2 Nerds, a Vegetarian and a Ninja walk into the Magic Kingdom Update 4/7

[Reddog1134]

Welcome to our first real trip report. I say "our" because my wife is also a DISer (Holleypie) although she posts infrequently. However, I'm hoping she'll help me with this. We had a 2 week stay back in October but really haven't found the time to do a trip report. So I figure, If a lot of people subscribe to this thread then we'll have no choice to do the report. I mean, we can't keep a bunch of people waiting, can we?

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introductions
2. Day 1 - Part 1 - Arrival
3. Day 1 - Part 2 - Magic Kingdom
4. Day 1 - Part 3 - Extra Magic Hours
5. Day 2 - Part 1 - The Morning After
6. Day 2 - Part 2 - Universal Studios
7. Day 2 - Part 3 - Ninja vs Gator...FIGHT!!!
8. Day 2 - Part 4 - We Embarrass Tom at Dinner
9. Day 3 - Part 1 - This is not SPARTA!!!
10. Day 3 - Part 2 - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
11. Day 3 - Part 3 - Boo to You
12. Day 4 - Part 1 - Wizarding World of Harry Potter
12a. Bonus room pics

Any way I'll give you the origin of our trip. Back in May of '09 we visited WDW. It was our 2nd trip together. After our first trip I realized how much I really liked visiting the world and wanted to come back as soon as we could (ended up being 2 years). My wife likes anything that gets her out of state, especially if it's in a warmer climate. So during the 2nd trip we saw several DVC signs which I recognized as the same Disney Vacation Club I had heard about at work. My job keeps me on the phone a lot and one of the people I talk to frequently was a member. We got to talking about Disney one day and he mentioned DVC. To make a long story short (too late) we bought points at AKV.

I immediately decided 3 things about our next trip.

1. I wanted to visit during my birthday.
2. I wanted to stay for 2 weeks so we could do everything we wanted to do but not rush ourselves.
3. I wanted to invite some friends along with us.

I decided on October 10th - 23rd in a 1br savanna view room at Kidani Village. Now we just had to find someone to go with us.

Who would it be?????

Introductions and Pictures will follow shortly.​

 

[Reddog1134]

By now, you're all probably wondering who we are and what we look like. So I'll commence with the introductions.

I'm Brian. I'm a customer service representative for a company that distributes periodicals. I'm a big Disney fan although I seemed to have forgotten that for many years. I also like movies, TV, games and a bunch of other really nerdy stuff.

Here I am trying to look silly in a Viking helmet from our 2nd trip.

Next up is my wife, Holly. She's a medical transcriber by day and a writer...well all of the time. She loves to read and travel. I've managed to corrupt her into liking some of the nerdy things I love.

Here she is on our 2nd trip after we just won a contest at "What's you Problem?"

So who did we decide to invite with us?

Holly's brother Lou. He's a manager at a local store. He likes music and the movie 300. I've given him several 300 items as gifts.

He also apparently REALLY likes chocolate milk.

Also, Lou's wife Becca. She also likes music and teaching. Which is why she became a teacher.

So with the cast set we just had to get our tickets and we were ready to go? Right? WRONG!!!

When we planned this trip Becca was just getting ready to finish college. A few months later she lined up a teaching job and had to drop out of the trip. So that, of course, meant Lou was out too.

We asked a few other people but no one was able to commit. So we bought our park tickets and booked our flight. We also booked a car rental and planned a trip for just the two of us.

Holly asked if we could do a split stay so I changed our first 3 days to a Studio at OKW. I figured since it was just the 2 of us, a studio would be fine for a few days.

Then one day we were talking to Holly's friend Alison about the trip. She said "I want to go". We hopped on the computer and booked her flight right then and there.

Alison loves animals (so we knew she would love Animal Kingdom) and has had many jobs. I could tell you what she does for a living but her job would probably change by the time I finish this sentence.

We now had 3 people, but since 3 is an odd number we started asking around again to see if anyone else wanted to go. Another friend of Holly, Tom, was very interested but had some things going on at his job. We marked him down as a maybe.

Finally, about a month before the trip, Tom said he would be able to make it but only for the 1st week of our trip.

Tom is one of Holly's friends from college. (Correction: He is my friend from high school. -Holly) He is a tutor and he had never been to WDW. He likes Pokemon and Chick-fil-a. He camps out at Chick-fil-a grand openings just so he can get a free years worth of meals. He was looking forward to visiting the Japan pavilion for their Pokemon items.

So finally, we had our group.







Or so we thought.

Just after Tom confirmed he would be going, Alison announced she had to drop out. She had unexpected hospital bills come up and couldn't afford the trip. We were back down to 3.

While visiting Holly's family, we told them about Alison and Holly's younger sister said "I'll go with you." She said she could only go for the first week, too but Yah!!! We were back up to 4. We booked her a seat on our plane right away and had her buy Alisons park tickets.

Tabby works at a local store. She thinks she's a Ninja and decided during our trip that she loves alligators.

Don't let the picture fool you. That's how Ninjas operate. They appear all docile and then WHAM!!!

So FINALLY we had our group. Or did we?

No, we really had our group this time. I tried to change our studio to a 1BR but was unable to book it for the 1st night. That was OK. It was only for 1 night.

Coming soon - Day 1​

 

[CreightonsMomma]

I'm in!

Holydrama batman!! My goodness.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Reddog1134]

I'm in!

Holydrama batman!! My goodness.

Can't wait to read more!

Alright!!! My first follower. Thanks for dropping by.

 

[TanzUnited99]

I'm in too!! Wow you guys had a lot of drama arranging your group together - am glad you got an even number in the end!

Look forward to reading more

 

[laur05]

im in

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Ok, you got me. Now I need to stick around and see who really goes on this trip with you.

 

[Reddog1134]

Woohoo!!! 3 more followers.

My wife (Holleypie) said she wanted to do the next update. We hope to have something posted for you this weekend.

Ok, you got me. Now I need to stick around and see who really goes on this trip with you.

That's the group that went. Me, Holly, Tom and Tabby. I promise I won't change it on you again. (or maybe I will. I'm going with whatever will keep you around.)

 

[Cory's Gal]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear about a 2 week trip!! Love the revolving cast!!

~Beth

 

[Reddog1134]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear about a 2 week trip!! Love the revolving cast!!

~Beth

Hopefully we can remember enough so that it actually reads like a 2 week trip.

We DO have a lot of pictures for reference and I think Holly took notes. Plus, I'm not above making stuff up.

 

[7165red]

I'm in.

 

[holleypie]

Hello! This is Brian's lovely wife, Holly, with the next installment of our trip report. This is riveting stuff. I hope you're ready for it. Brian's editorial comments are in green.

A few days before our trip, I'd read horror stories on this board about families being separated because they waited until they got to the airport to check in for their flight. This terrified me, so I knew we would have to do online check-in exactly 24 hours before our flight to make sure our seats were together. Tabby had never been on an airplane before, and like any good paranoid overprotective sister, I wanted to be there to comfort her in case she had a panic attack. But then two days before the trip I made a hair appointment for 10am on Saturday...exactly the time I needed to do the online check in. Brian took care of it, though, and got us seats in two adjacent rows.

Brian (who basically planned the whole trip while I rolled my eyes and was generally not-helpful) had originally planned for our arrival day to be a non-park day. But he also wanted to spend a late night at Magic Kingdom, and Magic Kingdom had Extra Magic Hours until 2am the night we arrived. So, that became the new plan. (The only other evening EMH at MK for the entire 2 weeks was the day we were leaving.)

My husband is a very smart man. He packed a few days before our trip, got all his stuff in order, and then went to bed early Saturday night. The rest of us...well, we were not so smart. On Saturday, my to-do list was still a mile long. I had to clean the house, make our matching t-shirts, PACK, and finish revisions on a new novel so I could send it off to my agent and not worry about it during our trip. Brian helped me with the cleaning and t-shirts, but I didn't finish my edits until 4 am. The whole time, I was online talking to Tom, who was also packing and cleaning. Just before I went to bed I checked facebook and saw that my sister was still awake too! The three of us each got less than three hours sleep.

We woke up bright and early on Sunday morning anyway, and Brian and I drove over to my parents' house where we met up with Tabby. My dad drove the three of us to the airport. Our tradition is to get a picture in front of the airport before we leave for trips, but Tom was meeting us there and he was nowhere to be found, so I didn't get a complete group shot like I wanted.

Inside, we found Tom in the AirTran line and joined him. Brian hadn't been able to print our boarding passes, so we needed to do that and also check our luggage.

We made it through security without incident and some of us grabbed breakfast from McDonald's while we waited to board.

On the flight, Brian and Tom sat together, with me and Tabby in the row ahead of them. I worried for nothing because Tabby was totally fine (in fact, a few months after our trip she decided she wanted to be a pilot and she took FLYING LESSONS. She actually FLEW A PLANE.) (Beware of flying ninjas) Tabby listened to her ipod, read the in-flight magazine, and stared at the clouds because I had graciously given her the window seat.

I read a copy of Redbook that my mom had given me that morning because it had Lauren Graham on the cover, then listened to an episode of This American Life, where David Sedaris did a hilarious bit about a strap-on catheter called the Stadium Pal. For hours after the flight I kept wanting to make funny catheter references, but then I would remember that no one else had listened to the show and would just think I was a weirdo. (i listened to my Ipod and read the inflight magazines.)

The flight from BWI to MCO is only two hours, so it passed pretty quickly. We picked up our luggage, then went to get our rental car. When Brian and I picked up our rental car on our honeymoon, the lady gave us trouble because our last names are different and she didn't believe we were married (the reservations were in his name, but we were using my credit card, or something). We tried to explain to her that we had only been married for a WEEK, and she finally relented and said she would "let it slide." I still haven't changed my name, due to several reasons both feminist and logistical, so I brought along a copy of our marriage license in case we ran into trouble again. Of course this time they didn't question us at all when we told them we were married.

When we booked our rental car, we weren't taking into account that we would need to transport four people and their suitcases. This is the large, overly spacious vehicle we had on our last trip when it was just the two of us:

That is not the vehicle we got on this trip. They let us pick out our own compact car and I don't remember who chose, but we ended up with a Hyundai Accent. The windows and doors were NOT automatic. I didn't think they still made cars that weren't automatic! Cranking the windows by hand...actually sticking the key in the door to unlock it...it felt so antiquated. Not to mention we couldn't click the alarm to help find the car in a crowded parking lot. And Brian had to ask me, "Did you lock the door?" nearly every single time we parked. I'm not kidding. I remembered to lock the door maybe three times in two weeks. (I only remember you locking it once. But who's counting? Oh, wait...I was.)

Once I realized how crowded our compact car would be with four people and seven pieces of luggage, I wished I'd thought about looking into having two of us take Magical Express to the resort while the other two escorted the luggage in the rental car. But we planned to go to lunch before we checked into the resort, so I'm not sure we would have done that anyway. We managed to cram most of the suitcases in the trunk, then Tom and I sat in the backseat with my suitcase between us and let Tabby have shotgun. Of course Brian was designated driver for the entire trip.

Even though we now have a Sonic relatively nearby in Maryland, it's still one of our traditions to hit them up whenever we're on vacation. We hooked up TomTom (the GPS...not to be confused with FriendTom) and punched in the address for Sonic. Using TomTom is a total crapshoot. One time in Texas he led us to the middle of the woods and claimed we were at Target. (I still believe there was a Target somewhere back there.) But that day TomTom cooperated and took us straight to Sonic. The outdoor seating didn't look too crowded so we decided to park and eat there.

When we got out of the car, Brian spotted his first tiny lizard so we had to stop for a photo shoot.

THEN it was time to eat.

After lunch we headed to...

and then to...

We'd finally arrived "home" for our first DVC stay on WDW property!

Coming Soon: How late will we survive EMH at Magic Kingdom???

 

[TanzUnited99]

Thanks for the on being aware of flying ninjas...will definitely keep a look out! Am glad you made it to Orlando safely

Looking forward to hearing about EMH at MK and how long the three of you can survive on 3 hours sleep!!

 

[NMW]

subscribing

 

[Reddog1134]

When we got to Old Key West it was around 2pm. I parked the car in the lot near the Hospitality House and walked over to the lobby while everyone else stayed by the car. I had done online check-in because I was told it's faster and the line is shorter. When I got to the lobby, there was no one waiting in line and check-in didn't seem any quicker than other check-ins I have done.

Not that it was slow, I just didn't see a difference. I gave the CM my name and he looked up my reservation. He told me my room was already ready and gave me my room keys and welcome packet. I thanked him and headed back to the car. Everyone piled back in and we headed to our room. I don't recall the room number we were in but the building was all the way in the back of the resort and we were on the 3rd floor.

My original plan had been to unpack my bags and then relax for the rest of the evening. Maybe we would go to Downtown Disney or perhaps just walk around the resort. However, as mentioned earlier, when the park hours were released, I discovered there were only 2 evening EMHs at MK during our entire stay. One on our first day and one on our last. I really wanted to do a late night EMH at Magic Kingdom. I had never done one before and I knew the park would be fairly empty. Also, we had changed our original room reservation so we were only in this room for one night. So instead of unpacking and relaxing, we dropped off our bags, checked out the room a little bit and then headed to the Magic Kingdom.

This was my and Holly's 3rd trip in 4 years. Tabby hadn't been in about 5 years but it was a first for Tom. How would he react?

I parked the car. Then we hopped on the tram and headed for the TTC.

Tom had not bought his tickets yet even though I told him many times to order them online before we left. So he had to stop and purchase them. He also got a First Visit button.

I took this opportunity to pick up our tickets for MNSSHP. (I love Halloween) I went to the ticket booth and gave them my information.

They printed up my tickets and handed them to me. That's when our pre-trip rotating cast problems came back to haunt me. When I originally ordered the tickets, our group consisted of Holly, Alison and me. Those tickets were for the 19th. When Alison dropped out and Tom and Tabby joined up, I had to add a ticket and change the dates of the others because they were leaving on the 17th. When I called to make those changes, the CM on the phone was very friendly and assured me there was no problem changing the dates. Well, there wasn't a problem changing the dates. But apparently there was a problem changing them to the correct dates. The tickets were dated for the party on the 17th. I asked for the 12th. I knew I gave the correct information because the additional ticket I asked for was dated for the 12th. I explained that the dates were incorrect and asked if they could be corrected. After a few minutes of trying, the CM had to call a manager over. "Great", I thought, "I just got here and I'm already having difficulties." Then the other voice in my head said "Don't worry. You're at Disney." The CM explained what she was trying to do but the manager said they could not make changes. She called over to Guest relations and talked to someone there. She then informed me that I would have to go over there. They would give me a refund for the 3 tickets and then immediately sell me 3 new tickets. I thanked them for their assistance and started heading over to the park. Then the 2nd problem of the trip came. I knew it was going to happen and I should have been proactive. Ferry or Monorail? It could have potentially stalled our vacation indefinitely. Then I remembered the immortal words of Lyle Lanley. "What'd I say? MONORAIL. What's it called? Monorail." I mean, if it's good enough for the citizens of Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook then it was certainly good enough for us. We boarded the Monorail and started our way to MK.

Once we entered the park I immediately headed over to guest relations after taking in all the awesome Halloween decorations (I love Halloween).

Of course, there was a line out the door. While I was waiting in line, Holly spotted her favorite Disney character doing a meet and greet. She and Tabby headed over to get their pictures taken with Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger, too). (Winnie the Pooh! As far as I was concerned, our trip to Magic Kingdom started off perfectly. Of course I was letting my husband handle all of the problems...-Holly)

Meanwhile, I was still waiting in line.

Eventually, I made it to the front of the line. I was almost there. You know that feeling when you're "next"? Isn't that a great feeling? You've put in your time in the line and now it's all about to pay off because you're "next". Then finally, a CM off to the side called out "Can I help the next guest?" Well, the woman behind me must have wanted me to retain that feeling a little longer because she stepped right over to be helped. What a sucker. She never got to be "next". A few minutes later, another CM called out and I was finally being helped. It took a few minutes but I got new tickets with the correct dates and I was ready to enjoy the magic. Holly had gotten me a Birthday button from a CM out front and pinned it to my shirt. My birthday wasn't for a few more days but I wore it proudly any way. Tom had wandered off into the Emporium so we had to go collect him and then we made our way to Adventureland. I know, you're saying "Adventureland? You're supposed to go counter-clockwise. Tommorowland is first." But we bucked the system and cut our own path. Jungle Cruise had a little bit of a wait so we grabbed fast passes. We then headed to the Enchanted Tiki Room. The Tiki Room was one of those attractions I had never experienced and it was on my TO-DO list. For all you old-school fans out there, don't worry. A few months earlier, Holly and I got to experience the original at Disneyland. After a short wait, we were ushered into the attraction and found some seats. I am very forgiving so I won't say it was bad but this was Tom's first Disney attraction and I sort of felt embarrassed. I felt as if he was going to say "Really? This is your idea of a good time?" If he felt that way, he didn't say so. Tabby looked like she was angry about having to sit through it. (Tom loves Iago so I think he actually enjoyed the show. I was just happy that the seats had backs. The Tiki Room at Disneyland was torture!) Next we headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean.

A personal favorite. Of course, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. Our fastpass time was coming up relatively soon so we looked in a few stores and took in the sights.

Then it was time for Jungle Cruise.

Our skipper was alright. He wasn't bad but he wasn't spectacular either. Just an average cruise. Everyone had fun though. About this time we started getting hungry so we grabbed some Splash Mountain Fast Passes and headed to my favorite CS restaurant, Columbia Harbour House. I like it because the food is relatively good and cheap and I like sitting upstairs and looking out the windows. (Me too! It's rare to find a quiet, peaceful place at WDW) We got in line and ordered our food. When we got to the pickup counter, a CM noticed my button and they all started to sing a birthday song to me.

Then I pointed to Tom's button and said "Do you have a song for First Visit?" They said "Yes...but we don't know how it goes". Poor Tom. NO SONG FOR YOU. Tom and I both got the chicken nuggets with fries. Tabby got the fried shrimp basket and Holly got the vegetarian chili (If it wasn't mentioned before, she's a vegetarian.)

(Okay, I enjoy taking pictures of food. Even ordinary food. Even food that I wouldn't eat. Brian's gotten used to this, but Tom and Tabby were weirded out. Tom asked me, "Do you REALLY need to take a picture of MY chicken nuggets too?" And I said, "Um...yes.")

After dinner we headed to Tomorrowland. The line for Space Mountain was kind of long so we rode the People Mover instead. I kinda like Stitch's Great Escape so I suggested it but Holly said "NO". She's pretty easy going so when she actually does say "NO", you know she means it. So we started to head back to Frontierland but made a stop at the greatest attraction of all time.

Of course everyone loved it. Our fastpasses were now usable so we rode Splash Mountain and got soaked.

Tabby works nights and it was around 8 or 9pm so it started to catch up to her. We took her back to the room so she could go to sleep and Tom and Holly could put on some dry clothes in preparation for our long night. I'm always warm so I must radiate heat because my clothes were dry by the time we got back to the room.

Next: How late did we actually make it?​

 

[TanzUnited99]

Am glad you managed to sort out the MNSSHP tickets and enjoyed your day at MK! Love the photos of the Halloween decorations!

Looking forward to hearing about EMH at MK!

 

[glennbo123]

Looks like this TR is going to be a fun ride Reddog.

 

[holleypie]

After we cut the dead weight and left Tabby at the room, we headed back to MK and decided to take the ferry this time.

I get claustrophobic on the monorail so I prefer the ferry. Since we were heading back so late, we were the only three people there. We headed up to the second level and stood at the front so we'd have a great view of Magic Kingdom as we approached.

Then just before we took off, we realized we were NOT the only people on the ferry. One guy appeared and joined us in our corner. I thought maybe he was lonely and wanted to chat, but he...didn't. He just sat uncomfortably close and avoided eye contact. It reminded me of the time I went to the movies by myself in the middle of the day, and the entire theater was empty, until a guy walked in and sat down one seat away from me. Weiiiiiird.

When we arrived on Main Street, the Electrical Parade was passing by so we stopped on the street for a few minutes to watch. Then, our first order of business was The Laugh Floor, which I LOVE even though I'm terrified they'll put me on screen.

To intensify my fear, Brian always tries to sit in a row where we'll be more likely to be picked. (I actually have no idea where the "hot seats" are. But she's right, I would do it if I knew. -Brian) Fortunately, we escaped without public humiliation. Unfortunately, they did not use any of the hilarious jokes we'd texted to them while we waited for the show to start. (A nurse walks into the doctors office and says "Doctor, the Invisible Man is in the waiting room". The doctor says "Tell him I can't see him".)

Next, we headed to Space Mountain and then Buzz Lightyear.

The lines were practically non-existent at this point which made me happy because I am the most impatient person in the world. I think anything longer than a 15 minute wait is excessive. You can imagine how much fun Brian has waiting in line with me for, say, Toy Story Midway Mania.

After the ride, we made Tom pose for a photo to match the ones Brian and I took on our 2009 trip.

Don't be confused by the fact that Brian is wearing the same Green Lantern t-shirt. This was, in fact, taken in 2009.

Next we rode Big Thunder Mountain, because it's better in the dark. (Last year we got to ride it during the fireworks. Awe-some.) Then we made our way over to Fantasyland, hitting a few dark rides that were walk-ons since all the children were sound asleep in their hotel rooms--Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Scary Adventures, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. If we'd tried to tackle that during the day we probably would have spent 4x as long just waiting in line for Peter Pan!

We could have kept going, but sadly the cast members were ready to pack it up and head home. We'd successfully closed the park!

We stopped at Main Street Bakery for a snack on our way out. Tom and I split the brownie. Brian got a cherry danish and a cheese danish--he ate one and then saved the other for breakfast the next day.

Back at the room, we got ready for bed as quietly as possible so we wouldn't disturb sleeping Tabby. Since we were in a studio that night, poor Tom was stuck on the floor. I don't know about the boys, but I fell asleep right away. We planned to sleep in the next morning and recover.

Next: We leave Disney to visit Universal Studios and ride my favorite roller coaster!​

 

[TanzUnited99]

Can't believe you had enough energy to keep going after 3 hours sleep!

Looking forward to hearing about your day at Universal Studios.

 

[holleypie]

Can't believe you had enough energy to keep going after 3 hours sleep!

At the beginning of the day I honestly didn't think I would make it, but those empty queues were so enticing!