Disney World May 2009
We have planned this trip to Disney for a long time and 2009 turned out to be a great year to finally do it. We got an incredible deal because of the recession and already had tons of rewards points to use. Before you leave for Disney, the whole trip is really planned. We did the Magical Express which means you check your luggage at the airport and it is in your room a few hours after arrival. We made dinner reservations for every night well in advance and it was all part of the package deal meal plan. We opted to stay at Port Orleans Riverside, one of the moderately priced resort and it was a great pick. It had a wonderful style, a man-made river and boat transportation to downtown Disney. Our room was comfortable and done in the style of 1800's Louisiana. But the best part, our resort had 5 quiet swimming pools and two days, we spent some relaxing time there. The temperatures ranged between low 80's in the morning to low 90's by mid-afternoon.
We arrived on Friday and our first dinner was at our own resort, the Boatwright. Our meal plan included 1 snack, 1 quick-service and 1 table service meal per day, per person. So this was a very nice sit down meal. We had tenderloin medallions and asparagus. All meals included dessert (unfortunately for my waist) so I had the classic southern style pecan pie. Carol had a banana angel food cake. She picked the better wine, a Chateau Ste. Michelle Sryah and I had a Bonterra cabernet. The wine was not included in the package but hey, we were on vacation. Dinner was at 5 PM and the night was young, so we were off to our first park, Epcot, to see the 10 PM fireworks laser show that they call IllumiNations.
Saturday was our first full day and we decided to spend it at Epcot. Dinner was late that night, 9 PM at the California Grill. The California Grill is one of the Disney signature restaurants, located on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort. It overlooks the Magic Kingdom.
Sunday, we spent all day at the Animal Kingdom Park. Some of the highlights included the water ride and the rollercoaster. Dinner was at Boma, located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were able to walk out to the wildlife viewing spot and were impressed with the lodge in general. Dinner was a buffet at Boma and it was full of South African inspired dishes. We chose a Graham Game Reserve South African wine to go with dinner.
Monday, we had dinner in the Japanese area of Epcot, Teppan Edo. It was the grill experience where they cook right in front of you. We had really nice table mates and it was a most enjoyable experience. The green tea was awesome as well as the sake sampler. For dessert, I had green tea pudding that was very good.
Tuesday, it was a dinner in France at the Chefs de France. I had classic French onion soup while Carol had the lobster bisque. I had grilled salmon and she had the beef and noodles. We both finished the meal with crème Brule.
Wednesday, we took a morning rest and stayed at the pool for a few hours. We also rented a two seater surrey and tooled around the hotel grounds. We had early dinner reservations so we took a boat from the Magic Kingdom over to the Polynesian Resort. Like the Contemporary, this was one of the originals. While waiting, we had drinks in the Tambu Lounge, an anti-oxidant cocktail and a Island sunset. Dinner was a great Hawaiian experience that was similar to the Brazilian meat fest we have enjoyed in the past. They bring skewers of meat around and you take what you want, beef, pork, and chicken. They also served unlimited salad and pot stickers. We returned to the Magic Kingdom and watched the 9 PM fireworks in front of the castle.
Thursday, we enjoyed a Mexican experience at San Angel in Epcot. Stepping inside, you are transported to another world with a huge volcano, low level blue lighting and music. There is a pueblo feel to the shops at the entrance to the restaurant. We had the Filete Motuleno and Huchinago. Dessert was a mixed fruit pastry that was very nice and light.
Friday, we had reservations but decided to cancel and eat off our remaining quick service meals. The meal plan was an awesome way to go with 1 quick service per day and 1 table service sit-down dinner. We finished our trip off with a day at the pool and split a pizza for a late lunch. Since our resort was called Port Orleans Riverside, they kept the theme throughout and served Abita beer, something I first discovered in New Orleans. We took the boat then and spent our second evening at downtown Disney and enjoyed more music at the House of Blues. The boat is like a miniature riverboat and it is about a 25 minute very scenic cruise. Coming back in at night, the view of both Port Orleans resorts truly takes you to southern Louisiana.
Some of the highlights of the Magic Kingdom included a pineapple float from Dole. Their pineapple ice cream is only served three places in the world, Disney World and Disney Land as well as at the Dole plant in Hawaii. In the Magic Kingdom, we really did enjoy the classic ride, "It’s a Small World" as well as Peter Pan. The Swiss Family Robinson tree house was cute and we really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean. The best rides in this park included the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. Mickey’s PhilharMagic was a 3D movie that was a must see and the railroad was a way to get from point A to point B. We even rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
We spent more time at Epcot than any other park. We rode Test Track twice and it was awesome, the fatest ride in the park. We visited all the countries, watched some great 3D movies, tasted wines, and took a fun little boat trip in Norway. Some of the other great rides at Epcot included Mission: Space and Soarin which virtually takes you over the state of California. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was a great 3D movie.
Animal Kingdom has a number of great nature exhibits such as the Oasis and Discovery Island. “It’s Tough to be a Bug” is another great 3D movie. The awesome rides included Expedition Everest, a rollercoaster that goes backwards at one point and the Kali River Rapids. There is also a very cool safari ride, “Kilimanjaro Safari, an open air ride through an African style savannah.
Hollywood Studios has the Great Movie Ride and an Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We enjoyed the interactive 4D ride, Toy Story Mania and two of the best rides in all of Disney, the Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Roll rollercoaster with Aerosmith.
Disney Web Sites-all you could ever want to know:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index
http://www.kingdommagictravel.com/disneyworld/dining/dining_adult.htm
http://disney.go.com/visa/benefits/
http://www.disboards.com/
http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://allears.net/index.html
http://www.wdwinsiders.com/
If we go back to Disney World, it would be fun to be there for "Gay Day".
We arrived on Friday and our first dinner was at our own resort, the Boatwright. Our meal plan included 1 snack, 1 quick-service and 1 table service meal per day, per person. So this was a very nice sit down meal. We had tenderloin medallions and asparagus. All meals included dessert (unfortunately for my waist) so I had the classic southern style pecan pie. Carol had a banana angel food cake. She picked the better wine, a Chateau Ste. Michelle Sryah and I had a Bonterra cabernet. The wine was not included in the package but hey, we were on vacation. Dinner was at 5 PM and the night was young, so we were off to our first park, Epcot, to see the 10 PM fireworks laser show that they call IllumiNations.
Saturday was our first full day and we decided to spend it at Epcot. Dinner was late that night, 9 PM at the California Grill. The California Grill is one of the Disney signature restaurants, located on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort. It overlooks the Magic Kingdom.
Sunday, we spent all day at the Animal Kingdom Park. Some of the highlights included the water ride and the rollercoaster. Dinner was at Boma, located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were able to walk out to the wildlife viewing spot and were impressed with the lodge in general. Dinner was a buffet at Boma and it was full of South African inspired dishes. We chose a Graham Game Reserve South African wine to go with dinner.
Monday, we had dinner in the Japanese area of Epcot, Teppan Edo. It was the grill experience where they cook right in front of you. We had really nice table mates and it was a most enjoyable experience. The green tea was awesome as well as the sake sampler. For dessert, I had green tea pudding that was very good.
Tuesday, it was a dinner in France at the Chefs de France. I had classic French onion soup while Carol had the lobster bisque. I had grilled salmon and she had the beef and noodles. We both finished the meal with crème Brule.
Wednesday, we took a morning rest and stayed at the pool for a few hours. We also rented a two seater surrey and tooled around the hotel grounds. We had early dinner reservations so we took a boat from the Magic Kingdom over to the Polynesian Resort. Like the Contemporary, this was one of the originals. While waiting, we had drinks in the Tambu Lounge, an anti-oxidant cocktail and a Island sunset. Dinner was a great Hawaiian experience that was similar to the Brazilian meat fest we have enjoyed in the past. They bring skewers of meat around and you take what you want, beef, pork, and chicken. They also served unlimited salad and pot stickers. We returned to the Magic Kingdom and watched the 9 PM fireworks in front of the castle.
Thursday, we enjoyed a Mexican experience at San Angel in Epcot. Stepping inside, you are transported to another world with a huge volcano, low level blue lighting and music. There is a pueblo feel to the shops at the entrance to the restaurant. We had the Filete Motuleno and Huchinago. Dessert was a mixed fruit pastry that was very nice and light.
Friday, we had reservations but decided to cancel and eat off our remaining quick service meals. The meal plan was an awesome way to go with 1 quick service per day and 1 table service sit-down dinner. We finished our trip off with a day at the pool and split a pizza for a late lunch. Since our resort was called Port Orleans Riverside, they kept the theme throughout and served Abita beer, something I first discovered in New Orleans. We took the boat then and spent our second evening at downtown Disney and enjoyed more music at the House of Blues. The boat is like a miniature riverboat and it is about a 25 minute very scenic cruise. Coming back in at night, the view of both Port Orleans resorts truly takes you to southern Louisiana.
Some of the highlights of the Magic Kingdom included a pineapple float from Dole. Their pineapple ice cream is only served three places in the world, Disney World and Disney Land as well as at the Dole plant in Hawaii. In the Magic Kingdom, we really did enjoy the classic ride, "It’s a Small World" as well as Peter Pan. The Swiss Family Robinson tree house was cute and we really liked the Pirates of the Caribbean. The best rides in this park included the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. Mickey’s PhilharMagic was a 3D movie that was a must see and the railroad was a way to get from point A to point B. We even rode the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
We spent more time at Epcot than any other park. We rode Test Track twice and it was awesome, the fatest ride in the park. We visited all the countries, watched some great 3D movies, tasted wines, and took a fun little boat trip in Norway. Some of the other great rides at Epcot included Mission: Space and Soarin which virtually takes you over the state of California. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was a great 3D movie.
Animal Kingdom has a number of great nature exhibits such as the Oasis and Discovery Island. “It’s Tough to be a Bug” is another great 3D movie. The awesome rides included Expedition Everest, a rollercoaster that goes backwards at one point and the Kali River Rapids. There is also a very cool safari ride, “Kilimanjaro Safari, an open air ride through an African style savannah.
Hollywood Studios has the Great Movie Ride and an Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. We enjoyed the interactive 4D ride, Toy Story Mania and two of the best rides in all of Disney, the Tower of Terror and the Rock ‘n’ Roll rollercoaster with Aerosmith.
Disney Web Sites-all you could ever want to know:
http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/index
http://www.kingdommagictravel.com/disneyworld/dining/dining_adult.htm
http://disney.go.com/visa/benefits/
http://www.disboards.com/
http://www.mousesavers.com/
http://allears.net/index.html
http://www.wdwinsiders.com/
If we go back to Disney World, it would be fun to be there for "Gay Day".
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