Freedom of the Seas December 2008

Sometimes it is hard to put into words or it is hard to describe some of the wonderful and beautiful things you see during your travels. Such is the case with with our recent trip. Our latest journey took us on a 7 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean with stops in San Juan PR, St. Thomas and St Maarten.

The ship of choice was Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas (FOS). The FOS is considered a mega class ship (over 130,000 gross tons). It is longer than the Eiffel Tower. It is BIG!! That originally was a concern when we booked the trip. Would it be too big? Since it can hold over 4000 passengers, would it feel extremely crowded? Would we spend our time walking aimlessly just trying to find our dinner table?

None of those original concerns were concerns anymore once we boarded the ship. We embarked on Sunday December the 14th. The embarkation process took a little over an hour and that was due to the ship undergoing a "deep cleaning" after the previous cruise pulled into port earlier that day. Some passengers from the previous cruise had shown signs of the Norovirus which dictated a thorough cleaning of the ship between sailings so we were not upset about the short embarkation delay. We were on board shortly after 1:00PM and we headed straight for the Windjammer Cafe for lunch. My wife was thrilled to see that Royal Caribbean has the same french fry recipe for all of their sailings and ships. She loves their fries. Since the most of the staterooms were still being cleaned and not open for passengers, the restaurant was crowded which meant that passengers were being allowed to seat themselves in Chop's and Portofino's (more on them later).

After lunch we headed out to explore the ship. I can't say enough about the aesthetics of the ship. It is a beautiful vessel. We went to check out our seating assignment in main dining room which is broken down into 3 sections; Galileo's, Issac's and Leonardo's. We were on the second level which was Issac's. Elegant is the word I would use to describe the overall decor and feel of the dining areas.

We then headed out to walk down one of Royal Caribbean's most unique feature on their larger vessels, the Royal Promenade. For the lack of a better description, this is a mall down the center of the ship lined with shops and restaurants. It is designed to have the feel of a small street in Europe where you can sit outside of a cafe and watch the day and the crowds go by. Besides the shops, there are several eating and drinking venues set up along the Promenade; The Promenade Cafe for desserts and coffee, Sorrento's for Pizza and other Italian favorites, Vintages for a glass of fine wine and The Bull and the Bear which is an English styled pub. What I like about this area of the ship is that it offers a great place to hang out on the ship if there happens to be any bad weather during your cruise. Can't say enough good things about the Promenade. The Promenade was also a venue for parades and live music during the cruise and one of our favorites was a show called "Dancin' in the Streets" which was a 70's themed show which brought back some great memories.

We have no complaints about any of the public areas of the ship (except for the spa) and I will post a link at the end of the review where you can go to see pictures and judge how beautiful the ship is for yourself. The spa was our only disappointment. Our previous cruise on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas had set our expectation for what we thought we would see on this newer, larger Royal Caribbean ship. The spa on the Radiance was far and above better than the one of the FOS. The spa this time was really just a bunch of treatment rooms. There was not really a relaxation area or a sauna and steam area like we were accustomed to. The only steam and sauna room was down in the male and female locker areas next to the fitness area which really removes it from being associated with the spa upstairs. I was beginning to think that nice spa areas on ships might be a thing of the past until we pulled up next to Celebrity's newest ship, The Solstice, while we were in San Juan. We looked across and could see their spa area through these huge floor to ceiling windows and it far surpassed what we had on the FOS. I hope Royal Caribbean has improved this area on the newest ship which is scheduled to sail in just a few more months.

Other areas that will interest a lot of potential passengers are the ice skating rink on board called Studio B, the only wave simulator at sea called Flowrider and the 43 ft rock climbing wall which I am proud to say I tried and conquered.

Now onto the stateroom. We booked a PR category stateroom on deck 6. The PR category rooms are staterooms that are inside cabins, but overlook the Royal Promenade with a nice sized bay window. The room was a bit smaller than what we were hoping for and storage demanded some unpacking strategy. The space was a little cramped when we were both trying to get ready for dinner etc., but it wasn't too bad. We probably will not book another PR category room but I would not hesitate in recommending it to folks who like some view from their room but do not want to pay for an outside cabin.

Now let's discuss dining. As I mentioned, our main dining seat assignment was in Issac's Dining Room which the second floor of the 3 floor main dining room. We had excellent table mates from North Carolina. Their company each night made the cruise and our dinners extra special. The food every night was well prepared and the service was fantastic. The food and service was by far better than the Disney Cruise we had taken the year prior.

We also made arrangements to dine in one of Royal Caribbean's specialty restaurants, Chops Grille. Chops is known for their steaks and they did not disappoint. I had the 16 oz T-Bone and it was fantastic. You could cut it with a butter knife. My wife had the small fillet and it too was wonderful and tender. The specialty restaurants require an additional $25 per person and I can say it was well worth it when you consider that the cost covers any appetizer, main course and also a dessert. The same meal would cost near $100 at most good steak restaurants back on land.

The other, less expensive specialty restaurant on board is Johnny Rockets. Johnny Rockets is known in the U.S. for their great hamburgers and fun atmosphere. The cost extra cost is a low $3.50 per person which also covers appetizers, a burger or sandwich choice and also dessert. It was kind of surreal to be on board a huge ship in the middle of the Atlantic and be sitting in a Johnny Rockets eatery listening and watching the staff sing and dance to the Bee Gee's Staying Alive.

I forgot to mention that the Royal Promenade also offers another very popular eatery, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. It was a popular spot along with the Royal Promenade Cafe which we frequented often.

To view photos of the ship and the cruise...click on this link.

I am going to continue my review in part 2 where I will discuss the entertainment as well as the ports of call.

Walt Disney World Vacation 2008 Part 2

Finally I have a chance to sit down and finish my trip review of our latest Walt Disney World adventure. I wanted to finish up the review by discussing the dining portion of our trip. Dining is a big part of anyone's Disney vacation. We were fortunate to be able to go on this trip when Disney was offering the Basic Dining Plan free if you booked a package during as long as your travel dates met certain criteria. The dining plan gets you the following:

1 Table Service credit per person per number of nights of your stay
1 Counter Service credit per person per number of nights of your stay
1 Snack credit per person per number of nights of your stay

These credits can be used all at any time during your stay, but they cannot carry over past the dates of your trip. In other words...use them or lose them. Naturally since it was a free offer, we think the dining plan was worth it. Ha! But I also think it is worth it as an added paid option for others who travel to Walt Disney World at other times of the year when the free plan is not offered. A table service meal credit can be used at all participating Disney Resort and Parks restaurant where you would be seated for a meal. For example...Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot is a table service option. The Yak and Yeti in Disney's Animal Kingdom is a table service option. A counter service credit can be used at most quick service restaurants through the Walt Disney Resort. Quick service denotes those restaurants where you look at menu with fewer selections, walk up and order and pay and then go and pick up your meal and find any available seating. For example...Pizza Planet in Disney's Hollywood Studios is a quick service restaurant. A snack credit can be used to purchase a bottle of water, a cookie, a ice cream bar etc at some of the snack kiosks and even inside some of the counter service restaurants.

With that said...here is how we used our credits. We had 6 credits each since we stayed 6 nights. We made advanced reservations at the following table service restaurants:

Tutto Italia-Epcot
Yak and Yeti-Disney's Animal Kingdom
The Hollywood Brown Derby-Disney's Hollywood Studios
Hollywood and Vine-Disney's Hollywood Studios
Boma's-Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge

We ate counter service meals in Epcot, The Magic Kingdom and back at our resort. Most of our counter service meals were used for breakfast at our resort. Snacks were mostly used for bottles of water within the parks.

The key to proper utilization of the dining plan is planning! Since most table service restaurants, those which are popular for various reasons, fill up as much as 6 months in advance of a given date. If someone were to purchase the plan and then wait too long to make their advance dining reservations, they could run a risk of not having any available table service options and therefore not be able to use all of their credits before the end of their trip. That would be a waste of money. So you must be able to sit down and plan out your meals well in advance if you plan on successfully using the dining plan.

To be continued...

Walt Disney World Vacation Review 2008 part 1

This post will give a detailed review of our latest trip to Walt Disney World. The dates of our trip were August 24th through the 30th. We arrived late Sunday night in Orlando (approx. 10:00PM). We headed straight for Disney's Magical Express desk where we were once again greeted warmly and promptly directed to the line where we could board our Disney Bus to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort.

Here is a tip...if you book a late flight, don't assume that will mean less of a crowd on Magical Express. Because we were later in the evening, the buses were waiting much longer than usual to make sure they had as many guests on board as they could get since they run less frequently that late at night. We waited on the bus almost 45 minutes while they allowed more passengers to check in at the desk and get on board.

We then were on our way and arrived at the resort very close to 11:45PM. The crowd at check in was very light due to our late arrival and since most other passengers on the bus were headed for other resorts. In about 15 minutes we were checked in and waiting outside for the resort internal bus to take us to our assigned building. We were in "Aruba" which seemed about half way between the Custom House (where you check in) and Port Royale (where you go to eat and shop).

We got in the room at about 12:30AM and were very pleased with the size and decor of the room. Our room was a "Garden View" which really means you have some flora outside your window that pretty much blocks your view to anything else.


Here is another tip...when arriving this late to the resort, plan on packing your bath necessities and your next day's clothes in your carry-on bag so you will have what you need to get you through until the next afternoon. Then call the front desk when you arrive to your room and tell them to hold your bags until the next morning. If you don't, you will have to stay up until the bell service delivers them to your room which, in our case, was not until roughly 1:30AM. We were exhausted by the time they arrived and wished we had planned better for such things.

We had an early character breakfast reservation at Disney's Hollywood Studios which also meant we got little sleep before our first day in the parks, but it always seems like adrenaline kicks in when you get to a park and it manages to carry you through the day. We awoke at 6:15AM ready to get to our bus stop to catch one of the less frequent buses (so we thought). We understood that the buses ran only every 30 to 45 minutes if it was more than an hour before the parks were scheduled to open. Our reservation was for 8:00AM at Hollywood and Vine so we figured we better be at the bus stop to catch a bus that might be there around 7:15 or 7:30 in case another did not come until closer to 8:00AM. Well...we got at the stop around 6:50AM and the bus pulled up right at the moment for Disney's Hollywood Studios so we jumped on and a whopping 10 minutes later there we were right outside the gate of the park at an ever so early 7:00AM...a FULL HOUR before our breakfast reservation. Lesson learned! :)

Hollywood and Vine is a great place to eat breakfast in the park. It was a full breakfast buffet with an abundance of choices including some healthier fare. There were also characters from the Little Einsteins and JoJo's Circus present which seemed to be a hit among the children.

After breakfast...we headed out to get in the line forming for the official opening of the park. The good thing about having an early morning breakfast reservation in the park is that you do get to bypass the lines forming outside in the turnstiles and you end up about half way up in the crowd that is waiting or the rope to drop.

Tip: If you are visiting Disney's Hollywood Studios in the next few months, plan on heading to their newest attraction, Toy Story Mania, first. It seems to now be more popular than the Tower of Terror or even Rock N Roller Coaster.

The crowds were pretty good considering the time we traveled was also during Disney's free dining plan offer which is available to resort guests during a certain time of the year (usually the end of August until late September) and at select resorts. For those not familiar with the dining plan, here is how it works. You get 1 table service meal, 1 counter service meal and 1 snack per person, per night of your stay. We were staying 6 nights so we got 6 each. This dining plan works well if you plan on eating a lot of food. If you usually have a dessert item for lunch and dinner, then the plan will save you money overall. If you don't...I am not sure it is a benefit. It demands that you plan your meals well in advance of your trip. If you do not use your meal credits by the end of your stay...you lose them. We had to make advance reservations at 5 table service restaurants (The Hollywood Brown Derby is a signature restaurant so it required 2). If you wait until you arrive, the chances of getting into some of Disney's more popular sit down restaurants is pretty slim. We made our reservations about 90 days before our trip.

What has changed recently with the plan is that you no longer get an appetizer with your table service meals, only one non-alcoholic beverage, one entree and one dessert. Also tips are no longer included in the plan so make sure you tip each server accordingly.

I will post more about the meals and the other aspects of our trip in part 2...

Stay Tuned...Disney 2008!

Check back here in early September to find my review from our upcoming Walt Disney World trip. We leave on August 24 and return August 30. We will be staying on Disney property at the Caribbean Beach Resort. Our current itinerary plan is as follows:

Day 1--Disney's Hollywood Studios
Day 2--EPCOT
Day 3--Disney's Animal Kingdom
Day 4--The Magic Kingdom

I will make sure I have pictures available of the Caribbean Beach Resort such as room layout, pools and recreation options and the variety of eating options.

Meanwhile...also check out my brand new website: Operation Destination Travels

Branson and Silver Dollar City

This post will document our recent trip to Branson Missouri and 2 days at the amusement park...Silver Dollar City. We went on May 15th and 16th (Thursday and Friday). Make a note of the dates because it was a great time of the year to visit this sometimes very congested area. Branson is one of the main tourist spots in the State of Missouri and gets large bus loads of kids and other tour groups throughout the busier times of the year. We picked these dates because we knew kids would still be in school and the weather would already be fairly warm and pleasant.

Crowds were extremely light. Show lines were short, ride lines seemed even shorter. If you like to ride rides and hate having to stand in 1 to 2 hour lines, consider planning trips to amusement parks during this time of year.

Silver Dollar City is one of the most pristine and scenic amusement parks we have ever visited. Flowers and trees lined every walkway throughout the park. The shops are all themed in the time period of the old time settlers with somewhat of a "Hillbilly" look and feel (I mean that in a good way). It was one of the cleanest parks I have ever been to outside of Walt Disney World.

I cannot stress enough how this park is devoted to promoting a family atmosphere. Foul language of any sort or any obscene gestures will get those who use such escorted from the park. I have never seen such attention to maintaining a certain environment in all my life. It was refreshing.
A few years ago you would have never used the phrase "thrill ride" in conjunction with talking about Silver Dollar City. The two now go together. They have recently added several thrill rides including 2 top notch roller coasters; WildFire and Powder Keg. One drops and twists and turns through the Ozark hillside while the other launches you from 0 to 60mph in around 2 seconds and sends you on a blast over bumps and through turns. Other rides of note is the huge swinging ride called "Barn Swing" and another spinning ride call "Electro Spin." Needless to say my thrill quota was met for a while. For more details about this park and its offerings visit: www.silverdollarcity.com

One more mention goes out to Silver Dollar City. I have to tell you about the food. Now there is the standard amusement park food offerings; hamburgers, hot dogs, funnel cakes etc. Then there is the food that really raises the bar for amusement parks elsewhere. I had some of the best barbecue around right there inside the park. It was high quality at even a reasonable price. In fact, the food prices seemed lower and more in line with normal restaurant prices versus what you normally pay for eating inside of an amusement park. And if you have a sweet tooth, they have some of the best candy and chocolate makers and bakers right there inside the park as well. We were highly impressed with the food and snack offerings so go hungry and enjoy!

Now on to where we decided to stay for the one night on this trip. I made arrangements for us to stay at Marriott's Horizon Vacation Club Resort. If you have a large family and want a place to stay where you can bring your own food and even cook if you want, this is the place to stay. Unlike most cabin or condo offerings that are outside the town area, this resort is close to everything while also being off the main street that runs by all of the different show venues. The grounds were beautiful and the rooms well appointed. You can choose to stay in one of the studio style rooms that comes equipped with a kitchenette or you can book one of their 2 bedroom, 2 bath villas that comes with a full size kitchen, living room area and even a washer and dryer. I was very impressed with the accommodations and can recommend this resort without hesitation.

You cannot go to Branson without trying to get in a music show or 2 while you are there. The concierge at the Marriott made mention of a new show that just started this past March. It is a musical walk through time from the 50's all the way through the 90's. These 2 brothers, The Rankin Brothers, do some of the best impressions of certain musicians that I have ever seen. If you were to have closed your eyes while they were singing, you would have bet your life that Buddy Holly, Simon and Garfunkel and even Elvis was on stage singing and performing. The crowd was light due to their "newbie" status in Branson, but well worth the money and I would make it a point to try to hear them again the next time we make it to Branson.

If you are interested in taking a trip to Branson and need help planning any of these activities, don't hesitate in sending me an e-mail and I would be glad to help with any or all of your plans.

Walt Disney World Review Part 2-The Criuise

Disney Wonder Cruise Review
December 9th-13th

This review will cover the cruise that my wife and I took on the Disney Cruise Line. Currently Disney has 2 ships in operation, the Magic and the Wonder. The Magic takes passengers on a 7 night Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We were on the Wonder, which is a 4 night cruise to 2 Bahamian ports of call; Nassau and Disney’s private island, Castaway Cay.

This cruise was a part of Disney’s Land and Sea package. We stayed 3 nights at one of Walt Disney’s resorts from December 6th through the 8th and then headed for the pier on the morning of 9th. Due to our visit to a local Church congregation, we made private transportation arrangements through Sunray Transportation. I cannot say enough about Sunray and Bob, one of Sunray’s owners. Bob made special arrangements to drive by our Church location a day ahead of time just so he would know where it was that he was to pick us up. If you want fantastic service (transportation in a nice leather seated SUV) at an affordable price, give Sunray a call. They can easily be found on the web.

We arrived at the pier at 12:30PM. Getting through security was a breeze. If we had not stopped for a 10-minute bathroom break once inside the terminal, we could have been on the ship in less than 10 minutes. Since we had stayed at one of Disney’s resorts prior to our sail date, we had the luxury of being able to check in at our hotel earlier that morning. That meant we had our stateroom keys in hand by the time we reached the terminal.

One of the neat things they do on all Disney cruises is announce you by name as you enter the ship. A neat little perk. After we boarded, we were directed to one of the 2 buffets (Beach Blanket Buffet and Parrot Cay). Since it was only 1:00PM, it would be another 30 minutes before we could go check out our stateroom.

We were told that Parrot Cay was full so we had no choice but to go to Beach Blanket Buffet. The first thing we noticed was that the buffet area was much smaller than what we became used to on Royal Caribbean. This made it very tight to get in and around the buffet line and it also meant that the selection of food seemed smaller. The seating area inside was also much smaller and meant that the only choice was to sit outside which had its challenges in the wind.
After w quick bite, we were anxious to see our stateroom. We were in a category 5 stateroom that was a deluxe stateroom with a verandah. Our room number was 7036. We were close to mid ship on deck 7. The room was very nice. It had a classical nautical theme with lots of Disney artwork placed throughout. One of the unique things about Disney staterooms is that most come with a bath and a half; one with a vanity and tub/shower combo and another with a vanity and a toilet. This was nice when we were both trying to get ready at the same time. The rooms seemed spacious and the beds were very comfortable. They do need some updating when it comes to the TV’s. Most cruise lines now are going to nice flat screen TV’s and the one we had was your typical 13-inch TV from the 1980’s. Other than that…the room was very nice and our stateroom attendant was superb.

Our dinner rotation schedule had us visiting the dining restaurants in this order; Parrot Cay, Tritons, Tritons, and Animator’s Palate. Parrot Cay was the least favorite of ours. The theme was nice, but the restaurant lacked any special flair. Tritons was actually our favorite out of the 4 due to the ambience and menu choices. Animator’s Palate was kind of a let down. We had heard so much about how the scene changes in the restaurant as your receive each dinner course, but the change was less than dramatic and the music change was almost unnoticeable. The servers all left at the same time and came back clapping with colorful vests on which was really the most dramatic part of the dinner experience and that wasn’t much to talk about.

The food was good, not great in all the restaurants except for Palo’s (which I will get to in a moment). The service however was noticeably sub par. Our two servers had a really hard time at remembering what each person had ordered. While we easily excused it the first night, it became a pattern by the last night. We were accustom to Royal Caribbean’s superior service and how their servers paid attention to the smallest level of detail and that was simply not the case with our experience on this cruise. One morning for breakfast we had decided to try the buffet at Parrot Cay and also found the service to be disappointing. I had asked the server for coffee, which never made it to our table. Now I am aware that each server is unique and we may have been the exception to the rule. So take this criticism for what it is worth.

On the day at sea, we had made arrangements to have brunch in Palo’s, Disney’s alternative dining restaurant. Our experience there was superb. The service was excellent! The food choices for a brunch were incredible and the atmosphere was exquisite. The extra charge was only $10 per person, which was a bargain, compared to other cruise lines. I highly recommend for everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to dine at Palo’s.

The ship itself is what I will call a classical ship with its elegant color scheme. The inside is simply decorated, but quite beautiful. Disney has done a great job by keeping the Disney theme out in the forefront while still keeping things elegant and simple. They used a lot of black and white Disney prints in the common areas and a person really needs to take the time to stop and take some of them in.

I want to make mention of 3 areas of the ship that we found to be above our expectations. First the ship’s Buena Vista movie theatre is second to none. For a ship of its size, it was a large theatre laid out with tiered seating similar to those found in modern theatres. The real plus was that they show first-run movies and even Disney’s movies that are also making their theatre debut back at home. I am not giving it justice in this review, but please do not overlook it once you are onboard. Trust me.

Second, the shops onboard were laid out well and had a great selection for every age group. You felt that you were in a shop back at one of Disney’s theme parks. Once again…trust me and take come extra cash for shopping!

Third, there was the Walt Disney Theatre had some of the best show productions we have seen so far at sea. From the set decorations to the cast members, you felt you were at a Broadway show production. They were highly entertaining and a must-do during your cruise.

I also want to mention one area of the ship that Disney really needs to address. I am not sure what they were thinking when they designed the Vista Spa to be placed on a deck right below the sports deck and basketball courts. The pouncing of a basketball really does detract away from a true spa experience. Also…I was surprised to learn that there was an additional charge to use their rainforest room even if you had scheduled a spa treatment. That is not the case on some of the other cruise lines. I understand charging a daily use fee for those who only want to come and use this amenity, but not for those who are already paying a nice fee for a massage etc.

Now…on to the excursions and ports of call. Since this was only a 4-night cruise, we had 2 ports of call scheduled as I already mentioned; Nassau and Castaway Cay. Nassau is what it is. We probably would not have bothered getting off the ship had we not planned for an excursion. The excursion was the Dolphin Encounter on Blue Lagoon Island. It was awesome! It was worth every penny and something everyone needs to do at least once in their lifetime. The staff on the Island is very professional and does a great job, not only with the interaction, but also with the educating of the guests regarding the dolphins and their environment. It was the highlight of our cruise and one we will cherish for a long time.

The second port of call was Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. We were docked by 7:30AM and cleared to disembark by 8:00AM. Being docked at the island is a luxury of being with Disney. Most cruise lines tender their guests onto their private islands. Docking is always a added advantage and it made getting off and on the ship a breeze. The Island is divided up into sections for all age groups, teen beaches, family beaches, children play areas, and even an area solely for adults called Serenity Bay. We were excited to be able to get away from the noise and bustle of the children spend the day in an entire “adults only” area. The beach at Serenity Bay was gorgeous. There were plenty of beach chairs. My wife made an appointment at one of their open-air cabanas, which was wonderful. The whole experience on the Island was great. Disney really has mastered the ability to organize and feed and transport large groups of people and this shined through on Castaway Cay.

For the sake of time and space, I will end the cruise review right here. Disney will make your cruise experience very enjoyable, especially if you have children. We prefer a longer cruise so we will probably not be going on this cruise again, but I can recommend it without reservations. You will be spoiled by Disney’s ability to get you on and off the ship at each and every port. The embarkation and disembarkation process was extremely hassle-free. We docked back at our homeport in Port Canaveral on the 13th at 6:00AM and were cleared to disembark by 7:00AM. You do not have to disembark in groups on Disney, which means you can simply walk off once the ship is cleared by the port authorities.

If you have any questions, please leave it on the comments section. If you would like to see pictures of the ship or other videos, you can visit our other blog site at www.xanga.com/oeshpdog2. You can also see other videos at www.youtube.com/oeshpdog2.

Walt Disney World Review

This review will cover the parks in general as well as the 2 hotels that we stayed at during our trip which were the Swan Hotel of Disney's Swan and Dolphin Resort and Disney's Polynesian Resort.

We arrived December 6, 2007. The trip was arranged as a Land and Sea Package through Disney which includes all of their transportation as well (I will cover the cruise in a separate review). When you book a stay at a Disney resort you get Disney's Magical Express as a free transportation option which means you get the luxury of checking your bags in at your point of departure and never have to touch them again until they arrive in your room at your hotel. In addition, most Disney resorts now offer airline check-in service. We checked our baggage in with Delta Airlines at the Polynesian on the day of our departure and avoided those long lines when we arrived at Orlando's International Airport. Disney offers a lot of perks that do not show up on a budget sheet sometimes but can save you a tremendous amount of time and headache.

Disney is very efficient. We arrived a little earlier than scheduled (around 11:30AM), made our way directly to Disney's Magical Express desk, and waited a few brief moments as they readied us to board the bus. We were on our way to the resort within 30 minutes of our plane landing.

We arrived at the Swan Hotel, checked in, received our park passes (a 7 day park hopper pass is included in your land and sea package), took a brief look at our room and we were off to to Disney's MGM Studios by 1:30PM and were on our first ride by 1:45PM. It could not have gone any smoother. I give Disney high marks for their organization.

After a fun day at the park, we headed back to the Swan Hotel. The Swan and Dolphin are in close proximity to EPCOT and MGM Studios. You can access either park by Disney's boat service or by a short 15-20 minute walk. We did both. Walking to MGM from the Swan takes a little longer than the boat ride since there are not stops that the boat has to make between the 2. It is actually a little quicker to walk to EPCOT from the Swan since the boats make 2 additional stops along the way at Disney's Boardwalk Resort and Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort.

The Swan's location is ideal for taking advantage of the 2 parks as well as the Magic Kingdom since you can catch a ride at EPCOT on Disney's Monorail service. It is also adjacent to Disney's Boardwalk area which includes several restaurants and other night life venues.

We also found the Swan to be a quieter place to stay compared to the Polynesian. It seemed to be more popular with the business crowd which tended to be less noisier than the resorts that cater to families. Some may find that to be a negative and find the Swan to be less "magical" than the other Disney resorts (The Swan is actually run by the Westin Hotel group). However, it will probably appeal more to the younger couples or those who travel without children. The Swan still has a breakfast on the weekends in which several Disney characters make an appearance.

Overall, it is a beautiful hotel inside even though the outside seems to be a bit over the top you might say. The rooms were comfortable, but nothing special when you consider the price paid. The restaurant choices were abundant though and we never waited in any line for any of our meals. For a quick, but good breakfast, we recommend trying Picabu over in the Dolphin side of the resort. I do give the staff high marks for their friendliness and smiling faces. They may have not been "cast members," but they were still great and provided great service.

We left the Swan on Sunday the 9th for our 4 night cruise. We returned back to WDW on Thursday the 13th and checked into the Polynesian. This was a totally different experience. The staff is very friendly and more oriented around spreading the Disney magic. Aloha's were heard everywhere as cast members greeted guests. Check in went smooth even though our rooms was not yet available, but it was only 9:00AM so we didn't expect our room to be ready quite that soon. We checked our baggage in with the bell captain and made our way upstairs to the Monorail. That's right...Disney's Monorail picks you up right outside the main door upstairs in a covered area. How convenient is that?! :)

By 9:30AM we were once again in a Disney park, this time we went to the Magic Kingdom for the day. We spent most of the day in the park and headed back around 6:30PM, after the Wishes firework display, and checked out our room. Our room was in the Tahiti building which was quite a walk from the main "Ceremonial House." The positives were that it was away from the main pools and made it a quieter spot and it also had larger rooms than the other buildings. Our room was big considering it was not a suite. It had 2 queen beds, a bathroom with double vanities and a large sitting area with 2 chairs and a couch. The rooms have been upgraded to also include LG flat panel TV's. The negatives were once again the walking distance from the main buildings and restaurants and the building had an old musty smell inside. Our room also a leak underneath the bathroom sink that went unfixed during our stay.

We ate at both Ohana's and the Kona Cafe. Ohana's is very popular for several reasons, one of which is the view of the Magic Kingdom were you can actually sit, eat and watch the nightly fireworks show. It is family style dining and the food just keeps on coming. We found it to be way too much considering we were a table of 2. We had to tell them to quit bringing food. The dessert was awesome however.

For the same price, 2 adults can eat at the Kona Cafe and actually have a better dining experience. We found the food there to be of better quality and the service was at par with Ohana's.

The crowds are where we saw a huge difference between the 2 hotels. The Polynesian drew numerous visitors who were there to see the resort as well as visit Ohana's. That coupled with the numerous families that were there made it feel much more crowded with noise levels quite high in the general areas. We did like the shops in the hotel which carried a wide variety of Disney apparel and gifts. I have to say that the real positive to me for this resort is that it is situated on the Monorail line. It makes it very convenient to get to the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT.

I am not sure however that the close proximity to the Magic Kingdom will cause us to want to stay there again. We prefer the other deluxe choices closer to EPCOT and Disney's MGM Studios.

We visited every park (minus the water parks) on this visit. We really enjoyed them all, but found ourselves wanting to go back and visit the rides in Disney's MGM Studios and EPCOT. The thrill rides in those 2 parks are worth the visit which includes Tower of Terror, Soarin, Rockin Roller Coaster, Mission Space and Test Track. We rode these rides multiple times and could not get enough of them. The newest thrill ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom is the ride called Expedition Everest. It is also a must do, but the walking within that park got the best of us by the 3rd day.

The things you cannot miss if you go to these 3 parks are (knowing not everyone likes thrill rides):

1) It is Tough to be a Bug
2) Festival of the Lion King
3) Soarin'
4) Illuminations (EPCOT's Fireworks show). Start looking for a spot at least 45 minutes before the show begins.

Magic Kingdom is in its own category. Because of the time of year that we were there, the crowds were fairly light which meant we had rode all of the rides that were on our must do list by 3:00PM that same day. It is really geared towards the younger crowds and large families who want to go have a "magical experience" together and aren't as interested in today's version of thrill rides. The fireworks show Wishes is a must see though. Start looking for a good viewing spot about 30 minutes before show time.

One word of advice for all of the parks...get there when they open. The crowds were noticeably lower for at least the first 2 hours that the parks were open and we had rode most of the rides at least once within those first 2 hours. Also try to plan your meals during off peak eating times such as 11:00AM or 1:30PM. That will allow you the ability to ride some of the most popular rides while others are eating their lunch. We also noticed much smaller lines during the scheduled parades that Disney puts on during the day in each park. Find out when those times are when you first enter the park and plan your day accordingly.

If you have specific questions regarding any aspects of Walt Disney World please send me an e-mail or post your question here on this site.