[jk8]

Hello all. We just got back yesterday and I'm not ready to give up on my Disney mood so I thought I would post this report to relive it all. Also I don't want to work on all the laundry right now, LOL.

First I'll say I got many good ideas from this site and another along with a few guide books. It was so helpful!

Our trip was July 7 - 14. We stayed at the POP Century. I really really liked it there. In my dreams where money did not matter I wanted to stay at the AKL. We had dinner there and I got to see the place. AKL was not "us" at all so I'm glad we did not stay there. POP was such a fun and happy place to be. My kids 4 and 16 both loved it. They played great music. We had a priority room which was great for the walk to eat and buses but bad for noise.

Having not been to Disney before I cannot say much about the crowd comparison. I had heard to much about how the summer would be aweful. There were alot of people there but we did everything we wanted to do and never got in a line longer than 30 minutes. It was rare it ever took that long. I can't say enough about Fast Pass. As we were breezing through the line to Splash Mountain I kept thinking. Why would all these people wait so long in the stand by line?

We spend our first 2 days at the MK. We got there early the first day as it was early entry. We did Buzz Lightyear 2 times in a row, Pooh 2 times. Mickeys Philharmagic and then Peter Pan 2 times. Then Haunted Mansion. The riverboat. I think lunch then tom sawyer then Thunder Mnt railroad, I'm not sure after that since we were there the next day the two days start to run together. We liked the blue line train and the carousel of progress (took a short nap ). Splash mountain the next day. Pirates, Tiki Room, Jungle Cruise. Oh, and breakfast at Crystal Palace with Pooh was wonderful. Very relaxing and great food (this as opposed to the dinner we had later in the week at Chef Mickeys which I thought was poor food and loud- yuck).

Up until the day before we left we were going to rent a stroller for my almost 5yr old son. I read some posts about carrying your child to the buses etc if you don't have your own stroller. Ugh. So, I bought a cheap $10 umbrella stroller which he was really to big for but it was GREAT!!!!!!!!!!! It was lightweight to go everywhere and the walk to the buses was long sometimes. He never would have made it. This was the best thing I did for the whole trip. It saved us a bundle on the rental charges also. We attached a small cooler on the back to carry our rain gear and other stuff.

Getting ice water with meals as also a HUGE money saver. It was hot and we needed water over pop anyway.

We liked MGM, AK and Epcot but nothing beats the MK. We spent three days at MK. I loved the night parade and Wishes even more than Fastasmic. It was overall kind of hard to be at the other parks when they don't compare. Especially AK. That was kind of boring but we liked the Lion King show. Typhoon lagoon was nice but it is not better than any water park we have closer to home.

We had Dinner at Boma which we really really liked. Dinner at SciFi was fun.

I'm sure there is something I left out, but laundry calls. Oh, my fav attractions were Mickey's Philharmagic and Splash Mountain.

Thanks for all the great tips around here.
Julie

[MerlinMatt]

That's a great first entry and Welcome to DC!!

[gcbdad]

jk8:
Nice to meet you. Sounds like you had a great time. We have little ones so we prefer the MK as well.

[tinkerbell]

I agree with Matt ..your first post was a great way to start off at DC! I am so impressed that you managed the summer crowds so easy .. I am terrifed of the July crowds my self :)
and being a Pop Century fan I am thrilled you liked it too, but we have stayed at AKL and its also one of our favorites so I am wondering what was it that you didnt like?

AKL was not "us" at all

[jk8]

Hi Tinkerbell,

I felt AKL was a bit dark in the decor and also formal feeling. We tend to stay at "value" type motels/hotels all of the time so it was just a bit too fancy. What can I say I just love those vibrant colors of POP vs the browns of AKL. But, that Boma - yummy. Also I forgot to mention my son hung out at Simba's Playhouse while we ate and hung out at the gift shop. It had been a long day. We went from Typhoon Lagoon to AK and he was not really keen on AK. He was so worn out he slept through the Lion King show - elephant trumpets and all. He was soooo happy to get to do something just for him. It did not hurt that we got a peaceful dinner. The staff at Simbas was very nice. I thought it would be a bigger deal though that just a room that looks like a school room. I guess I had heard Neverland was awesome so I figured there would be more of a cartoon theme than just a room. My son did not seem to mind. : ) He kept asking when he could go back there.

Julie

[tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by jk8

Hi Tinkerbell,

I felt AKL was a bit dark in the decor and also formal feeling. We tend to stay at "value" type motels/hotels all of the time so it was just a bit too fancy. What can I say I just love those vibrant colors of POP vs the browns of AKL. But, that Boma - yummy. Also I forgot to mention my son hung out at Simba's Playhouse while we ate and hung out at the gift shop. It had been a long day. We went from Typhoon Lagoon to AK and he was not really keen on AK. He was so worn out he slept through the Lion King show - elephant trumpets and all. He was soooo happy to get to do something just for him. It did not hurt that we got a peaceful dinner. The staff at Simbas was very nice. I thought it would be a bigger deal though that just a room that looks like a school room. I guess I had heard Neverland was awesome so I figured there would be more of a cartoon theme than just a room. My son did not seem to mind. : ) He kept asking when he could go back there.

Julie

:) I feel that way about the Grand Floridian ..that its just too posh for my taste. AKL is dark .. but I can really understand your preference to Pop Century ..its fantastic!! I can not praise the service there enough too and having stayed at AKL and Poly .. I believe the service at Pop is just as good as both of those. as for the clubs ..our granddaughters perfered the Neverland club over all of them at the resorts. And I agree about Boma's food ..it is wonderful!!

[mickaholic4077]

Welcome to DC,Julie. I too like Boma's!! Did you go on a Wednesday or Saturday,when they have ribs on the menu?? I will only go to Boma's on a Wed or Sat for that reason.

[BDavis932]

Welcome to DC! We are glad to have you here. Do you a next trip planned?

I thought the AKL was nice when we visited to take a peek last March, but I would never want to stay there either. I'm a Wilderness Lodge kind of gal!! You should go to Whispering Canyon next time and check out the Wilderness Lodge. It is wonderful!

I'm so glad you enjoyed Pop, we enjoy the values, too. (especially All Stars Movies). All the perks, less cost!

[jk8]

We did not have the ribs. We were there on a Sunday. Bummer I love ribs! I loved the pork and the salmon.

We don't have a next trip planned. This was our first real family vacation - we have been more of the long weekend types. There are so many places I want to travel to I just don't know when we will do it again. I am thinking *GASP* 4 years? That sounds awful but possibly true. I will just have to live vicariously through you all. :)

[mickaholic4077]

I just can't comprehend not going to Disney for 4 years!!!! The longest I have been away is 2 years and it was torture!!!

[lisalovesmickey]

We don't have a next trip planned. This was our first real family vacation - we have been more of the long weekend types. There are so many places I want to travel to I just don't know when we will do it again. I am thinking *GASP* 4 years? That sounds awful but possibly true. I will just have to live vicariously through you all. :)

Welcome! Thanks for the TR!

I too am living vicariously through this web site. I am pregnant right now with our first and we are not planning to go back till Ty (the baby) is 5 years old!

I am still working on DH but for now DC has to do.

Lisa