For my dad (a.k.a. Stove)'s 70th birthday, we surprised him with a trip to Walt Disney World! My WDW portion of the trip report will be relatively brief, since we had another surprise coming, but I do want to take some time to share our land-based Disney fun.

Since Aaron and I had the farthest to travel, we took a redeye flight from LAX to MCO. I've taken the LAX > MCO redeye many times (it's my preferred flight because I arrive in the morning and get a full day at Disney), but this was Aaron's first time joining me. While I can sleep anywhere (truly - I have a sleep disorder), and the adrenaline of being at Walt Disney World is enough to power me through the day, it turns out that Aaron is not as well-suited for redeye flights. He didn't get much sleep on the plane and was definitely dragging that morning.

After arriving at MCO, we went to The Club at MCO, a lounge that we accessed using Priority Pass through our Capital One Venture X cards.

When securing FastPass+ reservations 30 days out, I was a little shocked that I was unable to secure a FP+ for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.  I tried for it at midnight for everyday of our trip and was unable to get the FP+.  What I found especially odd is that I made a FP+ reservation for the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for July 3rd at a little less than 30 days out with no problem (though it was a very late and undesirable FP+ return time).  But for this obscure week in August, I was unable to get the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train for any time on any day.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was at the top of Max's list of attractions in Magic Kingdom, so I knew that the only way to ride it without waiting for over an hour was to rush there first thing in the morning.

I suppose we arrived early enough that they weren't running the monorail.  Instead, they had ferry and bus transportation from the Transportation and Ticket Center to the park.

There is still construction on the over-water bungalows at the Polynesian which are part of the latest addition the Disney Vacation Club.  They block the view of the Grand Floridian from the Transportation and Ticket Center, and I don't like it!  You can view more photos of the over-water bungalows and read more about my dislike of the obstructive DVC addition in my Independence Day Trip Report.



We arrived to Magic Kingdom right in time for the park opening show... but not soon enough to go ahead into the park before the show.

Sunday, March 23, 2014 - Good-bye, Breeze!

We had an early departure time of 8:15 AM. Max and I decided to eat breakfast in the dining room because it was convenient to our room and allowed us to avoid the craziness of the Lido Buffet with suitcases.

When we were finished in the dining room, it was past our scheduled time of departure, but when we arrived in the atrium, we learned that they were a little behind schedule. Our timing was perfect, though, because we were the next group to be called, and were able to walk right off the ship without waiting in a long line.

Since we didn't have a lot of bags, we didn't need a porter (with my family, we always use a porter). The customs line wasn't very long. Max was in front of me (usually he gets behind me for things like this), and when the officer took his passport and asked Max where he was born, Max was unprepared for that question. "Uhhhhhh....." He looked at me, and I was thinking come on, Max, you can do it! "Ohio." I really wanted to laugh. After that, the customs officer gave him a bit of a hard time. "Who are you traveling with?" "Her." "What did you buy?" "I bought a watch..." "Did you buy that watch?" (pointing to watch on my wrist) "No, not on this cruise." "Where is the watch you bought?" "In my suitcase." "Okay, you're good."

After clearing customs, we found our car in the parking garage.

ESPN Club

Rachel I had done the unthinkable by going to Disney over fall break - skipping a home game! We knew we had a pretty good place to watch it, though.

So did everyone else. Check out the line outside!



ESPN Club at Disney's Boardwalk is the best place at Walt Disney World to watch football (or any sports game).  The restaurant has over 100 screens showing games on 35 different channels.  Even the bathrooms have televisions, so you never have to miss out on a minute of the game!