peteykirch
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2012
My GF and I just returned back from a short, spur of the moment trip and overall had a great time. It was her first real trip to Disney outside of spending an afternoon at the Studios several years ago.
When it comes to the two of us, I'm the much bigger Disney fan. She never really had a big interest in Disney as a whole, but after this trip that has easily changed. She know understands why Disney was always a must do experience sort of thing, and she walked away with a new appreciation of the entire thing.
We got a great AP rate at the Wilderness Lodge, which is pretty much the only reason we went when we did. We originally were just going to go the week before Thanksgiving, but stumbled upon a great deal the week of Labor Day.
Ended up getting a great room at the Wilderness Lodge for less than rack rate at a Moderate, and the airfare was pennies, cost us 200 bucks roundtrip in total for both of us to get down to Orlando and back to Newark.
The Wilderness Lodge? Yes I know it's going under a ton of construction, but honestly we didn't feel that it was overly intrusive and you had to go out of you way to find and hear it.
Our room was a standard view and we requested a high floor. We ended up on the 6th floor with this view.
Talk about a jackpot. I found it hysterical considering I follow Josh of EASYWDW on Twitter and at the same time he was staying a THEMEPARK VIEW room at the Grand Floridian and had a much less stellar view.
Watching Wishes from our balcony was truly an amazing benefit.
We went into the trip expecting it to be unbearable in terms of heat and humidity, but it truly wasn't that bad until Friday. Friday was the only day where it felt like it was a chore to go out and explore the parks.
We went into this trip with an attitude of we don't have to go and do everything, because we'll be back in less than 9 weeks. This mantra really helped, well so did the fact the lines seemed to be non-existent.
Seriously, check this out;
A 15 minute wait at Soarin.....at 2:30 in the afternoon.
We attended the 9/8/16 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and had a blast. It didn't seem overly crowded until you got around the Castle. Seriously, it felt like Tomorrowland was abandoned. We kept doing the Trick or Treat trails in Tomorrowland with next to no wait. We strolled over to Liberty Square and the line for candy outside the Riverboat was enormous.
We aren't big on meeting characters, so we used the party to do a lot of rides, and to take in the atmosphere and take tons of pictures. We strolled up to watch Hallowishes and got a great spot less than 10 minutes prior to the show;
Some other observations;
When did strollers get so obnoxiously large? I'm only 28, and when my Mother and Aunt took me to Disney as a child they always managed me in a simple umbrella stroller. These things they are selling now are like giant SUV strollers. Even when they "fold down" they are still enormous. I do wonder what kind of backlash Disney would get if they truly enforced a size restriction on strollers.
This seemed to be the most popular model;
Even folded in half they completely blocked the walkway in boats and buses.
We didn't find the parks to be really dirty as have most people claimed recently.
The bathrooms were all in tip top condition, the only one that seemed run down was the bathroom inside Electric Umbrella, but I think that's much more because it's a design stuck in the late 80s early 90s. Hands down the Contemporary lobby had the nicest bathrooms we experienced.
Food wise we didn't stumble upon any disappointing food or anything that we found really repulsive. My GF is very picky when it comes to food, and she came away enjoying everything she ate.
Where did we eat?
Casey's Corner - Corn Dog Nuggets + Fries
Territory Lounge 2x - Pork Nachos, the Fondue (BEST PRETZEL BREAD EVEN BETTER THAN LE CELLIER)
Trails End 2x - Once for their breakfast buffet, another time on our departure day for their brunch buffet.
Flame Tree BBQ - Pulled Pork sammich, onion rings, and the pulled pork and cheese fries. I was kind of disappointed they changed the onion rings from beer battered to a regular panko breading.
Mizner's Lounge - Their pork belly appetizer was truly delish. GF had the Arancini was always comes out amazing, and we shared the Lemon Scented, White Chocolate Cheesecake. I found it to have a mellow lemon flavor, but it was too strong for my GF.
California Grill - Our Anniversary dinner, had an amazing server, and a very leisurely meal. We shared the Rotisserie Chicken Flatbread, and we each had our own salads and our own desserts. I was most upset they no longer have the Pork Belly Nigri on the menu which was apparently removed the week before we got there.
The Wave - I had the breakfast buffet, and the GF had the citrus scented brioche french toast.
Blaze - We're from NJ so we know good pizza, and this was actually pretty good, especially for thin crust. It was also very cheap, to get out of a place with 2 whole pizzas, 2 drinks for less than 26 bucks is a great deal. Their blood orange lemonade was out of this world!
Sci-Fi - Had delicious S'mores shakes, and two really good sandwiches. I got their Boursin Burger and it was so rich, but so delicious. When it comes to theming this is perhaps my favorite place, Disney just hits all the right marks.
Roaring Forks - Only stopped in once for a quick snack, got the adult Chicken Breast nugget meal to share before MNSSHP.
The one thing we both came away with the quick service places is that the portions are huge. I like to eat A LOT, and some of these meals were too much food, especially Casey's.
I don't think there was anything that we found truly negative outside of being stuck in the queue for the People Mover for 20 minutes because they had to shut down the ride since someone vomited in one of the cars. Or maybe the two annoying kids standing on the bench next to my GF during Hallowishes who were inches away from elbowing her in the head or falling off the bench and landed on her.
Merchandise, I came away really enjoying the 28 and Main t-shirts. However they really need to advertise the fact that not all the t-shirts are the same cut and style. In one an XL is nice and roomy, another the XL feels like a medium.
Bought quite a few Wilderness Lodge specific things, and I finally got my light up Polynesian Tiki guy statue.
I'll end this with a few of my favorite pictures I took throughout our trip.
When it comes to the two of us, I'm the much bigger Disney fan. She never really had a big interest in Disney as a whole, but after this trip that has easily changed. She know understands why Disney was always a must do experience sort of thing, and she walked away with a new appreciation of the entire thing.
We got a great AP rate at the Wilderness Lodge, which is pretty much the only reason we went when we did. We originally were just going to go the week before Thanksgiving, but stumbled upon a great deal the week of Labor Day.
Ended up getting a great room at the Wilderness Lodge for less than rack rate at a Moderate, and the airfare was pennies, cost us 200 bucks roundtrip in total for both of us to get down to Orlando and back to Newark.
The Wilderness Lodge? Yes I know it's going under a ton of construction, but honestly we didn't feel that it was overly intrusive and you had to go out of you way to find and hear it.
Our room was a standard view and we requested a high floor. We ended up on the 6th floor with this view.
Talk about a jackpot. I found it hysterical considering I follow Josh of EASYWDW on Twitter and at the same time he was staying a THEMEPARK VIEW room at the Grand Floridian and had a much less stellar view.
Watching Wishes from our balcony was truly an amazing benefit.
We went into the trip expecting it to be unbearable in terms of heat and humidity, but it truly wasn't that bad until Friday. Friday was the only day where it felt like it was a chore to go out and explore the parks.
We went into this trip with an attitude of we don't have to go and do everything, because we'll be back in less than 9 weeks. This mantra really helped, well so did the fact the lines seemed to be non-existent.
Seriously, check this out;
A 15 minute wait at Soarin.....at 2:30 in the afternoon.
We attended the 9/8/16 Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and had a blast. It didn't seem overly crowded until you got around the Castle. Seriously, it felt like Tomorrowland was abandoned. We kept doing the Trick or Treat trails in Tomorrowland with next to no wait. We strolled over to Liberty Square and the line for candy outside the Riverboat was enormous.
We aren't big on meeting characters, so we used the party to do a lot of rides, and to take in the atmosphere and take tons of pictures. We strolled up to watch Hallowishes and got a great spot less than 10 minutes prior to the show;
Some other observations;
When did strollers get so obnoxiously large? I'm only 28, and when my Mother and Aunt took me to Disney as a child they always managed me in a simple umbrella stroller. These things they are selling now are like giant SUV strollers. Even when they "fold down" they are still enormous. I do wonder what kind of backlash Disney would get if they truly enforced a size restriction on strollers.
This seemed to be the most popular model;
Even folded in half they completely blocked the walkway in boats and buses.
We didn't find the parks to be really dirty as have most people claimed recently.
The bathrooms were all in tip top condition, the only one that seemed run down was the bathroom inside Electric Umbrella, but I think that's much more because it's a design stuck in the late 80s early 90s. Hands down the Contemporary lobby had the nicest bathrooms we experienced.
Food wise we didn't stumble upon any disappointing food or anything that we found really repulsive. My GF is very picky when it comes to food, and she came away enjoying everything she ate.
Where did we eat?
Casey's Corner - Corn Dog Nuggets + Fries
Territory Lounge 2x - Pork Nachos, the Fondue (BEST PRETZEL BREAD EVEN BETTER THAN LE CELLIER)
Trails End 2x - Once for their breakfast buffet, another time on our departure day for their brunch buffet.
Flame Tree BBQ - Pulled Pork sammich, onion rings, and the pulled pork and cheese fries. I was kind of disappointed they changed the onion rings from beer battered to a regular panko breading.
Mizner's Lounge - Their pork belly appetizer was truly delish. GF had the Arancini was always comes out amazing, and we shared the Lemon Scented, White Chocolate Cheesecake. I found it to have a mellow lemon flavor, but it was too strong for my GF.
California Grill - Our Anniversary dinner, had an amazing server, and a very leisurely meal. We shared the Rotisserie Chicken Flatbread, and we each had our own salads and our own desserts. I was most upset they no longer have the Pork Belly Nigri on the menu which was apparently removed the week before we got there.
The Wave - I had the breakfast buffet, and the GF had the citrus scented brioche french toast.
Blaze - We're from NJ so we know good pizza, and this was actually pretty good, especially for thin crust. It was also very cheap, to get out of a place with 2 whole pizzas, 2 drinks for less than 26 bucks is a great deal. Their blood orange lemonade was out of this world!
Sci-Fi - Had delicious S'mores shakes, and two really good sandwiches. I got their Boursin Burger and it was so rich, but so delicious. When it comes to theming this is perhaps my favorite place, Disney just hits all the right marks.
Roaring Forks - Only stopped in once for a quick snack, got the adult Chicken Breast nugget meal to share before MNSSHP.
The one thing we both came away with the quick service places is that the portions are huge. I like to eat A LOT, and some of these meals were too much food, especially Casey's.
I don't think there was anything that we found truly negative outside of being stuck in the queue for the People Mover for 20 minutes because they had to shut down the ride since someone vomited in one of the cars. Or maybe the two annoying kids standing on the bench next to my GF during Hallowishes who were inches away from elbowing her in the head or falling off the bench and landed on her.
Merchandise, I came away really enjoying the 28 and Main t-shirts. However they really need to advertise the fact that not all the t-shirts are the same cut and style. In one an XL is nice and roomy, another the XL feels like a medium.
Bought quite a few Wilderness Lodge specific things, and I finally got my light up Polynesian Tiki guy statue.
I'll end this with a few of my favorite pictures I took throughout our trip.
