zdad59
They call me "ThePrince of Planning"
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2014
Thought I'd drop a quick trip report of our recent trip to WDW. We had a wonderful time and maybe a few insight that might help other travelers. So here we go.
Background: Mama and I have been coming to Disney since we honeymooned at the Polynesian some 41 years ago. I'm 64 and mama is 62. We get along well. We try to get to the mouse house every couple of years.
Getting there: We flew in on April 19 and flew out on April 24. We got into Orlando (from Philly) around 6:30 in the evening. We chose an UberXL to get to Pop Century...$53 total. It was a few bucks more than one of the bus options, but we got transportation right away and it was private and direct to our hotel with no other stops, so we felt it was worth the extra cash. Popo Century check in was instant. We got our room assignment by text and went straight to our room. We had a 3rd floor room, 6308, in the Sixties building. Left out of the main building, building to the right of the foozball men. The room was neat and clean. Only one queen sized bed in the room when we entered. The we realized the 2nd bed was a Murphy Bed. We pulled it down and voila, we had our two queen beds. We had a quiet night getting situated. A light dinner at the Pop cafeteria where we also bought our refillable cup for the stay.
Day 1: Magic Kingdom. We decided to do rope drop or something close. We stopped in the cafeteria for a breakfast sandwich and some fruit. This was our standard fare every morning. Walked onto the bus to the MK. Got here just after rope drop and walked right in. A little pixie dust as we entered the park, and were greeted by an old fashioned taxi that took us up Main Street to the castle. A very fun way to start the day. Rides all morning, starting with 7D Mine Train. 7DMT is a popular first ride, so expect a line. Took us 35 minutes to complete the ride. Lunch/Linner was at Jungle Cruise Canteen. A GREAT restaurant. Food was very tasty and service was superior. We were very pleased with this offbeat choice. After Lunch our Virtual queue was called for TRON. Very efficient way to do the ride. Mama rode one of the bikes. With my knees and my size I chose a seated car at the back of the train. Both methods were great for the ride. A super ride. We both thought instantly its the best ride in WDW....at least until tomorrow. More park time until around 9, when we headed back to the hotel for the evening. The park was moderately full. We did not use Genie+ or ILL all week. Never had a super long line anywhere. We picked a good crowd size week.
Day 2: Hollywood Studios After grabbing morning breakfast, we hit the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios. Skyliner is why we chose Pop and it exceeded expectations. On our last trip we stayed at Beach Club and loved the Skyliner as well. It is particularly wonderful at Pop. A good day doing rides. Slinky Dog dash had issues that day and again we did not get to ride it. ROTR was awesome as well. Only a 45 min wait. I got to stump Darth Maul when we met up and I told him..."These are not the citizens you're looking for. Take you poor shooting guards and be on your way." He stumbled for a minute and told me to be careful or I will be arrested. For Linner we hopped over to EPCOT and ate at Le Creperie in France. A tasty dinner crepe. A fun experience but not a top 10 restaurant. More rides and people watching throughout the day and back to the hotel by 9.
Day 3: EPCOT. We got a great virtual queue slot for Guardians of the Galaxy....group 14. Our group was called as we were entering the park thru the International Gateway at 8:40. SO straight to Guardians for the first ride of the day. O M G !!!!! Its the best ride in any of the parks. So impressed. The pre ride show is very good as well. Rode the rest of our favs.....Soarin', Frozen, Test Track. Rode Ratatouille for the first time and was less than impressed. Hopped over to Hollywood Studios for late evening. Of note here was that we left after the shows on the Chinese Theater (very good shows) and walked out to an enormous line for the Skyliner. We thought we'd have a 45m-1hr trip to get back to Pop but we were pleasantly surprised that we were back at our hotel room in 20 minutes. Skyliner was super efficient.
Day 4: Animal Kingdom We got there a little late, as AK is not our favorite place. Went straight to Pandora and rode Avatar and Navi River. I'm a big guy but had no issue riding Avatar. I have to make a pilgrimage to Pandora every time as ai Have a small connection to the movies. My childhood friend (Joe Letteri) recently won an Academy Award to leading the CGI and Special effects for Avatar. His 5th Academy Award !! So I feel like I have to go pay homage to my friend every time at WDW. We also went and rode Everest a couple times. After that we were done with AK. Back to Pop for a nap, then back to Magic Kingdom to complete the trip. We rode some of our classics again and walked back to the entrance to catch the fireworks at 9. A great way to end the trip.
Summary: A great trip and great timing. We went AFTER most of spring break was over and after the Disney Marathon week and BEFORE summer season began. New rides....TRON and GUARDIANS were spectacular. Pop was a good stay. Even though we usually like Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge, Pop was a good change of pace for a quickly thrown together trip.
I'll post some pics shortly.
Background: Mama and I have been coming to Disney since we honeymooned at the Polynesian some 41 years ago. I'm 64 and mama is 62. We get along well. We try to get to the mouse house every couple of years.
Getting there: We flew in on April 19 and flew out on April 24. We got into Orlando (from Philly) around 6:30 in the evening. We chose an UberXL to get to Pop Century...$53 total. It was a few bucks more than one of the bus options, but we got transportation right away and it was private and direct to our hotel with no other stops, so we felt it was worth the extra cash. Popo Century check in was instant. We got our room assignment by text and went straight to our room. We had a 3rd floor room, 6308, in the Sixties building. Left out of the main building, building to the right of the foozball men. The room was neat and clean. Only one queen sized bed in the room when we entered. The we realized the 2nd bed was a Murphy Bed. We pulled it down and voila, we had our two queen beds. We had a quiet night getting situated. A light dinner at the Pop cafeteria where we also bought our refillable cup for the stay.
Day 1: Magic Kingdom. We decided to do rope drop or something close. We stopped in the cafeteria for a breakfast sandwich and some fruit. This was our standard fare every morning. Walked onto the bus to the MK. Got here just after rope drop and walked right in. A little pixie dust as we entered the park, and were greeted by an old fashioned taxi that took us up Main Street to the castle. A very fun way to start the day. Rides all morning, starting with 7D Mine Train. 7DMT is a popular first ride, so expect a line. Took us 35 minutes to complete the ride. Lunch/Linner was at Jungle Cruise Canteen. A GREAT restaurant. Food was very tasty and service was superior. We were very pleased with this offbeat choice. After Lunch our Virtual queue was called for TRON. Very efficient way to do the ride. Mama rode one of the bikes. With my knees and my size I chose a seated car at the back of the train. Both methods were great for the ride. A super ride. We both thought instantly its the best ride in WDW....at least until tomorrow. More park time until around 9, when we headed back to the hotel for the evening. The park was moderately full. We did not use Genie+ or ILL all week. Never had a super long line anywhere. We picked a good crowd size week.
Day 2: Hollywood Studios After grabbing morning breakfast, we hit the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios. Skyliner is why we chose Pop and it exceeded expectations. On our last trip we stayed at Beach Club and loved the Skyliner as well. It is particularly wonderful at Pop. A good day doing rides. Slinky Dog dash had issues that day and again we did not get to ride it. ROTR was awesome as well. Only a 45 min wait. I got to stump Darth Maul when we met up and I told him..."These are not the citizens you're looking for. Take you poor shooting guards and be on your way." He stumbled for a minute and told me to be careful or I will be arrested. For Linner we hopped over to EPCOT and ate at Le Creperie in France. A tasty dinner crepe. A fun experience but not a top 10 restaurant. More rides and people watching throughout the day and back to the hotel by 9.
Day 3: EPCOT. We got a great virtual queue slot for Guardians of the Galaxy....group 14. Our group was called as we were entering the park thru the International Gateway at 8:40. SO straight to Guardians for the first ride of the day. O M G !!!!! Its the best ride in any of the parks. So impressed. The pre ride show is very good as well. Rode the rest of our favs.....Soarin', Frozen, Test Track. Rode Ratatouille for the first time and was less than impressed. Hopped over to Hollywood Studios for late evening. Of note here was that we left after the shows on the Chinese Theater (very good shows) and walked out to an enormous line for the Skyliner. We thought we'd have a 45m-1hr trip to get back to Pop but we were pleasantly surprised that we were back at our hotel room in 20 minutes. Skyliner was super efficient.
Day 4: Animal Kingdom We got there a little late, as AK is not our favorite place. Went straight to Pandora and rode Avatar and Navi River. I'm a big guy but had no issue riding Avatar. I have to make a pilgrimage to Pandora every time as ai Have a small connection to the movies. My childhood friend (Joe Letteri) recently won an Academy Award to leading the CGI and Special effects for Avatar. His 5th Academy Award !! So I feel like I have to go pay homage to my friend every time at WDW. We also went and rode Everest a couple times. After that we were done with AK. Back to Pop for a nap, then back to Magic Kingdom to complete the trip. We rode some of our classics again and walked back to the entrance to catch the fireworks at 9. A great way to end the trip.
Summary: A great trip and great timing. We went AFTER most of spring break was over and after the Disney Marathon week and BEFORE summer season began. New rides....TRON and GUARDIANS were spectacular. Pop was a good stay. Even though we usually like Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge, Pop was a good change of pace for a quickly thrown together trip.
I'll post some pics shortly.
