Trip Reports

• Time of Year: Spring
• Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
• Resort: Old Key West Resort
• Accommodations: Standard Room
• Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
• WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran, DVC Member
• Comments: Deb and her husband and daughter stayed at the Old Key West Resort during their May trip. This is a relatively short, but very well written report. Lots of helpful hints and tips...

Trip report - May 26th thru June 2nd

Well, here goes... we always go to WDW in May, usually over Mother's Day because my birthday & our anniversary fall in the same week. This year we went a little later so that we could just "skip" the last week of school (only 3 days), and then take a 2 week vacation! We weren't sure about crowds and heat, but things were just great...we'll probably do it this way from now on! Also, on this trip it was just the 3 of us-my husband Scott (46), my daughter Kelly (8 ½), & myself (40). The past three years we've brought my sister, my parents, Scott's brother & family, and sister & family-sometimes all at once, sometimes separately, and a couple of times we had to leave Kelly home (school obligations, etc.)

...anyway, it was really nice to just be "3" for a change!

Sun., May 26th...

I was up at 2:30 a.m., too nervous & excited to sleep. The car picked us up at 5:00 a.m. for our 8:00 flight out of Ohare. Kelly & Scott were up by 4:00. Luckily everything was packed yesterday so all we needed to do was stick Barkus (stuffed dog) into Kelly's bag & have our caffeine fix & we were out the door!

Boarding started at 7:30, and I had just enough time to get some water to wash down my little magic pill (doctor prescribed...I'm terrified of flying). Our flight was wonderful (or maybe it was the pill?), and I know that breakfast on the plane was good, but I can't seem to remember anything other than the Starbucks coffee. Kind of scary.

We touched down in Orlando on time (11:10 a.m.) and immediately got our bags and headed to Avis for our rental car. Amazingly it was ready, and we were on the road in a very short time. We got to WDW at about noon, and immediately went to the AMC10 to check the movie schedules (we live in a small town, with a really little movie theatre, so going to the movies at WDW is a big deal for us)!

Next we headed over to the Old Key West Resort to check in but the room wasn't ready yet-quite often we're lucky and get to check in early, but not today. Kelly wanted to drive over to Minnie Mia's at the Marketplace for lunch, so we went over and had some spaghetti. It's not the greatest food there, but we always enjoy it, and it's fast and inexpensive. Kelly loves it, and we eat there at least once each trip. After we're done we checked out a couple of the stores.

At Team Mickey, Kelly is checking out all of the NBA stuff and is trying to decide if she wants to spend $17.00 (what-are you nuts?) for a Penny Hardaway card.

I finally talk her into waiting a few days in case she sees something else that she likes better, since she's only earned $35 for this trip and we're going to be here for a week and then at Disney's Hilton Head Island Resort for 5 days.

By this time we were HOT. We had only had 2 nice days at home so far this year, so weren't used to warm spring days yet, and here we are in Florida in May! We decided to head back to OKW to check on the room...still wasn't ready. I had all of the swimming stuff within easy reach in the bags so Kelly & Scott swam while I waited in den at the Hospitality House.

We finally got in the room @ 4:10, bldg. #11 (the latest we've ever gotten in-resort is booked solid & lots of 1:00 p.m. checkouts). Anyway, we got moved in and got everything unpacked, and just sat out on the patio (deck) for a while, taking it all in. We were assigned a 2nd floor room, with a golf course on one side, and woods on the other side, so it was really nice. We found that it's a LOT quieter on the 2nd floor than it's ever been on the 1st floor.

Generally, I plan everything about our WDW vacations. This time I decided to only make reservations for about half of the meals, and just have a very basic outline of where to go and when to do it. Scott is so easy going, he truly doesn't care where we eat (and tells me that I need to stop obsessing over these WDW vacations), and I know what Kelly likes to do & where she likes to eat, so I decided that we'd just "wing" it most of the time. I was a bit nervous about getting into places to eat, since the summer traffic was starting to pick up, but we had no trouble at all, anywhere. It probably helps that we eat early (lunch 11:30, dinner 5:00). Anyway, since nothing was scheduled for dinner, and we were getting tired, we went over to Olivia's.

We like Olivia's a lot...it's not fine dining, but definitely OK, and it's sure easy. I had the prime rib, which was very good (my green beans were like rubber, though). I can't remember what Scott had, and Kelly had the spaghetti (after a promise from me that we would eat here again before we go home, since she loves the chicken tenders too).

(QUESTION: is there any place that sells the same chicken tenders that the kids get, in adult portions? I really like them, but feel weird ordering from the kids menu).

After dinner, it was back to the room for showers & bed. We were exhausted, but Kelly had been a trooper, and we had a fun first day.

Monday, May 27th...

This morning we did something that we've NEVER done, in all of our trips to Disney World. We actually slept in! We don't always go to early entry, but we've always been at park opening. Well, today we slept in, then drove over to the Swan for their buffet breakfast. We always go over there at least once...the best strawberries at WDW, and really good French toast & made to order omelets. (I believe on Sun. & Wed. Goofy & Pluto visit). Anyway, it was extra fun today because Kelly was wearing her Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls jersey since the Bulls were playing the Magic that afternoon. The waitress was pretending that she wasn't going to wait on us, and the omelet guy wouldn't make her eggs. Kelly really enjoyed being a Bulls fan today, especially since the Bulls were up 3-0.

After breakfast we headed to Goodings to get breakfast supplies for the week and then headed over to catch the bus to Epcot. One note, the only bad thing about being in the units whose bus stop is at the Hospitality House...the bus was AL-WAYS full, no matter what time of day we were riding. As it's the last stop of 5, and lots of people eat at Olivia's and then catch the bus at the Hospitality House, it's was just always full. Maybe at less busy times of the year this isn't so, but it certainly was true for this vacation. We didn't have any problems returning from the parks, but getting to them was a pain.

We only spent a short amount of time at Epcot, as the Bulls/Magic game came on at 3:00. My daughter is a TRUE fan...she'd choose a Bulls game over Epcot Center any day. Anyway, we walked through Innoventions and Centorium & looked at Port of Entry & Disney Traders before heading over to Canada and United Kingdom to check out their shops. We decided to skip "O Canada" as we had seen it twice last November with Grandma & Papa. Next we watched "Impressiones De France". We like to watch the French movie when we are at "meltdown" - it's cool, dark, and the movie is very relaxing-almost therapeutic. We always come out feeling a bit "rested", and ready to go again. That day though, it was time to head back to OKW. Usually we ride Spaceship Earth on our way out of Epcot because there's not a line, but that day the line was really long, so we just headed out to the bus-the game was going to start in less than an hour!!!

Since we hadn't had lunch and the game was on we decided to order a pizza for dinner. None of us liked it (Sassagoula Pizza), but it was delivered when they said it would be, and it was fresh & hot. After the game Kelly & Scott decided to go for a swim since we had promised her she'd be able to swim EVERY day, wea-ther permitting. I did a load of laundry (the warm, winter clothes that we had worn to Florida), and started reading. I love to send the two of them off to the pool so that I can sit on the patio and read...and had "saved up" 4 books for this trip! I told them not to come back for at least 1 ½ hours! (You must understand, I REALLY needed this vacation. Scott & Kelly had been to Amsterdam for 10 days in March, and I was supposed to have been at WDW with my sister. But, she had an emergency appendectomy, and our trip got cancelled!) Anyway, Scott & Kelly returned...Kelly hopped into the shower, and then we all turned in.

Tues., May 28th...

We had breakfast in the room today, and then headed over to catch the MK bus.

The "official" opening time was listed as 9:00, so I assumed that we'd get in at 8:30, but that wasn't the case. We were permitted as far as the castle, but then had to just stand there for another half hour. Since we weren't doing anything I decided to try to get lunch reservations at King Stefan's. I had called a couple of weeks earlier for lunch reservations for that date and couldn't get them, but I knew that the WDW restaurants only pre-book a certain percentage, and keep a percentage of spots open for same day reservations. Anyway, it worked. We had planned on having a small lunch at Aunt Polly's Landing since we'd never been over there, but Kelly really loves (loved) the Beef Barley Soup at King Stefan's so we always try to have lunch there.

We did most of the Fantasyland stuff, riding Dumbo first, like always. We've ne-ver had to wait in line if we arrived at opening at went directly to Dumbo. After Dumbo it's always Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. This morning we went through the whole ride in complete darkness, which scared Kelly a little bit. We told the CM and she turned on the lights and sent us through again. It was funny that the lights were out...last Nov. with Grandma & Papa we went through the whole ride with all of the lights on! Next up was Peter Pan's Flight, which is now one of Kelly's favorite rides because she thinks that her indiglo watch looks "cool" in there! ("Look at my watch now, Dad"). After that we headed over to Small World-Scott's most hated ride at WDW! I love it, and so does Kelly. We like to sing the song all day long just to bug Daddy! We decided to not ride the Carousel, and went to the Tea Cups. I can't ride this one-I'd be sick until noon, so I sat there in the shade until the troops were done. Kelly wanted to do the Grand Prix Raceway next, and since there still were NO LINES ANYWHERE we decided that it was a good time to do it.

By now it was getting hot so we just sat in the shade for a while and had our bottled water (that we bought at Goodings for .79). After our little break we did the Wedway (what's the name now?) and Dreamflight. Kelly loves Dreamflight-don't ask me why.

Since it was still fairly early (WHERE ARE THE CROWDS-is this really because we went to a non-early entry park?) we went over to Main Street and got big choco-late chip cookies and milk, and looked around in all of those stores. Next we walked over to Adventureland and Liberty Square for shopping. It's STILL too early for our lunch reservation so we sat in a little area that's kind of behind the shops in Liberty Square until lunchtime. It's very peaceful there-much like the "secret" park at Epcot. Kelly was playing with a little squirrel, and that was more interesting to her than the attractions. We finally headed over to King Stefan's (25 minutes early) and were seated immediately.

I had some kind of beef-prime rib or something, Scott some kind of salad, and Kelly got the beef barley soup. Guess what? She doesn't like the beef barley soup anymore. Oh well, since King Stefan's isn't my favorite place, I'm secretly kind of happy!

After lunch we immediately headed back to OKW. Kelly & Scott went over to Stor-malong Bay for swimming (one of the best perks of being a DVC member is that we can swim ANYWHERE on property, and not have to worry about being "caught" doing something wrong). I did some more laundry, and read some more, and generally just unwound a bit.

We had no dinner reservations so decided to go to Boatwright's for dinner. They weren't busy but the computers were down so they didn't know what reservations they already had set up. We got a beeper and were told that it would be at least 20 minutes. I headed to Fulton's General Store to look around. I wasn't in there 30 seconds and Kelly came running & said the beeper went off, so we turned around and went back, and were immediately seated (the computer must have come back up). We all had really good meals, but there's something about Boatwrights that I don't like, I just don't know what it is. The food is always pretty good, and I've always read raving reviews, so I must be the one with the problem.

Wed., May 29th...

Today Kelly & Scott went to Typhoon Lagoon until early afternoon, and said that the crowds weren't too bad. In the late afternoon we drove over to "Celebration" to check out the area, but other than the preview center and a couple of office buildings there wasn't anything to see. We were hoping to actually go through some of the homes.

Dinner was at the Yacht Club Galley, and was very good. They have changed the menu since we were last there...it used to be quite extensive and now is fairly small. I love sitting out on the porch in a rocking chair after a nice, big meal at the Yacht Club. Or going out to the beach or boat dock to feed the ducks. I don't really like the positioning or location of the new Boardwalk (even though I love what it looks like). I'm used to just the four hotels over there, and being able to stand at the Yacht/Beach Club dock and look off towards MGM, and now the view is blocked and everything seems too "close-in". Oh well, I'm sure that I'll get used to it. I know I can't wait to stay there, and try all of the restaurants!

Thurs., May 30th...

By now, my sister has called us to give a report on our cats (yeah, right). She's been to WDW twice, and loves it, of course. She listened to what we've been doing & then told me that "you haven't done a damn thing", aren't you en-joying your vacation? Since she's only been to WDW twice, she can't appreciate how great it is to go and just do a "few" things. She, as most people that only visit once or twice, doesn't realize that a WDW vacation can actually be a rela-xing time!

We got up & headed to Epcot (bus is full again). Scott & Kelly could spend the whole vacation in Innoventions, while I don't especially care if I ever go in.

Anyway, on this trip we had decided to split up when we wanted to do different things. We hadn't done this in the past because we thought it would be weird for the one that was alone, but this wasn't the case at all. I can't think of any o-ther place that I would be so comfortable and unworried being on my own (makes me think that a solo trip to WDW might be OK). Anyway, Scott did end up spending most of the morning in Innoventions, mainly checking out the computer stuff & driving those race cars with Kelly. After she'd had her fill of Sega, she & I headed to Horizons. It's her favorite ride at Epcot, and I really like it too, so we decided that we had better ride it a couple of times. We're really going to miss this one (it seemed as though lots of people were thinking the same thing as us because there was a line, which is unusual).

We had lunch at Norway (put our name in at 11:25 and were seated as soon as they opened-I'm really going to rethink the reservation thing next time). We had eaten lunch there twice in the past, loving it once, and not caring for it the second time. We never could figure out why, but this time we loved it. I do think that if there were some way that they could get the "fishy" smell out of the lobby area more people might be inclined to dine there. I'm a fish smell hater (almost makes me sick), and the lobby smell is really strong (I waited outside until they seated us). I know there's lots of fishy things on the buffet, but there's also lots of other good stuff too...I just have to hold my nose until we're into the dining area (it doesn't smell in there). Our waitress was a delightful girl, who just kept making us smile. She kept telling us about the rice pudding (her personal favorite)...she said "my personal favorite" so many times that we now joke around here-whatever we're talking about we stick on "my personal favorite". It was really a nice, relaxing lunch.

After lunch we had to head back to OKW for Kelly's daily swim. We stood in line for Spaceship Earth because we didn't know if we'd be back to Epcot. It was only about 5 minutes, but we've never stood in line on our way out of Epcot, and this was the 2nd time on this trip that there was a line at that time of day. (It was a strange trip-lines were non-existent in the places that usually had lines, and there were short to long lines for attractions that usually had no lines). Anyway, we did the ride and then were out. Kelly & Scott swam at the OKW pool because we had an early reservation for dinner at Chef Mickey's.

We headed to the Contemporary a bit early because I like the shops there. We hadn't been to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary. (It was always our tradition to have dinner at Chef Mickeys [prime rib] the day we arrived at WDW, so we weren't too happy to find it closed last Nov.) Anyway, we like the new Chef Mickey's just fine - it's a more "fun" atmosphere, and there are more characters, but I am getting tired of the buffets at the character meals. I don't think the food is ever as good as when I order from a menu, and the prime rib at the old Chef Mickey's was EXCELLENT...but the other changes make this Chef Mickey's just as good, just in a different way.

One thing that really depressed me is that Kelly was somewhat shy and embarassed by the characters, and that has never happened before. She's a bubbly, outgoing child, and has always run up and gotten hugs, and truly loved the characters, but this time she was blushing and uncomfortable. Oh well, maybe it's just a phase-she said she still likes to see them, it's just embarassing hugging them.

Even though I complain about the buffets, we all over ate, and headed back to OKW to vegetate, but Kelly got the idea to rent bikes and ride around the resort (so poor Scott had to take a ride). After that they got a basketball and shot some hoops while I had a nice little drink on the patio!

Fri., May 31st...

We had our breakfast in the room again, and had some pretty weird things because we were finishing everything up (had planned on breakfast out the next two mornings). We took our time and didn't get to the bus stop until later in the morning (10:00), and the bus was still running full. Oh well, we were headed to MGM to look in some of the shops and to let Kelly play on the "Honey ...... " playground. We did NO attractions at MGM this trip. Sounds crazy, I know, but we really were just taking it easy, and none of like the same things at MGM. It's a bit strange that every attraction there is liked by one of us and disliked by two of us, but that's how it is. We go with family at least once a year, and then HAVE to do EVERY attraction, so we don't mind skipping when we're alone.

Our lunch reservations were for Hollywood Brown Derby. We had been debating ea-ting here since the park opened...everything we'd read in the guides talked about how slow it is and that children get antsy. Anyway, I read the menu-got it from Deb's Disney Digest (http://www.wdn.com/dwills/), and decided that slow or not, I was going to have the Reuben! You know what? It wasn't any slower there than anywhere else, and it turned out to be the best meal that we had at WDW! The waitress was great, Kelly loved the chicken tenders, Scott really liked the Cobb Salad and my Reuben was excellent! The Hollywood Brown Derby has been put on our "must" lunch list (next time Scott is going to choose a different entree & we'll share a cobb salad).

Kelly wanted to swim at Dixie Landings because she couldn't remember the pool there, but after going decided that Port Orleans pool is definitely better. Scott said that the water was cold (it was cold last time also). They spent quite a while over there, then we got ready for Fulton's Crab House.

Let me tell you, I HATE IT!!! This isn't because I don't like seafood, it's because it doesn't measure up to what it replaced. I loved the Steerman's Quarters.

We loved to go to Steerman's Quarters on our last night at WDW, and have a quiet, wonderful meal (steaks, of course, and then the Creme Brulee). Well, it's just not the same-not even close. The employees were NOT up to Disney standards (do the employees of places not owned by Disney go through the same training as Disney CM's?). We had a 5:30 reservation, walked onto the boat on time, and stood there approximately 1-1/2 minutes while at least 8-10 employees stood there gossiping, visiting, laughing, etc. When we finally were taken to our table (upstairs, looking out on the lake), the girl seating us didn't say one word to us (other than watch your step), not as she was walking us to our seats, or as she seated us. Finally our waitress arrived, and though competent, she was not liking her job. She just had nothing to say...all of this in contrast to the most exceptional service a person could ask for from the staff of the old Steerman's Quarters. We're really sad. Not to say that all the help was like this-other people seemed to have friendly, outgoing waitpersons. Scott enjoyed his food but agrees that he'd much rather have the old Steerman's Quarters back. While my filet mignon was good, it wasn't worth $23.00. I have no problem paying that price for an excellent steak (I think it was even higher at the Steerman's Quar-ters), but an "OK", or even a "good" meal shouldn't be quite that high. They have a chocolate version of Creme Brulee, but other than the crispy on top it just tasted like warm homemade chocolate pudding-certainly nothing special. Oh well, we'll just have to find another spot for our traditional "last" meal at WDW.

Sat., June 1st...

We had breakfast at Olivia's and then headed to the Marketplace to pick up a few things. The Marketplace was already busy, busy, busy. A few years ago it was fairly quiet if you arrived at opening, but not this trip. I'm really anxious for the construction to be finished over there...I don't even especially like the Marketplace right now. It used to be kind of quaint (before Pleasure Island), but now it can be as crowded and hard to get through as the MK after a parade. We did see the volcano at the Rainforest Cafe, and thought it looked hokey, but we've eaten at the Rainforest Cafe in Minneapolis, and it's great, so we are looking forward to it's opening.

We mainly did chores until lunch time-cleaning out the frig, laundry & packing up, etc. so that we can just get up, have breakfast & leave tomorrow. We had lunch at the Port Orleans Food Court, and was surprised at how much smaller it is than the one at Dixie Landings. I don't particularly like food courts because of the noise level, but I did like the way this one worked...order from the cashier and then pick up all the food at the counter, no matter what the food choices.

At Dixie Landings each person has to take a tray to the counter for the kind of food that they want, and then meet up with the rest of the party before going to the cashier and paying (too much walking around with trays full of food). Any-way, it wasn't too bad today...not many people, so not as much noise.

Kelly & Scott swam at the Wilderness Lodge all afternoon, and I finished up my reading-what a relaxing vacation! For dinner we went to the Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club. What fun! Scott & I had hot dogs & shared the Milky Way sundae thing, and Kelly had strawberry shortcake-one of her favorites. Afterwards we strolled around the four resorts, did a little last minute shopping, fed the ducks, watched the boats, and decided that this had been one of our best trips to WDW!

Sun., June 2nd...

Since we hadn't been over to the Grand Floridian yet this trip we decided to have breakfast at the Grand Floridian Cafe. They tend to be a bit slow there, and we have had a couple of "not-so-nice" waiters (one actually made fun of how much we ate), but the food is generally excellent. I ordered the corned beef hash, and boy was I surprised-I got a plate FULL of shredded hash browns. Heaped on top was what seemed like a whole onion & a whole green pepper, sliced & sauteed, and a thick piece of corned beef, sliced on the diagonal-YUCK. Actually, it tasted fine (the corned beef was tough, but it might have just been how thick it was), but it sure isn't anything like what we call corned beef hash, here in Illinois! After paying, we checked out the shops and then headed out of Orlando, and off to Disney's Hilton Head Resort (which is wonderful, by the way). We weren't too sad to be leaving, because we knew that we were coming back to WDW for one night (flight scheduling problem) and were going to stay at the Wilderness Lodge, just for fun. But, I'll end this trip report here, since when at WL, all we did was hang at the pool until we left for the airport.

After rereading this I've come to the conclusion that many of you might agree with my sister, and think that we didn't "do" anything. But, this was a great vacation for us. I guess we're lucky that we can feel comfortable going to WDW to just take it easy, and hang around, do a few attractions & then just sit on the patio & watch the bunnies. So, that's my trip report...hope you enjoyed.

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