NeverlandClub23
AKV & OKW DVC Member
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- Jan 20, 2005
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Welcome to my magical, wondrous, fantastic adults only trip report! November 24th through December 2nd ~ 1 night at CSR, 3 nights at the Poly and 3 nights at POR
Ill start with the cast:
Me~ (Kim) 24 years old, love anything Disney. Works two jobs (now one, Ill explain later) and lives at home with the parents in VA.
Boyfriend~ (Colton) 22 years old, loves me. Is an electrician and lives at home with his parents in NC
Mom~ (Cindy) likes Disney but really just tags along as my Dad and I love it so much. Works as a Finance Manager at a bank.
Dad~ (Gene) retired firefighter who believes he stopped getting older at 18. I believe he just stopped maturing after 18.
The story before the story:
I had started planning this trip after our last trip in December of 2005. It was originally planned to be just my boyfriend and I but I was told by my Dad that no trip to Disney would ever take place without him as long as hes alive so that counted my parents in as well. My brother (27) is sick of going to WDW every year (I dont think were related, Im still trying to get DNA tests done to prove it), so he stayed home.
Ive known my boyfriend for about 4 years but weve been together for a little over a year. He went to Disney when he was 7 but only to MK and Epcot for one day to each and doesnt remember much so we wiped the slate clean and said it was like hed never been there. I also had several surprises in store that he didnt know about. Ok, enough rambling on to the trip!!
Day 1 ~ Friday November 24th
I had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving until 2 p.m. and then I was headed straight to my boyfriends house in Wake Forest, NC. After I got off of work I received a phone call from the temp agency I work for saying that I was no longer needed to go back to work after my vacation. This upset me because the reason I was no longer needed was my boss asked me to do something I felt was unethical the day before Thanksgiving and I told her I was uncomfortable doing it. She then called the temp agency and told them I was unwilling to work or to respect authority and that I was no longer needed. I was glad to be out of there as it was a very unprofessional and hostile environment but its not a very secure feeling knowing youre going on vacation and the paychecks arent going to be there when you come back!
Anyways, I dried my tears and headed on to NC. I arrived at my boyfriends house at about 5:30 p.m. We went to a yummy Mexican place and I had a few too many margaritas (that always seems to happen to me). We went back to his house and I took a nap until about 8 p.m. and then we got on the road.
We were meeting my parents in Lumberton, NC where we had a hotel for the night. This was only about a two hour drive from Wake Forest. We had a good time talking about how excited we were and listening to Christmas music. We arrived at the Howard Johnson Express in Lumberton at about 10 p.m.
You know what I hate? When you pull up at a hotel and there are more people hanging out in the parking lot then are actually staying at the hotel. I was a little nervous with leaving so much stuff in my car overnight but really didnt want to drag it all in for the night either. The rooms were nice and clean which I guess is all you really want in a room when youre just staying there for the night. I set the alarm for 7 a.m. and got a good nights sleep.
Day 2 ~ Saturday November 25th
The Driving Day. We flew last year for the first time to WDW and hated it. We had one layover on the way back and between having to leave 3 hours early for Magical Express and a delayed flight it took us 11 hours to fly back and was a lot more stressful than driving IMO. Plus you can shove way more souvenirs into a car then you can into a suitcase!
We enjoyed the luxurious continental breakfast at the HoJo. Nothing gets a girl started in the morning like mini donuts and apple juice! I read a few Disney brochures that were in the brochure stand that were a little outdated (advertising the Happiest Celebration on Earth) which got me thinking if its someones job at Disney to box up thousands of brochures and send them out to all the roadside hotels in America every time they printed new ones. I could do that job.
We got back on 95 South at around 8 a.m. Neither car was broken into in the middle of the night, so that was a relief. It was a beautiful day and the drive was relatively uneventful. We stopped at an Arbys when we got into Georgia and I swear it was the nicest, cleanest, friendliest Arbys I have ever been to in my life. All of the employees say hello when you come through the door and they have a bell you can ring if you had great service and they all say Thank you if you ring it.. It was one of the highlights of my day
.
After lunch we gassed up and headed south again. We hit a little bit of traffic in Florida but nothing major. Edited to Add: My boyfriend and I got into a "disagreement" heading into Florida. I handed him the camcorder ( I was driving) and I asked him to videotape the Welcome to Florida sign. Well every time you hit record on a camcorder he thinks he has to talk the entire time and say funny things. Well he's so busy trying to entertain the non-audience that he misses the stupid sign!! He then says he's a horrible boyfriend every five mintues for the next two hours. Next time I'll do it myself and just try not to get into an accident. Sheesh.
I had a surprised planned for my parents and Colton and it was killing me all day not to spill it. My mom had originally made reservations at All Star Music for our arrival night for one room for $99 (and $10 for each additional adult over two). I had cancelled them without her knowing the previous week and made two room reservations at Coronado Springs for a discounted rate of $99 a night for each room (which I knew Colton would be excited about as Im sure sleeping in the same room as my parents was not his idea of a good time).
I kept waiting and waiting until we passed the exit for Sea World and then I knew I only had about 15 minutes left. I jumped on the two way radio and excitedly yelled my surprise. Everyone was excited and sang my praises. Well, not really but Im sure they were in their heads.
We got so lost trying to find Coronado Springs but arrived at about 5 p.m. I checked us in and kept driving everyone crazy by asking the same questions over and over again Do you see how beautiful the Christmas tree is?!? How festive!! Did you see the poinsettia decorations over the walkway?!? How beautiful!! Did you see the water with the birds?!? How wonderful!!! I think they tried to leave me as we headed back to the cars but they couldnt go far as I had all of the room keys.
I had requested the Ranchos section which is where we were put. We parked the cars and unloaded some of our stuff and headed to our rooms. Side note: Anyone else hate when you reserve two rooms and one room has a better view than the other so you give that one to the other party really wanting it for yourself? Yeah me too.
One room had a nice pool view and the other had a parking lot view. I gave the pool view room to my folks and we headed to our asphalt view room. I actually really didnt mind since it was only one night (any longer and Id be elbowing Mom and Dad over for that room! ). The rooms were nice and I thought it was funny that we had one light bulb out (the far right one over the mirror over the sink) and my parents had the same light bulb out in their room!.
We relaxed for a little bit and changed for dinner. We got back in one car and headed over to Animal Kingdom for our ADR at Rainforest Café. It was for 6:45 p.m. and the park closed at 7 p.m. There was a long line to check in for our ADR and I overheard that the wait was 45 minutes which didnt surprise me for a Saturday night on a holiday weekend. After checking in we were seated in less than 10 minutes. We had a nice half booth table and Colton and I ordered margaritas in the light up glasses. They were very tasty and the cups made great souvenirs.
Colton had the ribs, steak, and shrimp dinner. I had the Brave New World pizza and we shared the Chimi-Cha-Cha for an appetizer (which was very delicious and we both agreed better than our meals which were just ok). Our meal (with the $14 a piece margaritas) was $88 including tip. I didnt mind as he was paying
. It was all delicious but the screaming of the servers every time someone ordered a Volcano (which was every 2 minutes) for dessert was kind of annoying, but we didnt care because it was our first night in Disney!!
After dinner we got back in our car and headed to Pleasure Island. We got lost again (hey, were used to just parking our cars and letting Disney do the transporting so when we actually have to drive its not so easy
) but eventually got there a little after 8 p.m.
We headed into Pleasure Island and it was our first time here since they opened it up to anyone who feels like walking through. I have to say I kind of miss how it used to be when they had that big stage next to the Comedy Warehouse and it felt like a party atmosphere around PI. Now it just feels like a bunch of people rushing through to get to West Side or Marketplace and kids running everywhere.
We walked around and decided to wait for the next showing at the Comedy Warehouse. We had great seats right next to the stage. I ordered a yummy mud slide and Colton ordered a specialty drink called the Giggler. It was very tasty and I drank most of it
. The show was funny and over too quick. We walked more around PI but by this time we were practically getting run over by groups of people so we decided to head over to Marketplace. It was swarmed with people (as we thought it would be) so we headed back to our car and made our way back to the resort for a good nights sleep.
Up next: Sea World, Colton cries at the Shamu show (dont tell him I told you!), we see violence towards sea creatures, we find good times at the Hospitality house, and checking in at the Poly!!
**Oh yeah, and pics to come as soon as I develop them (as I'm not a big fan of digital cameras...takes away from the surprise of what the picture is going to look like I say!) **
Ill start with the cast:
Me~ (Kim) 24 years old, love anything Disney. Works two jobs (now one, Ill explain later) and lives at home with the parents in VA. Boyfriend~ (Colton) 22 years old, loves me. Is an electrician and lives at home with his parents in NC Mom~ (Cindy) likes Disney but really just tags along as my Dad and I love it so much. Works as a Finance Manager at a bank. Dad~ (Gene) retired firefighter who believes he stopped getting older at 18. I believe he just stopped maturing after 18. The story before the story:
I had started planning this trip after our last trip in December of 2005. It was originally planned to be just my boyfriend and I but I was told by my Dad that no trip to Disney would ever take place without him as long as hes alive so that counted my parents in as well. My brother (27) is sick of going to WDW every year (I dont think were related, Im still trying to get DNA tests done to prove it), so he stayed home.
Ive known my boyfriend for about 4 years but weve been together for a little over a year. He went to Disney when he was 7 but only to MK and Epcot for one day to each and doesnt remember much so we wiped the slate clean and said it was like hed never been there. I also had several surprises in store that he didnt know about. Ok, enough rambling on to the trip!!
Day 1 ~ Friday November 24th
I had to work the Friday after Thanksgiving until 2 p.m. and then I was headed straight to my boyfriends house in Wake Forest, NC. After I got off of work I received a phone call from the temp agency I work for saying that I was no longer needed to go back to work after my vacation. This upset me because the reason I was no longer needed was my boss asked me to do something I felt was unethical the day before Thanksgiving and I told her I was uncomfortable doing it. She then called the temp agency and told them I was unwilling to work or to respect authority and that I was no longer needed. I was glad to be out of there as it was a very unprofessional and hostile environment but its not a very secure feeling knowing youre going on vacation and the paychecks arent going to be there when you come back!
Anyways, I dried my tears and headed on to NC. I arrived at my boyfriends house at about 5:30 p.m. We went to a yummy Mexican place and I had a few too many margaritas (that always seems to happen to me). We went back to his house and I took a nap until about 8 p.m. and then we got on the road.
We were meeting my parents in Lumberton, NC where we had a hotel for the night. This was only about a two hour drive from Wake Forest. We had a good time talking about how excited we were and listening to Christmas music. We arrived at the Howard Johnson Express in Lumberton at about 10 p.m.
You know what I hate? When you pull up at a hotel and there are more people hanging out in the parking lot then are actually staying at the hotel. I was a little nervous with leaving so much stuff in my car overnight but really didnt want to drag it all in for the night either. The rooms were nice and clean which I guess is all you really want in a room when youre just staying there for the night. I set the alarm for 7 a.m. and got a good nights sleep.
Day 2 ~ Saturday November 25th
The Driving Day. We flew last year for the first time to WDW and hated it. We had one layover on the way back and between having to leave 3 hours early for Magical Express and a delayed flight it took us 11 hours to fly back and was a lot more stressful than driving IMO. Plus you can shove way more souvenirs into a car then you can into a suitcase!
We enjoyed the luxurious continental breakfast at the HoJo. Nothing gets a girl started in the morning like mini donuts and apple juice! I read a few Disney brochures that were in the brochure stand that were a little outdated (advertising the Happiest Celebration on Earth) which got me thinking if its someones job at Disney to box up thousands of brochures and send them out to all the roadside hotels in America every time they printed new ones. I could do that job.
We got back on 95 South at around 8 a.m. Neither car was broken into in the middle of the night, so that was a relief. It was a beautiful day and the drive was relatively uneventful. We stopped at an Arbys when we got into Georgia and I swear it was the nicest, cleanest, friendliest Arbys I have ever been to in my life. All of the employees say hello when you come through the door and they have a bell you can ring if you had great service and they all say Thank you if you ring it.. It was one of the highlights of my day
. After lunch we gassed up and headed south again. We hit a little bit of traffic in Florida but nothing major. Edited to Add: My boyfriend and I got into a "disagreement" heading into Florida. I handed him the camcorder ( I was driving) and I asked him to videotape the Welcome to Florida sign. Well every time you hit record on a camcorder he thinks he has to talk the entire time and say funny things. Well he's so busy trying to entertain the non-audience that he misses the stupid sign!! He then says he's a horrible boyfriend every five mintues for the next two hours. Next time I'll do it myself and just try not to get into an accident. Sheesh.
I had a surprised planned for my parents and Colton and it was killing me all day not to spill it. My mom had originally made reservations at All Star Music for our arrival night for one room for $99 (and $10 for each additional adult over two). I had cancelled them without her knowing the previous week and made two room reservations at Coronado Springs for a discounted rate of $99 a night for each room (which I knew Colton would be excited about as Im sure sleeping in the same room as my parents was not his idea of a good time).
I kept waiting and waiting until we passed the exit for Sea World and then I knew I only had about 15 minutes left. I jumped on the two way radio and excitedly yelled my surprise. Everyone was excited and sang my praises. Well, not really but Im sure they were in their heads.
We got so lost trying to find Coronado Springs but arrived at about 5 p.m. I checked us in and kept driving everyone crazy by asking the same questions over and over again Do you see how beautiful the Christmas tree is?!? How festive!! Did you see the poinsettia decorations over the walkway?!? How beautiful!! Did you see the water with the birds?!? How wonderful!!! I think they tried to leave me as we headed back to the cars but they couldnt go far as I had all of the room keys.
I had requested the Ranchos section which is where we were put. We parked the cars and unloaded some of our stuff and headed to our rooms. Side note: Anyone else hate when you reserve two rooms and one room has a better view than the other so you give that one to the other party really wanting it for yourself? Yeah me too.
One room had a nice pool view and the other had a parking lot view. I gave the pool view room to my folks and we headed to our asphalt view room. I actually really didnt mind since it was only one night (any longer and Id be elbowing Mom and Dad over for that room!
). The rooms were nice and I thought it was funny that we had one light bulb out (the far right one over the mirror over the sink) and my parents had the same light bulb out in their room!.We relaxed for a little bit and changed for dinner. We got back in one car and headed over to Animal Kingdom for our ADR at Rainforest Café. It was for 6:45 p.m. and the park closed at 7 p.m. There was a long line to check in for our ADR and I overheard that the wait was 45 minutes which didnt surprise me for a Saturday night on a holiday weekend. After checking in we were seated in less than 10 minutes. We had a nice half booth table and Colton and I ordered margaritas in the light up glasses. They were very tasty and the cups made great souvenirs.
Colton had the ribs, steak, and shrimp dinner. I had the Brave New World pizza and we shared the Chimi-Cha-Cha for an appetizer (which was very delicious and we both agreed better than our meals which were just ok). Our meal (with the $14 a piece margaritas) was $88 including tip. I didnt mind as he was paying
. It was all delicious but the screaming of the servers every time someone ordered a Volcano (which was every 2 minutes) for dessert was kind of annoying, but we didnt care because it was our first night in Disney!!After dinner we got back in our car and headed to Pleasure Island. We got lost again (hey, were used to just parking our cars and letting Disney do the transporting so when we actually have to drive its not so easy
) but eventually got there a little after 8 p.m.We headed into Pleasure Island and it was our first time here since they opened it up to anyone who feels like walking through. I have to say I kind of miss how it used to be when they had that big stage next to the Comedy Warehouse and it felt like a party atmosphere around PI. Now it just feels like a bunch of people rushing through to get to West Side or Marketplace and kids running everywhere.
We walked around and decided to wait for the next showing at the Comedy Warehouse. We had great seats right next to the stage. I ordered a yummy mud slide and Colton ordered a specialty drink called the Giggler. It was very tasty and I drank most of it
. The show was funny and over too quick. We walked more around PI but by this time we were practically getting run over by groups of people so we decided to head over to Marketplace. It was swarmed with people (as we thought it would be) so we headed back to our car and made our way back to the resort for a good nights sleep.Up next: Sea World, Colton cries at the Shamu show (dont tell him I told you!), we see violence towards sea creatures, we find good times at the Hospitality house, and checking in at the Poly!!
**Oh yeah, and pics to come as soon as I develop them (as I'm not a big fan of digital cameras...takes away from the surprise of what the picture is going to look like I say!) **
. Last year when we stayed at the Wilderness Lodge there was a channel that showed older Disney cartoons (ones I watched growing up) all day and I looked at every resort we stayed at and could never find it. And why is Stacey still on there?!?! She drives me CRAZY!! 
. Other than that we had a great lunch and I would definitely eat here again.
. Luckily an employee came over and talked to her but as soon as the employee walked away the girl was trying to grab them and lift them out of the water! The employee came back and I saw security heading over to the area as we were leaving. How sad. 
, sorry back to the trip). We unpacked and Colton LOVED the rooms. He just went on and on about everything. We were in the Tokelau building Room #1942 on the first floor (which I was disappointed about as I had requested balcony but loved the great pool view anyways). It was my first time at the Poly since the refurbishment of the rooms and I must say theyre gorgeous. I love everything about them (although I do miss the double sinks 
). We drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge for our 8 p.m. ADR at Jiko. This resort is so beautiful, especially at night. We had some time to kill before we could check in for our ADR so we walked around taking pictures and I bought one of those cute giraffe statues from the gift shop. We went down to Jiko at about 7:50 p.m. to check in and waited. And waited. And waited.
) and I hope to have at least some pictures up next week as I'm going out of town this weekend. Oh and thanks too for the congratulations! We're very excited!
):
