You're never too old for a family trip! Trip Report! UPDATED! LAST CHAPTER!!

[Nicole786]

One of my favorite things to do at DIS is read TR. I love 'em, i can't get enough of them. They're like little fantasy stories that take you to a very real place. A place that exists in a far off magical land called "Orlando" Wow. A place, i too, am visiting in the near future. So being that i enjoy reading them so much, i thought about writing my own. However, i’m merely earning my ears, so I asked myself "Have I earned the right for a TR?" After much contemplation during my college math II class (learning about inequalities, what did i learn?? Disney>Math class) I realized that if I was to write a TR, at least I would have it for myself, to look back upon. And I decided to go for it.

Like most TRs, I’m going to start off with a mild introduction. I feel that this TR differs from many others because one: it does not have small children or a significant other, and two: it’s written from a daughter’s perspective. I'm 20 years old now, and i live with my parents in West Palm Beach, FL. Right now i'm finishing up my associates degree and then hopefully transferring to my college of choice: Pace University :teacher:

Over the course of my childhood, my parents took my brother, my cousin, and myself on a couple of trips to the mouse house. After we moved here to Florida, we never found the time to go to Disney until late 2006. My birthday was in October, and my present was a trip to Universal Studios:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/birthdaycake.jpg

The first night there, we went to DD, a place we hadn’t been to in many years, and the magic overwhelmed us.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/goddyandbirthday.jpg

We ended up buying season passes (I had to buy my own, it was part of the persuasion) and for the first time in almost 10 years, we went to Disney! We only had 2 days to go, so I barely even remember it. (we ended up going to universal for half a day the last day) We ran around like chickens without heads, running from park to park snapping 360 pictures along the way. My 360 pictures are what help me remember the blur of awesomeness. We vowed we would return for real, and now that time has come.

My dad and I discussed different birthday presents for my mom, but we always came back to Disney. We said to ourselves, “what can we do to make Disney a birthday gift?” And we decided on staying in the resort (we've never stayed inside, but my mom has always wanted to. Badly.). I went through one room at POR, which changed to 2 rooms at CBR, which changed to what we have now: 2 rooms, 4 night at POR. I ended up paying a ridiculous low price, which is good because my credit card took care of both room deposits, and the full cost of one of the 2 rooms. The next day, I had to call them for a request, and 45 minutes later, i was on the phone with Guest services. Apparently, the gentlemen i booked my room with (the only upbeat one so far by the way) gave me a discount I shouldn’t have received. This was about my 7th phone call to them in less than a week, and i was none to pleased, especially with the tone of the woman i was speaking to! The rep who gave me the wrong discount was the only one who seemed magical, and i let them know! I also told them that "i'm not even at disney yet, and i'm not feeling the magic" so they fixed everything and sent me a gift card! Sweet! So there we have our plans. And for a pictorial description on how we presented the gift to my mom, click here. (http://nicoie.livejournal.com/126162.html#cutid1) Heres a preview of one of the elements:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/letterfrommickey.png


In addition to my brother, my father, my mother, and myself, my cousin will be joining us. It will be just like old times! He's been a little down since we moved to Florida (more so than i have) so everyone feels it would be good for him. Anyway, we're hoping to let the magic do its thing! So here, ladies and gentlemen, is the cast of characters:

Nicole: :smickey: <--- i know this is generally used for men, but sorcerer mickey is my favorite!! (20) I will use my real name, which is Nicole, and the only description I have for myself is yes, I am awesome.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/me.jpg

David: :goofy: (15) My brother, also the birthday boy, David is a chicken when it comes to rides. Last time we were there he had an awful time because he didn’t do anything. This time around, he promises hes trying Space Mountain and Splash Mountain at least. I’m excited. Also will be celebrating his 15th birthday when we’re in Disney, so I have a few surprises for him up my sleeve

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/david.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/meanddavid.jpg
David is the coolest 15 year old I know. The gap in our ages makes a big difference, i used to torture him like crazy when we were younger, but we have such a great relationship now. I'm hoping to surprise him with one of sarah's great baskets (http://www.memoriesbysarah.com/)

Michael: :eeyore: (21) My cousin, who I hope will let the magic work its….magic.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/michaelwine.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/memichaeldavid.jpg

Mom: :MinnieMo (43) the birthday girl!, or (Stacy) also a lucky recipient of a sarah basket! she was almost crying when she reached the end of her birthday scavenger hunt to find the resort! she was in disbelief!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/momfigment.jpg

Dad: ::MickeyMo (44) aka Sheldon. the little boy at heart. The look on his face of my mothers apparent joy at the reveal of her gift was priceless. I've never seen him more excited about a disney trip!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dadpluto.jpg
what a big kid! lol

Random Tidbits

We have ADRs at Chef Mickey's and 50s Primetime Cafe, and possibly one more!

And now, I leave you with a couple of pictures. The first one is myself, my brother and Michael in an Orlando McDonalds in 1994. After that is a family photo from last year in front of the castle.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/disney1.png

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/disney2.png

Hope you liked it! stay tuned for more!

[KimAshton]

Nicole I think I know you. Waves. :)

I love the pictures girl. I know you are going to have a blast and I cannot wait to read your TR. :)

[momrek06]

AWESOME NICOLE...keep it coming!!!! :love:

Love the pictures. You have a wonderful family. Esp love when DISer's post the older pics of themselves....wicked cool!!! :goodvibes

[DebIreland]

Great job Nicole! You have a lovely family! :thumbsup2 I'm so excited for you all - not long to go now! Can't wait to read more. Oh by the way, when I clicked on the link you gave to view the photos of the surprise I got an error message saying it's a protected entry that requires a log-in. Just letting you know so you might be able to adjust it! :goodvibes I love the letter though. :woohoo: Keep up the good work!

[OhMari]

Love the picture of you when you were little. My ds actually had a sweatshirt with a teddy bear on it. He hates me for making him wear it when he was little, but he loved it then, hates me for it now. Looking forward to your report.

[truebelievers]

What a wonderful start to your TR! I'll be signing on for sure. And, as a fellow daughter who will also be writing a trip report on behalf of her family, I commend you! :cheer2:

[Nicole786]

KimAshton Thanks for being the first to comment, and you know i think i may know you from somewhere too....;P

momrek06 I'm glad you like the pics, i love when DISers post young pics too!

DebIreland thanks! i love your TR too! thanks for the heads up about photobucket, i'll fix that in a bit!

OhMari I hated the stuff my mom used to dress me up in, but i guess its cute haha

truebelivers I can't wait to read your TR! its interesting when you throw in a rare element to the story like the fact that its told from a daughters perspective.


I just snapped some more pics, so more tidbits next post!

[Nicole786]

On my way home from class today, something happened that usually doesn't happen (or it does happen and i'm to busy singing to the radio to notice) The light in front of the turnpike turned red and I had to stop. Like some do when they're at a red light for what seems like 20 minutes, i looked around. Up above me, beaming towards me in a nice shade of green was the sign for Orlando and it made me smile. It was as if it was saying Orlando, right lane only, but we'll wait for you Nicole." or "Orlando, right lane only, Hello, Nicole, we're waiting for you." It seems that every time i see an element that has to do with Disney i get excited. Like planning with Sarah to get my brother and mother a basket, or the orlando turnpike sign, or my Disney Music iTunes playlist that seems to be blaring 24/7, or the cloud that one time when i walked Oreo that looked like mickey mouse, and how my bagel this morning had a hole in it that i swear looked like mickey ears. Does anyone ever get like this? 20 days to go and it seems my mind is 100% focused on the DIS boards, disneyworld, going to disney, disney music, disney pancakes, i hope i'm not the only one.

Yesterday was my moms official birthday, and although we had already given her the gift, i didn't want her to go through the day without something commemorating her birthday. So i called my cousin (the one whos coming with us) and we drove to Party City to pick up these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/balloons.jpg
although they are not in the picture, there are 4 regular pink and purple balloons and a second large helium balloon non disney.

She loved them! She was so happy when she saw them, she's just as excited as I am to go (maybe i just show it a little more)

A couple of other posts have talked about buying a certain bag/fanny pack for disney, and i just thought i'd share the one i just picked up. I plan to go to home depot and pick up a couple green mickey ears to tape on them. (Finish line did sell one in lime green, but it was kind of an ugly 'this is way too bright' green, so i decided to go for the former way of showing my DIS pride.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/bag.jpg

And now i am off to work! It's a good thing i work in the computer industry and can sneak a look at the boards!

[KimAshton]

No Nicole the sign was saying "Nicole follow the disney light and come to disney." :)

I am jealous you get to go sooner then me. I want pics so you can get me excited about disney. :)

[Nicole786]

So i snapped a picture of my evergrowing change collection. I'm not sure if i'll have more money by March 1st, but as it stands right now, i'll have enough for a pin or something :rotfl:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/change.jpg


I went to home depot with my dad yesterday for an unrelated reason, and decided to pick up some alien green mickey ears! i attached one to my bag, so look out for this if you're in WDW march 1st-5th! I have plenty of extras if anyone needs!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/bag-1.jpg

One last thing. I really want a new camcorder so i can video tape this trip (i took a ton of pics, and this time around i'd rather tape) So if anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome For now, i think i found one:

http://www.sonystyle.com/intershoproot/eCS/Store/en/imagesProducts/180x180/DCRHC38.jpg
info found here (http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=DCRHC38&Dept=cameras&CategoryName=dcc_DICamcorders_MiniDVHandycamCamcor ders)

thats all for now! 17 days! i can hardly wait!! :woohoo:

[KimAshton]

Send me an alien mickey. LOL. I am too lazy to get one myself :)

[Nicole786]

Second post of the day! But only because I have some late breaking pictures!

I ordered a couple of birthday baskets for David and my Mom through Sarah (http://memoriesbysarah.com) She was wonderful, and after about a week of planning and pondering, the baskets are complete! So she sent me a picture of the finalized product! Missing from the picture are personalized birthday buttons. David's is on the left and DM is on the right.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/IMG_1908Small.jpg

This is what they have in them:
David:
lollipop
sour gummies
Mickey plush
Mickey R.K. treat

Mom:
Cute mug
Minnie keychain plush
Disney nuts
Disney trail mix

[KimAshton]

Love those baskets. :)

[momrek06]

OMG, Nicole, those baskets are fabulous!!! Keep the posting coming!!! Those balloons are a riot. I have never seen one with the CASTLE before!!! You ROCK!!! :banana: :banana:

I love those alien mickey heads from HD!! I have a bunch in my window!!!:laughing:

Good luck with finding yourself a nice camera!!! :woohoo:

(btw: I love that pretty patchwork quilt in your photos)!!! :goodvibes

[dopeyfanatic]

Just found your tr! Sounds like so much fun! I hope when I get older I'll get a surprise trip. Your mom is lucky! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

[Nicole786]

OMG, Nicole, those baskets are fabulous!!! Keep the posting coming!!! Those balloons are a riot. I have never seen one with the CASTLE before!!! You ROCK!!! :banana: :banana:

I love those alien mickey heads from HD!! I have a bunch in my window!!!:laughing:

Good luck with finding yourself a nice camera!!! :woohoo:

(btw: I love that pretty patchwork quilt in your photos)!!! :goodvibes

Thanks! The patchwork is my comforter which has been on my bed for years! Everytime i spring for a new bed set, I pull this comforter out of my closet. It's like my grown up blanky :blush:

Just found your tr! Sounds like so much fun! I hope when I get older I'll get a surprise trip. Your mom is lucky! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

Thanks! Glad to see someone is reading it :) I guess you can say my mom is lucky, but she's always done things nice for me, and i always said when i got older, i would reiterate. Although this gift is not totally selfless, it is disney after all! :jumping1:

[Nicole786]

Just a quick update today:

Happy Valentine's Day! :love: :love: This is what my post is about. Every year since i was able to remember my father always gets me a valentines day card and then a little something on the side (like a hersheys cane filled with candy, a teddy bear, other kinds of candy etc) So today i awoke to a hershey's kiss beanie baby, and an awesome card! :love: Sometimes my dad can be so good, sticking with the theme of the hour:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dadcard.jpg

Off topic for a second, my dad and I sometimes take one day a month or so, and do something together so we don't lose our relationship. So we went to wendy's for lunch (doesn't everyone?) and i got my usual chicken nuggets. Except this time they weren't usual at all, they were very unusual. I picked up a slightly deformed chicken nugget and presented it to my dad as if i had made it myself.

"Mickey ears" he replied with a slight laugh.

and then i ate it.

But i wish i had a camera. :(

[MAKHayes-DisneyDiva]

Of course you have the right to create a TR! 68 posts is nothing to sneeze at! I enjoyed your pre-trip report. Loved the photo from 1994. Have a great trip!!
:banana:

[Nicole786]

I know i've done so much for them already (DM and DBDavid) but i just couldn't resist.

Last night, we decided we were going to add another ADR to our trip and i immediately thought of Coral Reef. One, because we picked the night of Epcot's EMH for the extra ADR, and two, I had previously heard about the divers package, from another TR!

I was a little worried about booking a ressie so close to the date of arrival (will they even have one?) But on the way to school this morning at around 7:10 I called, and sure enough I was in! It's an early ADR, but thats okay, more time to play in epcot!

So i came home and found the numbers for the restaurant and gave them a call. No answer. Well, it was lunchtime so that was expected. I left a message and asked them to call back.

So here i am, sitting in Applebees, [With DM! :scared1: ] and i got call. I let it ring to voice mail and then excused myself to the bathroom (she didn't hear the ringing over the restaurant) I stepped outside and called back praying they would pick up. The person who answered was Dan, i explained I had received a call back referring to my initial call of inquiring about the divers package, etc and he said "yep that was me!" He sounded very friendly and accommodating, the 2 exact qualities I love in a CM. We shared a laugh as I asked him if it guarantees a seat next to the window. He said it wasn't a guarantee but it betters your chances and it's not like they're gonna put you all the way on the other side and go 'heeey theres your poster! its waaaay over there!' :lmao: He offered a cake which I declined at the time but after perusing the cake thread, i'm tempted to order one, we'll see.

So there we have it. Dan has moved himself to second favorite CM this trip (underneath my wonderful CRO who accidentally gave me a PIN code discount!) and the ball keeps rolling as we approach the one week mark!

BTW, does anyone live in South FL or NY and listen to Z100 in the morning?? They do "phone taps" (prank calls) and this morning was about disneyworld! I almost peed my pants! They usually put them on the net the following day, so i'll probably post about it tomorrow but I just wanted to see if anyone heard it! One of the morning show people phoned a woman who had reservations for a resort and told her they were cancelled. Let me tell you: CRACKING. UP. :rotfl2:

[Nicole786]

David's turn!! David's birthday was yesterday (although the real celebration will be at WDW) I wanted to surprise him so on my way home from work I picked these up:



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dbal4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dbal2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dbal1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/dbal3.jpg

WE'RE DOWN TO SINGLE DIGITS!!! 9 days and counting! :woohoo: :woohoo:

I called CRO yesterday to put in a request for building 14. I'm not sure i'll get it because one of the rooms has a king size bed, but when i get there, and they say that was the reason, i'll just be like "just stick them somewhere else" :rotfl: I also called Coral Reef to buy a cake for mom & david, and have a diver go down!

On the list of To Dos:

- Print Mousekeeping envelopes.
- Turn change into bills

I created a semi-itinerary. My plan is not to follow it to a T, but use it more of a guideline so we have a sense of where we should be to fit everything in. I know for a fact we're not missing Fantasmic or Wishes (we've never seen either) and I want to spend a day in AK since we've never really been.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/Picture2.png

My disney folder is ever-growing!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/trip%20report%20pics/Picture1.png

Hope to hear from you guys! :yay:

Until next time! (probably after I get my camcorder on wed.)

[KimAshton]

I am jealous you only have a week left. :)

[Nicole786]

I am jealous you only have a week left. :)

think of it this way: when i come back, you'll first be going! I'd rather be you! haha

[Nicole786]

This will be the last post of the pre-trip report. :sad1:

I have one more week to go! :cool1: and i bought that camcorder i said I was gonna buy so i can't wait to take videos!

WHen i come back I might make a trip report (or at least attempt to) but if it turns out to not be a success like this one, i probably won't. Oh well! See you guys when I come back! (thanks to those who did comment! :cheer2: )

[KimAshton]

This will be the last post of the pre-trip report. :sad1:

I have one more week to go! :cool1: and i bought that camcorder i said I was gonna buy so i can't wait to take videos!

WHen i come back I might make a trip report (or at least attempt to) but if it turns out to not be a success like this one, i probably won't. Oh well! See you guys when I come back! (thanks to those who did comment! :cheer2: )


Well, I better see pictures. LOL. Say Hi to my dad while you are in orlando. He is going down there on the 3rd to play golf for a week.

[princessjv]

You are such a thoughful girl! I am sure your mom really loves all she is getting from you. I can't wait to hear about the trip...oh my osh, you leave in just a few days...lucky!:cool1:

[momrek06]

NICOLE, great pictures of David's birthday!! :dance3:

You are one ORGANIZED young lady!! :surfweb:

Congratulations on the new purchase of your camcorder!! You are so going to love bringing all your memories home with you!! Don't forget to still take pics for us to see when you get back!! :thumbsup2

[Nicole786]

They say that the best way to get over a Disney trip is to start planning another one. Lucky for me, I was planning a return trip before I even left for this one! This august, my “guy friend” from NY and I will hopefully be at the mouse house. He’s left the resort choice up to me, so I think I’m splurging for the wilderness lodge! Look for the pre-trip report on that one, as August draws near.

But first on to this trip report! For those who were not reading the Pre-Trip report, you may do so, by clicking here.

Before I get started I have a few thank yous to get through here. Thank you to timandlesley for your fantastic insight and incredible help! Thank you to millerdwfans for a last minute offering of help! Disneyfav4ever for your help on the LMA show! Kimashton for listening to my random shouts of glee, and also a big thank you to anyone who helped me along the way here on the DIS boards. Okay, I hear that speech-ending music starting, so lets get this show on the road!

The pre-trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1349936) explains in very neat details, exactly what the Disney trip was for, and how It was nicely presented, so I won’t go into it here. Just to sum up, this trip was a birthday gift for my mom, and the real surprise was staying inside the resort, something we have never done but always wanted to do. Lets meet the cast shall we?

Mom – Birthday girl, age over 40, but still a kid at heart. Loves everything Disney, and her face lit up when we got front row seats for the parades.

Dad – Also over 40, can’t help but get stressed when lots of money is being spent. But even after everything, he was the one who splurged on the 3 snow globes (or at least that’s what I heard)

David – Scaredy Cat! Also the birthday boy, age 15 and kept getting jealous that moms birthday button was seen before his. He’s still a baby at heart, with his “I don’t want to ride space mountain NOW because my stomach hurts” Enjoyed feeling mature having a room separate from the parents. That might have been his favorite part.

Michael – The Cousin. Age 21. He doesn’t react to change well, so when we went from saying “we’re going to epcot” to “we’re going to magic kingdom” he got a little upset and disoriented.

Me – Age 20. This might be the last family trip for a very long time since I’m moving to New York soon. Tried to cherish with my family the best I could. Also known as the tour guide, and the photographer.

Thursday, March 1st

Unfortunately for me, we weren’t leaving for Disney until dinner time that day, so the entire day was dreadful. Math class took too long, and the simple errands we ran, didn’t seem to be as simple as they could. But nevertheless, around 5:00PM we were finally leaving.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/1michaelcar.jpg

From West Palm Beach, it takes about 2 and a half hours north to get to Orlando. Add a stop to Boynton Beach to drop off the dog, a stop at Wendy’s, and a stop for gas, we arrived finally at Port Orleans Riverside around 9PM.

When we got to the resort, I had my own level of expectations for check in. I already knew that whoever I was going to deal with, was going to be super nice, extremely welcoming, and lovely all over. Oh and rosy cheeks. Oh! And a big smile! Yup, I was in my bubble of Disney glory :cloud9: . And in a matter of 10 minutes, my bubble was popped. :sad1: First of all, let me back track a bit and say I had added to the request that I wanted building 14. Now I know even with a room request, the chances of receiving the request are pretty slim. When I didn’t receive the request, I wasn’t shocked. (I was a little shocked that they didn’t even TRY to get us close to the lobby) I was upset mostly because the CM was not trying to help, she was kind of being rude about it. I really wanted the resort thing to go as easy as possible so when it came time to plan another family trip, my dad, the penny saver, would “have to” stay at a Disney resort. (lucky for me, they were down the desk with a more pleasurable CM) Maybe it wasn’t Kirby’s fault. Maybe my level of panic that started to fill my head was clouding my judgment. Either way, I wasn’t happy. I was panicking at how far the room would be from the lobby as I glanced down to my itinerary and noticed we had plans for breakfast at Boatwrights. I was concerned at how far away it was from the buses. Would we make it for park opening? I was in a total state of panic. When you’re planning something, and you’re typing you’re little plans in Microsoft Word, making the font pink, and blue, and shade of purple, you’re assuming that you will be in building 14, and you’re in your Disney bubble. When Kirby, your obnoxious CM tells you otherwise, you begin to worry.

Maybe the room thing turns out to be okay, maybe it doesn’t (I guess you’ll have to read and see!) But for now, lets move on. I had ordered gift baskets from Sarah (http://www.memoriesbysarah.com) (who, might I add was fantastic, and the following is not a reflection on her. I Highly recommend her) And I figured that because we had such a late check-in, the baskets were going to be in the rooms. (One for mom, one for David) I had a picture in my head of videotaping my mom and Davids reaction when they walked into their rooms and saw the baskets. How happy they would be, how excited! Well, actually, Kirby brought them both out, put them down and pretty much said “here” and that was that. Now, I might be over-reacting because I did manage to capture my moms excitement and joy, and David was so excited he didn’t even realize I was behind the whole thing. But I was already upset, so I couldn’t really enjoy their reactions.

Finally, after we received our room keys, I stood their waiting for more. I kept telling myself there was definitely something missing here. But after Kirby gave me one last “um, you’re done.” I was so happy to get out of there, that I ignored any voices telling me that I don’t have everything I need. As we left the registration, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. Needless to say, check-in made me want to start to cry, and I really truly hope the next resort I stay at will be a much better experience.

We parked in the designated “building 29” parking lot, and made our trek on to the room. It took a while to find it, and more panic began to set in. (Was it really this far away??) We FINALLY found it, and things were starting to look up! We had a corner room with 2 windows. I LOVED the decor! And it just reeked of Disney Magic! We even had this little guy to greet us!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/1towelanimal.jpg

We raced out of the room because we really wanted to go to Downtown Disney. Here’s a few pics of the room, and david with his basket!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/1room.jpg
We had a corner room with 2 windows and a view of the lake! Things were looking up!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/1davidbasket.jpg


I was so excited to take the boat, but we agreed that the boat would take too long so we took the car and spent about an hour in Downtown Disney. I was there for 30 seconds before racing off on my own to Pin Traders with Michael and David in tow. I knew I wanted to start a pin collection and here is where that began. I bought a nice lanyard and a fantasmic mickey pin to go along with my Mets pin i bought last time. I promised David and Michael that we would do what they wanted as long as they gave me "pin time" (David even started his own collection!) But that came back to haunt me as the rest of the hour was spent in Once Upon a Toy and The Lego Store. Once Upon a Toy was a blast, but tweedle dee and tweedle dum took 25 minutes to build themselves lightsabers, and when we finally left there we only had a chance to race to the lego store, and then we were done.

On the way back, i realized what I was missing from check in! Evil-CM didn't give me my packet of "welcome" stuff! I'm such a baby when it comes to the little things, that i guarantee that if she had given it to me at check-in i would have been 10X happier than I was. My dad had to go to the lobby anyway, and we wanted to see how far the rooms were, so at around 11PM, my dad and I walked to the lobby.

My dad wanted to get the internet hooked up to his room, but while there, i asked a different CM than Kirby for my welcome packet. She happily obliged, so I took the oppurtunity to ask if their were any rooms closer to the lobby. She glanced over to the CM next to her, It was Kirby again! As she was explaining in a forced happy kind of a way that it was because of the king size bed there was nothing available, i said okay, and left the desk. As i turned around, i heard the two of them mumbling under their breath (possibly about me), and i never felt more unhappy at disneyworld in my life.

When I got back to the room, I was so excited for the new day to start that i was up all night. Partially due to the "clicking" noise the AC was making (which Michael and David swear they didn't hear) Even David, who was on an Aero bed next to the AC said i was crazy. But finally the first day of Disney was here! Next stop: Animal Kingdom!

Up Next: How cranky is too cranky? Are the rooms really that far away from the lobby? How many things can we get done in Animal Kingdom? Stay tuned to find out!

PS: There were lots more pics taken, the first day was mainly video. SO keep reading for more pics!

[missj1975]

Off to a great start...can't wait to read more!

[princessjv]

Ya!!! Your back! Did they like their arrival gifts? I can't wait to hear how everything went! :banana:

[KimAshton]

I want more pics. Pouts. LOL.

Sigh I will drop kick the mean CM for you when I go. :)

[mas6010]

Can't wait to read more, just love the trippies. But they make me a little sad, I can't wait to go back. :rolleyes1

[timandlesley]

Welcome back!!!! I'm worried about how it starts but since you logged into my TR and told me you had a good time I'm not going to worry too much:goodvibes Who was the first pic of? Can't wait for more, you are off to a great start, I enjoy your writing style. Glad my tips helped you out, I'm flattered.
Lesley

[serendipity]

Great start! The gift basket was *sooooooo* cute. I can't wait to read more!

[disneyaddicted]

You are so right about nothing getting you over a Disney trip but planning the next one. I am enjoying your trip report, can't wait for more to come

[ReneeDisney]

Finally, after we received our room keys, I stood their waiting for more. I kept telling myself there was definitely something missing here. But after Kirby gave me one last “um, you’re done.” I was so happy to get out of there, that I ignored any voices telling me that I don’t have everything I need. As we left the registration, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. Needless to say, check-in made me want to start to cry, and I really truly hope the next resort I stay at will be a much better experience.

I agree! Check-In for me is the official start of my Disney trip and am very disapointed when I get a CM that just isn't happy or smiling! Also, I LOVE getting the packet of guides, maps and more- so FUN!!

Can't wait to read more!

[KimAshton]

If I don't get a happy CM there is going to be hell to pay next week. Just joking. :)

[Nicole786]

Off to a great start...can't wait to read more!

Thanks! i'm working on it right now

Ya!!! Your back! Did they like their arrival gifts? I can't wait to hear how everything went! :banana:

They loved the arrival gifts!! David's a little too young to appreciate it, but my mom loved it!

I want more pics. Pouts. LOL.

Sigh I will drop kick the mean CM for you when I go. :)

Thanks Kim, i knew i can count on you! LOL

Can't wait to read more, just love the trippies. But they make me a little sad, I can't wait to go back. :rolleyes1

I can't wait to go back too! lol i know how you feel

Welcome back!!!! I'm worried about how it starts but since you logged into my TR and told me you had a good time I'm not going to worry too much:goodvibes Who was the first pic of? Can't wait for more, you are off to a great start, I enjoy your writing style. Glad my tips helped you out, I'm flattered.
Lesley

You'll soon see how much your tips helped out! The first picture is of my cousin, Michael :)

Great start! The gift basket was *sooooooo* cute. I can't wait to read more!

Thanks! Yeah, Sarah (http://memoriesbysarah.com) did a great job!

You are so right about nothing getting you over a Disney trip but planning the next one. I am enjoying your trip report, can't wait for more to come

I'm hoping to start planning a new one shortly! thanks for reading!

I agree! Check-In for me is the official start of my Disney trip and am very disapointed when I get a CM that just isn't happy or smiling! Also, I LOVE getting the packet of guides, maps and more- so FUN!!

Can't wait to read more!

I was so upset at check-in, i really wanted the vacation to start off right!


Thanks to everyone whos been reading! I'm working on the next installment right now!

[KimAshton]

Come on Nicole I need more before I leave. LOL.

[Nicole786]

Mickey Mouse :smickey: and Stitch :stitch: woke our room up at a very early 6AM :scared1: . Today was Animal Kingdom, and I was so excited to finally start my Disney vacation! Why 6AM? I hadn’t the slightest idea what time I should get up, where we would have enough time to eat breakfast and still catch the bus, so i made it for 6AM, lesson learned. :coffee:

Because Michael likes to shower every morning religiously, we promptly left the room at 7AM and met my parents down the hall, where we made our journey to the lobby! We were happily surprised to find that the walk to the main hall was only about ten minutes long, and it was a beautiful walk at that! Along the way we traced the sassougoula river and pointing out the landscaping definitely helped make the walk that much more enjoyable! See? All that worrying for nothing! Silly me. :goodvibes

So we get the food court, only we didn’t feel the $11.99 price tag justified the cafeteria-type food they were offering (because the food court is under construction) so we walked to the river roost right next door for a simple continental breakfast. I’m not used to paying for a continental breakfast (and still feel that Disney should provide this with no cost) but my croissant and apple juice hit the spot, and it was just light enough where I could grab something for an early lunch, so I’d still be hungry for our early dinner.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2juice.jpg

Now it was about 7:20AM and we walked to the buses. We waited a minute or two until the bus came rolling in. A few people already on it + our family and one other family waiting, still left plenty of room on the bus, which was awesome. (Sidenote: This was such an awesome time to be in Disney, off season at its best!)

We arrived in Animal Kingdom around 7:45. Okay, now what? What to do, what to do? We pretty much spent majority of that one hour in exhausted silence, watching the lucky families make their way into Donald’s Breakfastausarus (Ohhh, that’s where the people on the bus went) I kept getting evil "why did you wake me up so early?" glares :confused3

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2waiting.jpg

Finally it was time to utilize our first TGM tip of the trip! His “secret” entranceway into the park! Now all TGMers should know what entrance I’m talking about! (IF you don’t, sign up with TGM now! His tips are GREAT!) We walked over to the secret entrance, and hit the turnstiles. At about 8:45, we were let through and WOW! We were ahead of EVERYONE!!! TGM WAS RIGHT! We were brought over to the ropes where the morning ceremonies were to take place, and then the bus of characters came out, did their thing and we were off!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2open1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2mickey.jpg

Michael and I followed the ropes to Expedition Everest to nab our Fast Passes (with the other billion people who were doing the same). Mom, Dad and David were back at Its tough to be a bug, and it only took us a total of about 15 minutes to run to Asia, and then run back with our FP in tow! We walked on to its tough to be a bug (which is cute, btw but I sat on the edge of my seat in preperation lol!) and headed over to dino land. The park at this point was EMPTY, and I mean EMPTY, We headed straight to Dinosaur for our second walk on, and since this was a ride I had remembered from 1998, I held my ears at the proper moment:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2dino.jpg

We left Dinosaur and did a time check. What?? It was only 9:00AM and we had finished 2 attractions? I underestimated the power of being at park opening! We ventured on towards Asia to use our EE FP and realized when we got there that we should ride Kali before going on everest. So we walked past EE and straight onto Kali! Another Walk On!! Now I’m gonna sing TGM’s praises again: The price of his service is worth it just for the daily park suggestions alone! I took his advice to visit AK on this day, and it paid off! We walked on everything!! Okay enough TGM praisal for now haha. We got drenched on Kali, Which was a nice refresher for this warm day, but we mentioned we enjoyed Popeye better at US. At this point we decided it was a good time to go on EE (to dry of course) So we made plans to meet up at Kiliminjaro Safari. Michael and myself headed towards that huge mountain in the sky. Here is what the other half of our party did while we were on this awesome ride!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2jb.jpg

Now myself? I am a HUGE ride enthusiast. If it goes fast? YES! If I goes upside down? OMG YES! If it spins? Okay, not so much BUT DOES IT DROP? YYYYEEEEESSSSS!!!!! I was PUMPED for everest! I think I might have danced on the way over there. :banana: Michael on the other hand, could take it or leave it. He went on it mostly because he didn’t really know what to expect (muahahaha :stir: ) although he swears he watched it on youtube with me. We walked on the FP line and I danced in my seat :banana: . Michael had this look on his face like he wished he had made a will, but whatever, I was on everest! YES!

Okay Everest kicked butt for me, but when we got off, Michael felt a little nauseous. All I kept hearing from him for 5 minutes straight was “that’s my last crazy ride for the day, that’s my last crazy ride for the day” YOUR LAST? THAT WAS MY FIRST! I loooooved everest! I thought it was kind of like if BTMR and Splash Mountain had a love child, Everest would be its bundle of joy! It rocks, go on it.

On our way to KS, We made an educated decision to stop and get Mickey Mouse ice cream. We shared an ice cream bar as we walked towards Africa, and it made Michael feel better. (I mean why wouldn’t it?) We found them in front of the line and walked on. We waited for about 10 minutes, and then we were on. All of the animals were out, and it was truly something else for it to only be about 10:45 and we had already accomplished most of what we wanted to:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2safari2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2safari1.jpg

Little Sidenote: At this point David and Mom were wearing their birthday pins, and David was feeling neglected because everyone kept seeing my moms pin but not his.

Okay, LUNCHTIME! Yay! I was so excited that everyone wanted to stop for lunch! I was worried that since we had such an early ADR at Coral Reef, we would skip it, but I really really wanted to try Tusker House, which we were right in front of after the safari! Tusker House was awesome! Definitely the best CS Meal of the trip, we all agreed we would more than try to make a return trip there! While we were on line, the CM noticed moms pin and asked her what kind of cake she wanted, David was upset because she didn’t see his pin, so we pretty much pushed him up to the front of us and she saw his pin when she returned. The tusker house CMs sang happy birthday to them, and off we went with our delicious food:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2davidcake.jpg
David with his Cake

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2myfoo.jpg
My food, it was sooo good, I want it right now!

So when we left tusker house it was around 12:15 so we started heading towards Camp Minnie Mickey to see the 1:30 Lion King show. When we got there, We had about an hour to spare, so mom and I waited on the lines to see the characters. (The boys were already feeling the exhaustion and didn’t want to)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2minnie.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/2photopassgoof.jpg


We went to Festival of the Lion King, and while waiting, the heat and exhaustion began to get to us. Dad mentioned something ridiculous like "lets go to Magic Kingdom when we're done with Dinner and than come back to EPCOT for Illuminations" Um WHAT!? :eek: I pleaded my case in an angry fashion that his idea was stupid and ridiculous, and he was stupid and ridiculous for mentioning it, and he yelled back that why do we have to follow your plans? Than mom interjected and said how wonderful the plans were so far because we hadn't waited, and then David yelled that we were yelling!

We took a moment of silence, and calmed down, and my father and I agreed we would stick with the plan because we were going to MK tomorrow.

David however, continued his "mood" See, when David is tired, he goes from being 15 to 3, and has a fit. He used the "we're fighting on vacation" to fuel his frustration and exhaustion. When we got to the front of the doors, he was already yelling at my dad not to touch him, not to run his fingers through his hair, not to rub his shoulders, not to breath on him...you get the picture: typical three year old. I filmed him for a little while going "The magic is not within David" and got him to crack a smile, and when we were inside Festival , and out of the sun, all was well again.

We loved Festival, what a great show and a much needed break! When we were done at around 2PM, we were done with Animal Kingdom!! We slowed our pace as we made our way towards the exit. We stopped at some shops, trying to achieve our ultimate goal: Send something to the room. We didn’t, so we moved on.

We boarded the near empty bus as we headed towards our next destination: EPCOT! We had ADRs at 4PM and Epcot was doing EMH, so we assumed we wouldn’t be able to get anything done. You know what they say when you assume…

Join me next time for EPCOT, The Coral Reef, A Hidden Mickey? You be the judge, and more fun filled times in this trip report!

[princessjv]

Thanks! i'm working on it right now



They loved the arrival gifts!! David's a little too young to appreciate it, but my mom loved it!



Thanks Kim, i knew i can count on you! LOL



I can't wait to go back too! lol i know how you feel



You'll soon see how much your tips helped out! The first picture is of my cousin, Michael :)



Thanks! Yeah, Sarah (http://memoriesbysarah.com) did a great job!



I'm hoping to start planning a new one shortly! thanks for reading!



I was so upset at check-in, i really wanted the vacation to start off right!


Thanks to everyone whos been reading! I'm working on the next installment right now!

I'm hijacking your trippieee...How'd ya do this...up there? :flower3:

[princessjv]

Finally it was time to utilize our first TGM tip of the trip! His “secret” entranceway into the park! Now all TGMers should know what entrance I’m talking about! (IF you don’t, sign up with TGM now! His tips are GREAT!) We walked over to the secret entrance, and hit the turnstiles. At about 8:45, we were let through and WOW! We were ahead of EVERYONE!!! TGM WAS RIGHT! We were brought over to the ropes where the morning ceremonies were to take place, and then the bus of characters came out, did their thing and we were off!

You mean he has extra special entrances too? WOW:cool2:


We went to Festival of the Lion King, and while waiting, the heat and exhaustion began to get to us. Dad mentioned something ridiculous like "lets go to Magic Kingdom when we're done with Dinner and than come back to EPCOT for Illuminations" Um WHAT!? :eek: I pleaded my case in an angry fashion that his idea was stupid and ridiculous, and he was stupid and ridiculous for mentioning it, and he yelled back that why do we have to follow your plans? Than mom interjected and said how wonderful the plans were so far because we hadn't waited, and then David yelled that we were yelling!

We took a moment of silence, and calmed down, and my father and I agreed we would stick with the plan because we were going to MK tomorrow.



YAAA MOM! Mom always come to the rescue in our house too!:)

[KimAshton]

Bribes Nic for some more. LOL.

:)

[Marjol]

Hi, I just found this trip report and I like it! :thumbsup2

[Nicole786]

I'm hijacking your trippieee...How'd ya do this...up there? :flower3:

Just a whoooole lot of Copy + Paste haha, i have 2 windows open and i just go back and forth.

[disneyaddicted]

I liked your account of AK can't wait to read about Coral Reef, I loved that place, the food was just O.K. but I still loved the whole atmosphere, I want everyone to love it. I can't wait to hear if CR did somthing special for the birthday boy and girl.

[timandlesley]

Waiting for more :rolleyes1
Lesley

[Nicole786]

Not a real update of the trip, but I was messing around in Photoshop :surfweb: and decided to post my creation! I didn't want to make a main post about it (They're kind of amateur) But after I made one of these for Tim & Lesley (http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1329902), i received a couple of PMs asking about it. If you want me to do it to a special picture from your trip, of course I will! :goodvibes Just PM me, it doesn't take much to make one! Anway, heres my newest creation:

Heres the before:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/before.png

& Here's the after:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/afterpic.png

Let me know what you think!!

[princessjv]

WOW!
or should I say...
Supercalafragilisticexpealadocious (sp?)

I just may take you up on your generous offers.:yay:

[timandlesley]

LOVE IT! You do such nice work.. We're going to develop the one you did for us and hang it in our Mickey room (errr. I mean, family room :rotfl: )
Lesley

[bransworld]

Great Report so Far. Thanks for sharing.

[CrAzY4DL]

That seriously IS gorgeous!!!! I may ask you to make something for me as well, after my super special surprise trip to DL for my youngest daughters bday-just mom and daughter!!! Can't wait!!

Again, SOOOOOOOOO gorgeous!!!

[Nicole786]

Epcot Time! :woohoo:

When Michael was little he called it "Eftart Center" I thought i would add this in to embarass him. Also, when David was young, he called the Monorail "Commonarail Dammit!" Okay i'm done with the embarassing. Maybe.

So we got off the bus at Epcot around 3PM and we had ADRs at Coral Reef for 4:20. What to do? What to do? That was a pretty popular question that weekend as we found ourselves early for things, which is not necessarily bad!

We had to head over to Guest Relations to pick up our Dining Experience Card (Which gave us 20% off all meals) That only took about 10 minutes, heres a picture michael took of us just hanging out by the window (Michael became the official photographer for the weekend at this point as he hijacked my camera repeatedly lol and took photos i didn't even know about until i uploaded them. Like this one! lol)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3guestrelations.jpg

When we went through the turnstiles we noticed that Michael wasn't behind us. Turns out, his ticket got completely RUINED on Kali (serves him right for refusing to put his wallet in the center) and he had to go BACK to guest relations to get a new one while we waited. Surprisingly he was back within 5 minutes (citing there were no lines) and we began our journey!

Spaceship Earth didn't have a line, so we went on that first. When we were done, I saw Club Cool in the distance, something I really wanted to try because we never did in the past, so we went for it! We tried every soda (including Italy & Mexico! I braved the italian one lol) And Michael fell in LOVE with Germany :love: , which possibly comes back to haunt us later.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3clubcool1.jpg

It was around 3:30PM so we thought we'd grab FP for Soarin' to use after dinner. My mom handed Myself, Michael and David all 5 tickets to go run to the machines, but like all of you probably know, there was a sign that blocked our passage reading "All Fast Passes have been distributed for today" Boo! :sad1: We checked the wait time. 60 Minutes?? No way!

What to do? What to do? We turned around and glanced at the LED board that announced the wait times, and noticed Test Track had a 10minute line. Definitely do-able so we made our way over.

[Nicole786]

Scaredy-Cat (David) Had watched the youtube video of this ride, and even though he saw the grandmothers and 3 year olds boarding the line, frantically bit his fingernails and displayed random acts of nervousness. On the other side of me was Chicken #2 - Mom. Who's random acts of nervousness including anger and resentment to the 3 of us normal people (My father, my cousin and myself) for "forcing her" to go on this ride of death. :sad2: Oh lord, help me with these two.:rolleyes:

I had been on this ride with my dad, the others haven't. As we boarded our test vehicle, mom had the temporary fit that we all have after we get on a ride and cant find the seatbelt immediately (I can't find the seatbelt! I don't think this seat has a seatbelt! How did this ride pass safety inspection without a seatbelt in all the seats? Why do i have two ends?? How am i supposed to buckle with two ends?? Are we moving? I'm not strapped in! Get her attention, i cant find the seatbelt! I can't fin--ohh there it is.) Meanwhile, i'm in the front with David, who is holding on to the bar for dear life, and we haven't moved yet! I love you men, but you guys come up with the weirdest things. David is literally fixated on one part of the ride to display his nervousness. Of course he's not nervous about going fast. no sir-ee, here's what he says to me: "Hey Nicole, i remember the ride goes through hot and cold. Which comes first? The hot or the cold? Cuz i'm just saying, i'm a little hot, and maybe getting hot first ISN'T quite good for me right now" Dude are you KIDDING ME? and you want to go on space mountain? :rotfl: This ladies and gentlemen, is my family.

We finally take off, and David is laughing with joy as we make our way through the different tests. When we approach the finale, which he knows is coming, his laughter stops and his nervousness is back. Mom, meanwhile is just going "i don't like this, i don't like this"

When the ride is over, Mom and David are HYSTERICAL laughing with joy. They couldn't believe how nervous they were, and David wanted to go again! He says now that it's his favorite ride, and when we got off, his words were "I am SO ready for Space Mountain!" We'll see, David, we'll see.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/Picture19.png

After TT, we headed back towards Coral Reef as our ADR was approaching, and we made a stop at the no-lined Nemo Ride.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3cooldown.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3theseas.jpg

How cute it was!! David, Michael and myself were squished in a clamshell, So next time i know just to ride myself to be more comfortable, but what an awesome ride! My family knows i'm a huge Finding Nemo fan :love: , so I was waiting for this ride since we saw it being built last year. Michael was so curious about the "magic" of the ride (how they incorporated the animation into a real fish tank) And i just didn't have the heart to tell him (I work in the computer industry so i figured it out :teacher: ) so i shrugged and went "I don't know!" ;)

After we exited, we didn't have a chance to explore because it was now about 4:05, but i remembered I really wanted a Hidden Mickey book which they sold at this particular gift shop, so i quickly picked that up (using my room key card! so fun!) and we proceeded towards Coral Reef!

[Nicole786]

We checked in and had a seat and i went up to "get menus." Actually, i was really going up there to make sure it was cited on the reservation about the diver and the cake. And to get menus. While we waited we picked and chose what we wanted. I had already known I was just going to eat the Lobster Bisque and shrimp cocktail since World Showcase was after dinner and i knew i'd be noshing on stuff there.

We got seated about 10 minutes later, closer to around 4:30 (which was great! the later the better! than it would be closer to dinnertime) We had a seat on the level above the floor, with a clear view of the fishtank, perfect! So far so good. Our waiter came over and introduced himself after we were seated for about 10 minutes, and by the time he came over we were raring to go!

In the 20 minutes from sitting in the hall to the point of my order, what i wanted changed 4 times :laughing: But my mom and I decided to share the NY Strip and we each got an appetizer. She got the Lobster Bisque, and i got the shrimp cocktail. Michael ordered the Prime Rib, Dad also ordered the Prime Rib, and David ordered the chicken. Now, on top of being a scaredy-cat. David is also an extremely picky eater. I mean, up until he was about 12, he was peeling hot dogs, and now he doesn't even touch them. He mainly eats chicken and he lives off of Hamburger Helper (but without the hamburger, he just eats the pasta. :crazy2: I know, I know, but at least i've gotten passed it.) One day, he will be married, and his wife will go "eat it or starve." and he'll most likely eat it. Or he'll go make himself Ramen Noodles. (Which he also loves, so he's pretty much set for college) Anyway, in a surprising move, he ordered the chicken off the regular menu. And after a slight, typical "dining out with David" fight with my dad, he was upset. The argument was that David should never order off a main menu. (1) he never finishes it, and we were paying OOP here. and (2) 6 times out of 10 he doesn't like it. Or the meat is touching the potatoes. Or they put tomato on the bun of the hamburger. This is pretty ordinary. So here he is post argument:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3coralreefdd.jpg
Which reminds me i have to get rid of the red-eye.

By the time our food came it was about 5:00PM. No worries though, we weren't in a rush, and we wanted to eat closer to dinner time. So guess what happened with David's food? Just guess?

I bet you guessed it. He wasn't happy. First of all, for $21.99 they really ought to be ashamed, and the new yorker is gonna come out of me for this one. It's not like i've never fined dined, i know what the price of a Disney meal should be. But the piece of chicken looked about the size of a quail, and it was a top a plethora of pasta. This was slight problem number one with my dad, the penny-saver. But i'm willing to say he would have by-passed it if David didn't turn into, well, David. He won't eat Chicken breast. He won't eat it even if someone digs out the meat for him. His idea of chicken is either on a bun or flatly breaded cutlet-style. So being cranky, exhausted, and immature, he threw his fork down and rightly proclaimed "I can't eat this." My father, celebrating in his head that he was right, sternly replied "I knew it!" and David (because a Teenager NEVER loses a battle, especially with a parent.) stated his case saying "Well if i knew it was like THIS!"

Meanwhile, over on the normal side of the table. My mom and I were dancing in our seats over how delicious the NY strip was! Not an ounce of fat on this lean-cut beautiful piece of meat. And although i was glad I didn't order the lobster bisque (Apparently, you can adore lobster, and not like the soup - go figure.) I was enjoying my chilled shrimp cocktail, and a few spoons of the lobster bisque. My mom LOVED The bisque. It was the bisque to end all bisques, she said, so i guess if you're into it: order it. As for the shrimp cocktail? I'm a shrimp nut, but i've had better. (my mom called me a shrimp connoisseur lol) Michael loved his prime rib, (which he's never had before) and the right side of the table was doing mighty fine, doing good. Havin a party. :woohoo:

My dad got the attention of our passing waiter, and it was nice that he didn't make a face when my father explained the case of the nutty child to his left. David ordered the chicken off the kids menu (which he should have done from the start. But of course a 15 year old can't do that!) and all was right with the world when 10 minutes later, he recieved his mickey mouse plate! Damn, i really wanted that plate. My plate was so white and normal, i want the mouse plate!

Halfway into our meals, it was around 5:20PM and i looked up and noticed the diver. "Look everyone!" I said to my table. "A diver! I wonder what he wants??" (I'd like to thank the academy) Now, Mom was at the edge so it was easy for her to get out, but i practically pushed her and said "Lets go see what the sign says! Come on David!" David was in the inner part of the booth, but he managed to get out, because my Dad was in on it, and kind of pushed him while was like "What? So? I want to finish eating" The three of us ran down to the tank, ignoring the nearby eaters as we abruptly went against the glass. When they saw the sign, they were SO EXCITED! It was awesome! The diver waved, and they waved back, and he motioned for David to jump up on the lip to get a closer look, and I snapped this picture:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3diver.jpg
Again, red-eye. Man, i got lots of work to do!

They were definitely very excited and had no idea I was behind it. Mom kind of figured it out, so i let her in. David had no idea though.

Still, there was more to come from the Coral Reef! We finished our food, and the waiter came back and wished them a Happy Birthday. He asked if anyone wanted desserts, and he was like "Are you sure the birthday people don't want desserts?" (Stupid idiot: Look at the table notes! There's already a cake!) I'm not sure if he knew we had the cake at this point or not, but it sure didn't seem like he did. They said no, but he said he'd go "whip something up" and h e came back with the cake I had ordered, saying that "Someone at the table wanted you to feel very special." The cake was awesome! I only paid $10 (because of the DDE card discount) and it looked great! They really did a fantastic job! The waiter went "I'm not much of a singer, but you guys can sing if you'd like." Thanks, Moron. So like fools, we proceeded to sing as David and Mom blew out the candles.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3cake.jpg


The diver never came to give Mom and David the sign, but he could have been in an excursion because we saw a bunch of divers in the tank. Coral Reef's atmosphere was really nice, we loved going "look at the shark! look at the GIANT turtle!" The food was good (at least mine was) But the service was sort of lacking. But mom and david enjoyed their special night, and thats what matters!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3cake2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3cake3.jpg

After dinner it was around 6:15, and we had a long time until Illuminations so we decided to wait the 45 minutes Soarin' had posted. (Our first wait of the trip!) While waiting, my dad and i competed in Cell Phone Tetris. (He won :sad1: ) And while the hidden mickey book didn't say anything about hidden mickeys in the queue, we did notice SOMETHING on the wall. Can you find it?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3hiddenmickey1.jpg

No? How about now: :rolleyes1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3hiddenmickey2.jpg

How about now? :cutie:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3hiddenmickey3.jpg

We were very proud. And so was the CM in the first pic!

So the Soarin' line only took more like 30 minutes. It was awesome as usual, and first time flyer Michael really enjoyed it. We walked towards the escalators, and noticed Livin' with the Land had a walk-on wait time, so we decided to go on it. I may have been on this as a little kid, but i don't remember it. It was a nice peaceful boat ride to take a nice relaxing break.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3davidlwtl.jpg

When we were done there it was around 7:50 so we started heading towards World Showcase for our illuminations spot. We stopped for a few photo ops:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3fountain.jpg
Michael looks really unhappy in this picture, but he was smiling, he just had bad timing lol

[Nicole786]

We also stopped at Mouse Gears and mom and i found our traditional matching t-shirts, which you will see me wearing in the next few segments. That was going to be our item to be sent to the room, but when we found out it would take at least 24hrs, and it would be at the gift shop, not the actual room we passed because we wanted to start wearing them tomorrow. Little did I know, i'd be living in it because of the weather!

Finally, we made our trek towards the spot that TGM mentions on his website. We stopped and got our EMH bracelets (we were so excited!) and continued on our way about 8:30. Now, we were at a loss. TGM mentions a specific area (between 2 specific buildings) But we couldn't find what he was talking about! If anyone knows what i'm referring to, please PM me, because it drove us crazy!! Since we couldn't find his specific favorite spot, we followed his general advice about what country to go to and where. We found a nice spot, right behind the water, with an unobstructed view.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3epcotnight.jpg

While we waited, my mission was to find out whether the bakery in France was going to be open for EMH. We forgot to grab a schedule when we got our bracelets, and this was next to impossible to find out as i asked several CM who simply didn't know. Eventually, at 8:50, i found out that it WOULDN'T be open, so my Dad and i raced over their to get our pastries. See, this has been a tradition in my family since our first visit in 1991. We always get pastries in France, and the idea that we wouldn't be able to, threw us all in a tailspin, i don't know why. My dad and I raced over there in time to see the gigantic more than 5 minute line in front of us. I walked in, went straight to a CM and simply asked them if they would be open for EMH. She said yes, and I felt like a fool, so we walked back right on time for Illuminations! I love Illuminations. This was the only firework show I've seen at Disney, because in the 90s it was the only one (I think) that existed, and last year we only had the timing down for it. This time though it was so peaceful to be by the water surrounded by just ourselves and a few other people.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3illu1.jpg

EMH Time! Now i know TGM warns against any and all EMH, but we were never frightened by crowds before, and we wanted to give it a try. Our first stop, was France for our traiditional pastries and coffee! I was hungry from my light dinner so i got a croissant and an elephant ear. SO GOOD! I only eat elephant ears at this particular place, i normally don't like them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3france.jpg
How exhausted do I look in this picture?? :rotfl: I was about ready to :faint:

Next, we went to Japan. Michael has hopes of one day going to real japan, so he loved WS Japan a lot!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3michaeljapan.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3michaeljapan2.jpg

Then we found this snack that listed all the flavors on the back, and one of the flavors was Robot??

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3michaelrobot.jpg


We made our way over to Norway so we could ride Maelstrom (We had no energy to go through the WS properly so we made plans for a return trip) and on the way, we were halted for about 20 minutes while the Illuminations crew lifted the walkway (which apparently is actually a drawbridge) to bring in the globe and firework floats.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3davidbridge.jpg

Finally we made it over to Maelstrom, which was empty! Actually, in terms of crowds, EMH seemed to weed out most of the people that were there! I even heard a glimpse of worry in Michael as our boat headed up a hill. Remember his panic after Everest? Turns out he really didn't want to do anything extreme! After the "drop" I was like "theres your extreme ride right there." and he laughed. We went to the gift shop to play:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3davidtroll.jpg

fter that we started heading to the exit. We had enough for the day and we knew we would be coming back. We were all so exhausted. Our thoughts of a return trip on Test Track diminished because by the time we got over there we just weren't in the mood. We dragged our feet to the buses and went back to the room.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3davidglow.jpg

We met a really nice family on the bus ride back, and mom made it her personal agenda to tell everyone she came in contact with about the diver. :rotfl:

We finally made it back and were greeted by this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/3animals.jpg


Up Next: Chef Mickey's, Our day at MK, and a surprise dinner!

Sorry i had to split into 4 parts, too many pics!

[timandlesley]

LOVE IT Nicole!
I love the Coral Reef report, we're going there for my b-day so I'll pass this along to Tim :rolleyes1 I loved the comment "I'd like to thank the academy" :thumbsup2
The part with the seatbelts on Testtrack was hysterical :rotfl: I was laughing out loud, sounds like something Luke would do (or HAS done several times on rides)
O.K., so I've never done EMH before BASED on what TGM says, but we are going to try it this year, how does the bracelet thing work? When do you go get them and were? We will probably do MK EMH evening.
Thanks,loving the report can't wait for more!popcorn::
Lesley

[princessjv]

So you enjoyed Coral Reef...? I changed the ressie after reading so many bad things here...goes to show, you just never know! :confused3

I loved the Photoshop job...so cool! :love:

We totally missed the cool station this trip...How, is beyond me! Bummer, since last time we were there is was being refurb'd, this time I forgot! I really love drinking the sodas! They used to have the good Fanta...yummy!

So how did you like EMH? We do them always...at certain parks...

I have my own method to my madness...but I just may need to check this TGM thing out...you just may be making me do that...

may be ...:)

[Nicole786]

LOVE IT Nicole!
I love the Coral Reef report, we're going there for my b-day so I'll pass this along to Tim :rolleyes1 I loved the comment "I'd like to thank the academy" :thumbsup2
The part with the seatbelts on Testtrack was hysterical :rotfl: I was laughing out loud, sounds like something Luke would do (or HAS done several times on rides)
O.K., so I've never done EMH before BASED on what TGM says, but we are going to try it this year, how does the bracelet thing work? When do you go get them and were? We will probably do MK EMH evening.
Thanks,loving the report can't wait for more!popcorn::
Lesley

In Epcot the bracelets were at like, every 4th country. I didn't see it in future world but we didn't look.

In magic kingdom, we got our bracelets (yes we braved EMH at MK too! lol) Right after the turnstiles in main street. We didn't get very far though because wishes was in progress so i didn't notice anywhere else. When you go, you can just ask a CM where to go. We did that in epcot at the seas gift shop when i bought my hidden mickey book, and i stood there for like 5 minutes straight as the CM told me every.single.location.

[Nicole786]

I guess posting too much at one time is not well liked here on the DIS :confused3 I came home to find this buried on Page 2. Ah well, lesson learned I guess. But anyway, i was messing in photoshop again! Here's what i came up with:

Original:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/dis/orginal.png

Photoshop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/dis/disneypic.png

[princessjv]

I guess posting too much at one time is not well liked here on the DIS :confused3 I came home to find this buried on Page 2. Ah well, lesson learned I guess. But anyway, i was messing in photoshop again! Here's what i came up with:

Original:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/dis/orginal.png

Photoshop:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/dis/disneypic.png

Again, some cool pic's!

[amy2girls]

Love your pictures

[disneyaddicted]

Epcot sounded great, I loved all the pics especially the doctored ones, that's cool. Those would be so awesome in a scrapbook.
So coral reef did do a little somthing for the birthday peeps. That was neat. I am looking forward to more of your TR.

[Nicole786]

Alarm woke me up at 6AM again. :scared1: This time I sprung out of bed faster than usual because we had ADRs at Chef Mickey’s for 7:40. I woke Michael up and let David sleep for a little while longer. While Dr. Shower for an hour was in the shower, I got up and meticulously straightened my hair until Michael was out and I could properly get ready. At 7AM the phone rang. It was my mom raring to go! :yay:

We decided to avoid Disney transportation because we would have to take the MK bus to the transportation center, and then first take the monorail to the CR. It would tack on precious time. When I stepped outside, my hair immediately reacted to the moisture that was in the air, and rebelled against my straightening iron. :scared: Thanks, hair. We piled into the car, and we were off to the CR! We parked the car all day at the contemporary for $10 and the first thing I thought to myself when I walked in was “This hotel is better than me” :rotfl:

We rode the elevator through the breathtaking hotel, and reached Chef Mickey’s. We waited about 8 minutes (opted against the photo) and took our seats in the birthday section!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4entrance.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4momdavidbday.jpg

When it was my turn to get food, I knew wanted to try everything, but in a nice orderly fashion. BWAH! Yeah, right. As I’m trying to grab as much bacon as humanly possible, I’m juggling the plate of waffles and pancakes. I’m also trying to maneuver myself so my weight is shifted to the right side of my body, so my left arm can reach out and grab syrup. I must have looked really attractive in those moments! :lmao: Next, i planned a course of action: I had watched Unwrapped way too many times to NOT go in search of sprinkles for my waffles. I found myself in front of the children’s section of the buffet, behind a line of, well, children. I might have looked stupid with my two plates of just bacon and waffles/pancakes, but oh well, when in rome. I’m standing there waiting when in the corner of my eye I see the characters in our section. PLUTO! I raced back to the table, played it cool and waited patiently for my turn with them! In those moments, I’m five years old again. I can’t wait to bring my future children here so I can shove them out of the way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4medavidpluto.jpg

I never made a return trip to the buffet because the characters were constantly in our section. We really lucked out because there wasn’t a moment where the room didn’t have a character in it. I was really eager to see Mickey, who didn't take long to get to our table!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/uswithmickey.jpg

Throughout the entire meal, we saw every character there was! The only character I didn’t see immediately was Goofy, who came to the table while I was at the buffet. But he made a return trip like 10 minutes later! We were in the awesome section! Minnie came over and kissed David on the cheek. I love how the characters verbalize “birthday” they point to the pin and jump up and down clapping. It’s such a kick!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/davidminnie.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/momdonald.jpg

The best part was when they brought over cupcakes for David and Mom, announced the birthday, and did the napkin thing! Even the boys participated!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/davidcupcake.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/momnapkin.jpg

We were done with Chef Mickey’s by 8:30! I was shocked! I really wasn’t expecting to make it to MK by park opening, but after the 10 minute walk we made it before the opening ceremonies!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/openingmk.jpg

Do you see the sky? Them fightin clouds. We were ready to fight back, but would the weather make us lose the battle? Next chapter: Magic Kingdom!


OT, I noticed that theres a fairly large difference in one TR to the other. On one hand, a TR will have 20 different replies between each segment, while the other will have just a few. I was curious to know why you think that is? What makes a TR something special?

Granted, i realize i'm fairly new to the boards, so i don't have a lot of personal friends but at first I thought this TR was going well. Now i'm not too sure i'll continue it. It was fun to have something to scrapbook, but I can do that offline, and it ruins motivation when it seems no one is reading. I'm not pleading for comments, i'm actually really curious what everyone thought of this matter?

[Nicole786]

Bueller? :(

[timandlesley]

Hi Nicole,
Sorry I didn't post right away after reading. Great day, loved the Chef Mickey pics, you are doing a great job with the report and I am truly enjoying it, can't wait to read more.
Lesley

[swkmom]

Okay, normally I don't comment on trip reports but I want you to keep writing!! I have truly enjoyed your reports and your pictures. The arguement between your Dad and David at Coral Reef over the chicken had me cracking up...my brother is just as picky about his food!

[happyindisney]

I think the reason for lots of posts compared to not so many posts is because a lot of us are "Lurkers". I love to read the trip reports, but with two kids, I can read more if I am not replying!! Please keep writing, I am really enjoying your trip report!!!

[Nicole786]

Hi Nicole,
Sorry I didn't post right away after reading. Great day, loved the Chef Mickey pics, you are doing a great job with the report and I am truly enjoying it, can't wait to read more.
Lesley

Thanks so much Lesley :goodvibes How is Tim coming along with his photoshop art?

Okay, normally I don't comment on trip reports but I want you to keep writing!! I have truly enjoyed your reports and your pictures. The arguement between your Dad and David at Coral Reef over the chicken had me cracking up...my brother is just as picky about his food!

Thanks so much, i feel honored! My brothers a nutjob, really lol, i hope he grows out of it!

I think the reason for lots of posts compared to not so many posts is because a lot of us are "Lurkers". I love to read the trip reports, but with two kids, I can read more if I am not replying!! Please keep writing, I am really enjoying your trip report!!!

Thanks for the perspective. I've decided to continue on with the TR and see how it goes :)

[Nicole786]

The first thing we did when we got to Main Street, was go to City Hall to check out dining availability. We didn’t have a dinner ADR that night, and since we were in such close proximity, I really wanted to go to the WL and eat at the Whispering Canyon Café! We walked right up and were told that they had one reservation available for that night (SCORE! :woohoo: ) and that it was at 6:20. 6:20? That would mean missing Spectro Magic at 8 :confused3 , but probably making it back in time for Wishes at 9. It took a couple of minutes, but we decided to take the ADR and cancel it later if we decided against it. Yay! Finally I get to go to the WL (I was so pumped if only because of timandlesley’s TR from last year) and WCC!

We continued on our way and decided to go to Space Mountain first and get that out of the way. As we approached, a member of the dream squad came to me, and I got all bubbly inside! Unfortunately, it wasn’t a stay in the castle or a dream fastpass, but she gave me a pair of those special tinkerbell pins, and I knew I had to save one to give to a deserving person!

Back towards Space Mountain, David chickened out :sad2: (although prior to the actual trip, he swore he was gonna go on it) He “wasn’t in the mood” for it right now, so Dad, me, and Michael went on it and loved it of course. There was actually a slight wait (about 10 minutes or so) and it concerned me for the day ahead.

Next up, we went over to Buzz Lightyear. Nobody really wanted to sit by themselves, so I forfeited my gun, and sat in the middle to “steer” Although, I didn’t actually steer because I was too busy videotaping lol so my crewmates got pissed. Michael beat David by a landslide!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/blightyear2.jpg
I knew the camera was coming, so I smiled lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/blightyear1.jpg
Doesn’t Mom looked thrilled to be there? She says this is her game face.

So after Buzz Lightyear, we decided to leave Tomorrowland. We headed over to Fantasyland and the first ride we rode was a walk-on Winnie the Pooh. This was so cute! I loved the tigger part, although I’m not sure I would have felt the same way about it if I had to wait for it.

Next up was PhillharMagic. 5 minute wait. I loved PhillharMagic!! It was the cutest thing! My favorite movies are Disney movies (Mary Poppins is my all time favorite movie in general) So it was fun to go through them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/philmag1.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/philmag22.jpg

Next was Snow White, which incidentally broke down in the middle and they turned on the lights for about 5 minutes. After that, we walked on to It’s a Small World.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/mesmallworld.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/onsmallworld.jpg

We wrapped up Fantasyland with Peter Pan, which I loved! I haven’t been on Peter Pan since I’m about 9 years old, and I loved it!! It was my favorite ride in that area of the park!

Before we headed to Toontown, we took a small bathroom break, while we waited, dad and I napped, Michael plotted a course of action:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/dadmesleep.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/michaelmap.jpg

“Who dare disturb my slumber?!” Oh, toontown! Yay! We headed over to toontown, it was around 10:45. Our plan was to take the train over to Frontierland, but first, we decided to stop by Minnie’s house and see what she was up to. Still baking that cake, I see. Mickey’s house we’ll have to do another time.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/minniehouse.jpg

Next we went to the shop to see if we could find some sweatshirts. The temps right now were around 60, but the dark clouds that were looming ahead, foreshadowed what was to come. The wind didn’t help things either. Even though this store was on the larger side, it didn’t have a good selection of adult sized sweatshirts, so I used the opportunity to buy a sparkly Belle pin and my mom found the Disney jibbitz (http://www.jibbitz.com) for our crocs! She got me a mickey mouse that I still wear today.

We made it to the train, right as it was pulling up! We hopped on board and headed for frontierland!

Once in Frontierland, I was upset to realize it was too cold to brave Splash Mountain. Here’s a little but of a sidenote: Splash Mountain is one of my favorite rides. When we came last year, I didn’t get to ride it because the line was around 90 minutes long. I was pumped to return this year, because I knew I’d get to ride it, if it was the last thing I did. I wanted to ride it in spite of the weather, but nobody wanted to come with me, so I decided since we’d be at the magic kingdom another day I could do it then. Okay, so I had a tiny meltdown, but I was exhausted and lack of cooperation really gets to me.

Dad and I headed over to ride BTMR (Another one we missed last year) Michael decided to sit this one out, but in a surprising move, we were able to convince Mr Chicken on! Yes folks, David rode this ride. After the non-wait (we walked on, AGAIN!) David LOVED IT!!! He absolutely loved it!! Did he ever go to Space Mountain? I guess you’ll have to read and find out. I loved it of course, Dad loved it. But I loved it when I was four also haha. Mom and Michael meanwhile, bought Popcorn that went to the birds in the sitting area.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/michaelbird.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/michaelbird2.jpg

I got some Ice Cream which really cheered me up from my lack of Splash Mountain, and we continued our adventures towards Jack Sparrow! pirate:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/icecream.jpg

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS RIDE!! IT was my absolute favorite as a kid, and it still is! This was the first line we had to wait in all day! It was around 45 minutes long (which was really more like 30) but well worth it! We got the front row, and we enjoyed every minute of it! I love when we're about to drop how David holds on like a baby.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/adventureland.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/guns.jpg

We realized we wanted to get to Hall of Presidents by 2:20 for the parade, but it was only about 12:15 so we walked over to HM. On the line outside, we were “pleasantly” in the company of a high school band. These were the type of kids that try too hard to be different, and ‘be themselves’ and try to be funny around their friends, so we were treated to many different broadway songs as we waited out the 20 minutes. Oh brother, wheres the FP when you need it? Once inside, the same kids used the opportunity to "scream" inside the room and the little kids got scared. THIS IS MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE. You wanna be funny? Be funny in other ways, don't scare little kids.

When we were done we still had time left to get to HOP, so we decided to head back towards Main Street so I could get a sweatshirt. We had plenty of time so we slowed our pace and went in and out of the sweet shops, claiming what we wanted for later. We stopped for this traiditional photo

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/Picture3.png
(note the sky)

So everyone and their mom had the same idea we had when it came to the sweatshirt thing, so it took a lot longer than anticipated. I ended up buying a grey mickey sweatshirt, while everyone else decided to stick it out. Except Mom, who my dad wanted to share a sweatshirt with (despite the fact that he was wearing a windbreaker) and hated every sweatshirt she picked out. Poor mom. When we walked out it was already 2:15, so we decided to stay put.

On Main Street?? Isn’t it crowded?? I KNOW! But it wasn't! It wasn’t crowded at all! Mom was in her 5 year old glory because all the years we’ve been to Disney not once have we had the opportunity for front row SITTING ACTION!

It was super-dee-duper! Except for one minor thing. At this point we were cold, tired, hungry and just in an awful mood so we were snapping at eachother. “Why do you get to sit in the middle? "IF you would have just LET ME get the damn sweatshirt" DO YOU WANT MY WINDBREAKER? I’m Tiiiired! I’m freezing! Where is this damn parade??” Dad was also starting to not feel well :sick: (OH NO!) so I volunteerd with Michael and David in tow to go in search of something light to settle our hunger.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/paradewaiting.jpg

4 hot dogs, a carton of hot dog nuggets, 3 french fries, and 3 cokes later, our moods were uplifted. It’s amazing what a little food can do.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/mainstreetfood.jpg

This photo was taken at 2:44, and notice how empty it was. Off-season at its best! We were in a prime area, right in front of the gift shop on Main Street!

So what happened at exactly 3:02. “Is that? Is that? Is that rain?” SUDDEN. DOWNPOUR.. Great, way to “rain on our parade” (haha, I crack myself up :rotfl2: ) Mom was so upset that her excitement was shortlived because it rushed us underneath the shelter from the shop. It slowed down about 10 minutes later so mom and I were the only fools out near the sidewalk. I had a hood and mom had spirit. She waited this long to be first in line for a parade, she wasn’t gonna waste it! No pics of the parade because the camera lens kept getting wet. But lets just say we loved it :goodvibes I liked the walt in the beginning! And mom was happy she stuck it out in the rain.

After the parade we weren’t sure what to do. As you can see, we pretty much did all we wanted to do, so should we leave??? We did have those ADRs for WCC, should we cancel and just go park hopping? Dad wasn't feeling well so maybe we should go to the resort for an afternoon nap? Hmm, lots of choices, I wonder what we did!!

Stay tuned next time for the next installment, to find out where the weather has taken us!


And thank you to all who comment. It’s the motivation that drives the new chapters, because even though I know people view, I always run to my mailbox to see if I get comments, it’s the best part. So thank you!
[/Violin]

[timandlesley]

Thanks so much Lesley :goodvibes How is Tim coming along with his photoshop art?



Nicole, you have no idea ;) , he's been totally obsessed with it since you sent the directions, he loves it and is doing quite well actually. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
Lesley

[timandlesley]

Nicole,
LOVE this installment. Man, you have me wanting to go in offseason, wish I could, can't believe how empty Main street was for the parade, unreal. I feel so sorry for you guys that it started raining right before it started.that happened to us our first year at MGM, the kids were so excited for the parade and it started pouring (we had prime seats too, but in June we had to fight for them and had been there an hour waiting) and it was cancelled, screaming kids and lots of tears later we exited the park without a parade, that stunk, so I understand your let down here.
Can't wait to see if you make it to WCC and if you liked it, I was honored to be mentioned:flower3: It's amazing how a trip report can reach so many people and influence their plans, kind of cool really.
I am sorry you didn't get to do Splash Mountain, especially after waiting for it for so long, I hope your next MK day will show you on the ride. I agree with the Haunted Mansion kid, that would have ticked me off because it would have been my kids crying and being scared when those kids did that.
Well, great installment, can't wait for more. popcorn::
Lesley

[sherrynjoe]

Nicole...I am often a lurker mom too...but wanted you to know that I love your report

[princessjv]

We rode the elevator through the breathtaking hotel, and reached Chef Mickey’s. We waited about 8 minutes (opted against the photo) and took our seats in the birthday section!

I should do this next time...it is never a good picture...
edited... oups... miss quoted...i'm new at this you know. I meant to quote you skipped the picture....


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4entrance.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4momdavidbday.jpg

When it was my turn to get food, I knew wanted to try everything, but in a nice orderly fashion. BWAH! Yeah, right. As I’m trying to grab as much bacon as humanly possible, I’m juggling the plate of waffles and pancakes. I’m also trying to maneuver myself so my weight is shifted to the right side of my body, so my left arm can reach out and grab syrup. I must have looked really attractive in those moments! :lmao: Next, i planned a course of action: I had watched Unwrapped way too many times to NOT go in search of sprinkles for my waffles. I found myself in front of the children’s section of the buffet, behind a line of, well, children. I might have looked stupid with my two plates of just bacon and waffles/pancakes, but oh well, when in rome. I’m standing there waiting when in the corner of my eye I see the characters in our section. PLUTO! I raced back to the table, played it cool and waited patiently for my turn with them! In those moments, I’m five years old again. I can’t wait to bring my future children here so I can shove them out of the way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/4medavidpluto.jpg

I never made a return trip to the buffet because the characters were constantly in our section. We really lucked out because there wasn’t a moment where the room didn’t have a character in it. I was really eager to see Mickey, who didn't take long to get to our table!

Did they have the yummy dessert buffet for breakfast? What is withthe sprinkles? I missed it...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/uswithmickey.jpg

Throughout the entire meal, we saw every character there was! The only character I didn’t see immediately was Goofy, who came to the table while I was at the buffet. But he made a return trip like 10 minutes later! We were in the awesome section! Minnie came over and kissed David on the cheek. I love how the characters verbalize “birthday” they point to the pin and jump up and down clapping. It’s such a kick!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/davidminnie.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/momdonald.jpg


You really got to sit in a b-day area? COOL!

[princessjv]

Now I'm all caught up. Sorry about the rain on your parade. But you got NO crowds! I LOVE OFF SEASON!

p.s. I like the interaction with readers too. It is nice to know people are reading and enjoying it...cause it sure is super fun to recount the momories, oh I mean memories....hehehe!:rotfl:

[KimAshton]

Eeekkk I love this TR Nicole.

Ok whoever fed the duck needs to be strangled. Cause when I was there the duck was a little too friendly. LOL. I had to lift my feet up cause they almost ran into it. LOL.

[swkmom]

Off season looks great...wish we could do it but I don't like taking the kids out of school. I love your trip report! Waiting semi-patiently for your next installment!:cool1:

[Nicole786]

Nicole, you have no idea ;) , he's been totally obsessed with it since you sent the directions, he loves it and is doing quite well actually. Thanks for the detailed instructions.
Lesley

Nicole,
LOVE this installment. Man, you have me wanting to go in offseason, wish I could, can't believe how empty Main street was for the parade, unreal. I feel so sorry for you guys that it started raining right before it started.that happened to us our first year at MGM, the kids were so excited for the parade and it started pouring (we had prime seats too, but in June we had to fight for them and had been there an hour waiting) and it was cancelled, screaming kids and lots of tears later we exited the park without a parade, that stunk, so I understand your let down here.
Can't wait to see if you make it to WCC and if you liked it, I was honored to be mentioned It's amazing how a trip report can reach so many people and influence their plans, kind of cool really.
I am sorry you didn't get to do Splash Mountain, especially after waiting for it for so long, I hope your next MK day will show you on the ride. I agree with the Haunted Mansion kid, that would have ticked me off because it would have been my kids crying and being scared when those kids did that.
Well, great installment, can't wait for more.
Lesley

We couldn't believe how empty it was either! (And i was SO stressing your Hall of Presidents tip haha) But it all worked out!

[Nicole786]

Nicole...I am often a lurker mom too...but wanted you to know that I love your report

Thanks for coming out of lurkdom just to say that!

[Nicole786]

I should do this next time...it is never a good picture...
edited... oups... miss quoted...i'm new at this you know. I meant to quote you skipped the picture....



Did they have the yummy dessert buffet for breakfast? What is withthe sprinkles? I missed it...



You really got to sit in a b-day area? COOL!

If we had to take a picture that early in the morning after being up at all hours of the night it wouldn't have been pretty lol We really got to sit right in the birthday area! The way the trip was going I really didn't think the one restaurant i didn't stress about would be the one we lucked out in the most!!

[Nicole786]

Eeekkk I love this TR Nicole.

Ok whoever fed the duck needs to be strangled. Cause when I was there the duck was a little too friendly. LOL. I had to lift my feet up cause they almost ran into it. LOL.

HAHA! Thanks Kim, i'm looking at your pics now! :cool1: where is your TR??

[Nicole786]

Off season looks great...wish we could do it but I don't like taking the kids out of school. I love your trip report! Waiting semi-patiently for your next installment!:cool1:

My parents took us out of school all the time when we would go on vacation because it was significantly cheaper. They did it all the way up to High School and from a childs point of view, it was really easy when I was young. Normally, in elementary school, the teachers would give me a packet of work to do, and i was okay. Looking back, it was a pain to come back to school after being out for so long, but well worth it if you're looking for another cost-saving vacation, especially with airfare!!

Plus, and trust me on this one, one of the best feelings in the world is when you get to leave school early. All the kids look at you like you're the queen and they wish they were you. princess:

[KimAshton]

Come on Nicole I need the next part. LOL.

[Nicole786]

It was still drizzling by the time we hit Tomorrowland but it was the windchill that was what made it unbearable. We were so excited that we had swetatshirts on. It was about 3:45 and the wait times for both Buzz and Space Mountain were around 45 minutes and we decided we were too good to wait :rotfl: . We headed over to the TTA or as my mom still refers to it, “the people mover” I love this ride!! I hate how it is so overlooked (even I’m guilty of that!) It was awesome, and as we moved into Space Mountain I made it my personal goal to show David how many 4 year olds were waiting in line.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/tta.jpg

After the TTA we went over to the no-wait Carousel of Progress. Before we walked in though, we spotted a no-line buzz lightyear, so we went over and got our picture taken!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/buzz.jpg

COP is another ride that is seldom overlooked (again, even by me) but it is still a family favorite. We all walked out singing the song and laughing about it! Michael and I spotted that the little boy in one of the scenes had something wrong with the animatronic, so he kept winking, so we made a running joke that he was winking at us! :rotfl:

We haven’t walked through Cinderellas Castle since 1998, and we were really looking forward to that so we headed over to the castle. Walking back, we noticed a large crowd forming around the castle’s exterior, so we went to go check it out. Turns out, the show was about to start, but right when we snuggled up to the front popcorn:: (again I love off season) we were told it was canceled due to in climate weather. :sad1: The castle was roped off in preparation of the show, so we couldn’t walk through. We were very disappointed.

We walked around the castle back into fantasyland and it was around 4:40PM. This is when we decided to split up! Mom and Dad wanted to take a nap, (AKA go see HOP) and we didn’t want to do that, so we split up with the idea that we were to meet up in an hour or so.

As we made out way towards Pirates pirate: (the obvious choice!) we noticed that the ride times were increasing! Oh no! Peter Pan had a 50 minute wait, IASW had a 30 minute wait, Pooh had a 40 minute wait. It wasn’t looking good. But with my videocamera in hand (sorry no pics of the journey!) we made our walk/run to pirates. :woohoo:

We got there and it had a 45 minute wait. :confused3 We all agreed it was worth it, and walked on to the line. It took about 15 minutes to get to the point where the line splits into two sides, and because of my wonderful knowledge from the DIS, I KNEW we had to try going to the left. We headed to the left, with nobody shadowing behind us, and about 5 minutes later (no exaggeration!) we were almost there already! On the line I met the cutest little girl and her mother and father! The mother saw us looking at the Hidden Mickey book and started a conversation about it. In true Disney guru fashion, I explained to her what a hidden mickey is, and how they came to be. She was fascinated! Lol We then talked a little bit about the nighttime festivities and she mentioned that her daughter ws afraid of fireworks (the cutest little girl!) so they weren’t staying for Wishes. Even though I haven’t seen wishes, I have watched it numerous times on youtube and have the binaural audio on my iPod, so I’m already an expert! I told her princess-obsessed daughter that tinkerbell even comes to the fireworks and flies across sprinkling pixie dust! I also mentioned that if she has the opportunity, the restaurants surrounding the area, even those at the Polynesian, will dim their lights and play the wishes music through the place, so you have a clear, no loud noises, view of them. She thanked me and said she saw them last night at their hotel (damn, I forgot to ask which one, I’m, always curious about that!) and said maybe they’d give it a try!

Finally it was time to board the boat and for the second time, we were front row! Yippee! The family we spoke to sat behind us and helped us spot the hidden mickey on the ride. (We found it!) We got off, pleased with ourselves for slightly avoiding a 45 minute wait (we probably waited about 20-25) and after my pirate pin purchase, met up with the parents. :grouphug:

SO after much deciding about what to do for dinner, We decided to go to the WCC!!!!!!! YAAAAAY! I Was so excited!!!! It was around 5:30 so we said we could start heading there now and see if we can get an early sitting. As a sidenote, I forgot to mention that back at the parade, I saw them carrying around the mickey mouse ears balloon, and for some reason, really really really really wanted one! As we were walking out, I promised myself I would buy one when we came back after dinner, but when I found out the price….$9 for something I have to hold all day??? No way! I was sad, but a picture would have to suffice:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/balloons.jpg
Damn, look at that green one all twinkly waiting to be bought. I will buy you next time!! I will have a boy buy it for me!

So we got the transportation area, and had this great idea to take the boat instead of a bus (or what I suggested a monorail to the contemporary then the shuttle to the WL) Well, our plans of early seating betrayed us, because we had just missed the boat and subsequently had to wait about 20-30 minutes. We finally got on the boat and headed over to the WL. I was banana-dancing In my seat but nobody else seemed to care :banana: (they just don’t understand!)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/WL1.jpg

We checked in and received a beeper, so i left the nerds behind and did some WL exploring. Every corner I turned I did another WOW! A gift shop! :eek: WOW! A fireplace!:eek: WOW! A wall made of fake wood! :eek: WOW! A painting! :yay:

I wish I would have taken more pictures, but after last year, I was on this “no pictures unless someone is in them” kick. I know better now.

We finally made it into the restaurant around 6:50!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/wccsign.jpg

We sat down. I don’t recall what everyone else ordered, but my heart was set on the Canyon Skillet before we even knew we were coming here! I ordered that for one, and upon receiving it: ASKED FOR KETCHUP!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/wccketchup.png

I was so excited, I was having the time of my life! My skillet was awesome! I loved every bite of it, and again, banana danced in my seat! :banana: Lol. 10 minutes into the meal, someone else asked for ketchup and as we passed the bottles along we couldn't help laughing and smiling the whole way! Our waitress was great and very attentive and when we were done, asked David and Mom to come to the front and sing Happy Birthday to themselves! They were so mortified, but loved every minute!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/wccmomdavid.jpg
It didn’t really come out, but it was funny! Lol

Now here came the hardest part of the meal. Trying to get the check. Wishes was fastly approaching and my heart was racing knowing this could very well be my last opportunity to see it! My dad was ready pass out from whatever sickness he had contracted and the waitress was no where to be found. This was something very consistent in any restaurant we went to. For some reason, the check getting was the hardest part. You would think they would want you out of there ASAP but ok! Don’t take our money. I left the restaurant in search of the front desk (which as you may know is not very much of a search! lol it's adjacent to the restaurant) to ask them the quickest way to MK. First off, the CM was much nicer than Kirby, and I wasn’t even a guest at the hotel! But she said they all equally took about 10 minutes so no help there.

Upon returning to the restaurant, We were ready to go! My mom told the waitress that my dad wasn’t feeling well, so she hurried up with the check and we were ready to go. In all honesty, if you saw my dad, it was as if he was going to pass out right then and there. The waitress being sincere about it, was the tip of the iceburg, and the reason why our family will definitely be making another trip to the WCC.

We headed for the buses and walked right on one just as it was pulling up! It was us and about 2 other families in what would be one of the most magical moments of the trip. The bus driver, steve, was awesome! Our first inclination that this was going to be great was when he overheard us say that we wanted to go to Wishes and bypassed the CR! We all clapped and laughed! (Sorry for the delay, CR) As he was making the turn, he ran a yellow light, and the entire bus chanted STEVE, STEVE, STEVE, STEVE! With our fists punching the air. It was a really magical moment. When we arrived at MK, we clapped and gave a standing ovation. Okay, the standing ovation part was because we got up to leave, but we clapped and laughed and thanked him whole heartedly for helping make the night a great one.

We arrived back to MK right on time as we spotted the last train carrying the last speckle of spectro magic. We made great timing and only had to wait about 20 minutes before the show started. We parked ourself in the designated TGM spot, with no body touching our shoulders!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/catlenight.jpg

Wishes was awesome!! It was so much more amazing than I thought it would be, I loved the castle changing colors and themes, and my mom loved that there was a story! She said only Disney could make a story out of fireworks!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/wishes.jpg

We had a great day at Magic Kingdom (besides Splash Mountain) and headed home to POR to await the day ahead.

Up next: An entire day at MGM! EMH at MK on a Saturday??? ARE WE NUTS?? and just how long is too long when you're waiting for a parade...

[KimAshton]

I wanna go to WDW with you Nicole. LOL.

[DebIreland]

Nicole, looks like I missed this til now. I'm subscribed to your pre-trip report so didn't even know this one was here. I keep losing (or not spotting) people's trip reports - my brain feels funny from confusion. :lmao:

Anyway, listen, I'm all caught up and thoroughly enjoying it. :thumbsup2 You're doing a fantastic job! :woohoo:

the wait times for both Buzz and Space Mountain were around 45 minutes and we decided we were too good to wait :rotfl:

Too funny!! :rotfl2:

Damn, look at that green one all twinkly waiting to be bought. I will buy you next time!! I will have a boy buy it for me!

That's the girl. You're learnin'!! Hee hee!

In all honesty, if you saw my dad, it was as if he was going to pass out right then and there.

Awww, poor guy. He looked really sick in that photo of him and your Mom on the TTA. Strange thing is though when I saw the pic of your Dad asleep sitting on Main Street my heart went out to him as he looked unwell and yet when Dh does that (falls asleep when we're waiting for things like parades and movies to start etc) it drives me mad and I feel like slapping him. :lmao: Odd how I have more compassion for a stranger on the net than the man I'm married to. Wrong board, wrong board, :rotfl:

I could so relate to your dilemma in Chef Mickeys - I swear it's so stressful trying to negotiate platefuls of food with character meetings and then knowing you want more food and knowing you want to attack the dessert buffet and yet Mickey's coming and and........ it's just not possible to do it all. I remember being in line for food and spotting Goofy or someone heading towards our table and feeling like I should swing from chandaliers Mission Impossible style to get back over there. I was almost crying leaving the place looking at the desserts that I hadn't had time to get at. :sad1: ;) Glad you didn't bother with the photo. We got it the first year and really liked it. But the last one was rubbish and wwaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced.

Keep up the great work!!

[timandlesley]

Nicole,
Loved the installment, I have been waiting :rolleyes1
SOOOO glad to hear you enjoyed WCC, isn't WL just BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was beaming when I read of your positive experience (you had me nervous, talk about pressure:rotfl: )
So glad you were able to see Wishes, looks beautiful, can't wait to catch it this year!!!!
Lesley

[tinawv]

I am so enjoying your trip report. Looking forward to the next post. :)

[KathyRN137]

Hey, Nicole!

Everybody who starts a trippie gets nervous that "nobody" is reading! ;) There are so many reports to choose from! I read the whole thing tonight and I'm happy I checked it out! :cheer2:

Kathy

[KimAshton]

Come on Nic I need more. LOL. :)

[princessjv]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/balloons.jpg


I have searched and searched for those MICKEY MOUSE balloons! I remember them as a child and really want a photo with my kiddos and the balloons!


I am so happy that the stars alighed for you the whole day! I sounds like you had a great day!:cool1:

[Nicole786]

I just got a promotion at work, so i'll be working full time, and still going to my classes until the semester is over. (than hopefully i'll be back home in new york if i get accepted to my school of choice!) I'm off for the next two days, so expect the next chapter then! but more money=more money for more disney vacations! lol

[Nicole786]

I wanna go to WDW with you Nicole. LOL.

Well that works, cuz i wanna go with you too! SSW??? :P i'll have my people call your people

[Nicole786]

Nicole, looks like I missed this til now. I'm subscribed to your pre-trip report so didn't even know this one was here. I keep losing (or not spotting) people's trip reports - my brain feels funny from confusion. :lmao:

Anyway, listen, I'm all caught up and thoroughly enjoying it. :thumbsup2 You're doing a fantastic job! :woohoo:



Too funny!! :rotfl2:



That's the girl. You're learnin'!! Hee hee!



Awww, poor guy. He looked really sick in that photo of him and your Mom on the TTA. Strange thing is though when I saw the pic of your Dad asleep sitting on Main Street my heart went out to him as he looked unwell and yet when Dh does that (falls asleep when we're waiting for things like parades and movies to start etc) it drives me mad and I feel like slapping him. :lmao: Odd how I have more compassion for a stranger on the net than the man I'm married to. Wrong board, wrong board, :rotfl:

I could so relate to your dilemma in Chef Mickeys - I swear it's so stressful trying to negotiate platefuls of food with character meetings and then knowing you want more food and knowing you want to attack the dessert buffet and yet Mickey's coming and and........ it's just not possible to do it all. I remember being in line for food and spotting Goofy or someone heading towards our table and feeling like I should swing from chandaliers Mission Impossible style to get back over there. I was almost crying leaving the place looking at the desserts that I hadn't had time to get at. :sad1: ;) Glad you didn't bother with the photo. We got it the first year and really liked it. But the last one was rubbish and wwaaaaaaaaaaay overpriced.

Keep up the great work!!

AH my favorite TR author! :D Wait until we get to MGM, my dad took a turn for the worse! When my dad randomly falls asleep during important things i get mad at him too. the other day we were watching the videos i spent days editing on my computer and he fell asleep! I felt like slapping him. He can't sit on a couch and watch TV without falling asleep unless its a sports game!

Thanks for reading!

[Nicole786]

Nicole,
Loved the installment, I have been waiting :rolleyes1
SOOOO glad to hear you enjoyed WCC, isn't WL just BEAUTIFUL!!!! I was beaming when I read of your positive experience (you had me nervous, talk about pressure:rotfl: )
So glad you were able to see Wishes, looks beautiful, can't wait to catch it this year!!!!
Lesley

WL IS AWESOME!!! Its so much more than beautiful its an experience!! I would love to take a day next disney trip, turn to the person or people i'm with and go "i'm going resort hopping, ill catch ya later!" and check out all the different resorts! I'm so in love with them!

[Nicole786]

I am so enjoying your trip report. Looking forward to the next post. :)

thank you! Next post should be soon! :surfweb:

[Nicole786]

Hey, Nicole!

Everybody who starts a trippie gets nervous that "nobody" is reading! ;) There are so many reports to choose from! I read the whole thing tonight and I'm happy I checked it out! :cheer2:

Kathy

Thanks Kathy, glad you liked it!! :yay:

[Nicole786]

I have searched and searched for those MICKEY MOUSE balloons! I remember them as a child and really want a photo with my kiddos and the balloons!


I am so happy that the stars alighed for you the whole day! I sounds like you had a great day!:cool1:

Me too! before i left, i knew i was going to hunt one down! they're even better looking in person than on TV! They have a clear balloon over the mickey mouse ears! i want one now! lol

[Nicole786]

Day Three: MGM, ESPN THE WEEKEND

We started off this day a little groggy. Mom and Dad "slept in" (woke up at 6:45 instead of 6 :rotfl: ) so Dad could get some extra rest, but our room was still up at 6. I took a shower, got ready, and when I came out, saw Michael and David staring at the TV in amazement. "I wonder what they were watching?" I asked myself curiously. I walked over unraveling the cord to the straightener as i looked up at the TV and had to stop myself from hysterically laughing. Sesame Street??? These two (15 and 21 mind you) are sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Elmo and his friend "Mail" teach a little girl how to get dressed. "Are you learning anything?" I asked, plugging in my straightener. "Not really" Michael replied. "I already know how to get dressed." The rest of the morning was proceeded by incessant laughter as we waited for Mr Sick and Mom to get ready. Once they were, we made our way to the continental breakfast at around 7:15!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/lobby.png

For the first time this trip, there were more than 2 people at the continental breakfast, but it still wasn't that crowded. There were about 15 people there, and in the small seating area, there was still plenty of room. I forgot what i ate, i'm gonna take a wild guess and say a croissant because thats pretty much what I had if we went there. After breakfast, it was around 7:45 so we made our way to the bus station for MGM!

The bus to MGM was probably the longest we had ever waited up to this point, and it still wasn't too bad. Probably 20 minutes. We arrived at MGM at around 8:20, and David realized he had forgot his birthday pin. Now i know some of you on the DIS feel strongly about only wearing the birthday pin when its your birthday, but there's not a lot of times where David (or my mom) get to feel that extra special magic, so if he was fifteen and wanted to wear a button, i whole-heartedly agree, as the years go by theres not gonna be much desire for that anymore (*Gasp* what will the girls think of him??). David and Moms birthdays were both in February, but the trip, as most of you know, was a birthday gift for my mom, and David's birthday is the end of February so it had just passed, and i felt that it was my sisterly duty to have him included because I know i would want to be. ANYWAY Back to MGM. SO David realized he had forgotten his pin, So I walked him over to guest services to get another one. WHile over there, i went to the bathroom, i'm not sure if you needed to know that or not, but it explains the time difference. :rotfl: When i turned out of the bathroom I noticed the large lines forming to enter the park, it was about 8:45. I could barely see my family, but they were in the line NEXT to the line that had about 10 people on it. For some reason they opted to stand on the line with the other 147 guests. I, using my leadership skills, stood on the line that had the 10 people and motioned for them to come over. I felt so good, so right about my choice, as i stood on the short line with pride. Buuuut (there's always a but, isnt there?) then I heard the CM saying "Annual Passholders only!" Wait, What? and i did one of those visual things in my head where i looked up the TGM calendar in the back of my brain to check for EMH. It wasn't EMH, and why would it be? That wouldn't mean AP only, that would be resort guests. ***, Mate? Luckily, We were AP and i lucked out that I was on this line. Man i would have been in trouble if we weren't. ALthough to this day I can't figure out why they let us in 10 minutes early, but whos complaining? Not me!

We walked in and I high-tailed it to ToT with Michael in tow. I was ridiculously nervous about this ride, flashes of my nine year old self going on this ride, fear, terror, and a glimpse of life was flashing in my head as i walked the empty queue. I hated this ride, what was I doing? Now, now, Nicole, you've grown a lot since then, surely you can do this! I'm biting my nails, practically shaking as Michael is having a meltdown also: No more rides after this, I am so done after this, what am I doing? I am done. We walk into the room with the pre-show with just us and a father with his excited son, probably about 8 or 9. It was quite funny to see Us, 21 and 20, with this small child, trying to calm us down, reassuring us that its fun, and we won't die a painful death. Every thunder that clapped in that pre-show room made me jump out of my skin, and I had a flashback to when i was nine years old, with Michael and his father, when i thought that the pre-show room was the actual ride. They didn't change the ride did they? We're not gonna drop 13 stories right here and now? DId we climb stairs? No climb, means no fall. I remember walking uphill though. Man, i hope we don't drop. The doors open, and a CM walks in silently to the other side of the room, leaving the four of us dumbfounded trying to figure out if we should await proper instruction or just leave. 20 seconds later after back and forth glances, we decide to leave the room and board the death trap, er, i mean, awesome, awesome ride. Michael is shaking his head over and over..and I...well, i'm just shaking. And then the ride begins.




I FREAKING LOVE THIS RIDE!!!!! I can't speak for Michael who was smiling afterwards, but man this has got to be my new favorite!! The others were waiting for us outside, and I went over to Aerosmith to grab my FP, but still, they weren't distributing! The line was already 20 minutes (i'm sure less once you got inside) But i felt bad for making them wait after ToT so i said to myself i'd come back later to do it.

We walked over to The Great Movie Ride, my moms favorite. And now Michaels. Along the way we glanced by the ESPN show they were filming, but since no Jets or Mets were in attendance, we were pretty disinterested.

TGMR Was good as usual, not my favorite, but i find it very relaxing and it reminds me of when I was a kid.

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After that, we went to the animation demonstration, something we've never seen. We waited for about 10 minutes, and loved it. We went into the after-show thing, opted against the animation class (Which i wish we would have done now) And met the incredibles!!

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I found out that i'm like Ursula, and i also took the time to star in Aladdin! Animation Studio was fun!

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Next we went to the Studio Backlot Tour! Totally passing Sorcerer Mickey By! I didn't even know he was there, and when i found out once i came home I was so upset :(

So guess who was asked to be volunteers as we walked in? Me and Mom! I spoke for both of us and said yes! :cheer2: I can be such a ham when i'm in Disney! Being in the show was fun, I was captain and mom was the person who sits in the booth, it was a lot of fun, and after looking at the video footage, i'll take that academy award now please! The only problem was I forgot to put my hood on during the water parts, and i got drenched, to which the CM shouted to me "Captain, the hood only works when it's on!" Ha ha, dry CM, very funny.


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I mostly video'd the tour, which seems to have lost its tough since the last time, but i managed to capture this picture of my favorite show!

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Damn! I just noticed the entrance is even on my picture! :smickey: :guilty:

I noticed the LMA, something I really really wanted to see, but we decided to come back to it later, and we continued on. At around 11:45 we reached home! Okay, fake home, but still home!

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Our stomachs were starting to rumble, so we decided to stop for lunch...but more on that next installment!

Up Next: Will we get to the LMA? HOw about Fantasmic with our ADRs at Primetime??

[princessjv]

I agree, let them celebrate their b-days for as long as they like...what is it going to hurt?

[KimAshton]

Dork you forgot to put your hood up. LOL. Only you. The day we went it was so cold so they didn't ask for volunteers. :)

[KatGarcia]

Hello! I just spent the evening reading your TR...great job! I understand what u meant about wondering if people were reading, i felt the same way when i wrote my first one too...but as long as you just write like u speak (which u do) u will be fine!!! So after reading this i decided we need to be friends so I have someone to run off to Disney with when my DH doesn't wanna go! :) SO where in NY do u live? Keep up the great work...looking fwd to more!

[Nicole786]

Hello! I just spent the evening reading your TR...great job! I understand what u meant about wondering if people were reading, i felt the same way when i wrote my first one too...but as long as you just write like u speak (which u do) u will be fine!!! So after reading this i decided we need to be friends so I have someone to run off to Disney with when my DH doesn't wanna go! :) SO where in NY do u live? Keep up the great work...looking fwd to more!

Aw thanks! After work tonight i'll remember to read yours too!

For the next *counts on fingers* 9 months, i live in Florida. I just moved here against my strong will about a year ago, and i'm enrolled in a community college here so i can get my grades up before i apply to Pace University (in may, and if all goes well i'll be back in NY in january 08!) to get back home to new york. When i lived in NY, i grew up in Brooklyn, than when i was about 12, i moved upstate to Westchester County. :yay: Where are you from?

[KatGarcia]

Aw thanks! After work tonight i'll remember to read yours too!

For the next *counts on fingers* 9 months, i live in Florida. I just moved here against my strong will about a year ago, and i'm enrolled in a community college here so i can get my grades up before i apply to Pace University (in may, and if all goes well i'll be back in NY in january 08!) to get back home to new york. When i lived in NY, i grew up in Brooklyn, than when i was about 12, i moved upstate to Westchester County. :yay: Where are you from?


I am originally from Long Island but moved out to Brooklyn about 8 or 9 years ago. I live in Bay Ridge Brooklyn now. I need to be close to the city!! I am actually hoping to move to FLorida in a few years, provided I can convince DH, and I wanna live near Mickey! :) How far from WDW are u?

[timandlesley]

Great Installment, loved it! I thought it was halarious with the Sesame Street thing :rotfl2: .
So cool you were able to be in the show for the backlot tour!
Lesley

[Nicole786]

I am originally from Long Island but moved out to Brooklyn about 8 or 9 years ago. I live in Bay Ridge Brooklyn now. I need to be close to the city!! I am actually hoping to move to FLorida in a few years, provided I can convince DH, and I wanna live near Mickey! :) How far from WDW are u?

I lived in Canarsie. Right now i live in South Florida, W. Palm Beach to be exact. It's about a 2 and a half hour drive to the mouse :) I'm the same way, i need to be close to the city so my cousin and i might get an apt. in downtown brooklyn (williamsburg area) so i can be close to Pace. :)

[Nicole786]

I agree, let them celebrate their b-days for as long as they like...what is it going to hurt?

Glad you agree ;)

[Nicole786]

Dork you forgot to put your hood up. LOL. Only you. The day we went it was so cold so they didn't ask for volunteers. :)

It was pretty cold that morning, but it wasn't too cold, it actually felt good once the sun came out lol

[Nicole786]

Great Installment, loved it! I thought it was halarious with the Sesame Street thing :rotfl2: .
So cool you were able to be in the show for the backlot tour!
Lesley

Yeah i found the sesame street thing to be funny too! lol. I can be a ham when i want to be, when i was a kid in disney i was practically in every demonstration :rotfl:

[KathyRN137]

Doesn't everyone watch Sesame Street in the morning?? :happytv:

Kathy

[KimAshton]

Doesn't everyone watch Sesame Street in the morning?? :happytv:

Kathy

It's still on??

[KatGarcia]

I lived in Canarsie. Right now i live in South Florida, W. Palm Beach to be exact. It's about a 2 and a half hour drive to the mouse :) I'm the same way, i need to be close to the city so my cousin and i might get an apt. in downtown brooklyn (williamsburg area) so i can be close to Pace. :)

My grandparents live in West Palm...weird...its a small world after all! LOL!

[Nicole786]

My grandparents live in West Palm...weird...its a small world after all! LOL!

Where in west palm? mine live in boynton beach.

[KatGarcia]

Where in west palm? mine live in boynton beach.

It's a gated community type dealie called River Bridge, that all I remember. I have only been to visit them once since they moved down there like 7 years ago. I have lots of family in Florida actually....Englewood, Naples, and some friends are moving there soon too to somewhere near to wdw i think.

[Ms. Heimlich]

Another lurker!!

I am enjoying your TR. It reminds me of going to WDW when I was younger with my family... Before jobs, families, responsibilities, etc.

Oh what fun... usually. :)

Keep writing! I will keep reading!

Ms. H

[Nicole786]

Another lurker!!

I am enjoying your TR. It reminds me of going to WDW when I was younger with my family... Before jobs, families, responsibilities, etc.

Oh what fun... usually. :)

Keep writing! I will keep reading!

Ms. H

thanks for reading! ill have the new chapter up ASAP! I'm very excited to start the week because im starting a new diet and i cant wait to see how it goes! :banana:

[KimAshton]

Hmmm go yankees!! Oh yeah go Mets!!! I just had to say that cause of your siggy.

[BraMax]

I seen the link to your TR on WISH and had to check it out. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. You are doing a wonderful job and I love all the pictures. We are staying at POR on our first trip to WDW next Feb. Any tips? I can't wait to read more.

Jennifer

[Nicole786]

I seen the link to your TR on WISH and had to check it out. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. You are doing a wonderful job and I love all the pictures. We are staying at POR on our first trip to WDW next Feb. Any tips? I can't wait to read more.

Jennifer

POR was great, the only suggestion i would have is request building 14m because its an extremely short distance from the main building. I stayed in Alligator Bayou, which was really nice, next time i wanna try the mansions!

[Nicole786]

We stopped to eat at pizza planet, which was really nice. We didn't play any games, but we're big toy story fans, so it was a nice ambience. Pizza was better than expected, and I would definitely return here.

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After lunch we went to the family favorite Muppets 3D, of course i still loved it, Michael got a kick out of it. When we got out, the toy story characters were out! Mom was saying the entire trip how all she wanted to do was meet Woody, so of course, we headed to the line. We waited about 10 minutes before Woody needed "a break" and he left for 2 minutes and came back. Mom got her picture finally! lol

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David and I went to see the toy soldier, and i couldn't but notice Dad :sick:

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Afterwards, we went over to Star Tours. The big thrill seeker I am, i decided to skip it because last time it made me nauseous. Dad, David, and Michael went on it, Mom and I stayed behind. Here's where the "fun started" when they got out of the ride, it was around 1:30. The showing for LMA was at 1:45 and there was no way we would make it and then make it out in time for the parade, I was beyond upset. Half of me wanted to try, and the other half didn't, and i ended up missing something I really wanted to see. Instead, we realized we practically saw everything we wanted to see, so we decided to walk over to Sounds Dangerous to take our seats for the parade. We sat down on a bench and Michael, Myself and David wandered around for a bit, going into shops, searching for Grey's Anatomy gear, which i never found, but we did find this! :rotfl:

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We returned to a near empty scene at around 2:40 and waited, and waited, and waited, and then the parade finally arrived! We were crazy to wait for over an hour, but we didn't know what to expect in terms of crowd levels, apparently, we could have just walked right up 2 seconds before the parade and been fine. :eek: But the parade was great! my moms favorite! popcorn::

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David is wearing a darth vader shirt if you can't tell from the earlier pics. It's a drawing of darth vader trimming a hedge in the shape of the death star :rotfl: i bought it for him for his birthday from threadless.com (http://threadless.com) So here is darth vader force choking david because of his shirt:

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one of davids highlights of the trip, although hes mad i didnt get him in the pic also, but i was at a bad angle!

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Afterwards we went to indiana jones, and even though i have never seen the movies (i know!) i LOVED this. I haven't seen it since I was really little, and our fake audience guy was HILARIOUS! I wish i would have gotten it on camera, he was so good!

Our ADRs for 50s primetime were for 5:10, but it was 4:20 and we wanted to see if they could seat us early so we could get out for Fantasmic!

Up next: Will we make it to fantasmic?? 2 PARK NIGHTS IN ONE????

[KathyRN137]

I really enjoyed your parade pics...we usually miss the parades because we're back at the resort taking a break! Nice job!

Kathy

[Nicole786]

Wow! I haven't updated in a while! LOL i've been so busy! For those who didn't know, i just got a promotion at work so i'm working 40+ hours a week, while balancing my classes at school (which thank god end week after next, my life should get easier!)

If you notice in my sig, i've been concentrating a lot on the W.I.S.H boards because 2 weeks ago I made the conscious decision to become a healthier me! The reason i'm telling you this is because one of the incentives I've done is list some rewards for myself (10 pounds lost=10 dollar gift card etc) and if my ultimate WL goal is reached, guess where i'm headed in the fall!? DISNEYWORLD!!! I really want to create this as a reward for myself, and i've included my mother because if I go in the fall it would be a great way to spend some last minute time alone with my mommy princess: before i move back to new york next year. We've already discussed going for the week (hey why not, paid vacation! wahoo! lol) and spend a day and a half on-site at US (something we've never done) and head over to disney, staying at her choice (the polynesian) or my choice (ANYWHERE lol, actually, Wilderness Lodge i think) So anyway, on to the trip report!

Where we left off, We were heading over to primetime cafe to see if we could get seated early for our 5:10 ADR (it was around 4:30) So when i got there, we checked in, the CM said he would see what he could do, and 5 minutes later we were sitting down! Good thing right? that would leave us time for seats at fantasmic, right? We'll see...

So the first thing Michael and I did was order the special shirley-temple-esque sodas with the glowy cubes.

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Coming to this restaurant has been a tradition in my family for years, every disney trip we've come here, and this is the first time i was slightly dissapointed. It took FOREVER for food, our waitress was funny, but could have been better, and when i got my "i cant wait for this pot roast!" pot roast, it was fatty and i had to eat around it, because we literally didn't have time to send it back.

So while we're sitting there, i'm looking at the clock and its already 6:00 and i knew that on a crowded day like today (with ESPN and all) we had to get to fantasmic for seats. The parents suggested we go ahead and get seats and they'll meet up with us later after they get the check. Great plan, right? Michael, David and I high tail it out of there heading for what i think is the right stadium. Somehow we end up trapped between buildings, frantically searching for a way to get towards that giant hotel in the sky. The nearby castmember points a certain direction and we end up having to go "aaallll the way around" to get to the theatre. Oh you mean where everybody else is going? right. So we make it to the stadium, and i contemplate snagging a light up Mickey Mouse and decide against it. With proper planning, i've decided next time to eat dinner inside the theater itself, and avoid the panic and heartache.

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So we're sitting here and time is ticking, the hour is going by, faster and faster, and yet, mom and dad are no where in sight and its starting to get crowded. Fast. I give them a ring and they inform me, 30 minutes later, they are STILL waiting for the check. What? I sighed heavily and turned my attentions towards the faculty staff seated in front of us. Actually, Michael and I were pretty interested in their conversation. They were formulating a roatating chart that would determine what chaperone would be stationed at what floor of the hotel. Could you imagine being as tired as you usually are after disney and then not being able to go to sleep? I would die. The whole faculty staff meeting enticed me because it brought me back to 7th grade Boston field trips and 8th grade washington field trips. I was listening in on their conversation when one of the students, who apparently were all the way on the other side came over and told the faculty staff they were trying to start a wave and they needed their help. A Wave? Where are we? Shea Stadium? So the tiny tot retreats back to his classmates and you start to see a little bit of disney magic. After about 3 or 4 failed attempts, the entire stadium, young and old, begins to agree and we literally...do.the.wave. :confused3 We did it about 2 or 3 times and then you know how it goes, it got old. That and it was already dark and hard to see the wave anyway. So now it was 5 minutes to 7 and after several failed phone calls to the 'rents, they called and told us they were at the top looking for us. FINALLY! an hour to get a check?? Come on disney!

Fantasmic was incredible, it left my entire family including myself awe-struck, and now the instrumental music is on my iPod because it takes me back to this great show. It's a definite must-see for our future trips!

After the show, we contemplated what to do next. The original plan was to go to Downtown Disney and then take the boat back to the resort since we hadn't done that yet, but my dad wanted to go to MK because they were having EMH. I was really tired and wanted to save MK for our last day (tomorrow) but he insisted so off we went to find the bus to the transportation center, for TWO PARK NIGHTS IN ONE!

As you may have guessed, the line for the TTC was ridiculous and a lightbulb went off in my ingenious little head. Why don't we take the bus to the contemporary and then take the monorail to MK? Brilliance!! there was hardly a line for the contemporary as we walked right to the front and looked at all the suckers who weren't as smart as I was! that's right!

Only one problem. Bus after bus after bus came and left and came again, and we were still standing there like the suckers. Where was this bus? I guess i didn't calculate the concept that the contemporary hotel was about as far away from us as possible, and the turn around time for a bus to go there and come back would probably take 20 minutes. Oops. Evil glares and stares melted me down but finally the bus arrived and we boarded with just a few other families. On the ride over, I got in a conversation with these adorable little boys who desperately wanted to trade pins with me, they loved pin trading, everything about it, from their cars pin that they would trade me, they loved their mickey pin they would trade me, they loved to trade! Unfortunately, i didn't want to give up any of my pins since i had just bought them that day. Looking back, i should have just given one up, it was just a stupid pin, and it would made their night. But there were 2 kids, and that would mean letting go of 2 of my 4 pins. It didn't seem to bother them too much, as after i declined, they just stood up and touched all the pins i had on going "i like this one, i like this one!" When we reached the contemporary, they got off, went to their room, and the couple my parents spoke to, had the same idea we did, and boarded the monorail for MK.

So we're on the monorail, and i really didn't think this through. Now we had to stop at both the GF and the Ply before arriving at MK, oh brother.

When we finally get there, it was around 9:20 because it was the middle of Wishes, and we got our bracelets right outside the park and headed towards adventureland fighting the Wishes crowd the entire way.

We walked on to Pirates AGAIN (i friggin love this ride) and when we got off the park thinned out from the people going home. At 10PM was SpectroMagic, something we knew we wanted to do, but i also knew that even though it was 30-40* I had to go on Splash Mountain. No way would I let the opportunity pass. I raced on to the ride, and joined the only other stupid family, crazy enough to go on it with me.

I LOVE THIS RIDE!! I WAS WET, COLD, SHIVERING, TIRED, BUT IT WAS SOOO WORTH IT! It has to be my favorite ride, to go to such lengths, but i loooove it.

So we didn't walk far to secure our spot for Spectro Magic, and enjoyed that parade as well.

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After the parade we were all pretty beat, so we decided to head back to the room, but first we had to stop to get funnel cake. 30 minutes (yes, 30 minutes!) later we had our cake, so we reluctantly headed back. Our hearts wanted to say but our bodies refused :sad1:

When we got to the room, i took a picture one last time, knowing that this was the last time we would see the beds made.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/mickeytowel.jpg

Up Next: Our last day takes us to Epcot and Downtown Disney :cool2:

[KathyRN137]

Nicole!

Welcome back to page one!!

Your dad sounds like he wanted to squeeze every single drop out of your vacation....and he really had to twist your arm to go along with him! :rotfl:

Kathy

[princessjv]

Ya! Your back! I can't wait to hear the end...oh..I can...I hate the end!

I hope all is well at work and congrats on the goals!

[timandlesley]

Loving it Nicole, thanks for the update, can't wait for more!!!! We'll have to give the "glowy cubes" from Primetime a try when we're there, the kids will love them.
Lesley

[timandlesley]

Nicole, are you out there?? Would love an updatepopcorn::
Lesley

[Nicole786]

Nicole, are you out there?? Would love an updatepopcorn::
Lesley

I'm still here, just super busy :( I should have the final chapter up tomorrow! thanks for the support! :flower3:

[Nicole786]

This is my last chapter :( I really enjoyed writing it and reliving all those magical moments of the trip!! Sorry it took so long to post this, i'm going through something right now, i'm not sure what it is, but i've kind of been down..But hopefully i'll be headed for another trip real soon so that only means another TR!

So our last day began with us unloading the room and packing up the van. We woke up early for this one and i was really starting to feel the tiredness all at once. I entrusted my cousin to grab my laptop bag holding my precious baby inside, and as we began our journey CRASH! The bag hit the floor! I shrugged it off because it was in a cordourouy sleeve inside of a messenger bag so of course its fine and we continue our way.

For our final breakfast we chose Boatwrights. We got there at opening and just sat right down with a couple of other people. We wanted to try the Sweet Potato Pancakes but weren't sure if we would like them but the server brought them over to taste! THey were soooooo soooo good!

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Mom and I went to the shop to pick up the stuff they sent to the hotel, and to pick up some aspirin since i was feeling under the weather. We brought the stuff to the car, and decided to take the bus to Epcot and come back later for the car. We decided the only park we didn't get to appreciate so far was Epcot and its a family favorite so we gave it a go!

We started in future world where i snapped this cool pic of michael:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/michaelfountain.jpg

then we headed over to club cool so michael could get his last fix of Mezzo Mix...you know they really should sell the soda there!

While there i made my first trade of the trip! Before we headed over to club cool, i stopped at pin traders and bought one of those mysterious pin boxes that come with 2 pins...i liked one, and i didnt like the other one so i held on to it for trade!

So while michael and david were oogling the mezzo mix, i walked over to see if i could actually buy it, when i noticed the CM sharing his pins with other adult guests. One pin i saw caught my eye immediately! It was a vintage-looking spectro magic pin with mickey on it! It was the perfect size too! I wish i had a pic of it, but i'll just explain that it was awesome lol so i traded my mystery pin and added my first trade under my belt, boy what a rush!

After that, we decided to go on TT but by the time we got there, the line was already 40 minutes so we decided to skip it. My mom really wanted to on Ellen's Adventure, something I really didnt want to do, but i reluctantly went on...and after about 10 minutes....i konked out. Yes ladies and gentlmen, feverish, tired nicole, fell asleep on a ride!

So we got out i still didnt feel well, but we decided to go to lunch. electric umbrella was closed which was a bummer so we decided to go to the world showcase for some american food. We took the boat over and went to America which was "okay" Sorry i dont have a lot of pics, michael had the camera at this point as i videotaped.

After we ate, we started walking the worlds! First stop was italy, we took a bunch of pics while mom and dad shopped around

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/italy.jpg

next was Japan and David found some interesting puzzles

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/japan.jpg

We walked over to Germany & Morocco once at Germany we found a really cool disney cookbook to buy that had the sweet potato pancakes in it, so we picked it up!

The line for maelstrom was too long (bummer!) so we walked over to china to play

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/china1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/china2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/china3.jpg

Michael and I went into Mexico and i saw the future site of Gran Fiesta

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/mexico.jpg

So Epcot was a blast but we were all beat and knew we had to get on the road, so we went back to the resort for the last time, and hopped in the car to stop at Downtown Disney. While there, we split up but we didnt have enough time so by the time we got to World of Disney time was up and we had to meet up with the parents. However we DID get to find the hidden mickey! And i had enough gear as it was :(

On the way back home i wanted to upload the pictures so i unwrapped my Powerbook and noticed that the fall did damage!! It deformed the port that the power adapter goes into meaning that i couldnt plug it in! I was so upset! After just spending so much money i had to go get a new laptop now?? So i did what everyone does when they leave Disney: I cried. I cried because iw as leaving disney and i cried for my baby Powerbook. Luckily, i was able to fix it no problem that night, but i probably cried for more than just that.

So i hope you enjoyed the TR! Thanks for reading!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v328/nicole_786/tripreport/pintraders.jpg

[lamagique]

What a sad ending. :(

Anyway, I just stumbled upon your TR and got to read it all in one sitting! It was very entertaining! I loved the surprises that you made for your mom and your brother--you're a very caring person! I'm glad you had a great time and good luck with the weight loss and I can't wait for your next one!

[princessjv]

No, say it ain't soo...over... I am bummed at the sad ending! I cry when I leave too, but the powerbook ...good thing you were ablte to fix it!

I hope you find the happy place in your life again. Sometimes life deals us some struggles..but if you work at it, you can always get through them. I promise.

[BraMax]

Sorry that you had such a bad ending to such a wonderful trip. Reading your report has made me really look forward to our upcoming trip in Feb '08. Thanks for sharing with us and I loved all the pictures and I'm glad you were able to fix your laptop.
Jennifer