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Thoughts from my recent trip to WDW. 12/18-12/26.
We flew down with a stop in Charlotte. No problems at the airport, we had plenty of time before our flights. When we arrived at MCO we went
to B terminal National Car rental. I used Emerald Aisle service. I think we got the only full size car on the aisle. We arrived at 9:30 AM
so I can't believe they had already been picked over. It went smoothly but I wasn't real impressed with the lack of cars. We also got a car
that the low coolant light kept coming on. Hit the brakes and it would go off.
The first day we drove to Melbourne to see my daughter. The second day we checked into CBR. There was a problem with them recognizing the rate
that Expedia had given me. So I paid what they said and went to my room. Then I called the front desk and said I was mistaken. I told
them I had the paperwork to prove it. Then they said well do you want us to call CRO and see what they say. I said that was fine with me.
They called back in about 10 mins and said that I was right. They applied a credit to my acct.
The refurbished rooms are great. Bright and colorful. I have pictures that I will post of the rooms and resort. I did notice that some of the
attention to details is not there any more. The sidewalks were filthy with bird droppings. They don't clean them like they used to. Also the
beach used to be raked, it seemed daily. It wasn't done at all while we were there. Also the outside food court at Port Royale wasn't cleaned
either. It was swept but not hosed down like in prior visits.
The island was closed off for refurbishing the first several days. They did open it back up while we were there. They had replaced the wooden
walkway. I am glad I wasn't on the other side since you had to walk around the lake then.
We had other people join us while we were there. Both families had booked through Expedia also. There were problems with theirs too. The
first family WDW said hadn't paid anything on their room. They had paid it off with their credit card about 6 weeks earlier. Again it took a
call to CRO to straighten it out. The third family were told they needed to check back in every day at the desk. Somehow their
reservations were screwed up. That got straightened out.
It did have in all of our records my request to be in Trininad North. One of the families got the room next to ours, the other was on the
other side of Port Royale.
The next time we go back I think I will stick with CRO and Disney for my reservations. The time for surprises is not at check in. It seems it
would have worked better if we had made our ressies directly.
The magic was there but it was harder to find this time. We had our red guest of honor pins but very rarely did anyone call us by name. The
entertainment on Christmas Eve had been cut back also. They also ran out of cookies for the decorating around 6:30. They went and baked some
more. I didn't think it was as crowded as years past.
Ok, all the negatives are out of the way. We had a great time visiting the parks. We went early every day and rode the rides we really wanted
early. We had a fast pass for Test Track but the singles line opened up so we did that first. The one day the car broke down in two places on
Test Track.
We did Ice Station Cool and tried Beverly. My son said it tasted like you licked a tire or something. I asked him how many tires he has
licked. :) We really liked some of the flavors. My kids saw my note about the talking water fountains so that wasn't a surprise.
When we did the Living Seas everyone skipped the pre show and hided right for the tanks. I think I liked it better when you rode the cars.
We also took the boat from Epcot to Magic Kingdom. Also walked the boardwalk, felt like I had escaped to the ocean.
We did Animal Kingdom for the first time. We really enjoyed the safari ride. I got some really great pictures and saw lots and lots of
animals.
We did Prime Time Cafe for Christmas dinner. We were split up into two tables since we had 9 people. Our waiter Jeff was great. My kids loved
it. My 19 year old couldn't stop giggling over everything. The other waiter was good but not as good as Jeff. Our party had the pot roast,
steak, and meat loaf. My meat loaf was great. I thought the portions were bigger the last time though.
We did Carousel of Progress, it was sad to think it was going to be around much longer. I still think it was entertaining.
We rode the monorail and my daughter got to sit up front. At one of the stops there were people in front of her so she told them about asking
for the co pilots license. They thanked her for sharing that. I told my daughter that she created a little Disney Magic for someone. Also we
found someones walkie talkie on the monorail and tried calling the other one to tell them we had found it. We turned it in to an employee. Sure
hope the owners found it. Our walkie talkies kept the kids entertained listening to everyone elses conversation. I was amazed to see how many
people had them. I came away thinking after listening to everyone elses conversation and we had switched channels several times that we would go
back to the old way of just meeting someone at a certain spot at a certain time.
We did get the Ultimate Park Hopper passes. They were great. We did all the parks, hopping to several in a day. We went to Blizzard Beach.
That was because Typhoon Lagoon was closed, we were hoping for a soft opening but it didn't happen. This time at Blizzard Beach was better
but we still prefer Typhoon. My teenagers agreed with me. The one evening we did Disney Quest. We loved that!!!!! The only problem was
we sent several email postcards from there and no one received them! We will visit Disney Quest again.
Judging from the wait times at popular rides, I think attendance was down. A lot of the rides it wasn't worth getting a fast pass for.
The kids liked watching the human mannequins at the Marketplace. They sure had a crowd around the window. The Market Place sure wasn't
crowded like it was in years past.
We had a wonderful time and really feel like I escaped from the cares of the real world. Isn't that what vacations are all about? I will be
posting pictures but it will take a couple of days. If you have any questions ask away. Thanks for all the ideas and help I received from
this group.
Kathy
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