Another Review of 8 Days in Disney World NOW WITH PICS&V
Posted: Jul Wed 22, 2009 9:45 pm
Well here it is; the 2009 trip report. As most of you know, my family and I were in Walt Disney World from July 3 - July 11. We stayed once again at our new favorite resort which is the Yacht Club. The hotel is currently undergoing a lot of refurbishment on the interior. When we were there, the fourth floor was closed. I snuck up to take a look and from the looks of the new carpet, it is going to be slightly more lively and vibrant, but will still fit the theme perfectly. Our rooms were on the second floor just a couple of doors down from our rooms last year. We had a lot better view this year, being our rooms looked out directly to the boardwalk with Epcot to the left and the Swan and Dolphin to the right. The resort staff was excellent and the rooms were immaculate. Then there is the pool….. oh how I really wish I could go back to take one more dip in it and another trip down the water slide. The hotel retains it’s 9.7 out of 10 rating since I am still waiting to see the refurbished rooms. Supposedly the entire Beach Club has already been completed. Now on to the park
DHS:
There was one new addition to the park since our last visit which is The American Idol Experience. We were never there in time to watch a show so maybe next time. We did make time to see Block Party Bash since last year all we saw was a drive by. This time due to some wet grounds they did a reduced show. They didn’t roll out the trampolines or scooters. They still did do the dancing and some crowd interactions. I really enjoyed the parade and it is quickly moving up on my favorites list. Toy Story Midway Mania had a wait time averaging at least 70 minutes and all fastpasses were gone around 1PM. I finally gave in and tried Tower of Terror. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. However, I was unaware that you actually will lose contact with your seat…
EPCOT:
Kim Possible is all that is new there, but we are all way too old to be running around the World Showcase. However, it seems nice for smaller kids. This year my mom and I ended up having to evacuate from Test Track. Unfortunately we were only going through the queue so we didn’t get a cool evacuation, just turn around and leave. For July 4th, Disney did open extra restrooms which meant the fence in front of the millennium pavilion was opened. It was nice to get a quick glance at that building and see that it is still there. It would be nice if they could come up with a good purpose for it other than just special events. Soarin’ still maintained the largest wait time with waits of about 90 minutes or greater. Test Track had about a 45 minute wait while Mission Space had minimal waits. We did see Illuminations on the Fourth of July. It was a great show with one of the best endings I have ever seen in my life. I think my ears are still ringing from that sonic boom at the finale.
Animal Kingdom:
We really didn’t do much as once again we were pressed for time in this park. We went on the Kilamanjaro Safari, quickly walked through the Pangini Forest Trail and then headed over to Dinoland. We went on Dinosaur and by that time it was time to leave. Once again, we had a lot of luck with Kilamanjaro Safari. We saw a lot of animals and my brother and I got great pictures of a lot of the animals. We were even able to see one of the new baby Giraffes while on Kilamanjaro.
Magic Kingdom:
No new attractions this year at Magic Kingdom, but they did redo the 3PM parade and also unveiled the updated HoP. From what I hear HoP is good. As for the parade, a couple of the floats had some changes, but most notably was the Mickey Mouse float. I did enjoy the color they added, but it is saddening what has become of one of my favorite floats from back when the parade was called Share a Dream Come True. It was saddening to see Space Mountain and TTA closed. I believe there is work being done inside the building though. All the TTA Blue Line vehicles are parked outside the Space Mountain building and are parked on one of the bridges over the Tomorrowland Speedway. Also I noticed from the Contemporary on July 9 a crane was behind the Space Mountain building. This was not present on July 5, when I was on a bus that went around the back of the Magic Kingdom due to the monorail incident. The Haunted Mansion still has the best CM’s in my opinion. This year we went on it multiple times since the CM’s really were playing their roles perfectly. I enjoyed it so much that I inquired how to become the one thousandth happy haunt.
We were able to catch the special Fourth of July fireworks on July 3. Due to the crowds, they did open up the backstage area behind Tomorrowland and Main Street. We were standing on the Tomorrowland bridge, and that was our way out. It was a nice treat to see what I like to call the back side of magic.
Restaurants:
O’Hana: A great first meal and the food was excellent. I really enjoyed the sticky wings and steak.
Cape May: Not as good as it was last year. There are only three characters there now: Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. The characters were okay and Minnie was the most personable (You all will see why!
).
http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... mpegff.flv
Le Cellier: A MUST DO! The BEST food I have ever eaten in Walt Disney World. We all had the Kansas City Strip Steak and it was the best steak I have ever eaten
Captain’s Grille: We ate breakfast here on pretty much every morning. The food is really good and the buffet has a great selection of food. Also the servers are pretty good.
Grand Floridian Café: The portions were on the small side, but the food tasted great. I doubt we will go here again since we did not leave full.
Tusker House: Donald’s Safari Breakfast. The characters were not that personable and the food was just okay. I would only advise going here if you want to see Daisy.
Garden Grill: The food has changed. They no longer have the catfish. It was replaced with the Mahi-mahi. It was not as good as the catfish, but the restaurant is still a must do. The characters are extremely personable here and do try to spend some time with each table.
Prime Time: It is a classic for our family. This year I helped put on a show by talking with my mouth full and the famous elbows on the table. There are videos to come of me singing my two greatest hits: “I’m a Little Teapotâ€
DHS:
There was one new addition to the park since our last visit which is The American Idol Experience. We were never there in time to watch a show so maybe next time. We did make time to see Block Party Bash since last year all we saw was a drive by. This time due to some wet grounds they did a reduced show. They didn’t roll out the trampolines or scooters. They still did do the dancing and some crowd interactions. I really enjoyed the parade and it is quickly moving up on my favorites list. Toy Story Midway Mania had a wait time averaging at least 70 minutes and all fastpasses were gone around 1PM. I finally gave in and tried Tower of Terror. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. However, I was unaware that you actually will lose contact with your seat…
EPCOT:
Kim Possible is all that is new there, but we are all way too old to be running around the World Showcase. However, it seems nice for smaller kids. This year my mom and I ended up having to evacuate from Test Track. Unfortunately we were only going through the queue so we didn’t get a cool evacuation, just turn around and leave. For July 4th, Disney did open extra restrooms which meant the fence in front of the millennium pavilion was opened. It was nice to get a quick glance at that building and see that it is still there. It would be nice if they could come up with a good purpose for it other than just special events. Soarin’ still maintained the largest wait time with waits of about 90 minutes or greater. Test Track had about a 45 minute wait while Mission Space had minimal waits. We did see Illuminations on the Fourth of July. It was a great show with one of the best endings I have ever seen in my life. I think my ears are still ringing from that sonic boom at the finale.
Animal Kingdom:
We really didn’t do much as once again we were pressed for time in this park. We went on the Kilamanjaro Safari, quickly walked through the Pangini Forest Trail and then headed over to Dinoland. We went on Dinosaur and by that time it was time to leave. Once again, we had a lot of luck with Kilamanjaro Safari. We saw a lot of animals and my brother and I got great pictures of a lot of the animals. We were even able to see one of the new baby Giraffes while on Kilamanjaro.
Magic Kingdom:
No new attractions this year at Magic Kingdom, but they did redo the 3PM parade and also unveiled the updated HoP. From what I hear HoP is good. As for the parade, a couple of the floats had some changes, but most notably was the Mickey Mouse float. I did enjoy the color they added, but it is saddening what has become of one of my favorite floats from back when the parade was called Share a Dream Come True. It was saddening to see Space Mountain and TTA closed. I believe there is work being done inside the building though. All the TTA Blue Line vehicles are parked outside the Space Mountain building and are parked on one of the bridges over the Tomorrowland Speedway. Also I noticed from the Contemporary on July 9 a crane was behind the Space Mountain building. This was not present on July 5, when I was on a bus that went around the back of the Magic Kingdom due to the monorail incident. The Haunted Mansion still has the best CM’s in my opinion. This year we went on it multiple times since the CM’s really were playing their roles perfectly. I enjoyed it so much that I inquired how to become the one thousandth happy haunt.
We were able to catch the special Fourth of July fireworks on July 3. Due to the crowds, they did open up the backstage area behind Tomorrowland and Main Street. We were standing on the Tomorrowland bridge, and that was our way out. It was a nice treat to see what I like to call the back side of magic.
Restaurants:
O’Hana: A great first meal and the food was excellent. I really enjoyed the sticky wings and steak.
Cape May: Not as good as it was last year. There are only three characters there now: Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. The characters were okay and Minnie was the most personable (You all will see why!
). http://s23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/ ... mpegff.flv
Le Cellier: A MUST DO! The BEST food I have ever eaten in Walt Disney World. We all had the Kansas City Strip Steak and it was the best steak I have ever eaten
Captain’s Grille: We ate breakfast here on pretty much every morning. The food is really good and the buffet has a great selection of food. Also the servers are pretty good.
Grand Floridian Café: The portions were on the small side, but the food tasted great. I doubt we will go here again since we did not leave full.
Tusker House: Donald’s Safari Breakfast. The characters were not that personable and the food was just okay. I would only advise going here if you want to see Daisy.
Garden Grill: The food has changed. They no longer have the catfish. It was replaced with the Mahi-mahi. It was not as good as the catfish, but the restaurant is still a must do. The characters are extremely personable here and do try to spend some time with each table.
Prime Time: It is a classic for our family. This year I helped put on a show by talking with my mouth full and the famous elbows on the table. There are videos to come of me singing my two greatest hits: “I’m a Little Teapotâ€
