9/29-10/4 ASMo and first trip "home" BWV

[travelin' tigger]

Returned from my first trip “home” 3 weeks ago and had a great time. I brought my friend John with me - he hadn’t been to WDW since Epcot first opened!!!

Part 1 - All Star Movies
Thursday, Sept. 29
We arrived at PVD around 6am for a 7:30 flight and everything was on-time. Flight down was uneventful and we actually arrived 15 minutes early (love SW!!). Went to the parking garage and picked out new Grand Prix with only 300 miles on it. But boy, that new car smell was pretty nasty!!

Stayed the first 3 nights at ASMo, the only value resort I had yet to visit. I had originally been planning to go solo so had requested a king non-smoking room in the Mighty Ducks section, but when plans changed, I called CRO to update my reservation to 2 beds smoking. Anyway, we checked in and I restated the need for 2 beds smoking in the MD section. The CM nodded, checked us in and told us our room would be ready later. We headed to Barney’s Steakhouse as I had a $20 certificate from Clear Channel and enjoyed a much-needed lunch. After, we stopped at the Belz outlets, Walmart and the liquor store to do a little shopping and pick up “supplies”. On our way back to WDW, called ASMo and found out our room was ready!! Pulled all our stuff out of the car and lugged it up to the 3rd floor of the MD section. Opened the door and voila! - a king bed in a HA room. Ugh!!! Called the front desk and after going back and forth for 15 minutes, we were down 1 floor in a smoking room with 2 beds.

Rested up for a few minutes, then off to our dinner at O’hana. We had a couple of drinks while waiting and met up with another DISer family. Seated about 15 minutes later, we had 2 great CMs who brought us SO MUCH FOOD - too much for the 2 of us and we decided that all-you-can-eat meals would be out for the rest of the trip since it was a waste. After dinner, we strolled out to the pool and the beach, and sat for a few minutes, taking in the warm breeze and the view of MK at night. Being tired from a LONG day, we headed back to ASMo. I had talked to a DIS friend earlier in the evening and she ended up joining us at the pool. We talked for a long time and finally got to bed around midnight.

Friday, Sept. 30
The next morning we headed to MGM. Got there just after opening and rode Rock n’ Rollercoaster 2x, then Tower of Terror. This was John’s first time to MGM and wouldn’t you know, our 1st ride on ToT and it broke!! Our 1st drop was just that, nothing more. After sitting in the dark for a few minutes, the lights came on and we were directed to a regular elevator and taken back to the boiler room to reride. This time it went off without a hitch and we had a great time. Next up were TGMR, Muppets and Indiana Jones Stunt Show, which John loved. Lunch time rolled around and we had a ADR for the Prime-Time, one of my favorite restaurants. Uncle Dave was our server and the food was very good.

After stuffing ourselves yet again, we headed back to the room for a break. John went to the pool for a swim while I headed back to Walmart to get a new pair of sunglasses (lost my best pair!!) and a watch (mine broke). After that I went to DTD in search of a princess name tag for my friend’s daughter who is coming to WDW in Dec. Searched high and lo, only to find out the only “princess” one is Snow White/Prince Charming. Oh well!!! Returned to the room to find John fast asleep - guess I wore him out. Once he awoke, we went to Epcot to catch some of the F&W Fest. Rode Spaceship Earth 1st, then headed to the World Showcase. It was the 1st day of the Fest, but it wasn’t overly crowded. Nibbled on a few things and briefly toured the WS before deciding that we’d had enough for one day. Upon return to the room, we took a swim and decided we were still hungry. Headed to the food court and got a couple of sandwiches, then called it a night.

Saturday, Oct. 1
Today was AK EMH so we planned on doing as much of this park as possible. Headed to the busses but the lines were so long we hopped in the car instead and drove over. Got there just after opening and followed the throng of people to the Safari. Just as we were to load into a truck, it broke down. Actually the CM’s headset wasn’t working so we waited for another truck. I started to joke with John that he was jinxing his 1st rides! After another delay (giraffe in the road), we were underway. Next up was Festival of the Lion King which is my favorite and afterwards John said was his also. On to Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, then lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ - LOVE their ribs. Sat down by the water and I told John about Expedition Everest which was looking VERY impressive. After we did Tough to be a Bug and exited to a downpour. Since the rain ponchos were back at the room, we waited it out with most of the theatre at the exit. Once it was down to a light rain, we bolted from there to the Kali Rapids. This is a great ride, especially when it’s hot, and although we got wet, others in our raft got SOAKED.

Feeling we’d accomplished as much as we could, it was back to the room for some R&R. A dip in the pool, a little nap and we were off to MK for Spectro and Wishes. We got there around 5pm so our first stop was the Hall of Presidents, which John enjoyed very much. Feeling hungry, we got some dinner at the Columbia Harbor House. Their food is always good! After eating, we rode the Haunted Mansion, then headed to the Mountains. Splash had a long wait, but Thunder Mtn. wasn’t bad so we rode it. Then onto Pirates and the Jungle Cruise (love those corny jokes). After it was almost Spectromagic time so we found a seat at the end of the parade route. Just as the music started, the heavens opened up and it POURED!!! We watched the parade from the cover of a small area outside Pecos Bills with 30-40 of our new, close friends. Of course, as the parade winded down, so did the rain. Wishes was just 20 minutes away, but we were getting really tired. We pushed ourselves toward Main Street and found a spot to stand in front of the castle. As 9pm drew nearer, so did the crowds and we found ourselves squeezed in with everyone else. But Wishes made us forget all that and it was breathtaking as usual. Afterwards we dragged our tired bodies to the exit with the rest of humanity and headed to the bus for the Boardwalk. I looked over at the ASMo bus depot and saw 4xs as many people there as was with us!! But we were off to Jellyrolls!!

Once we got to the Boardwalk, we headed straight to JR’s for a night of fun - and fun it was!! My favorite bartender, Heidi, was working so we seated ourselves and I caught up on all the happenings at JR since my last trip in February. The line-up posted was Ray, Tommy, Christian & Michael, but Jason was there instead of Chris so I was a tiny bit bummed, but hey, I was at JRs!!! We managed to make it until just after midnight then caught a cab back to ASMo. Sleep came very quickly that night!!

 

[travelin' tigger]

Sunday, Oct. 2
Stitch & Mickey woke me at 7am. I was excited as today I was making my 1st trip “home”. I left John to sleep in (what a good friend) and went to check in at the Boardwalk Villas. At the gate, I excitedly told the guard I was checking in and was welcomed home - boy, that felt good. Check-in went smoothly and was given studio 3056. I was informed that they had been full the night before so my room wasn’t ready. OK, off to Dunkin’ Donuts to get John his first “real” cup o’ joe of the trip and get him going. Got back to the room to find him in good shape - showered and almost ready to go. Since this was a moving day and my brother Tom & wife Ele were coming to visit, it was a non-park day with MNSSHP that night.

Met up w/Tom & Ele in the parking lot and we headed over to the Boardwalk. We decided on Spoodles for breakfast and after a short wait which involved some shopping, our pager went off. Bloody Marys started us off, followed by a great assortment of food. John said his poached eggs were some of the best he’d ever had!! Paid the bill and headed to the pool for some fun in the sun. The Luna pool is a great pool. It was fun watching my brother and John come down the slide - the expressions were priceless!! Had a few drinks and around 3pm, walked to the cars and said good-bye to Tom & Ele. Called again to see if our room was ready; still not. We debated on bringing our luggage up to Bell Services or catch the end of the Pats game at ESPN. ESPN won out so we threw our things in the car and headed over. The line was out the door, so another call and our room was ready!!

As we sat in the lobby, John offered to go get the luggage. When I reached for the keys to the car, it dawned on me - they were locked in the car!!! After the fateful decision to go to ESPN, I forgot I had put the keys in my backpack since I thought we were bringing our luggage up to BS. Oh no!!! I had flashbacks to last year when I did the same thing. I was alone at Microtel near Universal when I accidentally closed the door, not realizing all the doors locked. The staff there weren’t very helpful until one guy took pity on me as I was close to tears. Over an hour and a half and $40 later I was in. This time, John went to concierge and this wonderful CM manager (wish I’d gotten his name) walked us out to valet where CM Alexandra got AAA on the phone and 1/2 hour later we were back in the car - everyone was wonderful!!!

Once in the room, we relaxed for a few, then drove over to MK for the Halloween party. Hungry since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast, we were directed to Pecos Bill’s since they were clearing out the park for the party. My burger was OK, but John’s pulled pork sandwich was pretty nasty. Afterwards we rode BTMRR twice, followed by Splash Mtn. Another downpour for about 5 minutes and then it was time to get seats for the parade. Unlike Spectro, the parade starts in Frontierland so we were all set. Then we waited and waited...around 8:15 we were informed the parade would be delayed more and that the headless horseman wasn’t running due to the slick pavement. Too much heat and bad food was taking it’s toll so we bailed and headed back to the room. John was feeling sick and I had a headache so it was off to bed.

Monday, Oct. 3
Our last full day at WDW (*sigh*) John slept in since he didn’t get much sleep the night before. Today was EMH at Epcot and I couldn’t wait to check out Soarin’. I quickly stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery for a pastry and strolled over to Int. Gateway, enjoying the peacefulness of the morning - no busses, cars, etc. - only an occasional jogger. This is when I realized how much I liked the BWV!! Once thru the rope drop, I powerwalked over to the Land, grabbed a FP and rode Soarin’. It was good, but the 2nd time was better, the 3rd even better - but I’m getting ahead of myself. The single rider line at Test Track wasn’t bad so I rode that, then called John. He was up and showered so we agreed to meet up at the Int. Gateway. We made our way back to Soarin’ - his 1st ride, my 2nd and agreed it was the best ride in Epcot, if not all of WDW. Now it was lunchtime so we made our way to Canada. We were early for our ADR at Le Cellier so we caught O Canada then went to eat. I love the food at Le Cellier and it didn’t disappoint! On full stomachs, we headed over to Test Track to find out it had broken down (again!), but we got in line anyway. After a short wait, we rode and had a great time. Now was th moment of truth - I was finally going to ride Mission: Space and there was no turning back. There was no wait so we entered. Everything went smoothly, although as Commander I did miss pushing a button but we made it OK. Actually I didn’t think that ride was all that bad!!!

Now it was time to finish our shopping so off to Mouse Gears, then back to the room with our purchases and a swim/nap. Stopped by concierge and got us checked in for our flight home. Later, I returned to Epcot to see my boys, Off Kilter while John tried to get his packages shipped home. He went to concierge who sent him to the Dolphin since their shipping closed at 5pm. Even after being assured on the phone they were open until 6pm, the Dolphin was also closed. Very frustrating!!!



We met up again and did a final ride on Soarin’, then went to find something to eat. Ended up at Tubbi’s since all table service restaurants were booked solid with the free dining plan. Afterwards, returned to the room, made some phone calls and then I decided to get my hair wrapped on the Boardwalk.

Our last night was spent at Jellyrolls - got a table around 9pm and Chuck was our server. I caught up on recent events with him, only to find out another table of DISers were there. We all hooked up and had a great time!! Let’s see - there was Dagny, RachelTori and their friend Lauren. Later came Harley Mouse and his wife. We were OUT OF CONTROL and Dagny has pictures to prove it, but she’s holding them hostage. John escaped around 12:15pm, but I ended up closing the place - I just didn’t want to leave!!! Headed up to the room and went to bed.

Tuesday, Oct. 4
This was the toughest morning!! We slept in as late as possible, packed and then headed downstairs to ship the packages, then get something to eat. Once the packages were mailed, we headed over to Spoodles for breakfast again, only it wasn’t as good this time - gee, I wonder why??

By now it was time to head to the airport and return the car. After disputing a charge with National, we headed into the terminal. While sitting at the gate, John ran into his sister’s in-laws - they were on the same flight home (it’s a small world afterall)!! We boarded and flew home.

[/I]End of story, but another one will start Dec. 2!!![/I]

 

[jennymouse]

Sounds like a good time! I'm hoping to do a solo trip and visit Jellyrolls some day too!

 

[travelin' tigger]

Sounds like a good time! I'm hoping to do a solo trip and visit Jellyrolls some day too!

Jenifer: I think you'd have fun! Jellyrolls is the only bar on property I feel comfortable going to alone - I've been at least 3-4 times solo!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I really enjoyed your trip report, I am so sorry your MNSSHP night didn't turn out too well!

 

[jugglinfish]

Thanks for the report - sounds like you had a great trip!