rm0530 5 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Here we are in February! We took this trip during winter break; February 16 through February 20. My parents came along again and we took the easy route and stayed in their RV on a full hook-up loop. Day 1- Wednesday, February 16:Everyone went to work and we left early evening. There was no real need to rush because my parents would be behind us about an hour. We checked in around 11pm and were assigned to site 1630. We took a little cat nap in the car while waiting for the RV to arrive and then turned in for the night around 1am.Day 2- Thursday, February 17:No huge rush this morning. We arrived at Epcot around 10:30am and experienced the lightest crowds we would the entire trip. Some preparations were in the works for the Flower & Garden Festival and some areas were already finished. I love Epcot in the Spring! It has such a wonderful atmosphere. Our first stop was for Soarin’ fastpasses and the Land boat ride and then we did a reverse and headed to Mexico. We tried lunch at San Angel Inn. I was a bit disappointed. The portions and prices were not compatible in our opinion. However, the mood could not be beat. I go into Disney dining with that mindset. I’m paying for an experience, not so much a wonderful meal. Sometimes I’ve been pleasantly surprised and others are a miss. We had a table by the water and enjoyed watching the volcano and passing boats. After our meal, we boarded the boats. This was the first trip I had been actively involved in searching for hidden Mickeys. My mom gave me the book for Christmas and had downloaded the app onto her phone. We found two on this ride and that set the trend for the rest of the visit. After our adventure in Mexico, we did Test track singles, Mouse Gears, Soarin’, Living Seas and then back to walking the showcase. We had counter service in Japan. Beautiful surroundings, awful food. I won’t be back. We followed this up with desserts from France and sitting inside the gift shop table area. We finished walking the showcase, saw Captain EO, Spaceship Earth, and left at 7:45. We turned in early at 9:30 to be well rested for Friday…Harry Potter! I left a hidden Mickey for my mom to find in the morning! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Hilarious hidden Mickey! :rofl2: Good reading so far! :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BouncingTiggers 98 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 I love this photo. I've never seen this before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Keep it coming :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roller ... aka Ed 351 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Great start!I love the photos of the prep work for the Flower and Garden festival. Disney leads guests to believe that this work is all done magically overnight, when in reality, it begins weeks before the start of the festival.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Loved the topiaries at the F&GF. How did I miss Lady and the Tramp ?!?!? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Hilarious hidden Mickey! :rofl2: Good reading so far! :popcorn:Thanks Dave!Great start!I love the photos of the prep work for the Flower and Garden festival. Disney leads guests to believe that this work is all done magically overnight, when in reality, it begins weeks before the start of the festival.TCDIt was nice having the comparison between the February visit and March visit. So much work goes into this for such a short amount of time. Similar to Christmas decorations--I read Disneyland starts planning in February!Loved the topiaries at the F&GF. How did I miss Lady and the Tramp ?!?!?I love this photo. I've never seen this before.This was my first visit to the festival, it was great! I'll have more pictures when I get to March report. Lady and the Tramp were in Italy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Day 3- Friday, February 18-We woke up at 7:30am and got ready to head to Islands of Adventure! We had received a one-day ticket from using our mycokerewards points (2000 points). By the time we had enough points to purchase another, they didn’t offer them anymore We arrived at 9:30 and had to wait in line at the ticket kiosk. The lines were snaked all over the entrance and we were impatient to get inside. While we were in line, we ended up purchasing a ticket online on the phone and then left the line for the will call computer station to print the ticket. Score for technology!It was now 10:15 and we started on the left side of the park. We waited at Hulk for 45 minutes and then walked onto Spiderman through the singles line. We headed back to the Harry Potter area and picked up a return ticket to enter the area. At 11:30 we were given a return time of 1:30-2:30. We checked into eating at Mythos but it had an hour wait. We went to Jurassic Park area and ate at the large indoor restaurant. The crowd control was nice and they offered a nice variety of food. The only negative was the a/c. It was stuffy and we picked a shaded table on an outside patio. Conflicting themes!After lunch it was time for us to enter the Wizarding World of HP! This wasn’t our first trip to HP. We had visited during July ’10 and came back to IOA just for another HP visit. We headed straight back to the Forbidden Journey. It had a 10 minute wait and that was just walking through the line. I kept my camera with me to take pictures through the line. You have to leave everything large in the lockers at the entrance but there is a small compartment in the seat back. It is large enough to hold a phone, wallet, or small camera. The line starts out in the dungeons. This is where the lockers are.And then you go into the greenhouse areaAnd then back inside the castleThe pictures are video screens and they interact with each otherThe sorting hat barks out ride instructions.We ordered butterbeer inside at Hogs Head. It is faster than waiting outside at the butterbeer cart and then you have the benefit of sitting on the outside patio. I prefer the frozen butterbeer to the regular liquid. I’ve made a recipe at home and although tasty, it can’t compare. Don't buy it at this cartBuy it here!There were still lines to get into the shops. The stores are pretty tiny and have a low occupancy number. I purchased a wand at Deverish & Banges for my sister-in-law’s upcoming birthday. If you plan to purchase wands, do this towards the end of your visit. The boxes are long and hard to store. I’ve read they don’t fit inside the ride lockers but I’ve not tried this personally. You also have the option of sending items to package pickup at the front of the park. At 3pm, we left IOA and headed to DTD. We did some shopping at Basin and World of Disney. We had dinner at T-REX. We enjoy the Rainforest Café and hoped this would be a similar experience. The food was good but as you can see, they really shove people in.For dessert, I continued the crispy tradition! Just kidding...I wish though! White chocolate and OreoWe headed back at 7pm and relaxed in the RV. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Loving the report! I never could get into the Harry Potter craze, but it was cool to see the park pics.That oreo krispie looks delicious! What does butterbeer taste like? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted August 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Day 4- Saturday, February 19This was a long day! We woke up at 7 and were at the Studios at 8:30. Like everyone else, we headed back to Toy Story for fastpasses. They were already up to 1-2pm. We walked back to the front for RnRC singles line and Tower of Terror. Afterwards we watched a street show and Muppets before our 11am ADR at 50s Prime Time Café. This was a nice experience. We enjoyed watching the old TV clips and it was nice to have home-style cooking instead of fake burgers. Our waitress wasn’t over the top like some we spotted but I didn’t mind. We split up after lunch. My parents went to One Man’s Dream and we headed to the Animation building to meet Lotso! I know he’s evil and tried to kill all my favorite characters but I can’t resist a pink bear that smells like strawberries. We met back up and went to the 1:30 Lights, Motors, Action show. It’s a cool show but it can become repetitive. It takes a good chunk out of the day and the crowds can be claustrophobic. BUT we did spot some Mickeys so we were able to check those off the list. Afterwards we used our TSM fastpasses and then left to go back to the Fort at 3. The men took a short rest in the RV and then we headed down to the marina. We were going to MK by way of the resort launch. My parents hadn’t seen the Contemporary before. We visited there and rode the resort monorail to my favorite park! We came in at 5:30 and watched some of the parade. After the crowds had cleared, we went to the left to Frontierland for Big Thunder fastpasses and dinner at Pecos Bill. I love their fake orange cheese sauce for dipping fries. We ate on the outside terrace and just had a nice, relaxing time. We rode Haunted Mansion and the riverboat. It was our first time on the riverboat. It wasn’t crowded and easy to move across the deck to see things on either side of the river. I hadn’t realized how large the river is; the slow-moving speed might have played into the affect of it seeming longer though. We spotted some construction work on the new interactive que line for Haunted Mansion.We used our Big Thunder fastpasses and then waited about 30 minutes at Pooh. We had not seen the new que yet and had a great time playing with the toys—especially the honey screens! We finished up the evening with the People Mover and Emporium before boarding the Fort boat at 11:45pm.I have mixed feelings about this dance party...Day 5- Sunday, February 20Our departure morning. I could get used to having an RV—the break down did not even compare to tent camping. We left right around 11 and went to IHOP on Apopka-Vineland. Between the wait for a table and the meal itself, we didn’t get on I-4 till 12:45. We had an uneventful drive home and were back at 5:30pm.Our site placement worked out well. DH and I used the comfort station while my parents used the RV. Up next—March spring break trip Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted August 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Loving the report! I never could get into the Harry Potter craze, but it was cool to see the park pics.That oreo krispie looks delicious! What does butterbeer taste like? I grew up with Harry Potter so I have a special attachment. We should anxiously wait for each new book and stay awake until finishing! Butterbeer is a mixture of butter, butterscotch, and cream soda. The frozen kind has an Icee texture where the regular is cold liquid. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Roller ... aka Ed 351 Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 :bravo: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
doodlebug....Cherie 461 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Thanks for the great report and pictures :banana: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted August 6, 2011 Report Share Posted August 6, 2011 Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
rm0530 5 Posted August 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2011 :bravo:Thanks for the great report and pictures :banana:Thanks for sharing your trip with us!Thank you all for reading!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted August 9, 2011 Report Share Posted August 9, 2011 Wow, you are getting good at cranking out these trip reports.You just missed the TCD gang on this trip. We were there for the weekend right before you arrived. We left on February 14th, and you arrived on the 16th.Thanks for sharing all of your great photos!Now, I'm going to go read your March report.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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