Monday, June 24, 2013

We Went To Walt Disney World Part One: All Stars Music Resort, Magic Kingdom, Wishes

Well, I’m back!

For those who are like, “Back from what?” I’ll explain.

We’ve been in Disney World for a week. We have returned. Therefore it means this week will most likely be all about Disney.

It was a family reunion on Tom’s side of the family. So even though Tom was deployed and could not come, I wasn’t totally on my own.

We stayed at a value resort. In a STANDARD room. In other words, the cheapest spot on Disney property. We stayed at All Stars Music. There are three All Stars hotels: Sports, Music, and Movies. Sometimes the Disney bus will stop at all three. MUSIC is the second stop.

Here is what the room looked like:


Two queen beds with a music décor. We had a blue carpet decorated with stars, plus a musical wall border. There was a tiny table with two chairs. Beyond that curtain was a sink and then the bathroom:




(To learn more about the hotel and see better pictures, click here.)


PROS: Had all the basics. You could order pizza and have it delivered to your room. The food court was open until midnight. The television was flat panel. (I’m always surprised when I go to hotels and they still have the fat TVs.) The beds were comfortable. If you put up the Privacy sign on the door, the maids still left clean towels and such in a bag on the door handle. Cheapest rate on Disney property.


CONS: You could hear the people in the next room. I could hear them cough. Thankfully they weren’t newlyweds so I didn’t have to explain grunts to my children. You could also hear when they flushed the toilet. We were in the rooms towards the back, so it was about a 5 minute walk to the food court and the buses. The pools were nice, but there were no slides. The alarm clock in my room did not work.


Would I stay at All Stars Music again? Probably not. I might try another value resort, Pop Century, next time. Maybe we'll upgrade to the Preferred rooms, which is one up from Standard. Or if we strike it rich, The Grand Floridian. Value hotels are for the people who don’t plan on spending a lot of time in the hotel, like us. We were basically always on the go and only used it to sleep and rest.


EATING AT DISNEY WORLD:


We were on the Quick Service plan. That’s the cheapest plan they offer. We got 2 quick service (or fast food) meals, plus a dessert, a snack, and a drink. Also you got refillable mugs that you could use at your hotel. Meaning I could fill my mug up with Diet Coke as much as I wanted. But only at our hotel. Not at any of the parks.

The Quick Service offers PLENTY of food in my opinion. You might think, hey, what about breakfast? I just brought Pop Tarts and Little Debbie snacks for the morning. Then we would eat lunch at 11. Each meal you get a dessert, and they aren’t crappy either. Normally they would be a delicious cupcake, cookie, or brownie.


Anyway, we arrived Saturday evening and decided to head straight for Magic Kingdom.



Natalie was excited to see the castle. We went to Disney World in 2008 but she didn’t remember any of it since she was a baby.

Here she is anxiously waiting to see the castle.

We rounded the corner and…



“THERE IT IS!”



She was so excited!



“You know,” she told me seriously, “Full House came here.” Yup. I remembered the episode. Michelle was princess of the day. Wandered off when Stephanie got upset with her. DJ kept seeing her boyfriend all over the place.



In front of the castle. I have no idea why Natalie was doing that.


We decided to eat at Cosmic Rays after that. I got a chili cheese dog with a salad and a chocolate cake:



Then we went to find a spot for the Electrical Parade. The castle would light up in different colors:



Blurry picture of Natalie doing that odd pose again.



The parade started and people were everywhere. The kids couldn’t see so adults started hoisting them up on shoulders. (Don’t worry. They were adults from our family. Not random adults.)



After the parade came Wishes, where the castle puts on a performance and then there are fireworks:


There’s Wreck It Ralph.


Natalie’s favorite: the lanterns from Tangled:






It was a fabulous show. If you want to see more, type in Disney World Wishes at YouTube and videos will pop up.


When the show was over, most of the people in the park are also ready to call it a night so it took awhile to leave. I felt like cattle being led along. I wanted to shout out, “Mooo!” but didn’t want to freak out Tom’s family.



More to come Wednesday (since tomorrow is Hey, It's Okay Tuesday!) It’ll include Bippity Boppity Boutique, seeing the Tangled decorated bathrooms, and eating at Cinderella’s Royal Table!

17 comments:

  1. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!! I LOVE Disney!

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  2. That looks like so much fun! I am so impressed that your daughter knows all about Full House. You are clearly doing your part to educate the next generation on TV classics!

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  3. Looks like you got more than just the t-shirt!!

    :)

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  4. Love your pictures of her face as she saw the castle...so sweet! :) Good to know about that resort...I wondered about it.-Ashley

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  5. Very informative post. We are planning a trip to Disney World in the next year or two. I am looking forward to reading your upcoming posts!
    Justin Knight- Writing Pad Dad
    Writing Pad Dad Blog

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  6. I just posted my Disney pictures today too (after postponing it for a week!) You look like you were much closer for the parade and light show. It was pretty cool, huh?

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  7. How fun! We considered staying at that hotel. Good to know from your review!

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  8. Oh how fun! We will be there in September, staying at the Pop Century Hotel with the same meal plan you did. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

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  9. How fun! I can't wait for the day that we can take our girls to Disney!
    Sorry about the room though! It seems like it would have been a nice place to stay.

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  10. Disney is the BEST PLACE ON EARTH! Can't wait to see more of your trip!

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  11. awesome start! we missed wishes. I'm really sad about it. it poured on both nights we were at mk!

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  12. We went this time last year. We missed Wishes because that was when my children had their epic meltdown. I don't mind the All Stars, because we spend so little time in our rooms and I just don't have the budget to swing it any other way!

    You make me want to go back. *Sigh*

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  13. I agree, All Star isn't my favorite, but it's not a bad deal if you don't need the extras. I don't think Pop has a slide, either, but most of the moderate resorts do. Also, hearing the toilet flush from another room is something I've noticed at a few different resorts on property. Love the pictures and how excited you all are :)

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  14. fun! we are planning a trip to disneyland in the next year or two!

    Sisters Marie
    Buy * Sell * Swap on BISTM!

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  15. I love that you had a salad with your chili dog! Ha! Balancing things out right?

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Thanks for the comment!

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