Well my trip to the World has come and gone and to be truthful I have hit a bit of a low, as I get back into the reality of things.
Despite this though, I can say that I had a wonderful time, and I think I have convinced my gf that a trip is needed in the next few years! lol
I am not sure how to structure this so I will try a day by day report but it will probably turn into a ramble so bear with me.
We drove down to London on Friday 31st and checked into our hotel. We also did our twighlight check in with the airline which was perfect. Spend the evening chilling and in the bar! lol
Our flight out was delayed two hours the next day and that was the start of a pretty miserable journey. We pre-booked and paid for extra legroom seats which are by the exit. Because of this the TV and table were hidden away at the side of the seats. As a result this reduced the seat width by around three inches. I struggled with the seats and so did my gf. We eventually got moved but lost our extra leg room. Turned out that the seats had actually bruised my gfs legs quite badly.
Anyway, once we got to Orlando it was fine. We got through passport control first (yay!) and picked up our bags pretty quickly. First in line for the hire car and got an upgrade to a convertible!
I loved driving in America, it is so much easier than here and I loved every second of it. We arrived at Coronado Springs at about 8pm Saturday 1st Sept. We had booked and requested a room close to reception, sadly we were exactly opposite to reception which meant that it was a 15min walk to reception for meals, drinks etc. We were disappointed with this.
The transport was generally on time and the foot was lovely, (loved the pepper market). Some of the staff were, English, which was a bit of a downer when we first checked in as I was expecting Spanish and/or Mexican. However, they were in the restaurant which was a nice touch.
The rooms were standard Disney rooms, clean, tidy and fresh, did not have any issues with the room itself other than position.
The swimming pool was massive and warm, and was again clean.
Coronado Springs is lovely however, it is very big and as a result I would not recommend it over a value resort like pop.
First day we did Animal Kingdom, it's not my favourite park but it seems tradition means we always do this on the first day. We collected our photopass plus and off we went. We got there for rope drop and was nice to see how they did it as we had never seen this before. Since 2006 not much at all has changed here really, my favourites are still Expedition Everest and it's tough to be a bug.
We did plan this holiday but after the Labour day weekend we found that the crowds were tiny and that pretty much everything was walk on, so we moved away from the plan a little. Most days we would get up early and do a park and then come back early afternoon for a swim and hit the parks again once it cooled down. This worked really well and actually feel like we had a holiday rather than running around cramming stuff in.
Labour day we went shopping and got some fantastic bargains or at least that's what my gf told me! lol Spent lots of money but it was fun.
I have now lost track of when I went where so the next few bits will just be from memory lol.
Disney Studios - I loved Toy Story mania, I was worried that I would hate it but it's soo fun and I won, the only downside was the wait was 1 hour, which I think was worth it. Mama Melrose was a nice meal and good value for money considering we were not on the dinning plan. Fantasmic, was my favourite show but after seeing it again this year, I would say that it needs replacing. It's had its time and it just feels dated. Tower of terror still remains my favourite ride ever. I still think MGM (sorry Disney studios) is still missing something but cannot put my finger on it.
Epcot - I ate in china, UK and Canada. The fish and chips were lovely; surprisingly however the 8dollar cost for a small cider was a bit of a shock lol. Le Cellier was out of this world. It's been a long time since I ate there but it was totally worth it. I could not fault any part of the meal. The cheese soup and the bread was beautiful and the fillet stake just melted in your mouth! Wonderful.
Captain EO brought back some memories from when I was a child, really enjoyed this. I also enjoyed the update to spaceship earth, so much so we rode it every time we visited Epcot.
Magic Kingdom - What can I say? It's just Disney isn't it? I just love that place and just being there. The space mountain queue was cool, although we walked straight through it. Fantasyland is coming along nicely too! The haunted mansion update was my biggest worry but again they have done a super job. Splash Mountain was my favourite and I got to ride in the dark for the first time! Such a geek! lol
We did Mickey's not so scary, and must say that this was one of the highlights of the trip. The atmosphere is totally different to normal magic kingdom. It's not scary at all but what they do to the place in that short space of time is soo clever. I would highly recommend this for people with or without kids. My only regret is not joining in with the dressing up. The parade was special and I loved the headless horseman. Hallowishes for me is almost better than Wishes, the only thing that lets it down is the music, so wishes still wins for me but only just.
We also did the keys to the kingdom tour! What an amazing half a day. I was so sad when it ended. I was worried that seeing the offstage area of Disney would spoil the magic but it really has enhanced it. Our guide was super and could not have asked for anything more. For any Disney nerd like me it really is a must do, and I will be doing it again on my next trip.
A little mention of universal if I may. How do these guys still make money? Universal studios has not changed one bit since my last trip or even the trip before. Simpsons was a disappointment and just a rehash of Back to the future. Rip ride rocket was broken and the mummy (although a good ride) was showing signs of getting old.
What about Islands of adventure? Well it seems they have put all there money into harry potter as IOA is the same as universal, in need of some TLC. In regards to harry potter, what a huge disappointment that was! I am not a big potter fan, but in the weeks running up to our visit, we made the effort to watch the films and get ourselves familiar with the story.
Well, the land itself was shoddy. Maybe I am spoiled by Disney, but Hogwarts looked great apart from the fact that it was clearly stuck onto a side of a building. The show building wasn't even painted to hide it, it was a blue colour. It seems everything was done in a rush. Such a shame! Disney would have done a hell of a job
with that.
However! The new ride was amazing. So far ahead of Disney in terms of technology. It rivals Spiderman for being the next level when it came out. I loved this ride, I really did, I just wish they'd took the time to do the same to the area outside.
I hope I haven't rambled too much but I wanted to get it all down before I forgot. I am sure there are things too add.
What I will say is that I had an amazing time and cannot wait to get out there again.
