Mid Twenties and Going to Disney--with pictures

[mmbrad02]

Cast:

DH, Justin, 26--only been to Magic Kingdom for one day. Loves rollercoasters and theme parks. Laid back and did not have any imput or concern about the vacation; he decided his role was to show up and have fun!

Me, Melissa, 26--been to Magic Kingdom and Epcot in 1984 at four years old, and then to MK, Epcot, and MGM Studios in 1991 at 11 years old. Never stayed onsite, parents were too cheap! A true planner!

Background Information:

My DH, Justin, and I will celebrate our fourth anniversary this week. Back in 2002 we went to the Poconos for our honeymoon, and haven't really been on a vacation since (we have been to Gatlinburg a couple of times for a weekend, but that's all). This time last year I was frustrated that all my coworkers were going on vacation, and I was sitting at home for a week (where I work, we shut down for a week in the summer). Woe is me! So on last year's shut down, I started planning my vacation for this year. We decided we would go to Myrtle Beach, so I started ordering pamphlets and visitors information. I hadn't been to the beach since I was five, and a nice relaxing week sounded wonderful.

I decided I would make reservations sometime after Christmas. We wanted an ocean front condo suitable for two people. I got frustrated with all the different options, comparing prices, determining what entertainment there was, etc. So one day at work some coworkers started talking about the Disney commercial where a family of four could go for a week for $1500.00. and a light came on in my head. DH and I could go there, and it would be fun! So that evening I asked him about it, and he thought it sounded like more fun than the beach (he cannot sit still, the beach would have been good for about a day, and then he'd be bored).

So out with the beach, in with Disney. I started looking over their website and I ordered the planning video. At first we were going to do a Value resort, but then I realized you couldn't reserve a King bed. Justin is 6'4", so a King bed is almost a must. So then I began looking over the moderates, and I could not make a decision. I called the Disney reservation number, and the lady was so helpful and friendly. She recommended Port Orleans Riverside, because of the lush greenery and she thought it was more romantic for a couple. Fine, let's book it. Three nights, four days at Disney. Sounded great, except there wasn't a King room available. So we tried French Quarter. Nothing. Carribean Beach. Nothing. So then she suggested a Deluxe, and I got her to quote me prices for the Poly and AK Lodge. I told her I'd have to discuss with with my husband and call back.

So I got online, and decided I would try booking a King room. And woo hoo, I was able to book a King room at POR with no problems. We were scheduled to arrive on Saturday, July 15 and depart on Tuesday, July 18. I woke up the next morning and realized that would not work, as I would work all day on Friday and Saturday was too soon to arrive at Disney. So I called and changed it to Sunay, July 16 through Wednesday, July 19. To speed this story along, somewhere along the way our trip was finalized at Monday, July 17 through Saturday July 22. This all came about when we decided to fly, and that's the cheap ticket dates I could find.

And we paid more than $1500, but oh well, we were going to Disney!!

Next Up.... Day 1, Arrival and Animal Kingdom!

[MickeyNicki]

Sounds like a great report is heading our way!!!

[disneycutie84]

Sounds great so far! :thumbsup2

[mmbrad02]

Day 1: Arrival and Animal Kingdom

So... I started packing for my July 17 trip on July 3. And I had been buying stuff for months. So by July 15, when I got off work, I was more than ready. For the first time in my life, I had a very LONG weekend that didn't feel like it would ever end.

On Sunday, July 16, DH and I went to church that evening. I was "antsy" and had a hard time sitting still. When church was over, I had DH drive me to Walmart to pick up a couple of last minute items that I thought I couldn't travel without. When we returned home, we had a message from Delta saying our flight for 7:00am had been canceled. I was upset, mad, etc. It felt like a nightmare--my trip was ready, this was not supposed to happen! I logged into Delta's website and discovered that had rebooked us for a 1:00pm flight and we would not arrive in Orlando until 3:00pm.

This would not work, I had plans to be halfway through Animal Kingdom by 3:00pm the next day! So I called Delta, talked to a wonderful person named Cameron, and to make a long story short, got set up to fly out of a different airport (an extra 45 minutes away) at 9:14 the next morning. That was better, we would arrive in Orlando two hours later. It just so happens I have an aunt and uncle who live 20 minutes from the new airport, so we hopped in the car around 10:00 that night and headed out. They would drive is to the airport the next morning and house our car for the week.

So everything is going good, we actually sleep a little that night and rise early the next morning. We get to the airport about 1 hour and 15 minutes before our flight. Us being two inexperienced travelers (each have only flown one time before), this was not enough time. We got checked in with Delta and got our luggage checked, and headed to security. Only about a 40 minute wait through security till we went through. And DH got held up there because of his insulin pump. By the time they say it's okay to continue, we have 20 minutes to get to our terminal.

We ran...and ran...and ran. We are not runners! We are out of shape and did I mention we are not runners? I am wearing my crocs because I thought they would make the security line easier... I fell on the way to our terminal. Halfway to Terminal C, we realize DH's boarding pass and driver's license are still at security. We turn and start running in the opposite direction. I fall again.... hard. My knee takes the blunt of the fall and it hurts. I tell DH to keep going, I'll find him right at that spot when he comes back. Some nice person helped me pick up my own boarding pass and driver's license and get myself back together. DH and returns, and we take off running again. He goes ahead, and we keep hearing our names called over the overhead. We finally make it to the terminal, where they are waiting, and slam the door behind us. Whew, we made it!

We find our seats and DH and upset that someone has already claimed his window seat, but we are greatful just to have made it on. The flight to Orlando was pretty uneventful, and we arrive on time. We depart and, again being unexperienced, it takes us a while just to realize we need to hop on the tram :rolleyes: We get to the ME area and get checked in less than 5 minutes, and then waiting in the POR line for about 10 minutes. We had four stops on our bus, and we were number 3. It gave me a glimpse at Old Key West and Port Orleans French Quarter before heading to our resort.

We arrived at POR around noon. There were no lines at the front desk, we walked right up and a cast member motioned us over. We were given all of our requests (Non Smoking, Water View) and the King room without any problems, I didn't even have to ask about them. We were assigned the Alligator Bayou section, Building 25, Room 2540. We walked, and walked, and walked some more until we made it to our room. The grounds of POR are beautiful!

Here are pictures of our room:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347693%3B7%3B%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D3233977443858nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B643%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233977448724nu0mrj

After checking out our room and dropping our carry-on's, we headed to the food court. In all the commotion this morning, the only thing we had ate was the snack on the airplane. Justin had chicken strips, fries, Rice Krispie Mickey, and a drink, and I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, fries, Rice Krispie Mickey, and a drink. Lunch was good, the food court seemed kind of slow, but we were starved so it probably felt longer than what it was.

Now we were off to Animal Kingdom. We didn't have to wait long at all for a bus, and it wasn't very crowded. On our way there, it started to rain. And of course our ponchos were in our checked luggage, which hadn't arrived yet. Upon arrival, it started thundering and lightning, and it rained and rained and rained. We stood under the bus stop and looked at this scene for a LONG time:

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B643%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233977443868nu0mrj

By this point I was getting frustrated. Between the airport chaos, my aching out of shape body, and the rain, my trip didn't seem too Magical yet.

When it finally let up, we entered the park. Our first stop was ponchos. We actually liked the Mickey ponchos (we would later return the ones in our luggage) and now we have a souvenior. Since the thunder was still rumbling and there was an occasional flash of lightning, none of the rides were operating. We grabbed Fast Passes for It's Tough To Be A Bug, but later realized we didn't need them at all. We decided to wait till our show time anyways, but we stayed nearby and went through some of the stores. I bought some Christmas ornaments and arranged for them to be sent to our resort and continued shopping.

We both loved ITTBAB, and both jumped when our backs and bottoms were "zapped". Still nothing was running yet, so we grabbed a couple of sodas with our snack credits and waited in line to watch Festival of the Lion King. They let us in around 4:30 for the 5:00 show, and the rain really started coming down. I was glad to be indoors! The show was great, I took a lot of pictures but my camera doesn't do well in the dark, so my pictures don't do the show any justice.

When it was over, the rides started back up again, but first we grabbed our wrist bands for Extended Evening Hours. We walked right on to Kilomajaro Safaris. There were some animals out, but I don't think we saw anything rare or anything. I enjoyed seeing the "Upside Down Tree". I'd never seen anything like that before.

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397745553%3Cnu0mrj

This is a great ride, but for some reason I was a little disappointed. Maybe it was the rainy wet ground or the wet me, but either way, I didn't persue riding it again. Next we headed to the train, which again proved to be a disappointment. We took a quick walk around and hopped back on the train. By this point, the regular park hours were ending. We headed to Expedition Everest.

This is me on the way:

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B643%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397744387%3Cnu0mrj

The stand by time said 40 minutes and there were no more Fast Passes, so we hopped in line. Total wait time ended up being 15 minutes, and I LOVED THIS RIDE!! DH thought it was pretty cool too.

After Expedition Everest, we decided to get something to eat. We used a couple of our Counter Service meals at Pizzafari. The lines were short and there were plenty of places to sit. I had the pepperoni pizza, a soda, and a frozen strawberry lemonade. DH had the Chicken Parm. sandwich, chips, a soda, and a frozen lemonade. We actually thought the food was good, but again, we'd had a long day so maybe we were just hungry. We saved the frozen desserts for later, as they were frozen solid and we were full.

When we left Pizzafari, the park seemed empty. It was weird to be in a Disney park and it not have wall to wall people. We headed to Kali River Rapids since we were about ready to head home and it wouldn't matter if we were wet or not. Since we'd worn our ponchos most of the day, we decided to be dorks and wear them on the ride. Actually, it was DH's idea and I really didn't want to do it, but oh well. And wouldn't you know, we were the only two in our raft with ponchos on, and we were the only two that got drenched! Bad choice after all!

We decided it was time to head back to POR. We didn't wait long at all for a bus and it wasn't crowded (this was around 9:30).

We arrived back and stopped by Fulton's for some postcards and headed back to our room. We found our luggage in our room just as DME had promised. We unloaded our suitcases and headed to bed.

Up Next.... Day 2 at the Magic Kingdom

[kellyf2626]

Great trip report!! Can't wait to hear the next installment!! Love the pics! :thumbsup2

[mmbrad02]

Day 2: The Magic Kingdom:

When I started planning this trip, there were two things I told Justin about up front:

1. I would not be riding Mission Space

2. We would get up and go to the Early Morning Hour at Magic Kingdom

The rest we would play by ear and plan as we went.

So on Tuesday, July 18, Magic Kingdom was having Extended Morning Hours. Our alarm clock went off at 6:00am--much too early for vacation--and we started getting ready. We got to the West bus stop at 7:00am (this bus stop was closest to our room and was often uncrowded and worked out very well for us). A bus arrived about 10-15 minutes later and we were on our way.

We arrived at Magic Kingdom between 7:30-7:45 and got checked through security and admission. We watched Mickey, Minnie, Donald and the gang, along with a family from New York, open up the park. It was a cute show that I'd never seen before.

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339774555%3A9nu0mrj

When the gates open, we joined in with the crowds and began our walk down Main Street. We got our picture made in front of the castle by a Photo Pass photographer, and DH started mentioning he was hungry. We had brought pop tarts (left in the room) but neither of us thought to grab any before we left that morning. So we stopped by Main Street bakery because I wanted to try the famous French Toast loaf I'd read about on here. It was yummy, but too much for that early in the morning. Justin had a ham, egg, and cheese croissant and he said it was pretty good. We paid OOP for this meal. The seating was kind of small but we found a table for two. After eating we found us a park map and were on our way.

Problem was, I didn't really have a plan. DH kept looking at me like "Okay, what are we going to do now" since I had every other part of the trip planned. So, we headed toward Tomorrowland and walked on to Stitch's Great Escape. We really didn't like it and it didn't really help that we had no idea who Stitch was :) Next we headed over to Space Mountain and the wait time was 40 minutes. We grabbed fast passes and then hopping on the Transit Authority. When that ride ended, the wait for Space Mountain was already down to 20 minutes. Oh well, we would wait for our fast pass time to come.

By this point it was nearing 9:00am and the opening of Frontierland. We got in line with the masses of other folks, and walked as quickly as we could to Big Thunder Mountain. It took us longer to get through all the turnstiles than it did to wait in line! We basically walked right on. I liked this ride, it's just enough excitment for me to enjoy with my eyes open. Anything beyond this, and my eyes are shut for the entire ride!

After that we watched Splash Mountain and decided we would wait on that one. We headed towards Adventureland in search of Pirates of the Caribbean. The wait time posted was 30 minutes, but we waited about 10 minutes. I was loving the fact that the posted times were way over what the actual wait time was!

Next we did the Jungle Cruise, which seemed kind of petty after riding the Safaris yesterday. We did have a pretty entertaining skipper, so that helped. We decided to try to squeeze in The Haunted Mansion before using our fast passes for Space Mountain. Again, we walked right on. The ride is cute, but I enjoyed it a lot more when I was younger than I did on this trip.

So now we ventured back over toe Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain. I'd never rode this before and I was pretty nervous. When I was 11, my mom and dad rode it because my sister said it was very mild, and my mom came off in tears. That memory will be forever in my mind! But we got on, I kept my eyes glued shut, and it was very tame. I wish we'd had time to ride it again before we left, but we never did. I'm sure I did not get the full effect since my eyes were shut!

We decided to hop on It's A Small World before heading to lunch. We waited about 20 minutes for this, and I actually got bored on this ride, and I'm usuallyone that advocates It's A Small World! DH looked pretty miserable as well. It was now time to head to Tony's for lunch. Despite some negative reviews I've read on here, we really enjoyed our lunch.

Baked Ziti
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397746974%3Anu0mrj

Chicken Parm
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339774729%3B6nu0mrj

Justin and I after Lunch:
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After that huge lunch, we were tired, hot, and sweaty, so we decided to head back to our resort for a break. We left Magic Kingdom around 1:00pm just as it seemed to be getting really busy.

While DH napped, I headed to Fulton's to mail my postcards and I picked up some more souveniors. I got lost on my way back, but I finally found my way!

We waited about an hour and then decided to head back towards the Magic Kingdom to ride a few things before heading to dinner. First we rode Carousel of Progress and then I asked DH to take my picture in front of Space Mountain since I finally worked up the nerve to ride it... and this is what I got:
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D3233977469788nu0mrj
Somewhere, waaaaayyy over to the right, you see the sign for Space Mountain. Oh well!

We found ourselves at The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and a posted wait time of 40 minutes. Seeing how none of the wait times had been accurate this morning, DH decides we should just wait in line instead of Fast Passing. We waited forever, and it was stuffy and hot in line, but we finally get on. Cute ride! Not sure if it's worth a 40 minute wait though. Next we walked over to check out the Hall of Presidents. For some reason this has always been a big hit on the family trips I had taken in the past, and I wanted DH to see it. We both enjoyed it and were really impressed with the "realness" of the presidents. We decided to take a ride on the train before eating. The train took a little longer than we realized though, so he hopped off in Toon Town and walked back to the front entrance to hop on a Monorail to get to the Grande Floridian Cafe.

The resort was beautiful, but we didn't really like our dinner. That's all I'll say about that, I did a review over in the Dining board if anyone's interested. By the time we returned to MK people were already gathering along the street. I thought they were gathering for Wishes, but it was only 8:30 so I couldn't figure it out. Finally, DH says, "No it's a parade and I think we should move closer" and I realized I had totally forgotten about Spectromagic. Had decent view, but nothing speical since we waited so late.

However, our spot for Spectromagic gave us a WONDERFUL view for Wishes. I thoroughly enjoyed this show, and DH is a huge fireworks fan, so he thought it was great as well. We moved quickly to the buses afterwards, and there was a bus waiting! We had to stand, but we didn't care, we got on a bus right after Wishes... we were amazed.

Up Next.... Day 3 at Epcot

[mmbrad02]

Day 3: Epcot

I was super excited about our day in Epcot. When my sister and I were younger, my mother always tried to dwell on the fact that Epcot was a wonderful park and we always knew how much she liked it. I think it was the fact that 1) she didn't have to ride too many rides here (she hates "scarry" rides) and 2) it is educational. For me, it stuck, and I like Epcot.

So today we got to sleep in...till 7am! DH grumbles a little when the alarm clock went off, but eventually rolled out of bed. I get up, and my 26 year old body suddenly feels 80. I am sore from all the running in the airport, my knee is bruised, and my my right foot hurts... A LOT! I determine there is nothing wrong, and it must just be from walking on all the concrete. So I continue moving... slowly, but moving. We are at Disney after all, no time to whine!

When we arrived at the bus stop, we sit and see buses for all the parks come through except Epcot. So, when the second bus for Magic Kingdom comes through, we decide we'll hop on that and then take the Monorail to Epcot. This bus just happens to be a Disney Cruise Line bus, and it was VERY nice! That got us to thinking about next year's vacation....

But back to the present. We arrived at MK just as they are doing the opening show, so we listened to that as we made our way to the Monorail. We finally arrived at Epcot a little after 9:00am and I hobbled my way through security and admission. My foot was hurting and for once DH was sympathetic.... so we moved slow. First, a picture of "the ball"
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A435nu0mrj


We grabbed a map and headed to Test Track to get a Fast Pass. Then we headed over to Soarin. We walked right on, in the front row... a little pixie dust, which was what I needed this morning. This ride was awesome, and we meant to ride it again, but like many other things, we never made it back. When this was over, we realized we'd forgotten the pop tarts again, and we were hungry. So we headed to Sunshine Seasons and got two bacon, egg, and cheese croissants and a Diet Coke.

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A3%3B7nu0mrj

The food was a little expensive (we paid OOP for this) but it was really good. Our fast pass window for Test Track was now open, so we grabbed new fast passes for Living With The Land and headed back toward Test Track. I really liked this ride... it ended up being the only ride we rode twice.
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3B848nu0mrj

When we were finished, we checked out some of the cars in the display area:
http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A3%3B9nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3B644%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3B824nu0mrj

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We grabbed Fast Passes to ride it again, and then headed over to Spaceship Earth. We waited for about 15 minutes; this was another ride I always enjoyed as a child and it didn't disappoint me this time either. I wish we'd waited to ride it though, because every other time we saw it during the day, it was always walk on. Next we headed to Living in the Land, which I thought was pretty neat. I think it has something to do with being raised on a farm!

We wondered over to the Coca Cola area where you can get samples of Coke from other countries. I was amazed that this place was pretty empty even though it was hot and humid outside. They were cold and free, who can pass that up? We tried Japan, China, and Germany. We thought Germany tasted the most like American Coke, but we enjoyed all three. We skipped Beverly because I'd read on here that it's pretty bad. We took a stroll through Mouse Gears and I purchased a photo album and an ink pen to take home. I had them sent to our resort so I wouldn't have to keep up with them--I love that feature!

Now we returned to Test Track with our Fast Passes, but it had been down for a while, so the lines were a bit backed up. We waited for 5-10 minutes in the Fast Pass Return Line. This time we were in the back seat and I was in the middle--I didn't that as well as my first ride, where I was on the front on a side.

We decided to venture into World Showcase to find our restaurant for dinner that evening and to visit France to get a snack from the bakery. Justin had an elephant ear and I had a chocolate croissant. Neither of us were impressed--I guess we just don't know fine pasteries! It was nice to sit at the seating in the store and rest though.

By this point, my foot was aching pretty bad and we were hot and tired, and I was ready to have a melt down. So we decided it was time to head back to POR for a little break. Here again, the bus wait was minimal.

Up Next... the Rest of Day 3 at Epcot

[Viki]

I got very excited when you mentioned the possibility of a "deluxe" but despite my disappointment I am deterimined to persevere!

[DaisyLynn]

Love your TR so far!! Subscribing so I don't miss the next update!! :thumbsup2

[Eventer98]

I really like your review so far..keep it coming! You guys remind me of myself and my fiance...I am in ok shape but he hates walking so we'll see how we do with 4 days of parks and another day at SeaWorld!! :cloud9:

[Eventer98]

I got very excited when you mentioned the possibility of a "deluxe" but despite my disappointment I am deterimined to persevere!


Looks like we will be arriving in WDW the same day! :sunny:

[Viki]

Looks like we will be arriving in WDW the same day! :sunny:


Oooh, where are you guys staying?

[Eventer98]

We are staying at All Star Sports...we were supposed to stay at Shades of Green b/c my fiance is in the Navy but he got promoted and our rates would have went up $30 a night. Since we are also paying for a wedding this spring we had to go value. We figure next time thru we will do AKL. HOw long are you staying? :sunny:

[Lil' Grumpy]

:thumbsup2 a sweet lil report. and you guys are a cute couple!
ahh, forget the money spent, its the memories your be telling your
kids someday..like racing thru the airport [sorry/ :lmao: ]. back
in 2002,we left 2 hrs early but ran into a snowstorm...so right when
we got there [the terminal] they're closing the doors so no time for
pics! .......bring motrin! ahhh ,when your older..you'll learn these lil
secrets, especially takin the night before = sleep better. ok? did your
husband make'em get out of his window seat?

we like animal k.! were they turkeys in the tree top? didn't you stayed
along enough to have your pic taken with stanely and pochonatus?
[conservation station].

i understand your fear...from an experience where our family went
to cincy coney island [ gosh, don't asked how long ago] but it was fate
that we parked at the bottom of the coaster first big hill. fun?! right?
what kind of fun where people screaming their heads off! i was just a kid
but that did it for me!

however, mission space has gotten a bad rap! our daughter been riding and
loving it since she was 6....none of us ever gotten sick. our boys rode it like
5x after eating once.

ha! we know that car from test tract...my boys took many pics. even more
than of the princess: . go figure :rolleyes:

a not so long, time ago we were a young couple. we didn't have alot of money
comapred to what we do now...but those trips are so wonderful to relive!
rain versus no rain, it sounds like a wonderful disney vacation!

[mmbrad02]

Day 3: Continuing Through Epcot-

So after we hopped on a bus, I start to get hungry. I notice it's around 2:00 already, so I ask DH if he would mind getting off at the South bus stop (By the main entrance to POR) and go to the food court to get some lunch. He says he's too hot and tired to eat. Well, good for him, but I'm hungry! So we stop by there and we ended up splitting chicken strips and fries, a diet coke, and a Mickey Rice Krispy treat. He wasn't hungry but he managed to eat pretty well!

We stumble to the room, and DH tries to sleep. Till I have my melt down about aching all over. So he agrees to rub my foot... for about five seconds and then he's out in a deep sleep. So I roll my foot over a cold water bottle and give my mom a call. We chat while Justin sleeps, and the cold bottle really helps my foot. I let him sleep for about an hour, and then I wake him and convince him it's time to head back to Epcot. By this point, you can tell we are starting to wear down from the long days. We are getting up later, the breaks are longer, etc.

We hop back on a bus from the West Depot and get back to Epcot. We wonder over to World Showcase. It's a little too early to check in at Le Cellier, but there's not really enough time to do anything either. So we wondered around Canada for a bit and noticed how pretty the layout is here.

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3% 3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3B85%3Anu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3% 3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3B8%3A3nu0mrj

We ended up checking into LeCellier about 20 minutes before our ADR time, and they announce they are running about 10 minutes behind. The bench by the front door is empty, so we sit down to wait. We *might* have sat 5 minutes or so, and they called our name. Our server was really nice and explained how the restaurant is broke into four groups and I really was listening, but I can't even remember which group we were in!! I did however fall in love with the pretzel bread and cheese soup!! We didn't care much for the multigrain or sourdough bread. We both had the 7 oz. filet and cream cheese mashed potatoes for dinner, but DH got his steak without the BBQ sauce. This was heavenly! This was my first experience for filet mignon, and it did not dissapoint! If we get to go back (and I'm scheming to make it work!) we will definitely eat here. And for dessert:

Since I'm a kid at heart...

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A455nu0mrj

And for Justin....

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A457nu0mrj

Our server even asked if we wanted her to take our picture after dinner! We loved the atmosphere and the food, this place was great!!

So we finally begin our stroll through World Showcase. I knew Epcot was big, but the more we walked, the bigger it seemed to get.

(oh, and this is where my notes end, so now it's all from memory.. from this day forward!). We moved pretty quickly through France and United Kingdom. In Japan, we went to the candy store and bought some stuff we thought looked fun, and we noticed these HUGE goldfish-looking fish outside:

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3B8%3A%3Anu0mrj

As we strolled through the American Adventure, it sounded like they were playing "My Old Kentucky Home" which we thought was cool since we are from Kentucky. And we had a couple of nice girls ask if we would take their picture, and we happily agreed. We asked that they take ours in return, and I was happy they picked this spot, because I love the ball in the background:

http://images1.snapfish.com/34769%3C%3B62%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D323397747%3A467nu0mrj

And then we kept moving. We didn't really stop for anything until we got to Norway, where we hopped in line for Maelstrom. I thought this ride was more action packed back when I was 11.... it was pretty cool for DH though because he didn't know about the floating backwards and out the hole. We skipped the movie at the end and proceeded to find a spot for Illuminations. So, we missed Mexico, and thought we might come back another day, but that too didn't happen.

Illuminations was nice, but it's probably at the bottom of my list of the closing shows. We had a nice view though, and I'm grateful for that. I spent the thirty minutes that we sat prior to the show trying to figure out what the building was that the green lights were shining off of. The next day I would realize that was Tower of Terror!

Next Up.... Day 4 at MGM Studios

[averill94]

What a great time! Thanks for taking the time to report.
Your Epcot pic of the two of you is awesome.

[AussieAngel]

Yay, a great trip report! Thanks for posting!

I hope your knees and foot got better!

[Jennifer48]

Ok one thing, you thought SpectroMagic was "nothing special?!" :eek: Do they have parades like that where you are from?! :rotfl:

Thanks for sharing. Awaiting your next part :hourglass

[Figment's friends]

I had gathered she was referring to the spot they had for watching the parade. Not in reference to the parade itself but because of mediocre seating it wasn't what it could have been. :)

[kathymc]

enjoying your report and your pics
thanks for sharing

[ely3857]

Excellent trippie :thumbsup2

The 2nd or 3rd days are hard, when your body just wont keep up!

:sunny:

Jodie

[mmbrad02]

Oh no no no, I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought Spectromagic was nothing special. I was definitely referring to the location of where we stood during the parade... I'm not sure if I can describe it very well, but we were on (maybe a bridge??) just past the turn to Casey's and Crystal Palace, but not quite to Frontierland. There was a drink stand right behind us. So when we turned away from Main Street and faced the Castle, it was a wonderful view of Wishes.

The parade is awesome, and so much better in person than in pictures. Problem was just I am barely five foot, and we were about 8 deep in the crowd. Would LOVE to go back and wait it out and see it front row!!

[mmbrad02]

Day 4: MGM Studios

I must admit I was not looking forward to MGM. That's one reason it's the last park on our trip. Why? Well, let's take a detour from the trip report....

1. I'm a big chicken when it comes to "thrill" rides, and that's what I considered Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Tower. DH loves thrill rides, so there was not way I was getting out of riding these.

2. When I was there in 1991, the park was fairly new and there wasn't a lot there yet. That's what I remembered most, so I wanted to go places where there was plenty of entertainment.

Okay, back to the trip...

The alarm clock goes off at 7:00am on Thursday, and DH turns it off. We both agree we don't want to get up, and roll back over. 7:30am comes, and we decide that we'll start getting ready. We get up, and suprisingly, my foot is not hurting near as bad. We are slow going this morning, and it takes us a while to start functioning. We finally get ready, AND we eat those precious pop tarts I packed (the price of the food at Sunshine Seasons blew Justin away, I don't think he wanted to pay OOP again). We get to the bus stop around 8:30. And we wait and wait and wait. I was a big advocate of WDW bus system. I think the for amount of people they transport, they do an awesome job. But on this day, MGM buses seemed very slow. We saw several come and go for the other parks, but none for MGM. FINALLY, one appears and we hop on. I've lost track of time by now, but I believe we arrived at the park around 9:30 or so.

We go through security and admission, grab a map, get our picture made by the Fast Pass people, and then head towards Rockin Roller Coaster to grab a fast pass. Everyone seems to have the same plan, and it's very crowded. We stop in front of Tower of Terror and have our picture made by a Fast Pass person. On the third shot, he tells us to look scared. We bursted out laughing instead. Oops! We finally get to RNR, grab fast passes, and head back to Tower of Terror. My stomach is in knots by now, but I'm not complaining. DH knows something is up because my usually chatty self is being very quiet. We waited in line for TOT for 15-20 minutes and are loaded on. We are in the front row; I sit closest to the wall and hold on for dear life. I kept my eyes open for most of the hotel ride, but when someone in our car said "Hold On People", I shut my eyes and did not reopen them until the ride was over. I missed the nice views of the park! Oh well, I survived, and did not ask to ride again. I would ride it if we go back though, it wasn't as bad as I had thought.

We still have some time before our Fast Pass window comes open, so we head over to watch the Muppet 3-D movie. We waited about five minutes for the show to start. We thought it was cute, but not as good as Philharmagic at MK.

http://images1.snapfish.com/3476%3A%3A37%3B%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3% 3C3%3EWSNRCG%3D3233977495%3C%3A6nu0mrj

When we come out of the theater, we see Mama Melrose, so at least we know where our dinner will be tonight. We stroll around and head back towards RNR since our time window is about open. When we arrive, the stand by line is now 90 minutes because the ride was broken down for a while. I was given the badge to give to the ride attendent to determine the wait time. The lead into this ride was pretty neat, and I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been so nervous. We are led into the limos area, and the attendant wanted us to set on the front row; he said it would give DH more leg room. But I insist I don't want to sit front row, so he moves us to the back seat of the front limo... that didn't ease my fears much! DH tells me to lean my head back, and we're off. A minute later, with my eyes glued shut, the ride is over. I ask DH three times if he's sure it's over before I open my eyes :)

We head to the picture area, which actually has a pretty short line compared to the others we've seen, and I decide to use my Disney Visa rewards card to purchase our picture. At this point I'm aggravated with myself because I didn't sit in the front row--it would have been a much better picture that way! Oh well, I'm not planning to ride again on this trip, so I'll take what I can get.

We leave the ride area and I announce to DH that I can now enjoy my day because those two rides are behind me :rotfl: He laughs and he head over to The Great Movie Ride. I rode this in 1991, but I do not remember any of it whatsover. I thought it was pretty cute, and DH enjoyed it. By this point we are starting to think about lunch, so we head over to Backlot Express. I remember from reading DIS that there were not a lot of options in MGM, but this one seemed to work for us. Justin had the double cheese burger/fries, a drink, and the strawberry parfait. I had the hot dog/fries, drink, and chocolate cake. We ate everything, though DH did pick the raisins out of his parfait. As we were finished, this place was getting packed so we decided to get up so some more people could enjoy our table.

We start discussing when we will leave this park; DH is getting tired and for once I'm fine, but I knew he'd be cranky if he didn't rest. We decide to do the Indiana Jones stunt show and then head back to POR. We waited for about 15 minutes for the next show to start. I remember this from 1991 and I thought DH would really enjoy it even though I wasn't too excited about seeing it again. We both ended up enjoying this show though.

Back to the bus stops, where again it was slow getting a bus to POR. We finally get back though and take a break.

Up Next... the rest of day 4 at MGM

[Jennifer48]

Oh no no no, I didn't mean to give the impression that I thought Spectromagic was nothing special. I was definitely referring to the location of where we stood during the parade... I'm not sure if I can describe it very well, but we were on (maybe a bridge??) just past the turn to Casey's and Crystal Palace, but not quite to Frontierland. There was a drink stand right behind us. So when we turned away from Main Street and faced the Castle, it was a wonderful view of Wishes.

The parade is awesome, and so much better in person than in pictures. Problem was just I am barely five foot, and we were about 8 deep in the crowd. Would LOVE to go back and wait it out and see it front row!!

Whew! Thanks for clarifying. :magnify: I got a little worried there! :rotfl:

Now off to read your next installment! :goodvibes

[Viki]

Very nice report; thank you for writing.

On the Safari, generally you're better off the earlier in the day you do it - animals "behave" more in the morning!

[LuluLovesDisney]

I really enjoyed your report. DBF and I are the same age as you and your DH. It's nice to see other couples our age loving Disney!

Thanks for posting!

[bbump]

Your report is helping me get excited for our August trip! Thanks for posting!!

[MeandMyBoys]

I'm really enjoying your trip report. DH and I went twice PK (pre-kids) and we had a great time both times.

[schmoopypoo]

Great TR so far :thumbsup2 I give you alot of credit for doing those "thrill rides" too We don't have to worry about that though when we go becasue we both love them, but I've heard of people who won't even dare try them.

And I am definitely with you on the "no riding mission space" thing. DBF wants me to go on soooo bad, but I keep saying no. We'll see what happens when we get there cuz I'm a sucker :teeth: Anywho, can't wait for more

[ely3857]

I love RNR!

:sunny:

Jodie

[mmbrad02]

Day 4: The Rest of MGM

So we get back to the resort, and I'm not tired. So Justin takes a nap, and I start looking over our MGM map. I took out my black Sharpie and put X's over the items we've done, and circle the items I really want to see. Gosh, there are so many shows in this park, it's nearly impossible to fit them all in. At this point, I decide we will probably have to return to MGM the next day (Day 5 was set aside for DTD and to travel around to the parks anyways). Justin sleeps for an hour or so and then we head back to the bus stop. We get there, sit for about 10 minutes, and DH realizes his pump is almost out of insulin. So we go back to the resort, get that changed, and then head back to the bus stop. We hop on a bus and head back to MGM.

When we get to MGM, the black clouds are rolling in, so we keep the ponchos near. I convince Justin to go see The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This was not high priority on his list, but he went along anyway. It was ironic, but we saw the two girls from Epcot who took our picture for us! They didn't notice us though. I really thought this show was good, and cute, but we had some noisy neighbors to our left that insisted on talking/laughing on the way through. A bit discouraging, but after some other folks "shhh'd" them, it was better.

We start to make our way across the park, and we notice the Fastpass Return time for Star Tours was a little after 7:00, and our dinner was scheduled for 5:50, so we grab fast passes for after we eat.

By this point, it's time to check in at Mama Melrose for the Fantasmic Dinner Package. We check in and are asked to step aside and someone will call for us. This was the first restaurant where I saw someone without an ADR being turned away. The restaurant didn't seem overly crowded, but I guess they had people coming later.

Anyways, we were seated and our server's name was Tony. He was nice, but always seemed to be rushed, even though this restaurant took longer than any of the other restaurants we ate at. He explained the Fantasmic menu to us, and took our drink order. He returned with the bread/sauces/mickey butter and we asked him to not bring the salad, because neither of us like salad. He offers us soup instead, so we each have a bowl of minestrone soup. It was okay. Next we had a four cheese flat bread. Yummy! By this time I'm stuffed, and we hadn't received our entrees yet. I ordered the Wood Grilled Chicken and Justin ordered the Chicken Parm. For those who are keeping track, he also had this entree at Tony's and he had the chicken parm. sandwich at Pizzafari! Yes, it's a favorite of his. We both liked our meals, but I could not finish mine. We are too full for desserts, but we are on the dining plan, so we order them anyways. We had the Honey Hazelnut and Ricotta cheesecake. Oh this was soooo good, I wish I had not been so full. We definitely should have split this, but we picked at our own pieces. Tony signs our Fantasmic card and we are on our way.

So now we roll out of the restaurant, too full to move. I snapped this picture that I thought was neat:

http://images1.snapfish.com/3476%3B98%3B4%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C 3%3EWSNRCG%3D32339774%3A25%3B4nu0mrj

So our Fast Pass Return window is now available, so we head to Star Tours. I'm wondering if we should ride on such full stomachs, but I keep thinking I rode this ride in 1991 and it wasn't bad. So we get in line and are seated in the back rode. When this ride was over, we both sat there like "Is that it??" Pretty short and mild. Has this ride always been at that location and the cave-like setting? I remember the ride itself, but not the decor.

Anyways, we continue on and come across Sounds Scary-Staring Drew Carey. I tell Justin that I've heard this is really stupid and we should skip it. He's not convinced though and thinks we should try it. So we wait. We should have known when there was only about 5 people waiting that something wasn't right. We had a 7 minute wait and were seated. We did not like this!! One problem was that someone talked all the way through, we think it was in Spanish but we were not sure. At any rate, it was distracting. Justin, being a tech guy, thinks they should at least provide you with Bose headphones! Anyways, we exited and decided that show probably would not make it much longer.

By the way, are there any plans to take this attraction out?

We decide that we should probably start making our way to the Fantasmic Entrance, even though we don't like the idea of waiting an hour for the show to start. I must say it was kind of cool having the private entrance. Of the two sections reserved for the package deal, we sit on in the section closer to the center, almost near the rope. Good seats, I am pleased. However, I think we could have had just as decent seats without the package since we arrived an hour before the show and it's just the two of us. Now if I tried this next time, we wouldn't find a seat :rolleyes:

We sit for a while, and Justin starts getting restless. For a while, we listen to a couple of honeymooners behind us talking about their plans for the remainder of the week. Sweet! Then, there was a family in front of us, it appeared to be a mom and two little girls (could have been an aunt or godmother or something, but I really think it was the mom). These little girls had their Mickey ears on and they were truly what Disney is all about. Then we notice the oldest has tears streaming down her face. She wasn't pitching a fit or screaming or doing anything for attention, but she was clearly upset. Later, the mom buys her one of those String Things, and the tears are gone. it almost made me cry, it was so cute and the mom commented on how she had more to get into the suitcase now. This made our evening. So, if anyone is reading this and if fits your description of Pre-Fantasmic on Thursday, July 20, you allowed us to have a great Disney evening!

By now Justin decides he is going to go find something to drink. He returns about 20 minutes later with two bottles of Diet Coke. We are finally getting ready for the show to start, and I can't wait. This show is awesome!!! I really cannot wait to go back and see it again. I'm amazed at how they do it all. I wish my camera took good pictures in the dark. By now, after Illuminations and Wishes, I know the pictures won't turn out, so I don't even try.

After Fantasmic, we exit and make our way to the front of the park. We get in line for a bus and head back to POR.

Next.... Day 5 at Chef Mickey's, Downtown Disney, MGM, and Magic Kingdom

[Jennifer48]

I :love: Fantasmic! too! I just made it my ringtone! :goodvibes

[goalie5hole]

kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[christygobar]

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Melissa!!!!!!!! :wave2:

:goodvibes

I just read every word of your report this morning. And of course got those "I'm too excited to sleeeeeeeeep" lil tears in my eyes. I am so glad you guys had a great time, even despite your airport difficulties (ok, I giggled a bit, but your poor knee!).

You sound like me in your chickenness of riding things. I'm going to ride the "less intense" version of Mission Space when I go, and I think I might work myself up to ride ToT again (last year was my first time, and it was fun - but I'm trying to decide if it was THAT much fun :rotfl: ). I have yet to ride RnR, and I'm not entirely sure I want to. hee hee.

Can't wait to read the rest! :tigger:

[NeverlandClub23]

I'm LOVING your trip report!! :thumbsup2 Looking forward to more! :goodvibes

[3princesses+aprince]

I'm really enjoying your report, and your pics.

[Dolce27]

So our Fast Pass Return window is now available, so we head to Star Tours. I'm wondering if we should ride on such full stomachs, but I keep thinking I rode this ride in 1991 and it wasn't bad. So we get in line and are seated in the back rode. When this ride was over, we both sat there like "Is that it??" Pretty short and mild. Has this ride always been at that location and the cave-like setting? I remember the ride itself, but not the decor.




The ride is still in the same location as always. They redesigned the gift shop in 1999 when Episode I Phantom Menace was released in the theater. It's designed to look like the Tattonie Village (?) from Episode I. There has also been a rumor since 1999 that they are supposed to update the ride to be the Pod racing scene from the movie instead of a trip to Endor.

[mmbrad02]

Day 5: Chef Mickey's, Downtown Disney, MGM, and Magic Kingdom:

So our last day at WDW was set aside to have have breakfast with Mickey, check out Downtown Disney, and then circle back through the parks to see any attractions that we either missed or liked well enough to do again.

Remember back at the beginning I said DH didn't help with the planning of this trip? Well, I planned a character breakfast, and later he was not impressed. But he went along like a pro, and I think he really enjoyed the attention!

So that morning we are going to sleep in, we think. Our ADR was for 10:20, so we decide that as long as we get to the bus stop by 9:15 or so, that would be good. As soon as we arrived at the bus stop, an MK bus pulled up, and we ended up arriving at MK around 9:40 or so. It was too early to head to the Contemporary, so we entered MK and decided to take a ride on Peter Pan's Flight. Pretty cute ride, but by the time we waited in line and rode the ride, it was already time to exit MK and hop on the Monorail.

I've always been impressed with the Contemporary, at least from the outside. A couple of times I had even thought about changing our reservations from POR to CR. My bank account didn't agree though :) At any rate, if WDW offers free dining next year, I am really contimplating going back for a long weekend and staying at CR. I was excited about this ADR so I could finally get a glimpse at the inside of this hotel, along with my favorite characters of course!

Inside view of The Contemporary:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D323397749%3A67%3Anu0mrj

So we get checked in, and this place seems very disorganized from the start. We are directed to the picture-taking area, and the two gentlemen running this system don't seem to have a clue about what they are doing. We had two shots taken, and we never saw these photos. Other people had them dropped off at their table from time to time while we ate, but ours never arrived. I guess it's for the better, it saved me from spending money!!

We head to the waiting area, where we ran into this guy:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D323397749%3A65%3Bnu0mrj

We started to take a seat, and our pager went off. We are seated in the area almost directly behind the waiting area (if you are looking at the buffet from the waiting area, we are on the right) under the monorail. It was a cozy little area, and not too many kids, so it worked out great for us. Our waitress offered us orange juice, and I asked if I could also have a Diet Coke. She was pleasant and friendly, but not overly of either one.

It appears we have just missed Pluto, so we go ahead and make our way to the buffet. It had a nice selection, I started out with Mickey Waffles (I had been waiting all week to see these!!), bacon, and some of the cheesey potatoes/hashbrown casserole. I really liked the waffles and bacon, and not so much on the potatoes. I'm not sure what DH had, this place had too much going on to worry about that! I do know that he piled his plate full of stuff!

We hadn't been there too long when Chip made his appearance.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339774%3A2643nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339774%3A2644nu0mrj

I had hoped the characters had someone walking around with them, because I wanted some pictures of us together, but I guess they do not do this here. So when Dale came over, I asked a family at the table next to us to snap our picture.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339774%3A2646nu0mrj

It appears now that we have a break, so we both had back to the buffet. I got some more bacon, and I decided to try the cheese blintzes. When I arrived back, Minnie had started making her rounds.

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3% 3EWSNRCG%3D323397749%3A66%3Cnu0mrj

(Justin would freak if he knew I had this picture on my desk at work now....) I also had my picture made with Minnie, but it didn't turn out too well.

And then, finally the star of the show:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339774%3A2667nu0mrj

I hate it that DH's eyes are shut, but oh well. I was able to crop him out at Walmart :)

So now we are full, we've seen all the characters except Pluto, and we decide to leave. I must say, the food is okay, but if it were not for the characters, I don't think I would have a desire to return. They make it worth it though!!

During breakfast, Justin received a call from his work, so afterwards I decide to go in the stores at the CR, and he sits in the sitting area overlooking the beach and calls work back. This is the only point at the trip where we got fussy with each other. I looked around in the stores for five minutes or so, and then I redeemed my coupon that came with my Magical Express information for a free pin. So I've spent about 10 minutes doing something. I come back and Dh is still on the phone. I sit. 10 more minutes pass, and he's still on the phone. I'm starting to get frustrated. It's our last day in the World, and I'm sitting in a hotel lobby. I finally tell him, "If you are going to talk, you are going to walk". We ended up sitting for about 30 minutes before the phone call ends. I'm aggravated and DH knows it. We just keep walking, in silence, back to the Monorail and ride back to MK.

We get back on the POR/POFQ bus. We decide to get off at POFQ and wait for a bus to Downtown Disney. We waited forever for this bus, or at least it seemed. We finally get on and we get off at the Marketplace stop. I have never been to DTD before, so I'm unfamiliar with it. We look at the posted map of the area and begin walking. I knew I wanted to check out Goofy's Candy Company and the Pet Shop for sure. Beyond that I just wanted to browse. We still had to get souveniors for family back home, and I didn't really want to leave DTD without them.

We went through the store where everything is $10 below and I bought one of those freezable mugs (we have two from our honeymoon and we use them a lot) and then we buy our cat a scarf at the pet shop. We stop at a snack booth and buy a frozen lemonade for DH and a Diet Coke for me. DH decides to sit on a bench while I go into the World of Disney. I find some souveniors and we are on our way. That is a neat store, but it's so big! We come across the Lego store and all the lego statues, and we are fascinated. I attempt to take a picture of the dragon, and a couple stops and asks if we want them to take both our pictures. So nice!

http://images1.snapfish.com/347737372%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D323397749%3A69%3Cnu0mrj

They ask if we are on our honeymoon, and we explain that we're coming up on our 4th anniversary. They tell us they are celebrating their 25th.

By this point we still haven't been to the candy store, and I really want to check out Earl Of Sandwich while we are here. So we find Earl first and we decide we'll split a meal since we have three counter service meals left. We got the meatball sub, brownie, and a drink. We had to wait in line for a while, but it was definitely worth it. I hope to come here hungry next time, it's sooo good!

We find Goofy's Candy Co. and I am sooo excited to find they have the bulk candy, and they have the yellow banana's from Runts. I love the bananas; I waste so many boxes of Runts because I pick the bananas out and then I am finished. So I buy a third of a pound of yellow bananas and DH picks out some sort of pre-packaged candy (chewy sprees I think) and we check out. While we check out, DH is asked to test their slushy's to make sure they taste okay. He tried a Strawberry one and a Raspberry Lemonade. He said both were good.

By now we are getting hot and tired (we went in other stores too, I just don't remember them all) and decide we've seen enough of Marketplace and decide to go back to POR for a nap. I had mentioned to DH that they have a boat that goes to our resort, so we decide to take that back. It was such a nice ride, and just a nice change of pace to the buses.

Up Next... Circling the parks and our last night at POR!

[NeverlandClub23]

I was able to crop him out at Walmart :)

This cracked me up! :lmao: :rotfl:

I can't believe your trip report is almost over! :(

[mmbrad02]

So during Justin's afternoon nap on Friday, I began the dreaded task of packing. This was our first week long vacation since our honeymoon, and I had "moved us in" to the hotel room rather than living out of suitcases. I started with our clothes. First I packed the garbage bag full of dirty clothes into the extra duffel bag I had brought. That was the easy part. Then came the task of everything else! I managed to lay out some clothes for the next day and pack up the rest of our clothes, and put all our shoes in the luggage, get our carry ons ready, etc. By this time Justin had had a nice nap, and it was time to roll again.

Our first stop was back to MGM to catch the last show of Lights Motors Action! I didn't really know if I wanted to do this or not, and I hadn't really mentioned it the day before, but when Justin saw the stadium while we were taking a stroll the day before, he announced he would like to see it. So we tried to board a bus to MGM from the West bus stop, but just like the previous day, the MGM buses seemed slow. When we finally got on, we only had about 15 minutes till the show started. At this point, I determine we will never make it to MGM, get through the security and admission, and get to the back of the park for the show. Oh, and what if there are actually other folks waiting to see this show? DH is oblivious to the fact that people might have been waiting in line and the show could be filled.

At any rate, we arrive with about 3 minutes to spare, get through all the lines, and walk comando style to the show. We get there and the CM's and motioning everyone forward, proclaiming the last show of the evening. When we get to the stadium area, we notice there are indeed a lot of empty seats. The first seat we took ended up having an obscured view; we were basically going to have a pole in our way through the show. One of the joys of just having two people is that you can usually find a seat elsewhere, so that is what we did. We didn't have to move too far, but we had good seats in my opinion. Here are some pictures from the show:

http://images1.snapfish.com/347754247%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339775%3A5626nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347754247%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D323397758%3B87%3Bnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347754247%7Ffp339%3Enu%3D3289%3E%3B%3B2%3E3%3C3%3E WSNRCG%3D32339775%3A562%3Cnu0mrj

We both loved this show. I thought it was pretty entertaining, and I was glad we made the effort to go. But, now was my turn! DH had chosen this show, and in return, I had said I wanted to watch Beauty and the Beast. So when Lights Motor Action! ended, we quickly made our way back across the park, where the CM's were now motioning people into the Beauty and the Beast auditorium for the last show of the evening. We sat close to the back, but still had a good view. We were entertained by Four for a Dollar, which I thought were hilarious and I planned to buy their CD for a souvenior (which I would later forget....). I really enjoyed this show as well! I think MGM does some good shows overall. Some I enjoy more than others, but that's how it goes.

So now we are getting hungry, it's around 7:00 and we both know we have to get up at 3:00am to get to the front lobby for our 4:00am ME pick up. But we are at Disney, and we want to enjoy every last moment! We have two counter service meals left, and since the options at MGM are limited, we decide to spend our final moments at Disney at Magic Kingdom. We exit MGM and get in line (with dozens of other people) for the TTC bus. We didn't make it onto the first bus, but we are the first in line for the next bus. We finally arrive at the TTC, take a potty break, and board the Monorail for MK.

When we arrive at MK, it's packed. Tonight they are having Extended Evening Hours, and I had never seen so many people!! They have started roping off Main Street for the parade, and that didn't help traffic any. I know where I want to eat (although at this point I didn't know the name) and I didn't have a map, because I *knew* where the restaurant was. BUT, in all the madness and crowds, I am confused, I don't know where I'm going, I'm hungry and tired, and did I mention it's crowded? I just want to leave. If I'd been alone, I would have, but DH says we are here and we should enjoy it. And he knows that once I get food in me, I will be fine too. So I say "Forget it, we'll just eat at the first place we come to". This just happends to be Peco Bills. Sounds fine, except the line is soooooo long. I'm not waiting, and I leave. We keep walking, and finally I figure out where I am, and I find the restaurant I had originally set out for: Columbia Harbour House. Ah hah! And little did I know that when I returned and checked on DIS, it's actually one of the more popular MK restaurants!

The lines were not too bad here, so we get in line. We are both really hungry, and it's our last Disney meal, so we choose the fish and chicken combo (with fries), drinks, and the chocolate cakes. The place was noisy, but by this point I didn't care. The food was so good! I loved the fish, and I'm not a big fish person. The chicken was good too. We decided to take th cakes with us, and save them for later.

DH wants to ride one last ride before we leave, and we decide on Big Thunder Mountain. The fast pass time is to return about an hour later, and the wait is 50 minutes. Now if we'd been smart, we'd grabbed fast passes and either 1) waited in line anyways, or 2) watched Spectromagic. But it's 9:00pm and we just want to ride something and head back to POR, so we just hop in line. And it took the entire 50 minutes! It was the longest line we waited in all week, and it was stuffy, sweaty, hot, etc. But it was worth it! It was so neat to ride this in the dark, you get a totally different effect. So I invision us walking hand in hand out of the park on our last night, but that's far from how it happened.

It just so happen that they were getting ready to turn the lights off for Wishes! and they wanted everyone to stay in place. Now, I loved Wishes, but I did not want to watch it again and then fight the crowds to exit the park. Especially since we had to be up at 3:00am! So we make our way as quickly as possible through the crowds of Main Street. And we made it with about a minute to spare. One of my happiest moments was seeing the CM's up on the train area and waiting good-bye. I wanted to cry; DH just laughs.

We get off at the South bus exit because I want to buy a shirt at Fulton's, and then we went to the food court to spend our four remaining snack credits. DH wanted a lemonade, and we bought 3 Mickey Mouse Rice Krispie Treats (I loved these things!!). We head back to the room and I pack up our toiletry items and we finally go to bed. That alarm would go off way too early!

Now, because we are cheap, we didn't arrange for bell services to pick up our luggage. So we hauled them from our building, waaaaaayyyy over on the other side of POR, to the main lobby at 3:30am the next morning. We arrive and find that we are the only ones there. Another family shows up, and finally our bus does too. The bus drive is kind of peculiar, and does weird things, like cleaning a certain spot on her windshield at 4am, but oh well. She gets up safely to MCO, and that's all that matters.

We navigate our way through this airport much easier than we did our departing airport, get our luggage checked, get through security, and get on the shuttle, and get to our terminal. We get breakfast at Burger King, and go sit and wait to board. We are finally on our way home.... boo!

Next up.... recap, plans for next time, etc.

[NeverlandClub23]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip! :goodvibes It goes by so fast... :(

[MissMichelle]

awwww, so sad to see you say goodbye! Great trip though and it sounded and looked like you got a lot done ;)

[Eventer98]

Thanks for the great trip report! I hope that my upcoming trip goes by as smooth as yours seemed to (although I will pass on the airport incident! :p )

[averill94]

Ok so will it be CR next time?

Thank you for sharing your memories and pictures- they were lots of fun!