A week with the Mouse trip report Jan 15-21 w/pics

[spaceoddity]

We were just in the happiest place on earth in May 2006 for Star Wars Weekend. Had a great time but the weather was in the upper 90's & humid. Fast forward 8 months and were back in the happiest place on earth...with lower crowds & cooler temps.

The cast:

Me (35) Love everything Disney!

Karen (36) a good friend who loves Disney.

Pre Trip Report:

Back in July I booked the Wilderness Lodge from Jan 16-21, and about a week before we were going to leave I decided to add Jan 15. I was afraid it would be a hassle since Jan 15 was Martin Luther King day. Not a problem switched my Southwest Flight right on line and saved $60. Then got a room for Mon night at WL no problem it was that easy....only thing I didn’t do is add an extra day to my park tickets.

Day 1 Mon Jan 15

Left about 9:00am to head towards the Providence airport (a.k.a. Warwick, RI) flight was for 11:25am. Didn’t know how busy it would be since it was a holiday. It was pretty slow didn’t take long to get through security. Our flight arrived early and off we went. We got into Orlando about 20 minutes early but had to wait since there was a plane still in our gate. Headed over to the magical express area got on a bus and off to the Wilderness Lodge. We had eaten here in May at Whispering Canyon Café and fell in love with the resort so now were staying here for a week...can’t wait to get there. We are the first stop on the Magical Express and before I know it were at WL.

Checked in and got a standard room 5042....cast member said that since we added Mon we would have to check out and be assigned another room for the rest of the week. That’s fine I just won’t unpack for the first night. Got to the room the view was ok, you could see the service area, but also we could see Cinderella’s Castle through the trees...so this means we could watch Wishes from our balcony.

after checking in and getting to our room it was about 5pm so we were hungry and headed down to Whispering Canyon Café, we didn’t have ADR’s but got right in. I had the all you can eat skillet and a “glow-tini”
I love this restaurant, it’s allot of fun not a place to eat if your looking for a quite dinner.

After dinner explored some of the resort then headed back to the room. Got back to the room and our luggage was there...gotta love Magical Express! Watched Wishes from our balcony...then called it a night because tomorrow we are going to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Tinkerbell's Mom]

Oh I'm the first to subscribe, I'm so excited, I love TR's . . . can't wait to hear how it goes . . .

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 2 Tues Jan 16

So we didn’t unpack the night before because today we get our new room and new card with our tickets & dinning plan on it. I went down to the front desk to re-check in, the cast member apologized to us and felt bad that we brought down our luggage because the cast member yesterday morning should have just let us stay in that one room and we did not have to switch. She asked if we wanted to keep the room or switch since we brought everything down. I said we would keep the room since we could see Wishes. So she issued us our new room cards with our tickets & dining plan and we went back up and dropped off our luggage and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

So before we went over to the boat dock...I took some pics of the courtyard area...was foggy this morning..

We took the boat over to the Contemporary and jumped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom...once we got there the opening ceremony just ended and the run down main street began...we did take our time down main street on our way to Space Mountain...I took a few pics of the castle in the fog.

Then we did Space Mountain we didn’t fast pass just went in the stand by line, the wait was maybe 10 min not too bad for taking our time to get over there. It seemed faster this time around...and I figured out why, usually I always get the front car but this time I got the back car and it makes a big difference in the ride...I think.

So that’s enough of Tomorrowland for right now...we head over to Fantasyland...don’t ride anything....all the waits are 5min...but did take a pic...

We head over to Frontierland and grab a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain, no Splash Mountain this week it’s down for a refurb. Then head over to Pirates of The Caribbean, which was down on my last visit in May so they could add Jack Sparrow. We got into line just in time before a Brazilian tour group of at least 75 got in line....I saw that flag coming so made sure we got there ahead of them....I think this was the longest wait we had maybe about 15min this was now around 10am. I think it was great how they fit Jack into the ride with out really changing the ride...When we got off the ride they had Jack Sparrow teaching kids to sword fight...the guy who was Jack was great had the voice and mannerisms down....

While watching Jack teach the kids to sword fight I felt a tap on my shoulder and I look to the right and no one is there, I look to my left and there is Capt Hook laughing at me. I just laughed and said you got me Captain. It was pretty funny, then he did it again to someone else.

Now time to ride Big Thunder Mountain which seemed to have a pretty long wait time, if I remember the stand by time was 30min...I think it was larger early in the day since Splash was down.....I’m glad I fast passed...

Then went over to Tom Sawyer’s Island and spent about 40min over there. I had never been on Tom Sawyer’s Island in any of my past visits. The caves were pretty cool.

Time to eat over at Pecos Bill then hit the Haunted Mansion, Hall of Presidents & Mickey's Philharmagic...which i love Then we hit it's a Small World as annoying as the song can be we have to do it everytime. Then over to get a dole whip mmmmm then on to the Tiki room.. After that we head over to Carousel of Progress & the TTA....at this point it’s 4pm and we head back to our room to rest because we have ADR’s for the Hoop Dee Doo Revue at 7:15pm......We head down to the boat dock and grab a boat right over to Fort Wilderness for the Hoop Dee Doo...forgot to bring my camera so no pics......we take a boat back to the WL and call it a night....for tomorrow is Epcot. It was a great day it was in the mid 80's and sunny...the Magic Kingdom wasn't too crowded.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 3 Wed Jan 17

Headed out early this morning wanted to get to Epcot before rope drop to ride Soarin’ before the line got too long.....went to the boat dock took a boat over to the Contemporary..then on to the monorail..got off at the TTC and then over to the monorail to Epcot....got there in plenty time before opening and headed right up to the rope. Did the countdown and off to Soarin’...got to have the first ride of the day and got in the first row. Great way to start the day.

After Soarin’ headed over to The Seas w/Nemo to check out the new ride.....there was no one in line just walked right in and through the que area which is nicely done and right on to the ride. It was cute, worth riding at least once...it’s very short.

Now we headed over to grab a fast pass for Test Track....then went over to ride Mission Space “orange team” of course. It did seem a bit more intense than when I rode it May...or it could have ben it wasn’t so hot & humid so it made it seem that way?

Now time to ride Test Track...this is my favorite ride at Epcot...The park isn’t too crowded today...wait times at Soarin’ at peak time was only about 50min...not too bad. It was a cloudy cooler day..After we did Ellen’s Energy Adventure & Spaceship Earth we headed back to the WL to grab some sweatshirts since we were going to stay for Illuminations and new it would be chilly once the sun went down.

Once we got back to Epcot with sweatshirts on...we finished up Future World with figment...skipped Honey I Shrunk the Audience also went to Club Cool where they actualy had all the sodas available except for Japan...which was great because last time i was there they hardly had any...I liked most of them except of course for the Beverly. Then we started to walk around the World Showcase starting in Mexico and timing it so we would end in Canada we had ADR’s for LeCellier at 5:30pm..mmmm. We did Malestorm & American Adventure...and before we knew it we hit Canada with 20min before our ADR...we were seated right away once we checked in. I had my Cheese Soup & Filet Mignon....after that we did some shopping and picked out our spot to watch Illuminations over near Germany...had a great view and the park was pretty slow that night so pretty much had the spot to ourselves.

Took a bus back to the WL...didn’t have to wait long at all. Tomorrow...Animal Kingdom

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Hi Spaceoddity. Great trip report so far.
I am so jealous - you got to have a Dole whip!

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 4 Thurs Jan 18

Again up early today...wanted to get to Animal Kingdom for rope drop. Jumped on a bus and headed over...got there around 8:40am. Got in line and watched the palm tree talk to the kids for awhile. Actually I watched the guy operating the palm tree which was more fun....he’s easy to spot now that I know what to look for.

Once the rope dropped we did the fast walk over to Expedition Everest...got right into the stand by line and got right on. This is by far my favorite ride at WDW.

After Everest we got a fast pass, then headed over to Dinosaur...this is one bumpy ride...then back to use our fast pass for EE, then got another fast pass for EE...this is pretty much what we did for the day after riding Everest we would grab a fast pass then go ride something else and come back and use our fast pass. The park was very slow, and the return time on the fast passes were only a ½ hour to an hour return time. I lost tracked of how many times we rode EE after the 6th ride

Nemo the Musical was not showing today due to the fact that at a show yesterday two puppets collided and needed repairs....so we planned on coming to back to see it. So we left the park around 3:00pm after doing pretty much everything but Nemo & Kali...didn’t feel like getting soaked...it was warm that day but not warm enough. Headed back to WL for some needed rest..did a lot of walking at AK...Plus tonight we head over to the MK for Spectromagic & Wishes.......Instead of watching Spectromagic on Main Street or near the castle...we chose to watch in Liberty Square....which I liked a whole lot better and will watch from there on my next visits.....For Wishes we like to watch on the Tomorrowland bridge...and Tink goes right over your head......back to WL for much needed rest...tomorrow is the Studios.

 

[serendipity]

thanks for the report. great pics! but where's one of you??

 

[spaceoddity]

thanks for the report. great pics! but where's one of you??

She's taking the pictures of me.... i'm taking the pictures of the scenery. She hates to have her picture taken...i do have some of both of us that will becoming up later in the report

 

[RIDisneyFan]

Where's the rest?

 

[piglet50]

good report. love the pictures.

 

[momocay]

We just got back as well. The weather was absolutely perfect. Then we come back to the northeast.

 

[spaceoddity]

Where's the rest?

Should finish this weekend

good report. love the pictures.

Thank you

We just got back as well. The weather was absolutely perfect. Then we come back to the northeast.

I know makes me want to go back so bad

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 5 Fri Jan 19

Today we had breakfast at Whispering Canyon Cafe’...and it’s just as fun in the morning as it is in the evening...maybe even more so because the cast members are little more grumpier in the morning

Then off to MGM today, and the goal is to ride Tower of Terror as many times as we rode Expedition Everest..TOT is my 2nd favorite ride at WDW. Got there for a little after opening and got right into the stand by line for TOT....today is another slow day...wait times are very short...so we did the same plan as with EE...we got a fast pass went did something else came back rode and then got a fast pass again. Since we were just here in May didn't feel the need to repeat allot of stuff here so we rode TOT at least 5 times if not more...also did Star Tours, The Great Movie Ride, Muppets 3D...also saw the Dream Team for the first time this week giving dream fast passes to a family....Then headed back to the WL in the afternoon for a break and grab sweatshirts since it would be a little cool during Fantasmic....We had dinner at Sci-Fi at 5:00pm...now the food is just ok...but I love the atmosphere here. Then headed over to Fantasmic to get a seat...I love this show Didn’t take many pictures...our goal was too ride TOT...this used to be my favorite park years ago...but now...not so much...it definetely could use some updating....Tomorrow is back to the Magic Kingdom to do the Keys to the Kingdom tour the highlight of my trip.

 

[natale1980]

GREAT TR!! Can't wait to read the rest!
You're making me want to go more then ever!

-nat

 

[jcpuppy.com]

Great Report!
I agree MGM needs some updating and some rides or things added.

 

[spaceoddity]

Day 6 Sat Jan 20

Up early today....needed to be at the Magic Kingdom for 8:15am...we are taking the 8:30am Keys to the Kingdom tour this morning...can’t wait..very excited. We head down to the boat dock and grab a boat to the Contemporary and then on to the monorail. We got to the magic Kingdom for about 8:00am and got right in...except for the few people headed to breakfast at the castle it’s pretty quiet and kinda weird to walk down main street with it empty. Since were early we head down to the castle and take some photos of it since there is no one around.

The head over next to City Hall to check in for the tour. Our tour guide is Matthew....who was incredible...very funny, very knowledgeable...you could tell he loved giving this tour. So we got our name badges, our guest pass for when we are backstage & got to choose want we wanted for lunch...which was at the Columbia Harbor House. Never had eaten here before, but will again...I’ll explain later. So about 8:30am our group of 20 is all together and Matthew does a mic check, because everyone gets an ear piece so you can hear him talking and he doesn’t have to scream over the crowds...mine isn’t working can’t hear a thing...he checks it and they had put the battery in backwards...ops...now I can hear and off we go.

Now I’m not sure how detailed I should go into the tour I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who wants to take it...so I’ll say I learned allot about Walt Disney, the Disney Co. & of course the Magic Kingdom...I highly recommend the tour. So to sum up without going into allot of detail we head down main street, stopping off to the side while the heard is let in...and we get allot of information about main Street and the names on the windows...etc. Then it’s off to Adventureland....we take the Jungle Cruise but our tour guide gets on the mic not the boat driver...let’s just say I learned to listen for “I love disco” on the Jungle Cruise...then over to frontierland and we go backstage to see Splash Mountain and were all the floats are stored for the parades....Now lunch time at the Columbia Harbor House...where are lunch is out waiting with our names....we eat in a roped off section upstairs...not many people realize the restaurant has an upstairs and it’s a very quiet place to eat....the food was good had a salad with pineapple & walnuts in it...very yummy

Now we go over to the Haunted Mansion...the line is really long it’s about 12:00pm and the Magic Kingdom is pretty busy...but we go in a the back way and right on to the ride....Matthew told us a bunch of stuff to look for while on the ride ....won’t give anything away but when leaving the ride you’ll always want to feel something on the way out.

Now it’s the time we have all been waiting for the Utilidoors......which was very interesting to see....we go down on the Emporium side of Main Street and pop up on the other side where tink comes in for a landing after her flight from the castle.....the tour ends about 1:30pm...it was soooooo good I highly recommend it and hope that you get Matthew as your guide

We head back to the WL for some rest...the tour was at a very nice walking pace you didn’t feel rushed or pressure to keep up and there were lost of breaks built in. We then had dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café at 5:00pm. After that we headed to Downtown Disney and spent the rest of the night at The Adventure’s Club..Kungaloosh!! If you haven’t been it’s very funny...I did maybe have a little bit too much to drink...but I’m on vacation and wasn’t driving home...Tomorrow we leave...but not before getting some more Disney fun in before were taking back to MCO.

 

[soupy11]

Great tr and I love the pics...got all excited when I saw TOT!!

 

[spaceoddity]

Thanks...it's a great pic of TOT the sky is so blue it's hard to write a trip report...because it's hard to remember everything that happened at Disney due to the fact that there's so much going on...and i never know how much to include or not include don't want to bore people with the small details.

 

[WDWFlorida2005]

Great pics!!!!!

Thank you for sharing them with us!

I was there that weekend too!!!

 

[WDWFlorida2005]

One more thing I forgot to put on my last post...

Where is that Goofy on the bench? Where in the park?