WDW trip report- offsite and frequent Disneyland goer

[waterchurch]

I thought I would do a trip report since I liked reading others when I was planning.

It was DH, myself, DS age 3.5, and DD age 15 months. We stayed offsite in a condo through vrbo and had a rental car. Before disney we attended a family wedding south of Orlando. We rented a sit and stand stroller plus a crib from Baby's Away. Crib was great, but that stroller was terrible. So hard to push compared to our joovy ultralight. I cursed it pretty much the whole trip.

Monday evening we had a 5pm reservation at Sanaa to get us into the Disney mood. We drove up from DH's family, checked into our condo then drove to wdw for the first time. We learned that day to ignore Google maps directions and just follow signs. We ended up in a cast parking lot with people honking at us. Very embarrassing, lol. Once we found the resort and got to dinner it was fun. We weren't able to get a table right by the window but the environment was still cool. We saw some animals while we were waiting for our table and from the other side of the restaurant. The food was good, we got the bread service which was fabulous.

Tuesday was our Magic Kingdom day. We had 9:50 fastpass for Mickey in the Town Square theater, then breakfast reservations at Crystal palace at 10:30. This worked pretty well for us, seeing Mickey was fun even though ds apparently had to pee because he was holding his crotch in every single photo, lol.
Both kids loved the character breakfast. DD got super excited, squealing and pointing whenever they came into view. When they walked away she bawled, poor thing. DH and I liked the food, both kids ate very little due to excitement. The puffed french toast was yummy!

After that, I'm less enthused about Magic Kingdom as a frequent Disneyland goer. DS begged to go on Pirates next because it's one of his favorites and the MK version just isn't as good. It's shorter with a longer line. After that we did the Tiki room which was also shorter and ds was disappointed in the lack of tikis in the queue. We did country bear jamboree after that, which hasn't been in CA in years, so that was fun. Once dd fell asleep in the stroller I sat with her while DH and DS did Aladdin's flying carpets. Once she was awake we watched the Philharmagic show which was cute, then Small World, tea cups, and then used our fastpasses for Pooh and Seven Dwarves Mine train. DS rode with DH and then we used rider swap for me and ds. He loved it. We rode pooh one more time then headed back to the condo.

I'll type up the other 3 days over this weekend. This is long!

[waterchurch]

Day 2 was Epcot. This was the park I was most looking forward to, and the one I want to go back and spend more time exploring. Preferably kid free, haha.

DH was battling a cold so we got a late start this morning to give everyone a chance to rest. We missed our Test Track FP, but we were able to use our Mission space. DH and I each rode that, then we did Journey into Imagination, Finding Nemo (FP), Spaceship Earth (FP), Living with the Land, and headed over to the world showcase. We rode the Mexico ride which was cute, then wandered around. I wished I could have had more time or less kids to eat and shop. It's cool back there! We found Alice in the UK, which is one of DS's favorite movies at the moment. Both kids loved her. Then we had dinner reservations at the Rose and Crown. That was a good dinner, and I do like being able to drink with dinner after a day at disney.
After dinner, the test track line was short enough for DH and DS to ride that while dd and I rode spaceship earth a couple more times. Then we headed back to the condo.

[curbsideprophet]

Sounds like a good first couple of days!

[Deleted]

Well now I have to go to Disneyland because I've always loved Pirates so the prospect of a better Pirates is tempting.

How did you like the condo?

Thanks for sharing!

[waterchurch]

Feb 27, 2016 20:54:46 GMT -5 @notquiteblushing said:

Well now I have to go to Disneyland because I've always loved Pirates so the prospect of a better Pirates is tempting.

How did you like the condo?

Thanks for sharing!

Pirates is way better at disneyland. A lot of the classic rides are longer at disneyland, and there are more character dark rides too. Fantasyland seemed so empty to me.

The condo was nice! It was 2 bed 2 bath, and had bunk beds in a hallway alcove. DS chose the bunk beds, we had dd in the bedroom in her crib, and a bedroom and bathroom all to ourselves. We didn't cook but having a kitchen, living room, and dining table was nice.

[waterchurch]

Feb 27, 2016 21:09:35 GMT -5 @starry said:

What did you order at Rose and Crown? We have reservations there before Illuminations on a night we are getting a babysitter.

We ordered a scotch egg, bangers and mash, and bubble and squeak to split. We wanted to try a little of everything and it was all good. I had a golden fox beer blend and it was nice. Very refreshing.

[jeaniebueller]

Sounds like a great trip!

[waterchurch]

Day 3 was Hollywood Studios. This was probably our hardest day behavior wise, everyone was getting tired and this wasn't the most kid friendly of the parks.

We had FP for Toy Story Midway Mania, so we headed there first when we got to the park around 10 or so. It was fun, but it's exactly the same as CA Adventure. Then we did the Muppet show which was also the same at DL but has been closed for a while to be a Frozen singalong so it was fun to see. I've heard they're working on an updated version of the Muppet Vision, and I can't wait. It's one of our favorites.

We had lunch at the 50's Prime Time Cafe, which was fun. DS didn't really care about the theming or the TV at our table so I kind of wish we had done the SciFi restaurant instead. The food was good, though. 

After lunch we had FP for Tower of Terror, so DH took his turn first while I took the kids to see the Beauty and Beast stage show. Both kids liked it, but we were pretty far back since we walked in a few minutes after it started. It was a good way to kill 20 minutes waiting for DH though. We got out just as DH was done, so he took the kids to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area while I did ToT. The CA version cuts out more of the story from this ride, it's just the video and then you start dropping. It was fun to have more Twilight Zone narrative I guess, but I didn't feel like it added all that much either. It's fun both places because of the drop.

We were able to get a 4th FP for Fantasmic, so once we dragged the kids away from the play area (which wasn't pretty, they both didn't want to leave), we watched the Indiana Jones stunt show (cool for adults, but DS was a little scared of the explosions and fire) and then had some pizza at a restaurant across from Fantasmic.

Fantasmic was cool, at DL you have to stand so it was nice to have bleacher seats for the show. DD fell asleep and DS got kind of freaked by all the bad guys and fire. We almost had to leave in the middle, but he agreed to stay once we told him that Mickey was going to save the day. Getting out of there was a zoo, and my arms were dying carrying dead weight DD.

Back to the condo, to try and rest up for our last day.

[zarapipe]

Enjoy your last day! Your kids sound like troopers, especially your dd! Once you check out of the condo would you care to link the page on vrbo? We are looking for a condo for when we go in January 2017.

[Deleted]

Thanks! I love reading this review as a frequent Disneyland goer (we have passes) I've always wondered how they compared from the DL goer point of view

[cincodemayo]

Thanks for the report! It is interesting to see all the parallels to Disney land since I think WDW people are all "WDW blows DL out of the water."

Sounds like you all had a great time!

[waterchurch]

Feb 27, 2016 22:19:21 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Enjoy your last day! Your kids sound like troopers, especially your dd! Once you check out of the condo would you care to link the page on vrbo? We are looking for a condo for when we go in January 2017.

Oh we got home last week. I'll link it when I'm on my laptop tonight.

[marie3246]

Sounds like you had a great time, thanks for sharing

[waterchurch]

Feb 27, 2016 22:19:21 GMT -5 zarapipe said:

Enjoy your last day! Your kids sound like troopers, especially your dd! Once you check out of the condo would you care to link the page on vrbo? We are looking for a condo for when we go in January 2017.

Here is the link to the condo we rented. It was nice! We didn't use the pools or anything so I can't comment on that. Condo Link

[waterchurch]

Day 4 was Animal Kingdom, then back to Magic Kingdom.

This was probably my favorite park. It felt like most of the best parts of the other parks we have in CA, but I always like seeing animals.

First thing we had a FP to meet Minnie and Mickey, and it was so great. Both the kids just loved them and the photographer was retiring that day and she gave DD a little beanie bear when we finished. I ended up buying the photos because they were just too darn cute to resist. 

Next we had planned to see the Lion King show, but the performance was cancelled. We went and found some lunch and then took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, that had a petting zoo and other animal and conservation exhibits. DS brushed the goats for a couple minutes and then just wanted to play in the dirt. DD napped on me in the carrier while I watched them bring out an aardvark to a little stage. He was cute!

When we finally managed to DS out of the dirt, we went back to the main park and used our safari FP. I loved the safari ride, we got to see so many animals up close but it wasn't sad like a small zoo enclosure either. Super cool. After that, we went back and saw the Lion King show. I wasn't sure if we should since we planned on doing MK after, but I'm glad we made the time. The show was probably my favorite thing we did. Awesome music and performers. The kind of good that makes me want to run away and join a Broadway cast, lol.

Even though there was more we could have seen, we had promised DS he could pick one souvenir and of course he stuck with the first thing he saw getting off our first ride on our first day, a pirate hook from Pirates. So back we went to MK for the evening.

So we went on Pirates again, bought DS his pirate hook, and got some dinner at Village Haus because DS wanted pizza. Different menu than CA, but still good. And there's a view of the Small World queue, which DD really liked. After dinner, we rode The Little Mermaid (exactly the same as CA, but better exterior since it isn't a repurposed building), and did Tiki Room as our last ride of the trip. 

[bronxgirl]

sounds like a great trip!

[waterchurch]

Overview

Staying offsite and driving wasn't a big deal at all. I knew we weren't going to be mid-day nappers, so being close for that wasn't a worry. And I found it easier to just walk to the car and drive versus trying to struggle a folded stroller and two kids onto a bus. The driving itself was easy.

It seemed to me that all the "classic" rides that DL and MK have in common, the DL versions are better. Small World has the big exterior clock, versus just a smaller indoor version in the queue at DL. Pirates is shorter. Tiki room is shorter, and no tikis before the show which is one of DS's favorites. Pooh is better at MK, and there are more shows like Country Bear Jamboree and Philharmagic. The Mine Train was cool, I'd trade that for the Snow White dark ride at DL, haha. But DS was disappointed that MK didn't have Alice in Wonderland or Pinocchio, or the little Casey Jr train.

It felt to me that the best parts of HS we already have in DL/CA Adventure. DH remembered it as his favorite park when he was younger, but a lot of the movie making stuff isn't there anymore. 

I'd love to go back to Epcot and leisurely eat and shop. I'm already plotting a kid free trip in the future that has two days at Epcot/Hollywood Studios, then maybe a short Bahamas cruise or something.

My favorite meal was a tie between Sanaa and Rose and Crown. Favorite attraction was the Lion King show at AK.

Oh, and if we ever go again with kids we will definitely build in more half days or rest days. DH's phone has a pedometer app and it said that we walked 36 miles over the 4 days. Ooof. We were tired by the end of the week.