Disney Trip Review

I am home alone today....a rarity to say the least. Unfortunately I was not feeling well today causing Matt and the kids to accompany my parents to a family gathering a few hours from here. I am feeling better and actually have enjoyed some resting time today. I have been wanting to document our Disney trip and share some of the things we liked and disliked in case anyone is planning a trip, so thought I would use the quiet time.

Disney Trip of 2006....

We left out at 3 am because we were so excited. The drive was long and pretty boring. Our first Florida stop was Cocoa Beach. Ron Jon Surf Shop was a fun stop. I was impressed with the Best Western on the beach. We walked from our rooms to the beach. The kids loved their first glance at the beach. I wish I would have had the video camera running because Braden's expression when he saw the ocean for the first time.

The first day at Disney we went to Downtown Disney this does not require park admission. The shops were really fun and the kids enjoyed seeing the large statutes made of Legos they also had a Lego play area. If you go don't miss the large Stitch above the World of Disney shop. Stitch "spits water" every once in awhile and the kids love to get wet.

We had purchased the Dining package with our disney trip and I must say it definetly paid for itself and would be something I would strongly recommend. I must say at times though we were dissapointed with the food at Disney.

Another great perk from staying at the Disney Resort was the extra magic hour it helped SO much at getting through the parks. The longest we waited for any ride, etc was 25 minutes.

Some of the resteraunts were a disappointment. We ate at Capn Jacks Resteraunt in Downtown Disney. The food was very expensive (luckily we had the dining plan and it was included in our package, but had we paid for it I would not have been happy). It was good but not exceptional. We did all enjoy the view of the lake from our table. We had breakfast with Donald and his friends. The food at the buffett was very good (we realized throughout the trip that buffets seemed to have better food than some of the more sit down resteraunts). I have to say the Sci Fi drive in was the biggest dissapointment in all the places we ate. The atmosphere was neat but that was the end of it, the food was simply put awful. I think our favorite two resteraunts were buffets one being Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and the other Chef Mickey's with Mickey and friends.

First theme park we hit was Animal Kingdom. My absolute favorite at that park was the 3D show "It's Tough to Be a Bug". The theme park was small compared to the other ones. We did like that the park had a lot of shade. Lion King show was also a favorite especially when the kids were picked from the audience to participate in the end of the show. We did not stay for the Jungle Parade as we had finished the park and wanted to head to another park. The safari was neat but really it wasnt my favorite.

MGM was a favorite of Braden's because of the Power Rangers. The motor car parade was fun and entertaining. I actually liked it better than the Believe parade that was at Magic Kingdom.

Magic Kingdom the parking situation takes time. First you park, then you get the tram to the monorail, then get on the monorail and go the actual park. My favorites of Magic Kingdom were Buzz Lightyear (Brittney and Braden loved it), Haunted Mansion (Matt liked it), Splash Mountain (my fav), and I think a fav of all four of us was another 3D show Mickey's PhilharMagic.

Epcot the around the world was definetly our fav. We found pokemon that the kids had never seen before in Japan. Definetly the Kidcot stations were a hit. The kids wanted to keep walking to each new world, they loved making the masks and getting their passports stamped. We bought the passports, but the masks were completely free to make.

I know there is SO much more to write about but at the moment this is it. All in all it was a wonderful trip and I highly recommend if you go to go to a Disney Resort and use the Dining package and Fun passes that come with the Your Way Plus package.
We booked ours through a special travel agency and they found the discounts for us free of charge I was pleased with them as well.

Next on the agenda hopefully down the road a Disney Cruise but it will be awhile.