It’s Not Really a Small World After All

I’ve been so busy/sick in the last month that I am behind on my trip reporting.

In mid-October, I visited Disney World with my extended family. It was the first time I’d been there with kids since I was a kid, and that perspective made it all the more fun.

We went during Disney’s free dining promotion, so all we had to pay for meals were tips at table service dining spots. We were also there for the International Food and Wine Festival. Let’s just say that a lot of eating took place.

Instead of giving a daily blow-by-blow (since the details are all pretty fuzzy by now), I’ll break the trip down into several categories:

Resort: Part of the charm of a Disney vacation is staying on site. Sure, you are essentially immersed in the Disney Way for your entire stay, but being just a bus ride away from a huge family fight is a big plus. And, the resorts are so thoughtfully themed, it is part of the magic.

We stayed at Coronado Springs, which I found to be very pretty. And very large. We were far, far away from the action, but we were pretty close to the main pool, which we enjoyed late one night. And, a quiet pool was right outside our door, which we enjoyed almost every afternoon. The rooms were not huge but had one excellent feature: doors that close off the sink and dressing area from the rest of the room. I actually thought of sleeping in there when the snoring in my room got particularly bad one night, but I was too tired to move.

Aside from being away from the action, another annoying thing about our location was that we were the third stop for the buses, which meant that they were pretty full by the time they got to us. I don’t think I ever got a seat on the way out of the resort. And, the hotel was sold out the first weekend we were there, so the buses were crushingly full. Luckily, we had a van, so we took to driving everywhere and were much happier!

A nice surprise was that all the rooms had free refrigerators. Since we were so far from the food areas, we didn’t buy any refillable mugs on this trip, so it was nice to have water, soda, and milk in our fridge.

Our room at Coronado Springs.

Crowds: Yes. I don’t know if free dining attracted everyone, if Columbus Day is a bigger holiday for most of the country than we anticipated, or if the economy is not in the trouble we all think it is, but there were plenty of people at Disney World all week. It wasn’t unbearable, but Fast Passes were necessary, and we didn’t get in a ton of multiple rides on anything.

Weather: Holy moley, it was hot. Yes, yes, Florida is hot. But it was scorching, even by Florida standards. Many days, the thermometer in the van read 98 or higher (that’s Farenheit). I have never produced so much sweat in my life. The air was thick. The humidity was thick. My hair was thick. I was disappointed not to get drenched on Splash Mountain.  But, the pool felt fantastic every afternoon. And, one of the great things about Disney is that so many attractions are inside, surrounded by sweet, sweet air conditioning, so we survived. But, honestly, just barely! One evening, waiting for the monorail from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom, I KNOW I lost five pounds just standing there in the still air, sweat pouring from my forehead. Gross.

Restaurants/Dining Plan: I’m not a huge lover of the character meal, and this trip certainly reinforced those feelings.

-Crystal Palace: of all the character meals, this was the best. The salad selection was varied and beautiful, and I seem to remember an excellent beef dish. Also, we celebrated my birthday here, and I received a cute card signed by all the Pooh characters.

-Cinderella’s Castle: we ate breakfast in the castle the first morning of our vacation. The atmosphere was wonderful, I did love the way the princesses were introduced, and on the free dining plan, it was a value for us because the tip was included, as well as free photos and swords and wands for the kids. This was my first time to eat here, but the rest of the party said the food used to be much, much better, served family style with plenty of choices. Now, you are given three choices: waffles, omelette, or…something else that no one at our table ordered. It was pretty good, but apparently not all that it once was. It also ate up two dining credits.

-Whispering Canyon Cafe: I remember having a wonderful rib eye steak here (and celebrating my birthday again). Others raved about the pot roast. And, no characters! (Unless you count our waiter.) I always enjoy the shenanigans here and was not disappointed this time, except no one at my table needed ketchup.

-‘Ohana: hands down, best dinner we had all week. And, no characters! Everything about this meal was absolutely perfect. We all needed a little down time, we were seated in a quiet corner where the kids could still participate in the activities, but the adults could (and did) kick back with some frothy beverages and chillax. Good lord, we cleaned them out of the pork dumplings. And, mmm, those skewers of meat…[insert Homer Simpson drooling sounds here].  Also, we got to take a little cruise around the resorts on the monorail after dinner, the one and only activity my nephew was truly interested in.

-Garden Grill: I don’t know if the heat (or the family) was getting to me by this point, but this restaurant completely grossed me out. And, it was the one meal I was truly hungry for during the whole week (my niece and I had skipped lunch in favor of some pool/nap time that day). I think it was the way everything was plated,  all stacked up on one plate. Except the salad and rolls, the rest had a strange taste. And, we seemed to be smashed against a wall or something.  Did. Not. Enjoy.

-Chef Mickey’s: fun, but not fabulous. There was a stupendous sunset out the window while we ate, so who can complain? And, while visiting our table, Donald Duck implied that I was crazy. Good times.

-Pepper Market: we ate here several times, and I found the food good but the setup a pain and prefer a standard food court. I really saw no need for wait staff to fetch drinks (and get a tip) when you had to round up the rest of the food yourself.

-Other counter service: nothing special. Always crowded. We had credits left over and used them for sandwiches from Cafe Rix for the ride home. Most tasteless ham and cheese sammies ever.

-Dining Plan: I will always take something free, and this plan was quite the deal. But, I would never pay for a dining plan because I really don’t want to eat that much. Ever. And, because everyone is on the plan (it’s FREE!), you do have to have ADRs to get in most places, so it sucks a lot of flexibility out of the day. Weirdly, even with this plan around all the time, food items are still inconsistently counted. I still don’t know if an allowable dessert at the Pepper Market includes churros with ice cream, but two out of three times it was OK. That third time…hmph. No ice cream. Whatev.

International Food and Wine Festival: Another perk of the dining plan is that you can use those pesky snack credits at the festival booths. And I did! I sampled a kefta wrap in Morocco, kielbasa in Poland, and empanadas in Argentina, all on Disney’s dime. It was a great way to use up credits and on something NOT sweet. I was actually sick of cake and pastries at the end of the week with all the desserts, so these savory offerings were just the treat I wanted.

I enjoyed roaming around the festival seminars one afternoon, and I met chef Todd English, so I also squeezed in a celebrity encounter.

Todd English and my hair.

Gotta love a guy who enjoys a glass of wine while signing books!

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party: Given a choice, I would not pay extra to go the Magic Kingdom when I had already paid a lot of regular money to visit it for a week. But , we all agreed to attend the party, mainly because some of the family wanted to wear costumes.

I don’t know. To me, the activities offered at the party should be part of the seasonal entertainment included with regular park admission. There was nothing that justified the $40 extra admission. We each got a small bag of sort of yuck candy. The fireworks were awfully cool. The parade was cute. I liked seeing the characters in their Halloween costumes. But, again, all things that could be part of visiting the Magic Kingdom during this time of year. Judging by how crowded it was, people are clearly willing to pay extra, so I guess they are on to something.

The night we went, we did finally find time to visit the Hall of Presidents, so, yay for that!

The scary part is that you paid $40!

But, the fireworks were awesome.

And the parade was cool.

Attractions: New to me on this trip were the Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor and Toy Story Mania. Both were classically Disney and the types of attractions that keep me coming back. My brother was “that guy” in the Monsters, Inc, show TWICE, and both times hammed it up appropriately. The area around Toy Story Mania was absolutely insane. I got one ride in standby (40 minute wait) while everyone else got pictures with the Toy Story gang. The line was pretty entertaining for that one wait, but I was so, so happy to have Fast Passes for subsequent rides.

We also tried the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure, which was a lot of fun. It was cool to really look at everything in the pavilion (our adventure was in Norway) and to manipulate the surroundings. While everyone else took a bathroom break, I freaked passersby out by activating the flag thingie by the bathrooms. Magical!

I saw the Indiana Jones stunt show for the first time since like 1991, and it still holds up really well. I also did the Animation tour for the first time since the early ’90s. I miss Robin Williams. But, I have to say that I’m proud of my character drawing, even if Pluto does sort of look like he’s having a seizure.

Am I a future Disney animator?

All of my old favorites were just as wonderful as I remember them: the Tower of Terror, Test Track, Soarin’, Expedition Everest, Rock’n’Rollercoaster, Splash Mountain, Pirates, and especially the Haunted Mansion did not disappoint.

It will probably be a while before I make it back to Disney World, but it was really special to get to spend this time with my family and enjoy the kids while they were young enough to appreciate all that Disney has to offer.