Jeff & Joe's April 2015 Trip Report

Login to post comments
6 posts / 0 new
Offline
Joined: 09/12/2010
Posts: 4704
Jeff & Joe's April 2015 Trip Report

With the food post out of the way, time to report on everything else! clapping

To recap, our trip was from Saturday, April 25 - Saturday, May 2. We stayed at our favorite, the POFQ.

Weather
It sure seemed hotter than usual for the first half of our trip. We've been to WDW several times during this same week, and I remember it always being in the upper 70's (F) to low 80's (F) and not very humid at all.

This trip, it was teetering around 90 (F) until mid-week, then it rained and cooled off for the rest of the week.

Arrival

We flew from San Francisco to Orlando (looong flight) and got in around 6:00 pm local time - a good 20 minutes early! YAY!

We picked up a rental car at the airport, stopped at Target for some supplies, and were at the resort by 7:30 pm. We opted to do the on-line check in, and when we landed we had received a text message that our room was ready, and the room number. That was cool, and since it was late and a long day we didn't really miss the check-in process.

We did have to stop at the front desk later that evening to pick up our parking permit for the week.

POFQ
We love love love POFQ. We didn't bother with any upgrades this time and just booked a standard room. We were in Building 3, Room 3229. The view from our door....

To the left is the pool area.


To the right, Building 1 and straight ahead the Sassagoula River.

It was a very quiet location and overall, we were really pleased.

Our room was just as nice - 2 double beds

Clean and nice. The bathroom (shower and commode area) was a little tight, but not a big deal. Only semi-complaint was that we had spotty hot water in the mornings. We like hot showers, and some days it was warm, and some days it was hot. And if that's my biggest complaint, then I think we did pretty good Smile

We were hungry, and decided ti was a lovely evening to hit up DTD. Since we were worried about the traffic to DTD at 8:00 on a Saturday night, we decided to take the boat ride from the POFQ dock.

There was a bit of a line, and we were concerned about how long it would take, but within a few minutes, one boat docked, and took about half the line and told us the next boat would be there in about 10 minutes. And it was! We only waited about 15 minutes before we were on our way.

The trip was really romantic - stars, cool breeze, low lights.....super nice way to start our vacation Smile It took about 15 minutes to get to DTD, and as we got closer, all the lights sparked that magic that reminded us why we were back!

It was pretty busy, for sure. We decided to eat dinner at EoS - we got 1 Ham & Cheese and 1 Original (Roast Beef) and split so we each had one of each. So good! The roast beef was melt in your mouth tender. What I like about EoS is that even with a fairly long line, they have a really efficient process that gets you ordered and served pretty quickly.

After eating, we took a leisurely stroll to the West end (it was loud! Lots of music and activities going on throughout DTD), then headed back to the boat docks and called it a night. Bed by 10:30 so we could be rested for HS the next day!

Belinda's picture
Offline
Joined: 08/09/2012
Posts: 771

Oh Jeff, your pics and report are making me sooooo excited for next week! We will be at Riverside this time and I just LOVE the boat to DTD. Romantic and relaxing, just like you said. AHHHH!

__________________

** BeLiNdA **

Offline
Joined: 09/12/2010
Posts: 4704

Hollywood Studios Report

Our first full day on Sunday was at Hollywood Studios. The park opened at 9:00 am, so we left POFQ around 8:15 via our rental car, and were in line by about 8:25! We were lucky and got a really close parking spot.

A family with 2 teen kids was behind us, and the one kid kept telling his parents that the park opened at 8:30. At 8:35, he was getting annoyed that Disney was late opening. By 8:40 he was really getting mad at Disney and telling his family he couldn't believe how stupid Disney was for not being able to open on time. Finally at 8:45 he asked us what time the park opened, and we told him "9:00". That shut him up and his family looked at him as if to say "Seriously?? Way to go...."

We had another family with stroller that decided to try and play the split-line game. One parent got in one line with the stroller, and the other got in another line. As the lines started moving, they tried to strategize on which one to hop fully into. I don't think they really benefited from their plan at all.

We had a 10:15 FP+ for TSM, and then afternoon and evening FP+s for Star Tours and ToT. So once inside, we headed over to Rock n Roller Coaster and made it official - we're at Disney!

Next stop - Tower of Terror!

Which was shut down. Seriously?? Technical difficulties and no ETA. Since we had a FP+ for alter, we decided to skip it for now and head over to The Muppets.

There were a few changes to the intro video from the last time we were there, that were cute. And I wonder if foretelling of the future!

From there, we went over to TSM for our FP+, and at 10:15 the stand-by wait was 60 minutes.

We were seated in our car within 5 minutes, and had a blast!

We decided to hit up Star Tours next, where Joe was called out as the Rebel Spy! I knew it!!

After Star Tours, we went over to Indiana Jones, which we haven't gone to in a few visits. We really enjoyed the show, and the "plant" audience member was hysterical.

Here we deiced it was cupcake time, so we headed back over to Starring Rolls, and ran into the Citizen of Hollywood making their grand appearance:

By then it was time for lunch - our ADR at Sci Fi Dine In! YAY!

Super good.

The crowds were not bad at all - maybe moderate at worst.

We took an early afternoon break and went back to the hotel for a short break, and then came back in time for our FP+ for ToT:

After meeting up with Mandy at the Trolley Car Cafe, we ducked into the Writer's Stop and spotted some fun finds:

We walked around the park, hit up some shops, and then decided to take in the 9:00 Fantasmic show:

The last time we were here for Fantasmic, the big boat was out for refurbishment. So we were realyl excited to see the new look for that and the other boats!

I think the dragon was new or different as well - I seem to recall it being more snake-like in the past, and this was was alot more evil!

All in all, a great show, and a great day! It rained once for about 5 minutes right before our lunch, so we bought WDW ponchos for the first time. Though we ended up not using them this day, they came in mighty handy on Tuesday!

figgy's picture
Offline
Joined: 11/15/2013
Posts: 819

WOW DHS looks awesome! THNX for the Muppets info. Future of the ride or new tv show? Now you have me wondering! So happy you had a good meal at Sci-Fi as our last was not so good! It seems the place has improved! Wonderful TR!

__________________

August 2016 here we come!

jtownpluto's picture
Offline
Joined: 12/29/2013
Posts: 337

Thanks for the HS pics. ToT is my favorite Disney ride. And your Fastasmic pics are great.

Offline
Joined: 09/12/2010
Posts: 4704

Oh, and I forgot that we also hit up the Great Movie Ride (2 stars - our CM navigator was kinda boring), and we switched out our Star Tours afternoon FP+ for a FP+ to Lights, Motors, Action!

The FP+ was a great move, as we got into the stadium and were seated before they even opened the stand-by gate. This is a pic I took from our seats, just ask they opened the stand-by gate and the masses started coming:

At the start of the show, we had a special visitor!

They did a little stunt show with him too, which was cool:

We hadn't done this attraction in a few trips, and were glad we did this time. It was a good show and we were thoroughly entertained!