Disney trip recap

[abs]

We just got back from a week in Disney! We were there the 10th-16th.  Thought I would give a recap of our trip in case it helps anyone with their planning!

We stayed at the Beach Club Resort from the 10-16. We LOVED this resort! It's literally a 3 minute walk from Epcot and the pool is amazing.  I'm not sure what DD enjoyed more--the pool or the parks!!

Day One: We got up super early to head to the airport. We rented a car, went by Publix for water and snacks, and we were at the hotel and in our room by 1 pm. I love how you can just go straight to your room with the online check in. We got to Magic Kingdom at 3 pm. This is the exact wrong time to go to the parks btw. It was brutally hot and then we got rained on but we can't not go to MK on our first day! We stayed for a few hours and did Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, and Winnie the Pooh with our fastpasses.  Dinner was at 1900 Parkfare.  Getting there was a nightmare.  The monorails were down (not scheduled), it was storming so we couldn't take a boat, and the bus to the MK resorts wasn't operating yet.  Finally the monorail started working again so we got there just a few minutes after our ADR.  1900 PF was super disappointing.  The food was cold and not very good.  We won't be returning.  It's a shame because the character interaction is great but I can't justify the price with such subpar food.  After dinner we just went back to our hotel for the night since we were tired from waking up at 4:45 am.

Day Two:  Hollywood Studios day.  We walked to HS from our resort which was awesome.  Took about 15 minutes.  Had a pre-park opening breakfast at Hollywood and Vine.  Food was fine.  Not great but fine.  They did stop the dance parties with the characters which is very lame.  That diminishes the value IMO but DD still loved it.  She's almost 6 so this is probably the last trip that she will care about the Disney Jr. characters.  We did get to Toy Story early though and rode it twice on standby with no wait and then used our first FP on it at 9:20.  Then we did Star Tours and went back to the hotel for lunch at Beaches and Cream.  We spent the rest of the day at the pool.   We really felt the heat this day so we just didn't last long in the park.  We are used to heat and humidity since we are in Texas but it took us a few days to acclimate to being out in it all day.  Walked over to Akershus for dinner and did a few rides in Epcot after.  Akershus was fine. 

Day Three:  MK day.  We had a PPO breakfast at Crystal Palace.  So fun!  The characters all came around more than once and the place was dead.  We were out by 8:45.  Rode Dumbo three times, Barnstormer twice, the teacups, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, Ariel, Peter Pan,  and did Mickey's Philharmagic all before noon.  We were way more productive than I thought was possible in the summer!  The park was honestly quite slow.  Ate lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern, went back to the hotel to swim for a few hours, and then went back to HS to meet my mom for dinner.  We were able to get a 4th FP for Toy Story so we did that after dinner and then came back to the hotel.

Day Four:  Epcot day.  We ate breakfast at Captain's Grill.  Delicious!  Highly recommend.  Walked over to Epcot and used our first FP on the new Soarin'.  We all loved it!!  Well, DD didn't but she doesn't like anything remotely thrilling.  The rest of us thought it was amazing.  DD has since said she would do Soarin' again.  Then we did Living with the Land and walked over to the Seas pavilion.  DD could spend hours there.  We saw sharks, scuba divers, sea turtles...all kinds of things.  We did the Nemo ride, looked at the aquarium forever, and did Turtle Talk with Crush for the first time.  It was cute but not something we would do again.  We got DD lunch at Sunshine Seasons and then headed back to the hotel to swim again.  Headed back to Epcot around 5 and did Figment and then the boat ride in Mexico.  Dinner was at La Hacienda in Epcot and we all loved it.  For some reason Mother Nature gave us a gift of cooler weather and we walked all the way around the World Showcase after dinner without sweating so that was nice.

Day Five:  MK day again.  Ate breakfast at Ohana.  This has been consistently good.  We planned on taking the monorail over to MK after but AGAIN it was down.  We had to take the bus and ended up not getting to MK until 9:40.  I was mad we missed rope drop but it worked out fine.  Our first FP was for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad but the ride was down so we got anytime FP's for it.   We instead did all of DD's favorites with little to no wait in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland (Dumbo, Winnie the Pooh, Buzz, etc.) and then got her lunch.  After that we used our FP's on Big Thunder and Splash and left the park around 2 pm.  We just relaxed in our room the rest of the afternoon and ate dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse.  It was good but not as good as it was last year. 

Day Six:  Breakfast at Captain's Grill again and then Animal Kingdom.  We got to the park just after 9 and walked onto the Safari.  Then we did the Lion King show and walked over to Dino land so DD could play in the boneyard for a few minutes.  DH did Expedition Everest twice in the single rider line with no wait.  Then we got DD lunch and did the Finding Nemo show.  It was cute but not something I would do again.  DD hated it.  She thought it was boring.  We spent the rest of the day at the pool and drove over to California Grill for dinner.  SO GOOD.  During that time I checked to see what Epcot FP's we could get and was able to get two Frozen FP's for DD and I and two Test Track ones for DH and my mom.  Unfortunately it started storming and both rides went down but I was amazed I could even find them!  We were given options to use them the next day but we were heading home and couldn't.  Oh well.  Next time.

Day Seven:  Breakfast at Cape May.  My mom and DH loved it.  I didn't really but most of the options on the buffet involved eggs. I am allergic so my options were limited.  DD loved seeing Minnie Mouse.  After that we finished packing and headed to the airport.   Easy trip home.

Overall thoughts: 

I loved the Beach Club so much.  I think if we make any more summer trips we will definitely be staying here again (or the Yacht Club).  Stormalong Bay is amazing and I wish we had a day just to chill at the pool!  DD loved the water slide and did that over and over and over again. 

Attendance must be down this summer.  The parks were busy but they were completely manageable.  I didn't find them any busier than they were last December (not holiday).  I was absolutely amazed how easy it was to find last minute fast passes and fourth and fifth fast passes for headliner rides.  The heat was absolutely brutal.  It was 97-99 most days with heat indexes over 101 and 102.  We wouldn't have survived without mixing in lots of shows.  But I would go during the summer again.  I was surprised how much we got done.  I still think I would take the heat over the crowds of Christmas and Spring Break.

OH!  And we got an offer for an additional night at our hotel for free.  That tells you how slow they are right now.  We had to decline and DD is still mad, lol. 

[spaghetticat]

Thanks for posting this. I love trip reports and it sounds like you had a great time! We are scheduled for 1900 Park Fare, Hollywood and Vine and Askershus as well. I wish your reviews were more glowing lol

[abs]

Jul 16, 2016 19:08:35 GMT -5 spaghetticat said:

Thanks for posting this. I love trip reports and it sounds like you had a great time! We are scheduled for 1900 Park Fare, Hollywood and Vine and Askershus as well. I wish your reviews were more glowing lol

Ha, sorry!  Akershus has been a mixed bag for us.  We've had one fantastic meal and two mediocre meals.  However, DD loves it and still gets star struck when the first princess walks out.  She always eats well and it's been worth it.  Hopefully your meal there will be when the kitchen is on!

1900 Parkfare....well, they have lots of choices for the kids.  The characters are great.  That's all I got.  It's fun to do once.

[ribollita]

Thanks for sharing! I feel a little better about going in summer now! Glad you had a good trip.

[ilikedonuts]

Wait no more dance parties at Hollywood and vine?? Well I guess I'm cancelling that ADR. That was basically the main reason my kids ask for it.

[ilikedonuts]

I'm really glad you posted this because I must have missed the posts on some of the Disney blogger Facebook pages about this. I'm sad about this. My girls had so much fun here every trip specifically because of the live singers. Not even the characters.

[abs]

Jul 16, 2016 22:50:43 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Wait no more dance parties at Hollywood and vine?? Well I guess I'm cancelling that ADR. That was basically the main reason my kids ask for it.

It's a very recent change.  They just stopped in June.  I plan on registering a complaint because those were so fun!  Maybe they will bring them back if enough people say something.

On the plus side we got through breakfast quickly and were one of the first ones on Toy Story.

[lala]

The beach club is our a absolute favorite, too. The pool is awesome!

[ilikedonuts]

Jul 17, 2016 6:11:26 GMT -5 abs said:

Jul 16, 2016 22:50:43 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

Wait no more dance parties at Hollywood and vine?? Well I guess I'm cancelling that ADR. That was basically the main reason my kids ask for it.

It's a very recent change.  They just stopped in June.  I plan on registering a complaint because those were so fun!  Maybe they will bring them back if enough people say something.

On the plus side we got through breakfast quickly and were one of the first ones on Toy Story.

We were debating doing the morning magic thing at DHS but it wouldn't have worked with the H&V ADR but this solves that problem because I'm definitely cancelling H&V!

[curbsideprophet]

Thanks for the report. Glad to hear you did not regret going in the summer. We are going to a short trip in Aug and I am concerned about the heat. We do have afternoon breaks planned.

[dAZ]

Did you carry your own water bottles into the park to stay hydrated? If so, what kind of bag did you carry?

Thanks for the trip report, always helpful!

[abs]

Jul 17, 2016 12:18:30 GMT -5 dAZ said:

Did you carry your own water bottles into the park to stay hydrated? If so, what kind of bag did you carry?

Thanks for the trip report, always helpful!

Yes, we brought in our own water bottles. Every quick service place will give you ice water at no charge, too, so we took advantage of that often. They also had stations set up around MK with ice water. I saw at least 3 but I bet there more. Staying hydrated was easy.

We brought in a small backpack every day with water and ponchos.

Truly the heat was fine. We just had to tour differently. We made sure we weren't crisis crossing the parks ever and mixed in lots of shows and inside rides like It's a Small World for A/C breaks.

[kittycatlove]

Thanks for sharing, I love reading trip reports.

[was5]

Thanks for sharing. We went in August 2 years ago and I was not prepared for the heat and humidity. I currently live in the mid-west, but I lived in Houston in my teens and early 20's. I was trying to remember how I dealt with that weather every day! I'm glad someone from TX felt the same way.

We only went for 3 days and by 3 we had also acclimated. I don't plan on returning in the summer any time soon, but if I do it will be at least a 5 day trip to allow or bodies to get used to the weather.

Glad you had a good time!