Disney without the Kids

Chris and I enjoyed a weekend away at Disney World sans kids. (This week I will post about why we went without the kids.) This was our eighth trip to Disney. We stayed at the Beach Club which is a deluxe resort. It was a step up from where we normally stay but I don't know if it is worth the extra money (we will stay in a moderate resort in September). The resort is beautiful and we loved being able to just walk over to Epcot.


The parks were a lot more crowded this trip than during our last two trips in September. We really missed having the free dinning plan that we enjoyed the last two years and plan to enjoy this year also.

On Friday we went to Disney Hollywood Studios. We waited an hour for the Toy Story ride and it was worth it. We fast passed Tower of Terror but we missed out on the Aerosmith coaster becaue the line was so long and the fast pass return was too late for us. We did enjoy our short day at the Studios and we were able to determine that Wesley will probably love Star Tours in September. He is tall enough for Tower of Terror but I don't know...maybe we will save that one for last.


On Saturday morning, we walked over to Epcot and rode Soarin' and Test Track. Wesley is tall enough for both of those rides now. Chris and I spent most of the day touring the countries. We had German sausages and beer for lunch (yummy).

The Garden Festival was going on at Epcot. There were a lot of pretty toparies like this one of Captain Hook and the alligator.
There were also three cool playgrounds set up through out Epcot just for the Garden Festival. Too bad they don't keep those up year around. Yes, the kids can climb and play at home but stopping to run around a play and climb at the parks help them to re-charge their little batteries.

Saturday night we went to bed very late but we set our alarm so we could get up and go to Animal Kingdom. We are true fans of the parks! Thanks to this website we knew that Animal Kingdom would be the least crowded park on Sunday. We were able to ride Everest twice (once with fast pass). We also rode the dinosaur ride and primevil whirl.
We fast passed the Safari ride.
I like all the parks but Animal Kingdom is my favorite. We didn't do any shows there because we will see those again with the kids.
The bats looked pretty cool eating their lunch.

We went to Magic Kingdom for about five hours after we left Animal Kingdom. We did Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear, Pirates, and the Hunted Mansion. We had more things to do at Magic Kingdom but we were tired and ready to call it a night.

Today we we went back to Epcot for a couple of hours and then to Downtown Disney for lunch and couple of toys for the kids

Of course, there are differences between being there by ourselves and being there with our kids. Things are a little easier without the kids and it is so good to have a lot of date-night time but it is more exciting being there with the kids. We had a great time just the two of us but we are looking forward to going back with the kids and Chris' parents. (Unfortunately, the Powells aren't going this year.)