We went last week with the extended family of 11 to Orlando for a week and stayed at the Wilderness Lodge. My kids are 4.5 and 7.5. I turned into a 5 yr old and continue to love that place.

We had a great time. Loved Toy Story Mania so much we rode it 3 times, which is saying a lot since it's the most popular ride in all 4 parks. I also got all 5 kids in our group trading pins for Christmas. I wish I got some for the adults because we ended up buying more for us to trade (and the kids). Man, that's like crack.

As an engineer and someone who appreciates great customer service, I am impressed by Disney. Their CS was SO consistent at every park and restaurant that every company should look at them as an example. I really loved how they engineered rides and waiting areas so that you were always entertained, no matter how long the wait. You never really noticed that you were in line for 40 minutes or more, though we never did because we used Fast Passes when we could.

That is definitely something Disney excels at: hiding lines. I haven't been to Disneyland for years, but one of these days... I love the place.

I'm surprised you didn't see Medic8r there.

Haven't been to Anaheim in a while either. I was expecting Great America/Marineworld atmosphere, so my expectations were low. I was blown away to say the least.

Funny you posted this. I absolutely love that place! I took my kids there and stayed in the Wilderness Lodge several years ago. We stayed ten days and I could have stayed another week. I’d love to go underground and see the industrial side of the place. I hear it’s a city all to its own. I find it amazing that everyone is always so happy there. Even the ticket takers who see hundreds of thousands of people each day. They just keep smiling and being friendly. It’s hard to be in a bad mood in that place.

Especially because you'd be fired if you were!

I booked the trip to take the family back to Disneyland a couple of weeks ago. We went two years ago and can't wait to return. So. Much. Fun.

Must remember to take more/better shoes this time though. The place is killer on the feet and it's much smaller than Disneyworld. We're hoping to do Disneyworld when the kids are a bit older and better able to handle it.

I think I was around junior high age when I went to Disneyland. I enjoyed it quite a lot. I probably went on Star Tours like 7 times, since I was such a Star Wars nut growing up, and then I bought a lot of Star Wars merchandise in the gift shop, accounting for nearly all of my spending money.

I was supposed to stick together with my cousin, but I thought he was acting like such an ass that I took off on my own, which my parents did not appreciate at all. My dad had me stay in the hotel room doing push-ups most of the third day. Good times.

We are planning to take the new RV down to Disney World, hopefully this year. The boys should love it.. I think Wilderness Lodge has a campground?

Tom is right. The medic8r clan hasn't been in 14 months, and we are feeling the pull. Our best friends are in the DIsney Vacation Club, and we piggyback with them when we can. Toy Story Mania had just opened when we went last time. EPCOT is my favorite park. Did you get the honey sesame chicken at the Nine Dragons restaurant?

Underground Disney is an amazing engineering feat in itself, I've been fortunate enough to have been there a couple of times and there is as much going on under ground as there is above ... the manner in which they handle money is quite amazing.

We are heading back to Orlando again this year (we go at least once every other year)... We love Disneyworld, but this year we are, gasp, skipping it! We were there 2 years ago and did some Disney and some Universal. I think that the kids were ready for something different after going to Disney parks so many times.

They are now 11 and 16 and both want just Universal plus a Disney water park. While Disney does great with hiding some of the lines, the Magic Kingdom isn't done as well as others, and none of them seem to compare to the general theming of Universal. We still absolutely love Disney, but with out kids getting older, wanted to go somewhere else and we were just amazed at the difference (in general) between the lines at the Disney Parks vs the experiences at Universal.

Just my opinion, and like I said (twice already) we really like Disney, so it isn't a bash of them at all, and Universal does have some older attractions that are still generic queue lines. Universal just had to step it up in some newer areas since Disney is still considered the king down there. I'd guess that they both do some flip-flopping back in forth trying to out-do each other.

Yeah, it's called Fort Wilderness. I think it's considered a separate location though.

I plan to take the family next Spring to Disneyworld. We went to Disneyland when my kids were 6.5 and 3 and absolutely loved it! They are a little older now and it will be easier to navigate a larger park.

Last time I went, I regret not getting a Capn' Jack Sparrow hat. Would one of you guys mind sending me one?