fun too.
The kids were very scared while waiting in line but we used our fast passes and rode Space Mountain! The kids felt dizzy afterwards but they liked it a lot. I think its still the best coaster at WDW because the Rocking Roller Coaster is too short a ride.
We then got Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear. My sister and I then went into The ExtraTerrorestrial Encounter which only had like a 10 minute wait. The kids were not sure they wanted to try it and I told them they should probably avoid it based on what I had read. It was pretty fun especially hearing many people scream but I think they should add a little to it.
While we were in the alien ride my nieces and parents rode the Tomorroland Transit Authority twice. When we got out they wanted to ride it again so we went on it with the kids and my parents went into the ExtraTerrorestrial Encounter which surprised me but they wanted to do it. My parents enjoyed it too.
Used our fastpasses and Rode Buzz Lightyear and had fun. Fun ride but I am pretty convinced the scoring system does not work right. They did not take our tickets the first time through so we rode it twice using fast passes. The first time through I got like 60,000 points and nobody else in our group was close. The second time through I scored around 160,000 points and my dad who had like 5,000 points the first time scored over 900,000 something had to be very wrong unless there is some secret we are not aware of.
Watched the Main Street Electrical Parade in Frontierland and got a great spot right in front of the Diamond Horshoe revue. Everybody liked it very much but nothing beats Spectromagics music for me.
Went and watched Tinkerbell and then watched the fireworks behind the castle over the carousel. Rode Dumbo right before they closed the ride but still had to wait like 20-25 minutes.
Monorail lines were nuts so we took the ferry back to the transportation center. Hardly had any wait at all. Much faster then taking monorail at park closing.
March 22 Thursday Animal Kingdom-Magic Kingdom
Drove to Animal Kingdom and got there around 10:30. Park was very busy. As soon as we walked in kids met Baloo and Chip and Dale so while they waited we went and got fast passes for Dinosaur. We then went and saw It’s Tough to be a Bug. Is a great show and probably the clearest 3d of all the movies at WDW because it’s the newest. I love watching my 7 year old niece try to grab things in front of her in 3D movies.
My parents opted out of Dinosaur so we only used 4 of the 6 fast passes we had. My mom then decided to try it so she went with my 10 year old niece and my sister bribed my younger niece with ice cream while the other 2 went back on the ride. It is a very fun ride.
While they rode Dinosaur we headed over to get fast passes for the Khali River Rapids. For as busy as the park seemed to be the wait for the fast pass time was not bad at all. Everyone met us at the Rapids and we all went on it. My sister and I got soaked and the kids were sad because they didn’t so of course we had to ride it again. Once again they didn’t take our fast pass tickets but we didn’t use them because the normal wait wasn’t bad at all. My sister and I got soaked again! The kids begged for one more try so we used the fast passes we had saved and this time the kids got wet. Of course after complaining that they wanted to get wet and finally getting their wish and getting wet they complained about being wet the rest of the day. Sometimes you just cant win.
Headed over to the Kilimanjaro Safari and used fast passes that we had got at some point after the Rapids. We saw quite a few animals and it was pretty cool. We were worried because I had always heard that later in the day you don’t see as many animals but my parents who had been there last year sad they saw twice the animals this time around. Took a bunch of pictures too.
Park was closing at 5:00 so we did not have much time left. The kids decided they wanted to see Tarzan Rocks instead of The Lion King so we headed over there to see the 4:30 show. Very good high energy show and we had very good seats. One of the female singers walked up our aisle and shook hands with my 10 year old niece while she was singing so that was pretty fun too.
We decided to use the rest of the day to go back to the Magic Kingdom and try to hit some of the rides we missed the previous day. Our hope was that if we went on rides during the Electrical parade and fireworks that maybe the lines would be shorter. I demanded that we take the monorail this time because I wanted to hear the ‘Please stand clear of the door” spiel at least once on this trip. Got to park around 6:30 and rode the Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a small world, Peter Pan, The many adventures of winnie the pooh and Cinderellas Carousel. Pretty god for basically a 2 hour period. The Pirate ride was a walk on with no real wait and the other rides had no more then 20 minute waits. It was my first time on Winnie the Pooh. The kids seemed to like it and it is a cute ride but its not worth the hour or more wait that it had the day before. We left the park before the fireworks started and took the ferry back to the transportation center. We good see the fireworks going off during the ferry ride which was pretty cool.
March 23 Friday Disney MGM studios
Drove to MGM and got there around 10:15. Headed straight for The Tower of Terror and got 4 fast passes. We almost missed the Great Movie Ride because of the construction in front of it but luckily we realized it was open. The wait was only like 15 minutes. Very fun ride. My favorite part is the scene from the Wizard of oz. Even though the kids only knew a few of the movies they liked the ride too.
We only had used 4 of our 6 tickets for fast passes so we used the other 2 for the Rocking Roller Coaster. I was the only one who wanted to go on it so 2 tickets was enough.
It was now time for our fast passes so we got in line for the Tower of Terror. The kids were very nervous and I thought they might back out but they wanted to ride it so we did. The ride has changed some since I last rode it 3 years ago and it was very fun. They did a great job with the theming during the ride. The kids were a little woozy after the ride and said they liked it but I wasn’t sure if they did or not.
We then went and saw the Muppet 3d movie. We all loved it and I love the old guys up in the balcony. Its still fun but I think it might be time to update it. Maybe if Disney does buy the Muppets like the rumors say, then they will update it some.
We all went over to The Rockin Roller Coaster and everyone waited in front while I went on it alone. My wait was only like 10 minutes. Very fun ride especially the beginning when you go from 0-60 mph in 3 seconds. The only disappointing thing in my mind was that the ride was kind of short. If I had not used fast pass and had waited an hour I would not have been happy. We only live like 2 hours from Cedar Point which is a major roller coaster park in Ohio so I am a giant fan of roller coasters and am pretty spoiled.
We went and got fast passes for Star Tours and when our time came up we rode it. We all liked it and I think it’s a much better simulator ride then Body Wars at Epcot which is too bumpy. They never took our fast passes so when we were walking out I looked for a group of people heading for the regular line and gave them our fast passes. They were very surprised and happy.
The kids were pushing for another ride on the Tower of Terror so we went and got more fast passes. They were also trying to convince my mom who is in her early sixties and not a fan of big rides to go on it too. We got her a pass on the slim chance that she would agree to ride it.
While waiting we decided to ride the Great Movie Ride again and we got front row seats which makes it even more fun. By chance we got lucky and the second time we rode It was a slightly different ride then the first because they alternate which scenes they use real actors for. The gangster who hijacked our car even made fun of my sister which was great.
Was now time for our second ride on the Tower of Terror and against my dads wishes my mom agreed to ride it with us. She had a great time and did not get sick or dizzy at all which was suprising. The kids were very happy that they talked their grandmother into riding it with them.
We stopped to eat at an outdoor counter service place by the Tower of Terror and had hamburgers and pizza. I think my parents had some sort of veggi burger. The food was good all around.
The first few times I had been to MGM it never filled more then half a day but they have really improved it over the years and we had no trouble making a whole day of it.
We went and saw the Voyage of the little Mermaid show and I am not ashamed to admit it was very good. They do a great job with it and there was not much wait at all.
It was now about 6:30 and we were going to leave the park. I have always wanted to see Fantasmic but I did not bring it up because I figured nobody would be willing to get there an hour or more early to get a seat. My parents mentioned they would like to see it and though not everyone was happy about the wait we all went and got pretty good seats around the right center about 50 minutes before showtime. It is a very cool show and we all liked it but I think I would like it better if they added more live characters and cut down some on the movie parts of it. Sadly our autofocus video camera focused on the heads in front of us and the show is blurry but I hope to find a decent video copy of it soon.
March 24 Saturday
Needed a day off badly so we spent day at hotels pool and did some shopping later in day.
March 25 Sunday Epcot
Drove to Epcot and arrived around 10:00. Headed straight to Test Track to get fast passes. Was our longest wait for a return time out of any ride on whole trip. Our return was for 2:30 which gave us 4 hours to look around.
We went on spaceship earth which stopped for a few minutes in the middle of the ride but everyone handled it ok and had fun. Even my 7 year old niece wanted to ride it again which surprised me. Played around with the different gadgets after the ride.
We went through Innoventions and messed around there. The kids were happy to see Tom Morrow who they always see on the Disney Channel.
Went and saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Everyone liked it. 3 years ago my younger niece was much shorter so this was the first time she got to experience all the fun throughout the movie.
Went and checked out the new Journey into Your Imagination Ride. I went in with an open mind even though I had heard bad things about it but I am sorry to say it really is a bad ride even without comparing it to the old one. I can understand if they felt the need to improve on some part of it but why would they completely drop an old favorite song like One Little Spark. Its like taking It’s a Small World out of that ride. Figment makes a token appearance but he has been pretty well dropped too. I am a big fan of Eric Idle but I just do not like the ride at all. Very sad. When you exit the ride it takes you to an area where you can email pictures sponsored by Kodak to up to 3 addresses. We did that and that was nice.
We checked out the Living Seas. I liked it better then I did 3 years ago but it still seems like we never see the fish they show in ads for it like dolphins and sharks. I looked everywhere and cant imagine we missed any areas. My niece really wanted to see a shark and all we saw was one small one. Still a fun attraction to check out.
Was finally time for our test track ride so we headed over there. The wait was maybe 15-20 minutes and my parents and nieces were kind of nervous because theywerent sure what it was. It’s a fun ride and everyone liked it but we all agreed it was too short and without fast pass we would have been mad had we waited an hour or more. When walking out through the store area my mom went right up to a crash dummy that she thought was fake and when he moved at her she hit the ceiling. Everyone had a good laugh at that.
It was now time to hit the countries. They had a cool thing going on where at the beginning the kids were given a blank mask with eye holes on a stick that could cover their face. Each country had a table set up where the kids could add different designs to their mask. Canada gave little Maple Leafs for example. Some of the countries asked each kid what their name was and they wrote it in that countries language on back of the mask. Every country you stopped at would also put a stamp on the handle of the mask so by the end of the day each kid would have 11 country stamps on their handle. It is a great idea and it made the kids very interested in hitting each country instead of potentially being bored. It was also cool for them to hear the accents of each country when the people at each table spoke to them. Some of the tables were out in front of the countries while others were hidden so you had to walk through the country some instead of skipping it.
The kids got to participate in a dance at Mexico and they liked that. We also rode the boats at Mexico and Norway.
We ate a late lunch at China and watch a very cool acrobat show there. We got great seats on benches in front of China later on in the day and watched the Tapestry of Nations there. I had never seen it and it was a nice parade. Many of the giant puppets would walk over to the kids when they waved and touch them with their giant arms or wings. The kids really liked that.
We realized we still needed a stamp from Canada but we found out the booths were closed down already. One of the shops in front of Canada was nice enough to still stamp the kids masks so everyone was happy.
We decided to skip Illuminations and go check out the Mouse Gear store instead since it was our last night there. The MouseGear store is very large and has a ton of cool stuff. Much better then any Disney store I have ever seen. We bought some photo albums and T-shirts and I bought a video called Four Parks One World which is a 45 minute overview of all the parks. I had never seen it before and I recommend it to everyone.
March 26 Monday
Flew back to Detroit and when we landed it was snowing. Welcome back to reality I guess.
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