A Belated Trip Report

[damgi]

To any of you who may also be a Tour Guide Mike subscriber, I apologize. You have most likely already read this report since it happened almost 6 months ago. And to those of you here at DIS I apologize for the delay. For some reason, when I tried to post back in September, I kept getting an error message. I kept trying, but eventually I gave up. But better late than never I always say!!

The Wonderful World of Disney – Part 1

Characters:
Me (32) – Professional Disney Planner: 6th trip Home
DH (slightly more than 32) – Goes along with all my planning: Not sure how many trips Home
Pal Mickey – 1st trip Home

Okay, so I am not really a Profession Disney Planner, I just pretend to be one. DH and I decided to spend our First Anniversary in Disney primarily so we could eat at California Grill on our Special Day, September 18th. So off we went Sept 16 – 19.


We arrived at the Providence airport on Friday, Sept 16 with plenty of time to spare. We had only carry on luggage and had printed our boarding passes at home, so we could whisk right through security. Or so I thought…

I placed my bag on the conveyor belt and stepped under the screening machine, No Problem. But as I saw my bag come out the other end, the screening agent came over and asked: “Who does this belong to?”
“Uh-oh”, I thought, “here comes the body search. What did I do? Why is she checking my bag?”
Screening Agent (looking into my bag): “What’s the funky little thing with the batteries? “
FUNKY…Who you callin Funky???!!!

My response: “It’s a PAL MICKEY”

Screening Agent: ”Is it some kind of stuffed animal?”

Okay, so apparently this lady lives under a rock and doesn’t know who Mickey Mouse is.

I had to show her his battery compartment in order to show her he wasn’t a dangerous threat to society.

Well, after baring his insides to a complete stranger, Pal Mickey was a little unsettled. I mean really, if you had to unzip your fly for an under a rock living screening agent you wouldn’t be too happy, would you?

DH and I decided to help Pal Mickey settle his nerves the best way we knew how – we took him to the bar. That really settled him down and he was able to relax before we boarded the plane

Don’t be alarmed, we really didn’t let him drink anything, we just let him relax in his stroller, which in this case is my carry on bag.


We arrived at MCO at 9pm and used Magical Express which worked out to be very convenient for us. Since we had only carryon bags (and Southwest doesn’t participate in the luggage transport deal) we didn’t have to wait at Baggage Claim. I’ll admit here that although I made all the arrangements and knew I was looking for the Big White Gloves, DH actually spotted it first. You see, I was looking for a BIG WHITE GLOVE, not a person with a little Mickey glove on.

We were seated on the bus within 20 minutes of our flight arrival at MCO. We were very lucky to have the bus pull away within 5 minutes. The rest of the passengers didn’t seem to be as lucky. We could tell by their faces that they had probably been hanging around for a bit waiting for more passengers.

Sorry everyone, I guess the driver should have told you that he was waiting for The Mouse Himself to arrive on board.

So after an enjoyable little movie, the first stop was our hotel POP Century or as DH said “the popcorn hotel – POP Secret”. Don’t ask me where he came up with that name, but it may have had something to do with the Ultimate Margaritas we enjoyed with Pal Mickey while we waited for our flight. (Total time from departing the plane to arriving at POP was 53 minutes)

One little disappointment about the movie. Although it got me really excited to start our weekend it distracted everyone else on the bus and nobody (except for me) cheered when we went under the Walt Disney World sign. So Disney, if you are accepting ideas for the Suggestion Box, please have the driver pause the movie while all the passengers do the wave when we pass through the Magical Gates. Thank You!

We now return to our regularly scheduled trip report: We were located in the 90’s building room 9445. If we had stayed a few days or a week here, it may not have been the best location. I thought it was kind of far from the Classic Hall where they keep all the food and SHOPPING! But we were only here for one night (or 10 minutes according to DH) and at least it was fairly convenient to the Bus Stop.

I headed off to Classic Hall to trade in my Magical Express voucher for my free pin and lanyard. Both were rather disappointing, but if it’s free you shouldn’t really complain.

Umm, did you say free?? Hello, this is your credit card speaking and that pin/lanyard were definitely not “free”. I have the magnetic strip burn to prove it! Hotel costs, food, airfare…must I go on??

Oh, be quiet – everyone knows what I meant. It was “free”.

To make up for the free lanyard and pin, I was charged $19.66 for 2 sodas, 2 bags of chips, and a small bottle of wine. (Pal Mickey had a long trip and was thirsty). I know, I know, a very healthy way to start our vacation.

Once again, don’t be alarmed, Pal Mickey didn’t really have any wine. I just brought him along in case they decided to card us. I knew I could prove to the cashier that he was old enough to buy alcohol.

By the way, we were not on any Dining Plan. I had an Annual Pass and the Disney Dining Experience card. Plus we would be switching to a DVC rental and the Dining Plans aren’t available.

We were safely settled in our room with our snacks and beverages by 11:00. I spent some time reading up on Epcot which would be our first stop in the morning. DH spent his free time watching the Red Sox or the Yankees or some such baseball nonsense on TV. Lights were out I think around midnight.

 

[heaven2dc]

Enjoyed your first installment - How dare the airport security search Mickey!!! And ask if he was a "stuffed animal"? C'mon!!!!

Well hopefully he's recovered by now - can't wait to read more!

 

[OhMari]

That was hiliarious the way you include your "Pal Mickey".

I didn't know you could use the Magical Express if your airline wasn't a carrier. How did you book the Magical Express?

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading ~ Can't wait for more.

 

[fizz13]

Could I have some trip report please? great writing,

Claire xx

 

[TLinden16]

Wow. Who knew that Pal Mickey was a lush? Is that a fault with all Pal Mickeys?

 

[damgi]

OhMari - As long as you are staying at a Disney resort you can use Magical Express. I looked up their number online and called ME directly to make the arrangements.
TLinden16 - I actually paid extra for the Pal Mickey Limited Edition Lush Version! I think they only made one! I guess this version really didn't catch on!LOL

The Wonderful World of Disney – Part 2a

Refresher:

Characters:
Me (32) – Professional Disney Planner: 6th trip Home
DH (slightly more than 32) – Goes along with all my planning: Not sure how many trips Home
Pal Mickey – 1st trip Home

Celebrating 1 year anniversary at the most Magical Place on Earth!!

Stitch gave us a jingle at 7:06 – it was supposed to be 7:00 but I guess even aliens need to sleep in a little bit. GET UP!!

DH went to get me $2.12 worth of coffee from the food court to which I added my own vanilla creamer brought from home. (I remembered the coffee at WDW to be a little strong for my taste). He knows I can’t operate very well without my caffeine.

We had arranged for our luggage to be transferred to Beach Club Villas, so we just packed it up and left it inside the room. (Along with a prayer that it would actually get to its destination)

We were at the Epcot bus stop by 8:15 and waited only a few minutes for the bus to arrive. We’re off!!

As we exited the parking lot of POP century DH kept commenting on how cool the design was and that it would probably be a cool place to stay. “What’s not to like about Disney??” he said to me.

Well, me and one bazillion TGMike / DIS friends could tell you that there is nothing to not like about Disney. But I’m glad you are catching on so well.

When we were on the bus there were two younger ladies across from us playing the alphabet game. Starting with A one would give the name of a Disney movie beginning with A, then on to B and so forth. When they finished they started with characters. I was DYING to jump in and play, but I controlled myself. However, I will remember it when (if) I ever return with children. But I digress….

So we step off the bus at Epcot and as I go to throw away my coffee cup (Do Not Litter) I hear Ching Ching Ching! The nice gentleman behind me pointed out one of my trading pins had fallen on the ground.

Thank you nice gentleman!!

So I look down and see my free Magical Express pin lying on the ground. Hmmph! Go figure, my free pin doesn’t even pin properly!! Anyone interested in a free magical express pin that doesn’t really pin? PM me! It’s yours for $5!! Hey, I do have to find a way to pay for my next vacation!

So we headed over to the ticket booth where I magically turned a voucher into my very own state of the art ANNUAL PASS!! Woo hoo! I am now officially an Annual Passholder and so much better than all those other little people with regular tickets. BWAA HAA HAA! Hand over the crown, I pronounce myself Queen Annual Passholder or QUAP for short.

Okay, it wasn’t exactly magically done. Disney had to give me the Annual Pass because I gave them $420.68 plus $10 to have the voucher express shipped to my house.

So now that I am QUAP, I ordered (okay, I asked nicely) the ticket lady to hand over another Annual Pass for DH. I in turn handed over another $420.68. You gotta give a little to get a little, right??

We headed to the security line to have my bag checked. Needless to say, Pal Mickey was a little nervous as the unzipping incident at the airport was still fresh in his mind. But we made it through with no problems and went over to wait for rope drop. I have never seen an Epcot rope drop and it was a lot of fun. There was a CM wheeling back and forth in front of the crowd on one of those Segway machines. He had each side of the crowd battling to be the noisiest. Then he brought a little girl under the rope to stand in front of the crowd. We all sang Happy Birthday to Olivia.

Not sure if her name was really Olivia, but I think that’s a pretty name so I’m gonna stick with it.

I am sure that really put some Magic in Olivia’s day. I know it did mine and I’m not even Olivia, I’m just QUAP.

Following 9:00 rope drop, we sssssllllllllooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyyy followed the CM’s to Soarin. I know it was sssssllllllllooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyyy because we didn’t get to the land until 9:06. DH went and got FastPasses (9:45 return time) while I followed the crowd through the Queue area (which as QUAP I really enjoyed since we both begin with Q). DH quickly caught up with me after knocking a few small children (and some large adults) to the ground.

Oh stop crying kid. Shake it off, you’re tougher than that. Keep it up and QUAP will order “Off with your Mickey Ears”

I saw the sign saying avoid the ride if you are afraid of heights (yes I am) or prone to motion sickness (yes again), but decided to ignore it.

We could have been on the first flight, but we asked to be in the 1st row so we wouldn’t have dangling feet obstructing our view.

WOW what a ride! Even though I spent the entire ride with my throat in my stomach, my stomach in my shoes, my knees jiggling like jelly, and both hands in a death grip on the seat handle – it was still really awesome!! I think it was not knowing exactly what was going to happen that made me so nervous. The sounds, the scents, the scenery, it was all splendid.

If you are reading this out loud, please wipe the spit off your screen.

We were out of the Land by 9:37. We could get another FP at 9:48, so I figured we could walk sssssllllllllooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyyyy over to Test Track, grab another FP, then retrace our steps to Soaring for a second ride. Unfortunately, we walked much quicker than planned and were at TT around 9:41. Wait time posted was 20 min. So we had a dilemma, waste 7 minutes waiting for the FP or go standby for 20 min. Net loss to the day would be 13 minutes. We decided to try our luck at standby, walked right in to the briefing room, and were off the ride in 10 minutes. Grabbed a FP to come back later (don’t remember the return time).

At this point, we decided to go to Guest Relations so I could pick up my Disney Dining Experience letter. That took much longer than we thought because the Guest Relations inside Epcot doesn’t have the cards. We had to go back out the gates to the outside Epcot Guest Relations. Geez, is this how you always treat QUAP?? Took probably about a ½ hour to wait in line to get the letter and temporary DDE cards.

Back to Soarin to use our FP with very little wait. This time we were in the second row and my throat, stomach, knees, and hands remained where they belonged the whole ride. I wasn’t nervous at all this time, and was able to experience more of the scenery. Last ride I pretty much stared straight ahead. This time I looked around and really noticed a lot more than I did the first time.

Grabbed another FP which we never ended up using (scrapbook momento instead), then went to Innoventions. We had decided we would try to “smell the roses” on this trip and try new things. We kind of looked around a little, sent a video email home, and decided there really wasn’t anything else there for us today.

Got ourselves a cinnamon bun from a kiosk outside of Innoventions and sat down to enjoy a little break. I shared mine with the little birdies hanging around.

Oh, I haven’t yet mentioned how much I love Pal Mickey. He really does point out a lot of interesting things. And he always adds a joke which made me laugh out loud almost every time. I’ll admit, it doesn’t take much to keep QUAP amused.

Did TT one more time using our FP (again a very short wait) and decided we had covered everything we wanted to. I know, it doesn’t seem like much – 2 rides on Soarin and 2 rides on TT plus a whole lot of rose smelling in 3 hours, but for us it was the perfect pace.

I really enjoyed the rose smelling. It’s not often that QUAP can smell roses!!

Now it’s time for World Showcase. I have been blabbing on and on for way too long, so I’ll put that in the next part. However, there will be a scene in the next installment that is reminiscent of the restaurant scene from “When Harry met Sally”. If you haven’t seen that yet, go ahead and watch it now.

 

[tink38]

Great reoprt, QUAP!

Monique