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31 May 04, 12:31 AM |
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Imagineer
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The Hopping Mad Easter Tour - 2004 - SUMMARY
The Hopping Mad Easter Tour - 2004
Shaun - 40 something ‘If it’s high fat, high sugar I’ll eat it’ Alison - 30 something 'If it’s not Atkins I won’t eat it’ Alexandra - 10 ‘Can we play mini-golf? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?’ Laura - 8 'If I’m tall enough I’ll ride it' Summary Well, overall we had a great trip - and as always there were some real highlights, but also a few things that maybe weren’t so good - or that we wouldn’t do again. So we just wanted to sort of summarise our thoughts on the whole trip. Accommodation Firstly, this trip really highlighted how much we love staying in onsite hotels. It’s been quite a while since we stayed off site (1999 to be exact) and we wondered if we’d been a bit caught up in the hype of staying in Disney Hotels - but after we stayed in the off site villa for a week, we TRULY appreciated driving back on site - it felt like coming home! In addition, we loved all the hotel hopping that we did - somehow the holiday seemed longer because of the different resorts we stayed in. We (or rather, Alison) didn’t find the packing/unpacking a problem - we totally unpacked on three of our hotel stays as they were for 5 or more nights and for the other three we just lived out of one bag. A small price to pay for the enjoyment of the different Disney resort hotels! Offsite villa - good value (£240 for Easter week), fine for our needs although not plush. Pop Century - great fun, good value, loved the food court, parking OK. Coronado Springs - very relaxing, lovely scenery, good value. Contemporary - magical stay here, great view, one of our favourite hotels. Portofino Bay - wonderful luxurious resort, great onsite perks for the Universal Hotels. Royal Pacific - loved the South Seas theming - just about squeezes out PBH as our favourite Universal Hotel! Weather - Apart from one or two days it was perfect park weather. The only thing we didn’t like was the cooler mornings and evenings. Laura really feels the cold so she didn’t swim as much as normal, and we all usually enjoy a ‘midnight’ swim after a hot sticky day, but we do like it warm! Moderate temps (usually mid to low 80’s) and low humidity. Time of year / going at Easter Would we go again at this time? - Yes! Crowd levels weren’t too bad as long as you have (and adhere to) a plan, or at the least have a strategy to avoid queues or at least minimise them. Being peak time, many parks/attractions were open for longer (i.e. MK from 07:00 - 12:00) a greater number of shows and parades on ( i.e. 2 x Spectro and Fantasmic) and no rehabs. Compare this to off-peak season - high temps, rehabs but low crowds - you pay your money you take your choice. Highlights Illuminations Cruise on "Breathless" - My highlight as this was just THE best experience IMHO - It was the heady mix of Epcot and exclusivity. Great hotel stays like Portofino Bay Hotel, Contemporary, Royal Pacific Hotel - as “Hotel people” these were fantastic with the Universal ones having a real “upscale feel”. Great food at Cafe Tutu Tango & Olive Garden amongst others Boggy Creek airboats - Great to get away from the usual “hustle and bustle” and see some wildlife. Dine with Shamu - food was nothing special but real “up close and personal” whale interaction without being splashed. Skyventure - Maybe next time I’ll have a go myself but hats off to Laura for being a good sport Water mice on 7 seas lagoon and Bay lake - Another “must do” for me too - the shrieks of pure joy from Alexandra was payment enough. Wishes - Best fireworks ever! WWTBAM hotseat for Alison - we all enjoyed watching Alison win her hat, lanyard, 10 pins and polo shirt! Last thoughts Well, it was a wonderful 3 week holiday - and we enjoyed it all the more because we don’t know when we’ll go back. It certainly won’t be in 2005 - maybe 2006? Either way, we’ve really enjoyed writing these trip reports and hope that others have enjoyed reading them! Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24
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http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL |
31 May 04, 12:34 AM |
#2
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Thread Starter
Imagineer
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Links to our previous trip reports:
May 2001 August 2003 And that reminds me - I still haven't finished typing up the 1988 and 1989 trip reports! Will get round to those at some point!
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http://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sign...igpic534_1.gif 1988 ~ Contemporary ~ Honeymoon 1989 ~ Off site 1994 ~ EuroDisney ~ Santa Fe 1999 ~ Off site 2001 ~ CBR (Aruba) ~ Poly (Tahiti) 2003 ~ WL & HRH 2004 ~ Pop Century, RPH, CSR, PBH, Contemporary 2006 ~ DLP ~ Newport Bay 2007 ~ POR ~ HRH ~ GF 2008 ~ All star sports, BCV, RPH, Vero Beach, VWL 2010 ~ OKW ~ BCV ~ HRH ~POP Century ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL 2013 ~ AKL ~ HRH ~ BCV ~ Vero Beach ~ VWL |
31 May 04, 08:21 AM |
#3
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jan 04
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Thanks Shaun and Alison I really enjoyed reading the reports and you have given me some ideas for our own trip.
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31 May 04, 08:36 AM |
#4
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Imagineer
Join Date: Sep 02
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Excellent reports Alison and Shaun Thank you for sharing your holiday with us
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31 May 04, 08:37 AM |
#5
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jan 03
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Thanks Shaun & Alison
It's been great reading your reports reminding us of WDW. We too prefer staying in hotels but not sure about hotel hopping for our family, but each to their own hey! Great reports and very well written, just like you were talking to us personally. Barry
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31 May 04, 09:43 AM |
#6
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Imagineer
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Thanks to you both for a very entertaining series of reports!
It's certainly given me a few ideas about things - I've been mulling over the idea of having a couple of nights at one of the Universal Hotels to get FOTL access. I'll have tyo run this idea past DH! So glad you had such a great holiday! Thanks again!
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1992(Honeymoon)&1993 Quality Inn International; 1995, 1997, 2006 and 2009 West Coast; 1996 & 1999 Comfort Inn LBV; 2004 Indian Ridge; 2005 & 2011 Regal Palms; 2007 & 2010 The Manors at West Haven; 2008 Sunridge Woods; 2012 Boston and New York 2013 Sandy Ridge 2014 Colorado/Utah/Vegas 2015 Manors North at West Haven 2016 LV/SF/YOSEMITE 2017 Canada 2017 Indian Ridge Oaks |
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31 May 04, 02:54 PM |
#7
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VIP Dibber
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Brilliant ...just spent the last two hours reading the 2001 trip reports...which hotel did you like the best the Poly or the Contemporary?
Thanks Denise
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31 May 04, 03:37 PM |
#8
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Imagineer
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I really enjoyed your reports Shaun and Alison - thanks for sharing them with us.
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31 May 04, 07:22 PM |
#9
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Imagineer
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Thank you very much for your wonderful reports.
I have been truly inspired. Elise
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31 May 04, 08:16 PM |
#10
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Imagineer
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thanks for these great reports. i've really enjoyed reading them and may just have to start at number 1 again
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