11th Anniversary Trip - WDW - 12/4-12/9 - p. 5, Epilogue and Final Thoughts

[T-i-double-g-err]

The cast for this trip is me and DW. DM (the Saint) "volunteered" to watch our three wonderful children while we took an adults-only trip to WDW for our 11th anniversary.

Day 1 - December 4, Part 1

We woke at the unthinkable hour of 5 in the morning and got ourselves together before the kids woke. We packed our last-minute items, kissed the kids goodbye (with many stern instructions to mind Grandma), and set off to the MARTA (Atlanta's train system) for our ride to the airport. DW was already feeling guilty for going to WDW without the kids; I was feeling guilty for leaving DM with the kids.

DW and our Mickey luggage on the MARTA train.

We ate a fairly mediocre breakfast at the Atlanta airport, but at least I had my coffee.

We called the Saint to make sure the children made it safely onto the school bus and were reassured that all was well.

We boarded our flight and settled in for what turned out to be about an hour or so delay on the ground due to technical problems with the plane. Thankfully all problems were fixed, and we had a rather uneventful flight to MCO.

We were met at MCO by Roger from Sunray who had his Suburban right outside baggage claim ready to whisk us away to the Swan hotel. We arrived at the hotel around 1PM. Luckily, our room (or at least one meeting the Starwood points redemption policy ) was ready for us. We had room 325 in the East wing.

We did not have an Epcot view, but we had a balcony with a water view (at no cost as we were staying on points).
Views From Balcony

By this point, we were ready for something to eat, so we decided to grab a bite for lunch at one of the Boardwalk restaurants. When we realized how close we were to Epcot, we opted to enter the park and find lunch there instead. We picked up anniversary pins at Guest Relations at the international gateway entrance. We hadn't planned on hitting any of the parks the day of our arrival, but you know the multiple proverbs about plans...

In any case, we visited the Tangierine Cafe in the Morocco pavillion and split a Lamb & Chicken Shawarma Platter. It was really yummy (DW's comment with which I whole heartedly agree). Since the boat was docked when we exited the restaurant, we took it across from Morocco to Future World.

We grabbed fast passes for Soarin' and rode Living with the Land in the land pavillion. We moved on to Living Seas and rode the Nemo ride and saw Turtle Talk with Crush since the line was remarkably short for a show starting in about 6 minutes. Let's just say that Turtle Talk was amazing. The on-the-fly graphics and interaction were truly superb. Nemo had some technical diffulties that had the ride stopped for several minutes on a couple of occasions, but we did get to see quite an assortment of fish swimming with the characters towards the end of the ride. While we were stopped, a shark swam through the scene.

Still on the horizon - Hoop-Dee-Do Review that night at lucky table 13 , MGM with Dream Fastpasses and Fantasmic, another Soarin' day at Epcot ending with an Illuminations Cruise ...

 

[amamed1]

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip report. I was there Dec 4-11th.

 

[lexmelinda]

Yay! Mr. & Mrs. T! (May I call you that?) Can't wait to hear about your magical grown ups only trip. Dream fastpasses, ya say? Wow. Two things:
1. Can I borrow your mom for a week?
2. I was wondering if you could resize your pics to "message board" size? I have a resize option on photobucket...not sure about comcast.
Great installment! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Yay! Mr. & Mrs. T! (May I call you that?) Can't wait to hear about your magical grown ups only trip. Dream fastpasses, ya say? Wow. Two things:
1. Can I borrow your mom for a week?
2. I was wondering if you could resize your pics to "message board" size? I have a resize option on photobucket...not sure about comcast.
Great installment! Can't wait to hear more.

Thanks for reading along with our trip musings...

We actually promised her that we would not ask her to supervise the kids until our youngest hits his teen years.

I'm working on the resize option. I'm pretty old school on the image manipulations. The originals are actually in the 1-2MB range and end up being something 12in x 17in. I reduced them all to 5in x 7in using Photoshop Elements before uploading them. I think I'll run the job again at 3in x 5in, which will likely fit better. I may take a look and see whether I should just give up on this and use photobucket...

I'm actually working from home today as our eldest came down with a high fever over the weekend. She's better and back to school. The middle one, however, caught whatever her older sister had (sniffles, coughing, high grade fever) , and we brought our youngest into the yesterday with ear pain to find ear infections on both sides . Either way, I've already made to runs to the store for supplies between getting some work done remotely.

Assuming the kids are peacefully asleep at a decent hour tonight, I'll try to fix the resize issue, and maybe DW and I will get another installment up.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip report. I was there Dec 4-11th.

Thanks for reading along. I wonder if our paths crossed at any point during the trip. The only time I know we bumped into other DISsers was when we dropped into Jellyrolls for Karen's meet on the 8th.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

2. I was wondering if you could resize your pics to "message board" size? I have a resize option on photobucket...not sure about comcast.

I took a quick look at the terms of service at photobucket and was not too happy with the grant of license that I would be giving them under the terms of service. So, I guess I'm stuck doing my own image resizing.

I resized and re-uploaded the previous pictures now at 3.75x5. Let me know how the new size on the images works on your viewer. I'm thinking I may want to drop another inch in width. Do you know what the size of the images are when photobucket resizes to "message board" size?

 

[lexmelinda]

Do you know what the size of the images are when photobucket resizes to "message board" size?

480 x 640

 

[kimwim8]

I really like your report so far. I love all of the pics and that you got to go to WDW without your kids! My DH's guilt level is still too big to allow us to go kidless. Maybe some day...

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Gregory]

Great trip report. Our children are all married and have their own kids now. We have injoyed the parks with just the two of use. But it won't be long before we are taking the grandchildren. Can't wait for more. And hope your kids are feeling better.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

480 x 640

Thanks. I resized to 480 x 640 and that seems to set it right. Converting the remainder to that size now won't be a problem.

I may not be able to post another installment for a couple of days. I came down with whatever bug my middle daughter had. I've spent most of the day in bed trying keep hydrated and manage my fever.

kimwim8 Thanks for reading. I think the only reason the kids let us get away with it is that we have a family trip on the calendar for July.

Gregory This was our first time without the kids, and we definitely hit many of the attractions that we will not be able to visit until the kids get a bit older. Our oldest is getting there. During our next trip, the Saint will be joining at WDW to even out the child to adult ration. That will allow us to split three ways depending upon who wants to see what.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 1 - Part 2 (By Mrs. T, SInce T himself is still sick)

We needed a snack at this point, so we stopped to buy a pretzel and water. Then we moved on to the Character Connection, which we could see had almost no lines. We had our pictures taken with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Chip & Dale. Dale was hitting on me (remember it's Mrs. T talking right now). He kept kissing me and making sure I wouldn't tell my DH.

Then we went into Innovations to get our free Disney Visa picture taken. After leaving Innovations, we were stopped by a cast member who in a concerned voice said, "Have you had a phone call today?" We looked wary and said "no". Then the CM took us to a phone and said, "It's for you." We took the phone. It was Mickey and Minnie! They just called to wish us a Happy Anniversary. I have to say, they are the nicest mice I've ever known.

We saw that there was no line at Mission Space, so we headed there. We entered the wimpy (I mean Green) line. It was fun. I don't think I would have tried MS if it hadn't been for the wimpy option.

We opted out of Test Trak. We both have neck problems, and if anything would have affected us, that probably would have.

We then went to the Wonders of Life pavillion. It was really empty. I'm not sure if no one knew it was open or if people were too busy riding "the big 3". We rode Body Wars and saw Cranium Command. Okay, I think I understand why this pavillion is usually closed. Both attractions were pretty mediocre. I have heard Body Wars compared to Star Tours. I LOVE Star Tours. I wasn't really impressed with Body Wars.

Then we went back to the Land Pavillion, grabbed a snack, and headed to Soarin'. Wow! I had never been on that one. (T had). I was blown away!! Okay, yes, that was a pun...

After Soarin' we decided to head over to Fort Wilderness for our HDDR reservation. On our way out we took a picture in front of Spaceship Earth.

We then took the monorails to TTC and MK. From there we took the launch to Fort Wilderness. We arrived 2 hours early (we had been told to arrive 1 hour early) for our 9:30 reservation. We went to Pioneer Hall and picked up our tickets. When I looked at the tickets, I started jumping up and down. We got table 13!!!!! Now, for those of you who didn't read Stallion's TR, that is Lucky Table 13! This is the front and center table for 2. Having never seen the HDDR before, we weren't sure just what that meant, but we couldn't wait to find out. Problem was, we had to wait to find out. It's not easy being compulsively early...

We went to the trading Post and spent as much time as we could possibly use up looking around. Then we went to sit in the rocking chairs on the front porch of Trail's End Cafe. While sitting there we met a couple from Cincinatti who were celebrating their 4th anniversary.

Then, DH tried on a hat.

Finally, after watching a little boy run around in circles making his Grandparents crazy , it was time to go in. Sure enough, our table was front and center. You can see the edge of the stage at the top of the photo.

Here's Pioneer Hall looking back from our table.

The food was okay, but the show was really fun, and the cornbread was awesome. The Sangria was very strong (and included with dinner), so I got a little schnockered (it doesn't take much). During the show, we found ourselves the objects of many jokes. Of course, it was all the funnier with the Sangria. At one point they asked all of the newlyweds and couples celebrating anniversaries to stand up and dance to "Let Me Call You Sweetheart". The dessert (strawberry shortcake) was yummy.

By this time it was really late. We went out to the busses, and went to the bus which would take us back to the Swan. After we were seated, a man came on the bus who had been brought up on stage and put in a ridiculous costume during the show. He had been visibly embarrassed at the time. When he got on the bus, the whole bus applauded him.

Now, remember, we had been awake since 5AM, so we were beat. I don't remember much more than setting the wake-up call and hitting the pillow. What a great first day at WDW!

Just ahead--Our Year of A Million Dreams Prize

 

[lexmelinda]

Sheesh...did I not post here? I read this and thought you did a fine job, Mrs. T!!! Now I'm wondering about the HDDR. I'm wondering if it's worth 2 credits to eat the kind of thing I can cook at home any night of the week. Was the show that good? Bonus on lucky table 13! Hope Mr. T is feeling better soon. Thanks for the update.

 

[tinawv]

I love your pictures and I am really your enjoying TR. Can't wait to read more.

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Now I'm wondering about the HDDR. I'm wondering if it's worth 2 credits to eat the kind of thing I can cook at home any night of the week. Was the show that good?

The show was a lot of fun. The acting and singing was fantastic. And yes, it was corny, but it was supposed to be corny. If you can do that for 2 credits, I would. It's not about the food. It's about the experience.

T is still sick, and I am starting to get sick now, but at least the three kids will finally be back in school on Monday. Nothing like being sick and having to take care of sick kids at the same time.

--Mrs. T

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I love your pictures and I am really your enjoying TR. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for reading! We're posting the next installment with additional pictures...

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Day 2 (Joint effort as both of us are sick but Mr. T at the wheel)

I woke up early on day 2 and let DW sleep in a bit. I walked over to the Dolphin for coffee and breakfast. I wandered a bit trying to find Picabu and saw the lobby Christmas tree.

Picabu's at the Dolphin actually brews Starbuck's coffee , NOT Nescafe!!! I should have bought the refillable mugs at this point, but I was not entirely awake quite yet. I fixed the error on Day 3, but I'd recommend anyone staying at the Dolphin or the Swan for a few days purchase these at the outset. I also got the egg sandwich on the ciabatta bun for DW and I to split. The sandwich was fine but your typical Starwood hotel high pricing. The coffee on the other hand was outstanding and similarly high priced.

We got ourselves together and headed to MGM on the launch. The trip took about 7-8 minutes. We arrived at MGM about 5-10 minutes after opening. Since we both have neck problems, the two biggies: ToT & RnR were not on our touring plan. So, we headed straight to Star Tours. DW, and I to a lesser degree, have been Star Wars fans since the 70s. We pretty much walked on the ride with no wait and boarded our shuttle at around 9:30. Immediately before departure, two CMs entered the shuttle and asked "Who likes to stand in lines?" In response, he passed out Dream Fastpasses to everyone in the shuttle!! For anyone not familiar, Dream Fastpasses are one of the prizes that Disney is giving away as part of its Year of a Million Dreams (YOMD) promotion. This prize includes a Fastpass for use at anytime at each of the park's fastpass attractions.

While at the Endor moon, I took a ride on a speeder and boy was it fast.

We then moved on to Muppet Vision 3D, which for those of us who grew up with the Muppet Show was quite fun. I think the 3D in Philharmagic is better, but this was still cool. We then had a string of no line character meets. We weren't really trying to meet characters on this trip, but for some reason, we kept seeing characters with no lines. Besides, DW felt the need to tell Darth Vader that she felt the good in him.

And, since we were on OUR anniversary, I figured I had to see how things were going with Buzz and Jessie.

We also took a few for our youngest who is a big Cars fan.

We then had a quick lunch at the ABC Commissary. My cuban sandwich was okay. DW did not care for the curry chicken. We then used one of our fastpasses to get into the Indiana Jones stunt show. We enjoyed the show with all the action and pyrotechnics. Immediately after the show, the line at Star Tours was huge. We pulled the tab from our Dream FP and walked on again. For the thousanth time that day, DW commented that Star Tours was her favorite ride in all of WDW.

We then went on the Great Movie Ride. We enjoyed the ride and felt that we probably would need to prep our younger two children before we took them on it. Upon exiting, we saw that Little Mermaid had a show about to start, and we happened to have our Dream FPs handy. We weren't planning on actually seeing this show since we were sans kids, but given the FP opportunity and a show about to start...

We then went to ride the Backlot Tour attraction. This was the longest line of our entire trip. I think part of the line was the result of the ride being out of commission for a good part of the morning. It was fun, and DW got to see some Star Wars props.

After the backlot tour, we wandered through the ubiquitous shop that appears at the end of every attraction. This one had a digital camera station that allowed the photographer to embed faces into old movie posters. We are now the proud owners of a Return of the Jedi poster with me doing my Harrison Ford impression and DW doing her Carrie Fisher one. I've seen both good and bad attempts to do these kind of image merges, but this one was dead on. The photographer spent several minutes getting us to turn or tilt our heads the right way and to modify our expressions in certain ways. At one of the stands outside this attraction, we picked up a Lighting McQueen stuffed toy for our youngest, and I saw a Jedi Mickey stuff toy that I almost purchased. I should have as you will see as the next couple of days unfold.

We then got seats for the Beauty and the Beast show. I left DW to hold the seats while I got snacks. I had seen the show back in January when we had our family trip, but DW was split off with our youngest to see the Playhouse Disney show. I really enjoyed the preshow as much as I had the last time. I won't comment more so as not to spoil it. The actual show was also terrific.

We then proceeded to the HBD for our 4:30 Fantasmic dinner package reservation. (Earlier in the day we had briefly stopped in at HBD to use the rest room. While DW was out of sight, I spoke with one of the hostesses (Rennie) to mention our anniversary, which I did not think DW had indicated when she made the reservation. She quickly found the reservation and added the celebration information before DW reappeared.) We were seated fairly quickly at a booth, and our server Kimberly introduced herself and explained how the dinner package worked.

Much like the dining plan, we each could choose any appetizer, entree and dessert from the menu for the fixed price. I had the crab cake appetizer, and DW had the brie and oyster soup. Both were outstanding. For entrees, I had the filet, and DW had the Ahi tuna. My filet was fabulous as was DW's Ahi which was encrusted with seeds. I had a glass of the Silverado cabernet with my steak. The wine went very well; Kimberly told us a little about the connection of the winery with the Disney family. For desserts, I had the white chocolate praline cheesecake, and DW had a banana white chocolate toffee something. Both were very good. The meal ended on a complimentar champagne toast brought out by Kimberly in celebration of our anniversary. This meal won my vote for best meal of the trip. DW's favorite is yet to come on Day 4. We proceeded to use our DDE card to get our 20% discount off the check. Kimberly did a great job as our server.

We took a leisurely walk to the dinner package entrance to Fantasmic. The entrance is right at the entrance to the park immediately past the Garage. It's a pretty good walk to get to the seating area. The rightmost two sections of the seating area were roped off and reserved for the dinner package people. We selected seats towards the top and waited for the show to start. Once the area was filled, the spectators started an impromptu wave going back and forth for about 10 minutes until the show started. Neither of us had seen this show before. We were both amazed. The projection onto water was stunning. This is another attraction where we will need to prep the kids before attending. DW intends to use an episode of Blue's Clues about controlling your dreams before we take the kids this summer. I'm still not sure whether we will take our youngest, but we will see how the prep goes.

After the show we made our way back to Star Tours, which was empty. We rode it three more times in rapid succession. Each shuttle trip prefaced with a comment from DW as to her view that this was her favorite ride in WDW. At 8PM, the ride shut down. We contemplated buying some things at the ubiquitous store at the end of the ride. I was particularly interested in one image of Jedi Mickey on a speeder on the Endor moon for my office at work, but it was just too expensive.

We then headed back to the launch and returned to the Swan where we collapsed into bed.

Up for Day 3 - Epcot, 1st Class on Soarin' and an Illumniation's Cruise.

 

[kimwim8]

I love your report! The pictures help me envision what was going on, and you're so descriptive - it's awesome! I love, also that it's coming from both of your perspectives!

Thanks again for sharing!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

I love your report! The pictures help me envision what was going on, and you're so descriptive - it's awesome! I love, also that it's coming from both of your perspectives!

Thanks! It was actually a bit of a challenge on the whole picture thing. Without the kids on the trip, we had to remind ourselves to take pictures. When we travel with the children, they tend to be the obvious candidates for picture taking.

I think part of the fun of putting together the TR is the two of us sitting on the couch reminiscing about the trip and what we did. It helps to fix the memories in place. We're also using some portions of the trip to begin sketching out our plan for the family trip in July.

 

[lexmelinda]

Great job, Mr & Mrs T!! Don't know how I missed this update? What a great day! Mr T, can you fill the refillable mugs with Starbucks? Now that's deal! We call it "Four-bucks". Heh, heh.

Wow, the Christmas tree is awesome....oh how I would love to see the World at Christmas time....ahhh.

And dream fastpasses???? Wow! Too bad you can't ride RnR and ToT. I think I might've stayed on ToT all day. Don't you LOVE Beauty & the Beast. It is one of my favorite shows at Disney. The preshow was not "showing" the day we were there. Is that the accupella(?) group?

Mrs T....I did not ride Star Tours cause things that spin and shake my tummy are a no-go for me. Since I had already done RnR and ToT that morning, I opted out on Star Tours....maybe next time.

The meal at HBD sounds great! Ahi is one of my absolute favorites. Can't wait to hear what Mrs. T's favorite meal was! Great job, guys....get well soon!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

Great job, Mr & Mrs T!! Don't know how I missed this update? What a great day! Mr T, can you fill the refillable mugs with Starbucks? Now that's deal! We call it "Four-bucks". Heh, heh.

Yes. Picabu brews Starbucks coffee. We had our Starbucks refills once I picked up the mugs the morning of day 3. Now, if I could only use them at the local Starbucks here in atlanta, but alas...

And dream fastpasses???? Wow! Too bad you can't ride RnR and ToT. I think I might've stayed on ToT all day. Don't you LOVE Beauty & the Beast. It is one of my favorite shows at Disney. The preshow was not "showing" the day we were there. Is that the accupella(?) group?

Yes the acapella group is the preshow. They were a hoot. We also loved the actual show itself. DD9 has since informed me that it is too short. During her visit to camp Grandma (a.k.a. the Saint) for about a week or so, she got to see the Broadway version. I think I need to make a compelling case to visit camp Grandma along with her this coming summer, particularly when Grandma can somehow score 3rd row orchestra seats.

Mrs T....I did not ride Star Tours cause things that spin and shake my tummy are a no-go for me. Since I had already done RnR and ToT that morning, I opted out on Star Tours....maybe next time.

(Handing the keyboard to DW to wax poetic on the Star Tours experience)
Ahhh...Star Tours! The feeling of travelling through hyperspace and arriving just in time to destroy the deathstar. At least we rode it enough times to make up for you missing it on your trip.

The meal at HBD sounds great! Ahi is one of my absolute favorites. Can't wait to hear what Mrs. T's favorite meal was! Great job, guys....get well soon!

Since I may not get around to posting a dining review, here's a picture of DW's medium Ahi tuna crusted in seeds from HBD.

I'm also posting the following picture of my Ahi at Flying Fish a few nights later, as I probably won't include it in the main portion of the report.