Early March 2014 Trip

[Brian845]

Hi All,

We got home last Sunday from our latest trip to Disneyworld. I apologize in advance for not doing a whole trip report like I did after our last trip, but I probably won't have time to do that anytime soon (or at all, judging from the frequency with which I post here these days). I'll share some of the highlights and some of my observations about some of the changes from three years ago.

We stayed in the Animal Kingdom Lodge for this trip, on the Club Level, for 8 nights. We'd stayed here in 2006 on the 6th floor, but they have converted the 5th and 6th floors to Disney Vacation Club since then, and our room was on the 4th floor this time. Definitely not as convenient to get to the Club for snacks, but it was ok. We're not likely to stay here again anytime soon anyway, and we're not interested in the DVC besides.

Overall I like the new Magic Band system, and it is especially convenient for swimming. We had the occasional problem getting them to read at some of the point of sale terminals, but it eventually worked (the kids did not have charging privileges of course).

My kids were 7 and 9 for this trip, which is approaching the ideal age for Disneyworld (they will be able to remember more of it now). I especially enjoyed staying out late for Extra Magic Hours with my 9 year old, while my wife went back to the resort with the younger one. For our next trip, I imagine they'll both be ready to stay up late!

The Perry the Platypus game was really fun, and allowed us some time in the World Showcase. I can't say we took in much of the cultural aspects of the pavilions tho! What amazed me was that you don't end up doing every mission in each pavilion, at least from what I saw from some of the other people playing. So there will be some replayability the next time we visit.

We used one of our FastPass selections on the last day for reserved viewing for the Main Street Electrical Parade. I thought this was really worthwhile, since I always hated having to go and claim a spot so far in advance (30 minutes or more), so much so that we've avoided the parades in the past. We were watching from the Central Plaza circle in front of the castle, which put us in a great location to watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes.

My oldest and I finally did Expedition Everest, and it was a lot of fun. We were able to ride it multiple times over the course of our stay, and we even managed to convince the 7 year old to come along for our final trip, and he had a great time. The 7 year old also braved Tower of Terror, although he did not really enjoy it. Hopefully he'll give it another chance on the next trip.

The FastPass+ system is nice, since I like planning things well in advance, but I'm not entirely happy not being able to select all the rides I want on a particular day. We had a choice of 3 per day (I understand this varies from 2 to 4 depending on the time of year). It would have been nice to select things like Test Track and Soarin' on the same day, or even multiple trips for the same ride, so I'm hoping they will change this in the future. The system had a problem on Thursday at Animal Kingdom, and our FastPasses were inaccessible (along with many other peoples, it seems). We went to the nearest service center, and they issued us 3 paper FastPasses, usable at any time for any ride. This was the only day it rained, so the lines were not especially long anyway, but we used them for a few trips on Everest.

We got to see Space Mountain with the lights on from the People Mover, which was a first for me (I took some video). We also rode this one a few times, and it remains my least favorite ride at Disneyworld.

Splash Mountain was closed for refurbishment, so we were not able to complete our "four mountain quest" this trip. Next time!

We took a day and went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure, since my wife is a big Harry Potter Fan. My youngest was not big enough for many of the rides, including the Forbidden Journey, so I stayed with him while my wife and older son went on that. The 7 year old and I ended up going on the Hippogriff roller coaster around 9 times, while waiting for the other two. My oldest and I also went on the Hulk, and Dueling Dragons, which was definitely more thrilling than the Disney roller coasters. We'll visit Universal again on the next trip, and probably buy their version of the FastPass for shorter lines/more rides. Because of the height restrictions and my youngest (who is somewhat short for his age) it would not have been worth it for this visit.

My wife has forbidden any Disney trips for at least 3 years...We have to go to a non-amusement park destination before we return, it seems. Time to expand our horizons I guess!:)

That's all for now, if I can think of anything else to share I'll post it. Still working on pictures and videos.

[Goofyfan]

Sounds like a fun time. I didn't know that there was a fastpass for the Electric Parade. I will need to be schooled on that one.

[Amy]

Sounds like you had a nice time ~ even if one day was at Universal
3 years will give your youngest a chance to get a bit taller, and I bet they will still have fun hanging out at WDW with their folks at that age. Looking forward to some photos when you have a chance to share them. Good to see you around the forum again

[MmeLeota]

Well crud...it seems that you were there at the same time as us. Too bad we didn't know that...we had a mini meet-up on Saturday at Epcot. It would have been great to add to the group.

We were there that rainy Thursday too, but in Epcot (MK later that night)

Sounds like you had a great time though!

[Brian845]

Well crud...it seems that you were there at the same time as us. Too bad we didn't know that...we had a mini meet-up on Saturday at Epcot. It would have been great to add to the group.

We were there that rainy Thursday too, but in Epcot (MK later that night)

Sounds like you had a great time though!

Sorry we missed you for the meetup (we were in AK and MK on Saturday), but we enjoyed seeing you at the Haunted Mansion

The weather that week was beautiful! I only hope it warms up here soon (it was 18 degrees this morning).

[Amy]

Well crud...it seems that you were there at the same time as us. Too bad we didn't know that...we had a mini meet-up on Saturday at Epcot. It would have been great to add to the group.

We were there that rainy Thursday too, but in Epcot (MK later that night)

Sounds like you had a great time though!

Sorry we missed you for the meetup (we were in AK and MK on Saturday), but we enjoyed seeing you at the Haunted Mansion

The weather that week was beautiful! I only hope it warms up here soon (it was 18 degrees this morning).

I had to re-read both of these comments a few minutes before I got what you were saying about seeing MmeLeota at the HM ~ Must be time for bed
I hear you on the weather, it was zero degrees this morning. The sun was out in all its glory, but it didn't get much about 30...I happened to be outside taking some photos of the sandhill cranes when the mail lady was delivering the mail. I met her at the street and mentioned how much she must be enjoying the sun and she replied with "I am so tired of winter" Common theme this year