Surprise! New Experiences on our Disney World Vacation

We have returned from a wonderful vacation at Walt Disney World over the New Year’s holiday. We had a great time ringing in 2011 at the best possible place! Was it crowded? At times, sure it was, but having gone at this week before, we knew what to expect. There were also times when it wasn’t crowded at all too! And one of the neat things about this trip was that, despite our many past Disney trips, we were still able to learn and experience new things. That is, of course, one of the great things about Disney parks: the ability for guests to feel that each trip is magical, no matter how often you go. 

With that in mind, here are five things that were new…and yes, magical….for us this time: 

1. We deliberately looked for “non-obvious” places for fireworks and parades. I have heard this recommended before but somehow we never actually did it. On this trip we did. We watched the Christmas parade over in Frontierland, right in front of Pecos Bill’s (having just finished lunch there) and had no problem finding a front row space to watch…even on the day before New Year’s Eve. Likewise, we watched Holiday Wishes on one of the pathways that lead to the Tomorrowland bridge….it winds down below The Plaza Restaurant and there was literally no one there. We had a great view, and Tinkerbell flew right over us.
2. We went to Epcot for New Year’s Eve prepared to stay the entire day…which we did. While we might have been able to leave for a break and then return, based on the perfect weather and corresponding crowds, we decided not to chance it. We knew what to expect and took it very easy, keeping things low key and relaxed. It was the perfect time to experience some things that we are normally too “busy” to try, so our daughter decided to try out the Kim Possible Adventure phones and had a blast! This was a fun activity for all of us, as we explored some of the countries in World Showcase in more detail, and we all learned more than a few things that we never knew before. We understand that Disney plans to expand this experiential technology in other parks as well, and I think when they do, it will be a big hit.
3. We started New Year’s Day with a late breakfast at Cape May buffet and then DD and I enjoyed a VERY special belated Christmas present from Santa: we went to the Grand Floridian spa. If you ever have the chance to splurge on one thing for yourself….do this. You deserve it and I promise that you won’t regret it at all…except when it’s over. 🙂
4. Planning for this trip entailed a lot of changes along the way, and even while there, I ended up changing an ADR again….literally at the last minute! We spent Sunday afternoon at the ESPN Zone cheering on our Steelers, and I could see that we were going to be time-challenged getting back to Hollywood Studios for the Osborne Lights in the evening. So I decided to change dinner to the Captain’s Grill at Yacht Club since it was nearby, and I’m so glad that I did….it was amazing, in fact probably my favorite dinner! So being spontaneous….not something we planners do a lot of…..ended up being a good thing. Who knew?
5. On our last day, we returned to our favorite park, Epcot, and took the “Undiscovered Future World” tour. I cannot recommend this tour enough! Interesting, and fun, we were able to see some “behind the scenes” places, and ride Soarin’ again…with some background commentary which was pretty cool. And we learned a lot of fascinating details, not the least of which was to always “remember to look up and look down” because there are a lot of cool things to see that most of us normally miss because we’re so busy running to the next ride/attraction.  

There were, of course, many other great aspects to our trip and you will be hearing about some of them in the coming weeks. But these were a few of the highlights…and some of them were surprises. I think one of the things I will remember the most about this trip is those surprises, the things that I didn’t plan for, and how the most unexpected things are sometimes the most magical of all. 

Of course, that doesn’t mean I have given up planning our Disney trips. Planning is, of course, half the fun! So the big question then is: 

“When are we going back?” 🙂

Nancy, her husband and college-age daughter live in the Baltimore MD area, but consider Walt Disney World their second “home”. She started her site, The Affordable Mouse, as a way to share ideas about how to plan affordable Disney vacations. Her favorite things at Disney World (in no particular order) are Soarin’, most of the food in World Showcase, Illuminations…and that special brand of Disney magic that you can’t find anywhere else.

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