WDW and Sea world Feb 2008 trip notes
 

Just returned from Orlando. We braved the Presidents Week crowds and survived!

We only had 3 full days as we arrived on Sunday night after 11pm and we flew home on Thursday morning but they were definitely 3 jam packed days and my feet are recovering.

Day 1 Monday. We arrived at Sea World at 8.30am about 15mins before opening time and lined up for bag check thinking 'Our first line of the day but at least we're at the front!'.
Our plan was to hit the big rides, Kraken and Journey to Atlantis so we marched towards the them and found the walkway roped off! Did we have to hurdle the rope? Limbo under it? No, apparently this was another line.... the guy on the other side explained we had to wait until the official opening at 9am and pointed out the flag behind us. The French family next to us looked confused but seemed to work out what was going on when the music struck up.

Ta da, first to arrive at the Kraken and I waited with the bags while the other 3 rode the beast.
Once was enough for the them and we raced back to the Atlantis water ride at which point I decided 'racing' had to stop. There was NO line and we could slow down our pace to a comfortable walk.

4 times round and completely soaked we planned the rest of the day knowing that we had to leave early for DH conference presentation in the afternoon.

We fed the dolphins at 10.15 and this was seriously crowded. I think it was the wrong time to go! 40mins in line to buy fish! We headed towards Mango Joes Cafe for a quick lunch. Average fast food, average Park prices so while it wasn't exactly good it was exactly what we expected. $45 for 4 including soft drinks.
We fitted in the Shamu show (excellent) sat at the back of the splash zone, saw the penguins, manatees (gray stones?), fed the stingrays, had a couple more rides on Atlantis (we WERE dry!) and headed back to the hotel at 2.30pm.

Overall Sea World wasn't as busy as we expected... apart from the dolphin feeding area. We didn't have to line up for anything else.

Monday afternoon we relaxed at the hotel pool and hot tub which were very quiet. I think the hotel had about 500 conference delegates so it was busy, the pool luckily was not!

Dinner was at Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney. My chicken (organic according to the menu) with garlic mash was excellent, very comforting. The family had 3 different pasta dishes which they rated great, good and blah. The teenager had the 'blah' pasta but he ate everything because he was starving.

We walked back to the hotel, The Lake Buena Vista Palace and were in bed by 10pm ready to face Disney's Magic Kingdom the next day!

Dinner at Wolfgang Puck's was about $100 for 4 entrees plus soft drinks and one glass of wine.

Day 2. Disney.
This was a marathon! We arrived before the Park opened at 9am and just missed appearing in a commercial that was being filmed at the monorail station.
The aim was to hit our 'big 3' Splash, Thunder and Space Mountain as soon as possible.
Astonishingly was rode Splash Mountain 3 times with no lines and Thunder Mountain twice. The staff said it wasn't going to get busy there until much later because it was too cool (warm enough for us! 65F).
We really used the Fast Pass system as much as we could. We got a FP for Splash Mountain to return later that morning and we were able to get anothe FP for Space Mountain an hour later. As soon as we were able to get another FP we did and at one point we had 3 or 4 fast passes each.
We tallied our rides at 18 each. Not bad for holiday week.
It really wasn't as busy as I thought it would be and by using the FP system we didn't line up anywhere for more than 10mins.
We didn't get to ride Dumbo (my daughter's choice) the line was too long at 90mins and no fast pass but everything else we wanted to ride on we did.

Lunch at the Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger etc was excellent. The food itself was better quality and fresher than we'd had there 6 years previously.

We ate dinner at the Noodle Bar in Tomorrowland. Mediocre food, Park prices.

The fireworks were magical. Disney puts on a great show. We left the park just before 11pm and got back to the hotel at midnight using the Disney free transportation shuttle buses. A looong day! ;0

Day 3. Wednesday. Sea World again...

We used our one day ticket to return free for a second day (see website). We'd cut short our first day so this day we intended to see the rest of the shows.
The sealion and otter show was my favorite. Arrive early (at least 30mins before) as the mime guy is hilarious! We all enjoyed Pet's Ahoy and had lunch nearby (Sea tavern?) slightly above average fast food!
Everyone wanted to ride Atlantis again and I think the kids went round about 5 or 6 times. Really no lines again even in the afternoon.

We fed the sealions, much easier and less crowded than the dolphin feeding area even though we went as the sealion show ended!

The dolphin show is quite spectacular similar to the Cirque du soleil shows.

We left around 5pm as we were having dinner with friends.

Dinner at Chevy's (Mexican) at the Crossroads Mall. Excellent margaritas, I loved the salad I had. A great place for a family meal not too far from Downtown Disney ($10 by taxi).

Loved the hotel but we did get a suite (two corner rooms attached with 2 balconies and 2 bathrooms) at conference rates $199 per night but this place often gives good rates and has great reviews on Tripadvisor.
Taxi to Sea World $30.
We used Disney transportation or the hotel shuttle to get to Disney.

Overall a quick break in the sunshine which we enojoyed immensely but definitely couldn't have kept up this pace for longer!

Questions?

Thanks for the report!! It sounds like a great trip and you were prepared with a plan of attack, which is needed in Orlando.

MY

Thanks!

The best bit for me was floating in the hotel pool on the last night after dinner; under the palm trees with a full moon above. The kids and DH soaked in the hot tub and not a single person joined us.

Home again to 10 inches of fresh snow!

We learnt a few new tricks at Disney.
Really use fastpass as much as possible.
If a ride doesn't have fastpass and is important to you go there FIRST!
We also split up a few times so 3 people could ride while on Space Mountain while I got more fast passes, shopped, relaxed.

I love Kracken! It is my favorite roller coaster in the Orlando area and I've ridden them all!

I took one look at Kraken and decided I'd love to hold the bags!

Thunder Mountain in Magic Kingdom is my limit regarding roller coasters; I'm definitely a wimp but I was surprised that the rest of my family thought one ride on Kraken was enough. Do you think it's worse sitting in the very front row?