This past week OWC man on the street Adam Holtzapfel spent the week at the House of Mouse. He shares his thoughts with us.

This review might get lengthy but if you’re looking at planning a trip to Disney it may help.

For the past 2 years my wife & I have been planning this trip as a late honeymoon/early anniversary. When we started we researched everything from drafting daily meals to see if we needed the dining plan to overall daily plans. Through word of mouth we heard of Melissa Kramer of Pirate & Pixie Dust Destinations. We reached out to her with what we were looking for. She handled everything from booking our room to our dining reservations to keeping an eye out for deals. She does this at no charge to you.

We got into town on 9/14, checked into our resort (Pop Century) relaxed for a few then hopped a bus to Disney Springs.

Once we arrived we walked around to some shops and grabbed lunch at Chef Art’s Home Cookin. All I can say is get the Chicken & Donuts, you won’t be disappointed. We went back to Disney Springs that evening for dinner at T-Rex. The food was ok, but the atmosphere of animatronic dinosaurs is why you’re there.

Now let’s talk about the resort.

Pop Century has a pop culture centric focus. The lobby includes displays of drive in movie speakers, records, Star Wars items, He-Man figures, etc. They have a food court, arcade, and gift shop all off the lobby as well as several swimming pools. The rooms are defined by decades (50s-90s). We were in building 1 which is in the 50s area and the stairwell is shaped like a bowling pin. 

Our room had a queen bed, mini fridge, table, murphy bed, and a nice sized TV. We were a short walk to the food court which was nice for filling our reusable mugs (more on that later) as well as the shuttles going to each park.

Next up let’s look at the parks.

First we have Magic Kingdom. This is what comes to mind when people say Disney World. We spent maybe 3 of our 7 park days here. We took advantage of the extra magic hours (for those not familiar the park opens early or closes late for those staying at Disney resorts). 

We also had tickets to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. This is something I will not do again. Attendance on the night we went was more than anything we experienced during our 7 days. We rode maybe 2 rides that night and the lines to ride, meet characters, and get food were insane.

Overall I dug the park. A lot of nostalgic rides, but also some fun new ones. The park also has a ton of meet & greets, but we’ll get to those later.

Next up we have Epcot. This is probably the weakest of the parks as far as rides go. We spent close to 3 days here as well due to the park hopper option.

Epcot is currenty getting an overhaul and I can see why, it’s no longer the world of the future like it was in 1982 when it opened.

The draw of Epcot for me is the World Showcase and the chance to experience different foods. If food is your thing then Epcot is your spot, if not then maybe a 1/2 day here is all you need.

As we continue through the parks our next stop is at Hollywood Studios. This park has had two huge additions over the past few years.

When I entered the park it seemed kind of like a lackluster recreation of Sunset Blvd. The main park was not for me, but Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land are a whole different animal.

With EMH starting at 6am we took advatage arriving at 7am both days for the day and a half we were at this park.

On the first day we hit Galaxy’s Edge. This land made me forget I was at an amusement park. You’re so immersed in the scenery and the fact that there are First Order Troopers looking for a Rebel spy who you might see ducking into hallways etc.

The main attraction is the Millennium Falcon. The ride is fun, but just staring at the outside and seeing the work that went into it is amazing.

Toy Story Land is just as immersive as Galaxy’s Edge, but with it being kid centric you still have the amusement park feel. The main attraction here is the Slinky Dog Dash rollercoaster. While no loops, it provides thrills for kids of all ages.

Lastly we have Animal Kingdom. This park has something for everyone.

We chose to arrive at 7am for EMH this let us do everything we wanted without using our booked fast passes. We hit Kilimanjaro Safari which is similar to The Wilds outside of Columbus, OH. We also hit Na’vi River Journey on the Pandora Side.

While I’m not a huge fan of Avatar they did an amazing job on this area. It’s definitely worth checking out just to take in the visuals.

 While at the parks you gotta eat, right? We had opted to go with the mid tier dining plan which I believe is close to $450 per person. We happened to fall into the time the free dining plan was offered which meant for the mid tier we paid close to $200 a person for the upgrade to the free dining.

When you factor in the cost of food the mid tier dining plan is the way to go. You get 1 reusable mug (at resorts), 2 snacks, 1 quick serve, and 1 table meal per day per person. Credits do roll to the duration of your stay and if you’re booking at the Spirit of Aloha Luau or Be Our Guest those use 2 table credits per person, so some math may need to be used.

We ended up having close to 30 snack credits left our last 2 days we used these for water, coffee, & various snacks. 

What was a must have for us was a backpack cooler with a 3 quart metal water bottle & a bottle of Gatorade.

As far as dining went we hit Chef Art Smith’s Homecomin’ at Disney Springs (they take the dining plan and gift cards), Gaston’s Tavern, Be Our Guest, Spirit of Aloha, Rose & Crown, & Coral Reef among other spots. 

Everywhere we went was good a couple of spots fell below expectations (T-Rex & Pop Century Food Hall), but not everywhere can be a win.

Lastly the meet & greets. This has changed since I last went when I was 14. Characters are now located in specific spots and have designated times for meet & greets. If you have memory maker take advantage of these.

I’m not a big Disney guy, but my wife swears they nailed the personality of the characters during the meet & greets from how snarky Drizella & Anastasia were to how Anna & Elsa showed how different they were.

Overall Disney can be a very expensive and exhausting trip, I had a good time and would go back. I wouldn’t make it a yearly thing but maybe an every 5 year trip. The main reason why I say this is due to the cost and the fact Disney is always changing through adding newer stuff from worlds to rides to restaurants.