The Sea Witch Stole My Voice! Our Two Week Land and Sea Adventure! COMPLETE 4/12
- Thread starter Lifelong_Dreamer
- Start date
carissanboys
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2004
Hey Lessa - just subscribing for now. I'll be back to get caught up!
kaysmommie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2006
Hi Lessa,
Looking forward to hearing all about your trip. Sorry we didn't get to meet since we didn't get to the Dole Whip/ Spectro Saturday.
Looking forward to hearing all about your trip. Sorry we didn't get to meet since we didn't get to the Dole Whip/ Spectro Saturday.
englishrose47
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2007
Usually my crazy brothers, Alek and Erich come along as well but they opted to stay at home this year. What trouble could they have gotten up to while we were away?of courseI can not leave out my brothers. Of course they did not come with us physically to Florida but their influence is far reaching and I felt like they were there with us in spirit if not in body. Of course the fact that Mom wanted to call them everyday to check on them helped keep them fresh in my mind as well.
Are you sure Lessa, I think that Erich had his own Disney holiday, with a little help from
and believing that dreams really do come true, Erich celebrated having the house to himself for TWO whole weeks, with no hassles, questions, to do lists, etc...
While you and I celebrated two weeks away from the Brothers Grimm and enjoyed some much needed R & R. So all around we all had the time of our life and experienced the magic of Disney.
Hi Beth !! I am looking forward to Lessa's TR and the colorful additions from the Boros. Grimm!!!!I soooo enjoyed meting you both !! But I felt like you were already Old Friends !!
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
I'm getting in on this one early! I always love reading your TR's - if I don't always respond, I am reading!So looking forward to hearing about your cruise. I wanna do one too!
Hopefully with school ending soon I'll have plenty of time to indulge in some TR reading!
I'm just happy to know you are here and reading along.
I even took some pictures that I am SURE you will appreciate. 
Hi,
I am here too.
Hi Scott!
I was always on the lookout for you Rosie! It was great getting to hang out with you those few times though.
Hi Lessa! I'm in. Can't wait to hear about your adventure.
Subscribing then going back to catch up.
Thanks for coming over!
Ahhhh. Okie dokie. Can't wait to hear this story!
Hey Kat!
I'm in
Hiya!
HEY! I'm here! Let's get going!
Hi Glenda! Update coming soon! And maybe another tonight as I am at work!
So far looks FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!
Hi Kar!
Hey Car!
Hey Nichole! That is okay, some other time.
wvdislover
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 31, 2006
I'm joining in, too! We went on our first Disney cruise last September (a 4 night)--can't wait to hear all about a 7 night cruise (we have one of those booked now, too...just not sure when we'll take it ). Your brothers look like they have a lot of fun in life 
Oh, and you and Beth look more like sisters than mom/daughter! I'd love to take my mom sometime...maybe one day soon! Looking forward to the next update.
). Your brothers look like they have a lot of fun in life Oh, and you and Beth look more like sisters than mom/daughter! I'd love to take my mom sometime...maybe one day soon! Looking forward to the next update.
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
I'm joining in, too! We went on our first Disney cruise last September (a 4 night)--can't wait to hear all about a 7 night cruise (we have one of those booked now, too...just not sure when we'll take it
Welcome! You will love taking a 7 night cruise! We loved our port days but we also loved our relaxing sea days.
Yep, Alek and Erich are "special" in many ways.
See this is what happens when I decide to just read a book
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
May 16th - Arrival Day
After almost two years of waiting departure day had finally arrived! I had originally booked our cruise way back in August of 2007. Our original sail date was December 6th 2008 but due to schedule conflicts and my decision to go back to school we had to reschedule the cruise for May of 09.
We were set to leave the house at the nice hour of 3am, yuck! We fly out of Syracuse, New York which is a two hour drive from our house and of course we have to factor in the border crossing. All that combined with an early flight time makes for a very early departure!
We had packed all our bags the day before so when my alarm went off at 1:30am all I had to do was shower and dress as I was set to go!
We decided to stop at McDonald's on the way out of town as we would not be eating again until sometime around 3pm! Unfortunately for us there seemed to be a large car full of drunks in front of us so we sat in that drive-thru for what felt like forever! Finally with food in hand we were off!
The drive to the border was nice and quick, no trucks around which is unusual for the 401 in the middle of the night. I am not complaining though, I hate driving on the highway at night with those huge trucks. I am always afraid that they are not going to see us and decide to switch lanes and push us off the highway in the process!
Another little neurosis of mine, I hate driving across long, tall bridges. Of course living in the Thousand Islands region we have to drive across two of them to cross the border and get into New York. So combine the driving across the bridge with a huge truck coming at us from the other direction and you have one very nervous Lessa!
We crossed the border very easily and were at the airport in just over an hour. The highway was deserted, so strange as we are used to a steady flow of traffic even at night.
Finding a parking spot was fun too, we finally found one after having to do some creative maneuvering around the parking lot.
Not much of a line at the check-in counter at JetBlue so we were helped after waiting only a few minutes. I walked up placed my purse on the counter and handed our confirmation and passports over to the agent to check-in. Lucky us our bags were only 30 pounds each, no idea how we managed that one as both were packed pretty full! All checked in I grabbed my carry-on from behind me and we were off to Security.
The line at Security was fairly long, well long for Syracuse. lol I went to put all my stuff up on the security screening machine and I freaked out! Where was my purse! I turned to Mom in a panic hoping that she was holding it but no such luck. My heart was racing, where could it possibly be! Did I drop it? Did I leave it somewhere? The last place I saw it was at check-in. I quickly threw my shoes back on and explained to TSA what had happened. Didn't want to rush out of security without explaining, they might have thought I was a terrorist or something! Today was my lucky day though, as soon as I exited the Security area I saw a JetBlue rep standing there with my purse calling out for me. Turns out I had left it at the check-in counter. Doh!
Happily reunited with my purse we headed back through Security, again. Mom got pulled aside as they needed to search her bag. Something suspicious has come up in the scan. Turns out she had thrown a full tube of toothpaste in her bag! I gave her a good teasing for that one. She of course got mad at me for it. It was all in good fun. She better watch out though, last year she tried to smuggle a coke in, this year toothpaste. If it happens again that will be three strikes against her! Wonder if that would put her on the no fly list.
Once on the plane I was delighted to see that there was an Angel marathon on, just like last year! So I settled into my seat and watched that while we flew to New York. There was a brief layover there and then we were off again! Angel was over now so I settled for watching Law and Order. I find that the flight goes by so much faster when you have something to watch. I am so glad that most airlines have added the personal tv sets to the seats.
For a snack we had potato chips made from blue potatoes. Who knew there were blue potatoes, I sure didn't!
There was a lot of turbulence coming into Orlando but we arrived safe and sound although a little deaf from all the screaming children on the plane who were frightened by the turbulence.
After collecting our luggage we were off to pick up our rental car. We had gone with Budget this year as they have an office in Cape Canaveral which offers a free shuttle to the cruise terminal. I had read on the boards that the line for Budget was ALWAYS long and they were right on the money. I think we were in that line for at least 45 minutes.
Our rental agent was very friendly though, it turns out that she had just been on the Disney Magic for their first sailing to Tortola so she was giving us all kinds of tips for the cruise. I of course already knew most of what she was telling us from reading the boards but I smiled and nodded as she was just being friendly and helpful. She also tried to upsell us to a convertible which we of course turned down, lucky that we did!
Budget operates a bit differently from National. With Budget you are assigned a car and have to go to a kiosk in the garage to pick up your keys whereas with National you go to the garage and pick your own car from the selection provided in the size of car that you reserved. No big deal, just different and more like a traditional car rental.
With keys in hand we found our car, packed the trunk and were off! I must have been excited or something as I missed the turnoff for the highway and we ended up driving right into Orlando???? We just did a U-turn back to the airport and then hopped right on the highway. It was smooth sailing from there. I was driving which left Mom in charge of the camera.
She did a pretty good job don't you think?
When we got out of the car at POP I was looking around and was happy to see that there were barely any love bugs around. I was worried leading up to the trip that they would be swarming around everywhere.
Check-in went by quickly, we got assigned to the 50's building. The CM was originally going to assign us a third floor room but I kindly requested something on the fourth floor and she was able to accommodate me no problem.
Our room turned out to be in a really great location. Right near the staircase which was right next to the parking lot.
Once in the room we unpacked, got changed and then headed out to Downtown Disney, we were starving!
Once we got to DD we headed straight to Wolfgang Puck Express. I knew that if I did not eat soon I would be sick. I ordered the four cheese mac and cheese and Mom ordered the Pepperoni and Mushroom pizza. They gave us our order number and we then went and found a seat. We decided to eat outside as it was a nice day and we wanted to soak in the nice weather.
Doesn't Mom look happy to be on vacation?
The food came out quickly and we chowed down. Well first I had to take pictures of course.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the Mac and Cheese. I had read rave reviews of it here on the boards so I was expecting something spectacular and instead it tasted just like plain ol mac and cheese, nothing special about it. The ceasar salad that came with it was very tasty though. Mom's pizza but excellent, a bit flimsy though. Overall I would say that our meal at WPE was just okay.
After eating we went and walked around the stores for a little bit, just browsing to see if anything caught our interest.
In the Christmas Store I loved their Christmas village, especially this light-up castle.
The Art of Disney had this really pretty painting
We walked by Rainforest Cafe, they had somebody out doing a bird show.
The way this bird was looking at me freaked me out. I thought it was going to fly at me and attack at any moment. We used to have a cat, Smokey, who at random times would hunt me around the house. I always knew when he was going to do it as he would get this look in his eye before he pounced, the same look that bird was giving me. I took a picture real quick and then got out of there. lol
Mom took this picture of the devil bird, he looks nice and friendly there doesn't he?
Unfortunately I did not stop here
We heard music coming from near the World of Disney so we walked over to check it out and found what looked to be a school group performing. They were pretty good.
Next we headed into World of Disney which was a zoo so we did not stay in there long. Instead we hopped over to the new store Tren-D. They had some really nice stuff in there. Very pricey though. I saw a really beautiful Tink pillow that I fell in love with but I walked away.
We saw this lovely outfit and I knew that T would appreciate it so I snapped a quick picture. lol
The original plan was to get some ice cream at Ghirardelli but the line was crazy long so we skipped it. We decided it was time to leave as we still needed to hit up the grocery store for some water and breakfast food. After that we returned to the hotel to drop off the groceries.
Coming up: The Magic Kingdom and the Spectro/Dole Whip Meet!
Click here to continue
After almost two years of waiting departure day had finally arrived! I had originally booked our cruise way back in August of 2007. Our original sail date was December 6th 2008 but due to schedule conflicts and my decision to go back to school we had to reschedule the cruise for May of 09.
We were set to leave the house at the nice hour of 3am, yuck! We fly out of Syracuse, New York which is a two hour drive from our house and of course we have to factor in the border crossing. All that combined with an early flight time makes for a very early departure!
We had packed all our bags the day before so when my alarm went off at 1:30am all I had to do was shower and dress as I was set to go!
We decided to stop at McDonald's on the way out of town as we would not be eating again until sometime around 3pm! Unfortunately for us there seemed to be a large car full of drunks in front of us so we sat in that drive-thru for what felt like forever! Finally with food in hand we were off!
The drive to the border was nice and quick, no trucks around which is unusual for the 401 in the middle of the night. I am not complaining though, I hate driving on the highway at night with those huge trucks. I am always afraid that they are not going to see us and decide to switch lanes and push us off the highway in the process!
Another little neurosis of mine, I hate driving across long, tall bridges. Of course living in the Thousand Islands region we have to drive across two of them to cross the border and get into New York. So combine the driving across the bridge with a huge truck coming at us from the other direction and you have one very nervous Lessa!
We crossed the border very easily and were at the airport in just over an hour. The highway was deserted, so strange as we are used to a steady flow of traffic even at night.
Finding a parking spot was fun too, we finally found one after having to do some creative maneuvering around the parking lot.
Not much of a line at the check-in counter at JetBlue so we were helped after waiting only a few minutes. I walked up placed my purse on the counter and handed our confirmation and passports over to the agent to check-in. Lucky us our bags were only 30 pounds each, no idea how we managed that one as both were packed pretty full! All checked in I grabbed my carry-on from behind me and we were off to Security.
The line at Security was fairly long, well long for Syracuse. lol I went to put all my stuff up on the security screening machine and I freaked out! Where was my purse! I turned to Mom in a panic hoping that she was holding it but no such luck. My heart was racing, where could it possibly be! Did I drop it? Did I leave it somewhere? The last place I saw it was at check-in. I quickly threw my shoes back on and explained to TSA what had happened. Didn't want to rush out of security without explaining, they might have thought I was a terrorist or something! Today was my lucky day though, as soon as I exited the Security area I saw a JetBlue rep standing there with my purse calling out for me. Turns out I had left it at the check-in counter. Doh!
Happily reunited with my purse we headed back through Security, again. Mom got pulled aside as they needed to search her bag. Something suspicious has come up in the scan. Turns out she had thrown a full tube of toothpaste in her bag! I gave her a good teasing for that one. She of course got mad at me for it. It was all in good fun. She better watch out though, last year she tried to smuggle a coke in, this year toothpaste. If it happens again that will be three strikes against her! Wonder if that would put her on the no fly list.
Once on the plane I was delighted to see that there was an Angel marathon on, just like last year! So I settled into my seat and watched that while we flew to New York. There was a brief layover there and then we were off again! Angel was over now so I settled for watching Law and Order. I find that the flight goes by so much faster when you have something to watch. I am so glad that most airlines have added the personal tv sets to the seats.
For a snack we had potato chips made from blue potatoes. Who knew there were blue potatoes, I sure didn't!
There was a lot of turbulence coming into Orlando but we arrived safe and sound although a little deaf from all the screaming children on the plane who were frightened by the turbulence.
After collecting our luggage we were off to pick up our rental car. We had gone with Budget this year as they have an office in Cape Canaveral which offers a free shuttle to the cruise terminal. I had read on the boards that the line for Budget was ALWAYS long and they were right on the money. I think we were in that line for at least 45 minutes.
Our rental agent was very friendly though, it turns out that she had just been on the Disney Magic for their first sailing to Tortola so she was giving us all kinds of tips for the cruise. I of course already knew most of what she was telling us from reading the boards but I smiled and nodded as she was just being friendly and helpful. She also tried to upsell us to a convertible which we of course turned down, lucky that we did!
Budget operates a bit differently from National. With Budget you are assigned a car and have to go to a kiosk in the garage to pick up your keys whereas with National you go to the garage and pick your own car from the selection provided in the size of car that you reserved. No big deal, just different and more like a traditional car rental.
With keys in hand we found our car, packed the trunk and were off! I must have been excited or something as I missed the turnoff for the highway and we ended up driving right into Orlando???? We just did a U-turn back to the airport and then hopped right on the highway. It was smooth sailing from there. I was driving which left Mom in charge of the camera.
She did a pretty good job don't you think?
When we got out of the car at POP I was looking around and was happy to see that there were barely any love bugs around. I was worried leading up to the trip that they would be swarming around everywhere.
Check-in went by quickly, we got assigned to the 50's building. The CM was originally going to assign us a third floor room but I kindly requested something on the fourth floor and she was able to accommodate me no problem.
Our room turned out to be in a really great location. Right near the staircase which was right next to the parking lot.
Once in the room we unpacked, got changed and then headed out to Downtown Disney, we were starving!
Once we got to DD we headed straight to Wolfgang Puck Express. I knew that if I did not eat soon I would be sick. I ordered the four cheese mac and cheese and Mom ordered the Pepperoni and Mushroom pizza. They gave us our order number and we then went and found a seat. We decided to eat outside as it was a nice day and we wanted to soak in the nice weather.
Doesn't Mom look happy to be on vacation?
The food came out quickly and we chowed down. Well first I had to take pictures of course.
I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the Mac and Cheese. I had read rave reviews of it here on the boards so I was expecting something spectacular and instead it tasted just like plain ol mac and cheese, nothing special about it. The ceasar salad that came with it was very tasty though. Mom's pizza but excellent, a bit flimsy though. Overall I would say that our meal at WPE was just okay.
After eating we went and walked around the stores for a little bit, just browsing to see if anything caught our interest.
In the Christmas Store I loved their Christmas village, especially this light-up castle.
The Art of Disney had this really pretty painting
We walked by Rainforest Cafe, they had somebody out doing a bird show.
The way this bird was looking at me freaked me out. I thought it was going to fly at me and attack at any moment. We used to have a cat, Smokey, who at random times would hunt me around the house. I always knew when he was going to do it as he would get this look in his eye before he pounced, the same look that bird was giving me. I took a picture real quick and then got out of there. lol
Mom took this picture of the devil bird, he looks nice and friendly there doesn't he?
Unfortunately I did not stop here
We heard music coming from near the World of Disney so we walked over to check it out and found what looked to be a school group performing. They were pretty good.
Next we headed into World of Disney which was a zoo so we did not stay in there long. Instead we hopped over to the new store Tren-D. They had some really nice stuff in there. Very pricey though. I saw a really beautiful Tink pillow that I fell in love with but I walked away.
We saw this lovely outfit and I knew that T would appreciate it so I snapped a quick picture. lol
The original plan was to get some ice cream at Ghirardelli but the line was crazy long so we skipped it. We decided it was time to leave as we still needed to hit up the grocery store for some water and breakfast food. After that we returned to the hotel to drop off the groceries.
Coming up: The Magic Kingdom and the Spectro/Dole Whip Meet!
Click here to continue
Lifelong_Dreamer
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2007
I am no fashionista but I find it hilarious what some people will wear.The pizza was pretty yummy, my favourite pizza toppings are pepperoni, bacon and mushrooms so this pizza was almost perfect.
jordanyosh
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2003
We saw this lovely outfit and I knew that T would appreciate it so I snapped a quick picture. lol
I'm gonna have nightmares tonight.
Sorry about Wolfgang's. I had read great things about it. Guess I'm gonna have to read more reviews before I decide on eating there...
momrek06
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2005
WONDERFUL start, Lessa!! WONDERFUL pictures!!
What an incredibly FULL first day you and Mom ENJOYED!!!
The Pizza does look yummy!! Sorry about the Mac&Cheese, although it does look yummy in the pic. Oh and Lessa, I love the ice cream sundaes from a Ghirardelli's...they can be addicting!!! 
What an incredibly FULL first day you and Mom ENJOYED!!!
The Pizza does look yummy!!
Sorry about the Mac&Cheese, although it does look yummy in the pic. Oh and Lessa, I love the ice cream sundaes from a Ghirardelli's...they can be addicting!!! 
leamom2princesses
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 15, 2008
Great update Lessa! Looks like you were off to a great start-sorry bout WPE. I know you were really looking forward to the mac n cheese. 
disneygirl1972
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2008
Can't wait to read more!!
Share this page
GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
