We have been fortunate enough to have been able to stay at several Walt Disney World Resort properties over the years during our trips there. Here is a quick summary of the places we have stayed and my thoughts about them at the time. I can say with certainty that I would definitely return to ANY of these resorts for future trips. There's just nothing quite like staying on Disney property and having the convenience of Disney transportation is a huge bonus...especially when you have a large group together.
1997 - All-Star Music - We had a King-sized bed for our stay at this resort. Since the trip was in February, we didn't spend any time at the pool there. The food court was convenient though.
1999 - Dixie Landings - This trip included Frank and myself as well as his parents and his sister and her fiancee at the time. We just loved the theming of this resort and the fact that you could take a boat ride to Downtown Disney. Lots of time at the food court....don't remember much pool time though we may have visited there one evening.
2001 & 2006 - Contemporary Resort - This was Nicolas' first trip to Walt Disney World so being close to the Magic Kingdom was important. We couldn't afford a Tower Room but the Garden Wing Room was just perfect. It was unfortunate that during this trip we ended up being in the Magic Kingdom on one of the very few days that it's ever closed - September 11, 2001. We were also travelling with the in-laws but ended up getting them a room at the Wildnerness Lodge due to lack of rooms at our resort by the time we booked, so we had the chance to visit their room there as well. Both resorts were just lovely. We loved watching the geiser at the Wilderness Lodge from their balcony. You really can't beat the convenience of walking to the Magic Kingdom. Is it any surprise we have stayed here twice?
2003 - Polynesian Resort - By far this is the one Frank talks about more than any of them simply because we were able to get a great deal on this room and upgraded to a Lagoon View which also boasted a view of the Magic Kingdom Castle. My favorite video from this trip is when Nicolas and I are sitting in the darkness of our room around 6am and watching the castle turn different colors. We loved being able to ride the monorail to get to the two big parks too.
2004 - Boardwalk Villa - This was when we discovered the joy of the Disney Vacation Club rooms...during our stay in this 2-bedroom villa. It was great to have so much space and our own kitchen...especially with two small kids (and one on the way...I was several months pregnant for this trip with number three). The pool here was great too and we even rented a surrey bike and biked around the loop from Boardwalk to the Yacht and Beach Club. It was really nice to take the back entrance and walk to Epcot as well...especially with a double-stroller!
2006 - Animal Kingdom Resort - This was a trip just for Frank and myself to celebrate our anniversary and enjoy the Food and Wine Festival. We had a great time and ended up taking a tour of the Disney Vacation Club...we would be members by the end of the year.
2007 - Old Key West and Saratoga Springs - This was when we took advantage of our new membership in the Disney Vacation Club. We had a spacious 2-bedroom villa at Old Key West which was lovely. A few days later we moved over to a 3-bedroom Grand Villa at Saratoga Springs which was fantastic. It was nice to be able to walk to Downtown Disney.
2008 - Pop Century - The Pop Century stay was a short one with just myself, Frank and Nicolas. Frank didn't like the fact that he could open the door to our bedroom...while still laying in bed! Nicolas loved both of the pools and the food court is always great...tie-dyed cheesecake is a MUST to try!
(to be continued...I know I'm missing quite a few especially the adult-only trips and the recent trips!)
Showing posts with label All-Star Resorts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All-Star Resorts. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Thursday, September 20, 2007
57 Days to Go - My First Disney trip as an adult review
I had really hoped to be able to enter something here daily, but this week has been crazy and I haven't met my goal. I promise to try harder.
I wanted to talk a little more about the very first trip I took to Walt Disney World as an adult, only because it also happened to be my husband's first trip EVER to Walt Disney World.
We happened to plan our trip for February of 1997 which fell during one of Disney's birthday celebrations. The castle was decorated like a huge birthday cake. I'll have to post a picture of that sometime soon.
We decided to stay at the All Star Music resort for our trip. Our room was spacious enough for the two of us, with I think a king sized bed. We ended up in a handicap room, so the bathroom was like walking into on big shower stall, but it was fine with us.
I wish I could remember the details of our trip in particular, but I'll try to touch on some of the highlights.
We were able to attend two of Disney's dinner shows during this trip. We chose the Polynesian Luau and the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue.
The Luau was really cool and I can remember all of the food there being wonderful. The show was very entertaining for adults, especially one of the guys who was twirling fire.
The Hoop-De-Doo show was even better. We were seated at a table near the front and center. Frank was chosen by one of the cast members to participate in the show, which made it even more entertaining, especially for me. It was so cute to watch him on stage being part of the whole show. The food was wonderful again there. I have to say, that we have never been back to attend either one of these shows since that time, but I think we'll make it a point to go in a few years when the kids are a little older and may enjoy it more.
One of our meal choices was to eat at the Prime Time Diner at MGM Studios. That was an interesting experience, especially since I am definitely a picky eater. I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into by choosing this place. I can remember not quite being able to finish my meal and the water picked up a spoon and started doing the airplane with it to feed me. I wasn't sure he was going to let me order dessert after I didn't eat my meal, but he did and I got the s'mores which were fantastic.
We also decided to even brave some of the water parks during February, which wasn't exactly the best idea at the time. I know it wasn't terribly hot that week. We started out at Blizzard Beach but found the water there lived up to the name of the park...it was COLD like a blizzard. We would later decided to brave Typhoon Lagoon and we absolutely LOVED this waterpark. The wave pool there was fantastic and I think we could have spent all day there enjoying that. We even bought a disposable waterproof camera so we could take all kinds of photos. Frank even went off to do the snorkel with the fish that they had there and although it wasn't quite as exciting as scuba diving he still enjoyed it.
There were other opportunites during our short trip to become part of the Disney experience. We attended a show at MGM Studios where they showed the art of studio television. They incorprated a scene from Cheers and asked for volunteers. Frank was chosen to go up on stage and I got to watch as he basically sat at the Cheers bar on the screen and became part of the show.
We went on the Jungle Cruise one day and I was chosen to drive the boat. The driver gave me his hat to wear and I became a part of the ride. It was fun.
I know I came away from my first trip to Walt Disney World as an adult with a renewed sense of the need to return more often. I hadn't been to Walt Disney World since about 1985 and it was a whole new experience for me, especially now that MGM Studios was there, a park which I had never been able to visit before. Plus it was only my second visit to EPCOT and I found I really enjoyed that park as well, despite it's massive size. There's no way I would miss going there and especially seeing Illuminations, which I love every singe time I see it.
Frank came away from the trip with a real sense of just how different the World was from the Land of Disney. We couldn't wait to return and we've managed to go back there at least every two years ever since that first trip.
I wanted to talk a little more about the very first trip I took to Walt Disney World as an adult, only because it also happened to be my husband's first trip EVER to Walt Disney World.
We happened to plan our trip for February of 1997 which fell during one of Disney's birthday celebrations. The castle was decorated like a huge birthday cake. I'll have to post a picture of that sometime soon.
We decided to stay at the All Star Music resort for our trip. Our room was spacious enough for the two of us, with I think a king sized bed. We ended up in a handicap room, so the bathroom was like walking into on big shower stall, but it was fine with us.
I wish I could remember the details of our trip in particular, but I'll try to touch on some of the highlights.
We were able to attend two of Disney's dinner shows during this trip. We chose the Polynesian Luau and the Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue.
The Luau was really cool and I can remember all of the food there being wonderful. The show was very entertaining for adults, especially one of the guys who was twirling fire.
The Hoop-De-Doo show was even better. We were seated at a table near the front and center. Frank was chosen by one of the cast members to participate in the show, which made it even more entertaining, especially for me. It was so cute to watch him on stage being part of the whole show. The food was wonderful again there. I have to say, that we have never been back to attend either one of these shows since that time, but I think we'll make it a point to go in a few years when the kids are a little older and may enjoy it more.
One of our meal choices was to eat at the Prime Time Diner at MGM Studios. That was an interesting experience, especially since I am definitely a picky eater. I don't think I knew what I was getting myself into by choosing this place. I can remember not quite being able to finish my meal and the water picked up a spoon and started doing the airplane with it to feed me. I wasn't sure he was going to let me order dessert after I didn't eat my meal, but he did and I got the s'mores which were fantastic.
We also decided to even brave some of the water parks during February, which wasn't exactly the best idea at the time. I know it wasn't terribly hot that week. We started out at Blizzard Beach but found the water there lived up to the name of the park...it was COLD like a blizzard. We would later decided to brave Typhoon Lagoon and we absolutely LOVED this waterpark. The wave pool there was fantastic and I think we could have spent all day there enjoying that. We even bought a disposable waterproof camera so we could take all kinds of photos. Frank even went off to do the snorkel with the fish that they had there and although it wasn't quite as exciting as scuba diving he still enjoyed it.
There were other opportunites during our short trip to become part of the Disney experience. We attended a show at MGM Studios where they showed the art of studio television. They incorprated a scene from Cheers and asked for volunteers. Frank was chosen to go up on stage and I got to watch as he basically sat at the Cheers bar on the screen and became part of the show.
We went on the Jungle Cruise one day and I was chosen to drive the boat. The driver gave me his hat to wear and I became a part of the ride. It was fun.
I know I came away from my first trip to Walt Disney World as an adult with a renewed sense of the need to return more often. I hadn't been to Walt Disney World since about 1985 and it was a whole new experience for me, especially now that MGM Studios was there, a park which I had never been able to visit before. Plus it was only my second visit to EPCOT and I found I really enjoyed that park as well, despite it's massive size. There's no way I would miss going there and especially seeing Illuminations, which I love every singe time I see it.
Frank came away from the trip with a real sense of just how different the World was from the Land of Disney. We couldn't wait to return and we've managed to go back there at least every two years ever since that first trip.
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