Once Upon a Time... (a trip report from a 2002 first trip)

[Maggie.lobe]

Hello

This Report is not going to be helpful for people that is planing a future trip to Walt Disney World, because things have change A LOT since this happened, and is probably not going to be read by a lot of people, but for me this was the most amazing trip, and what started my obsession.

First Introductions:

let´s go back in time to 12 years ago.

is 2001

I´m studying psycology on the national university in nuevo leon mexico, I´m 19 and all I know about disney is my obsession with the movies, and the princess, obsession caused by my family that would use a Disney quote for almost every situation, WE LOVE DISNEY Movies.

and I met My friend Cecilia, and her sister got married in Orlando, and after the wedding they went to this place called Disney World,.. "So, Cecilia, tell me more about this World" I say.

next thing I know we are planing a trip to go to WDW in 9 months.

I´m a Student, in Mexico! no money! and no Visa. so the process started.

I got a part time job at a copy center right across from my school.
and got a Visa.

So by October, Job Check, Visa Chek.
still I was not making that much money, Actually only 50 USD by Week, so I set my Mind on saving every penny I get. my mom and dad help me a little too.

My friend Cecilia told us the cheapest way to get there was by Bus, and it was, she fail to mention that it was the longest trip by bus ever! 36 hours!

but we were, Wait What.... we ARE young so, what the bleep..

we had 2 more friends that decided to go, in this amazing adventure, so the total party was:



This is Me Margarita a.k.a Maggie.



This is Jannet




This is Alba




this is Cecy.





Here we are on the bus, on or way to Orlando

we were going to be 2 weeks in orlando, and will stay at Cecilia´s sister´s house, she just had her 3rd baby and was happy to welcome some company that was able to talk in more than just cry´s and demands.

we did not plan much (FIRST BIG MISTAKE OF THIS TRIP)
we did not have any idea of how we were going to be moving to the parks, or how far Cecilia´s sister lived from Disney.

We were not going to pay for ticket´s (Cecilia´s Sister was married to a Man that used to work at Disney, yes we had free tickets YAY )

and on the 4th of january 2002 on a bus on our way to Orlando.
if you have the time I invite you to search in google maps Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. we are far far from orlando.

we arrive at the border, is the international bridge and we have to ask for a permit, and the lines begin.

Fun Fact:
so it turns out that the 4th of january is when EVERYONE who came from US to MX for the holidays is going back home.


So we had to wait 10 HOURS and I´m not kidding, 10 hours on the bus, on a line to cross the border

we started the trip at 7 am, we made 3 hours to the border.
we arrive at 10 am to the international border in Laredo Texas.
and then at 8 pm we were FINALLY on the line for the permit,
that took another hour.
we had a bus connection with greyhound at 4 pm, not needed from me to tell that we lost that connection

we talk to the manager and he got us in another bus that was going to leave laredo at 12am and we waited.

in the time we were there we went to burger king around the corner from greyhound to get dinner we were starving.

and all we got was only 500 USD each to spent in the trip. that was our entire budget, so when Jannet took her money out to pay for her meal, she didn´t notice that it fell out of her purse, and she lost all of her money

and that is how our first day went. not a good begining right?

it get´s more and more "intersting"

but please continue reading there is a Happy ending.. sort of


to be continue...

 

[Maggie.lobe]

So we were on the bus, at the border in Laredo Tx. and we begun our trip.

Jannet has lost all of her money and was so sad, and wanted to go back home, but we convinced her to stay on the trip, and we will find a way to make it with what we had.

we started the trip at 7 am in Mexico on the 4th of January, and arrive to Orlando at 6:50 am on the 6th of January.

the stops in the road where as follow:

1st stop Houston Tx.
2nd stop Baton Rouge Louisiana.
3rd stop Mobile Alabama
4rd stop Tallahassee Alabama, this was the last stop before Orlando, and we where so CLOSE and we stayed there for 3 Hours.
and then.
5th stop and final destination, Orlando Florida.!

It's the longest trip by bus I have made to this day, and I don't know if I would do it again, today it sounds so easy, but it was so uncomfortable, and boring, all you see through the window was the same landscape again and again, we felt like in a Hanna-Barbara Cartoon.
we played games, we sleep, we talk, we sleep, we eat, we sleep.

it was more than 36 hours if you count the 10 hour line on the bridge... OMG

When we arrive to Orlando we called to Cecy's Sister to come pick us up, and that was our first problem,

Cecy's Sister was married to Grumpy. she was such a nice person, but her husband was just, for lack of a better approved way to describe, "Grumpy".

So Mr. Grumpy did not want to go pick us up at the bus station, and he did not want us there, he say ok when we were invited by Cecy's Sister, from now on Mrs. M., but he though we would never make it, that we would not have money or courage to go by our self's.

So Mrs. M got us a ride from the bus station to her house, that was pretty far about 45 min drive, they lived in Davenport near the Heart of Florida Regional Center.

So Pete, a very good looking young men offer himself to go pick us up, he was a friend of Grumpy, but he was such a Good guy, when he pick us up he tried talking to us in Spanish but it was funny and not that good, so I was the only one talking to him (oh I forgot to mention, none of my friends speak English, so I was the official spokesperson, and translator guide), in the talk with Pete he told us we had a small trip to Miami to visit his sister, and invite us to come along, this would be on the 9th. we got so excited.

we arrive at Mrs. M and Grumpy's house at about 10am, and went straight to bed, we were so tired.

then that day with no much way out Grumpy take us to a near walmart and we bought grocery so we could make our meals for the trip, as I say we did not had that much money, and one of us lost all of hers, and even under that situation, we had to pay for gas, and for the food not only for us but for all of the family.

we were a little confused because that was not what we had in mind, but we understood that it was Grumpy's way to make us feel un welcomed.

we had a plan to go to Universal studios, we had 3 tickets, from a promotion of buy 2 and get 3rd free.

still we have no way of going to the parks, so for the first day of parks, Pete gave us a Ride, and we stayed on the park for the whole day, it was AMAZING, we had so much fun, we ride EVERY ride , we went to Universal Studios first, we were so happy and we had so much fun.

We start with terminator, and then the Woody Woodpecker rollercoaster, and then the back to the future Ride, it was January and a little cold and it was EMPTY we didn't take more than 10 to 20 min in any line in the park, it was so great, ( I've been in December and in May and that has never happened to me again)

we rode the Jaws ride and the Earthquake, and then we watch a show with Beatlejuice and the ghost busters, it was so much fun, we especially enjoy the Mommy Ride.

My Favorite was Terminator, as a kid that was my sister and brother favorite movie, and I was force to watch it so much that I knew it by heart so when we saw that show I was so excited to see the live action and the 3D, this was so new for us.

it was an awesome day.










at the end of the day we exit the park as they closed the doors, (which was very early actually 6pm) we called Mrs. M and she arrange Grumpy to pick us up, of course we will need to fill his gas. he will pick us up at 11pm, because he was busy.

so we waited at city walk, we dine at the hard rock café.





this was a very good desert!!

funny story, we were looking for a cheap place to eat, and I saw a sign that said "Jimmy Buffett" margaritasVille, and I went to the lady at the door and I asked, for the price of the buffet, they laugh so much at me, because I thought it was a buffet restaurant, it was funny.

Also I loved the name, because that is my name Margarita, I just go by Maggie in the US cause people find it difficult to say my name, but when they are at a Mexican bar there is no problemO ....LOL.


and then waited on the bus section for Grumpy to come pick us up, we were so happy that we didn't mind the mean comments from Grumpy complaining of having to go pick us up.

we went home happy and at the next day we would go back to IOA.

And Pete will take us there and pick us up, so the day was going to be even better.

 

[Maggie.lobe]

This is Me Margarita a.k.a Maggie.



This is Jannet




This is Alba




this is Cecy.





Here we are on the bus, on or way to Orlando

 

[Maggie.lobe]

on the 2nd day in Orlando, Pete drive us to Miami.

we stayed at a small hotel in front of the beach in south miami, and we drive to Key Biscayne to visit Pete´s sister and we went to her private beach, beautiful, the best, clear water, white sand, no people, and even though it was January it was hot enough to go for into the water.

we had a great time, we stayed only one night and we return to Orlando very well relax and happy.



the view from our window



LOL I like to play in the sand, I made Cecy a Mermaid



and I made a Sand Men for the pictures with our hot date



and then the day was over.

I return to miami on my honey moon, I really liked Miami.

 

[Maggie.lobe]

We still had 2 tickets for universal, but we only could use one, cause it was very hard to get there

the 4th day we went to Universal Island of Adventure.

and I had always be afraid of rollercoasters, but I rode every ride, I loved the hulk, and to this day my favorite rollercoaster is dueling dragons, I rode it 3 times that time, and I become addicted to rollercoasters, and another favorite was spiderman the ride, we had so much fun, it was the best, we even went in the cat in the hat, I liked it even thoug it was for small children.



the Jurasik Park Ride was great too, and since we had jackets on, we didn{t get all that wet.



testing our seats





it was a lot of fun....


we got home early, and Mrs. M told we will finally get to go to Disneyworld the next day,!! we got so exited

the next day one of the kids got sick and we had to take him to the doctor, and we spent all day at the doctor, and buying medicine and no Disney.



we were so worried because the days went by and we didn't know when we were going to Disney.

Finally on the 6th day Mrs. M took us to Disney,.... yes but Downtown Disney, and don´t get me wrong it was great, but it was not Walt Disney World, you know! I was so desperate, and I was getting so anxious.

Any way we had a lot of fun and took a lot of great pictures, and stayed there almost all day,
and then when Mrs. M went for us she gave us a great news, and instead of going home, we went to Disney Hollywood Studios! to See Fantasmic!!

that day I cry when I saw the show, and I saw Mickey and Fireworks, and excellent music, and when Snow white, Belle and Ariel floated in front of us I was crying out of happiness an illusion, I felt as a little kid.

and all I wanted was to bring my sister here, my friend are great and I love them, but they were not Disney Kids, they liked the parks because who doesn't like the parks, but they didn't know the characters, of the movies, not as I did, and did not share the bond my sister and I did.

here some pictures from that day.



Do you remember this guy? outside the Lego store.



And this Rain Forest Cafe in DTD













that day was so cool.... I loved it, and that was the moment my obsession started.

 

[Maggie.lobe]

After that day 3 days passed without the parks or anything Disney related, we stayed at home to watch the kids, and went to the store, and watch movies on the TV and used internet to talk to our familys, it was sad, we were there but there was not much we could do, Grumpy was at work, and there was no other way for us to go to the parks.

on the 10th day we finally go to the parks, but Cecy had to stay to watch the kids, it was sad, but we were promised we will be going again the next day.

so Mrs M took us to Magic Kingdom as early as we could, we got to be at the very opening of the gates and got to take pictures with mickey and minnie, as I saw the castle I almost cry again, I couldn´t believe it. I was smiling so much and we stay half day there, we rode Splash mountain, and space mountain, and we saw the castle show, then we saw a parade.



then we hurry out of MK and went to Ak,

we saw the lion king festival, and took pictures, and then we leave (we only stay there for the tree of life, the safari and the lion king)

we left and went to Disney Hollywood studios, and Rode the tower of terror, and rock and roller coaster, and we left and went again to MK for Whishes.


Today I remember all like a Dream, Mrs. M knew the parks by heart and we would run every attraccion she would think we would like, we even had time to take pictures with Disney caractteres.

I still don´t know how we manage all of that, but it was all in ONE DAY.

and it was AWESOME!! still I needed more,... but there was no more.
the next day Grumpy made us leave, and we had to come back, we didn´t got to go again to disney and we saved a lot of money

the day we left it was the worst day I can remember from a vacation, we cried so much.

and I promiss I will be coming back under my terms, and that no one would ever do that to me.

it was so sad. and so cool what we went trough, we had fun, and sadness, and excitment, and everything in 12 days.

the way back I don´t remember at all.

just that we got home, and all felt like a dream.

 

[HarkiQuinn]

You had a busy day!!

And also from your fantasmic pics, it looks like you guys very close. Awesome!

 

[sghm]

Kewl thread. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Maggie.lobe]

We took the Ferry to Magic Kingdom.






it was very early but you can see my happiness.



Sadly our cameras weren't the best ones, and of course they were not digital, this pictures were scanned from the originals.





can you see my smile!








we could not stop smiling, Alba got those glasses at DTD, they were the most expensive sunglasses I had seen ( I was young) and she lost them in the bus back home!! sad!





And this is THE picture, since I went to the movies to see Aladdin as a kid, I have been in loved... I was going to say secretly, but the truth is EVERYONE that knows me knows I was (mmm I am) in love with this man, I just Loved him, I came out of the theater after this movie flying on a cloud, I walk home from the movie theater and I was flying, dreaming, and so happy, It became my Favorite, till the day. when we saw him I hugged him and I cry of happiness, it was a dream come true. sadly the pictures are not as good, but my smile couldn't be wider.














We took that picture on the last day there, and then the next day we left.

Well and that is the end of my first trip Report, I plan un doing more, I have 3 more trips to talk about, but I promise I will make them better.

thank you for taking the time and reading.

bye for now

 

[Maggie.lobe]

it was a very busy day, and a wonderful one, and the parks were almost empty, I have never seen them like that, we were able to move in the Fantasmic show from our seats, we move because the water was to close, and then we move because the lamp post was in the way, and at the end we move closer for pictures, it was a great experience.

thank you for reading my report

 

[Maggie.lobe]

Kewl thread. Thanks for sharing.

thank you for stopping by.