A Year Of A Million Birthday Wishes

[cuddles422]

I made a pre-trip report, but I didn't like it very much, so before I begin my actual trip report let me give you a little background information

Cast:

Me: the birthday girl......YES I'M FINALLY 16!....Well, I will be in 2 days! I'm a total Disney freak! I love Eeyore and have almost every Eeyore stuffed animal made after the year 2000! I was only 2 when I first went to WDW. I've been to Disneyland a handful of times because we live in California. This is my 5th time to WDW....and I never feel ready to leave.

Mom: Everybody says I look and act like my mom My mom also loves Disney; she was one of the first people ever to go to Disneyland and WDW. She always feels old when people talk about how long it has been since Epcot opened.....she was there the same year it opened My mom is the best secret keeper around...she's known for doing some of the best surprises at Disney ever!! As much as my mom loves Disney she HATES waking up early I'm sure you'll read all about that My mom has some really bad back problems and can not go on any thrill rides...so I'm all by myself on those rides Thankfully she's a trooper and waits for me while I ride all of them

The Family back home:

This is the first trip I've ever taken to Disney with just my mom My sister who is 19 has an almost 7 month old baby girl named Vanessa. That pregnancy sent the family through a lot of troubles, but in the end all is well Carolyn, my sister, is already counting down to the day when she can take Vanessa to Disneyland or WDW......I'm counting down too because I know she'll be calling for me to come help her navigate the parks (I'm the master of all Disney navigators)

Unfortunately I do not have a relationship with my dad anymore and this trip is actually meant to be a good distraction for me from all of the legal battles I'm facing with my dad's custody over me So far it's been a GREAT distraction

Well that's all the info I think you need to know....but if you have questions feel free to ask them!


DAY ONE: April 14 (I wrote this the day after, but I couldn't get it posted..enjoy!)

I can't believe the long wait is over....I'm finally here!!!! We got to WDW yesterday around 6pm.........and after being up for over 24 hours we were exhausted!

Our plane from San Francisco airport left @ 6:15am, but we had to leave our house at 4am And if anybody knows me and my mom they know we never go to sleep till at least 2:30am, so we decided to not go to sleep at all. I was worried we would regret the decision, but it actually worked out really well! It was hard to leave our 2 kitties at home, but we knew they would be ok. Our limo got to our house promptly at 4am. WHAT A SHOCKER!.....I thought everybody was busy at 4 in the morning!

We got to SFO around 4:55am and started to worry that curbside check-in wouldn't be open and then we would have to lug our 4 HUGE and I mean HUGE suitcases to the Delta check-in. Luckily it was open and they were extremely kind and helpful. Sometimes you'll hear the staff whining about how heavy our bags are, but I didn't hear a peep The next thing I was worried about was security. We always get picked to be the poor random people that get their bags checked.....but not this time So, I was feeling really good....and I have to say..I was beginning to think of all the possible things that could go wrong in the next 12 hours sense our trips never seem to go as planned. We left SFO on time and ended up arriving in Atlanta Airport 30 minutes early! SCORE!!!

We only had to wait around 1 hour for our connecting flight into MCO and that's when things just go a little weird

First of all there was this really odd guy who kept staring at me and my mom.....and the worst part is that he ended up sitting in front of us in first class. Thankfully the flight was only around 1 hour so we were able to escape his oddness quickly. Next thing was that we loaded the plane pretty much on time, but then we sat in the plane for over 45 minutes waiting for the airline to load an electric wheel chair below the plane. The pilot tried to make it sound like this was some extremely difficult task..... Finally....we're in the air and we're waiting and waiting some more for our flight attendant to offer us a drink. Finally 30 minutes before we land 1 out of the 2 flight attendants gets up and SLOWLY starts to offer people drinks. By the time she got to us we had around 5 minutes to drink our soda So much for great service in first class. Our flight got into MCO 30 minutes late, but our Disney limo driver was there to pick us up and to help start our trip with a little Disney magic

Unbelievably our luggage came off right away....that has never happened to me so it was a BIG deal! Once our driver loaded the limo we were on our way!!!

In the car we got to watch the Pink Panther, and as we got closer to the Grand Floridian our driver had us play a few games with him One of them was we were supposed to scream something about Disney every time he changed lanes. Of course he changed lanes a lot

As we entered the "gates" of the Grand Floridian we were greeted with lots of smiles We headed to the front desk where the cast member escorted us to the concierge check-in and concierge level. Originally we were only going to stay at WDW for 4 days, but about 1 month ago my mom surprised me and extended our stay to 7 nights We had a guaranteed deluxe Royal Palm Club room with 2 queen beds the last 4 nights, but for the first 3 nights we could only get a deluxe Royal Palm club room with a king bed. Our travel agent, Michelle, had been in contact with GF the last few days and was able to get us 2 queen beds the whole stay. Unfortunately when we were told where our room was, not only was it a room with 1 king bed, but it was one of these rooms where you take one elevator up to the 3rd floor and then a different elevator back down to the second floor. They tried to give us this same room in the past and it is HORRIBLE!!! We immediately told our concierge rep that we were supposed to have a room with 2 queen beds, and we specifically said we did not want the room where you have to take 2 elevators to have access to it. Right away she had us sit down and said don't worry just give me a few minutes. My mom was PISSED! We had been up for over 24 hours and all she wanted was the room she booked. From past experience let's just say we didn't have high hopes that our room would get corrected. About 10 minutes later the concierge rep came back and said, "OK, everything is fixed. Sorry about all of that. Follow me!" Hmmmmm...could it really be that easy. She quickly takes us to 4th floor where all the food is and walks us down a long hall past The Walt Disney Suite, which we had stayed in once before. She then got our new room keys out and opened the door. OMG...I couldn't believe it! Right in front of my very own eyes was Cinderella's Castle; I guess sense we are known as VERY good guest they have a special room they try to keep open just in case there's a problem. Never in my life did I think it was possible to have a view this great! O…..for all of you who want a room with a GREAT view ask for room number 4405 in the main building?

We quickly settled in and in about 1 hour our luggage arrived. We had dinner reservations at Narcoossee's, one of our favorite WDW restaurants. My mom was meeting this friend of hers, Wayne, whom she had never met in person. I was really nervous to meet him, but my mom has been talking to him for over 11 years! He was in the Coast Guard, and he's married and has a couple kids who are married. He was super nice, but unfortunately on his way here he got stuck in the nasty storm headed towards Orlando and didn't make it to dinner until it was time for dessert. Oh well. Me, my mom, and Wayne headed back to the concierge lounge and I told them I needed to go back to the room to use the restroom. As I got closer to our room I noticed there was mickey confetti on the floor leading up towards our door. I was so stupid to think that somehow some little kid accidently dropped a bag of confetti on the floor.....no I'm not joking that's literally what I thought As I opened door I saw over a dozen balloons and 2 HUGE gift baskets by my bed! Somehow my mom, our travel agent, and the hotel planned this HUGE surprise without me having the slightest idea Our travel agent bought me this big Eeyore and a bouqet of balloons. My mom had the WDW Florist make me a HUGE Pooh and Friends gift basket filled with stuffed animals, a mickey bowl, and this really cute piggy bank Also, my mom got me this amazing chocolate basket full of cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, and more! And.....I know can u believe it?!?!?.......I got this huge bouqet of flowers in this beautiful glass vase. I'm one LUCKY girl!! The GF got me a card signed by Snow White that said happy 16th birthday...oh I got a card from Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Piglet too! GF also sent me a really cute white chocolate mickey with my name on it along with a bunch of cookies. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! It was AWESOME!! I practically ran out to the concierge lounge and gave my mom a HUGE hug. We decided to bring Wayne back to our room to show him all of my goodies and our amazing view! From there we watched the fireworks show, Wishes, on our balcony, and around 11:45 decided that we didn't have any more energy left. We said goodbye to Wayne, filled our breakfast thing to put on the door, and scheduled a wakeup call with Stitch and Mickey. Within 2 minutes both me and my mom were dead asleep!

.........I'm trying to figure out how to add pics, so once I figure it out I'll post all sorts of pictures

 

[OhMari]

Knock, Knock, Melissa, come on back and tell us about your TR.