"Her Name Was Definitely Mary". Our 1st anniversary trip, May 2011 *NEW 9/6

[Joyciemc]

This was a trip of firsts: 1st Anniversary celebration, 1st DVC stay, 1st split stay (at two 1st time resorts), 1st backstage tours, and 1st time doing several attractions we had skipped before.
We learned that there are a lot of new to us things about WDW that we loved. We also learned that we had avoided some things for a reason and that we can usually trust our judgment.

But I guess introductions are in order before I get too far into this.

I’m Joyce. I’ve loved Disney as long as I can remember and have been to WDW a bunch of times, and Disneyland a couple of times. Vacations are the highlight of my life (not that I don’t like my job, but time off from work is a wonderful thing in my eyes!) and WDW is my place of choice to spend them. I love to travel in general, though. Unfortunately, a series of terrible plane rides is causing a slow but steady fear of flying. Not sure how many more times I’m going to be able to fly places…

Ben is my husband (of just over a year) and also loves (that may be too strong of a word, but it’ll do) Disney. He’s way more outgoing than me and is a lot of fun to travel with. During this trip we learned that he is Minnie Mouse’s type and that Mickey better watch it! Ben will be reading this and will remind me of things I left out, I’m sure.

We were just at WDW in September, and we became DVC members on that trip. That story can be found in the trip report in my signature.

This anniversary trip was changed a lot in the planning process. The full story can be found in the pre-trip report in my signature, if you care to take a look.

But as things ended up, we stayed at Kidani Village from 5/1-5/8 and Old Key West from 5/8-5/9. These were both new resorts for us, and made for a very different kind of trip. It was a jam-packed adventure that left me completely exhausted by the end. We met some colorful characters, ate a lot of delicious food, and learned a few fun facts about love bugs (the male is the smaller and they are considered ‘beneficial insects’ because they eat decaying plant matter when in the larval stage. They don’t sting or bite but can cause problems clogging up the front grill of vehicles.)

I can’t wait to relive the trip through this report and hope that you’ll enjoy following along!

Since I had a bit of writer's block in starting this, I think I'll leave off there for now. But here's a little game called 'Where in WDW was this picture taken?':

Any guesses?

 

[Joyciemc]

Day 1: Did I just say donut? Part one, Part two, Part three, Part four


Day 2: I got my flippy floppies. Part one, Part two, Part three


Day 3: Didn't know there was a parking lot there... Part one. Part two.


Day 4: What's sadder than a melting snowbaby? Part one. Part two. Part three.


Day 5: White Rhinos rule! (But fiberglass elephants are just ok) Part one. Part two. Part three.


Day 6: Epcot all day, baby!


Day 7: Don't you just hate when lunch makes you gag? Part one. (Dinner was better!) Part two


Bonus chapter! Our next adventure...

Day 8: The beginning of the end. Part one. Part two. Part three.


Exciting update!

Day 9: We meet Fred (and her name was definitely Mary). Part two.

 

[Stefy]

I'm here and first too

Welcome back, glad to hear you had a great time, can't wait to hear all about it

You look like you are at Brown Derby, but I am most probably waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off there

 

[Nermel9]

Yay, can't wait to read your TR, welcome back!

 

[amyrella]

Yay you are back!! Hope your trip was amazing!! Can't wait to read about it!

 

[JMat]

Yeeesss so excited to read all about it, subbed in and ready to go <3

Welcome Home! Were there any 'Give A Hoot' sightings on this trip?!

 

[amandaluvsgoofy]

Welcome home!! I can't wait to hear about your trip!!

If I had to take a (horrible) guess, I'd say Liberety Tree Tavern. Although I'm sure that is way off!

 

[jakeybake]

I'm going to say the waiting area at Tony's.

J

 

[klacey1]

First page?? Yay!! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures
I have no clue about the picture...looks like it might be somewhere in Liberty Square or Frontierland, maybe...?

 

[tankgirl427]

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[pinkxray]

I'm in. I can't wait to hear all about your trip. Kidani and OKW look beautiful, I hope you took a lot of pictures.

As to where in WDW are you? I have no idea. It reminds me of an italian restaurant so maybe Tutto or Tony's?

 

[Shannon84]

Found your TR randomly and I am joining in

 

[Joyciemc]

I'm here and first too

Welcome back, glad to hear you had a great time, can't wait to hear all about it

You look like you are at Brown Derby, but I am most probably waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off there

You're quick! Thanks for joining in!

Not the Brown Derby...

Yay, can't wait to read your TR, welcome back!

Thanks! I can't wait to write it!

Yay you are back!! Hope your trip was amazing!! Can't wait to read about it!

It was amazing! And I had no idea there were so many new things for us to do... we didn't even get to them all!

Yeeesss so excited to read all about it, subbed in and ready to go <3

Welcome Home! Were there any 'Give A Hoot' sightings on this trip?!

There may have been a Hoot sighting... but Ben was SUPER excited about another shirt he found... more on that later (Kris probably already has it )

Welcome home!! I can't wait to hear about your trip!!

If I had to take a (horrible) guess, I'd say Liberety Tree Tavern. Although I'm sure that is way off!

Not a bad guess! But not right, either

I'm going to say the waiting area at Tony's.

J

Welcome and thanks for reading!
Not Tony's either...

First page?? Yay!! Can't wait to hear all about your adventures
I have no clue about the picture...looks like it might be somewhere in Liberty Square or Frontierland, maybe...?

First page!
It is somewhere in Liberty Square

Can't wait to hear about your trip!

I'll try and post soon!

I'm in. I can't wait to hear all about your trip. Kidani and OKW look beautiful, I hope you took a lot of pictures.

As to where in WDW are you? I have no idea. It reminds me of an italian restaurant so maybe Tutto or Tony's?

They are both beautiful resorts! I didn't take as many pictures as I meant to, but we do have lots to share.
Nope, not a restaurant!

Found your TR randomly and I am joining in

Glad you found it, and glad you're reading!

Your PTR is one of the titles that keeps catching my eye, but I haven't read yet. Will correct that oversight now!

 

[emma212010]

Joining in! Excited to read

 

[khertz]

Joining in! I was a somewhat of a lurker on your PTR but looking forward to reading the TR!

Is it the Hall of Presidents??

 

[Joyciemc]

Joining in! Excited to read

Hi, hi! Welcome aboard, hope you enjoy what's to come!

Joining in! I was a somewhat of a lurker on your PTR but looking forward to reading the TR!

Is it the Hall of Presidents??

Thanks for posting! I am a former lurker myself (not on my own reports- that would be weird But I never used to post on TRs until sorta recently) and am very happy you decided to post!

Not the HOP, but you are getting closer!

 

[Joyciemc]

I knew my photo game would be tough! The picture was taken in a place I never even knew existed.
Ben also had a mystery location picture taken.

And to give you some perspective (and a clue), check this one out:

Anyone know now?

So, think it’s time to actually start this trip report? I do!

In a second (haha). First, I need to explain how tired I was to start… the Friday before we left, I got home from work and we immediately headed to Boston for dinner. We then went to see our friend DJ at a club and stayed later then we meant to (we always do). I went to sleep around 1am, and had to get up at 7 for work. *yawn* Sleepy just thinking about it!

That brings us to… Day 0: The Day Before Disney World!
I woke up and dragged myself to the car and made it to work. And the longest 9 hours of my life. It was a super quiet day (I work at an animal shelter that never has quiet days. Figures) and time just dragged by.
Eventually, it was time to go home.

I was mostly all packed and figured an early bedtime was a sure thing. But then I got home and decided to get a quick workout in. Then I had to pack up my toiletry type stuff and find room for the food we were bringing.
With a final look at the countdown, we were set for the next day

I think I was finally ready to go to bed around 10, which is actually pretty early for me. And I was so tired; I was bound to get a good night’s sleep. Until I realized that no matter how tired I am, I will never be able to sleep well the night before Disney. I slept, I woke, slept again.

Day 1: Did I just say donut?

I know I slept some because the alarm woke me up at 3:45 and my eyes were burning. So, so tired! But that Disney adrenaline was flowing, and we got ready to go.
The very last thing we did before heading out was to feed the 3 cats who have free run of the house (there’s a blind cat named Boring Alice who was going to have to stay in one room for the week. She is still new, and we didn’t want her getting stuck somewhere or something!)

That is Blanche, Bluebell,and Wyatt.
Bluebell is the reason we can’t leave cat food out. She gets fat by looking at food. And is on a very strict diet. We normally feed her twice a day (she eats about 15 kibble a meal, and look at her!), but our friend was coming once a day and we made things simple and just had them all eat a bunch. Bluebell was thrilled!
Haha, can you tell we are obsessed with our pets? I’ll get back to the trip.

Pennydog (ahh! More pet talk, sorry!) was in the car with us because she was headed to stay with Ben’s parents for the week. We left the driveway at 4:05am and had a quick drive to his parent’s. FIL jumped in the car, and off we headed for Providence (I don’t think the airport is actually in Providence, but they call it PVD. Huh.)

We made it to the airport at 5:30, and our flight was due to leave at 6:30. After checking our bags, I turned around and saw a pretty long line for security. Uh-oh, let the travel nerves begin. Before I had time to get too worked up, I saw that the line was moving pretty quickly. The TSA workers were all quite friendly and were moving things along at a good clip.

We were through with enough time to stop at Dunkin Donuts. The only one I have ever seen with Coke products instead of Pepsi. This little detail excited me. There was another long line here, but we had our egg & cheese sandwiches before too long. Ben also got the world’s most delicious apple juice.

Seriously, this was good juice. It actually tasted like apples instead of like sugar as juice usually does.
We had plenty of time to eat, and to take obligatory airport pictures for the trip report:

I don’t think I ever mentioned that we had the worst boarding position ever. Group C, position 137 or something like that (I may be exaggerating, but we were almost the last on the plane). We figured we wouldn’t be sitting together and just wanted to make sure we had a place to put our carry ons.
When they called the A group, this happened.

Every single other person got up to board. I had to laugh- there was no way all of those people were actually in the A group. We calmly remained in our seats for another few minutes until it was time for us to board.

When we first got on the plane, it seemed like there were plenty of seats together in the back, so I was just trucking along towards them. But then I realized there were people in those seats. They were kids, and I couldn’t see them from where I was standing. Oops. So then I panicked and found an aisle seat, leaving Ben to find his own place.
As soon as I sat down, I hear him ask “Did you want to sit with me?” Ha, there were still two seats together. Woops. I stood up and dropped my magazine in front of the guy next to me. I bent down to get it, helpfully telling the guy “sorry, I’m a mess.” He seemed confused. And happy that I would not be sitting next to him.

We were buckled, and excited and ready to go! Then there was an announcement. I don’t remember it exactly, but this is my best attempt at recreating it:
“Hi, my name’s John. What’s your name?” *silence from the plane, except for a few people shouting out their names. Yes, Ben and I did* “So, there’s this thing on planes called the D.O.R. it stands for… I don’t remember what it stands for. It’s a sort of navigation thing. Even though planes fly by satellite and we don’t even use the D.O.R., we can’t fly without them. And one of ours is broken. But we’re gonna shut the plane off and turn it back on. That works 9 times out of 10.”
I swear to you, that is almost exactly what he said. I have no idea if those were actually the letters of the part he was talking about, but you get the idea. It was pretty funny… until they turned the plane back on and the part still didn’t work.

 

[Nermel9]

Is your mystery location the Liberty Belle? It looks like it could be a boat, but I've never been on it, so I have no idea!

Your kitties are so cute! Especially the fluffy one! And the fat one! I have a thing for fluffy cats...and fat cats! I know it's terrible for cats to be fat, but they're just so cute when they're roly poly like that!

Wow, I would have been in a panic if I got to the airport at 5:30 and our flight was an hour later...I have to get there at least 2 hours early! My DH hates it, he thinks I'm crazy, and hates that I make us do that, but I'm so paranoid about missing a flight!

C boarding group? Ughh...at least you guys ended up sitting together!

Uh, was that plane announcement real? Because if it was, then I would have really been freaking out...

 

[emma212010]

HAHAHA I love your plane story!! It happens to us all!! OMG that announcement??? Is that for real?! I would be laughing my butt off

Aww your kitties are so cute!!

And I second the Liberty Belle!

Can't wait for next update!!

 

[sassyredhead]

Subscribing, because I love kitties, so free to regale us with more pet stories!

Loving the TR so far! Glad I stumbled across it!