Test Track, Big Thunder, and Everest, Oh My! A First Time Trip with Lots of Thrills!

[MommyMcQueen]

Hello and Welcome to my first Trip Report! I'm Karen and I'm so excited to write about my families first ever trip to Disney World! We just got back from 10 incredible days of fun, and I'm ready to start reliving it!! We stayed at the Pop Century from August 20th to 29th and had a completely wonderful time!

Here are introductions and cast:

Myself: Karen, 35, SAHM who also works part-time from home for a marketing dept of a large healthcare organization. I'm a huge picture taker and love to scrapbook - so there will LOTS of photos on this TR. I took over 2,100 pictures on this trip and I always manually edit every picture, so I need to get busy on editing pictures! I have never been to a Disney park and it has always been a dream to go.

DH is Dan: 40, he has never been to a Disney park either. He's not really interested in Disney stuff although he's watched lots of the movies with the kids, and while he was excited for the vacation, he felt this trip was all about the kids and doing it for them. I think he quickly realized how much fun he was having for himself, not just the kids!

McQueen, DS6 (almost 7) is my car/truck/any-kind-of-vehicle obsessed boy! If it has wheels and can move, he loves it. He is our mello child (generally speaking), can quietly play by himself and doesn't like being the center of attention.

And Mater, DS4, is our crazy, loud, dramactic child who also loves cars and trucks but also dinosaurs! He does not like to walk long distances and we were unsure about using a stroller on this trip. We don't own a stroller anymore so if we needed it we'd have to rent one....but did we??

There is a link to my PTR in my signature if anyone is interested in seeing how this trip came about! Also lots of pics of autograph book pages, a countdown calendar, and the t-shirts I made.

Alright...time to get started! Up Next: Early Morning Travel and we arrive in Orlando!

Index:
Day 1: Travel to Airport, Kids First Flight, Arrive at MCO
Day 1: Magical Express and Arrival at Pop
Day 1: First Stop: Magic Kingdom
Day 2: MK Morning: Fantasyland and Our First Ride
Day 2: MK Afternoon: Tomorrowland and Our Scariest Ride
Day 3: MK - the Other Half: Adventureland, Frontierland, & Liberty Square
Day 4: Character Breakfast, Riding the Rails, & Downtown Disney
Day 5: Animal Kingdom: A little rain won't dampen our spirits
Day 6: Hollywood Studios Morning: Mater & McQueen meet Mater & McQueen
Day 6: Hollywood Studios Afternoon: Must it rain on our parade?
Day 7: DTD Morning and Swimming: Shop Til We Drop!
Day 7: A Magical Night at the Magic Kingdom
Day 8: Our First Epcot Morning: Test Track & More Test Track
Day 8: Epcot Afternoon - Trekking through the World Showcase
Day 9: Epcot Day 2 - We want to Soar!
Day 9: Epcot 2 Afternoon: Finishing up the World Showcase
Day 10: Morning at Pop and Traveling Home
Disney Loot: Our Souvenirs

 

[natebenma]

Sounds good! I'm in! Dee

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Sounds good! I'm in! Dee

Hi Dee! Thanks for joining in!!!

I see your headed to DC in a month - hope you have a great time! I was just there in April for the first time and loved it - so much fun. (there's is DC mini-TR in my PTR with lots of pix).

Karen

 

[wdwgirl03]

You know I'm in, Karen!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Day 1: Travel to the airport, Kids First Flight, and we Arrive in Orlando!

Dan and I woke about 4am to get up and get ready to go, we got the kids out of bed about 4:30am, got them dressed and ready to head out. They were suprisingly awake and excited to go! We had all the bags packed and Dan started loading up!

The kids pulled off the last calendar tab from the countdown calendar to reveal a big blue jet - a Southwest plane we'd be flying on!

After that we all hopped in the truck and we were ready to hit the road!

The drive to the airport was really good - very little traffic even in Milwaukee, very little construction. We made it to the airport about 7:15, parked out in long-term parking and quickly and easily jumped on the shuttle and it took us over to the terminal. There was a bit of a line at check-in, but it went quickly, and once we checked out bags we headed upstairs to go through security and find our gate.

I should mention that this was the first time flying for the boys, and Dan and I had not flown since our honeymoon in 2001! So a lot had changed but we made it through security just fine, kids did great and we went on our way to the gate. Along the way we came across a big bank of windows and the boys got their first look at the big planes! They were so excited that we ended up hanging out there about 15 minutes so they could watch - they didn't want to leave that window! They were just fascinated watching the planes.

We finally got down to our gate and we had quite a bit of time, over an hour, so we sat and watched planes some more.

And soon our plane pulled in, they unloaded and then loaded us up! We were in the back group of Group A for boarding and we were easily able to get seats together, we sat across the aisle from each other - me with Mater, Dan with McQueen.

And soon we were off - the kids did great on the flight and when we went to take off Mater threw his hands in the air ("hands up high" he calls it) and let out a loud "Whoo-Hoooooo". It was so funny and I was so glad he wasn't scared. His adventurous spirit would soon make itself well known to us - he would be our true thrill-seeker!

It was a good flight, kids both did well, we kept them occupied with books, coloring, and of course snacks. Along the way Mater played with his favorite stuffed animal!

We landed at MCO about 1:00pm and made our way to the main terminal, when we saw this:

It was official - we were here!!!

Next: Magical Express and Arrival at Pop

 

[MommyMcQueen]

You know I'm in, Karen!

Hey Sarah! Thanks for joining! Can't wait to tell you all about it!
Karen

 

[Angies1274]

Hi! Joining in! I think I've seen you on a few other TR's I've been following. Aww...a first trip is always so magical! My boys were about the same age when we took them to Disney for the first time and we stayed at Pop Century too. I can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Hi! Joining in! I think I've seen you on a few other TR's I've been following. Aww...a first trip is always so magical! My boys were about the same age when we took them to Disney for the first time and we stayed at Pop Century too. I can't wait to read more about your trip!

Hi Angie!
Thanks for joining in! I've seen you around too and I've lurked a bit on your TR too! You've been to Pop a lot! We loved it - all the things you've mentioned in your TR were true for us - great bus service, very little wait, decent food court, nice clean rooms. We loved Pop - I wish we could have had a little more time to actually spend there - most days were spent running around, we only spent 1 afternoon hanging out at the pool, and a couple quick evening swims. I'd defenitely go back there again!

It was really magical, I so glad we took the kids at this age. There were many moments that were so great - just the smiles and looks on their faces, the sweet, innocent questions they asked ("are we really flying, mom?"), and seeing them encourage one another when one was scared to ride something. I was just great.

Karen

 

[Cory's Gal]

YEAH!! Great start Karen!! I can't wait to see all the pics you took and find out about all the fun!!!! Nice to have an easy flight down! Did you like Southwest?? I am hoping they will add a direct flight between MSP & Orlando before our next adventure!! I am sure the boys LOVED the buses too!! Can't wait for more!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Joining in. You have such a cute family. I look forward to reading all the juicy details of your trip.









Lisa

 

[wdwgirl03]

haha, I love that Mater shouted WOO HOOO as you were taking off. That is one of the things that always cracks me up...best line I ever heard was a little girl who said "I can see the whole world!" Gotta love kids.

YAY, you made it to Orlando and are on your way to WDW!!!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

YEAH!! Great start Karen!! I can't wait to see all the pics you took and find out about all the fun!!!! Nice to have an easy flight down! Did you like Southwest?? I am hoping they will add a direct flight between MSP & Orlando before our next adventure!! I am sure the boys LOVED the buses too!! Can't wait for more!!!!

Hi Beth!! Thanks for joining in! We did like Southwest - it was very easy, everything went smoothly, and it was a really good flight. They recently started flying out of Milwaukee (like within the last year) so maybe you'll get them in MSP soon! Yes the boys did love the busses - Mater was constantly talking about riding "Mickey's Bus" and I'm sure you can guess what the first toy he picked out was! (I knew they'd want those since I saw them on your trip report!)

Joining in. You have such a cute family. I look forward to reading all the juicy details of your trip.

Lisa

Hi Lisa!
Thanks so much for joining in and for the compliments! I can't wait to share all of the details - I just hope I don't get TOO detailed and bore everyone to death!

haha, I love that Mater shouted WOO HOOO as you were taking off. That is one of the things that always cracks me up...best line I ever heard was a little girl who said "I can see the whole world!" Gotta love kids.

YAY, you made it to Orlando and are on your way to WDW!!!

HI Sarah! Yes, Mater is our little character...and his Whoo-Hoo was in no way done quietly either!!! After I got done laughing I had to tell him to hold it down and quiet down - he just kept doing it so loudly! And here I was all worried that he would be scared (sometime he doesn't do well in new places, gets very clingy) but he loved it. The flight home he did his "hands up high" but no cheering that time.

 

[Slatas]

I'm onboard! You know its going to be a good TR when someone takes that many pics!!!

 

[natebenma]

Hi Dee! Thanks for joining in!!!

I see your headed to DC in a month - hope you have a great time! I was just there in April for the first time and loved it - so much fun. (there's is DC mini-TR in my PTR with lots of pix).

Karen

Thanks for the head's up on your DC mini-trip report. What a great trip with your mom and sister! This will be the first time to DC for my boys. My 9 year old is a history buff, so he is going to be blown away by the things we are going to see.

We got reserved tickets for the Archives and the Washington Monument. The tickets are around $1.50 per person, so worth it not to wait in line with the kids.

I'll have to check out and see if Stan's is near our hotel. We're staying at the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Ave, about 3 blocks from the White House.

 

[MommyMcQueen]

I'm onboard! You know its going to be a good TR when someone takes that many pics!!!

Welcome Slatas! Thanks for joining in! I always take so many picture people think I'm crazy! Oh well - makes for good memories!

Thanks for the head's up on your DC mini-trip report. What a great trip with your mom and sister! This will be the first time to DC for my boys. My 9 year old is a history buff, so he is going to be blown away by the things we are going to see.

We got reserved tickets for the Archives and the Washington Monument. The tickets are around $1.50 per person, so worth it not to wait in line with the kids.

I'll have to check out and see if Stan's is near our hotel. We're staying at the JW Marriott on Pennsylvania Ave, about 3 blocks from the White House.

Hope your boys have a great time on the trip! Great job on getting those tickets - definitely worth avoiding the wait! Our hotel was 3 blocks away to - it's so nice ot be able to walk to almost everything!

 

[MommyMcQueen]

Day 1: Magical Express and Arrival at Pop

Okay, when I left off we were making our way through the airport. We followed the directions to find the Magical Express, and althouth it took us a little while, we did eventually find it! We got to the counter and were able to walk right up - there was no wait at all! The lady took our booklet and did her thing, processed us through and we walked up to the area to load up. There was one family heading over to another resort, and there was us - no one else was there!

We were immediately greeted by a cast member who directed us over to our bus, and we climbed right on board.

We got a seat right in the middle, and within a couple of minutes the bus driver climbed in and we were off. The drive to Pop was good - I kept trying to find something out the window that I recognized, and soon I saw the big Walt Disney World sign! I wasn't able to get a picture but it was great to see! The bus first stopped at CBR and let a few people off, then it was on to Pop. Soon we were stopped at a traffic light and saw this out our window:

We pulled in and up to the main building and hopped out, I really wanted to get a pictures of the boys in front of "Mickey's Bus":

We headed inside, Dan took the boys over to the little play room area they have there, and I went up to the desk to check-in. There were a couple of people at the counter being helped, but again there was no line!

I couldn't believe how fast and smooth everything was going. I was quickly helped and given our packet, cards, all that good stuff. She even gave us "First Visit" buttons which were fun - we all wore them the first day and McQueen and I wore them for a coupe of days! We were put over in the 90s building, which I kind of cringed at a little bit - pretty far away, then she told me that we were the very last room on the far side of the building!! About the furthest room away that you could get!! But I didn't make a room request or anything on my reservation, and I told myself I'd be happy with whatever we got, even if it was far away. I went and got Dan and the kids and we started the walk over to our building.

We were up on the second floor, and it was a corner room so that was kind of nice - in the end it was a VERY quiet room and we rarely heard anyone, so we were very happy with the room. We got used to the walk and found some shortcuts along the way! The room itself was great - it was a refurbished room and I thought it was really nice.

We dumped our carry-on bags in the room, and since it was now about 2:30pm we were all starving for some lunch, we headed immediately over to Everything Pop to eat and pick up our refillable mugs! Of course once inside the kids wanted to look at toys right away so we dragged them through the store part promising we'd look after we ate. It took us a little while to figure out the meal plans and what stations had what kind of food. We ended up choosing some items, not sure if we got the right things or not for our plan, and went to the checkout where a super friendly and helpful cast member explained what were suppsed to get and what stuff we didn't put on our tray! (we are such newbies!) I was able to run back and grab the extra items, it was so nice of him to tell us that we were entitled to a few more things. It would take of a few more days to really figure out this dining plan. We found a seat and started to enjoy our first meal at Disney World!

After eating, we shopped a little bit in the store. The kids found TONS of toys they wanted, Dan and I found some coffee mugs, and I started scoping out the scrapbooking supplies!!! We didn't buy anything right away, but it was fun to look.

By now it was about 3:30pm and I did have a goal that first day of getting over to the Magic Kingdom for a little while. We walked back to our room, and from there needed to decide if we were up for heading over to the Magic Kingdom. It had been a long day of travel, we had all been up early, and it was HOT and HUMID, just the walk between the hotel and room had us all drenched.

So did we venture out to the Magic Kingdom that first afternoon??? You'll have to come back again and see!

(ETA - I wanted to add that I may not be responding much today - McQueen was taken to the ER last night and they did a chest xray and diagnosed him with pneumonia. He is missing the first day of school today and probably the whole week. He caught a cold and he has asthma which generally makes colds much more difficult for him, and this one escalated into a very bad cough very quickly, I took him to the ER and we didn't get home until 4:30am. He is resting now but it's been a rough night and he's still coughing A LOT and I'm very worred about him. They gave him some meds (antiobiotic to fight the infection and an oral steroid to reduce the inflamation in his airway) and I'm hoping they will take effect soon, he does not seem to be improving much yet.)

Karen

 

[heaven2dc]

I hope your son feels better soon! Loving your TR so far Great pics - your boys are so adorable (I'm guessing after a nap you end up going to MK for the evening )

 

[MommyMcQueen]

I hope your son feels better soon! Loving your TR so far Great pics - your boys are so adorable (I'm guessing after a nap you end up going to MK for the evening )

Hi Debbie!

Thanks for joining in and for the well-wishes for my son! He seems to be improving slightly this morning, although still coughing A LOT.

Thanks too for the compliments on the boys - I think they're pretty stinkin' cute too!

Well I won't give it away yet, but I will say that ZERO naps were had on this trip, even though we tried one day and I could have probably napped every day! My kids are adamant non-nappers and we compensate by having early bedtimes. It wasn't always this way, McQueen was a great napper when he was younger, and Mater is a stubborn bug who stopped napping at age 2. I sure miss naptime sometimes...

Karen

 

[disneyworldmomma]

I just found your trip report and i'm hooked!!!(I'm a stay at home mom to)My family goes to WDW every year this will be our 13th trip in 8yrs.s!!I'm so sorry to hear about your little one I hope all is well I plan on writting my first trip report this year! My oldest daughter is writing her first pre-trip report right now Here her link :

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2500582

 

[martinolichfamily]

YAY...you started your TR!!!
I'm here!!!