My First Trip Report! - "Escape from New York" - completed

[amandaw]

The picture the photopass photographer took of your DD is precious! Glad y'all were able to see some characters!

 

[baseballmickey]

The picture the photopass photographer took of your DD is precious! Glad y'all were able to see some characters!

Thanks. I think I'm writing this just for you now. I think you're the only one still reading it!!

I got so frustrated. I lost most of the pictures I uploaded, then had to upload them again, and now I have to go back and correct all the links to the pictures. ugh.

I have to get caught up on your PTR.

 

[shan23877]

You got some great photos! I'm bet that made World Showcase more palatable for DD

 

[ljcrochet]

Thanks. I think I'm writing this just for you now. I think you're the only one still reading it!!

I got so frustrated. I lost most of the pictures I uploaded, then had to upload them again, and now I have to go back and correct all the links to the pictures. ugh.

I have to get caught up on your PTR.

I was wondering what happened to most of the pictures. I just saw your report and when I started I could not figure out the title till i realized you went in 2010 not 2011.
We had family that got stuck in our house since the LIRR was not running the beginning of that week.

Have you taken your son to wdw yet?

 

[baseballmickey]

You got some great photos! I'm bet that made World Showcase more palatable for DD

Hey there!! I just landed on your newest TR, and then here you are! You've done two TRs in the time it's taken me to do this one!!

I was wondering what happened to most of the pictures. I just saw your report and when I started I could not figure out the title till i realized you went in 2010 not 2011.
We had family that got stuck in our house since the LIRR was not running the beginning of that week.

Have you taken your son to wdw yet?

I fixed a couple of the pics... slow going with everything else going on. Sorry about the confusion, but yes, this is from over a year and a half ago. That was some storm we had. Still remember coming home from our trip and the next day I was outside shoveling. Kids were back in school and some woman walking by my house actually stopped and said, "Excuse me, but I HAVE TO ASK... why did you wait THIS LONG to shovel your sidewalk??" It took a lot of composure to not launch into a rant...

we're going back in 17 days!! this will be our son's first trip. Thought about doing a PTR for it, but I think I'll finish this one first, then maybe start the TR for the next trip a little early, do some live updates from there, and then be on top of things when we return.

 

[FreezinRafiki]

Marie!

Is it just me, or does it look like someone took that sidewalk chalk that they drew the hopscotch grid with and colored on Marie's face?

 

[amandaw]

Thanks. I think I'm writing this just for you now. I think you're the only one still reading it!!

I'm sure everyone is sticking around for the ending!

I got so frustrated. I lost most of the pictures I uploaded, then had to upload them again, and now I have to go back and correct all the links to the pictures. ugh.

That is frustrating! Hope you can get them corrected easily!

I have to get caught up on your PTR.

No worries! It'll be there when you're ready. And we still have 78 days to go.

 

[baseballmickey]

Is it just me, or does it look like someone took that sidewalk chalk that they drew the hopscotch grid with and colored on Marie's face?

yes, now that you mention it...

I'm sure everyone is sticking around for the ending!



That is frustrating! Hope you can get them corrected easily!



No worries! It'll be there when you're ready. And we still have 78 days to go.

There I went and opened my mouth, (or typed, i guess) and I have to eat my words because people are still reading this.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it.

 

[baseballmickey]

Woohoo!! I think I got all the picture links fixed!! Only took a couple of days.

Got some time left here at work... time for an update!!

 

[baseballmickey]

After spending a laid back day at EPCOT, we left the park, got in our car, and drove all the way across the street to Disney's Hollywood Studios. We had two objectives here. Dinner, and the Osborne Lights!

A Pic of the last of the 4 park trees! Got the whole set!!

First up, we had a small issue to take care of. The original plan had been to spend 5 days in the parks. So I had bought 5 day tickets that first day when we went to AK... I didn't take into account that our trip had been shortened. So there we were, with 2 days left on our tickets, and unable to enter the park. Explaining our situation to a CM at the entrance, we were directed off to the side to wait on line to speak to guest services. We were assisted by a very pleasant CM who, after making sure there was no chance we would go to a park the next day, converted our 5 day tickets to 3-day hoppers. There was a slight difference we had to pay, but it allowed us to get into DHS.

So, armed with our hoppers, we entered the park with about 2 hours left before it closed.

a little view of the main drag as we made our way into the park...

First up on our very short list was dinner. We aren't very partial to most of the dining options at DHS. Our DHS strategy has evolved into eating breakfast outside the park, opting to snack throughout the day instead of having lunch, and then eating dinner at Pizza Planet. Obviously, under these circumstances, we were just looking for a fast, kid friendly dinner, with seating. So, Pizza Planet it was.

I was recently listening to some criticisms of Pizza Planet and I have to disagree with some of what I heard. The idea that Disney fell short here, IMO, is ridiculous. It's Pizza Planet. It's Pizza and arcade games. Both are there. Sure, if they had wanted to go nuts and build it on a larger scale, they could have, but I think they did enough. The only thing I agree with is that now that Pixar Place has developed, Pizza Planet is in the wrong area of the park.

Okay, rant done. time for the meltdown.

It isn't a WDW trip with young'uns unless you get a few meltdowns. Our big one happened that night at Pizza Planet. For whatever reason, DD wasn't into eating her dinner, but of course she wanted to play games. DW and I weren't having that. We told her no games unless she ate dinner. So DD threw a bit of a tantrum. We were not pleased, and after everything else that had happened up to this point, it didn't take much to get us on edge. So things got escalated and without getting into too much detail, DW stepped outside to get some air, while I remained inside with DD to calm her down and hopefully get her to eat.

It took some time, but DD calmed down, DW called a truce, and we (and I think I mean just I) finished up our pizza and our very subdued family left to take in the Spectacle of Lights.

If you've never seen it... you're missing out. I love christmas lights. I love decorating my house with lights. this takes it to the extreme, and then some. The entire back part of the park is transformed by this. It goes from being a maze of fake buildings to a labyrinth of lights.

It's awesome.

These pictures don't do it justice. It's not just lights. They are playing christmas music and every so often they put on a song and the lights will "dance" to it. Everyone just stops walking around and watches.

We strolled around the streets, looking for hidden mickeys, marveling at the details, and enjoying the show. DD got up out of the stroller, and our mood got so much better.

We found a photopass photographer and got a nice family shot. Me, DW, DD, and our new Mickey Snowman Popcorn Bucket, which we also found being sold in that area!

We then found a spot to sit, eat our popcorn, and enjoy the lights as our time wound down.

DD borrowed the hat from the snowman bucket.

and somehow found the energy to dance to the music!

As frustrating as it was to see her having such a good time so soon after causing us so much angst at Pizza Planet, I couldn't help but smile and laugh along with her. I just can't stay mad at the kid.

We were in no rush to leave. We realized the park was closing, but there were plenty of people still milling about in the back of the park. Nobody was chasing us out. Reluctantly, we got up to make the long walk back to the exit...

one last shot of the lights as we left.

Getting out of the park, back to the car, and back to SSR was not nearly the ordeal it had been the previous night. Before we knew it, we were back in the room and going to bed.

Our vacation was ending. The next day we would be leaving for home...

 

[ericamcl]

I just read all of your updates back to back - I am so sorry that your trip had such a rough start!
I'm glad you, DW and DD started to feel better! I can't imagine being sick at Disney!

I think your pics are great - they're making me even more excited for our coming December trip

 

[Suelala]

Thanks for sharing! Your pictures are wonderful! What camera did you use? I am in the market for a new one. thanks!!!

 

[baseballmickey]

I just read all of your updates back to back - I am so sorry that your trip had such a rough start!
I'm glad you, DW and DD started to feel better! I can't imagine being sick at Disney!

I think your pics are great - they're making me even more excited for our coming December trip

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my TR! I hope you have a great trip in December!

Thanks for sharing! Your pictures are wonderful! What camera did you use? I am in the market for a new one. thanks!!!

Thank you for reading!! The pictures in my TR are mostly taken with my Nikon D40. There are some from my wife's camera. She has a panasonic Lumix point and shoot. I also threw in a few frame grabs from my video camera, a HD Sony Handycam.

Perhaps I should go back through and label each?

 

[amandaw]

I'm glad y'all were able to get y'alls tickets fixed to get into DHS!

Oh yes.....the dreaded meltdown! I think anyone with kid(s) has had 1 or 2 of those at Disney. But, I'm glad y'all were able to go & enjoy the lights. They are breathtaking, aren't they?

Love the pictures of DD dancing & laughing! No way anyone could stay mad at her!

 

[Chicago Mo]

Hi!
The Picture the PP took of your daughter sums up the Magic in Disney in her eyes!!!

Your pictures of the lights are the best i have seen so far! AMAZING!!!

 

[baseballmickey]

I'm glad y'all were able to get y'alls tickets fixed to get into DHS!

Oh yes.....the dreaded meltdown! I think anyone with kid(s) has had 1 or 2 of those at Disney. But, I'm glad y'all were able to go & enjoy the lights. They are breathtaking, aren't they?

Love the pictures of DD dancing & laughing! No way anyone could stay mad at her!

I had to ask DW if she remembered how it started. Oh yes, it was because her pizza was ROUND!!! That was why she didn't want to eat it!!! We cut it into triangles and that still wasn't good enough!!!

Hi!
The Picture the PP took of your daughter sums up the Magic in Disney in her eyes!!!

Your pictures of the lights are the best i have seen so far! AMAZING!!!

Hi!! Welcome back!!

Thanks! I am sure there are better pics out there if you look. Too many talented photographers on the boards for there not to be.

 

[amandaw]

I had to ask DW if she remembered how it started. Oh yes, it was because her pizza was ROUND!!! That was why she didn't want to eat it!!! We cut it into triangles and that still wasn't good enough!!!

OMG! That is priceless! And so true....it seems like it's always the littlest most nonsensical things that can send them over the edge.

 

[baseballmickey]

OMG! That is priceless! And so true....it seems like it's always the littlest most nonsensical things that can send them over the edge.

Tell me about it.

 

[baseballmickey]

That morning, I was in disbelief that it was Sunday already. Yes, according to the original plan (the one that went out the window), we were supposed to have flown home on Saturday. So while technically we were there an extra day, it just didn't feel like it.

DW and I both called in "sick" to work for Monday. So we had two full days to get home. We got the car packed up and went over to the food court to use up some of our remaining Dining Plan credits.

I've touched on the Dining Plan here and there during this report. Overall, I think it worked out for us on this trip. Did it save us money? Not sure. But the convenience factor was nice. We didn't have any problems using it. In fact, on a couple of occasions, including this last morning's breakfast, the CMs were able to work with the hodgepodge items we brought to the counter and make meals of them. So instead of using a lot of our "snacks", we used one QS meal instead, which helped. For future trips, I think we'll take a long look at the DP as try to figure out if it's a good option for us.

So, with hotel room empty and bellies full, we got into the car and said goodbye to Sarasota Springs, and started the long trek to...

Downtown Disney.

C'mon! Did you think we'd just leave like that???

Downtown Disney is something we never miss. There is no way we could live with ourselves if we did not stop off for last chance souvenir shopping at the World of Disney. And since we had no flight to catch, we figured we could afford to delay our start home an hour or two... or three.

And naturally, I still had my camera out.

The DTD christmas tree:

We hit the World of Disney, and we also stopped off in my favorite store, Team Mickey, where DD found this guy:

Of course, we also had to stop in Once Upon a Toy.

DD paused to get a pic with Buzz:

and made herself a potato head:

Unfortunately, the little black cloud that gave us fits this trip was not quite finished with us. We decided to get lunch at Earl of Sandwich, which we LOVE!! but during our lunch, DD's food decided it did not want to stay in her stomach. Without getting into too much detail, it was quite a mess. It took a while, and A LOT of napkins, to clean that mess up.

Before long, DD was back in good spirits. DW wanted to browse a couple of more stores, so I took DD on the carousel.

As much as we tried to milk it and squeeze every last drop of magic we could out of this trip, it was finally time to face the fact that we had to leave. We grabbed a few drinks for the road using the last of our snack credits, got in the car, and drove away from WDW, back onto I-4, and eventually I-95 northbound.

Aside from our windshield getting hit by a rock and making a small crack, that first day on the road went pretty well despite the late start. We made it through Georgia and into South Carolina before stopping for the night.

on Monday morning, we got up early to hit the road and got one final scare. As we were getting onto I-95, the tiny crack in the windshield started to grow... and grow... and grow... It was terrifying to watch it spread across the windshield! I backed off the gas and the crack slowly stopped spreading. Must have been a combination of the colder temperatures that morning, with the sudden vibrations I was causing by trying to get up to speed on the highway.

The crack did not worsen and we felt more comfortable that it would hold. We drove the rest of the way through, stopping for lunch and dinner, and a couple of bathroom breaks.

We returned home to find that the snow was still there. I was not looking forward to shoveling the next day, but it had to be done.

Returning home in the winter was certainly more of a bummer than our summer trips. At least in the summer you can tell yourself that there is still nice weather to enjoy and things to do... This time, it was back to wearing heavy coats and back to work.

On top of that, we didn't have any idea of when our next trip would be. We just knew it would not be in 2011.

So, that's it! the end of this TR. That trip was a year and a half ago and alot has happened since. I'll follow up with some final thoughts, an update on what's happened to us between then and now, and include a shameless plug for my next TR for the trip which begins in oh, just 3 days now!!!

I want to thank everyone that has been reading along and bearing with me during those huge gaps between updates. I hope you enjoyed it.

 

[amandaw]

That's good that y'all got in a little bit of Disney before hitting the road. That always helps to soften the blow that the end of vacation brings. But, I'm so sorry DD couldn't keep her lunch down. Poor Baby! But, you can tell it definitely didn't dampen her spirit. She's such a doll!

I do really like the convenience of the DDP. Last year, I had every intention of keeping all my receipts & seeing at the end of the trip if it saved us money. Well, that just didn't happen. This year, I've tried to estimate our meal totals & have figured that the DDP should save us around $70. I'm hoping to really keep track this year & see in the end if it did save us money or not.

I can't believe y'alls next trip is in 3 days!! If I don't talk to you before y'all leave.....Have a safe & magical vacation!

Thank you for sharing all of your memories with us (the good, the bad & the ugly). I've really enjoyed it & look forward to your next TR!