Really enjoy travelling along on this fab trip! So much fun to read - you really flow in your writing and it all just gently unfolds as “we” go along. Thanks for sharing!! 
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Thanks, Love! I try. I do write a little on the side so I try to make it interesting and grammatically correct!
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Great report!
Rain = blisters in MANY types of footwear – and really messes with your plans. I’ve had it happen with hiking boots. 
Have to take care of the tootsies!
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Well, check and check! Nailed it ! 
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Ditto, I am LOVING following along on your trip. You have such a beautiful family @McPluto, it just heightens my excitement for my trip with my 3 girls in September. Keep sharing!!
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@McPluto, Thank you so much for the details! I do have more questions for you if you don’t mind. First off I’ll tell you about our family. It will be me, DH, DD9, DD6, DS3 & DMIL.
We don’t mind walking a little bit, but DMIL might get tired out so a cabin near the bus stop would be great! I am looking at requesting loop 2300. Would that be much of a hike getting to the quiet pool? Can you drive to the pool? I like to do laundry during evening swims so DH might be able to just drop us off and then park back at the cabin? Or should I just truck it down the road with our suitcase of dirty clothes? Are the entrances to the loops relatively close to each other? Can you tell that I do have a lot of questions?
Did you go to the Chip n Dale marshmallow roast or watch Wishes from the beach?
My big question is how were the bugs? I noticed on one website it said to bring bug repellant. We have been eaten alive by mosquitos here in Texas this year and was looking forward to what always seems a bug-free zone at Disney. But being in the woods I understand that it would be impossible to get rid of all the mosquitos, especially with the wet year its been.
How was the storage space? I thinking we may need to use kitchen space for clothes. I’m not above doing so at all. Also, did you and your DH share the full size Murphy bed? I’m thinking of having DMIL sleep on it, one DD on the couch, DH & DS in the full size bed, me on the bottom bunk and DD on the top bunk. DH is a bed hog! So I’m pawning a child off on him.
Hmm… What else do you think I should know? We were planning 11 nights at AoA and 3 nights at the beach on the way home. DH is not a beach fan and now with the bacteria deal going on he is considering just extending the Disney portion so we’d be there 13 nights. Switching to the Cabins would actually save us money over all, not to mention two more days of free dining.
Oh, how would you rate the bus and boat service? We will have our car and do plan on driving to some parks, but the kids LOVE riding Disney buses so that will be a must on some days.
I don’t know what else to ask for now, but I sincerely appreciate any advice that you can give!!!
Day 6 - Hollywood Studios
We didn’t rush to get out the door for rope drop. And that was okay as we were in the park by 9:30 anyway. Tower of Terror was our first FPP at 10, so we got the lay of the land and walked around a bit. It was also the hottest day yet. I think the real feel by 10am was 102, which may seem tame to some, but after days of touring, we were tired so the heat hit us more I think.
First of all, I fell for HS almost immediately. I love the old Hollywood theme, love it to death. It’s a really nice looking park and I did feel transported back in time throughout most of the park. (Ack, that Sorcerer’s hat!) The layout is suckish though. Lots of dead ends and confusing turns. That said, I thought the basic idea of the park was fantastic and wished it had stuck with the Hollywood and artistic/behind the scenes theming completely. I personally have no interest in all the Frozen stuff and avoided it when I could. Luckily the kids were practically zombies at this point and just followed along with the promise of rides, junk food and ice cream.
By the time we figured out the map, we had to head for ToT. I can safely say the ToT far surpassed my expectations. All the details in the hotel had me absolutely giddy, and the CMs were very much into their roles. I loved the ride and the Twilight Zone/old Hollywood feel, as I grew up watching reruns of the TZ, and Rod Serling was the icing! All along I thought ToT was just flying up, dropping down, and doing it all again. but the effects prior were fantastic, and I won’t say more to spoil it. One of my favorite rides in all of WDW. That feeling of “floating” was so cool. Not once did I feel nauseated, nor did any of my family. We all loved it.
Shortly after ToT, we had a FPP for Toy Story Mania. Even with the FPP, we had at least a 20 minute wait, which I didn’t mind thanks to the A/C. The overall feel was very fun and reminiscent of my childhood, so I took in all the “toys”. The big Etch A Sketch with trivia questions was my favorite. I found myself smiling and laughing throughout the whole ride, which did NOT help my score, but I did have the second highest in our family. Go me! Shortish ride but I thought it was fun, once I figured out where and what to shoot at!
DH and I very much enjoyed One Man’s Dream and the museum. The kids only liked parts of it, but did appreciate the A/C again.\
It was time then to head toward Commissary Lane and our 11:40 ressie at Sci-Fi. This was one of my favorite lunches, not just for the theming or food, but because our kids sat in the seats in front of us in the car and more or less left us alone for the entire time we were there. It was a nice little sanity break. We ordered the fried pickles, DH under the assumption that us pickle haters would not like the appetizer. Wrong! We all chowed on them and thought they really hit the spot with a combination of salty goodness and a savory component of the ranch dip. The kids all started with a milk shake, which had them totally feeling like they scored big time. I would never on a regular day let them have a shake before the food arrived! And they were done with the shakes by the time the burgers arrived. We all had some form of burger, and while we all loved the burgers, the fries were in very short supply. I found the lack of fries really weird. Like, maybe 15 or so fries in my basket. It didn’t really matter in the end, as the burgers were pretty big, but still. Strange.
We had a RnR FPP starting at 1:15 but decided we needed to digest before going on it, so we went on the Great Movie Ride. I loved the Chinese Theater decor and all the little details, but DH and I are movie buffs. The kids were kind of bored at first, on the queue and then watching the film clips before the ride, but I just loved it. The ride itself was very enjoyable. The CMs leading the in-your-face show on the ride not so much. I do think the ride could do with less cornball humor and much less chit chat by the CM of the moment as the ride progressed, All in all though, I really loved the movie scenes and reliving those great movie moments had me smiling.
Then we were off to our FPP for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster! DH was so sure he couldn’t handle the ride, we all piled him up with our stuff and he was all set to exit left until I convinced him to ride regardless of how he might feel. I told him it was a newer ride and sure to be smoother than Expedition Everest. No one was getting on looking anything but exhilarated, and of course I had to point out some folks much older than us who had no issues hopping on. Ah, marital guilt. He caved and rode it and was SO happy he did. I found the early studio bit with Aerosmith to be a bit forced, and I love Aerosmith, but it was really just something to see in the “holding pen” before the next bit of queue. We probably had a good 25 minutes from entry to sitting on the coaster. When I say I loved this ride like chocolate, I really mean I loved this ride more than anything up to that point. And it remains my favorite ride of all today. The seating and shoulder harness were totally comfortable on my 5’11’’ and not at all skinny frame. It was smooth and exciting and the Aerosmith songs piped in had me smiling like a fool. Don’t miss it. (If you’re wondering how I scored those three particular FPPs it’s because of a glitch in the system the day they were changing the Tier rides for Epcot and HS. Totally lucked out.)
We also loved Star Tours, though that ride did mess with some of our equilibriums, but it was still worth it. We headed for the Backlot Tour just to sit and de-sweat a bit (not that we did de-sweat on that ride) DH and I loved the behind the scenes tour and LMA was running at that time too so we kept seeing the stunt cars flying by.
It was so darn hot we were all fading fast. We did get some snacks though on the Streets of America. Kids had churros and popcorn, and I had a cream cheese pretzel. While I sort of liked it, it was too sweet for me. I was craving salt at that point and it was clearly a wrong choice, DH finished it off. I liked the Streets and loved the illusion of the cities in the distance. Pictures don’t do it justice. Through my hazy, heat induced fog-vision, I did marvel at the beauty of HS. We did not see any shows either, opting to do the Animation Academy instead. We waited for about 25 minutes for the class but it was a big hit and we all had some nice drawings of Grumpy in the end.
The rain had come down while were in the class so it felt even more stifling when we got out. In the end we did nothing related to Frozen either, and to be honest, I did not like the sound stage and the DJ guy yapping loudly in that area. It took me out of the Hollywood feel, a total immersion breaker. But even so, I loved HS and wished the temps were not so oppressive as I’m sure we could have done more. We did hit some stores, and tried to take in all the little details, like the crates and looking for hidden Mickeys, but the heat drove us back to the cabin to chill and shower and then head to Downtown Disney.
I think we got on the bus for DD around 9 or so. We were really crawling at that point, so exhausted from the week and lack of sleep. I had cancelled a 7:00 ressie at Bongos the day before knowing we’d never get to it given our past nightly performance. We did have dinner at Wolfgang Puck’s Express at 10pm and it was really good. The pizzas were great, and I’m a pizza snob. Pasta bolognese was hit as well. I was very happy with all the food there. We did some shopping at the Emporium, well, like an hour and a half or more in there. The kids had gift cards burning a hole on their pockets. I was surprised at how crowded it was at DD and in the store. Mobbed really. I bought Mickey Mouse ice trays and kitchen towels to liven up my kitchen at home. Not terribly exciting, but something to relive the magic every day. We got back to our cabin late, maybe around 1am. In hindsight, I wouldn’t do DD on the last night again. We didn’t do Disney Quest, and one DD was very bummed about that. We opted to not pack much that night and the kids hit the hay almost immediately, but DH and I sat up and tried to make our stay last a bit longer by having a cocktail while making a throw away pile for the next morning. We were definitely sad to see it all end, and I really struggled to not just cry about it, since I have no idea if we’ll ever get back there in the next 5 years or so.
I think I’ll do a parting comments-type post after this, maybe some tips on the long, long two day trip to, and then from, WDW.
It’s been so fun reliving our vacation! Thanks for reading, all. 
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Thank you! and your with all those adorable blondes too! Sunscreen is your friend too, I’m sure.
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I requested loop 2500 but did not send a fax before hand and we ended up in 2400, which was fine. The loops are one-way, clockwise, and were in 2446, the second to last cabin in the loop and a stone’s throw from the bus stop, so that was nice. The map is not quite exact, IMHO. It was closer to us in 2400 than 2500. From where we were it was quite close to the pool and laundry too. But 2500 would even be closer to the pool, an easy walk. Either way, it’s not much of a walk.
Not really knowing our way around, we drove at first to the laundry, with a giant laundry bag, but realized it was a close walk so we hoofed it on the way back and it was easy, So you can drive to the laundry and pool but parking is for 15 minute laundry parking only, so you’d have to walk anyway unless you have a golf cart. We did not. And honestly, didn’t need it for our trip, but if you’re there longer, it would be nice if you wanted to explore. But it’s not necessary and they are pricey. But yes, DH could drop you off at the pool/laundry and you could just hang while it’s running.
We never did get to the Chip and Dale marshmallow roast. But we did glimpse the fireworks from the beach and it was neat. You really only see the high fireworks and the castle at a distance, but they do pump in the soundtrack so it was still cool and a relaxing spot. The buses run until an hour and a half after park closing so that was never an issue.
Bugs. I PMed the basics but yeah, no bugs to speak of at the cabin. There were more on the docks though, but still, not enough that I would spray for. Here in CT we’d be eaten alive too if we spent a lot of time out at night. I don’t know about any “hatches” though. I do recall hearing about “love bugs” hatching in the spring and perhaps a local can give you more details on bugs during your time frame. But considering all the standing water and then the humidity near the cabins in the summer, I was amazed at the lack of bugs.
Storage wise, we didn’t have an issue. I used the cabinets under the window next to the Murphy bed and was fine. DH used the ones on the other side of the Murphy. The kids used the dresser, the nightstand, and hung some things in the closet. They also kept some stuff in their bags at the bottom of the closet, where there was a pack and play. We moved the pack and play to a corner in the main area. There was more space under the TV too. The bathroom had three little shelves on the left over the sink which was fine for all our toiletries. And with four tween and teen girls, and a DH with all this stuff it was still fine.
DH and I shared the Murphy bed, mainly because the girls were fine bunking together. You have a slightly different situation, I’d say if MIL and a small kid shared the double, it would be fine. On the other hand, the couch would not be suitable for an adult, but for a kid, it’s doable. My only thought would be that the couch is all foam and not too big. If you have a kid that’s flexible and not too picky, it would probably be fine. You may want to wait and see when you get there. The murphy was fine for us, but if DH is a bed hog, your arrangement might be the way to go!
We had our car too, but only used Disney transport for the parks. I thought it was totally great. The ferry to MK is particularly nice since it docks right up near the gates basically, and so you don’t have to walk over from the bus area,. Plus it’s a neat ride. And you can boat to the Contemporary or the Wilderness Lodge too. The buses were fine for us, We never waited too long at all. I think the most we waited to get to a park was about 15 minutes and on the way back 15 minutes, and that was not bad at all. If we had parked our car I think the timing would have been similar and FW has a dedicated bus system so we weren’t stopping along the way. One night, DH and I wanted to get some beer at the Hess on sight within three miles of the cabin, but the GPS was not quite getting us there. We ended up on the strip in Orlando! It was cheaper though. LOL
2200 and 2300 were less busy than 2100, as 2100 is closer to the camping area and the Meadow Trading Post, and would be close to a stop too. Not really a walk to the pool, but if DH drives you, it doesn’t matter. In the end, all the cabin loops are similar. I wouldn’t worry too much about the loop so much, but definitely fax in that you’d like your cabin to be at the end of a loop near a bus stop and maybe mention you MIL needing a short walk. At the end of the loops the walks to the stop are really quite short. As I said, our walk was maybe two minutes.
Every cabin was occupied last week and it still was quiet. I think you’ll appreciate the calm after all the excitement during the day. it really such a neat place to stay, Don’t hesitate to contact me either. I’m happy to help.
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Thanks!
Thank you so much for taking the time to send this @McPluto!!! (Btw, DH asked where I got so much information so quickly, wish you could’ve seen his face when I told him “McPluto”. I truly think he thought I lost it! Yet he didn’t question anything!)
I think we will request loop 2400 or 2500 as well and will include a note about a cabin near the entrance of the loop.
I do have one more question, is there a large coffee pot as well as the smaller individual one? If so what type of coffee filters does it take? Readily available coffee is a must for us!
Again, I appreciate all of the advice, we are really looking forward to our more relaxing vacation!
From CT, too! And also very surprised by the lack of bugs. I have read about Disney’s integrated pest management program, but I have to assume they use some pretty effective chemical treatment as well.
It’s so sad when a trip ends! Thanks for sharing it with us. I’m also not a huge fan of Downtown Disney, and yet I’m planning to do it again in November. We have it planned for what is arrival day for most of us, although it’s at the end of my solo MK day. I’m hoping it will be a bit less crowded and crazy on a Tuesday.
My pleasure! LOL, you can tell DH that I do have a normal name too, MaryAnn,
I had to ask the hubby about the coffee since I don’t drink it. He made his daily pot in the large maker on the counter, There was also a smaller one in the cabinet he didn’t use. Joffrey’s filter packs were along side it on the counter, and also some sugar and powdered creamers in the bottom drawer next to the fridge, Mousekeeping did refill his supply as needed.
When are you going, BTW? I’m excited to hear how your stay goes!
The lack of bugs was jaw-dropping, especially with all the standing water around. I can only imagine they must spray in the wee hours often. Yay Connecticut!
I’m still having a hard time being home!
Thank you again for all the information. We are super excited! We’ll be there from 8-31 to 9-13. I look forward to posting updates as I can but the majority will probably be when we get home as my kiddos require lots of attention, especially our son who was wonderful at 2 but is letting his stink shine at 3.
Thanks for the all of the trip review. I enjoyed reading them. I seems like the heat kicked your butt by the end of the week. Maybe a fall or spring trip next time.
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Oh I hear you. Little kids need a certain amount of attention and you must give it! In either caswe, I look forward to you trip report.