The Durando's Trip Report for 2011 About This Page:

[jiwdurando]

So we ended up leaving several days ahead of schedule because it was suppose to snow. We left Feb 9 we drove from Maryland to Fayetteville, NC. Stayed in a Motel 8, which was suprising great! Room was comfortable and breakfast the next morning was plentiful (free continental breakfast). The next morning, I woke up sick! So I had a rough day on the road. We drove to Yulee, Florida, where we were suppose to stay in a Country Inn and Suites hotel, when we arrived they were in the middle of a bomb threat! Great huh. Geeze, but they didnt make us pay for our reservation so we ended up driving to Orlando and stayed at The Enclave hotel. We got to the hotel and I basically crashed! I was just feeling sooo awful! So I went to bed early and was up by 7, I still wasnt feel awesome! Let me take a minute to say that this hotel was pretty neat. The room was a suite two bedrooms, one bedroom w/ a queen bed (mattress not to great) and a half bath, kitchen and living room area, and the other bedroom was a kid suite room, two bunkbeds tv and full bathroom in that room! My daughter loved it! There are characters all over the walls and they had a neat gaming chair for her to sit in. The only problem we had with the room was that I had an allergic to the sheets which lasted over the rest of our vacation, but its Disney I couldnt let it get me down! So we went and got our breakfast and went to Island's of Adventure! What a great day that was! Loved visiting Hogsmeade and Hogwarts! I took sooo many pictures! If anyone wants to see any please let me know! We rode everything there but the Hulk, which wasnt working. It was very chilly that day, we didnt ride any water rides either. We got back to the room around 3 and decided to go play miniature golf. We went to Fantasia Gardens. We had sooo much fun! My daughter got her first hole in one! She is only 5! Then we went to Downtown Disney for dinner decided to eat at T'Rex's. The wait wasnt too bad for a Friday night. We only waited 45 mins. My daughter really liked it! So we went back to the hotel and went to bed! We got up early to check out and that took forever, I felt bad for the people at the front desk they had like 3 people and tons trying to check out! I finally checked out and we went to Sea World for the day. My husband woke up sick this morning so our morning wasn't very great. This was our first time at Sea World, and I did not really care for the place. I just felt there was tons of walking and hardly anything to do! We did get to feed the dolphins but it was really hard for my daughter to do it, but we had a blast anyway! We really enjoyed the Believe Show! After the park we went to our hotel on Disney property Shades of Green. Can I just say I loved this hotel! It was great! The room was soooo roomy! There were two queen beds and a couch that turns into a double, my daughter insisted on sleeping on the couch/twin. She def had it full with her two pillow pets and all her stuffed animals! We didnt eat out anywhere that night, instead we ordered rooms service adn it was great! I had Chicken Marsala w/ mashed potatos and carrots, hubby had a turkey club and chips, and daughter had grilled cheese and fries. All were excellent! We went to bed and I really slept well that night! I enjoyed all the nights we were there, never had any problems sleeping! We got up the next morning and headed to Animal Kingdom. Got there bright and early! We went straight to Africa to Kilamanjaro safari's, we were really happy with our safari we saw tons of animals! We saw lots of characters that day too! Jiminy Cricket, Pocohontas, Rafiki, Mickey, Minnie, Donald Goofy, Pluto, Thumper, Mrs. Bunny, Meeko, Lilo and Stitch. We did all the rides except Dinosaur, neither of us are fans of that. I finally got to see Finding Nemo the musical! Next time i'm hoping to see The Lion King show. My daughter did get to ride Everest, which she loved! Now this was a chilly day, but we decided to go and ride Kali river rapids Of course I'm the only one who got wet. And I wore my poncho, ugh that sucked, only my butt got wet, but it was still chilly. We did all the nature trails and Rafiki's Planet watch, we even got to watch the parade, we've never been to any of the parades before, but it was great! We finished at the park and took the bus back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at AKL @ Boma. I think Boma is one of my most fave places to eat in all of WDW! I was sooo full of everything by the time we were done! My daughter loved adn tried many new things too! My husband loves to come here to! After we went back to the hotel and went to bed! The next day was Valentine's day we had a breakfast reservation @ Crystal Palace w/ Winnie the Pooh and the gang. Our reservation was before the park opened, it was awesome to be in the park before it opened! We even got a pic, but it wasn't that great! Breakfast was great! We got to see Winnie The Pooh, Eyeore, Tigger, and Piglet. As soon as we were done breakfast we headed to meet Rapunzel, we were VERY lucky. We were the last ones let in for the first group! They had the adults stand in line for the kids. The kids stood around the stone table and colored their pictures. After a few minutes Rapunzel and Flynn came out and did a song and dance with the kids! We were last in line so it took awhile but when we were finally up there it was just amazing to see Kalei with her! Rapunzel is like her most fave of all time! She spent a good five minutes talking to her! So did Flynn! I even teared up, cause I was sooo touched! Really made my day and hers! Next we headed to Tomorrowland and rode everything except the Carosel of Progress and Stitch's Great Escape (I was afraid it would scare her). Next we headed to Cosmic Rays for lunch (had burgers and fries) and it was good as always! Then we headed to Fantasyland. We rode everything there then headed to Haunted Mansion, which was fun as always. I really wanted to ride the ferryboat, but I got out voted, so again, I still haven't ridden it! We did skip Tom Sawyer Island, we are going to save it for next time. We didn't do Country Bears either, but its on the list for next time. We were able to everything else in the Magic Kingdom! We watched the electrical parade and Wishes. We ate dinner at Casey's corner and that was really great! We got a great spot in front of the castle and had dinner and watched Wishes! It was great! After the fireworks we headed to Tomorrowland again and rode Space Mountain and Tomorrowland Speedway again! Then we went up front and did several penny presses then headed back to the hotel! We were beat! So we went to bed! We ate breakfast the next morning downstair, we had the breakfast buffet it was really good! We went DTD in the morning for Kalei's Bibbitti Bobbitti Boutique appt. Which was great! My daughter loved it! She was just soooo happy with the way they talked to her and we ended up doing the total package (my daughter suckered me in), but it was great, the photo shoot was wonderful and the photographer was AWESOME! All in all it was an excellent package! After DTD we went to Hollywood Studios, lines's were extremely short except for Toy Story Mania, of course, but the wait was only 40 mins so no complaints here. I finally got to do Disney Animation, Walt Disney a Dream, and Chronicles of Narnia. I really liked them all! We ate lunch at 50's Primetime Diner, it was awesome! The food was delicious! And the service was really cool! I had the Stacked sandwich and a house salad w/ an Strawberry Milkshake, it was great, hubby had the Aunt Annie's Seafood Salad w/ a Root Beer Float, he really liked that! Kalei had the Chicken Noodle Soup, Mac and Cheese w/ fries, and and Ice Cream Sundae. Anthony and I had The Smores for dessert. I didnt really like the Smores dessert, too sweet for me. We finished up at DHS early, I still haven't done Sounds Dangerous, but its on the list for next time lol! I only have one complaint about DHS, we were told since we were military that we got free parking at all the parks, but when we arrived at DHS we did have to pay, I asked about it at customer service and they were rude about it! Made me very angry for awhile. We went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner.We ate at Cape May Cafe, it was awesome, I really really enjoyed it! My husband ate and ate and ate lol! My daughter discovered she really likes clams and mussels! She ate like ten of them and fifteen peel and eat shrimp! I was really proud of her for trying new stuff! All the food was delicious! We enjoyed walking around the resort after it was really pretty. We went back to our room and went to bed. The next morning we got up and went to Epcot this was our last day. We started in Future World did started at the Character Spot and then visited Tinkerbell, Soaring, Test Track, hubby and daughter did Mission Space, then we headed to Mexico for lunch we ate at La Cantina de San Angel, it was ok, it wasn't that great. Our tacos were soggy.The chips were great though. After that we toured the world, we stopped and got Marie's autograph (kitten from Aristocats). We had a snack at Boulangerie Patisserie we got a strawberry tart, Chocolate Mousse, Caramel Soufflee, and a blueberry filled Beignet. All were great! After that we headed to Seas With Nemo and Friends and Kalei always loves that place. We then went to Universe of Energy, we checked out Innovations and then headed to the land pavillion we were going to do The Land ride but decided to try to get a reservation earlier for The Garden Grill which we did. That place was awesome. Now I have issues with motion sickness, and if i was looking at the walls or out to the exterior i got a little woozy but if i didnt think about it i was fine! salad was great as was the bread and butter! We loved the main dish, (not the stuffing), and dessert was great! My daughter ate all her broccolli and chicken and even some of her dessert! We got to see Chip, Dale, Mickey and Pluto! After dinner my husband and daughter decided to stay for the fireworks and I went back to the hotel to pack, I was beat! I had everything packed and ready by the time they got back. We got up in the morning and got ready to leave. Went downstairs to check out and down to the giftshop to get a magnet. It did not go well. My daughter threw a major fit and my husband ended up carrying her kicking and screaming out of the hotel, it was a first for us. She has never done this before. He took away all her toys in the car, she didnt get them back til SC. It was quite embaressing! But what can you do when they start acting like that. Up until now she had been awesome, she never complained once in the car on the way down. So I guess she was building up to it. After we left she realized how much trouble she was in and kept apologizing. Finally after several hours of driving she got her DS back and was happy. Then we got a flat tire on 95. I must say that scared me to death while my husband was changing the tires! We found a walmart and got the tire fixed (I even found work clothes for the new job I started the day after we got back). We finally got home around 2am on Friday morning. We went to bed and slept til 8, when my daughter got up and went to school (her choice not mine). I went back to sleep and got up and went to work that night. I am quite happy to be home but can't wait to go again in 2013 when I can take all four of us! Thanks for listening everyone this was my first trip report!

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks for sharing your report with us!

[Cam22]

Sorry you experienced some sickness during your trip, but otherwise sounds like you enjoyed yourselves! for sharing your first TR with us!

[MickeyWatch]

Great job on your first TR.

[lazanya]

Thanks for sharing your first TR!

[mzozzietj]

Thanks for sharing all the details. I wonder if Kalei threw the fit because she didn't want to leave? I know sometimes I feel that way! I don't want to leave all that happiness and come back to reality!

I love how you are planning for "next time" the whole time, lol! I've only been home just over a week and I've been downloading anything disney I can find for my iphone for "next" time!

Sorry you guys were sick, but I am glad the weather was better while you were there then it was the week before. We had rain almost every day

I think I'll stick with our usual October trips, it gets hot but usually doesn't rain much. And on the super hot days we can swim lol

[bsblady01]

sounds like you had a great trip

[jiwdurando]

Originally Posted by mzozzietj

Thanks for sharing all the details. I wonder if Kalei threw the fit because she didn't want to leave? I know sometimes I feel that way! I don't want to leave all that happiness and come back to reality!

I love how you are planning for "next time" the whole time, lol! I've only been home just over a week and I've been downloading anything disney I can find for my iphone for "next" time!

Sorry you guys were sick, but I am glad the weather was better while you were there then it was the week before. We had rain almost every day

I think I'll stick with our usual October trips, it gets hot but usually doesn't rain much. And on the super hot days we can swim lol

It may have been that she didnt want to leave, or maybe she was worn out this was over a week of go go go, and she may have just been worn out! She's been fine since she's been home. Have to start planning for next time its less than two years out lol! I've thought about October trips, but we've never been then, I really enjoyed the first week of August before labor day, not busy at all!

I can't wait to go back, we are going to either stay in AKL, WL, or Saratoga Springs Treehouses, not sure yet exactly where.

[mzozzietj]

Originally Posted by jiwdurando

It may have been that she didnt want to leave, or maybe she was worn out this was over a week of go go go, and she may have just been worn out! She's been fine since she's been home. Have to start planning for next time its less than two years out lol! I've thought about October trips, but we've never been then, I really enjoyed the first week of August before labor day, not busy at all!

I can't wait to go back, we are going to either stay in AKL, WL, or Saratoga Springs Treehouses, not sure yet exactly where.

I am DYING to stay in the treehouses but since it's not our home resort it's super tough to get it using points. They do have cash reservations available more than they do points, I don't truly get how all that works though.

I've been in the first week in August before, since my birthday is that week but I couldn't handle the heat!!!!! Even September and October take a toll on me but it's definitely easier to manage for me. We also went in June ONCE, never again! If I ever move to FL when I retire, I'll have to be a snow bird, I must have thick blood, lol

[jiwdurando]

Originally Posted by mzozzietj

I am DYING to stay in the treehouses but since it's not our home resort it's super tough to get it using points. They do have cash reservations available more than they do points, I don't truly get how all that works though.

I've been in the first week in August before, since my birthday is that week but I couldn't handle the heat!!!!! Even September and October take a toll on me but it's definitely easier to manage for me. We also went in June ONCE, never again! If I ever move to FL when I retire, I'll have to be a snow bird, I must have thick blood, lol

The heat doesnt bother me unless I'm pregnant lol! I would move to Florida in a heartbeat! We are trying to get it in 2013. So I've got time lol.

[wydivers]

Thanks for the trip report! It sounds like you all had a great trip!

[Jessie092408]

Thanks for sharing!

[jiwdurando]

Photos from the trip

Disney Photo Pass Photos | Facebook

Florida Trip | Facebook

Florida Trip CTD | Facebook

[mcc0313]

Sounds like you had a great trip

[Cam22]

Super pictures!