First off, I guess we should subtitle this piece, "Disney World for Grownups" or "Visiting the Mouse Without the Munchkins," since we were four adults in pursuit of happiness at "The Happiest Place on Earth."
Of the four of us, my wife had never been to Disney World, so it actually was kind of like having a big kid along. And the last time I was there, it was in the company of my two little kids and several in-laws and their little kids, so this "adults only" trip was a different experience for me, too.
The vacation was a gift from our friends, who made all the arrangements, so I can't really address the topics of price and cost. I do know that they got a good deal by getting a package deal through a travel service and by booking off-season. We stayed on-park at one of the resorts, resulting in further savings, and we took advantage of Disney's fabulous meal plan, which was probably the biggest money saver of all.
Everybody in our party lives near enough to Orlando to make driving a viable option. Besides, I'm one of those people who believes the journey is as important as the destination. But once we got out of the car at Disney World, we didn't get back in for a week. Disney's marvelous transportation system of buses, monorails, and boats makes driving completely unnecessary when you're staying on the premises.
Disney offers several levels of accommodations. The Grand Floridian, for example, is one of the older and pricier options, although well worth it from what we could see when we ate breakfast there one morning. Port Orleans, we have been told by folks in the know, is a little less expensive and is more "couples" oriented. The Pop Century is the newest of Disney's lodging offerings. It is the cheapest and the most family friendly. And that's where we wound up.
A word of advice: you're at Disney World. You're going to be surrounded by kids most of the time whether you have any of your own or not. If you don't want to be surrounded ALL the time, avoid staying at places like the Pop Century.
On the plus side, the decor is really neat. The different buildings are themed to the decades stretching from the '50s through the '90s. We had fun with the tall sculptures out front that vertically spelled out "1950," "1960," etc. Two of us are children of the '50s and so posed for pictures with our decade. One of us was a '60s kid who made "peace" signs in front of the appropriate art. But my poor wife, a child of the '70s, could only stand shrugging on an empty pedestal as the representation of that decade had apparently been hauled off for repairs. There were giant jukeboxes, huge statues of "Lady" and "The Tramp" and a swimming pool shaped like a bowling pin in our part of the resort.
There were also kids: in your face, in your ears, and under your feet. And, as is so frequently the case at big vacation destinations, they were not exactly on their best behavior and probably could have benefited from a little more supervision. (Sounds so much more PC than saying "they were brats," doesn't it?) That was one of the down sides of staying at the Pop Century. Another was the construction of the buildings themselves. As I said, this is one of the "economy" properties, and, as such, it is Disney's version of Motel 6. Don't get me wrong. Everything LOOKS nice and modern and clean. But the walls have ears, and I'm not referring to the two big black ones that are ubiquitous throughout the area. Let's just say that if you sneeze, somebody two doors down will likely say, "bless you." And if you're located in the middle levels of the building, as we were, you'll be treated to an early morning symphony of showering and toilet flushing from several of the floors above and below you. One more word of advice: don't try to eat in the dining facility. If you can get through the door and if you can navigate the serving lines and if you can find a table for four, you'll have to communicate by sign language. And mind your shoes. I got mine treated with orange juice and pancake syrup, courtesy of a parent who really should have known better than to let a four year-old carry his own tray.
The older and closer in resorts are served by the monorail and by watercraft. The newer and farther out are served by buses. This is okay, as the buses run almost continuously. You'll seldom have to wait for more than a few minutes to catch a bus. On the "not so okay" side of the ledger, the buses for the newer resorts arrive and depart progressively farther and farther down the queue, so if you're staying at, say, the Pop Century, you're going to have to walk past eighteen or nineteen lines of people who are going to get where they're going before you do.
Disney offers a "Park Hopper" pass. This allows the pass holder to move from one park to another at will. This is a concession to the young, foolish, and attention deficient. We did Disney the old fashioned way; one park at a time. Even so, we had to go to two of the parks twice to really begin to appreciate them.
Arriving on a Saturday afternoon, our "week" didn't actually begin until Sunday, but Disney offered us an option for dinner at the "Hoop-De-Doo Musical Revue" at Fort Wilderness. It was a fun meal that gave us a glimpse of the Disney experience ahead.
Our first official day was spent at what was then called "Disney's MGM," now renamed "Disney's Hollywood Studios." This is home to, among many other attractions, the "Studio Backlot Tour," "Muppet Vision 3-D," the "Movie Set Adventure," "Beauty and the Beast Live Onstage," and, of course, the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." I highly recommend at few minutes at "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream." It will really give you an idea of how it all started.
A quick diversion, here, to explain the meal plan. There are more places to eat at Disney World than there are in many major American cities. They range from grab-it-and-go snack carts all the way up to five-star restaurants. And, as is the case with most resorts and theme parks, you need direct access to the mint in order to eat at any of them. Unless you get the dining plan that covers one "snack," one "counter service" meal, and one "sit down" meal per person per day. This means you can have a meal at the Disney equivalent of a fast-food place early in the day, grab a snack at some point, and then finish with dinner at a really nice restaurant, and all you have to do is sign the check! Considering that we four adults had a couple of meals that exceeded $200, this was a really good deal! But - capitalize BUT - make sure you choose your restaurants and make your reservations about the time you first get the idea that you might possibly want to go to Disney World someday. Seriously, if you don't reserve a table at least a month out, you probably won't get one. Some of the restaurants have "stand-by" lines, but you'll spend a lot of time standing by and still may not get in. And choose your restaurants carefully. If you pick a place that you wind up not liking once you get there, you'll more than likely be having pizza or popcorn for supper that night, because you won't get in anyplace else at the last minute. For instance, we had dinner reservations at The Brown Derby at the MGM park. We made the reservations based on the famous name. Once we got there, we found nothing to our liking on the menu and wound up catching one of the fast-food pizza places just before they closed for the day because no place else was able to seat us.
Days two and six were spent at the Magic Kingdom, Disney's original and most captivating Florida park. We started out on "Main Street USA" and spent two days wandering through "Frontierland," "Fantasyland," "Mickey's Toontown Fair," "Tomorrowland," "Adventureland," and "Liberty Square." Way too much to describe here, but "Pirates of the Caribbean" was fabulous, "Stitch's Great Escape" was fun, the "Hall of Presidents" was fascinating and, yes, we did do "It's A Small World." The food at the "Liberty Tree Tavern" was probably the most disappointing of anyplace we dined. The atmosphere was certainly all that was expected, but the food was not. Good but not great.
Days three and five were Epcot days. The first day was primarily spent on the "Future World" side of the lagoon, where we explored "Spaceship Earth," "Mission: Space," and "Ellen's Energy Adventure." We also went "Soarin'!" Twice! We crossed over into "international" territory and went to Italy for dinner. We ab-so-lutely loved "Alfredo's." Unfortunately, we were among the last to do so. It closed shortly thereafter and has been replaced by another Italian eatery.
Our second day at Epcot was spent traveling through China, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, Canada and several other countries. All without a passport, thanks to the World Showcase section. In case you didn't know, Disney employs young people from all over the world to staff the shops and restaurants in these areas. It not only adds to the authenticity, it also gives you a chance to really impress people with your command of other languages. Or to totally embarrass yourself, as the case may be. Not to neglect our own nation, we took time for "The American Adventure" at The American Adventure Pavilion and were glad we did. We wound up dining in England at the "Rose and Crown." This proved to be the slowest food service we received anywhere, but we were seated outside overlooking the lagoon on a pleasant fall evening and couldn't have cared less that our total dining experience took nearly two hours. The food was good, the service was friendly and the company was pleasant. What more could you ask?
We probably didn't do justice to the "Animal Kingdom" on day four. It was the hottest, most unpleasant day of our trip and the fact that we were in a tropical jungle setting didn't help our discomfort. Having one of America's top rated zoos in our home area, we were sort of unimpressed with the safari ride. At that time of day and that time of year, the animals all had the same idea we had: let's find someplace cool and lie down for awhile. We did see the beautifully intricate "Tree of Life" and enjoyed the show that told us "It's Tough to be a Bug." We were wonderfully entertained by some incredibly talented street performers, and we took a trip back to the age of dinosaurs in "Dinoland USA." But the continent of Asia will have to wait for another trip. We bailed out about midday, went back to our rooms and gathered our strength for an evening of shopping.
Downtown Disney is not exactly a park, but it's definitely part of the overall Disney experience. It's a "downtown" area filled with shops of every kind, including the world's largest Disney Store. There are entertainment venues to suit all tastes, from the Cirque de Soleil to the House of Blues to the nightlife of Pleasure Island. And you can eat your way around town, too. We dined at Wolfgang Puck's, but there's a Planet Hollywood and a McDonald's, as well as many other culinary choices.
You can't do Disney on the cheap and you can't do Disney on the fly. To try to do either is to waste your time and money as well as to insult possibly the greatest entertainment venue on the planet. Save up your money and plan out your trip. There are lots of value packages that will fit your budget and enable you to get the most for your money. There are lots of sources, both in print and online, that will help you plan your visit. Triple A and other travel services can provide assistance with both packages and planning. Or you can just head over to Disney's site at www.DisneyWorld.com and check things out there.
Whichever you choose, allow yourself time. Time to enjoy the experience. Time to check out all the little nooks and crannies. Time for your family or friends. Time to do everything and time to do nothing. Time just for yourself. I saw so many people rushing around with screaming, overstimulated and totally stressed-out kids and I couldn't help but wonder what any of them were getting from the experience. The kids obviously weren't happy to be at "The Happiest Place on Earth" and the dollar signs going down the drain were visible on the frustrated faces of the parents. Don't do that! Plan intelligently and everybody will benefit from it.
For some, Disney World is a once in a lifetime experience. If you think that's your case, you owe it to yourself to do it thoroughly and well. But I think we'll be going back someday soon. Part of the Disney magic is that the place is ever changing and still always the same. Yes, we'll be back to revisit old memories and to make new ones. See you there!