Review of 8 days at WDW. (Now with Pictures!)

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Len90
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Review of 8 days at WDW. (Now with Pictures!)

Post by Len90 » Jul Sat 19, 2008 11:33 pm

Well, I returned on July 12, after 8 days of fun at WDW. We were originally supposed to stay at the Wilderness Lodge, but ended up at the Yacht Club. Overall I would rate the Yacht Club as better than any other hotel on property. I enjoyed my stay here better than at the Beach Club, Boardwalk and Wilderness Lodge. Our rooms were older since they had not received the flat panel TV's yet, but the view was amazing. Our rooms overlooked the pool, lake, and Epcot. However, they were extremely clean which is what I really care for. The pool... do I really have to say anything about it. Everyone knows it is AMAZING. Hotel receives a 9.7 our of 10 only because I didn't have a flat panel

Now onto the parks...

DHS:
So the park has a new name, and with that name came some new things. Toy Story Mania was pretty good. I really enjoyed it a lot and found it better than Buzz. The new parade seems really cool. However, the day I saw it, it was only able to do the quick drive-by due to a thunderstorm that rolled over 45 minutes before the parade. I definitely would like to see the full parade one day when I go back next time. I saw Fantasmic, which had not changed at all, but I am still impressed by it.
The dining at the park was just Prime Time Cafe which was a blast. I ended up misbehaving there and had to stand against the wall holding a sugar packet on it with my nose. It was a blast and I had the whole restaurant hysterical.

EPCOT:
The only new attraction was The Seas with Nemo and Friends. I like the idea, but it was really boring. Test Track and Mission Space both had decreased wait times from what I remember in the past. I still love Test Track and the feeling of that last curve when you go around at 65mph. Soarin' was by far the busiest attraction featuring a wait of 60 minutes or more. Luckily we were able to get fastpasses before they had all been distributed for the day.
The dining we experienced at this park were Garden Grill and Le Cellier. I found Le Cellier to be one of the best steaks I have eaten in my life. The food was amazing and worth the six month wait. Garden Grill had some of the most personable characters. They really tried to spend time at your table and joke around with you. I definitely recommend both places, but you will need ADR's.

Animal Kingdom:
Really did not spend too much time in this park. Just went on Kilamanjaro Safari and Tough to be a Bug. I would say go on the Safari when a Thunderstorm is nearing. The animals sense the rain coming and come out of their hiding spots. For instance we were able to see the cheetahs roaming around, a female lion walking around, and the rhinos were about 10 feet away from the truck. It was probably the best experience I had on this ride. Oh yeah, it was also the longest since we got held up for 20 minutes since the ostriches refused to get out of the road.

Magic Kingdom:
Only new thing was Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which was pretty funny. It was not anywhere near my favorite attractions, but it was okay. I found the wait times to be down a lot throughout the park. The longest wait was 45 minutes and that was for Peter Pan. Most attractions featured around a 15-20 minute wait at most with a lot being a walk on. The new Huanted Mansion was pretty good. I liked the changes that were made to it a lot. However, it was the classics like Tomorrowland Speedway, Teacups, Astro Orbiter, and TTA Blue Line which I enjoy the most. I was proud to have my brother and I receive the offer to ride again on the Teacups by the cast member running it. Even though there was no line, he wanted us to keep riding since we were doing so good. The parades were great. I like what they did with the Share a Dream Come True Parade which changed to Disney Dreams Come True. They added some to it and it was a nice thing to see. I found SpectroMagic to be longer with new floats. Also I noticed a change in the lighting of the some of the floats too.

Resort Dining:
We decided this year to try some resort restaurants out for dinner. We tried Kona Cafe one night at the Poly. The food was really good and I enjoyed it a lot. We also ate at the California Grill. I was disappointed that the weather did not hold up for us, but the view was still amazing. I liked the food a lot there too, but the staff made the meal. It ends out being my parents alerted them ahead of time that it was a celebration for my brother and I graduating from college and high school. The staff ended up decorating our table in Pixie Dust (mickey confetti). They also brought us out dessert which was a slice of Chocolate cake with a congratulations message written on a piece of chocolate. That was truely amazing.

We also ate a few dinners off property including Emeril's on Universal's City Walk. It was probably the best meal I have had in my life. I highly recommend this place and it is well worth the trip over to City Walk.

Cast Members:
Okay, so this sounds a little stupid to talk about the workers, but they are a huge part of the vacation. I found that they have gotten nicer and more friendly. They tried hard to please you as the guest and I did not encounter a single nasty worker. I finally ran into a dream squad member on the last day of our vacation. He talked to us a little bit and then just gave us a button that said honorary resident of WDW.

Overall, this was probably my top vacation to the WDW resort. It was extremely fun and it really sucks being back. My overall rating of the trip would be a 9.9 out of 10 ( I can't get perfection for the 10). I took around 2,000 pictures there and I am still sorting through them all. I promise to post the best and funniest of them once I am done. I apologize about the length. :mickey3:
Last edited by Len90 on Jul Sun 20, 2008 8:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

kcarts
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Post by kcarts » Jul Sun 20, 2008 6:11 pm

Looking forward to the pics. Sounds like you had a good time.

MW1218
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Post by MW1218 » Jul Sun 20, 2008 6:58 pm

How were the crowds?

Len90
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Post by Len90 » Jul Sun 20, 2008 7:17 pm

MW1218 wrote:How were the crowds?
The only day the crowds were bad was on the 4th of July. However, it could have been a lot worse. I found it emptied out after the 4th of July weekend was over.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

Len90
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Post by Len90 » Jul Sun 20, 2008 8:27 pm

Okay, so here goes with the pictures. I selected some to upload. If you want to see a picture of anything, let me know and I can put one up. So here we go...

Image

DHS:
Toy Story Mania:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4796.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4802.jpg
Prime Time Cafe: (Where your's truely got tortured)
Image
Image
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4778.jpg
Block Party Bash
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5730.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5737.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5745.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5750.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5757.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5762.jpg
July 4th Fireworks
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4854.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4859.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4872.jpg
Fantasmic: http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6082.jpg
Backlot Tour:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6160.jpg

EPCOT:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5157.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5129.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5087.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5162.jpg
Image

MAGIC KINGDOM
Disney Dreams Come True:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6294.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6357.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6365.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6368.jpg
SpectroMagic:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5437.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5452.jpg
Wishes:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5303.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5329.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5344.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5430.jpg
Main Street USA
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5172.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5195.jpg
Attractions:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5715.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5250.jpg

ANIMAL KINGDOM: (Safari Pictures reuqired barely any zoom)
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5617.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5653.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5667.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_5658.jpg

California Grill:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6387.jpg
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_6388.jpg

Universal:
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... G_4959.jpg
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

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Post by spodie » Jul Sun 20, 2008 8:42 pm

Wow, sounds like you had a lot of fun. Some of those pictures make the parks look really empty! I wonder if after the 4th is a good time to go every year...
~Ashleigh :minnie:

[img]http://www.mickeypath.com/id/1260514670.jpg[/img]

Len90
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Post by Len90 » Jul Tue 22, 2008 6:03 pm

spodie wrote:Wow, sounds like you had a lot of fun. Some of those pictures make the parks look really empty! I wonder if after the 4th is a good time to go every year...
Yeah it was a blast. The parks were very crowded on July 4th and that weekend, but it thinned out during the week. It was far from empty though. I personally find that it is the perfect place to go on the 4th. Everyone walks around wearing a patriotic shirt and it is really an amazing thing to be a part of.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

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Post by horizons1 » Jul Tue 22, 2008 7:31 pm

Great report. I have been dying to try Le Cellier.
No one's gloomy or complaining while the flatware's entertaining.

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Post by pkbabygirl » Jul Wed 23, 2008 9:36 am

Sounds like so much fun. Thanks for sharing.

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Post by cccmouse » Jul Wed 23, 2008 1:31 pm

Nice report and cool pixs.

Len90
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Post by Len90 » Jul Sun 27, 2008 3:36 pm

horizons1 wrote:Great report. I have been dying to try Le Cellier.
Thanks. Le Cellier is definitely worth the wait. The only way to get in is to make the ADR around 5-6 months before you go. There is no way to get an ADR a few weeks to a few months in advance and they do not accept any walk-ins.
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

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Nice

Post by jd3921fl » Jul Mon 28, 2008 2:09 pm

Thanks for the trip report. Seems as though you had a wonderful time.

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Post by boilerbabe » Jul Mon 28, 2008 11:20 pm

Great pics!!! Thanks for sharing! The firework pics. turned out beautiful! I had to laugh at your Prime Time pics, they really picked on you, huh?! :) Makes me even more excited to return! Thanks again! :)
Image
Image

Len90
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Post by Len90 » Aug Fri 01, 2008 10:53 pm

boilerbabe wrote:Great pics!!! Thanks for sharing! The firework pics. turned out beautiful! I had to laugh at your Prime Time pics, they really picked on you, huh?! :) Makes me even more excited to return! Thanks again! :)
Yeah, I got picked on, but I guess I deserve it. I just found a picture my brother took that shows me getting led away and a family picture with Uncle Tim. All in all it is clean family fun and I left with memories that will last a lifetime. Next time I go, I have to see what I have to do to sing "I'm a little teapot." I have always wanted to sing that song in public!!!

Image

Do you see anything wrong with this picture? ;)
Image
- Len90
"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse."
"Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy"

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Post by sherabby » Sep Thu 18, 2008 12:17 pm

Did you enjoy the meals at the prime time cafe? I'm thinking of adding this one to our next Disney trip.
[img]http://www.mickeypath.com/id/1251097102.jpg[/img]

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