How do we love Disney? Let me count the ways... (updated & completed 5/11)

[faerieprincess]

my sister and i just got back from seven magical days at WDW, so it's time for.... the trip report! Yay!

So for those of you who haven't been following my PTR,

i'll introduce you to the cast:

me:

Name: sare
Age: approaching my first 29th birthday
Occupation: Secretary in a funeral home. i do paperwork, mounds and mounds of paperwork.
Enjoys: reading, photography, scrapbooking, and the Sims.

my sister:

Name: Jess
Age: 18
Occupation: Student, currently finishing high school and going to community college in September.
Enjoys: listening to her iPod, and chatting with her friends on MSN and Facebook.

my twinnie:

Name: gellybean
Age: six months older than me!
Will be making appearances in this TR through text messages and flashbacks. Also has her own TR which can be found here.

my BF:

Will also be making appearances in this TR through text messages and phone calls.

Our journey to WDW begins on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009. We have to catch a 10:00am Greyhound bus to Toronto. Once there we take a GO commuter bus to the Toronto airport, then a hotel shuttle to our hotel. We are spending the night there and then flying to Orlando the next morning. We are staying 7 nighs at PoP Century, with Park Hopper tickets for all 7 days. We are using the DxDP and have a few TS ADRs.

Handy dandy links:
Day 0: Travel
Day 1: Still traveling! (Part one)
Day 1: Arrival (Part two)
Day 1: 'Ohana (Part three)
Day 2: Crystal Palace (Part one)
Day 2: Magic Kingdom (Part two)
Day 2: A much-needed break and the spur-of-the-moment park, and dinner. (Part three)
Day 2: Wishes! (Part four)
Day 3: Chef Mickey's (Part one)
Day 3: Tomorrowland (Part two)
Day 3: The mystery stop and a midday rest (Part three)
Day 3: TWLOHA and IllumiNations (Part four)
Day 4: Soarin' and Soarin' and not much else
Day 5: Hollywood Studios: the TSM Rush and our new little friend (part one)
Day 5: TSM, ToT, and totally rude people (part two)
Day 5: Star Tours, Star Tours, and -you guessed it- Star Tours (part three)
Day 6: Animal Kingdom (part one)
Day 6: Dinos, Yetis, Fish and Bugs, oh my! (Part two)
Day 6: Downtown Disney (part three)
Day 7: Soarin' and Soarin' and Playing Tour Guide (Part one)
Day 7: Another DELICIOUS lunch, the Great Debate, & a Little Bit of Magic (Part two)
Day 7: Around the World in 59 Minutes: a Photographic Journey (Part three - page one)
Day 7: Around the World in 59 Minutes: a Photographic Journey (Part three - page two)
Day 7: Around the World in 59 Minutes: a Photographic Journey (Part three - page three)
Day 7: Another 'World' Tour and a Disappointment (Part four)
Day 8: Panic at the Disco (or, Why i HAD to Trash Our Room) (Part one)
Day 8: Where would we go, what would we do? (Part two)
Day 8/9: The long long LONG way home (Part three)
Fin

 

[faerieprincess]

Wake up about 7:30 and get up and dressed. Pack the last of our stuff and head to the bus terminal, with one stop at the store to buy drinks and snacks. Our bus is not busy at all and we both get our own seats - our favourite way to travel. We were near the back. It was an uneventful trip. Here's Jess:

One of the things i love about the drive to Toronto is the area between Barrie and Toronto called the Holland Marsh. In the summer it's a green and black wonderland of nutrients and in the winter it's acres and acres of smooth white snow. Beautiful.

Once we got to the Yorkdale terminal we bought tickets for the GO bus to the airport. Unfortunately we had just missed one so we waited almost an hour for the bus.

Finally we got to the airport about dinnertime. i phoned the hotel and they sent a shuttle to get us. We checked in, ordered pizza, and tried to go to bed early. i was too excited to sleep much, though!!

 

[faerieprincess]

Got up early. Very early. 6:15 early. We had breakfast in the hotel lobby and then took the shuttle to the airport. We got there at about 8am. We checked in, then went through customs, which surprised me as i thought they would be in Orlando. i was quite happy to do it there, though! We both got through no problem, tagged our luggage for the ME, and headed to security. Once we'd finished tying our shoes back on, we found a spot near our gate that was beautifully warm and sunny and where we could watch planes landing. i gave Jess a brief photography lesson and she amused herself for a while:

Then it was time to board our plane. The flight attendant we met on the way in turned out to be the guy who shortly before boarding tried to run me over near the bathrooms. He apologised and was quite nice! i certainly wasn't going to hold it against him, i've been almost run over more times than i can count by cars, trucks, buses, snow ploughs, sidewalk ploughs, trams, a priest, and on one memorable occasion, a fridge!

The flight was fine and seemed to go by very quickly. Not sure if i'm just more used to the endless Transatlantic flights to England and so 3 hours seemed very short, or if i was just really caught up in the tv shows i was watching on the little screen, but the journey was over very fast.

Although i had my traditional ear troubles on takeoff and landing, Jess seemed fine and comfortable. She was quite proud of surviving her first ever flight!

When we arrived in Orlando we got on the little mini monorail, which was very busy.

Arriving at the terminal i promptly got lost, and texted gelly for directions. (While i waited for her answer i found the Disney store there and asked as well). Eventually i found the ME check-in desk and did so. Waited quite a while in that line, and was really wishing i had gone to the bathroom before getting in line! Finally it was my turn and i checked us in, then made a beeline for the bathroom before getting Jess and our carryon luggage. We got in line and it immediately started moving: this would be the start of our amazing luck with buses at WDW. We got on the ME bus, found some seats, sat back and enjoyed the ride.

i tried to take a picture of the sign but didn't quite manage it:

 

[gellybean]

I'm here I'm here I'm here!! And my sisterly shopping trip didn't cause me to miss too much of it!!!

I can't wait to read all the answers to my millions of questions that I've been wanting to ask and haven't yet!!!

Glad y'all are back!!


~da one she calls twinnie (I really need to find a dancing gellybean smilie)~

 

[vdarrell]

It is so nice to see you both got there without to much of a hassle.
Can't wait to read more.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I'm here!!! Sounds like your traveling days were great! I can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Yay!! The TR has begun. I am so glad your traveling went well. I love your black and white shirt, very cute.

 

[faerieprincess]

Not sure how these ended up in reverse order

Yay!! The TR has begun. I am so glad your traveling went well. I love your black and white shirt, very cute.

Thanks! That black and white shirt is my favourite and i wear it all the time. It actually won't make any more appearances in this TR after the first day, lol, which some people will be relieved to know. Thanks for coming along for the ride!

I'm here!!! Sounds like your traveling days were great! I can't wait to read more!!!

Yay you're here! Yup it was a great start to the trip... and more is coming!

It is so nice to see you both got there without to much of a hassle.
Can't wait to read more.

Yay Vickey's here! i promise more is on its way!!

 

[faerieprincess]

I'm here I'm here I'm here!! And my sisterly shopping trip didn't cause me to miss too much of it!!!

I can't wait to read all the answers to my millions of questions that I've been wanting to ask and haven't yet!!!

Glad y'all are back!!


~da one she calls twinnie (I really need to find a dancing gellybean smilie)~

Yay! You're here! the party can start!

i hope i answer some of your questions... you should start coming on msn lol so i know what your questions are!!

 

[ILuvCrush]

I'm here I'm here!!! Woohoo...AND on the 1st page!!

Paula

 

[Rozz]

I can't wait to read more! I'll check in frequently for updates.

 

[tanyabanana]

This looks like a great TR. You're part about almost getting run over by the fridge almost made me squirt Pepsi out of my nose
signing on...can't wait to read more

 

[faerieprincess]

I'm here I'm here!!! Woohoo...AND on the 1st page!!

Paula

Yayay Paula's here!

I can't wait to read more! I'll check in frequently for updates.

Hi Rozz, ! Nice to have you along

i WOULD be updating frequently but gellybean keeps tellin me to slow down lol

*ducks*

This looks like a great TR. You're part about almost getting run over by the fridge almost made me squirt Pepsi out of my nose
signing on...can't wait to read more

oh my goddess, you think i'm funny AND you're a Pepsi drinker... welcome to my TR!

 

[faerieprincess]

We went to the check-in desk at PoP and were served right away. Apparently the hotel was booked in Jessie's name. Huh? It's *my* credit card! Oh well. We get checked in. i give my credit card for incidentals and we get our KTTW:

Yay! We're really here! We head over to our building and drop off our stuff. It's not very warm out - maybe 10°C, but we leave our coats and sweaters inside and bring just our cameras outside with us. We wander around taking pictures of PoP. (i've left out most of them, as you can find pictures of PoP all over the place lol).

These are mine:

And Jess':

(i thought she was aiming much higher and was trying to get just my head in the picture)

(i was born in '80, she was born in '90, so it made these things pretty convenient lol)

Then we went into Everything PoP. We picked up our mugs and filled them up. Jess laughed at me for washing the mugs before we used them:

We each tried one of these:

And enjoyed them. (Jess enjoyed hers so much she gave her shirt a little taste).

We went back into the shop part and bought lanyards, pouches, an autograph book, and a penny press book. The lady at the counter gave us our "First Trip" buttons, and i later attached them to our lanyards. We went back to our room and collapsed on the beds. We watched TV for a while, getting our first experience of Stacey. i had filled my mug with a frozen coke, which i'd never had before and quite enjoyed, but i hadn't thought to get a straw. So i was mostly poking it with my finger every time i wanted some, and eventually it had to happen: i was lying down on the bed and dumped a good portion of the frozen coke onto my chest. Great. Now we both have dirty shirts and, as our luggage has yet to arrive from ME, nothing to change into, with ressies for 'Ohana looming.

Will we go to dinner in dirty shirts? Will we enjoy 'Ohana?

 

[gellybean]

The dirty shirt thing is so me. I joke that I have to feed my girls too!

Hurry up already! Geesh.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Slushie cokes are so yummy and that is so something that I would do. Luckily I know myself well enough that I pack extra clothes in my carryon.

Your photos from around Pop are cute. I love that you took pictures with the 80s and 90s signs.

 

[faerieprincess]

The dirty shirt thing is so me. I joke that I have to feed my girls too!

Hurry up already! Geesh.

Oh bite me.

Slushie cokes are so yummy and that is so something that I would do. Luckily I know myself well enough that I pack extra clothes in my carryon.

Your photos from around Pop are cute. I love that you took pictures with the 80s and 90s signs.

Yeah, i used to be really vigilant about bringing extra shirts and stuff in my carryon, but i tend to get so nervous about packing them now that i just leave out most of the stuff (and still get dragged through security, sigh).

Thanks, we had fun wandering around taking pictures. i do regret that we never made it to the other side of the resort to see the bowling pin buildings and stuff. We planned to.

 

[mom2mek]

Yay! I'm here and I'm so glad you started! Your traveling sounds exhausting, but I'm glad you guys got there safe and sound!! I totally laughed out loud at your WDW sign picture!!!

Love the Pop pics! So, don't leave us hanging too long...did you get some new shirts at the Pop gift shop or just go dirty?

I can't wait to read all about this great trip!!!

Sara

 

[faerieprincess]

Yay! I'm here and I'm so glad you started! Your traveling sounds exhausting, but I'm glad you guys got there safe and sound!! I totally laughed out loud at your WDW sign picture!!!

Love the Pop pics! So, don't leave us hanging too long...did you get some new shirts at the Pop gift shop or just go dirty?

I can't wait to read all about this great trip!!!

Sara

Well, i'll post the next installment as soon as i get home from work, but i have to say i'm a little embarassed.

Because it never occured to me to go buy new shirts. i didn't think of it at all!

 

[faerieprincess]

So right about the time i am telling Jess that we are just going to have to leave and wear our sweaters over our shirts, there is a knock at the door. Yes! i'm so excited to see our luggage i give the guy twice the tip i was intending. We open the suitcases, pull out clean shirts, and are on our way, cameras in hand. Unfortunately i didn't realise until after we left that i forgot to put my laptop and our passports and money into the room safe... and i also forgot to grab some money. Thank goodness for those charging privileges!! We take the bus to Epcot, get on the monorail, change at the Transportation and Ticket Centre and arrive at 'Ohana about 40 minutes before our reservation. Guess i didn't need to be in such a hurry after all. We hang out in the incredibly busy lobby, where i take these:

Finally we get called and go into 'Ohana. i personally found the whole "Cousin" thing kind of annoying, but i managed to keep my mouth shut and keep smiling. The salad and bread were really yummy and i enjoyed the meat, but Jess really didn't find the meat all that appetizing (don't worry, she still had plenty to eat). We both rated the meal as so-so. However we both really loved the dessert!

After dessert we had a completely unexpected joy: Wishes! They piped in the music and everything. Our view was partially obstructed by trees but the fireworks were beautiful and it was a really magical ending to our day, especially when, as it finished, everyone in 'Ohana said "wow" in one voice.

Things i love about Disney #1: Sharing the magic. Where else is a whole roomful of people going to sigh and smile dreamily in unison?

On our way out we had the monorail CM take this:

We went back to PoP the same way we had arrived, went to our rooms to get our jackets as it was hovering just above freezing by this point, and went back to Everything PoP to buy some sweaters for the morning. We called my mum from the lobby to let her know we'd arrived ok, then went back to our room. i unpacked just enough to get our clothes and bag ready for the morning and then we went to bed. Again i didn't sleep well or much.
Memories of the First Day (straight out of Passporter)
The weather today was... cold & getting colder!
The best thing today was... seeing Wishes from 'Ohana. Even from behind the tree it was spectacular!
The worst thing today was... the cold! We came all the way to Florida from Canada! It's supposed to be warm! as a side note it's great when the worst thing about your day is just the weather!
The funniest thing today was... me spilling the frozen Coke all over myself and the bed. What a mess!
Today we tried... frozen cokes for the first time
And the result was... messy (see above) but tasty. Also tried Hawaiian food at 'Ohana. Fairly yummy.