"I've got a WICKED magic hangover." Trip Report ***FINISHED 12/7***

[travelmel]

I have to say that though it's over you surely did your part to make it a magical, memorable time that your family will never forget. Congrats on a fantastic trip plan and execution. YOU ROCK!

 

[Charleston Princess]

What??? How can you be headed home already??? NO!!!

That's too bad about missing the princesses due to the Coke Float Fiasco -- but the picture with Minnie and Pluto is great!

I hope to finally see Fantasmic next time! Everyone seems to love it so much!

One of my favorite meals of all-time was at Sci-Fi -- not necessarily the food but the atmosphere there is so fun!

Yeay! A picture with Bo! He is becoming quite the DIS celeb isn't he?

 

[julezdisney]

Awww soo sad its over , can't wait to see all the souvie picks though!

I know! It IS sad!

I have to say that though it's over you surely did your part to make it a magical, memorable time that your family will never forget. Congrats on a fantastic trip plan and execution. YOU ROCK!

Why thank you ver kindly! I tried and I think I did well for a first-timer!

What??? How can you be headed home already??? NO!!!

That's too bad about missing the princesses due to the Coke Float Fiasco -- but the picture with Minnie and Pluto is great!

I hope to finally see Fantasmic next time! Everyone seems to love it so much!

One of my favorite meals of all-time was at Sci-Fi -- not necessarily the food but the atmosphere there is so fun!

Yeay! A picture with Bo! He is becoming quite the DIS celeb isn't he?

Yes, home... But I indulged in some DVC DVD action today. Do you have it? I only just today looked at the "Special Features" section w/the secret archive tour. It was awesome!

Yes, Bo.... soooo dreamy....

 

[Charleston Princess]

Yes, home... But I indulged in some DVC DVD action today. Do you have it? I only just today looked at the "Special Features" section w/the secret archive tour. It was awesome!

Yes, Bo.... soooo dreamy....

I do have the DVC DVD but have never watched it -- I may have to do so now.

We miss Bo at our house -- we can't wait to see him again.

 

[julezdisney]

 

[mom2mek]

Wow Julia! Your photopass pics are fantastic! You are all such a photogenic family! I love the haunted mansion one - you guys have some of the best expressions I've seen in that one! Great, great job!

Those are some wonderful memories captured!

Sara

 

[tiggerfan1]

Hi Julez! I'm so sorry for going MIA on you. I've missed a lot of great updates. Thankfully, I'm all caught up now.

That's awesome that you guys were able to get so many great character pics. I especially loved those Photopass pictures! I think you may have convinced me to do the whole Photopass thing on my next trip to WDW.

Oh, and I loved that picture of your DD in that wig! Rock on, girl!

Too bad your DS got so scared on ToT. Poor thing. I must confess that ToT scares me, too! Your ToT picture is so funny. It reminds me of a Splash Mountain photo that one of my friends showed me. In the picture, my friend is smiling and flashing a peace sign at the camera while the rest of the people in the ride are screaming.

I'm looking forward to seeing those souvenir pics!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Julia, y'all are just so cute! The pictures of Mickey hugging the kids and you and DH kissing at the castle should be advertisements for Disney! Just precious!

 

[julezdisney]

SO....

my trip report is over.

Too bad, so sad.

It was a lot of work anyway!

If you just can't get enough of me, come on over to my Unicorn Club- the link is the purple Unicorn Club insignia in my siggie.

So.... my final thoughts.

I LOVED Disney World.
I can't compare it to Disneyland, as a whole, as it's totally different.

What I can compare though, I will.

Main Street, USA- I like Disneyland's better. It's more quant. More intimate. I don't mean "smaller" with a twist to make it sound cute. It just feels- homey in California. It feels- REAL. Like... charming. Not just pretty like a postcard like in Florida. But like an ACTUAL MAIN STREET AND YOU STEPPED BACK IN TIME.

Shopping. The shopping at Disneyland in Anaheim is SUPERIOR to Disney World in Florida. Let me tell you why. In addition to the little shops on Main St. and World of Disney in Downtown Disney and The Emporium on Main St., DisneyLAND has unique shops to each land in Disneyland with unique items to each land. What you want in a particular land you have to go back and get. You won't find the SAME THING in Adventureland that you find in Tommorowland, for example. I LOVED that. I was sorely disappointed with the shopping in Florida, as a result of my experience in California. And it's super cute stuff, too. Not all generic WDW stuff either, many other brands besides Disney.

The Magic Kingdom- Both are easy to navigate. They each have their pluses. The castle size- eh, who cares? A castle is a castle- both so cool. Both so beautiful. Both um, F-A-K-E! I can't wait to go to Disneyland and actually get to go up into it and do the Sleeping Beauty walk-through. I SOOO want to buy the Blu-Ray special edition so I can do the virtual walk-through. You can't just "walk-through" Disney World's version, so .... yea...

And while Disney World has 3 parks to Disneyland's 1 other- I love that in California, you can go across the esplanade and visit a bunch of the BEST of Disney World all in one place..... Turtle Talk, Soarin', Monster's Inc (which WDW doesn't even HAVE), Toy Story Mania, Muppet Vision 3D, Playhouse Disney, the Aladdin Show (caliber of Little Mermaid show), A Bug's World 3D AND the playground (as opposed to seeing the HISTK playground in ONE park and than the HISTK movie in ANOTHER ). .... I dont' know... I just love that.

Also... I love that you can walk to DLR/DCA from your hotel. No awful traffic to deal with. Many great options to choose from with great amenities.

But wait. I know it sounds like I'm leaning toawrds DLR/DCA, but I swear I'm not. I still consider them apples and oranges. But I will take this oppurtunity to tell you diehard WDW fans to

GO TO DLR/DCA! Go after they're done w/the revamp. I'm going to! I can't wait to see Cars World. I can't wait to see the street so of 1900's San Fran and the trolleys. I can't wait for all the changes. And they're adding the new Little Mermaid ride, I believe. It's gonna be soooo awesome. It's already soooo awesome.

In the meantime.... there's more trips to plan.

So... introducing.... more trips!

#1- I did book a trip in May for me and Rach. Possibly also my sister-in-law and niece in honor of Rachael's birthday. Got a pin-code for 3nts and 3 day MYW tix for $956. Deposit is due in 1 week w/rest due in March, so whether or not I keep the ressie will remain to be seen. I doubt it, but I had to jump on it. I really want to treat her for her birthday. And my niece has never gone so I really want to take her. Unfortuneately, there's no P&P party during those dates (May3-7) so we won't be attending one, but oh well. We'll be at Pop.

#2- This one is a definite. Already cleared it with the in-laws. In honor of my & DH's anniversary on Dec. 14th and DH's 30th birthday on Dec. 20th, we'll be doing 4 nts at WDW from Dec. 6-10th and either DCL or Carnival cruise from Dec. 10th-13th or Dec.13th-17th and 17th-20th, TBD. The trip will be announced to DH in July as a week-long trip to WDW in Dec. by me. He will be surprised upon arrival there by the presense of his parents and sister (14) and the cruise! We'll be renting DVC points most likely, and I'm leaning towards Old Key West so far.

I'll start that PTR in July or so. Once I'm about to announce to him. Otherwise, I'll never be able to keep it a secret!

Thanks for keeping along with me on this PTR/TR ladies and gents! It's been fun!

PS- Yes, I know my souvie page isn't done, I'm still workin' on it!

 

[julezdisney]

Wow Julia! Your photopass pics are fantastic! You are all such a photogenic family! I love the haunted mansion one - you guys have some of the best expressions I've seen in that one! Great, great job!

Those are some wonderful memories captured!

Sara

Thanks! We didn't get as many as I hoped, but we did get some fantastic ones! I will definitely use Photopass for every trip! I joined a group on the Budget Board- so for $20, I feel it was a great deal!

Hi Julez! I'm so sorry for going MIA on you. I've missed a lot of great updates. Thankfully, I'm all caught up now.

That's awesome that you guys were able to get so many great character pics. I especially loved those Photopass pictures! I think you may have convinced me to do the whole Photopass thing on my next trip to WDW.

Oh, and I loved that picture of your DD in that wig! Rock on, girl!

Too bad your DS got so scared on ToT. Poor thing. I must confess that ToT scares me, too! Your ToT picture is so funny. It reminds me of a Splash Mountain photo that one of my friends showed me. In the picture, my friend is smiling and flashing a peace sign at the camera while the rest of the people in the ride are screaming.

I'm looking forward to seeing those souvenir pics!

Yes, Photopass is a great thing! Do a group though, for the best deal! Then Snapfish or Walmart to order pix or products! WDW even sends a release if you catch any flak!

I love the wig pix too! She cracks me up!

Still workin' on the souvie pix, it's a matter of finding pix on the internet, my digi camera sucks on indoor pix....

Julia, y'all are just so cute! The pictures of Mickey hugging the kids and you and DH kissing at the castle should be advertisements for Disney! Just precious!

Thanks!

Those kissing pix were his idea!

And I like the hug pix the best. I like all the candid the best, actually. We also got reg. posed ones of course- but I just love their expressions on the candid action shots better- they're more real and really capture the moment, kwim?

 

[xoktenox]

Awwww each and every photopass picture is absolutely precious!!! I agree with Jackie, some of them should be Disney advertisements!

Yayyy you booked 2 more trips (one tentative, I know, but still its booked!) Thats cute that you're going to surprise your DH with it too, he'll be so happy. We can tell what an amazing time you all had

 

[julezdisney]

Awwww each and every photopass picture is absolutely precious!!! I agree with Jackie, some of them should be Disney advertisements!

Yayyy you booked 2 more trips (one tentative, I know, but still its booked!) Thats cute that you're going to surprise your DH with it too, he'll be so happy. We can tell what an amazing time you all had

Thanks K! The Dec. trip isn't booked yet- we're waiting to see what killer deals they come out with for the 2nd 1/2 of 2009. I'm pretty confident they'll come up w/something. At this point I'm sure we're renting DVC points to stay at Old Key West villas, but if they come up w/something good enough- we'd just rent one instead.

 

[kmab00]

I love your photo pass pictures!! They came out really good! I like the ones that are unique to Halloween! Very cute!! Yay for another possible trip!!!

 

[julezdisney]

Thanks Karen! Don't you have a trip coming up? Write a report, girl I love me some Karen!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Julia! How the heck did I miss your report? And now it is over. I've really enjoyed it! I can't believe how much you guys did in such a short trip - especially after driving that distance!

Your kids are adorable! And like someone else said, your whole family is so photogenic. All your pictures are great.

Sounds like you had a lot of magical moments on your trip! Very cool to ride in the front of the monorail - we still haven't done that.

I love the description of your kids riding CoP for the first time - classic!

I'm so glad your DH enjoyed his time at WDW and so glad you have more trips in the works. I am trying to plan a trip to DL within the next few years for Samantha and I - I'd love to check it out!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What the heck have I been doing?? I could have sworn I was subscribed to your report but apparently not. Well the bright side is that I spent a delightful evening catching up with you and your family. You have a beautiful family! I'm sure I'll forget somethign that I wanted to comment on but here's what I'm thinking as of now:

Love that your kids got to judge the crazy potato head contest. Adorable!
Riding in the front of the monorail!
DH limbo-'ing
Your kids conked (sp?) out on the way to MNSSHP. Too cute!
Picture of your kiddos w/ Minnie and Pluto... adorable!
DD with her RnR pose with the wig!

I'm sure there was a lot more that I wanted to comment on. Sorry I didn't climb aboard sooner. I'll look forward to your upcoming trips!!!!

 

[julezdisney]

What the heck have I been doing?? I could have sworn I was subscribed to your report but apparently not. Well the bright side is that I spent a delightful evening catching up with you and your family. You have a beautiful family! I'm sure I'll forget somethign that I wanted to comment on but here's what I'm thinking as of now:

Love that your kids got to judge the crazy potato head contest. Adorable!
Riding in the front of the monorail!
DH limbo-'ing
Your kids conked (sp?) out on the way to MNSSHP. Too cute!
Picture of your kiddos w/ Minnie and Pluto... adorable!
DD with her RnR pose with the wig!

I'm sure there was a lot more that I wanted to comment on. Sorry I didn't climb aboard sooner. I'll look forward to your upcoming trips!!!!

Julia! How the heck did I miss your report? And now it is over. I've really enjoyed it! I can't believe how much you guys did in such a short trip - especially after driving that distance!

Your kids are adorable! And like someone else said, your whole family is so photogenic. All your pictures are great.

Sounds like you had a lot of magical moments on your trip! Very cool to ride in the front of the monorail - we still haven't done that.

I love the description of your kids riding CoP for the first time - classic!

I'm so glad your DH enjoyed his time at WDW and so glad you have more trips in the works. I am trying to plan a trip to DL within the next few years for Samantha and I - I'd love to check it out!

Well, thanks for coming on over, Michelle and Christine! And to be honest, I thought you two WERE here already!

But you know, we seem to have a little group formed all reading each other's reports so it doesn't surprise me if we just link through others and don't know where we started!

Thanks for the nice comments! I'm trying to get souvie pix together but I'm not doing well.... soo busy!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Is that a new ticker I am seeing, Julia???

 

[xoktenox]

Is that a new ticker I am seeing, Julia???

I do believe you are right about that Jackie ....

 

[julezdisney]

Is that a new ticker I am seeing, Julia???

I do believe you are right about that Jackie ....

Erm..... you DOOO see a ticker.... howEVER.... I had to book it by tommorow and I spent my down payment money over the weekend.

SOOOO.... I will have to see if this is gonna happen or not! I had been hoping that my SIL and niece would want to go with, and that would help cut our room cost in 1/2- BUT, over the weekend, I found out they are going to a beach house in SC in June and SIL is not interested in going to Disney any time soon. Which is so sad because my niece will be almost 11 at the time of Rach's birthday (May 4th) and she's never been!

I'm sad to report the ticker will disappear tommorow, along with my ressie at midnight.

Oh well. At least I'm going in Dec '09!