Despite not feeling all that great, we still managed to have a pretty good time, but nothing to compare to this trip. We kept saying all through the trip that other than the trip we took with both the boys in 2010, this year's trip has been the best trip yet!! The weather was gorgeous and warm and everything about the trip went so smoothly and was very relaxed and fun. I took over 1,000 pictures, so I have to post at least a few of them!
Thanks to free wi-fi at the resort and my new kindle, I did a few quick posts during the trip {something I don't usually do}.
Along with posting pictures, I want share a little about our trip and give my review of things we tried for the first time {and yes, even after going to WDW 7 times, there are still things we have yet to try}.
Day 1: Thursday, February 6
Since we drive down, we add a few days for travel going and coming. We decided to leave on Thursday, since we were scheduled to check-in on Saturday morning. We left a very cold Virginia, and started our drive south! The drive was uneventful, just the occasional stop at a rest stop or for gas. I posted a few pictures from our first day of travel here. We stopped for the night in Florence, SC and checked into a Courtyard Marriott. After dinner at Outback, we called it a night.
Day 2: Friday, February 7
A quick breakfast at the hotel and we were back on the road by 9:00. We entered Georgia around 11:30 and it was 55 degrees and sunny!
We stopped for lunch once we entered Florida. It was a little overcast, but 61 degrees. As we got closer to Orlando, we started talking over where we should spend the night. We weren't scheduled to check-in until Saturday morning, but we thought since we were that close to Disney, why not start our vacation a night early. I called WDW to see if we could get a room at our resort and we lucked out and got one!!! We were so excited! We hit quite a bit of traffic......
but it wasn't long before we saw this........
We booked a room only for tonight, so no park ticket or dining plan was included. We were fine with that because we were in Disney and could still take advantage of their transportation and we could eat at any of the resort restaurants or at Downtown Disney. Our biggest problem was deciding where to eat! :O)
I posted before about choosing a value resort this time. We have only stayed at moderates (Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs) and the one time at a deluxe (Beach Club). This time we were booked at All Star Movies. For some reason, I've been reluctant to try a value resort, but we decided to go a little cheaper this time and give it a try. All the benefits of staying on property are the same, it is just a more reasonable option. I went into this trip with the mindset that we were just giving a value a try, but it turned out to be one of our best stays yet! More on this later! :O)
{side note: allears.net is a great resource when planning a Disney vacation}
We got to check-in and a friendly CM helped with our reservation. It turned out though that ASMovies was completely booked, so she asked if we would mind staying next door at ASMusic for tonight and check-in at Movies as planned the next morning. She gave us an upgrade to a preferred room at the standard room rate. Fine with us!
{side note: a room a WDW value was cheaper than staying at Courtyard Marriott}
Our room was in Calypso section Room #1525. Very close to the food court and buses. A great location and the room was very nice!
I checked online to see which restaurants had openings for dinner. We decided on the Grand Floridian Café, so we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and hopped on the monorail. We ate here a few years ago and it was sooooo good! It is an overlooked restaurant, in my opinion. Located at the Grand Floridian Resort, it is very easy to get to, the atmosphere is awesome, the food is upscale, and the service is great. Dinner did not disappoint.....I had the yummiest chicken and mushroom risotto ever! After dinner, we headed back to the resort. It was so nice starting our trip off with an extra night at Disney! :O)
Day 2: Friday, February 7
A quick breakfast at the hotel and we were back on the road by 9:00. We entered Georgia around 11:30 and it was 55 degrees and sunny!
We stopped for lunch once we entered Florida. It was a little overcast, but 61 degrees. As we got closer to Orlando, we started talking over where we should spend the night. We weren't scheduled to check-in until Saturday morning, but we thought since we were that close to Disney, why not start our vacation a night early. I called WDW to see if we could get a room at our resort and we lucked out and got one!!! We were so excited! We hit quite a bit of traffic......
but it wasn't long before we saw this........
We booked a room only for tonight, so no park ticket or dining plan was included. We were fine with that because we were in Disney and could still take advantage of their transportation and we could eat at any of the resort restaurants or at Downtown Disney. Our biggest problem was deciding where to eat! :O)
I posted before about choosing a value resort this time. We have only stayed at moderates (Caribbean Beach and Coronado Springs) and the one time at a deluxe (Beach Club). This time we were booked at All Star Movies. For some reason, I've been reluctant to try a value resort, but we decided to go a little cheaper this time and give it a try. All the benefits of staying on property are the same, it is just a more reasonable option. I went into this trip with the mindset that we were just giving a value a try, but it turned out to be one of our best stays yet! More on this later! :O)
{side note: allears.net is a great resource when planning a Disney vacation}
We got to check-in and a friendly CM helped with our reservation. It turned out though that ASMovies was completely booked, so she asked if we would mind staying next door at ASMusic for tonight and check-in at Movies as planned the next morning. She gave us an upgrade to a preferred room at the standard room rate. Fine with us!
{side note: a room a WDW value was cheaper than staying at Courtyard Marriott}
Our room was in Calypso section Room #1525. Very close to the food court and buses. A great location and the room was very nice!
I checked online to see which restaurants had openings for dinner. We decided on the Grand Floridian Café, so we took the bus to Magic Kingdom and hopped on the monorail. We ate here a few years ago and it was sooooo good! It is an overlooked restaurant, in my opinion. Located at the Grand Floridian Resort, it is very easy to get to, the atmosphere is awesome, the food is upscale, and the service is great. Dinner did not disappoint.....I had the yummiest chicken and mushroom risotto ever! After dinner, we headed back to the resort. It was so nice starting our trip off with an extra night at Disney! :O)
