We’re Going to Disney World!

Sorry, I’ve been away from the blog for about a month now, helping my brother move to a new apartment and getting settled in.

I did have time to book a trip to Disney World! We are leaving May 5 and returning May 8. A short but hopefully fun filled trip.

Our party will include four adults and two children, ages 2 and 5. We are staying on-site of course, Port Orleans Riverside. We have already booked a Character breakfast at Play ‘N’ Dine at Hollywood and Vine at the Hollywood Studios Park. We haven’t experienced this one before and it should be fun. There will be Jojo and Goliath as well as Leo and June from the Little Einsteins show. The kids love them and apparently they pull the kids into a song and dance routine. I can’t wait to see that!

My dilemma has been whether to try the Magical Express, the free Disney transportation option, or to stick with Murray-Hill Transportation, which I have used numerous times in the past. I have weighed the pros and cons of both. I have also done my research and checked the reviews of Disney travelers who have used the Magical Express. Some think it’s great and it worked out quite well for them. Others have complained about long lines to check in at the airport before getting on the bus, some complained about having to stop at three different resorts before getting to theirs, and many complained about having to wait much more than the 3 or 4 hours they advertise for getting their luggage. The return trip to the airport is also scheduled more than two hours before the flight. If you happen to miss that bus, you are on your own to get to the airport. I don’t like sitting at the airport with kids for more than two hours before we board the plane. But hey; it’s free!

I have decided to use the tried and true MH Transportation again for this trip and here is why: They offer a 30 minute grocery store stop. This is important to us because my 2 yr. old granddaughter is lactose intolerant and we need to buy Lactaid milk for her. I haven’t seen that sold at the resorts or parks. It is always nice to pick up a few snack items as well. I also like the convenience of arriving directly to my resort without a lot of stops in between. Apparently the bus to Port Orleans Riverside stops at 3 different resorts prior to arriving at Port Orleans. We are arriving at 8:00 at night and I don’t want my luggage delivered at midnight or even in the wee hours of the morning like some people have complained about. We could pick up our own luggage to take on the bus, but that defeats the purpose of the Magic Express picking it up for you. I’m also leery of arriving there with multiple other families all trying to check in at the same time. Now granted, we could be the only people on the bus since we are coming in so late in the day, some people have had that experience. However, I don’t want to leave things up to chance. I guess I like to be more in control. They will pick us up two hours before our flight leaves which gets us to the airport at least an hour and a half early so by the time we check our luggage and make our way to the gate, we only have about ½ hour or 45 minutes to wait. Plus, our plane leaves at 8:50 p.m., so we can get a full day in at the park before they pick us up.

We had also planned to rent a double stroller at the parks for the two kids for three days. They have recently drastically increased the price of the strollers (from about $18 per day to $31) so now I’m also considering just getting a stroller from Murray Hill for $10 for the whole stay. More on that later.