Hello, my friends! I’m back from my EIGHTH trip to Walt Disney World. Yup, the big number 8. This was hubs’ 12th trip. This was also our first trip in September, and while the weather was easier to live with than May, September is not a happy time to go (actually more packed than May and nearly as hot and MORE humid).

So, since this is going to be a big post, I’m dividing it up into sections.

The Drive Down To Walt Disney World:

Those of you who know us in real life may find this to be a bit of a shocker- we went to bed before 10pm the night before and got up at 4:30am. For those of you who don’t know us personally, this is insane because we work second shift and normally go to bed at 4:30am. Nuts. And yes, we were tired. We were on the road by 5:30am (lovely wife that I am, I made breakfast for us both before we left), had a fairly uneventful drive down to Yulee, FL, and arrived at our hotel in Yulee about 6:45pm. Not bad. I’ll probably get into why we now stop overnight in part of the How To Plan A Trip To Disney World section when I get to it. For now, suffice to say that we didn’t like Yulee as much as Lumberton, NC, but it was not bad and only 3 hours away from Disney World, making for a nice first day at the parks.

The Holiday Inn Express in Yulee, FL:

I’ll probably give this a post of its own with more detail later- if you want to know about it in more detail and don’t want to check back for the link,I suggest signing up for my RSS feed.

First off, it’s considerably larger than I thought it was from the pictures. The rooms are all indoors (I had to explain to my husband that that’s NORMAL for a hotel- he’s used to Disney World’s Value and Moderate hotels where the room entrances are all outside), the decor is really nice, there’s a huge dining room where the free breakfast buffet is, there’s free wifi (pathetic wifi- if this is important to you, ask for a room near the router or whatever they use- I could log into FaceBook but couldn’t play any games while in our room). Glen, the front desk clerk when we checked in, was AWESOME! Just the right blend of professional and friendly, and once he got the size of us, a bit of his humor began to peek through. We would totally invite Glen to poker nights if he lived near us.

The good: The room was really nice. King bed, comfy chairs, roomy, nice bathroom- the kind of place that I’d like to set up shop if we were going to the beach for a week instead of Disney World (and it is 10 miles from the beach- I think Fernandina Beach?).

The bad: In the middle of eating our dinner in the room, we started comparing the Holiday Inn Express in Yulee to the Best Western in Lumberton, NC that we’d stayed in the previous year. On all points, the Holiday Inn Express was coming out ahead, but when comparing the similarities (king bed, quiet, so on), I looked up and said “Oh look- there’s even a big bug on the wall like in Lumberton!” at which point my husband got up to inspect/kill/clean up the bug. Which turned out to be a baby scorpion. Did you know that there’s a species of scorpion that’s native to Florida? We didn’t. We do now (yes, I looked it up on my iPhone).

Otherwise- it was very nice there.

All Star Sports Resort at Disney World:

So, the next morning, we got up really early again, and arrived at our hotel at Disney World, All Star Sports, at 10am. We’d done the online check in but managed to get a trainee- which made the normally very simple process of “Let’s see your id. Ok, here’s your room key and welcome packet. Have a magical day!” take about 20 minutes. About 5 minutes of that was our fault because we had a special room request which they had to do some homework on. In the end, it was totally worth it, because they gave us room 6162 in Surf’s Up!. It’s a King bed, handicap accessible room on the first floor and is 3 doors down from the closest room to the food court (those 3 doors down was a good thing, because it put us just around the corner of the hallway that lead to parking, and very close to the ice machines (we bring a cooler for drinks and food rather than renting a fridge). Amazing room and location.

The view from our room's doorway- behind those bushes is the pool, behind that big star is the food court.

We also walked the ENTIRE All Star Resort area the first afternoon- that includes Sports, Music, and Movies. It’s a lot of walking. But, I did it for you. Because I’m working on an All Star Resort post and pictures are good things.

The Food At Walt Disney World:

Awesome. Of course. They’ve recently revamped their menus to be “healthier”, which is both good and bad. Bad because this means a lot more soy/low fat junk, good because there are actually vegetables on the menu. I hope they keep that, at least. Yogurt is now listed as a dessert on many quick service menus. I was offered 3 vegetable choices at the food court to go with my baked chicken (delicious, by the way). While you can special order a double bacon cheeseburger (from the old menu), the new Angus bacon mushroom Swiss burger is AMAZING. And I don’t even like Swiss cheese.

We didn’t do any table service restaurants on this trip, but I’m trying to convince hubs to do it a few times on the next trip.

It may not look like much, but this broccoli salad from Columbia Harbour House (Magic Kingdom) is one of the best things that I've ever eaten.

September Weather At Walt Disney World:

Hot. And humid. And hot and humid. We were there Sept 17th, through Sept 23rd, and the highs were all 88 degrees and up. Which doesn’t sound bad until you find out that the humidity had matching % points. For example, the hottest day was 91 degrees and 91% humidity. I’m not kidding, I’m not exaggerating.

The Walt Disney World Parks:

We didn’t do any extracurricular activities on this trip, aside from a short trip to Downtown Disney, so no mini-golf, La Nouba, or Disney Quest reviews.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios:

Normally I would put the parks in order of when they opened (also, popularity- it’s more or less the same thing), but we hit Hollywood Studios first, and this is a trip report, so, I felt like doing it this way.

Overall- I liked this park more than I usually do, but we also didn’t stay till park closing on either of the two days that we were here. We became bored easily, because it’s a pain in the you know what to wait for Voyage of the Little Mermaid (the earlier you are, the longer you have to STAND to wait for the next show- and who wants to do that? It’s a 15 minute wait!) and The Great Movie Ride really needs a bit of updating. Back when they had two scenarios it was a lot more fun, plus the actors were a lot more into it. These days, you only get “No more red light.” and “What is this? Jersey?” for comic relief and never get to see the Western scene catch on fire. Plus, they all sound like they’re repeating a memorized poem in school, not playing a gangster/tour guide. We don’t do heights either, so if we can’t catch Toy Story Mania, there’s not much else for us besides Star Tours, awesome though it is.

Upside, we got to hit Toy Story Midway Mania TWICE on this trip- a never before accomplished feat. Amazingly, when we got there, it was only a 40 minute wait, so we grabbed FastPasses and hopped in line. We only had to wait about 20 actual minutes to ride, and finally got to see the talking, interactive Mr. Potato Head. Can we say “awesome”? Awesome! (You don’t see him when you’re in the FastPass line- the only way we’ve ridden before).

On Toy Story Midway Mania- my pained expression is from trying to get the camera to actually shoot before we had to offload.

We also got to experience the new Star Tours 3D. While I miss the awesome cheez of the old Star Tours (and particularly think the robot on the screen before you enter is super lame compared to awesome-hair-chick from the old show), the 3D is really good and the show is soooo clear! The ride itself is much smoother and more realistic, though the whole thing combined made me a little queasy every time we rode it. We went on it 4 times and got Darth Vader, Stormtroopers, Leia, that fishy head commander guy, Naboo (Gooberfish!), Hoth 3 times, Tatooine (Podracing), a few space battles, the Death Star, Coruscant, and I think one or two other scenarios that I can’t remember right now. About the only thing that we missed that we really wanted was Bespin, but that’s only because we didn’t realize that Yoda was also a scenario. So, next year, we want Bespin and Yoda.

In line for Star Tours II

American Idol Experience was fun as always, but my husband is starting to get the feeling that there are a few plants in the contestants. To be honest, I think he may be right. The mere fact that they tell you “these are real park guests- just like you!” is usually a hint that they’re not, and my husband thinks he saw two of the contestants (different shows) on our last trip. I have a better memory for words, he has a better memory for faces, so I couldn’t say. Also, they’re still doing that really annoying “I got the music in me” song. Really? I’d rather hear another contestant or leave the air conditioning sooner. The finale show is always the most fun, but also the most crowded, and both days took place after we left the park. So. Bummer.  Upside, we totally got Ali as the crowd warmer for the second show we saw. He was my favorite from last year- still is. “Bye, Ali!”  “We love you, Ali!” “You look hot in those jeans, Ali!”

Ali

Epcot:

I’m not sure what to say about Epcot. It hasn’t really changed much except for a few menu changes and the new Mexico restaurant and the new Italy restaurant (which we didn’t actually see).  La Hacienda de San Angel is beautiful inside, and you can bring your food from the renovated Cantina de San Angel inside to enjoy the view and air conditioning until 3 pm, at which point you’ll have to clear out so they can set up for dinner.

DH in a booth in the middle of a La Hacienda De San Angel dining room

Magic Kingdom:

A lot has changed at the Magic Kingdom since our last trip.

The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh got a new queue area. So cute! Eeyore’s stick house and Pooh’s house can actually be crawled in. There are all kinds of interactive things going on. If you pump a see-saw in one section, gophers come out holding onto carrots, some sort of popcorn ball machine thing, daisies with bells for petals that you can spin, and my favorite- a rope. That says “pull gently”. It looks like Gopher is attached to the rope, and when you let go, he pops up out of a hole. It was so freaking cute, because several kids were actually flat on their backs on the ground trying to pull the rope far enough to get the gopher out.

Then there was the bee hive queue divider- wavy metal tubes with plastic “bees” that you can slide around on the tubes and into the hives. Periodically there’s a buzzing noise, but wasn’t able to find out if this was random or triggered by something.  And then as you near the entrance, there are several touch screen panels with honey oozing down them. If you place your hand against the screen, the honey flows around your hand. You can wipe it off, draw pictures (if you’re quick- that honey flows fast), and if you know where to wipe, you might uncover a hidden character.  The ride itself is the same, but it’s so worth waiting in line just for the line!

The Haunted Mansion also got a new queue area. As you approach the Mansion’s entrance, you’ll see a sign. On the right, it says “Entrance” with an arrow, on the left, it says “Cemetery Entrance” and an arrow. Take the cemetery entrance at least once. Other people have written much more complete posts on this than I will. I COULD be more detailed than they, but, it’s been almost a month, and I’m feeling lazy.  So, I’ll just post a few pix and call it enough. I’m very impressed at the seamless reentrance into the main line again. Very well done.

Also, they’ve added more Doom Buggies to the line. I’m not sure if they’ve doubled the number, but it seems that way. Also, and we’re not sure about this, but it seems as though the ride has been speeded (sped?) up a bit. Not much, but… the ride just seems shorter somehow. I have no objections, because really, there is now practically no wait at all except being held between loadings, but it does seem to reduce the spooky atmosphere a bit. It may just feel faster because of the proximity of the other buggies, though. But if you’ve been before and you’re going again, please pay attention and let me know what you think. (note: a friend of a friend is a CM who says that the ride is exactly the same speed that it’s always been)

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin got a few new aliens to shoot at. I couldn’t pin point what, exactly, is new, or whether the new ones replaced old ones, but, there’s just a LOT more to shoot at.

The New Fantasyland is still being built, and that whole section is still walled off, with really cool murals depicting the new Fantasyland on the walls. But, now you can see most of Beast’s castle and part of Prince Eric’s castle, a lot of the rock formations, and some other things. I can’t remember what. I’ll have to dig out my pictures.  It’s really trucking along, though, and I can’t wait to see it finished!

Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party:

I’m not going to write much here because, well, it’s now been 2 months and I’m still brain dead, and because I’m going to do a whole post at another point.

Cool Halloween-y pictures were projected in seemingly random places

Main points:

Fireworks are good, but the accompanying music is BAD. Not bad in a good way, bad in a bad way. Classic semi-spooky Disney songs butchered in the most obscenely modernized pop trashy way possible.

Atmosphere is awesome. Fog all through the Haunted Mansion area, periodically playing Haunted Mansion music in the entire park. Oh, and there’s a ghostly lady outside of the mansion talking to guests (not as cool as it could have been).

The parade was good.

All in all, the only area that the Christmas party didn’t beat the Halloween party at is that the Halloween party has fog. Which is awesome.

Jack Sparrow and Crew heading to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party

Disney’s Animal Kingdom:

We actually skipped Animal Kingdom on this trip. I know, I know, it’s usually my favorite park, right? But it was REALLY hot and humid, and AK is a lot of walking. Plus, there were too many other things that we had trouble hitting at the other parks due to the large crowds.

The People At Walt Disney World:

This was pretty cool. Despite that most of the guests seemed to be first timers, this group actually followed direction well. Almost everyone was friendly (not always the case), and it was so great hearing people crack up at shows because the jokes were new to them. The absolute best moment was at the Country Bear Jamboree where half of the theater was filled (rare to have so many), and everyone was laughing at the jokes and clapping to the songs. Best. Ever.

And now, I’m going to add a few photos and get this post up. It’s been waaaay too long!

One of my fave pix

Stuck in line for Big Thunder waiting for the lightening storm to pass

In line for Peter Pan's Flight