"All The World's A Stage and We're The Comic Relief" -A WDW Trip Report

[Loves Disney]

Cast:

Mom
Dad
Brittany (sister 17 y/o)
Me (Caitlin 18 y/o)
Alyssa (friend 19 y/o)
Derrick (friend 16 y/o)

Setting: Walt Disney World, FL (Port Orleans and the Grand Floridian)
Time Period: July 10th - July 18th 2007 a.d.

ACT I. Scene I.

Enter mom, dad, Brittany and me. The place is our house. The time is July 10th at 2:00 in the morning

So there I was. Wide awake after a sleepless night. I don't know why, but from the moment I actually tried to fall asleep until the moment my alarm clock annoyingly beeped me up, I could not sleep a wink. This was not a good sign as I, well, I know how in Walt Disney World, there is no such thing as sleep! Was I doomed to walk the next few days in utter fatigue? God, I hoped not.

I whacked my hand against the alarm to shut it up and I stumbled to the bathroom to start getting ready for our journey to Logan International Airport in Boston, MA. Aside from the fact that I not only looked like I didn't get the sleep I wanted and aside from the fact that I was edging on just passing out right there on the floor, I was excited. I mean, my goodness! We were getting ready for Walt Disney World!!

Nothing too exciting happened between 2 and 3 am other than the usual counting of bags and double and triple checking to make sure we had everything so I'm gonna cut to the chase here. At 3 we packed into the car like sardines (but happy sardines 'cause, well, I'll let you take a guess here!). The luggage was squeezed into every nook and cranny that allowed for it in the car making the backseat window my new best friend as my face remained pressed there for the hour ride to the airport.

Finally, we arrived at Boston. The doors of the car opened and we all spilled out like fish spilling out of a water tank.

SCENE II. Logan International Airport.

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/4451/p1000999nk3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Shot with DMC-FZ8 (http://profile.imageshack.us/camerabuy.php?model=DMC-FZ8&make=Panasonic)

Tower of Terror or just unusually fast elevators...that make animal noises...? We took the elevators down to the 4th floor and were immediately welcomed in by sounds of birds that are not native to airport parking lots. They sounded so real...and they sounded like they were directly above us. They weren't real, however. It took me about 5 minutes to figure that out, but yeah. They're fake. Then they started getting annoying. Then I wanted to smack whatever was making that noise. Then I wanted to scream at it to shut up! Then I started to hate those birds! DARN BIRDS!! Needless to say, I still had some waking up to do. :upsidedow

While we waited at the gate, I soon discovered how completely hungry I had gotten since we left the house. To eat or not to eat. That became the question.

To eat.

I found a Dunkin Donuts RIGHT NEXT to our gate. Well, okay, it was a few gates down but it was close enough. I ordered a breakfast sandwich with ham, eggs, and cheese on a bagel. It was VERY good, I might add.

My mom, dad, and sister all got something to eat too. But nothing could compare to how good my breakfast sandwich tasted. If you go to Dunkin Donuts, order that! Anywho, as I sat there at the gate, I half-knowingly watched the T.V. directly in front of me. The news was on CNN and luckily I'm not terrified of flying and luckily I didn't have to take this online course that tried to help me get over flying and luckily it wasn't like I was trying to get my mind off of anything negative before we got into the plane because the news was discussing increased terrorist plots on planes...:scared:

...

Good thing I was only half awake or else I would have been :scared1:

...

Finally our flight was called for Orlando International Airport (MCO) and we proceeded to gather together in a line and when our time came, we each handed the flight attendant our boarding pass and continued down the terminal into our assigned seats. I got the aisle seat and though I preferred window, it was taken by a lady (or I think it was a lady :confused: ) who I think was a few fries short of a happy meal. The aisle seat was looking pretty darn good as my sister got the middle seat situated right next to our brand new friend! :rolleyes:

To be continued (with a lot more photos!)

[EeyoreFan1]

Veryyyy good start!
Subscribing!

[baby<3]

Great report so far!

I LOVE your title btw.

[PrincessJazz]

Bravo add more..

Bumpies Bumpies Bumpies Bumpies

[TinkerTracy]

Awesome so far!!!!!!!!

[Dis-Wiz]

Nice start! Love the "a few fries short of a happy meal." :rotfl:

[Princess Ash]

Cat this is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! I feel like I'm right there with you! Which, well, I was in spirit, but you know why :goodvibes

[BabyPiglet]

Awesome writing Caitlin. Can't wait to read the rest. =]

[Loves Disney]

Scene III. The Landing.

The plane ride wasn't much other than the lady next to us who occupied her time through talking to herself and continuing the flight in dank darkness as she closed the windows up. The descent was by far the relief of the journey as a whole. Hearing the attendant announce our final departure into Orlando, Florida is always music to our ears. The landing was smooth and so began our vacation.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010003.jpg

ACT II. Scene I.


Aaalllll Aboooaaarrrdd!! Well, we weren't quite at the Main Street train station yet, but we were boarding our first Disney related transportation device. The Magical Express bus. Our luggage was stored below and we walked down the very sparkly aisle way to our seats. You know, I never saw a floor so glittery before. :upsidedow

The T.V.s turned on and we watched the little clip about arriving to Walt Disney World. Though much of what was said was nothing new to our ears, it certainly got us into the Disney spirit and added to our constantly growing excitement for what lied ahead.

Our stop was Port Orleans Riverside (POR). We decided we would spend our first night here before we moved to the Grand Floridian (GF) which would become our home for the next week. POR was our alternate option instead of staying at the Hyatt at MCO. We found it cost about the same when we included taxi fare and all that good stuff. The thing about POR was that none of us had ever resided here before. My dad and I had stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ) this past March, but it wasn't Riverside which we soon discovered to be pleasantly different.

Scene II. POR

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010026.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010020.jpg

Our Mansion was Oak Manor. What a gorgeous thing it is. For a moderate resort, Port Orleans is very nice. However, we weren't able to get into the room right away so we had some time to kill.


We went to the food court and got our first lunch at WDW...the chicken strips. I don't know about anyone else, but WDW has the BEST chicken strips. I love 'em. I had that with a bottle of chocolate milk. I know, nasty mix lol. Normally I would have a soda or bottled water.

After lunch, we decided to kill some time by hopping on a boat to Downtown Disney (DTD) and catching a bus from there to GF where we would see what our room was going to be for tomorrow. We were hoping to request a room.

The boat ride was interesting. We saw water, trees, and ducks! When you are at WDW in July, you soon realize that ducks become a part of your vacation no matter where you are. And then you have the ducklings following the mother duck...ah so cute. :goodvibes

Anyway, before I digress further, I will get to the point where we finally get into our room! We had the third floor of the Oak Manor and overlooked the backside. It was a nice room. (ETA: There were images here but they were WAY too big)

Next: Our dinner at Boatwrights and day 2 - the move to the GF

ETA: The report WILL get more interesting once I get into parks, don't worry haha

[BandGeek911]

Great trip report so far!!
Can't wait for more!! :goodvibes

[Princess Ash]

Pirates on POTC: We want the redhead! We want the redhead! We want.....forget the redhead!...............We want more trip report! We want more trip report!
Best not anger the pirates matery, arrgg!!! pirate:

[OhMari]

So which do you think you like better, POR, or POFQ?

[scottny]

Great report, we were at POR and ate at Boatwright's on the 12th for dinner. Hope you liked it, I really enjoyed it.
Cannot wait to here the rest.

[Loves Disney]

So which do you think you like better, POR, or POFQ?

I like them both for different reasons. I like POFQ because I love the "French village" type decor and the fact that everything is closer together. However, I love POR because the mansions are gorgeous and there is more to do there than there is a POFQ imho. I also love the pathways at POR as they are excellent for early morning walks!


Thanks to everyone who read my trip report so far and thank you for your comments!! If it seemed like the last post was a bit choppy, it's because I had pictures to go with most of what I said but unfortunately most of the pictures were extra large and didn't want to size down. :upsidedow

[Princess_Dot]

Subscribing!

Great TP so far.

[Loves Disney]

Scene III. Boatwrights.

While my sister and I were up in our room cooling off and getting ourselves ready for dinner, my parents went down to see if they could get ressies for Boatwrights. I knew exactly what I wanted to order. I wanted the chicken. Considering the amount of chicken I ate this past week, one would think I would turn INTO a chicken!

So anyway, the reservations worked out for 5:30 that night and as soon as my sister and I got the call from my parents to be down there before that time, we, or least I, realized that during the time I was in the room SUPPOSED to be getting ready, I had successfully called up one or two friends of mine and had found a couple snacks tucked away for my eating pleasure. Now I had only a few minutes to get ready. Without wasting anymore time, I quickly brushed my hair, did my make-up, and ran outside only to run back in the room. I looked to my sister and exclaimed that there was no way it could possibly be as humid as it was out there!

Welcome to Florida summers!

Although we travel to WDW every July, coming from MA, it does take a day or two to adjust to the climate differences. So, I pulled myself together and I told myself, "Me, I can handle this" and though my hair puffed, and though my make-up melted and though my skin felt sticky, I successfully conquered the weather.

Waiting only 5 minutes more, we finally got to our table. The restaurant wasn't new to me, but it didn't cease to interest me as my eyes were forced up at the ceiling and walls to admire the partially built boat suspended above us and the tools hanging all around us.

I ordered the chicken as did my mom. My dad ordered something that I forget now and my sister ordered something too. What I do remember, however, is that my mom ordered the Pirate Punch mainly because it came with a light up Tinkerbell clip. Without much ado, her punch arrived to the table and she immediately became as excited as a child at Christmas. The glowing Tink was taken off of that straw faster than lightening and just as fast, it was then clipped onto her shirt. Then her ear. Then her shirt collar. Then it was on my dad. Needless to say, we now had the attention of two admiring tables as that plastic thing became the main attraction at our table. Looking around, we noticed more people purchasing the Pirate Punch and that meant more Tinkerbells. I almost felt bad for Captain Hook because it appeared that no one wanted a light up, well, him.

Dinner wasn't too long and it consisted of looking back to past Disney vacations and plans of what we were going to do over the next week. After we finished with dinner, we headed back to the room and got settled in. Before we got into bed, a storm rolled in and we gathered outside to watch it. Florida storms are always fun to watch - especially with all that lightening.

Act III. Scene I. The Grand Floridian (a.k.a., our home)

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010136.jpg

The morning was not as rough as anticipated. We got up at 5:30 and quickly took our showers and pushed our luggage outside. We had a van taxi waiting for us outside the main lobby and it was going to take us home from POR.

Once we arrived to the Grand Floridian, it finally hit us that we were here at WDW. The smell of the GF is unmistakable and seeing the lobby again was still breath-taking. It doesn't matter how many times I come here, the GF never fails to welcome me in such a way.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010091.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010095.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010096.jpg

We got to the desk to check in only to find that we had been up-graded! We had booked to stay in a lodge tower room but now we found ourselves in Sugar Loaf building which, as any GF fan would know, is concierge. We had our lodge tower room but now we had it with concierge. While this surprise pleasantly shocked us, we knew that we had a week a food ahead of us.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010093.jpg

We were on the Platinum Plan. If anyone has ever been on the PP you would know how food demanding it is. Now that we had food in our building everyday, I feared I would head back to MA about 50 lbs more than I came as lol.

We were on the second floor of Sugar Loaf in room 6220. The room had plenty of space for us and the couch in the living room area pulled out to be a double bed. Although it wasn't lagoon view (as our past views have been), our balcony overlooked the pool which was still an interesting site. The only obstruction we had in our view was the construction going on below us. That wasn't a problem as the week went on since we started to ignore that part and focus only on the beauty of the view.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010609.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010607.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010604.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010100.jpg

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I suppose it's only fair to say that while we were at the GF near 6:30 am, our room wasn't ready until late into the afternoon. What we did during the day will come in the next scene of my trip report.

[Princess Ash]

Welcome to Florida summers!

Although we travel to WDW every July, coming from MA, it does take a day or two to adjust to the climate differences. So, I pulled myself together and I told myself, "Me, I can handle this" and though my hair puffed, and though my make-up melted and though my skin felt sticky, I successfully conquered the weather.

Once we arrived to the Grand Floridian, it finally hit us that we were here at WDW. The smell of the GF is unmistakable and seeing the lobby again was still breath-taking. It doesn't matter how many times I come here, the GF never fails to welcome me in such a way.


:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: This is SO SO SOOOOOO true! Esp. being from MA, I understand completely. And ironically, I would probably address myself as "Me" too...but I don't think that is a MA thing....hmmmm...:confused3 :rotfl2:


WAY to make my eyes well up, Cat. Good one. :rolleyes:

[MrsPiglet]

Wonderful installments.

And we don't care if the pictures are extra large, we want them anyway. =]

Sorry, Mom's account. This would be Jenny. [Babypiglet]

[Disneymusicgirl]

Great TR so far! :thumbsup2 Subscribing popcorn::

[Princess Ash]

MORE!!! What happened to my daily updates!? :rotfl:

[Damhsa04]

i want to read more. i like reading trip reports. i may have to write one after i go in october.

[Loves Disney]

MORE!!! What happened to my daily updates!? :rotfl:

I know, I know!! lol. I'm going to get the next one up there asap. I've been caught up in things lately. :upsidedow

[Loves Disney]

Scene II. The Grand Floridian Cafe.

After we checked into the Grand Floridian at around 6:30 am, we had time to spare before we could get into our rooms later that afternoon.

The four of us were soaking in the realization that we were here, at WDW, and here, at the GF. My sister and I walked alongside our parents as we went up the stairs near the portrait paintings and continued our way over to Citrico's. The only difference was that now, in the mornings and in the afternoons, Citrico's isn't Citrico's - it's the Grand Floridian Cafe while the Grand Floridian Cafe is 1900 Park Fare. The 1900 Park Fare is being renovated and in the mean time, restaurants are mixed up.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010102.jpg

So anyway, we walked over to our table and sat down way in the far back of the restaurant with a view of the pool and garden. It was very nice - except for the dew.

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa10/MouseEars88/P1010101.jpg

The dew covered most of the window on the outside however, my mom instisted that the mistiness on the windows was on the inside. The dew obstructed our visibility and so we could not see out very well.

Brittany: The water is on the outside of the window
Mom: No, it's on the inside
Brittany: No, I think it's on the outside, otherwise we could just wipe the water off to see out
Mom: (wiping the window) Oh. Nevermind.
All of us: *laughing*

Shortly after our new discovery, the waiter came. He took our orders and left. Leaving us to continue making new discoveries. One of which was the unidentified brown substance sitting on the floor behind my dad's chair. To me, it looked like crap - but I'm thinking it had to have been a sausage piece...actually, I'm hoping that is what it was. lol.

Me: Oh my gosh!
Brittany: What?
Me: Ew, what is that on the floor?
Brittany: (in a louder, more annoyed voice) What!?
Me: Over there! Behind that chair (pointing)
Mom and dad: (turning around to see what I was pointing at)
Dad: Oh that's just a pile of crap on the floor


The waiter came just as I was able to sit back straight in the chair and reduce my giggling. lol.

After the meal was over, we headed to the monorail to get over to the Magic Kingdom for opening. :woohoo:

[Damhsa04]

yay, an update. i love reading trip reports. and your's is very good.

[jazstar87]

Oh thanks Front... I am going to be in this and you don't even tell me?! Your sister told me!!!! Oh please continue... I need to hear what you have to say about me... :rolleyes:

btw.. I am the Alyssa person...;)

[VMK_KrazyLuke]

Oh thanks Front... I am going to be in this and you don't even tell me?! Your sister told me!!!! Oh please continue... I need to hear what you have to say about me...

btw.. I am the Alyssa person...


Heh.
I can't wait to hear about it either.
Good thing I'm not in it :D
My part would just be about a phone call.
OR should I say phone call(s).

[jazstar87]

Heh.
I can't wait to hear about it either.
Good thing I'm not in it :D
My part would just be about a phone call.
OR should I say phone call(s).

Too many phone calls...:rolleyes:

[Loves Disney]

Heh.
I can't wait to hear about it either.
Good thing I'm not in it :D
My part would just be about a phone call.
OR should I say phone call(s).

Just because you're not in the cast doesn't mean you're not in it. haha. :rolleyes1

I will try to find time sometime today to get another part up. If not today, definitely tomorrow. :thumbsup2

[iggbees]

looks like you had a great time down there! too bad we didn't get to meet you, yet again... :confused3