"We're Walking On, We're Walking On!!" A Jan 2012 Trip Report

[MissPrice]

Hello Everyone and welcome to my first ever trip report! I am new to the DIS but spent about a month or so cruising the boards and others trip reports so I would like to share a little about my most recent expedition to the world. First let me introduce myself.

I am Amanda. I live in Maryland and I am a full time nursing student in my 2nd year and I also work part time as a barista. I have always loved Disney, and went to Disney World about 5 times as a child. However, I have a new appreciation of Disney as an adult and my husband and I have made it a tradition to visit the world for our anniversary. This trip was our 3rd time going together and we were celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary. My favorite Disney movies are Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Alice in Wonderland. My favorite Disney Princess is Aurora aka Sleeping Beauty. My favorite park is Epcot and my favorite attraction is SSE.

HI sorry for extreme close up

My husband is Daniel. He is not as obsessed about Disney as I am, but he really enjoys himself when he is at Disney World. He only got excited about the trip 2 days before we were going. Really? ...What a short countdown for him. His favorite park is Epcot and he enjoys visiting the Japan Pavilion every day and spending lots of money there. (We did A LOT of walking on this trip...Epcot is so huge!). He loves all types of animation, but his favorites are the old school style Silly Symphonies and such. His favorite attraction is the Kilimanjaro Safari at AK.

the babe

Our trip dates were 1/9/12 to 1/17/12. So as you can probably tell by the title of my report, it was pretty empty at the parks and we enjoyed the luxury of the slow season.....for the first 3 days. We were also there for MLK weekend, which was a whole different experience.

This was our fist time driving to Florida. We decided it would be cheaper in the long run instead of flying. Also we planned an extra stop on the way home in Charleston, SC. I used to live there and I am planning to go to MUSC to get my masters in nursing so I wanted to show Dan around the town.

We left the house around 1pm. The plan was for me to drive the first 8 hours while Dan slept. He works overnights so it would be easier for him to drive during the early morning hours. Well, we didn't actually follow the plan (and that happened a lot on this trip) but more on that later. The weather was fine in Maryland. When we got to Virginia, it started to snow and freezing rain. Yuck.

It cleared up when we got to North Carolina. We decided to stop in Fayeteville for some Cracker Barrell for dinner. Yum. We made it to South of the Border around 11pm.

Dan was not able to sleep in the car that well, so he deiced he would start his transition from Night owl to day person and stay up while I drove. Almost into Georgia, we both got really sleepy. We stopped at a Comfort Inn for the night to get some rest.

Next post: Arrival Day

 

[MickeyLover20]

Sounds like a long and yucking drive for some parts. I can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[MissPrice]

Sounds like a long and yucking drive for some parts. I can't wait to hear about your trip!

Hey MickeyLover Yeah it was pretty bad in Northern VA, especially with all the construction that goes on there..but we made it one piece

 

[__disneygirl]

Your drive reminds me of my childhood! We used to drive from New Jersey on our trips when I was little, and we would ALWAYS stop to eat at Cracker Barrell and always considered South of the Border a huge landmark! We used to stop there too, but then it got pretty shady so we decided to just enjoy it from the car haha. Still loved the million signs leading up to it, though!

 

[MissPrice]

Your drive reminds me of my childhood! We used to drive from New Jersey on our trips when I was little, and we would ALWAYS stop to eat at Cracker Barrell and always considered South of the Border a huge landmark! We used to stop there too, but then it got pretty shady so we decided to just enjoy it from the car haha. Still loved the million signs leading up to it, though!

Hi Disney Girl. That's so awesome that your family did that too. Yeah, we didn't stop at South of the Border either. I feel like it was not as sketchy when I was little, but maybe I was just clueless. Now it seems that everyone who works there is from The Hills Have Eyes. heheh

 

[MissPrice]

Arrival Day and Epcot!

So after driving our last stretch from SC to Orlando, we finally arrived at around 2pm. YAY!!

 

[MissPrice]

We stayed at All Star Music . When we went to check in we were given a FREE upgrade! Bonus. Let the Disney Magic begin. We were in Calypso building 10. We were given a preferred room at no extra charge. It was great. We were about a 1 minute walk from Melody Hall.

The room was small but clean.

After we unpacked we decided to head over to EPCOT. We had dinner reservations at Rose and Crown. It was the first time we have tried this restaurant. It would also be our first of 4 diners in World Showcase.

my beloved space ship earth

 

[MissPrice]

When we arrived at Epcot, the park seemed pretty empty. Very low crowd level, but of course Sorain' was still a 45 minute wait. We went to the Land Pavilion to get a fastpass but they were all gone for the day. We decided to ride Living with The Land instead. The was no wait , our first of many walk on's for the trip. I adore this ride. I am a big science geek so I enjoy the whole green house/ research aspect. After Living with the Land, we went to Seasons Grill for a snack.

We were seated behind a small tour group of Brazilians on the boat. They were calm and quiet, so I was thinking to myself , "Hey, maybe all this stuff I've read about the tour groups isn't true, maybe people just exaggerate." Um, yeah that thought would change during the trip....more on that later.
After the Land Pavilion we headed over to the Seas. Another Walk ON! I feel like I liked this pavilion better before it was re-themed. But Nemo is cute so I can't complain.

 

[MissPrice]

Next up was the Imagination Pavilion. One of my earliest memories of Disney was from a family trip in 1983 or 1984. I remember sitting on the Dreamfinder's lap (he was a face character) and playing with Figment (which was a little puppet). I absolutely loved the original Journey into the Imagination. The new version, eh , not so much. It doesn't really do anything for me. Dan likes it for the host, since he is a big Monty Python fan. I don't think I will be going on this attraction again until they change it..who knows when that will be. We slowly made our way over to World Showcase. Our reservations at Rose and Crown were for 6pm. We got to the UK at around 5:30, checked in with the hostess and looked around a bit.

Winnie the Pooh Hopscotch!

 

[MissPrice]

Now that I have taken my first exams of the semester and have a few free moments, its time to update! This was the first time my husband and I had been to the Rose and Crown. I was very looking forward to try the cuisine here after reading the menu on line. By the way,we were on the standard dining plan. Hubby ordered the Fish and Chips, and I had the Surf and Terf. I must admit I was a bit disappointed...and I'm am not really that picky. My steak was really tough and I felt like the fried fish was a bit soggy. The veggies (green beans) were really good though. Dan was happy with his fish and chips. He said they tasted just like the ones he got from the stand in the UK pavillion, but a bigger portion. Dan had the creme brulee for dessert and I had the no sugar added fruit trifle. Both were delish. Our waiter was great. He was from Ireland and even though it was busy, he kept up with refills and such. I had ordered hot tea (since I had a sore throat) and it came with a selection of about 20 tea bags. He said I could take them all to-go with me back to the room for free! We were seated by the bar so we were able to hear the Hat Lady preform. But WOW were there some really drunk people that night! I guess if you start "drinking around the world" in Mexico, by the time you get to UK you're plastered. I didn't do a very good job of taking food pictures, but I got one of the bread!!

After dinner we made our way over to the Japan Pavilion. We managed to spend some time here almost every night. Dan purchased a nice hat. We roamed around WS until Illuminations then headed back to ASMusic. I was starting to feel pretty sick at this point so I wanted to get as much rest as possible for our first full day in Disney!

 

[MinnieMoose]

My husband and I are trying to start the tradition of going to Disney for our anniversary too. Our first anniversary is September and we're definitely excited about going! I also loved Figment when I was young, it was the first thing I knew remembered about Disney because I had the stuffed animal of him.
How was All Star Music? We're debating Port Orleans Riverside or one of the Values for September. It'd be nice to save some money!

 

[MissPrice]

My husband and I are trying to start the tradition of going to Disney for our anniversary too. Our first anniversary is September and we're definitely excited about going! I also loved Figment when I was young, it was the first thing I knew remembered about Disney because I had the stuffed animal of him.
How was All Star Music? We're debating Port Orleans Riverside or one of the Values for September. It'd be nice to save some money!

Hey MinnieMoose Congrats on the one year anniversary! My husband and I really like All Star Music. We don't really spend too much time at the resort (we're all day park people), so for a place to rest our heads it is cheap plus we get all the perks of staying on site. The only downfall, in my opinion, is the motel like layout. I am a light sleeper so I tend to get woken up by people walking/running past my door. But yeah, we've never had any problems. ALthough when you guys go the Art of Animation resort might be ready. Are you doing a Pre trip report??

 

[MissPrice]

First FULL day at Disney, First Rope Drop Ever
It was a cloudy and rainy day for our first full day in the world. We woke up around 8am and had breakfast in the empty Melody Hall. We decided to go to Animal Kingdom for rope drop at 9am. Last trip, we had planned a couple rope drops, but never got up on time. We hopped on the Disney bus and made our way to the park. Despite the rain, there was a large crowd outside of the turnstiles. The nice thing was....they were not staying on property! Yes! Cast members were letting in people with a Key to the World in one single turnstile. I guess it wasn't really a rope drop, per say but we got in early and that's all that matters .

We went straight to Africa to pick up FP's for the safari, then over to Asia to ride EE. I was so excited, I had never been on it before and had heard great things about it. Yeti or no Yeti, I was amped. And low and behold it was a walk on!! Yay we didn't even have time to enjoy the queue. Now Dan isn't much of a roller coaster person, but he was a good sport and got on with me. He was so cute. When we were going up the hill, he kept yelling "build up! Build up! Build UP!" I don't know if he was nervous or what but I made fun of him for that the rest of the trip. LOL. The ride was awesome. There was no Yeti at all, only a projected image of one on the cave wall. But I didn't care. I had a blast. Yeah, it was pretty intense. After we had to sit down for a bit...so we waited in Asia until it was time to use our FP's

 

[MickeyLover20]

Loving your TR! Can't wait to hear more...I want to go back so bad, but reading great TR's will have to do.

 

[MissPrice]

Loving your TR! Can't wait to hear more...I want to go back so bad, but reading great TR's will have to do.

Thanks so much for reading MickeyLOve20...I do the same thing! Others reports give me my Disney fix till I can get the real thing.

 

[MissPrice]

Now that I have your attention!!

It's been such a busy semester, I haven't had too much time to work on my TR. It's a rare occasion that I finish all my reading ( we're learning about heart rhythms this week) with free time to spare....so its UPDATE TIME!

We headed over to Africa to use our FP's for the safari. Dan was looking forward to his favorite ride. Even though it was cool and rainy, the animals were out and about.

Hello funny giraffe face

After our adventure, we headed to Camp Minnie and Mickey to watch Festival of the Lion King. Another first for us, and we both enjoyed the show. I am kind of embarrassed to admit this, since I'm not much of a "happy crier", but I kind of lost it when the cast started singing "Circle of Life." I was just so happy to finally be back at Disney, and Circle of Life is such a moving song, well the combination of the two brought on the waterworks.

We planned to come back to AK another day, so after a short time we decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom. The crowds were so low, we decided to hit Fantasy Land first. We managed to ride ALL the fantasy land rides (except teacups, since that makes me sick) in about 90 minuets. Never waiting more than 10 minutes each. This is why I love, love going in Janurary.

I'm so sad this ride has closed. We tried to ride it as much as possible since we knew it would be the last time.