Disneygeek - Walt Disney World Trip Report

Walt Disney World Day 6 Report
Cruise Day 5

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Trip Log:

Started off with an early wake up call. Actually heard the ship pulling into port around 5am. Headed for breakfast around 6:30 at Cabanas and then had a bit of time so went for a quick tour of the ship to get some last minute pictures and rejoin my group at 7:30 to head for shore. The process of exiting the ship was smooth was no real wait. Customs was slow, but moving. We were out and waiting for our ride by 8am, which unfortunately for us was 30 minutes earlier than our expected time. Waited for our town car and headed back to Pop Century. Checked in, changed to warmer clothes, checked the bags and headed for Animal Kingdom. Walked out and grabbed a Fastpass for the Safari, which gave us time to stroll through the Pangani Forest before it was time to go on. After our adventure walked over to Asia. Some stopped to eat. I continued on to meet some friends near Everest, then roamed through Dinoland and back to Discovery Island before rejoining my group in Dinoland for a quick bite to eat. After our meal spent some time on the Jungle Trek in Asia then caught the Flights of Wonder show. After the show checked my messages and had one saying the room was ready so headed back to Pop Century to move our luggage and see the room. Once unpacked stopped by Everything Pop for dinner then off to the Magic Kingdom. Roamed down Main Street and caught the end of the Dance Party in the hub before joining some friends in front of the castle. Watched Cinderellas Holiday Wish followed by the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Magic, the Memories, and You! And closed out the evening with Wishes. Hung around the park a bit try and let the crowds go down a bit, so stopped by Sleepy Hollow for a snack. Then headed down Main Street and to the bus back to Pop Century to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

The ship pulled back into Port Canaveral very early. Since we had early seating for dinner our breakfast time was at 6:45am down in Animators Palate. We instead opted for a little extra time to pack up our stuff and went up to Cabanas for the buffet.
I was disappointed that the breakfast this morning up there was scaled down from the other mornings. For example no Mickey Waffles today. Why??
One shock of the morning for us was when I opened the door to go outside and look around it was freezing… temperatures were in the 40s. It would have been nice if somewhere they had told us that. My extra sweatshirt, pants, etc.. were all in my suitcase which meant I could get warm clothes till after customs.
Exiting the ship, customs, and getting a ride back to Walt Disney World were all uneventful. I thought the process to find your bags and go through customs worked very smoothly but then again we were early. Not sure how it was later in the morning when the crowds were heavier.
Once back at Disney checked into Pop Century and had a choice to wait for our assigned room or take another. The other was in a location we did not really care for so opted to wait.
Today we had bad luck with the Disney busses. Some days are good.. today was not one of them. It took what felt like forever to get to the Animal Kingdom. The bus loaded several wheel chair/ECVs and that took forever then boarding was slow. Then we of course had to stop at Blizzard Beach which due to the cold weather was a ghost town. I would like to know why the drivers do not have the option to survey guests and skip the stop at Blizzard Beach if no one wants to go there. Also we had a slow bus experience to get to the Magic Kingdom in the afternoon from Pop Century too.
The parks themselves were not crowded, guessing since it was Thursday and cold…
We hung out in the Hub at the Magic Kingdom for several hours. Watching some of the shows and visiting with friends. Caught the Move It, Shake Dance Party, Cinderella’s Holiday Wish, the Main Street Electrical Parade, the Magic the Memories and You! As well as Wishes without having to move much.
The Magic, the Memories, and You now features a brief holiday segment inserted near the end of the show. I thought this was a nice addition but would have liked to have seen more and maybe some of the regular show cut. The WDW version sure draws a lot more guests than Disneylands but not sure if that is to see the show or because of the location and timing of other events.