A newbie's reaction to WDW*DINING PLAN REVIEWS* pg. 4

[denanbob]

Ok, here goes...........this was my (our) first trip, hence my first trip report. Here is some background:

Me (34) ~ high energy, idea of a vacation is packed full of fun things to do and spending lots and lots of DH's hard earned money. I would work, but my kids are sick too often and they miss lots of school. Seriously, that IS the reason. Trust me. You would fire me if I worked for you for the amount of time that I would be calling off. Anyway..........we'll call me "me" or "I" for this report.

DH (35) ~ low energy, hates crowds, idea of a vacation is sitting around doing nothing and saving his hard earned money. We'll call him PITA for this report.

DS (10) ~ Won't admit he's excited to go to Disney for the first time but I knew he'd love it more than anyone. His friends had told him Disney was for "little kids" and they mostly had "girl" rides. HUH??? We'll call him Jake (since that's his name).

DS (8) ~ the most pleasant, easy going child you'll ever meet in your life (yes, my child is better than yours, neener neener neener). I would call him "angel" for this report, but since he's a boy, we'll call him Brayden.

DD (6) ~ amazing mix of a princess and a tomboy. She loves girly things, but she's not afraid of a snake or clobbering a 10 year old boy from behind who called her brother a name at the bus stop. True story. Be very afraid of her. I am sometimes. I would call her whiney for this report, but since she's so cute, we'll call her Layni.

So that's the cast. We reside in a small Ohio town and the thought of travelling 20 hours in the Durango with 3 kids and the price of gas these days was NOT pleasant, so we decided to fly. We haven't flown since our honeymoon 13 years ago (to Disneyland, which I have NO memory of, how sad is that?), and the kids have never flown so this was exciting for everyone! The trip was finalized and the airfare booked on Feb. 2nd so I had 3 months to learn all I could about Disney and plan a fabulous vacation. Did I succeed? More to come...................

 

[denanbob]

Ok, so we're all packed (or so I thought......I'll give you one guess as to what I forgot) and ready to go. I hardly sleep the night before and am up, showered and ready to go before the alarm even goes off on Saturday May 6th. We leave the house around 8:30 and get to the airport around 8:50. I had already checked in online for our flight and printed our boarding passes (AirTran) so I thought it would be smooth sailing when we arrived. NOT! The line to check our bags was one million people long. Does anyone fly any other airline? There wasn't a person to be found at the Delta, Northwest, United, etc....counters. What's up with that? I was looking around for candid camera and if I were more famous, I'd have been looking for Ashton Kutcher. The lady from AirTran even said "if you need to check-in, come over here to this line (empty), but if you have your boarding passes, wait here (the long line)". Wasn't printing boarding passes and checking in online supposed to be a time SAVER? BUT.........I was going to DISNEY!!!! Who cares about a long airline line, right? As long as it wasn't a long Tower of Terror line, I was ok. We finally managed to get through the line and check our bags. We grabbed some chocolate chip muffins for breakfast at the snack bar and proceeded to our boarding gate. Our flight was sooooo fun. The kids LOVED flying. We purposely booked a flight with a layover in Atlanta just so we could take off and land 2 times each. We're goofballs. The Atlanta airport was MOBBED on our layover. We managed to get a seat at a scaled down Chili's restaurant and grab a quick lunch. Our next flight was just as great. Landed in sunny, warm Orlando around 3:00 (15 minutes EARLY). I think it had something to do with making up for the long line we had to wait in. So far, good karma was on my side. Keep this in mind because it turns around quickly here pretty soon.

I think I need a new paragraph. I've heard of run-on sentences, but I think I just did a run-on paragraph. Anyway, we used Magical Express and even though I studied and studied beforehand (Level one, side A), I was completely lost and confused and did not see ONE sign as to where to go for Magical Express. Found an information booth and were headed in the right direction. Didn't have to wait too long to check in. The POR line wasn't too bad either. The bus ride there was fun. The little movie they show (not really a movie, just an information video) was a great way to get us in the Disney spirit. POR was the last stop (this is also a sign of things to come), with OKW being first, POFQ being second. Check-in at POR was easy and painless. We requested Alligator Bayou, building 14, ground floor. Alligator Bayou ~ CHECK! Building 14 ~ CHECK! Ground floor ~ ERRRRRRR! Room 1438, second floor, ok by me. WE ARE AT DISNEY! FINALLY WE ARE AT DISNEY! A long airport line and a little steps weren't going to bum me out!

Next up: Our first evening (Earl of Sandwich out of bread????????????)

 

[javamom]

subbing, wanna hear more! We are heading to POR in December for our first-timer's trip!

 

[ImagineerHopeful]

omg u need to finish this story... it inspires me to write a disney story of my own first trip. good job so far but I NEED MORE

 

[kcdarr]

Enjoying your report. Thank you

 

[denanbob]

........So we arrive in our room around 5:15ish. We head to the food court to get the refillable mugs (we didn't use them enough to make it worth it, but they are cute souveniers so I'm not mad, PLUS I'm at DISNEY!!!). We are amazed at the beauty of this resort. Everything is impeccably landscaped and beautiful. We were in awe that we could afford to stay at such a nice place. Well, whether or not we REALLY could afford it is up for debate, but the fact that we paid for it and were entitled to be there was amazing! We walked over to the marina area and saw the horse and carriage waiting. We had 6:00 reservations, and it was only 5:45 so we walked over there and the guy said we could hop on right then. He introduced us to Dan (the horse) and he told us his name but I can't remember it. We took a very nice leisurely ride through POR and POFQ. The pool at POFQ is really neat looking! We planned to swim there at least once (never did). At one point, OUR horse and carriage was holding up 4-5 Disney buses. They were all backed up behind us. Lemme see if I can figure out how to put pictures in here:

How do I know if it worked? Do I have to submit the message first? Oh well, if you see a picture, great, if you see a bunch of words, sorry!

Anyway, we finished the carriage ride and decided to head to Downtown Disney via the boat and get some food at Earl of Sandwich (we were on the dining plan ~ FABULOUS!!). We waited in line for 45 minutes to catch a boat. It was 9pm before we left POR. Got to DTD around 9:30 and it was a mad house!!! There were a BAJILLIONMILLIONTRILLIONGODZILLION people there! We found our way to Earl of Sandwich and waited in line for 20 minutes before they came around and said they were out of bread. I laughed and thought it was a "Disney joke". Other people were getting out of line and I looked around and thought "Certainly he wasn't SERIOUS??". Again, I checked for Candid Camera cameras before I realized that I would not be eating anytime soon. Plan B. We were on the dining plan, and there was no other counter service place to eat at. Can you just GUESS where we ended up? MCDONALDS!!!!!!!! Paid $30 to eat at stinkin' McDonalds. Which ALSO was a Madhouse with wall-to-wall people. I was almost in tears at this point. BUT........I am at Disney and a little airport lines, steps, and MickeyDee's food wasn't going to hurt me, right? After all, the way I wrote it out, it had the word MICKEY in it, right? RIGHT? I had no right to be upset!! After MICKEYdee's, we found Goofy's candy shop. Another mobfest. Could hardly finnagle our way through. And this is low-crowds time, right????????? We decided to get the made-to-order treats. Jake got chocolate covered pretzels rolled in oreos, Brayden got marshmallows rolled in chocolate and covered in sprinkles, Layni got rice krispie bar rolled in chocolate and then in butterfingers, and I got a rice krispie bar rolled in chocolate and covered in mini-chocolate chips. PITA got a bag of Mickey whoppers (or malt balls, whatever you call them in your neck of the woods). $30 later, we were out the door with treats that we never ended up eating because they were too big. Seriously........I threw them in the room trash right before we left for the airport yesterday. What a disgrace! So we attempted to go to the lego store, but it was too busy. By now, I was MISERABLE and DH was irritable too so we just decided to head back. We decided to take the bus instead of the boat though to hopefully get back quicker. We started to approach the bus stops and noticed that one was swarming with people while the rest had only a few people waiting. Guess which one was for POR????? Yep, you guessed it. The mobfest. I felt like we should change our name to the "POR GROUPIES". We made it back to our resort around 11:30-12:00 and FELL into bed. Clothes on and all. It was a wonderful evening before we decided to go to DTD. Oh well, live and learn. And I am at DISNEY so no amount of airport lines, steps, McDonalds food, and lack of bread at a sandwich shop was going to get ME down. Nosiree!!!

Up next: Our first full day at AK (can you say MOBFEST?)

 

[Dustmouse]

Sounds like fun already! I'll be tuned in for the next episode. Great job!

 

[tmt martins]

DD doing good great product placement in the Photo

Thats a great shot and also explains the long lines at DTD for the bus.

Great report keep it coming.

 

[umbluegray]

Subscribing.

I hope your family's vacation ends up being wonderful!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Yay, can't wait to read the rest! I love first time reports!

 

[Quinn222]

Loving the report! When were you there? We had the exact same experience of mobbed DTD followed by a super crowded day at AK. We did go back to DTD on an afternoon and it was much much nicer than the Friday night we first went.

 

[sherry72nova]

I'm Loving this! We are going in August w/free dining which we have never had the dining plan before. Can't wait to hear more....

 

[denanbob]

Ok, here goes............we had a wake up call for 6:45 and Jake (DS10) was closest, so he answered it (somehow *I* ended up on the trundle bed on the floor). He said it was Mickey and he said "Good mornin', no more sleepin' this mornin'". Cute. Jake got a kick out of that because he didn't know it was a wake-up call or who it would be. We were dressed and at the bus stop by 8:15. Today we were meeting an online friend of mine and her family who I've known online for NINE YEARS and never met in person. She lives in Port Orange Florida so they have annual passes. I was so excited for our first Disney day and also to meet Nanci and family. We were 2nd in line at the turnstiles and there were MOBS of people behind us further back than I could even see. I was soooooooooo proud to be in the front! Here is a pic of the kids waiting for rope drop:

I tried to go to guest relations while waiting in line to get my coupon for our free Everest photo, but the guy told me they didn't have the "equipment" for that at that window and that I'd have to go to the Guest Relations window on the other side of the gate. Yeah, right! We were making a beeline to the Yeti and ain't nuttin' gonna stop us. I figured we would ride standby and get fastpasses. The plan was to return to GR to get the coupon before our fastpasses and get the picture on that ride. That didn't happen so I have a coupon that I will mail to the first person to PM me with "EE COUPON" in the title. This is good until 9/30/06. So anyway, we get FP's first, then get in the standby line. Here's where my good karma starts to change. The CM informs us that EE isn't open yet because they are having trouble with it. I thought about getting upset and feeling sorry for myself and saying "of course it's not running because that is my luck, things never work out for ME, poor me, yada, yada, yada", but I didn't let myself go there. I've heard that ride breakdowns don't last very long so I stood there with a smile on my face just thinking of how much we were going to enjoy our first Disney ride. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, it was open and the line moved like lightening. Would have loved to see all the cool things while waiting in the line, but it was not to be. We were on a yeti mission! Here is a pic I took while on the ride:

After EE (which all 3 of my kids LOVED), we waited at the exit for my friend Nanci. I recognized her right away from all the pictures I'd seen of her. It was great to have them along because they are Disney veterans and they knew their way around everywhere. We didn't even look at the map once. We then walked to Dinoland and everyone but Layni rode Primevil Whirl (she was just a hair too short). It was an ok ride. A little jerky for my taste, but the boys loved it. Then we all rode Dinosaur. Loved this ride. Really fun! Then we saw It's Tough To Be a Bug. Loved this also. Cute show, but tons of crying kids. Even Brayden (DS8) didn't love the 3D effect so much. I loved it though! So fun. We stopped by Kali to get FP's on our way to Tusker House for lunch. Very very crowded and limited menu, but what we got was good (salad w/grilled chicken was yummmmmmmmy!). HOWEVER, as soon as it was my turn to order, the computer went down. Bad karma was STILL with me and at this point I didn't think I deserved it one bit. After about 10 minutes, I finally get our food and Nanci's family was practically done eating already! GRRRRRRRRRRRR! On the way back to Kali, we grabbed FP's for the Safari which was a 60 minute standby wait. Rode Kali and I got drenched! Nanci had done a child swap pass since she has a 1 year old, so when it was her turn she took Brayden and Layni with her and her daughter. While they were in line, it BROKE DOWN!!! At this point, I am not having much faith in Disney rides!!!! Again, only a few minutes and it was up and running again, so not too bad. Jake (DS10) was standing on the bridge and operating the button that gets people wet at the end. He loved that!!!! While we were waiting for our FP window for Safari, we did the Pangani Trail which was just ok. (This is the part where AK gets the "zoo" references). Then we did the Safari which again was just ok. Even with FP's, we had to wait 20 minutes to get on. I wasn't overly impressed with this though. It is 3:00 now and we said goodbye to our friends and headed back to POR to swim. We didn't have much time because we needed to be back on the bus to MGM by 5:15 for our 6:30 ADR at 50's Primetime (our favorite meal). Here is one of my favorite swimming pics (I'm so proud of my new Canon S2 IS camera):

So we're back on the bus around 5:30 for MGM. Arrive around 5:50 right during the parade. Got a few shots, but decided not to watch it because we wanted to try and sneak on RNR before our 6:30 ADR. We get to RNR and Layni is just a hair too short. We are bummed so we get a child swap pass. PITA, Jake and Brayden ride it standby (10 min wait) and they LOVED it. I take Jake with me to ride it with the swap pass while PITA took the other two to the restroom. Can you only GUESS what happened? We are the 2nd people waiting to get on when the ride BREAKS DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is it me? I feel like everyone knows it's because of me. I'm bringing the bad luck to Disney. I secretly look left to right to make sure everyone isn't glaring at me or spitting at me or booing me. They aren't. At this point, we didn't have time to wait but I couldn't find a way out. I'm deathly afraid of being late for our ADR's so I tell the CM we have to leave and they show me a back way out. We run to Primetime and check in only to have to wait about 15 more minutes for a table. WELL worth the wait though. We had SO much fun here. "Mom" was our waitress and Brayden got in trouble for chewing gum at the table, I got in trouble for interrupting, and Jake got in trouble for the elbows. She brought my DH the "Dad's sundae" and you can't even BELIEVE the size of this thing. Here is a picture of her bringing him the dessert and a spoon (the spoon is important for the next picture):

My husband then casually says in a joking way "I need a bigger spoon for this" and the next picture is what happened next:

My husband finished that WHOLE sundae. Can you even believe that? PITA says that is the best food he had the whole trip. He ordered the onion rings for appetizer, the salmon for his meal, and that dessert. I got the grilled chicken but I asked for mashed potatoes instead of root vegetable hash and it was very very good. My dessert was apple cobbler with ice cream. Good, but I was full so I didn't eat much. The kids got chicken noodle soup for appetizer, cheeseburgers for meal, and create-your-own-sundae for dessert. After dinner, we walked to Fantasmic to get good seats since we didn't use the dinner package. We had NO problem getting good seats (right/center 5 rows from back row). We got there around 8:10. I loved Fantasmic. PITA thought it was ok. Kids enjoyed it. We booked it back to the POR buses (furthest bus stop away) and we actually made the first bus back!!! I was sooooooo proud! And this was with Brayden only having one shoe on because he got a blister. Poor thing. He's too heavy for either of us to carry so I was praying he wouldn't step on anything and hurt himself. Thanks to Disney's impeccably clean parks, he didn't. We were back to POR by 10:00 and in bed by 11:00.

Up next: The day from H-E-double toothpicks. (World Showcase and Spectro/Wishes).

 

[tlinus]

Subscribing to this wonderful trip report! Love the pictures as well.....cannot wait to read the rest!!

 

[kcrew]

Bumping. This is tooooo funny....much like how things go for me and I hope I don't regret forgoing a relaxing beach vacation.....

 

[KerriSue]

Sounds great so far!

I hope the rest of the rides were working for ya,

 

[denanbob]

I hope the rest of the rides were working for ya,

They weren't! LOL! But more on that this afternoon after I show off my Disney pics over lunch with my friend.........

 

[Bev J]

Enjoying your trip so far....hope your luck changes soon

Bev

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

This makes me so excited to be going to Disney World... even though our trip isn't until the end of August! Love the report!

 

[ENSOCK]

Can't wait to read the rest. Sounds like a trip to remember and my kind of luck!