exwdwcm
wishes she was Wendy Moira Angela Darling
- Joined
- Aug 19, 1999
- Messages
- 5,046
Thursday, December 8
Me- Michelle, 32, marketing manager, married to a non-disney guy, no kids (but trying now!), former cast member (wdwcp in 1996), the pefectionist/organizer/trip NAZI
Mom- "MawMaw", 50s, married 35 years, recently retired, the generous one! Had brain surgery (pitutary gland)last year that might slow her down a bit this trip as she gets tired more
Dad- "PawPaw", 50s, along for the ride, our driver and constantly pulling out his wallet to pay for stuff!
Great Aunt- Marion or "Auntie", 60s, first time ever to WDW! recently retired as well!
Sister- Mandy, "NeNe", 28, special ed teacher, not big into disney, but loves to go with us, calls her "schmoopy" (boyfriend for those that don't get the Seinfeld reference) every night
Sister- Wendy, 30, paralegal, married with 2 year old, huge Disney NUT and the comedian of the family
Bro in Law- Mike, turned 30 on the trip, married to Wendy, and another comedian and great dad to little Ally
Ally- Mike and Wendy's little angel, 2.4 years old (terrible twos!!!), the first grandkid in our family and completely SPOILED ROTTEN (we love it!)
Another day at the parks and Mickey woke us up, (as Wendy hung up on him mid sentence!) at 7:30am. We did our usual breakfast in the room and headed to MGM this morning for park opening. Ally wasnt feeling well today and had a bit of a cough. With the rainy, cold weather, they decided to keep her in most of the day and let her rest.
It was sprinkling today, so we all had prepared our rain gear. My mom got us everything we needed for our trip, including ponchos from home, so we didnt have to contribute like $8 for a poncho to the mickey fund. MGM opened at 9am today and were there just before opening. We headed to Tower of Terror for a second ride of our trip. Auntie decided she would sit this one out after her previous experience of being lifted from her seat! Wendy, Mike and Ally had gone on their own way today, so it was just my parents, Mandy and I riding. We had a great trip, about 5 drops!
Next, we headed to the shops and did, you guessed it, more shopping! Auntie bought a really cute rain slicker. My 99cent poncho was holding up pretty well, so I was fine. We killed time by getting a hot chocolate while we waited for the 10am beauty and the beast show. It was a great show as always. Then we headed to the Backlot Tour. Still raining though, so the special effects water show wasnt working. They dont run it in the rain. The CM warned us while getting on the tram that we might get wet well duh, we are already soaked from the rain! The Backlot tour was a waste of time- since they now use much of the Backlot area for the new motor, lights, action stunt show, it just wasnt the same. No more Golden Girls house etc. We were disappointed. We saw some of the stunt show going on, but never could time it right to see it. I hadnt heard great reviews of it, so we were okay with missing it.
Next we tried to do Millionaire. I really had this on my things to do this trip list. We missed our time though by a few minutes, so we decided to do the walk through on Walt One Mans Dream. We all really enjoyed it and I am glad we did it. I had heard how great this exhibit was. The movie at the end even had Mandy a little teary eyed about what a great man Walt was and she is the least Disney-fied of our family. Definitely see this exhibit if you can.
By that time it was time for our reservation at 50s Prime Time. WE love this restaurant. Sure the food isnt perfect, but we love the atmosphere and theming. Okay, well I do love the smores! We checked in for our 12pm seating and waited about 20 minutes. Once again, a huge line to check in and the CMs came out multiple times telling people that if you didnt have a reservation, forget it. It is still raining and dark and dreary. Finally the peters family is called and seated. Manny is our server. He was good, but not great. We had Aunt Brenda last time, and I guess after her, everyone is a disappointment. But we still had a good time. Dad had the chicken pot pie and loved it. Mandy and I shared a turkey sandwich and fries. They brought them on separate plates with huge portions of fries for each of us. We also shared some herb cheese dip and bread first. Yummy! Auntie had a chicken sandwich. Manny brought Auntie a bib to wear which was pretty cute!
I dont eat lettuce, so I pulled it off my sandwich and Mandy tried to tattle on me Manny made her write I will not tattle 3 times! Our cousins next to us at other tables were having fun too. One lady tried to hide a green bean she didnt eat and the waiter found it. He brought out a sundae of green beans with whip cream for them for dessert! We were stuffed after lunch, but decided to go for dessert anyways. Mandy and I split the smores .well okay, I ate most of the them! My parents and Auntie shared a sundae! It was all very good and well worth the visit. As we are leaving, they warn us, as a parent would, No Tower for an Hour! of course they didnt have to worry about Auntie, she would never be riding tower of terror again! lol
Next we took in the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Had an annoying kid in front of me that kept standing up in his seat, so I couldnt see. It was a good show as always and my dad really enjoyed it. And yes, it is still RAINING it hasnt stopped once all day. What happened to those 10 minute rain showers in Florida that I always hear about?
So we head back to POR for a break at 3pm. Ally was feeling better. They had stayed in, watched tv and ordered pizza, which they didnt recommend. Mandy and I wanted to go back to Epcot early, and everyone else decided to as well. So no one really got much of a break. By 4:30 we were at Epcot and did the Coca Cola tasting again. Then we did the Journey into Imagination ride with Figment and played in the Imageworks. I looked for my old roommate from the WDW college program- she still works at Disney (10 years later) and works for Kodak as a contractor through disney, as the nutty professor character that does the digital picture skit in the Image works area. She is a great actress, so its right up her alley. I never got to read her email about her work schedule before I left, so I wasnt sure when she was working. We kept checking, hoping she would be there, but never saw her. I saw her last trip though and she is so cute in her costume!
Wendy, Mike and Ally had made early dinner reservations for the San Angel Inn for like 5pm. The rest of us went to Innoventions and sent home some email postcards! We then headed to Mexico and did the boat ride and got some nachos at the Cantina outside. Again, still raining, so we had to find a good umbrella to sit under. It was a mess out there with the rain, but it kept the crowds away some too. Mandy and I shared some nachos which were pretty good. We met up with Wendy, Mike and Ally then and started exploring the countries. We walked through Norway, mexico and Germany. We tried some chardonnay in Italy, bought Ally a mini soccer ball and took some photos. Mike was looking for soccer jerseys he liked. In China, we saw Mulan inside the Hong Kong Disney exhibit. There was a little toddler in a full Mulan outfit getting her pic made with Mulan. She was just adorable and Mulan was spending a good 10 minutes with her since no one else was around. The Hong Kong exhibit was pretty interesting.
We also had Ally doing the kidcot stations. She was a bit too young, but still liked having her mask to carry around. By the time we reached America, we were out of steam. The Candlelight Processional was going on and I didnt recognize the narrators name. But we sat on a bench near there (it was full and already lining up for the next one) and just listened for a few minutes. Really beautiful. I had seen it before back in 96 when I worked there and Louis Gosset Jr. was the narrator then. We decided to grab a snack in France- Mandy and I shared a ham/cheese croissant, the nachos just hadnt cut it! I also had some chocolate mousse, divine!
By now, everyone was about ready to go home. It was barely 8pm, but with no break, we were exhausted. I dont know how people go all day without breaks. So my parents, Auntie and Wendy decided to head back with Ally. Mike, Mandy and I decided we would stay and try and do Soarin or Test Track. We headed to Soarin, but the rain hadnt scared people away from that attraction, it was a 40 minute wait and no fast passes available. So we went over to Test Track instead and rode it twice using the single rider line. Mike and I ended up in the same car anyways. Then back over to Soarin and the line said 30minutes, so we did it. It was actually more like 15 minutes wait. Another great trip on Soarin and now we have done Test Track like 4 times! Illuminations is starting as we leave, but we decided to beat the crowds to the buses and skipped it.
We were on a full bus going home, so we stood again. It was 10pm by the time we got back. Ally was already in bed, still not feeling great. At about 10:15pm, a charter bus full of Pop Warner cheerleaders pulls up right outside our door, literally. Our doors/rooms faced the parking lot, just a few feet away and they stopped right there to unload. It was so loud. After a few minutes of hearing the giggling, stomping, running etc., we go out and ask a chaperone to try and quiet them down, since it is late and we have a sick baby sleeping. She says sure and we wait another 15minutes, laying in bed and hearing what sounds like a dorm room party going on above us. We hear squeals, running and it sounds like someone is tap dancing above us. It is just ridiculous. We asked nicely once and it didnt help, so now we call the front desk and they send security out. Mike was steaming by this point, since it is waking his sick baby up. He greets the security guy that arrives in his golf cart, lights flashing. All the girls and chaperones scatter and finally go to their rooms and start to get quiet. It is 11pm now. Weve been dealing with their rucus for an hour now. Totally unacceptable.
I am all for cheerleaders and football players, hell, I was one and I did Nationals in Florida like 20 years ago (can we say karma?), but it was just bad ..the chaperones were of no help at all the girls were just running wild. At least they could have put all the pop kids in buildings together and kept the other guests in separate buildings, that would have helped some. Even the security guard was sick of dealing with them and made a comment to that effect, obviously we werent the first to call security on them. But it was a bad experience with POP that night. We wont go back during that week unless we are staying in a deluxe. Just not worth the headache of dealing with it. It was only at our hotel, POR that we experienced the POP kids out of control. In the food court, at the pool and in the rooms, but didnt have problems in the parks. We met some great football players from Ohio at MK that was so polite and nice. But the cheerleaders at POR were terrible. And the chaperones were worse. Never again. Finally we got some quiet and got some sleep. RAH RAH RAH! Go Security!
Stay tuned for tomorrows episode----Who will get soaked on Splash? Will there be enough food to feed us all at Crystal Palace? So thats what Space Mtn looks like with the lights on! How are you doing, miss drunk at the pool POP chaperone!?
Me- Michelle, 32, marketing manager, married to a non-disney guy, no kids (but trying now!), former cast member (wdwcp in 1996), the pefectionist/organizer/trip NAZI
Mom- "MawMaw", 50s, married 35 years, recently retired, the generous one! Had brain surgery (pitutary gland)last year that might slow her down a bit this trip as she gets tired more
Dad- "PawPaw", 50s, along for the ride, our driver and constantly pulling out his wallet to pay for stuff!
Great Aunt- Marion or "Auntie", 60s, first time ever to WDW! recently retired as well!
Sister- Mandy, "NeNe", 28, special ed teacher, not big into disney, but loves to go with us, calls her "schmoopy" (boyfriend for those that don't get the Seinfeld reference) every night
Sister- Wendy, 30, paralegal, married with 2 year old, huge Disney NUT and the comedian of the family
Bro in Law- Mike, turned 30 on the trip, married to Wendy, and another comedian and great dad to little Ally
Ally- Mike and Wendy's little angel, 2.4 years old (terrible twos!!!), the first grandkid in our family and completely SPOILED ROTTEN (we love it!)
Another day at the parks and Mickey woke us up, (as Wendy hung up on him mid sentence!) at 7:30am. We did our usual breakfast in the room and headed to MGM this morning for park opening. Ally wasnt feeling well today and had a bit of a cough. With the rainy, cold weather, they decided to keep her in most of the day and let her rest.
It was sprinkling today, so we all had prepared our rain gear. My mom got us everything we needed for our trip, including ponchos from home, so we didnt have to contribute like $8 for a poncho to the mickey fund. MGM opened at 9am today and were there just before opening. We headed to Tower of Terror for a second ride of our trip. Auntie decided she would sit this one out after her previous experience of being lifted from her seat! Wendy, Mike and Ally had gone on their own way today, so it was just my parents, Mandy and I riding. We had a great trip, about 5 drops!
Next, we headed to the shops and did, you guessed it, more shopping! Auntie bought a really cute rain slicker. My 99cent poncho was holding up pretty well, so I was fine. We killed time by getting a hot chocolate while we waited for the 10am beauty and the beast show. It was a great show as always. Then we headed to the Backlot Tour. Still raining though, so the special effects water show wasnt working. They dont run it in the rain. The CM warned us while getting on the tram that we might get wet well duh, we are already soaked from the rain! The Backlot tour was a waste of time- since they now use much of the Backlot area for the new motor, lights, action stunt show, it just wasnt the same. No more Golden Girls house etc. We were disappointed. We saw some of the stunt show going on, but never could time it right to see it. I hadnt heard great reviews of it, so we were okay with missing it.
Next we tried to do Millionaire. I really had this on my things to do this trip list. We missed our time though by a few minutes, so we decided to do the walk through on Walt One Mans Dream. We all really enjoyed it and I am glad we did it. I had heard how great this exhibit was. The movie at the end even had Mandy a little teary eyed about what a great man Walt was and she is the least Disney-fied of our family. Definitely see this exhibit if you can.
By that time it was time for our reservation at 50s Prime Time. WE love this restaurant. Sure the food isnt perfect, but we love the atmosphere and theming. Okay, well I do love the smores! We checked in for our 12pm seating and waited about 20 minutes. Once again, a huge line to check in and the CMs came out multiple times telling people that if you didnt have a reservation, forget it. It is still raining and dark and dreary. Finally the peters family is called and seated. Manny is our server. He was good, but not great. We had Aunt Brenda last time, and I guess after her, everyone is a disappointment. But we still had a good time. Dad had the chicken pot pie and loved it. Mandy and I shared a turkey sandwich and fries. They brought them on separate plates with huge portions of fries for each of us. We also shared some herb cheese dip and bread first. Yummy! Auntie had a chicken sandwich. Manny brought Auntie a bib to wear which was pretty cute!
I dont eat lettuce, so I pulled it off my sandwich and Mandy tried to tattle on me Manny made her write I will not tattle 3 times! Our cousins next to us at other tables were having fun too. One lady tried to hide a green bean she didnt eat and the waiter found it. He brought out a sundae of green beans with whip cream for them for dessert! We were stuffed after lunch, but decided to go for dessert anyways. Mandy and I split the smores .well okay, I ate most of the them! My parents and Auntie shared a sundae! It was all very good and well worth the visit. As we are leaving, they warn us, as a parent would, No Tower for an Hour! of course they didnt have to worry about Auntie, she would never be riding tower of terror again! lol
Next we took in the Indiana Jones Stunt Show. Had an annoying kid in front of me that kept standing up in his seat, so I couldnt see. It was a good show as always and my dad really enjoyed it. And yes, it is still RAINING it hasnt stopped once all day. What happened to those 10 minute rain showers in Florida that I always hear about?
So we head back to POR for a break at 3pm. Ally was feeling better. They had stayed in, watched tv and ordered pizza, which they didnt recommend. Mandy and I wanted to go back to Epcot early, and everyone else decided to as well. So no one really got much of a break. By 4:30 we were at Epcot and did the Coca Cola tasting again. Then we did the Journey into Imagination ride with Figment and played in the Imageworks. I looked for my old roommate from the WDW college program- she still works at Disney (10 years later) and works for Kodak as a contractor through disney, as the nutty professor character that does the digital picture skit in the Image works area. She is a great actress, so its right up her alley. I never got to read her email about her work schedule before I left, so I wasnt sure when she was working. We kept checking, hoping she would be there, but never saw her. I saw her last trip though and she is so cute in her costume!
Wendy, Mike and Ally had made early dinner reservations for the San Angel Inn for like 5pm. The rest of us went to Innoventions and sent home some email postcards! We then headed to Mexico and did the boat ride and got some nachos at the Cantina outside. Again, still raining, so we had to find a good umbrella to sit under. It was a mess out there with the rain, but it kept the crowds away some too. Mandy and I shared some nachos which were pretty good. We met up with Wendy, Mike and Ally then and started exploring the countries. We walked through Norway, mexico and Germany. We tried some chardonnay in Italy, bought Ally a mini soccer ball and took some photos. Mike was looking for soccer jerseys he liked. In China, we saw Mulan inside the Hong Kong Disney exhibit. There was a little toddler in a full Mulan outfit getting her pic made with Mulan. She was just adorable and Mulan was spending a good 10 minutes with her since no one else was around. The Hong Kong exhibit was pretty interesting.
We also had Ally doing the kidcot stations. She was a bit too young, but still liked having her mask to carry around. By the time we reached America, we were out of steam. The Candlelight Processional was going on and I didnt recognize the narrators name. But we sat on a bench near there (it was full and already lining up for the next one) and just listened for a few minutes. Really beautiful. I had seen it before back in 96 when I worked there and Louis Gosset Jr. was the narrator then. We decided to grab a snack in France- Mandy and I shared a ham/cheese croissant, the nachos just hadnt cut it! I also had some chocolate mousse, divine!
By now, everyone was about ready to go home. It was barely 8pm, but with no break, we were exhausted. I dont know how people go all day without breaks. So my parents, Auntie and Wendy decided to head back with Ally. Mike, Mandy and I decided we would stay and try and do Soarin or Test Track. We headed to Soarin, but the rain hadnt scared people away from that attraction, it was a 40 minute wait and no fast passes available. So we went over to Test Track instead and rode it twice using the single rider line. Mike and I ended up in the same car anyways. Then back over to Soarin and the line said 30minutes, so we did it. It was actually more like 15 minutes wait. Another great trip on Soarin and now we have done Test Track like 4 times! Illuminations is starting as we leave, but we decided to beat the crowds to the buses and skipped it.
We were on a full bus going home, so we stood again. It was 10pm by the time we got back. Ally was already in bed, still not feeling great. At about 10:15pm, a charter bus full of Pop Warner cheerleaders pulls up right outside our door, literally. Our doors/rooms faced the parking lot, just a few feet away and they stopped right there to unload. It was so loud. After a few minutes of hearing the giggling, stomping, running etc., we go out and ask a chaperone to try and quiet them down, since it is late and we have a sick baby sleeping. She says sure and we wait another 15minutes, laying in bed and hearing what sounds like a dorm room party going on above us. We hear squeals, running and it sounds like someone is tap dancing above us. It is just ridiculous. We asked nicely once and it didnt help, so now we call the front desk and they send security out. Mike was steaming by this point, since it is waking his sick baby up. He greets the security guy that arrives in his golf cart, lights flashing. All the girls and chaperones scatter and finally go to their rooms and start to get quiet. It is 11pm now. Weve been dealing with their rucus for an hour now. Totally unacceptable.
I am all for cheerleaders and football players, hell, I was one and I did Nationals in Florida like 20 years ago (can we say karma?), but it was just bad ..the chaperones were of no help at all the girls were just running wild. At least they could have put all the pop kids in buildings together and kept the other guests in separate buildings, that would have helped some. Even the security guard was sick of dealing with them and made a comment to that effect, obviously we werent the first to call security on them. But it was a bad experience with POP that night. We wont go back during that week unless we are staying in a deluxe. Just not worth the headache of dealing with it. It was only at our hotel, POR that we experienced the POP kids out of control. In the food court, at the pool and in the rooms, but didnt have problems in the parks. We met some great football players from Ohio at MK that was so polite and nice. But the cheerleaders at POR were terrible. And the chaperones were worse. Never again. Finally we got some quiet and got some sleep. RAH RAH RAH! Go Security!
Stay tuned for tomorrows episode----Who will get soaked on Splash? Will there be enough food to feed us all at Crystal Palace? So thats what Space Mtn looks like with the lights on! How are you doing, miss drunk at the pool POP chaperone!?
