A Dis Veteran and New Addict's WDW Vacation Jan .2009

[Nemo32]

I just saw this in the allears newsletter & thought of you:

Space Mountain will close April 19 through late 2009 for refurbishment

You see you DO know more than Robb

 

[Nemo32]

So, I won't have any pictures tonight. Sorry! I went to work today, even though I'm not fully better and it completely drained me. I feel ssooo tired...I hope I'm not like this all week. I need park stamina!

There is supposed to be snow all day here tomorrow so I hope there aren't flight delays or at least not long ones. I'm very stressed and it hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm going to WDW, so right now my nerves over delays and illness are getting the best of me.

But I'm all packed and ready to go! I'd show you pictures but it seems like such an energy stealer to take the pics off the camera. I promise the pics in my first installment!

Well, I'm off to bed...and tomorrow magic awaits! "See" you soon!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

You should be home soon. I hope you had a great trip.

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Great PTR! Looking forward to hearing how it went!

 

[jjohnson]

She's probably still sleeping as she had a late flight last night.

 

[Nemo32]

I'm home!

We had a great trip. It was a bit chilly, but I def. got spoiled with low crowds. And we didn't get the infamous bug going around.

I'll write my first installment tomorrow. Thanks for reading!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Glad you are back safe.

 

[Nemo32]

So, we're back and very sad about it. Going to WDW almost seems like a dream. I occasionally ask myself if it really happened. Joe has been dreaming of the parks...now he's officially addicted if he goes there in his sleep.

Anywho, I have some observations from recent travels, some good and others bad...but that'll come in time. However, we did have a FABULOUS trip with lots of warm and even cold weather! There was also almost no wait for rides, even the biggies. Most wait time I saw all week (except our departure day) was 45 minutes and that was for Soarin'.

I also enjoyed POP. However, coming from a former only Deluxe DVC frequenter...some of the magic is definitely gone when staying at a value. I felt as though we weren't right in the middle of the magic...I could only find it when we went to the parks and when we returned to the hotel I was just waiting for the next day. Not much to do at POP, but the food was good. If staying on a budget and you must ABSOLUTELY go to WDW, like us, a value is perfectly fine for sleeping and showering.

So...the report...

We were scheduled to leave LaGuardia airport at 2:55pm on Jetblue, but it was snowing quite a bit so we were concerned we might not even get to FL. My mother drove us to the airport and we picked Joe up at his apt. promptly at 10:00am. Before that my mother decided to run errands, like going to the Post Office and the Bank. I was concerned she might purposely be trying to delay us.

BTW, this is my lovely Disney luggage.

After Joe we picked up my grandmother, who wanted to see us off. We arrived at the airport by 11:30am and had lunch. This was the first time I broke out the Lysol wipes. Before, during and yes even after I was concerned about getting the stomach bug so we brought an arsenal of protection.

Around 1:30pm they left Joe and I. Not without taking a picture first though.

It was about 20 degrees in NY, so those mere sweaters didn't keep us warm when checking in our bags...but we were expecting 60 degrees in FL.

So, after they departed, in true Joe fashion, he had to browse the bookstore at a snail pace when all I wanted to do was get through security.

We went through security at about 2:00pm, when we informed our plane was arriving a little late. We boarded by 2:45pm and were off a little late than expected.

Fast forward through the flight --> we arrive 20 minutes early to FL!

I got seriously turned around at the airport and ended up on the wrong side. In a hurry to get to MK, we ran across the airport to ME check-in. It was fast and easy and we loaded the (correct) ME bus (check last TR) and yes, it did have the right ME Welcome Video.

We arrive at POP by no later than 7:00pm. This is the view of POP outside the main area.

Check-in took a bit, but that's because we requested the maid re-clean our room with special care. After that we dropped off our bags and jumped on a bus to MK. I couldn't believe it was really happening! This is a trend throughout the trip as we often stopped and asked ourselves "Are we really here? After so short a time?" What was also said a lot was "Enjoy it before it's over." That usually was Joe though. I think he meant well by trying to get me to savor everything, but it only made me realize how fast it really does go!

Anyway, so we arrived at MK around 8:00pm...just as Wishes was starting. I wasn't too happy because I knew we weren't going to watch it, so I didn't want to hear it. We covered our ears.

Joe, wanting to always get in as many rides as possible (even though I remind him often of the Disney atmosphrere), wanted to check out Space. That was a no go - 45 min. wait. All I wanted to do was remind Cinderella Castle that I was back.

So, we went to see Philharmagic (our favorite), which was a walk-on. After that we went to eat at Columbia Harbour House, after washing for 30 seconds (before and after) of course.

Some odd things to note - Disney was still using the "Happy Holidays" cups AND the lights were still on the castle. I'll get into how that affected us later. They also left up lots of "Year of a Million Dreams" decorations. Guess they wanted to pretend to get people's hopes up because the new promo is SOOO bad...all people get are buttons, come on, really? So, throughout the trip, as you'll see, we didn't really experience the "What Will You Celebrate" decorations or festivities, but that's because no CMs were talking about it.

I'll show pictures next time (Photobucket just stopped working).

Anyway, after eating we left the park before it closed to avoid the crowds. We went back to the room unpacked and used Lysol on everything.

Sorry I can't get the rest of the photos up. Next time...DHS!

 

[jjohnson]

 

[william4192]

Subscribing. I think you are a very funny writer. I'm trying to figure out if you refer to germs or Disney more Keep it coming!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Before that my mother decided to run errands, like going to the Post Office and the Bank. I was concerned she might purposely be trying to delay us.

She wouldn't dare!

this is my lovely Disney luggage.

Love it! Was that just for the lysol?

Check-in took a bit, but that's because we requested the maid re-clean our room with special care

Do you do this at check in our did you request that earlier?

After that we went to eat at Columbia Harbour House,

What did you have? I've never been.

 

[Nemo32]

Subscribing. I think you are a very funny writer. I'm trying to figure out if you refer to germs or Disney more Keep it coming!

Thanks for the compliment! Glad you're enjoying.

She wouldn't dare!



Love it! Was that just for the lysol?



Do you do this at check in our did you request that earlier?



What did you have? I've never been.

about the Lysol. You're too funny. I requested the cleaning service at check-in. We ate fish sticks and nuggets. But they have really good clam chowder there...you have to try it.

 

[jasperess]

Figured I would stop lurking and post for once Just want to say I really enjoyed your last trip report, especially since we're around the same age and I'm taking my boyfriend to Disney for his first time this May. I hope he likes it as much as Joe... If you have any suggestions for me that you think will help him enjoy it, I would really appreciate it!

Anyway, good trip report so far - can't wait for the next segment.

 

[Nemo32]

Figured I would stop lurking and post for once Just want to say I really enjoyed your last trip report, especially since we're around the same age and I'm taking my boyfriend to Disney for his first time this May. I hope he likes it as much as Joe... If you have any suggestions for me that you think will help him enjoy it, I would really appreciate it!

Anyway, good trip report so far - can't wait for the next segment.

Thanks for reading! Taking someone for the first time is SO exciting, esp. since you'll get to see everything new through their eyes. Just take notes and I'll try to give you good ideas in my installments. If you read the last TR, there's also a lot of neat, often overlooked things we did...esp. in MK.

 

[Nemo32]

In case you were curious...here are the pictures of cranes, Christmas remnants and the dearly missed "Year of a Million Dreams."

This is the first time I've seen Disney not maintain the perfection it has in the past. Not taking away from Disney, just simply being that usually Disney has a way of placing us in a continually perfect world where there are no flaws - including the transitions that take place during the holidays or switching promos. I just always hear miracle stories, whether true or not, about how Disney re-touches paint on things overnight and re-plants things in the AK safari (a few examples). Luckily the cranes were down for Wishes.

I'll have an update tomorrow...currently I'm getting back into the swing of classes.

 

[Diamondintheruff]

So you're suggesting Disney has some cracks in it's foundation? Say it's not so.

 

[Nemo32]

So you're suggesting Disney has some cracks in it's foundation? Say it's not so.

Not necessarily...just maybe they're a little lax around this time of year (perhaps because its slow?) or not so concerned with upholding their reputation. For example, we ran into a couple of rude CMs as well, which I'll get into later.

It by no means taints my image of WDW or would prevent me from going again in Jan.

 

[iluv2go2disney]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. We were there right after you. The weather in January was great, a little cool at night, but nothing like what we left at home.

 

[k_reile]

I'm glad you converted you BF into a disney lover. I can't wait to go back..just sad I have to wait til probably Jan 2011 but I guess I can't complain since my parents are paying.

 

[Nemo32]

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. We were there right after you. The weather in January was great, a little cool at night, but nothing like what we left at home.

Yeah, it was 60s when we were there, yet below 20s up here in NY...so I couldn't complain. Thanks for reading!

I'm glad you converted you BF into a disney lover. I can't wait to go back..just sad I have to wait til probably Jan 2011 but I guess I can't complain since my parents are paying.

I'll probably have to wait until 2011 or 2012 also. It's very sad. I miss it already and it hasn't been very long since we got back.