MOmousefan
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2005
- Messages
- 1,054
I have been home for one day and the magic is slowly fading. We had a great trip to the World and have amassed many memories over our 7-day visit. We were at WDW from 6/5 – 6/11 and stayed at the PoP Century resort. We have 7 day park hoppers.
Our party consisted of:
Me – The Dad, age 57, a teacher of 30 years.
Alison – 22 YO daughter working on her teaching degree and working on as a teacher’s aide with elementary school children.
Scott AKA Scottie, Turbo – 29 YO fiancé to Alison. He runs the family concrete business and has been to WDW once 16 years ago.
This is our fourth trip, but one of many firsts. All previous vacations have been in the family car but due to gas prices we flew on SouthWest Airlines out of Kansas City.
This is also a first trip with a non-family member, although Scott is becoming one this July, the date of their wedding. He is very laid back and needs to get away from the business for a well-deserved break. This is also the first time for us to stay more than 5 days. I also have some goals for this trip; Try a turkey leg, see the American Experience, see the France and China movies, stay late at an EMH park, and see all of the attractions that are new since our 2005 trip.
Getting There….
I made the Disney and airline reservations and wanted to spend as much time in WDW as possible, so I got us a flight out of KC for 7:15 am on Tuesday the 6th. We stayed at a Best Western just two miles from the airport and I could leave my car there and use their shuttle.
My wife will not go to WDW, but wishes us well for the trip.
We left Camdenton around 5:00pm on Monday since Scott had a full day of work before he could leave. It is three hours to the hotel, so we arrive early enough to relax before an early morning wake-up. Alison has been exited about the trip and wonders if she will be able to sleep. I wonder the same thing, but have no trouble sleeping until the 5:00 am wake-up. The hotel has a simple continental breakfast that will hold us for now. BTW, since I am getting back to KC late on the 11th I make a reservation for that night. It turned out to be a good idea as you will see later.
We leave for the airport at 5:30 and check our bags. This process is easy and goes smoothly. We then proceed to security and I hope that I have followed all of the rules. Scott and Alison had flown to Utila for a diving trip and assure me all is fine, but as we approach the security station they start doing strange things like taking off their shoes, getting out the laptop and turning it on. I haven’t even opened my carry-on bag and there is a line behind me. Images of sirens and alarms going off enter my head, but I manage to avoid a full body cavity search and we arrive at our gate. I had printed out the boarding passes 24 hours earlier, so we all set!
SouthWest Airlines is awesome!
We load on time fly to Chicago Midway for an hour and a half layover. After a potty break, Scott and Alison go to find something to eat. We are to leave for Orlando at 9:30 and around 9:10 I call the kids to see where they are. There was a problem at the kiosk where they were getting food. We do get on board and sit at the emergency door, lots of legroom! The problem they had at the kiosk was a customer arguing with the employee over what type of coffee they gave him. To make a long story short, he went behind the counter to get his receipt and it went down hill from there. For the rest of our trip when we got frustrated or mad, we threatened to “Go behind the counter” to straighten something out.
Our flight to Orlando was enlightened by a funny attendant. While making the mandatory safety speech, he told us about the air masks, how to use them, how to put them on a child, and if you had more than two children, “Pick the one with most potential”. Upon arrival, he told us no one loved us or our money more than SW!
At this point I part ways with the kids as they have purchased a car through Scott’s uncle and it is already at the airport. First we go to the DME station and explain to the greeter how only I would be on the bus, but all three of us had sent our luggage through DME. “No problem” he said and the kids are gone. I have their voucher and proceed to the counter. “No problem" turns into a problem when the lady at the counter said they would not transport the luggage without the person present. After two discussions with a supervisor, all of the luggage will be sent to my room. I wait 20 minutes for the bus, a cruise line bus, and arrive at the PoP at three.
DME uses the Cruise Line buses when there is no cruise.
Our rooms are ready and we set off for the Magic Kingdom.
Here are the links to the rest of our trip.
Our afternoon at the Magic Kingdom.
Wednesday at Animal Kingdom and Planet Hollywood.
Thursday = Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Illuminations.
Friday finds us at MGM, watching a shuttle launch, shutting down the Magic Kingdom.
Saturday: World Showcase and Fantasmic.
Sunday: EPCOT, Spectro, and Wishes.
Monday: My last day. AK, monorail resorts, and heading home.
Our party consisted of:
Me – The Dad, age 57, a teacher of 30 years.
Alison – 22 YO daughter working on her teaching degree and working on as a teacher’s aide with elementary school children.
Scott AKA Scottie, Turbo – 29 YO fiancé to Alison. He runs the family concrete business and has been to WDW once 16 years ago.
This is our fourth trip, but one of many firsts. All previous vacations have been in the family car but due to gas prices we flew on SouthWest Airlines out of Kansas City.
This is also a first trip with a non-family member, although Scott is becoming one this July, the date of their wedding. He is very laid back and needs to get away from the business for a well-deserved break. This is also the first time for us to stay more than 5 days. I also have some goals for this trip; Try a turkey leg, see the American Experience, see the France and China movies, stay late at an EMH park, and see all of the attractions that are new since our 2005 trip.
Getting There….
I made the Disney and airline reservations and wanted to spend as much time in WDW as possible, so I got us a flight out of KC for 7:15 am on Tuesday the 6th. We stayed at a Best Western just two miles from the airport and I could leave my car there and use their shuttle.
My wife will not go to WDW, but wishes us well for the trip.
We left Camdenton around 5:00pm on Monday since Scott had a full day of work before he could leave. It is three hours to the hotel, so we arrive early enough to relax before an early morning wake-up. Alison has been exited about the trip and wonders if she will be able to sleep. I wonder the same thing, but have no trouble sleeping until the 5:00 am wake-up. The hotel has a simple continental breakfast that will hold us for now. BTW, since I am getting back to KC late on the 11th I make a reservation for that night. It turned out to be a good idea as you will see later.
We leave for the airport at 5:30 and check our bags. This process is easy and goes smoothly. We then proceed to security and I hope that I have followed all of the rules. Scott and Alison had flown to Utila for a diving trip and assure me all is fine, but as we approach the security station they start doing strange things like taking off their shoes, getting out the laptop and turning it on. I haven’t even opened my carry-on bag and there is a line behind me. Images of sirens and alarms going off enter my head, but I manage to avoid a full body cavity search and we arrive at our gate. I had printed out the boarding passes 24 hours earlier, so we all set!
SouthWest Airlines is awesome!
We load on time fly to Chicago Midway for an hour and a half layover. After a potty break, Scott and Alison go to find something to eat. We are to leave for Orlando at 9:30 and around 9:10 I call the kids to see where they are. There was a problem at the kiosk where they were getting food. We do get on board and sit at the emergency door, lots of legroom! The problem they had at the kiosk was a customer arguing with the employee over what type of coffee they gave him. To make a long story short, he went behind the counter to get his receipt and it went down hill from there. For the rest of our trip when we got frustrated or mad, we threatened to “Go behind the counter” to straighten something out.
Our flight to Orlando was enlightened by a funny attendant. While making the mandatory safety speech, he told us about the air masks, how to use them, how to put them on a child, and if you had more than two children, “Pick the one with most potential”. Upon arrival, he told us no one loved us or our money more than SW!
At this point I part ways with the kids as they have purchased a car through Scott’s uncle and it is already at the airport. First we go to the DME station and explain to the greeter how only I would be on the bus, but all three of us had sent our luggage through DME. “No problem” he said and the kids are gone. I have their voucher and proceed to the counter. “No problem" turns into a problem when the lady at the counter said they would not transport the luggage without the person present. After two discussions with a supervisor, all of the luggage will be sent to my room. I wait 20 minutes for the bus, a cruise line bus, and arrive at the PoP at three.
DME uses the Cruise Line buses when there is no cruise.
Our rooms are ready and we set off for the Magic Kingdom.
Here are the links to the rest of our trip.
Our afternoon at the Magic Kingdom.
Wednesday at Animal Kingdom and Planet Hollywood.
Thursday = Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Illuminations.
Friday finds us at MGM, watching a shuttle launch, shutting down the Magic Kingdom.
Saturday: World Showcase and Fantasmic.
Sunday: EPCOT, Spectro, and Wishes.
Monday: My last day. AK, monorail resorts, and heading home.
