Planning when to go:
Unfortunately we were not really allowed the choice of when we could take the trip to see Mickey. The only week my husband, my children and I all had off was....dun, dun, dunnnn....Spring Break! Yep, the busiest time of the year, and it was! In the afternoons you could hardly move around without bumping into a bunch of people, tripping over a stroller or getting stopped behind someone who was not sure what and where they were heading to next. So choose your dates carefully. Check to see when "off season" is. Our next trip will most definitely be during the off season and when it's not so warm and humid during the day. Magic Your Way Package:
We chose the Magic Your Way package. This allows you to pick a resort hotel on property, tickets, ticket options (such as park hopper, water parks or no experation on tickets) and a meal plan. Since this was our first time we chose..........
Place: Pop Century (newest of the value resorts)
Ticket: 4 adult tickets for 5 days
Ticket options: park hopper and no water parks (didn't want to walk around wet all day, i mean who likes a good chaff anyway?)
Meal plan: Quick serve= two quick serve meals and two snacks a day
*Perk of our package: free refillable mug for all 4 of us, which we could fill up any time while we were at our hotel or at any of the other Disney hotels. This really helped cut the cost of buying drinks while at the hotel.
Total cost: (and remember this is during peak season, during spring break, for 4 adults for a 4 night, 5 day stay, tickets plus park hopper and quick service meal plan) $2,300
Where we stayed:
We chose to stay at the POP Century value Disney resort. We decided to stay here for a few reasons, 1. It is the newest out of the value resorts 2. Has it's own bus service, the other value resorts (all of the all star resorts) have to pick up all 3 resorts and then go to a location. When the time gets close, I believe it is within 10 days, you are allowed to register (or check-in) online. When you do this you are allowed two requests, we requested 1st floor and not pool side. The hotel tries it's best to meet these requests and our were! However, let me tell you this, when making your package, pay the extra $50 some odd dollars for a "preferred room", we did not and our room was way out in the boon docks! The preferred rooms are right on top of the dining area and store, they are also the closest to the bus stops! The rooms are all pretty standard, nothing real fancy. Two double beds, a t.v, a wall safe, and a table with two chairs and of course the bathroom. For our family the room was a little small, and the beds were even smaller! However, we made do for the week, I mean, we were at Disney. We did have some trouble with the air conditioning, but it seemed we were the only ones. There was a problem with the unit on the wall, we had to call and have it replaced twice, however, each time I called the front desk staff were very friendly and extremely accommodating, even offering to move us and send a runner with our new keys and to help us move! The POP store was pretty awesome and had all kinds of amazing things and cheaper than anything inside the parks. The Dining area was so neat-o, they had everything to eat you could imagine. There is a American, Italian, Greek, Chinese and even a Dessert stand. Everything that we ate there was great. All in all our stay at the POP Century was a good one. I will say this tho, if there ever is a next time, we will stay in a Deluxe resort during the off season, they are the only resorts that have bigger beds!
We went with the quick serve meal plan. It was the cheapest of the meal plans and considering we had never been and had no idea, we went with the less expensive. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with our meal plan. For $250, (this price is included in the $2300 total I quoted earlier) you get a entree, dessert and drink twice a day (also included are two snacks a day) and we were able to eat at any place that offered a quick serve meal and not pay a dime extra. Everything at the Hotel was considered quick serve, and throughout the parks there are different quick serve meal restaurants, and even some of the nicer restaurants will have quick serve options. Basically "quick serve" is the Disney definition for fast food, aka not a sit down and be served dinner. Being as how we had never been to Disney and never eaten a quick serve meal, I was a little concerned about the portion size. I mean I wasn't planning on pigging out, but I didn't want to walk away from the table hungry either. Well our portions were incredible and if you shop around you can find some amazing q.s meals, desserts and snacks (which are all included in the q.s meal plan). The amount of money we saved is phenomenal, especially when the average price of every q.s meal is around $15 and snacks can run anywhere up to $4. If we would not have had the meal plan, we would have spent= for 4 adults, with 2 meals a day + 2 snacks a day per person would have been=$608. So we saved about $358 dollars! My advice, go with the quick serve, or another meal plan if you feel the need for a sit down dinner with service, but get a meal plan!!!
Epcot
So, the first park that our family decided to visit was Epcot. Getting off the bus, walking around the corner and seeing that huge golf ball thingy that actually contains a ride called Space Ship Earth was a amazing sight! Space Ship Earth was actually a very interesting ride about the Earth and how we have and can change it. If I recall correctly this ride is a bucket seat type ride. Me and my daughter were able to fit comfortably inside one car together without any trouble. The first ride that we actually rode when arriving was Fast Track. This ride is a 6 seater car, if you are a larger person don't be afraid to ask for the front seat and arrange with your party to sit in the middle. When you first sit down, pull the seat belt all the way out and if you have someone with you, have them buckle the seat belt for you. This is a awesome ride and definetly worth your wait or worth getting a fast pass to!
Living with the Land. This is a boat ride, so if you like some leg room, ask for the front. Don't be afraid, the disney staff is very accomadating and very understanding. This ride is about 14 minutes, the first part is a bit of a snoozer, but the outside garden area is really neat (if your into that kinda thing that is).
Soarin. Awesome ride! The seat contains 6-8 people and is a seat belt ride. Again before you sit down, pull the seat belt all the way out and if you have someone with you, let them buckle the seat for you if you can't reach and you will be flying high in no time!
The Seas with Nemo and Friends. This is a bucket seat type ride, my daughter and I easily fit with no problem, there is no harness just a door that will close when you get going. Starts off as a kinda sow ride to find nemo (go figure) but ends with a real life ride thru an aquarium.
Turtle Talk with Crush. Super fun amazing live show with Crush from the movie, very interactive! If you have small kids, allow them to sit up front, they might get to chat with the surfer turtle himself! Oh and don't worry, the seats are just regular bench seats, so sit down, enjoy and take a load off the toes!
Maelstrom. If I can give you one word of advice this entire blog, it would be to NOT waste your precious time and fast passes on this ride that is made out to be one of the most awesome, most amazing rides of your life.......it's not. If you do choose to ride, it is a boat ride, so ask for the front seat for more leg room. The ride is only a few boring minutes and then you have to wait in line for a movie, after the let down of the ride and the extra long wait time for the movie, my family and many others just walked right thru the theater as the doors opened to go find something else to ride.
Gran Fiesta Tour. This is a boat ride, so again, ask for the front. Very neat little ride, very relaxing, at the very least you can take a break from walking and standing while you ride around Mexico looking for Donald with the other two Cabelleros!
Honey I shrunk the Audience. Very amazing 4D show. The seating is theatre style seating, so squeeze those hips together and sit back and enjoy the experience!
Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Honestly this ride, well the thing called Figment, freaked me out a little,but the ride was interesting non the less. The ride is a big pod type car, with a bench seat up front and one in the back. For more room, hop in the front. The entrance into the cars were a little narrow, but none of us had any trouble getting in and out.
*Stay tuned there is much more to come!!!*
