Summer at Walt Disney World

Author: TheVolkmanns
Date of Trip: June 2005

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort
We had travelled here about 10 years ago. We wanted to go back, and since it had been refurbished, we felt that we had to go back for old time’s sake. We were not disappointed. We were traveling with our 6-year-old son and our 6-month-old son and had purchased the Dream Maker package. On check-in, there was no waiting at 1pm, and we were given a FREE upgrade to the preferred rooms. It always pays to ask. The room was clean and big enough for us and the baby’s cot. The two sinks, as well as the curtain between the washroom and room, were nice touches. The maid service was fine, as the room was kept clean, but the time it was done was not consistent. One day, the maid was there at 9am, waiting for us to leave, and the next day it would be at 4pm. But it was always clean afterwards. The theme pool was fun and needed since it got up to 100°F. My oldest son loved the water cannons. The grounds were absolutely beautiful and well kept.

The food court was fine but did get crowded at the peak times. You quickly learned to avoid these times. The types of food offered kept everyone happy. This is not a sit-down restaurant, so keep that in mind and you will not be disappointed.

Disney World
Early morning entry to the parks is a must and only available to resort guests. Since we were here for over a week, we visited every park at least twice just so that we wouldn’t miss anything. Get the park-hopper pass. If the park you go to is crowded, just “hop” over to another park and enjoy its attractions. We drove to all the resorts because of the baby and enjoyed the free parking for resort guests. The one MAJOR problem we had happened after the Illuminations fireworks at Magic Kingdom one night. It took 2 hours to get on the ferry across the lake to the parking lot. Next time, we will use the buses back to the resort. They were still crowded, but at least there were a lot of them.

We really felt the heat by midday, so we tended to get out to the parks early, leave by lunch, go back to our resort for a nice swim, and then get back to the parks for the afternoon/evening. The parks tend to be more crowded between 11am and 2pm, so an afternoon break helps you avoid the busy time.

We used the priority seating for our meals and felt that we need them for the most popular restaurants. O’hana’s at the Polynesian Resort is a must. I like the buffet that comes to you!