It has been 15 years since Ann and I last ventured to Florida.
This time we had a ten year old daughter in tow: Disney through the eyes of a child - What could be better?
How about Disney through the eyes of 3 children!
The first thing that hit us was the heat and humidity as we stepped off the plane. 95+ degrees. Like walking into a giant hairdryer without the breeze and noise.
Thank God for the air conditioning on the coach.
As we "magic - ed our way" towards the Wilderness Lodge hotel at Disney World Resort the Disney coach driver explained that Disney World produces its own Disney electricity and sells any excess off to surrounding areas.
I noticed a pylon in the shape of Mickey Mouse to my right somewhere. (seriously)
We learnt that in all there are 300 miles of roadway on Disney World's property.
Approaching the main entrance to Disney World on the main routeway the driver pointed out an aeroplane runway (hidden behind a gate) that Walt himself had built.
He wanted to fly between California and Florida on his private plane but unfortunately he never got to use the runway as he died soon after its completion.
Wilderness Lodge Hotel is a magnificent example of imagineering / attention to detail / WOW factor / brilliance in all departments. We had a wonderful 2 weeks stay there.
Only downside was trying to get reservations at the hotel for meals anywhere - Some people book 6 months in advance!! - Yep..6 months!!
Not as bad as it may sound - All Disney restaurants allow walk up and queue to eat facilities and reserve only a proportion of their tables so if you get the chance to go it isn't as bad as it originally sounds...Wait is usually 30 - 60 mins..but 6 months in advance!!??
I wouldn't recommend the Disney Dining Plan either - We ended up saving a fortune NOT getting this as portions tend to be huge.
One guy on his last night was buying people meals with 8 meals that he had left on his plan.
I didn't hang round to find out why. We just accepted his offer of 3 salads, chips, chilli and drinks and ran off to find a seat.
You get extra magic hours at parks if you stay in the resort. This means that on specified days at specified parks you can get in 1 hr early and stay up to 3 hours after park closes for others. This is really worth it especially for the water parks.
4 days into our holiday we learnt that all the schools in the region went back - this meant less crowds and queues at the parks - and what an advantage this was!!
First park would be Animal Kingdom..I'll let you know how we got on in the second bit of this report next week some time.
Gary