Belle915
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
Just got back from our anniversary trip to Disney 9/20-9/25. It was just myself and my husband.
I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with everyone since a lot of you helped me out so much! If anyone has any questions please let me know! We did all 4 parks and also Disney Springs.
Resort: We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first time and we fell in love with it!!! We decided to splurge on going deluxe so I only booked a standard view but faxed and called with our requests: Savannah room, higher floor and king bed and all three were granted! Every night we came back to 4 giraffes sleeping outside our balcony—so amazing! The resort is just gorgeous and would totally stay here again!
The buses weren’t bad at all. I was a little worried reading how some people waited forever. I think the longest wait was 15 mins.
Food and wine: This was our first time doing food and wine and loved it!!! Took everyone’s advice and went during the week (on a Wednesday) and it was perfect. Headed into world showcase a little before 11. We actually went around as far as they would let us and ended up hitting Moracco first. And then working our way around toward Mexico, then heading up the other side later on in the day. This was a good strategy because we could see a lot of people stopped in the booths closer to the front of world showcase first. Waits were great! Longest wait was maybe 2 or 3 mins to order and that was rare, most we just walked up. We were able to eat all our must haves and a lot of want to tries. Food was great! So fun we would do again! On a side note—we went back on Saturday afternoon to go to Via Napoli and crowds were insane!!! Much longer waits and felt a lot hotter. So I will echo everyone else---go during the middle of the week!
Crowds in the park: It was on the lower side most days and pretty much what I expected. Most rides were walk ons or 15-20 min waits—of course the rides like 7 dwarfs were longer but one day in the afternoon I saw a 30 min wait, not bad at all! Saturday was by far our most busy day. We went to Hollywood studies, Epcot and Magic Kingdom and it was a lot more crowded in all the parks than the rest of the rest of the week---but it was a Saturday so I’m sure that’s why.
Weather—We got really lucky! Yes it was hot---but come on it is Florida Haha We were fully prepared for the heat. But it really wasn’t as bad as I thought. Saturday was the hottest but I think that was because the parks were more crowded so it felt hotter. Only really rained once while we were in the parks and only for about 10 mins and it wasn’t too hard. We were staking our seats for wishes so we just threw on ponchos and waited it out.
Star Wars Dessert Party- First time doing this. It was fun but probably wouldn’t do it again. It felt pretty crowded and people were pushing to get food and running around like crazy. We were lucky and got a table but some people had to go outside of the ropes to find a spot. Dessert were okay, some better than others. The savory options were yummy! Viewing spot was awesome!!! We went out a few mins early to nap a front spot behind the scooters and it was perfect!
Restaurants- We ate at, Boathouse, The Plaza, Trader sams (appetizers), Ohana, Via Napoli, Sanaa, Casey’s, and Starring Rolls. I really feel like I am forgetting something! We never had a bad meal! We ate breakfast in the room. We actually used Amazon Now. This was great! Super easy! We ordered the night before we left and it was delivered right as we were checking in.
Cast Members- Everyone was for the most part awesome! Everyone once in a while we would hit one that just acted like they could care less about being there, but that was pretty rare. Everyone else was super friendly and helpful.
Last thoughts- We loved our trip!! We never have a bad time at Disney. We staked out the best spot for Wishes—Just in front of Caseys there is the new “grassy” area and ahead of that there is a fountain with a little bench going around. We sat there and we had the perfect view! We probably got there about 1.5 hours early. We were really tired so we were ready to sit down, eat some Casey’s and people watch!
Thank you for everyone for all the helpful tips! The food and wine, fireworks spots, and dessert party tips were so great to know!!! Let me know if anyone has any questions!
I wanted to share my thoughts and experiences with everyone since a lot of you helped me out so much! If anyone has any questions please let me know! We did all 4 parks and also Disney Springs.
Resort: We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was our first time and we fell in love with it!!! We decided to splurge on going deluxe so I only booked a standard view but faxed and called with our requests: Savannah room, higher floor and king bed and all three were granted! Every night we came back to 4 giraffes sleeping outside our balcony—so amazing! The resort is just gorgeous and would totally stay here again!
The buses weren’t bad at all. I was a little worried reading how some people waited forever. I think the longest wait was 15 mins.
Food and wine: This was our first time doing food and wine and loved it!!! Took everyone’s advice and went during the week (on a Wednesday) and it was perfect. Headed into world showcase a little before 11. We actually went around as far as they would let us and ended up hitting Moracco first. And then working our way around toward Mexico, then heading up the other side later on in the day. This was a good strategy because we could see a lot of people stopped in the booths closer to the front of world showcase first. Waits were great! Longest wait was maybe 2 or 3 mins to order and that was rare, most we just walked up. We were able to eat all our must haves and a lot of want to tries. Food was great! So fun we would do again! On a side note—we went back on Saturday afternoon to go to Via Napoli and crowds were insane!!! Much longer waits and felt a lot hotter. So I will echo everyone else---go during the middle of the week!
Crowds in the park: It was on the lower side most days and pretty much what I expected. Most rides were walk ons or 15-20 min waits—of course the rides like 7 dwarfs were longer but one day in the afternoon I saw a 30 min wait, not bad at all! Saturday was by far our most busy day. We went to Hollywood studies, Epcot and Magic Kingdom and it was a lot more crowded in all the parks than the rest of the rest of the week---but it was a Saturday so I’m sure that’s why.
Weather—We got really lucky! Yes it was hot---but come on it is Florida Haha We were fully prepared for the heat. But it really wasn’t as bad as I thought. Saturday was the hottest but I think that was because the parks were more crowded so it felt hotter. Only really rained once while we were in the parks and only for about 10 mins and it wasn’t too hard. We were staking our seats for wishes so we just threw on ponchos and waited it out.
Star Wars Dessert Party- First time doing this. It was fun but probably wouldn’t do it again. It felt pretty crowded and people were pushing to get food and running around like crazy. We were lucky and got a table but some people had to go outside of the ropes to find a spot. Dessert were okay, some better than others. The savory options were yummy! Viewing spot was awesome!!! We went out a few mins early to nap a front spot behind the scooters and it was perfect!
Restaurants- We ate at, Boathouse, The Plaza, Trader sams (appetizers), Ohana, Via Napoli, Sanaa, Casey’s, and Starring Rolls. I really feel like I am forgetting something! We never had a bad meal! We ate breakfast in the room. We actually used Amazon Now. This was great! Super easy! We ordered the night before we left and it was delivered right as we were checking in.
Cast Members- Everyone was for the most part awesome! Everyone once in a while we would hit one that just acted like they could care less about being there, but that was pretty rare. Everyone else was super friendly and helpful.
Last thoughts- We loved our trip!! We never have a bad time at Disney. We staked out the best spot for Wishes—Just in front of Caseys there is the new “grassy” area and ahead of that there is a fountain with a little bench going around. We sat there and we had the perfect view! We probably got there about 1.5 hours early. We were really tired so we were ready to sit down, eat some Casey’s and people watch!
Thank you for everyone for all the helpful tips! The food and wine, fireworks spots, and dessert party tips were so great to know!!! Let me know if anyone has any questions!
I faxed my request 5 days before our check in and called 2 days before. When I called I just asked to verify they had the right requests on file and the had received my fax
