2015 Trip Report - Day 1 (Birthday )
Our travel party includes my wife Janice who was celebrating her birthday today, sons Andrew and Bryan 20 & 19 and myself. We are experienced Disney travelers (10+ trips) and normally travel in July or August but this year had the chance to travel in May and decided our trip would start on Janice’s birthday so this day would be all about her favorite things.
The day started with us getting up at 2:45am as our flight was to depart at 5:35am. It was raining already so we had to pack the car, drive to the airport and unload in the rain. For it only being 4:15am the airport was already busy but we made it through security grabbed a quick bite at McDonalds and made it to the gate with 15 minutes to spare.
Upon arrival we were off the plane and on our way to Magical Express by 8:00am and I figured we had plenty of time in order to make it to the Grand Floridian for an 11:15 breakfast with Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Alice and the Mad Hatter .
Since we already had our magic bands all we needed to do was a quick swipe at ME and we were on the bus, but we had to wait 10 minutes for it to fill up a little more. We were staying at the Caribbean Beach and it was the first drop off. Walking into the Custom House we were greeted right away as nobody else was checking in this early. Even though I did online check-in it still took us over 10 minutes to check in, not sure why, but she just kept typing and telling us it would be a few more minutes. Our room in Aruba 55 was ready so we walked to it, dropped off our few carry-on items and headed to the bus stop to wait for a bus to the MK.
This would be the first of many lengthy waits we would have for bus transportation during our 8 days at the CB bus stops. Every other bus came before a MK bus did, but we were on our way by 10:00. It still seemed like we would make it on time for breakfast but we still had to activate our annual passes before we could buy the Tables In Wonderland Card which we needed for the 20% breakfast discount at 1900 Park Fare. We were able to activate the AP’s and buy the TIW card at the guest relations window outside the MK quickly and we spotted a boat loading to go to the GF so we had a nice boat ride across to the GF Marina. We arrived and checked in a little after 11:00 but it was crowded and we were not seated until 11:30.
Even though others have not reviewed 1900 Park Fare favorably we thought the food was very good, did not feel rushed and the characters came out promptly and we had pictures will all 5 in a matter of minutes and then were able to get back to eating. We were having a nice leisurely time when we realized we had better leave in order to make it to the MK for our FP reservations. Up to the monorail we headed and before we knew it we were back in the MK once again. Even after so many trips it always feels special walking up Main St. This was our first look at the newly completed hub. It really felt like the area was opened up a lot more now.
It was a beautiful day, sunny high 80’s, with a nice breeze. We headed for Fantasyland and did our FP’s for Peter Pan, Pooh (which was down so that meant we could come back anytime and use it), and SDMT. After using the 3FP's we were able to secure 4 more FP’s the remainder of the day by using the Kiosks. We were able to do JC, POC, HM, LMermaid with the FP and , CoP, TTA, Stitch, Monsters and Buzz. By late afternoon we were starting to feel a little worn out. The original plan was to head back to CB around 7:00 but as a final B-Day celebration item I was able to get reservations for the Wishes Dessert Party about 45 days prior to the trip. (Never give up and keep checking every day for cancellations) so we were staying a while longer.
When I heard about the planned price increase I figured this trip was a good time to try it. We got in line to enter around 8:30 as we heard they open to let you in by 9:00. There were maybe 10 people ahead of us and by the time they opened there were over 100 in line. Right before they opened the manager gave everyone a champagne flute filled with apple juice and did a nice welcome toast. You are then escorted to your table which is pre assigned. Many people had complaints that they had a bad table for viewing, but really the table is only for eating and when Wishes begins everybody moves to the railing area of the Terrace to watch. The food was plentiful and they kept restocking the whole time but it gets to a point where you just can’t eat any more sweets. The Celebrate the Magic show projected on the Castle before Wishes is wonderful also.
Now it was time to head out with the masses to the bus stop. We didn’t have to fight our way back to Main St as they were letting people out behind Main St next to the Plaza. The bus stop was crazy but one of the new extra-long buses came and most of the people were able to fit on it We got back to the room around 11:00 and found out my Magic Band did not work on the door but luckily everybody else’s did. The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was that it was very warm. The temp was 78 so I lowered the thermostat to 68 but the air would not kick on and we could not get the ceiling fan to work either. Plus we also had groceries waiting at Bell services delivered from the Garden Grocer. So now 2 calls went to the front desk and someone was there in less than 15 minutes to look at the A/c and deliver our groceries. The A/C unit was fine, just the thermostat was broken so he was able to turn on the A/c manually so it worked all night and the came back and replaced the thermostat the next day. Oh yes the ceiling fan, well it seems there are 2 switches on the wall next to the light switches at the head of the bed. One needs to be up and the other needs to be down for it to work. Never saw that before. We unpacked our luggage and headed to bed. Tomorrow we visit AK.
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Results 1 to 8 of 8
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reply With Quote
 Advertising Guest Relations |
 Discussion Boards Podcast Newsletter Shop |
 YouTube |
|
 |
PRIVACY STATEMENT /
DISCLAIMER |
DISCUSSION BOARD RULES © Since 1997 INTERCOT - a Levelbest Communications Website. This is not an official Disney website. |
>
 |
Share This Thread On Social Media: