Woohoo!
We had a great time in WDW March 10-14!
We enjoyed AKV Concierge, but didn't make use of it as we would have liked...just too many other things going on during this trip, but that was okay.
DS had a great time with his band friends even though he didn't get enough sleep....lol...and they stayed off property in a hotel that he said was "uh, not the greatest" and he's never staying anywhere less than Disney next trip. He and the 3 guys he roomed with had some bad experiences, but yes, I've raised him right and they did complain appropriately about the issues, which were rectified, but not fully. (Mom is rolling her eyes here and wanted to call and complain, but DS asked me not to "embarass him".) He managed to take some friends to 50s Primetime, Yak & Yeti, and Tutto Italia. He gave all of them good reviews, but Primetime was, well, just Primetime. He said Tutto Italia was better than he remembered the old Alfredo place and the girl he took was impressed. lol He LOVED Yak & Yeti, saying he'd eat there again in a heartbeat. I had made ADRs for him at everything but Y&Y, but he was able to walk in around 5pm with his buddies and get seated right away. Their first day DS texted us and said, "Band Boosters are idiots! We're at Universal!" lol The busses went the wrong way then he called to tell me that as the bus passed the sign "Studios left" the bus kept going straight and the next thing he knew was they were at an "authorized personnel only" gate backstage at Epcot. I laughed because I'd been exactly where they were and knew he was getting to see stuff that very few people get to see. I told him to enjoy the free backstage tour and be kind to the security CM that would surely be boarding their bus any minute. He said it was neat getting to see all of the building from a different perspective and being able to point them out from the backside was a plus to the other kids. lol
Wilderness Backtrail Segway Adventure was awesome! I highly recommend it to anyone! We had such fun tooling around the trails on the ATV type segways between Ft. Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge. We even had a sort of celebrity on the tour...a guy named Nick who is an hones to goodness alligator wrestler. His wife said we could find him online if we searched...think she said Gatorland, but I can't recall.
Keys to the Kingdom Tour was phenomenal! CM Michael was the best! He brought tears to my eyes a couple of times as he shared some personal stories with us about his "sharing the magic". Wow! We learned some great history, trivia, secrets and saw so much that I think I need to take the tour again just to remember it all! It was so much fun having 2 personal tour guides as we rode the Jungle Cruise pointing out details that I never knew exsisted. I highly recommend this tour to anyone but especially those Disney junkies like me.
Food? We ate at Narcoosee's the first night...filet mingon and lobster tail and it was the best lobster I've ever eaten. Of course in landlocked southern Illinois we don't get much opportunity, but it was delish! We tried Spoodles and Restaurant Marakesh, both of with which we were really impressed. Marakesh cast members were the best servers of any restaurant I've ever eaten in at WDW in the 28 years I've been going. We were using the basic dining plan and once home we determined that we saved about $150 based upon what we ate that trip, so a good value. I also had tea at the GF with a friend, paying OOP, which was great! I loved the Mad Hatter blend we chose. DH and I did pay for one table service meal OOP at Le Cellier for lunch, but we love that place so it was worth the additional expense.
Magical Express? It went very smooth this trip. We opted to carry our bags to the bus upon arrival and departure, which is our personal preference. I just like knowing that my bags are with me the whole time. There's nothing like being on a trip with just one change of clothes for a week. I always pray the airline doesn't screw up and when I can control it, I don't take the chance. It's a real pain trying to buy clothes in a rush. From check in time at the counter, it only took less than 10 minutes to get on the bus and about 20 minutes to get rolling. The bus was pretty full as we stopped at Pop and CSR before AKV.
Pirate and Princess Party? It was fun, but not as fun as
MVMCP to me. It was well worth the cost to be able to walk on every ride that we went on that night. The longest wait was for Monsters Inc. only because we just stepped inside after the previous show started inside the theater. DH was "that guy". lol
The highlight came as DH and I sat atop the train station in Town Square and saw DS's band round the hub and march onto Main Street. They were stopped halfway down and performed the entire routine. As they rounded into Town Square I got a little misty eyed thinking "yeah, dreams do come true". They sounded great and looked great! I have to give the kids a hand for marching in the Florida 75 degree weather with about 90% humidity in those darn wook uniforms, but not one kid complained. They had a great time!
The trip ended too soon on Friday as the kids boarded the busses heading to Illinois and DH and I boarded a plane home.
I am sooooo busy at work though, I am having a hard time getting everything done and ready! It is hard to enjoy!
Just wondering???
How many bags are everyone else taking?????
Is this toooooo much? (going for 8 nights)
We are driving, but I don't want to overpack! (we do have a 21 month old and lots of stuff for her)!
Should I scale back????
, and yes, still more shopping for few things
we are off! 
