FlyingBelle
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2006
OK - my first attempt at a trip report!
Our Trip Plans: 2 nights at All Star Music, 3 nights on the Disney Wonder, 1 night in Cocoa Beach
Who we are:
Me - Well, the title of this trip report says it all, right? Never in a million years when I booked this trip a few months ago did I think I'd be pregnant, but surprise surprise! So much for tropical drinks on the beach! I'm a working mom at an airline, so we fly for free (don't be jealous, it's very stressful!) and with my sister living in CA this year, we purchased the Disney Premier Passport - which is the annual pass that gives entrance to both DisneyWorld and Disneyland. I record year for us - 2 trips to Disneyland, 2 trips to DisneyWorld, and 1 Disney cruise in 2010!
DH - Stay at home dad (by choice) who takes care of our DD (3). He's become a Disney fanatic because of me, but has been TERRIFIED of cruising! I've begged him since the day we met to go on a Disney cruise - but he has a million excuses - rouge waves, pirates, stomach flu, claustrophobia(sp?)... you name it... he found a reason not to cruise... until now! For my 40th birthday I said all I wanted was for us to go on a Disney cruise. He relented!
DD - My darling 3 year old who loves Snow White, Buzz Lightyear (Bit-year), and Mickey Mouse. Need I say more?
Also on our trip - my parents (who are Disney fans and avid cruisers) and my in-laws (who like Disney, but have never been on a cruise before).
Day 1:
Tuesday, November 30th - we all arrived at O'Hare Airport bright and early to stand-by for an early flight. With 7 of us flying stand-by, you never know if we'll get on or not... but given it was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I figured our chances were good. I was right! We all got on, and all got to sit together. The flight was a little more turbulence than we've had in awhile, but overall very smooth.
Once we arrived at MCO - my dad went to get the rental mini-van (we decided it was cheaper than paying for the cruise transfer for all 7 of us), while the rest of us went to the food court for our traditional lunch of Chik-fil-a (we're just starting to get these in the Chicagoland area - so it's still a novelty for us to get them at MCO!)
We had our GPS with us, so we figured we'd be able to get around ok. We had to make a stop at Walmart for bottled water and stuff and thanks to the Disboards I was able to locate the one near Downtown Disney.
However... it then took us over an hour to get to our resort!!! For some reason the GPS led us round and round Disney property until we reached our destination... a gas station across from Downtown Disney... what???? This doesn't look like the All Star Music??? A little bickering from all 5 of us back-seat drivers, and my mom popped into one of the shops at Downtown Disney to get a resort map. OK - now we know where to go. There was a round of cheers when we arrived at All Star Music!
My folks and I had checked in online, so we stood in the "short" line - while my inlaws went to the extremely long regular check-in line. My mom checked in first, and fortunately I looked at the map where her room was located - Broadway section - Yay! I love Beauty & the Beast! My turn to check-in... hmmmmm... I'm in the Jazz section - that doesn't seem right. The great cast member quickly got on the phone, called my inlaws over to the desk and got us all straightened out. Somehow I was located in a different building from the rest of our party. After quite a looooongg phone call, she got it fixed and we were all in the Broadway building 7.
We had originally planned to go visit the monorail resorts to look at the decorations, but it was already 3pm and the two Grandpa's were ready for a nap. Since it was pretty nice out and the weather forecast was to be chilly the next few days, DD & I decided to take a dip in the pool. First the piano pool, which was nice a quiet, but not so easy for a toddler to swim in since she kept wanting to jump off the steps to where it was over her head. So, we headed over to the main pool and where there's a kiddie pool and let her swim for an hour or so.
After much bribing to get out of the pool, we got dressed and headed in the van to Downtown Disney.
I had ADRs at Raglan Road Irish Pub. We've never eaten there before, but DH and his dad had a few beers there last year and liked it.
The food was good, and seemed not too pricey (about $18 for fish & chips), but each of us added a side ($5 each), and some added 2 sides (ahem, Dad!) and a few beers. DH kept saying he'd like to add this place to our list of places to eat again, but he didn't see the bill! Just for DH & I (and a milk for DD), it was over $70. I guess for Downtown Disney that's not too bad, but both my parents and inlaws bills were over $100. No one wanted to listen to me to wait to add on the extra food (apps & desserts) until we're on the cruise where it won't cost extra!
After dinner we walked over to the World of Disney store... nothing inspired me (a first!), so we walked over to the pavillion while everyone finished shopping. They were having a dance contest with kids - pairs of 2. They randomly picked a number, which determined what song they had to dance to. There was a set of siblings, a pre-teen boy and a young girl, that got All the Single Ladies - boy did he do his best! Got quite a few laughs. Unfortunately they were beat out by their brothers who did backflips and stunts. The little girl was so sad, but her older brother was sweet at trying to console her.
By now it's around 10pm. We're all tired from a long day of travel... so back to All Star Music (this time it only took us a few minutes to find it!) and off to bed for a fun day tomorrow!
Our Trip Plans: 2 nights at All Star Music, 3 nights on the Disney Wonder, 1 night in Cocoa Beach
Who we are:
Me - Well, the title of this trip report says it all, right? Never in a million years when I booked this trip a few months ago did I think I'd be pregnant, but surprise surprise! So much for tropical drinks on the beach! I'm a working mom at an airline, so we fly for free (don't be jealous, it's very stressful!) and with my sister living in CA this year, we purchased the Disney Premier Passport - which is the annual pass that gives entrance to both DisneyWorld and Disneyland. I record year for us - 2 trips to Disneyland, 2 trips to DisneyWorld, and 1 Disney cruise in 2010!
DH - Stay at home dad (by choice) who takes care of our DD (3). He's become a Disney fanatic because of me, but has been TERRIFIED of cruising! I've begged him since the day we met to go on a Disney cruise - but he has a million excuses - rouge waves, pirates, stomach flu, claustrophobia(sp?)... you name it... he found a reason not to cruise... until now! For my 40th birthday I said all I wanted was for us to go on a Disney cruise. He relented!
DD - My darling 3 year old who loves Snow White, Buzz Lightyear (Bit-year), and Mickey Mouse. Need I say more?
Also on our trip - my parents (who are Disney fans and avid cruisers) and my in-laws (who like Disney, but have never been on a cruise before).
Day 1:
Tuesday, November 30th - we all arrived at O'Hare Airport bright and early to stand-by for an early flight. With 7 of us flying stand-by, you never know if we'll get on or not... but given it was the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, I figured our chances were good. I was right! We all got on, and all got to sit together. The flight was a little more turbulence than we've had in awhile, but overall very smooth.
Once we arrived at MCO - my dad went to get the rental mini-van (we decided it was cheaper than paying for the cruise transfer for all 7 of us), while the rest of us went to the food court for our traditional lunch of Chik-fil-a (we're just starting to get these in the Chicagoland area - so it's still a novelty for us to get them at MCO!)
We had our GPS with us, so we figured we'd be able to get around ok. We had to make a stop at Walmart for bottled water and stuff and thanks to the Disboards I was able to locate the one near Downtown Disney.
However... it then took us over an hour to get to our resort!!! For some reason the GPS led us round and round Disney property until we reached our destination... a gas station across from Downtown Disney... what???? This doesn't look like the All Star Music??? A little bickering from all 5 of us back-seat drivers, and my mom popped into one of the shops at Downtown Disney to get a resort map. OK - now we know where to go. There was a round of cheers when we arrived at All Star Music!
My folks and I had checked in online, so we stood in the "short" line - while my inlaws went to the extremely long regular check-in line. My mom checked in first, and fortunately I looked at the map where her room was located - Broadway section - Yay! I love Beauty & the Beast! My turn to check-in... hmmmmm... I'm in the Jazz section - that doesn't seem right. The great cast member quickly got on the phone, called my inlaws over to the desk and got us all straightened out. Somehow I was located in a different building from the rest of our party. After quite a looooongg phone call, she got it fixed and we were all in the Broadway building 7.
We had originally planned to go visit the monorail resorts to look at the decorations, but it was already 3pm and the two Grandpa's were ready for a nap. Since it was pretty nice out and the weather forecast was to be chilly the next few days, DD & I decided to take a dip in the pool. First the piano pool, which was nice a quiet, but not so easy for a toddler to swim in since she kept wanting to jump off the steps to where it was over her head. So, we headed over to the main pool and where there's a kiddie pool and let her swim for an hour or so.
After much bribing to get out of the pool, we got dressed and headed in the van to Downtown Disney.
I had ADRs at Raglan Road Irish Pub. We've never eaten there before, but DH and his dad had a few beers there last year and liked it.
The food was good, and seemed not too pricey (about $18 for fish & chips), but each of us added a side ($5 each), and some added 2 sides (ahem, Dad!) and a few beers. DH kept saying he'd like to add this place to our list of places to eat again, but he didn't see the bill! Just for DH & I (and a milk for DD), it was over $70. I guess for Downtown Disney that's not too bad, but both my parents and inlaws bills were over $100. No one wanted to listen to me to wait to add on the extra food (apps & desserts) until we're on the cruise where it won't cost extra!
After dinner we walked over to the World of Disney store... nothing inspired me (a first!), so we walked over to the pavillion while everyone finished shopping. They were having a dance contest with kids - pairs of 2. They randomly picked a number, which determined what song they had to dance to. There was a set of siblings, a pre-teen boy and a young girl, that got All the Single Ladies - boy did he do his best! Got quite a few laughs. Unfortunately they were beat out by their brothers who did backflips and stunts. The little girl was so sad, but her older brother was sweet at trying to console her.
By now it's around 10pm. We're all tired from a long day of travel... so back to All Star Music (this time it only took us a few minutes to find it!) and off to bed for a fun day tomorrow!