Disney World and Universal 2011

Surprised my wife with a trip to Disney for our 5 year aniversary in June. I had everything mostly booked in advance as far as flight, hotel, car service and tickets to the parks.

 We flew out of Boston at 7:30am and touched down in Orlando around 11. I booked a limo service to bring us from the airport to our hotel. We flew Jet Blue which was a pleasant flight.  I watched Sportcenter on the tv while she slept. The tvs in the headrests are a definite plus for me.

I work for the Department of Defense so we stayed at the Shades of Green Resort on Disney World property. Its a great resort. Reserved for only the members of the military and their families so unfortunately its not accessible for everyone.  One huge benefit to staying there was the resort was on Disney property and had its own shuttle buses. This saved us from needing to get a rental car.  The resort is a short walk away from the Polynesian Resort and offers a golf cart ride down the road to cut the short trip to the Polynesian Monorail station in half which was really nice.  It also was a participant in the Extra Magic hours which was great since we're more inclined to stay up late rather than get up early. 

First day we went to Epcot. Walked down to the Polynesian and took the monrail over. I made reservations to eat at the HIbachi restaraunt in Japan in Worlds Showcase. We went at 330. Wasnt crowded and we sat right away. Perfect time after the lunch rush and before the dinner rush which I would recomend for all meals. You could easily lose 3 hours waiting for a table, food and the check during dinner time so we always ate "lunch" at 3 and a light dinner around 8.

The Hibachi place was better than average. Nothing you wouldnt get at any regular hibachi anywhere else but slightly more of a show added to the cooking process.(our chef was juggling the tongs and pieces as he cooked) Price was reasonable considering it is a signature spot inside the park. Overall I'd give it a B+ 

As far as Epcot this was the first time going to Disney for my wife and first time in 10 years for me so most of the rides were relatively new to us. Both of us loved Test Track. In order to enjoy it multiple times without wasting an hour in line is to do single rider. We were both split up in two different cars both times we went but ended up riding it 3 times in 45 mins. Good enough trade off than her screaming in my ear :P

Other notable rides we really enjoyed was living with the land, universe of energy and spaceship earth. Soarin was an hour and a half wait the whole day we were there. All the fast passes were gone by noon so we did that ride last. Very unique and fun ride but some of the excitement was sucked out from our impatience of waiting in the line.

Illuminations was really neat. Not a bad spot around the whole lagoon to experience it. Disney definitely doesnt cut corners when it comes to there firework shows. Definitely a must see!

We planned out which parks to go each day based on which park had the extra magic hours. Epcot was opened to 11 that night I think. The extra magic hours are special hours either after the normal park hours or just before the park opens that are reserved for guests staying in Disney property hotels.  You just have to show your room key at the beginning of the line of rides.  We were a little surprised at the number of people still at the park (and the ages of some kids still up at 1 am some nights) but the thinner crowds allowed us to hit most of our favorite rides numerous times.

I was exhausted from being up so early that morning so we went back to the hotel on the shuttle around 10:30.

Next stop: Magic Kingdom!