Trip Reports

Arrival-Resorts-Buses-Weather

Here’s the scoop on our recent trip (Feb. 7-15th). This is kind of an all-in one deal, I’m just gonna write a few things about each resort where we stayed and some stuff about our time at each park, etc. Sorry, I don’t have the patience or the brain cells to be able to recreate things day-by-day as well as the many wonderful trip reporters I’ve read in the last year. But here we go:

The cast:

Phil - 30, my sweetheart. WDW goer since a tiny chap, about 7 trips total including a 2-week stint in the Animation program as a teen. A true lover of Disney, especially the classic stuff.
Your humble author - Robin, 35, 4th trip since being converted to Disney freak status five years ago by Phil. Now I’m the one always angling to go back asap, lol.
Driving from Austin, Texas.

Sunday 2/7, Arrival day:

We spent a week in Alabama visiting my relatives beforehand, and ended up driving from Albertville, AL to Orlando on arrival day, a 10-hour trip. Not a bad drive tho, except that Phil got a speeding ticket, from a cop that seemed to revel in calling him "pardner" based on our Texas plates. Thanks to the recent 90mph-speeding-ticket-in-Georgia thread on this newsgroup, I had warned him about flying through there, but alas, about 30 minutes south of Atlanta he ended up with a $250 memento of his visit with the Georgia State Patrol. Doh! We proceeded quite lawfully after that, thank you. They have REALLY improved I-75 through Florida since our last drive to WDW in 95 - it’s gone from a nightmare of construction and bad roads to a smooth, three-lane cruise all the way to the Turnpike. Bravo Florida DOT!

We had all resort reservations pre-paid and sewn up before leaving, but decided once on the road to squeeze in an extra night at the beginning, arriving Sunday instead of Monday. We had a couple nights at All Star Movies to start out (AP rate, a fantastic $71 and change, tax included!), and since we had not been able to add a night to the start of the reservation via CRO, we stopped at Ocala to see if we could find anything else on site. Much to my surprise, the agent, after not being able to book it on the computer, called ASM directly and called in a favor. She said that the All Star folks are always ringing them up in Ocala and asking them to sell their rooms, but whenever she tried to book the resort it was always full. So she sweet-talked the CM there and together they figured out how to get us the extra night - at the same rate, and in the same room - for Sunday. They just squeezed in a 1day resv for the same room, so all I had to do was check out and back in to the same room on Monday, no changeover, just a formality I was fine with if it meant the computer would take us. On arrival it took awhile to get the new trainee (we saw a LOT of CMs wearing the "earning my ears" tags) over the hump of learning to do the reservation this way, because technically she had to be taught to do something wrong to make it work, the CM said, but we got all of our requests and a lovely Dalmation room.

Our first night we did one of my favorite things of the whole vacation. We checked out the vast lovliness of the Grand Floridian, then walked back to the Poly on that little lakeside path that runs by the wedding pavillion, to watch the electric water parade. We also checked out the whole of Downtown Disney west side, and got one of those great chocolate-dipped marshmallow treats at the sweets shop across from Bongo’s. Very tasty, and at just over a buck, a gummy little value. Westside was very, well, touristy, to me in some ways, but they sure packed a lot into that space.

All Star Movies, Sunday-Monday-Tuesday:

The Dalmations buildings were very cute. We were on the second floor, front parking lot view, at the far corner, but the walk was just fine. Mighty Ducks is indeed closer to the ASMusic food court, but everything else looks to be pretty well situated. Still only two sections open, but everything except Toy Story looks very close to completion. The Fantasia section and pool is going to be really fine, very pretty and whimsical. Three days here were very fun. Everything was new and clean and spiffy, and the food court is interesting. Video menus, fairly nice variety but seemed to be lacking in choices for the simple, $5 fare that I remember at the other two. More pre-fab choices tho (boxed salads, sandwiches, etc.), and all looked pretty good. Everything I ate here was fairly yummy, mainly pasta and pizza (though we missed the mega-cheezy style pizza we’ve had at the other two All Stars in the past. Now the big pizzas seem to be more of a Domino’s type affair, but it still tasted good.) Cheerleaders were absolutely everywhere (a competetion was going on or something) but aside from a few spontaneous outbursts of ear-splitting pep, they were really cool and quiet. Even with sharing service with the other two All Stars at times, the bus service here was really great, much better than what we encountered at even the deluxe resorts. Go figure.

Port Orleans, Wednesday-Sunday:

Another smooth check-in, all our requests were granted and our room was available at 11am, a definite bonus. We were in building 4, third floor courtyard, just steps from the food court and main building. Lovely view and a great location! (And another killer AP rate, $89 plus tax.) The room was a disappointment for me at first, as it was looking a little worn, natural to an older resort but it took a little getting used to after the squeaky-clean All Star Movies. Some marks on the walls, thin, non-cushy carpeting and bedspreads and flatter pillows, TV remote was kinda old and the buttons stuck, the little things like that. Not that it was so bad mind, you, we were just paying more for it so I guess I expected more. Phil didn’t really notice or care about any of the things I mentioned at all, so you can see I’m a little bit of a weenie about details. But while I’m carping, our few gripes with PO came in three catergories:

Houskeeping - Dicey, with hairs from a previous guest in the tub and a supposedly clean towel on day two that had yucky brown and yellow stains (obviously had been washed but didn’t get clean). But I didn’t complain, we just let it go. The only time I called housekeeping was to try and get them NOT to come on a couple as days, as our do not disturb sign kept either getting taken or blowing away, and the houskeepers kept waking us up. That didn’t work either, as they just always showed up regardless and seemed determined to clean. They went away, but only when I convinced them we really really really didn’t need anything. So kind of a cross between too little service and too much, LOL.
Food - I had the worst meal of our trip at the food court. A six dollar baked potato with a couple bacon strips and some canned cheese poured on it, and a box of brown lettuce and a tomato wedge that passed for salad. Also, the pricey entree I had at Bonfamilles for our last-day breakfast was, to my chagrin, made partially from the the very same pre-fab hash browns, bisquits and canned nacho cheese that I had at the food court during the week, so that was a drag, as I could have paid less for the same thing, and maybe avoided the cheese all together. But I did have several good breakfasts at the food court, and a dinner at Bonfamille’s on a previous trip that was totally wonderful, so I guess it’s all a matter of knowing better what’s good and what to avoid.
Buses - It was fine coming back from anywhere, being the first drop off for the buses. But going to parks, TTC, and the Magic Kingdom area took for-ever. Really, it was more crowded than we expected in the World overall, so this was also part of the slow going on the buses, as picking up the people from the four Dixie Landings stops (and drivers having to stop and assist people who had been waiting for buses that never came) always took awhile.
All that being said, we mostly loved our stay at Port Orleans. VERY romantic, loved being able to stroll over to Dixie Landings for dinner (Boatwrights is sooooo good, I’m still craving that smokehouse salad dressing!) and there was a Mardi Gras celebration happening at the resort while we were there that included parades, bands, jugglers and free crawfish, gumbo, red beans and rice, jambalaya and king cake in the evening. And of course the pool is the greatest, very warm and cozy even in the cool Feb. nights.

Weather:

We lucked out, we felt, and had a pretty good mix of weather with no rain at all. Mostly 70’s in the day, 50’s at night. Mid-week we had a couple of days in the 80’s that got a bit uncomfortable and sweaty (especially in that dang Test Track line) but those were followed by a cold front through the weekend that dropped temps 10-30 degrees a day. The wind chill was wicked braving the Animal Kingdom parking lot at 7am, but layers did the trick. Our last Sunday night, it was very crowded at the Magic Kingdom but the cold temps gave me the chance to get multiple Splash Mountain rides in as most folks were avoiding being cold and wet at the same time. I’m a total polar bear, so it was just perfect for me!

A word about using the car vs. riding the bus:

With the shorter hours at the parks than on previous trips, we found busing it could sometimes be an unwanted time eater, so after we hit PO, we started experimenting with just taking the car and self-parking and found it went much smoother/faster than we had expected. We are generally very pro-bus, and have been on two trips where we flew in and depended totally on them, but after this trip I’d say weighing your options against your time restraints if you have a car is also a way to go. A car really really saves you time at night, especially if you’re trying to get from one of the monorail resorts to anywhere except one of the parks. Took us nearly two hours to get from Wilderness Lodge to Downtown Disney one night, as we first waited 30 minutes for a DD bus at WL, then everyone had to move to a new bus at TTC, then that bus stopped at three other hotels, and went back to the TTC again before finally heading to our destination. Mixing it up between car and bus as we went worked best for us. May not be as easy driving around at different times of the year.

And now, the parks!

Animal Kingdom:

This was our first trip to AK and it was so much cooler than we had been thinking it would be. True, there just isn’t that much to ride yet, but the way that live animals are woven in to every facet of the park is wonderful. I was worried that it would have a zoo feel, and that the animals would be under duress, but I didn’t really see that. I was impressed with the steps taken to ensure that the animals are free-roaming, but very safe and accessible to people at the same time. And of course the variety is stunning, and the care taken to distinguish areas like Africa and Asia from each other biologically and asthetically is marvelous. Did the safari twice, once in the foggy am, when the park guides were telling us no animals would be out, and the exact opposite turned out to be true - we saw EVERYTHING! Second time, in the clear cool morn, a lot of them seemed to be sleeping in. : ) Phil really liked the Dino area, and especially Countdown to Extinction. Once was enough for me ( I appreciated that it was a great ride but still felt pukey at the end...), but Phil rode many times. Conservation Station is also really neat, from seeing the tiny babies in their incubators to communing with the goats, sheep and pigs in the petting zoo. The goats are particularly friendly, and will gladly hem your shorts or t-shirt for free while you’re not paying attention. The line and pre-show are of It’s Tough to be a Bug are as cool as the show itself, and we had a wonderful time just weaving in and out and around the Tree of Life.

The whole park is so natural and colorful at the same time, I liked it a lot. Needs more shade and food options tho, and still needs more big-deal things like Kali River Rapids (this looks like it’s gonna be REALLY cool - we didn’t see any previews going on, but heard on our return that some folks rode it while we were there on the 14th - aargh!), but AK is very well on it’s way to greatness. A MONSTER-SIZED TIP: if you go at park opening, instead of huddling up in the loooong lines at the main gates, cut through the Rainforest Cafe gift shop and try the park entrance located behind the cafe. We did this every time and only saw maybe four other people who seemed to know about this entrance. One morning there was no one but us waiting at this gate.

MGM:

Phil and I differ on MGM. He has endless fun there, but I find less to do every time I visit, as it seems they close things I like and open things I don’t. It does have nostalgic charm and great shopping going for it, tho. This time I screwed up my courage and tried something new - rode Tower of Terror for the first time. This is Phil’s favorite ride hands down, so he made me do it alone the first time to be a big girl and conquer my fear, etc. Ok, I grumbled, did it, screamed loud and felt a great sense of acomplishment. Then promptly got a whammy of an after-shock headache right after I came off so I couldn’t go back on and ride it with him. All through Fantasmic (which was very nifty, by the way) I was freaking out, feeling like the right side of my head would explode. I was ok by the end, so later in the week we did go on it together and I loved it, was very fun and no icky after-effects. Other new things at MGM this trip were the villains store (where Phil FINALLY found a plush Cheshire Cat - he has been looking for one of those since our first trip together in 1995!) and the 50’s Prime Time Cafe. Mom, the waitresses, noticed Phil hadn’t shaved the day we dined there, and picked on him relentlessly throughout the meal. Our "Mom" was also something of a babe, which I’m sure made the teasing all the more fun for Phil. It was cute to see him squirm, and we both got the coveted clean plate club stickers. The One Saturday Morning sound effects show was also a lotta fun, especially the aftershow part where we dubbed our voices into scenes from "Tron" and "Alice In Wonderland". The Mulan parade was also really super, and Muppet Vision was a hoot as always. But the best part was that I bought the coolest Muppet t-shirt, one I never thought I’d see, "Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem World Tour 1999!"

Epcot:

Ah, Epcot. We spent a lot of time here this trip, it’s really kinda my favorite place. I always get a warm feeling when I first see the big ball and hear that goofy futuristic music. First things first - we rode Test Track and it was a blast, tho it also started some arguments and caused a few tears when we lost each other for as long as an hour at a time each time one of us rode it and the other didn’t. For some reason, meeting up after Test Track was really difficult, I guess because we always did the single rider line, and you never knew if you’d get on in 5 minutes or 30. I rode four times total and Phil rode three and a half - the half was for a time the ride broke down. He said the car stopped abruptly at the hairpin turns and lurched along veeeeeeeerry slowly through the rest, even the outdoor speed loop. He was trapped, and thoroughly pissed when he finally made it off (Phil had a curse of being trappped this way, it also happened to him in Universe of Energy and something else). But TT is really fun, and if you’re leery of really bumpy rides like I am (I have an old neck injury so I don’t do Star Tours or things like looping coasters if I can avoid them) don’t worry about TT, it’s just plain fun, with a great little blast of speedy, windy catharsis tucked in for good measure. And if you take nothing else from this trip report, just know that THE SINGLE RIDER LINE ROCKS. Waiting 15 minutes is vastly superior to 70 minutes, and even though you are the plug in person to fill out a car of strangers, it’s no big deal. I got a kick out riding with folks who were doing TT for the first time, which seemed to be most people. And if there are only two of you, you may end up riding together anyway. If you don’t, just make sure you know how to meet up again afterwards!

Lots of entertainment going on at Epcot during our trip, some great things were: 1) Cast in Bronze - a four-man prog rock kinda group that plays on the fountain stage, but the centerpiece of the performance is a HUGE carrillion (?), like a piano of bells basically, which is played by hitting a keyboard of mallets that strike different sized bells. I’m probably not explaining it technically perfectly, but it was an awesome sound. Think "Tubular Bells" turned up to 11. 2) The Future Corps - A 10-piece brass ensemble backed by two drummers using mobile kits. Super cool, a big, fat brassy blast, drums blazing and and all great players to boot. They performed in the concourse are between Innoventions and The Land, and wore these great, totally 70’s futuristic suits. 3) Off Kilter

Many on the newsgroup have commented on them, so we caught them in Canada and they were hilarious. I think "Its a Small World" should always be played on the bagpipe. 4) Moroccan Acrobats - I can never remember the actual name of the acrobat troupe that performs there, but they are never less than great. This time, in addition to their freaky contortions and nimble gymnastics, they brought up a cute little girl from the crowd and involved her in the act. She did her own cartwheels and such, and they made her part of a big flying pyramid thing, it was terrific. Also great were The Living Statues in France, the drummers in the small Africa area, tiny kid acrobats in China and many others. There were also the really strange things, like the disco dancing robots and the alien gymnasts, that Phil really gets a kick out of year in, year out. The kind of thing you used to see on The Gong Show, but totally in their element at Epcot.

Phil really loves the Living Seas, and I loved getting a picture of him in that clunky orange diving suit with the metal claws and the big bubble head. I’m weird in that my two favorite rides there are ones that many folks don’t care about or even know of. For some reason, I’ve grown to love "Living With The Land", so much I didn’t even care that the other tourists were smirking at my taking pictures of the hydroponic gardens. And I missed Horizons terribly, but made due with the animatronic bliss of Spaceship Earth. We searced for-EVER for one of those souvenir mugs in the shape of that big ball, till finally guest services found one for us at a hot dog stand at the mouth of the World Showcase. A mighty nifty souvenir, methinks. The world showcase was a lot of fun this trip, as the weather was pretty cool in the evenings, making the stroll from country to country all the more romantic. Finally had a beaver tail in Canada too, the maple and chocolate version, extremely tasty and enough sugar to rot every tooth in your head. We did the circlevision movies in France and China for the first time this trip and liked them both very much. Ironically, we missed the film in Canada, despite the fact we’d been singing that "Can-a-daaaa...Ooohhhh...Can-a- daaaaa" song the whole trip after hearing it on the music from the parks CD on the drive down.

Illuminations was fun as usual, and I finally may have learned a little about why Morocco and Norway don’t light up. Being of norwegian ancestry, I love the Norway pavillion (I’m probably the only person alive who rides the Maelstrom more than once a trip and always stays for the movie afterwards...), so I asked the staff there about the no-lights-during-Illuminations thing. The CM said that they have asked for a concrete explanation many times and never gotten one, but they suspect it has to do with money, as the Norwegian government would have to pay for the lights and lazers, etc that are part of the spectacle. She also said that the Morroccan government had a clause in their agreement with Disney that there would be no Illuminations lights on their pavillion, in deference to their cultural customs and traditions. Don’t flame me if any of this is inaccurate, that’s just what I was told when I asked. Something equally debatable is the Beverly at Ice Station Cool. I kinda hated it, but the whole setup of ICC is a terrific thing that we went back to again and again. I could only give a big thumbs up to the apple drink from Mexico, tho I also liked the watermelon thing, the krest ale, and the mezzo mix. I couldn’t drink more than a small amount of anything there without getting sugar-queasy, but Phil was filling up on everything every time we went, a practice that seemed to leave him a bit giddy by the end of the trip. If we lived in Orlando, I think he would need to find an Ice Station Cool 12-step group. Another fun thing about Epcot was that we ran into a friend of Phil’s from way back when - the last time we saw him was at his wedding in Dallas eight years ago - who is now driving the monorail at WDW. Phil got to ride up front and catch up on old times, whee!

Magic Kingdom:

Fun fun fun, as always. Phil was bummed about having to wait all week to ride Space Mountain (it was down for rehab till the 14th), but I got all my Splash Mountain rides in. I have this nerdy thing of wanting to always ride Splash more than I did the previous trip, so this time I needed to take the plunge at least six times to continue my streak. Thanks to a cold snap the last night, I was able to squeak in number seven as well. But more on the cold in a minute.

We agreed that E-ticket night on Tuesday was easily the best $10 either of us spent all week. Crowds increased as the weekend loomed, so we were very glad we had the chance to get in multiple rides on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder RR, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean and Alien Encounter. Alternating Splash and Big Thunder was great fun, as we’d drop hard and get wet, go fast and get dry, and repeat the whole process all over again.

Missed Toad and noticed the scenery in Snow White and Peter Pan was needing a little paint and scrubbing, but still a lovely time in Fanstasyland. Peter Pan in particular is such a sweet little ride, I just love that music. Yet again, lines were too long to get on Dumbo, but we rode the carousel for the first time and that was charming. And I had never noticed the little corner shop with all the seven dwarves merchandise before, way cool. Caught the new Tiki Room show in Adventureland, and it was cute, but kinda schmaltzy. At least the old one had a loopy charm to it. I dunno, all in all I could have done with fewer corny one-liners and more "tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki room." Love those cool new Adventureland t-shirts tho, really wish I’d bought one now. Did Tom Sawyer’s island for the first time this trip and really liked that, lotsa fun romping around on rope bridges, climbing the fort and skulking around in the caves. Tomorrowland provided a nice break from the hubbub as usual, with Carousel of Progress and Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I could go to sleep on either of those rides, which is actually a compliment, because they’re very soothing to me. Their quaint brand of futuristic charm is like the warm blanket of childhood to me, as I remember riding so many things that also felt that way as a kid in the late 60’s/early 70’s. We also rode Buzz Lightyear for the first time. Video-game master Phil loved it and I just liked it, probably because he scored 20 gazillion points and I was lucky to get 5000. I prefer to do my spinning in the Teacups, which turns Phil’s stomach, so everything kinda evened out in the end.

As I mentioned earlier, the temperatures got mighty nippy over our last weekend, but this didn’t deter gobs of people from storming the MK those two days, choking ride lines and making even walking a chore. Seemed to be lots of rushed parents dragging crying kiddos around for some reason, especially in Toon Town, where a grumpy dad bumped me so hard he knocked my camera out of my hand and sent it flying across the concrete. He never looked back, just kept going at full ramming speed, dragging his little one down the sidewalk to meet some long, snaking line to see something. The camera was fine, thankfully, but after that I was not very crowd-friendly for awhile. Phil joked that I needed a time-out.

The double-stroller army was also a bit of a hazard to everyone’s knees and feet it seemed. Don’t misunderstand me, I don’t generally have a problem with parents or kids or strollers at all. I know from being a nanny a few years back that trying to maneuver through crowds with young’uns in tow can be a real challenge, and I look forward to doing it myself when I have rugrats. But sometimes when it’s crowded things just get really hairy and folks get into that mercenary mode where they’re trying to get where they’re going at all costs. Speaking of that, we had almost zero problems with the legendary marauding tour groups from other nations, aside from a small bunch of Brazillian teens yelling "Sao Paulo! Sao Paulo!" as they crushed a lady into the Monorail doors, trying to push their way into our already-stuffed compartment one night. She had gotten separated from her kid, and was trying valiantly to get into the car before the door closed, but they could have cared less. She was ok, thankfully. Like a lot of folks, I have noticed tour groups’ bad behavior on trips in the past, but most of the ones we saw this time were mixed adult/kid groups, aside from the cheerleaders mentioned in part 1, and all were perfectly fine to deal with. Lots of British, German, Russian and Indian folks around this trip, many more than I’ve noticed in the past, but then we have never been to WDW in February before. We really liked the diversity of the crowd overall while we were there, always fun to meet folks from other places we’d like to visit. But I digress.

Anyway, the cold snap did clear the MK out a bit after the fireworks, especially on Sunday night, when I had to wear my earmuffs to stay warm. We had been there earlier in the day for our Valentine’s Day lunch at Tony’s Town Square, and eventually left because the crowd was nuts. Since it was our last night, we decided to head back later to get a few last rides in , but we almost didn’t make it after a 30-minute delay when the monorail broke down at the Poly. We squeaked in right before the 9:30 parade and made a mad dash for our targets. Splash and Space Mountain lines had been horrendously long all day, but we both managed to ride our respective favorites right before closing. A little shopping on main street and our traditional final vacation photo in front of the castle, and we ended the trip happy.

Disney Dining:

Some thoughts on meals we loved, and things that were screwy...

LeCellier @ Epcot - Lunched here for the first time on our first day at the parks, and it was the best meal either of us had had in a very long time. I had the 5oz. sirloin with the gruyere and portobello muchroom and mashed potatoes, Phil had a glass of wine and the salmon club sandwich, and we both had the righteous cheddar cheese soup. We talked about that wonderful meal so much all week that we went back again on Saturday, which turned out to be a mistake. Same good food, but not great conditions to enjoy it in. Service was minimal, due to the fact that the waitress spent all of her time with a table of three very loud Canadian folks in our section. We sat with empty drinks, piled dishes left uncleared, etc., but she showed virtually no interest in us at all between the order and the check. And I love love love most Canadian folks I’ve ever met, but the people who were so engaging the waitress had already finished eating, and still spent our entire meal chatting with her so loudly we couldn’t hear each other talk, so we just stopped trying to have our own conversation. Having been a waitress before myself, I do understand you can get slammed, or hung up with demanding folks, but neither seemed to be the case in this instance. I spoke with a manager afterwards, who was very nice and apologetic, and offered us a free lunch the next day, but that was our last day of vacation and we had already eaten there twice, so we just thanked him and let it go. I just appreciated the gesture really, and wanted to make sure the waitress knew why her tip was much smaller than it would normally be. I didn’t need the free food to make it ok, because I also learned a good lesson about vacation through this experience - don’t obsess over trying to recreate the good moments, because you might end up overwriting a great memory with a not-so-good one.
Tony’s Town Square @ Magic Kingdom - Our Valentines’s lunch, and it was fantastic. We got the latest seating available, and ended up having the place nearly to ourselves, with attentive service and a nice romantic table. We each had the chicken parmesean, and split the decadent chocolate cake for dessert. The AP discount (20%) also saved us mucho dinero, so it was a marvelous experience from top to bottom. A future regular stop for us, for sure.
Boatwright’s @ Dixie Landings - Incredible food, sloooooow service. But in this case, the waitress had definitely been slammed, and was just not juggling the tables very well at all. We split an entree and were glad afterwards, we would have been beyond bloated if we had each ordered that dish separately. We had a blackened shrimp, catfish and scallops dish, in a spicy cream sauce over fettuccine (sp?). It was wonderful, and the fresh bread and salad (with that fabulous smokehouse dressing) were the perfect compliment. Desserts here looked great, but we were too stuffed. After a long day of riding and walking, this dinner was just what the doctor ordered. Phil works in a cigar store, so on our romantic river-side walk back to Port Orleans, he enjoyed a special stogie he’d brought along on the trip. A nice way to end a busy day.
Big River Grille @ Boardwalk - We always go here for a guaranteed good meal, and this time didn’t disappoint. The honey chicken sandwich is my standard, and Phil got the jamaican jerk chicken sandwich this time, which he said was very nice as well. (Phil adds: "If you like brew-pub beer with a lot of personality, definitely sample the Rocket Red Ale...it’s out of this woooooorld! The other selections looked good as well.") Seating on the Boardwalk is the best, as it’s relaxing to listen to the swish of the water while you watch the crowds stroll by, and laugh at the kids trying to win at the goofy carnival games.
50"s Prime Time Cafe @ MGM - As I mentioned, this was fun, but the food was good too. A tiny bit overpriced on some things I thought, but part of what you pay for here is the experience. I had the chicken pot pie with very flaky crust, which I love, and Phil really enjoyed his turkey sandwich with the cranberry mayonnaise. A cheaper option for enjoying this place, which we almost did, would be to just have bar food, ie hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, in the adjacent lounge. The decor is just as kitchy and fun, you just don’t get a big table or the Mom-style service.
Fast food - Pinnochio Village Haus remains our favorite burger/dog/fries type place; Restaurantosaurus had good prices and a big burger but the meat reminded me of my grade school cafeteria; Roaring Forks (Wilderness Lodge food court) was a huge mistake, took 30 minutes to get through the line and finally get our food but eating outside by the pool was nice, and feeding the aggressive little bunny that befriended us was fun. The fried fish planks at Columbia Harbor House were, well, too fishy; And as a good general rule, when in doubt, order the chicken tenders. They’re the same everywhere.
Things we missed in all arenas that we’ll definitely get to next time:

Blizzard Beach, Disney Quest, Chef Mickey’s, afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian, Kona Cafe and Ohana, All Star Cafe and the NFL Experience at the Wide World of Sports, Fish & Chips cart at Great Britain, Marakesh Express at the Morocco pastry shop, beaver tail with strawberry & cream, the Canada movie and sooo much more. : )

Now ladies and gentlemen, please gather your belongings and take small children by the hand as you exit the trip report, and have a great day in the real world.

Robin Myrick

bayougoo@io.com

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