Amber and Mindy take on the (WD)World

[LdyFaile]

A bit of background (I'll try to keep it short)

The players:

Me: Amber (currently residing in Portland, OR)
Best Friend: Mindy (currently residing in Seattle, WA)

Mindy is a huge Atlanta Braves fan. 3 or so years ago they actually played in Seattle against the Mariners (they're in different leagues so that doesn't happen often) and she'd bought tickets for the three games for the both of us. However I had to go to a family wedding after she'd bought the tickets so I didn't get to go. To make it up to her I said I'd go with her to either Atlanta or Spring Training.

She opted for Spring Training so 2 years ago we went to Orlando for a long weekend (but short trip to be coming from the West Coast). Since we weren't in town for long we opted to go to Universal Studios. I didn't realize that Cracker Jack Stadium (is it still called that?) was part of WDW but still we didn't have time to do much of the World so it worked out ok.

Four months ago we were talking about vacation, taking another trip and I suggested we go back to Spring Training. In between the two trips I'd picked up a time share (that I'd love to get rid of if I can just find someone to take over payments) and thought we could go for a week and actually use the time share. It'd be handy to have a kitchen and only have to pay the tax on the room. And this time we'd have time to do Walt Disney World properly. However because of the World Baseball Challenge, they didn't post the Spring Training schedule until two months before. And when I called to reserve the dates, I was informed that I would be put on a waiting list with a 30% chance of getting it. Lovely.

I started looking around and found Mousesavers.com I decided to pick up an Entertainment Book for Orlando to get a discount on a hotel room. When it came I looked at the prices and decided to check out the Knights Inn (yes I know bad choice, more on that later). We put in a reservation (and a non refundable deposit) and I waited for the newsletter to get the link to cheaper tickets.

Unfortunately when Feb 15th came, the newsletter went to my spam folder. I checked it first thing in the morning, before I was fully awake, and before I knew it I had selected all and clicked Delete. While I was waiting for it to actually go away I saw the newsletter but of course it was too late. Lamenting my fate, I did a google search to see if I could find it anywhere online and that led me to the DISBoards (and poor reviews of the Knights Inn which really freaked me out to be perfectly honest).

We went for 7 days. From March 7th to March 13th. We saw 3 Braves Spring Training games.

More to come later. I'm currently visiting my dad in southern california (my laptop died so I have no way of updating this from home anyway) so I'll try post the trip over the next couple of days.

Amber

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report

 

[TLinden16]

Thanks for the background info on your trip. Can't wait to hear about the rest!

 

[LdyFaile]

We took a red eye flight from Seattle. It was cheaper to fly in/out of Seattle plus Mindy had to work the next day after we got back where I was still on vacation so it was easier for me to drive up to Seattle than for her to drive down to Portland. Mindy hates red eyes. She can't sleep on planes. I love red eyes when I'm jumping ahead 3 hours or more. I feel like I don't loose a day traveling and I can sleep on planes.

The flights were un-eventful. Got some sleep but probably not enough to be driving however the excitement of being in Florida outweighed any potential falling asleep at the wheel problems. Plus shortly after landing I got some caffiene (which I don't have often so it really works when I need it).

Our wait times for things were easy right off the bat. Made it to baggage claim, waited less than five minutes, and the baggage started coming out. Ours weren't first but they were in the first batch. Walked over to the place where we needed to wait for Enterprise to pick us up, waited less than five minutes, and there was the shuttle. The wait at the rental counter was a little longer but not unbearable as they had about 5 agents working. The rental counter agent and I had a conversation something like this:

Him: Are you in town for Business or Spring Break?
Me: Neither, Spring Training.
Him: Oh really? Who are you going to see play?
Me: The Braves.
Him *jealous look* *walks over to get keys* You know I can put you in a convertible, you might catch the eye of one of the Braves that way
Me: Tell ya what, you give me the convertible for the quoted price and I'll take it.
Him: Let's see what your rate is...
Me: *laughing* You're not going to do it.
Him: *looks at price* Um I can give it to you for another $10/day.
Me: *quick math in head, don't have room in the budget for another $70 spent like that* No thanks.
Him: *looks dissapointed* Ok well sign here and follow me.

We did get a sporty red Chevy Cobalt. I took a picture of it's backside with my camera phone and set it as my wallpaper just in case I ever lost it in the parking lot. That came in handy on occasion.

Then we were off! Had to stop at TicketMania to pick up tickets (we bought them sooner than they'd have arrived if shipped), that was a breeze. Tried to find a Starbucks and every time we asked people gave us long directions that would take us miles out of our way. How dissapointing. Not that we had to have Starbucks but rather we had $20 in gift cards and needed the coffee. Ah well. Got some food then discussed our plan of attack.

The UG suggested that MK was the best park for the day and while we wouldn't be there at opening we decided to go anyway. After all we had time to kill before we could check in anyway.

When we got to the park we threw the touring plans out the window. Originally we were just going to go for 5 days and have some breaks in between but the 7 day pass was only $3 more and we figured if we didn't use it one of the days we wouldn't be out that much anyway. Saturday was originally planned as our MK day so we thought we'd just wander, see the sites, go on some rides, and do whatever we didn't get around to on Saturday.

We just went around the park in a circle. Started off in Adventure land where we did the Jungle Cruise (really bad puns via the conductor), the Tiki Room, and the Swiss Family Treehouse. Then it was off to Frontier land where Mindy looked at Splash Mountain, saw it was having some technical difficulties, and decided today was not the day for it. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had a little bit of a wait and just decided to pass for today.

As a side note, I was on dr's orders to not go on anything Adrenaline Inducing because of my heart condition. So after scouring WDW's site and making note of all the rides that said not to go on if you have high blood pressure (which I don't have but I am on high blood pressure meds) I knew what rides I probably shouldn't go on. Then a co-worker went to WDW in February and he knows of my condition. He reported back with what rides he thought would be no problem that were on my list. And finally, Mindy would go on rides and report back either 'You'd really like this one but you can't go on it' or 'That was nothing, want to go? I'll go again'

Decided at that point to hop on the Railroad and got off at Toontown Fair. Which we just walked through on our way to Fantasy land. The wait for Mickey's PhillharMagic was like only 5 minutes so we got in line for that. As we were waiting I suddenly realized, in all the oddness of the morning I'd totally forgotten to take my morning meds! This is not good. Although considering what time it was back home it was totally ok. So after Mickey's PhillharMagic we split ways. I dashed back to the car to get/take my meds and she went off to do Big Thunder Mountain Railroad figuring there'd be less wait if we both were occupied. Though before we parted ways we stopped at Peter Pan's Flight and picked up fast passes.

We met back up again at Splash Mountain and wandered off to do Haunted Mansion. Once we got inside and in the cars I suddenly turned to Mindy and said 'why did I say we should go on this? I hate stuff like this (ie haunted houses)' She replied that she was surprised as well that I wanted to go and was just along for the ride. I actually really enjoyed the Haunted Mansion in the end though.

Here I hang my head in shame. Next we went to Hall of Presidents and it proved to be my downfall. Firstly there was a 25 minute wait before the next presentation. So instead of standing in a queue that was always moving we were just wandering around display cases and finally sitting down. Finally we get into the auditorium and I make it through the video but then the screen lifts and....I loose the battle against sleep. I totally cat-napped through the whole thing, waking up briefly now and again and then nodding off. But I felt much better upon leaving

It was time for Cinderellabration. Now Cinderella is Mindy's favorite princess so we went and got a good spot to watch from. Mindy had already started getting blisters and I'd remembered where the first aid station was (since all of our bandaids were back at the car and I was not going back there again before we left) so I trotted off and picked her up some bandaids. They helped for a while, at least til we were heading to the car. We enjoyed Cinderellabration and soon as it was over it was time to use our FP for Peter Pan's Flight.

We were so proud of ourselves for using our time and choice of FP's wisely. We were very ready to leave the park but since we could practically walk onto the ride (thanks to the FP and getting to bypass the 60 minute standby wait) we did that and then headed out of the park for the day. We were starting to get weary and needed to get some sleep.

But the day was not done. Oh no. We still had to go to a store (I had no idea there were closer ones than the Win Dixie we went to but I knew where that one was so there is where we went) to pick up bowls, spoons, water (by the gallon since we had water bottles), bandaids and neosporin. Once that was done we went to check in, got the remote for the TV (not a good sign in my book but I was expecting it), and visited our room long enough to drop stuff off. Then it was off to Chili's for dinner (which in hindsight we should have checked into our room, then gone to the store because there was a Chili's on the way back from the store but I didn't know that before hand). That was the first time we had a hugely long wait. It was about 30 minutes before we got seated at a table that was open when we first walked in and sat down to wait for others to be seated. But the food was good and having a $25 gift card helped.

While at dinner we devised a plan of attack. We'd decided to get to the parks at opening (well basically to follow the touring plans to some extent and get there however early the UG said to get there) and go from there. We knew how far we were from the parks. How long we each needed to get ready in the morning. And how long to account for breakfast. So we paid the bill and went back to the room to crash.

The next day brings MGM Studios. But for now I'm going back to bed since it's early here (though I think my body's still on Florida time). Hope to post more later!

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for doing your trip report.

How was the Knight's Inn. I once booked one in Marquette Michigan. We didn't know any better either. I booked it on-line. We had to take our daughter to college and rooms in Marquette MI, fill really fast for that weekend, so I was pretty desperate.

My husband walked in and demanded his money back, even before we looked at the room. The owners were Russian and couldn't even speak English. The lady owner kept yelling that it cost her $7.00 out of her pocket, because I booked it online. My husband told her he would pay her $7.00 to get our money back. Finally her husband agreed and we got our $100 back, minus the $7.00.

This Knights Inn was really a dump-I can't believe the chain of Knights Inn even allowed them to use their name. I hope yours was much better.

 

[LdyFaile]

It wasn't all that great. I've stayed in worse but not for as long. We really were on a tight budget and couldn't afford to go anywhere else so we stayed there. We just won't go back again. I mentioned to some family in the area (didn't know about them til we got there) and they shuddered at the thought of us staying there.

 

[Alice28]

Thanks for sharing Amber! Another Portland resident here. OK, Oregon City. But close! Post more soon!

 

[LdyFaile]

I'm trying to post these as often as possible. Since I'm at my dad's I'm trying not to be totally rude by veg'n on his computer. Anyway, on with the show.

For breakfast I'd noted from the boards and other review places that the Knights Inn idea of breakfast is doughnuts and coffee. I thought that they said we'd have a microwave in the room so we brought oatmeal to have as well. Only..there wasn't a microwave in the room, nor a coffee pot. So my bright idea was to see if they a] had disposable cups for drinks and b] had hot water for tea. They did so we still had oatmeal, we just didn't bother taking any tea bags.

We made it to the gate early as recomended by the UG. It was a little chilly out. Our problem with the tourplans was that it included rides we didn't want to go on. Mindy wouldn't do Tower of Terror without me. And I couldn't go on it. She also doesn't like rides in the dark so she wouldn't go on Rockin Rollercoaster. Both were the first two places to hit so we just moved right along to the Great Movie Ride.

From there we did the backlot tour but on the way to the backlot we spied Sully. There weren't any kids around so Mindy went running towards him with arms wide open. Sully spied her and did the same. I took her picture with him but I don't have it with me as it's still on her camera. It's getting a little fuzzy the order we did things. I know we did Who Wants to be a Millionare but we didn't get that we were supposed to be answering the questions along with the person in the hotseat until after she got like 5 right.

I was really dissapointed with their Journey into Narnia. Don't get me wrong, the 'snowy forest' and the white witch coming out and speaking were nice touches but...they just showed a long trailer for the movie. I was expecting more of a behind the scenes look, like what they showed on apple.com/trailers for the longest time before the trailer even appeared.

We were able to walk onto Star Tours (on my list of should be ok even with the warnings) before going to see Lights Motor Action. That was my favorite but before I get into that I actually spotted a green mickey with DIS on someone's backpack while in line!! Unfortunately with the way the line worked I wasn't able to get close enough to say hi But I did get close enough to take a picture of her back. Here it is:

So if this was you, I'm really sorry I didn't say hi it just never seemed to be the right time with the press of the crowd. I intended to try sitting near you all but it just didn't work out. Anyway...

Lights Motor Action rocked my world. Made me want to be a stunt car driver. It was loads of fun. I give it two thumbs up.

We also went to (in no particular order):
MuppetVision 3D (not one of my favorite 3D's)
Indiana Jones Stunt Show
Beauty and the Beast
and lastly Fantasmic which we got to very early because we got paranoid seeing the line start so early. We did enjoy Fantasmic but with the wind it wasn't exactly pleasant as we kept getting spit on even though we were far enough away from the front.

We also lunched in the park and had turkey legs. Mmm turkey legs. We also realized something that we should have packed in with us to the parks. Dental Floss. We had some back at the room but that did no good to us at lunch.

We also spent the best $3.75 of the trip at MGM. On one of the straps to hold water bottles with the adjustable bit at the end. I tried finding something like that before we left but couldn't find it. It really saved us. We would fill our water bottles with ice water before we left the room, and when we got counter service we'd get cups of ice to add to them. It was very handy. For the most part, the water fountains tasted ok but for the ones that didn't (or when we were just sick of nothing but water) we had Crystal Light to go packs to mask the flavor.

The plan was to go use another $25 gift certificate for dinner that night but by the time we finally found the place we decided it just looked to sketch for us. It was night and not in the best part of town. As we headed back, Mindy had the entertainment book and would check to see if any of the restaurants that we passed had coupons. We found one before we got back to the freeway and ate at this odd pizza place where after you're seated you pick up a phone to 'call' in your order.

We got back to the room to find that housekeeping had not been by. We thought it odd but then again we thought that not having fitted sheets on the beds was odd as well.

More to come later. Sounds like my dad's back from the store and we have a Sudoku contest going on. My step-mom bought us each the same books and we compete to see who can complete the puzzles the fastest. So far I'm ahead 20-2. Muahahaha.

 

[keypooh90]

Thanks for the trip report.

 

[LdyFaile]

Started off with the usual routine. I woke up at 6:15 and took a shower. Woke Mindy up at 6:45 and while she took a shower I called in a voice post to my LiveJournal. Then started getting ready for the day. Made sure that the small pack had everything it needed. (I was designated pack mule because it was my bag and I preferred it that way, but Mindy carried her own water since we got those straps the day before) Picked up all my crap and made sure it was contained in my bags and they were closed just in case housekeeping decided to pay us a visit. Set out oatmeal at the table. At around 7:30 we'd wander over to the office and pick up our doughnuts and hot water. Then we'd wander back to the room, trying to be careful and not spill anything, and pour the water into the oatmeal. While waiting for the oatmeal to 'cook' we'd read the 'Did You Know?' section of the packets we'd just emptied. Let's see if I remember one....I think it went something like 'The largest building in the world is at Cape Canaveral (sp?) which is used to build the space shuttles' Then we'd clean up again and head out, usually by 8 or 8:15.

Got to Animal Kingdom in time to wait closer in and see the Safari Truck with Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto arrive. On the way in I found the cutest pair of kids sunglasses which I decided to buy at the end of the day for a friend of mine's son. The Tree of Life was absolutely fantastic. Mindy kept debating if it was real or not. I was pretty sure it wasn't but I let her debate it.

First stop, the Safari. I saw more animals on that safari than I did on the one I went on in Kenya last October. From there we headed over to Dinoland and on the way passed by Expedition Everest. Which was open. Mindy sat and looked at it and pondered it and watched it and finally got up the umph to go on it. She's a self proclaimed wuss. But she really really enjoyed it. And came back with the report 'You'd like it but you can't go on it' *sigh* Ah well at least she had fun.

I decided, against my better judgement, that we should go on Primeval Whirl. Ugh. First off, Mindy and I are not that slender. We didn't really fit sitting next to each other in the half of the car we were in. So that wasn't good. Second, I agree with the UG that it's just a mad mouse ride on steroids. But...I love tilt a whirls and the drops weren't that bad so it was a 'coaster I could go on. I give it one thumb sideways. While in the little carnival area Mindy decided she had to play wack a dino. The gal said that there needed to be two players to start so I opted to play with her. Then a kid joined us. Mindy won, I was going to suggest that she give the little dino to the kid but couldn't figure out how to do it discretely. She came to that conclusion far to late in the game, about 30 minutes later after the kid and her family were no where in sight. On our way to Dinosaur we stopped and watched some street performers.

After listening to people talk about Dinosaur I'd decided it wasn't something I could go on. Mindy went on it and I chatted with this grandma on the bench next to me while I waited. She got off and said 'you can do this ride no problem, I'll warn you when things are going to jump out so you're expecting it' so we trotted off to go on it. The dino's jumping out, not a problem but the movement of the car was almost (but not quite) too much.

I think we went and watched It's Tough To Be a Bug, which at the end of the trip we decided was hands down the best 3D of all the parks. Afterwards we trotted off to lunch. At lunch we had our only Small World encounter. We were at Tusker House and sitting at one end of a long table. A family was sitting at the other end and a couple came and sat in between. Earlier that morning, my brother had sent me a text stating that there was 2 inches of snow back home. When the couple sat down the gal remarked at how wonderful the weather was, esp considering there was snow back home. I figured other parts of the country probably have snow now too so didn't think much of it til the family asked them where they were from. They replied Vancouver, WA. At first I didn't hear the WA part, I usually associate Vancouver with BC (mostly because I dated someone from there for a time). Then it dawned on me and I piped up and said 'hey I'm from Portland' For those of you not familar with the area, Vancouver, WA is considered part of the Portland Metro Area. We had a nice chat with them while we all ate.

Then it was off to Flights of Wonder. At one point Mindy told me that the hawk was | | close to my head but we were warned not to duck because then they'd fly lower so I didn't duck. It was an amazing show, Mindy wasn't that sure about it when I suggested it but then absolutely loved it and the topping on the cake was when the bald eagle was brought out (her favorite bird).

After that all we wanted to do was go on the trails so back to Asia for the Jungle Trek and then off to Africa again for the other Trail (I cannot for the life of me remember the names of the trails and am too lazy to look them up).

It was just after 3 by then and we really wanted to get out of the park before the parade started. But we stopped on the way out at the shops to try and find a couple things. We made it out by like 3:30 or 3:45. Headed back to the room for a nap, because we wanted to go see the fireworks or the lighted parade at MK later in the evening, but when we got to the room it looked like housekeeping was headed to our room. I have a feeling they'd already been there but she was just finishing up two doors down from us and then headed to the room next to us so we just decided to bail for a bit and let them work. So we drove down 192 and stopped at one of the many shops along the way. We killed about 30 minutes and headed back to find that yes they had indeed visited our room. We then celebrated by climing into bed and sleeping (or trying to, I found out later Mindy isn't a nap person) for about an hour.

By the time we woke up, we realized we would never make it in time for Spectromagic (which was ok we could do it another night) so we headed off to Jungle Jims for dinner and then just barely made it in time for Wishes. We noted that on the way in, the parking booths were closed. Hmmm. Something to ponder later. Found an ok spot to watch the fireworks and enjoyed our second night show of the trip. On the way back it was still early (around 9) and I suggested we head over to Downtown Disney, just to see what was there. I figured we probably didn't want to spend the day there but wouldn't hurt to spend a couple hours since the shops didn't close til 11. Honestly, didn't find much of anything to buy so we headed back to the room for the night.

 

[LdyFaile]

In hindsight we should have done Epcot a little differently but ah well. We got there early and got in as far as the Innoventions Fountain before having to wait for the rope to drop.

Our first stop was Test Track (for Mindy). I waited for her and just people watched. She wasn't sure about going on it but I told her she'd be fine and probably would really like it. She did. She definately did not want to do Mission Space so we bypassed that. Our touring plans said to get a Fast Pass for Soarin' next but when we got there the wait was only 20 minutes so we decided to just go ahead and go.

Since we were in the Land Pavillion we did Living with the Land. When we got out of that the wait for Soarin' was 70 minutes long! We got a Fast Pass and then went off to do Journey into the Imagination and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. By the time those were done it was time to go on Soarin' again. The first time was really the best, we got in the first row. The second not as cool, we were in the third row so we could see the edges of the screen and the feet of the people ahead of us. But still fun.

By then we were hungry and wanted to eat at the World Pavillions. I think we tried to go see Body Wars but when we finally found the pavillion it was in, it was closed. So we headed off to the Worlds instead.

I'd printed off the info from Mousesavers about cheap eats in the parks. So we had the choice of China or Japan that sounded good and inexpensive. Only I didn't realize the one place was in Japan so we went to China looking for it. Oops. Instead we went to the counter service there, each got beef fried rice bowls and split an order of egg rolls plus got our cups of ice.

While eating I finally remembered to call my dad's cousin that lives in Sarasota. I've never met them but my brother had and he suggested I get in touch with them to try and meet up somewhere. I'd contacted them by email so had their phone number. I meant to call them earlier in the week but it just didn't happen. We chatted briefly and then she was going to check her husbands work schedule and see about meeting up with us after the game on Monday.

The movie in China had about 15 minutes before it was to start and both of us decided we needed a restroom if we were going to wait that long plus go through a movie. We wandered over to Norway after finding a restroom and rode the Malestrom (sp?) Pretty..uhh...low key. I forgot that it had been suggested not to stay for the movie so we did. Yeah, not the best of country movies there.

Then it was back to China, this time for about a 10 minute wait only this time they were letting people into the waiting area, where before they were stopping them at the door. I did not realize what the format of the movie (360 circle vision) meant until we got in. That was a really cool but really tough way to watch the movie. We enjoyed it but by the time we got out our necks were sore. And yes we did physically move around some of the time and others it was just easier to swivel the head.

We wandered through the next couple of countries (I forget the order) and even though we were full we checked out the prices for food for dinner. Plus we checked out the shops. Next movie I think we saw was Impressions of France.

We got to the World Pavillions so late that by the time we got going we missed most of the sidewalk shows. I think we caught some of the drumming in Japan which was cool.

I don't remember what movies were left. We didn't do O' Canada because it was in Circle Vision, figured we'd do it another day. But we did whatever was left and then found a good spot to watch Illuminations. For dinner we decided on fish and chips. Mmm. It was good.

Illuminations was cool but we sat too close to one of the firework launchers at the edge of the lake. We got ash in the face after it shot off. Getting out of there wasn't too bad because we parked close enough to walk without having to take a tram. Plus it was the Best Park to go to that day so it wasn't that crowded. Yes there were people there but it wasn't as crowded as it could have been.

 

[heaven2dc]

Hello fellow Oregonian!! Well, as you can see I now live in VA but grew up in Portland (last lived in Gresham). That's cool you were able to chat with someone from Vancouver while you were there. We took a trip from Portland to Kissimmee in 1994 to see WDW and stayed at a Days Inn on 192 - horrible maid service and no fitted sheets either come to think of it (actually our van barely made it to the parking lot and never started again). We never made it to WDW (sad chain of events after we arrived).

Am hoping to take the kids this fall. Your report was great - you both really had it all together considering staying at the Knights Inn and trying to find places to eat but you did a great job - kudos ladies!!

 

[LdyFaile]

We decided to play a little parking fee roulette today. We slept in. Hahahaha slept in. Yeah til 8 am but hey it's later than we were sleeping til before in the trip. Got ready and decided to forgo our usual doughnut and oatmeal breakfast and went down the road for the Ponderosa $3.99 breakfast buffett. I did better this time than last time we went. Whenever I go to buffett's I think 'I have to get my money's worth which means eating as much as humanly possible'. But this time instead I remembered that we only paid $4 for breakfast and that one plate full, plus some toast and a cookie, was plenty.

The other unfortunate thing about eating at a buffett is you don't kill that much time. Our plan was to veg a bit in the morning, go to the game, go back to the room to nap, get a bit of dinner, then head to MK for Spectromagic. My thought was if we got to the parking lot at MK at 7 (3 hours before closing) then we might be able to save $9. I was basing this soley on the fact that we showed up at MK at 7 for Wishes, the park closed at 8 but the parking booth closed at 5.

We drove around 192 for a bit before deciding to just head to the game even though we were 2 hours early. We weren't the only ones getting there that early either. We wandered up to the stadium and first hit the Clubhouse to see what nifty things we might be able to buy. Then we found our seats (in the Mets section ) and after sitting in the sun for about 20 minutes decided to see what else was at the Wide World of Sports complex.

Not much really, though we did wander down to the Disney Sports Store (or whatever it's called). On the way back to the seats I noticed that the headache that had come and gone since we got to the stadium was still coming and going. Of course my pain killers were back at the room (another must bring with me item). I knew there was a first aid station somewhere, and Mindy's an EMT who has worked first aid stations at games in Seattle so she said that they couldn't give out pain killers but what they did was set them on the desk and if the guest decided to take them then they hadn't given it to them.

As we wandered the corridors I spotted a CM (named Wesley) and asked him if he knew where I could get (or buy) some pain killers. So that launched a search. First stop was the first aid station where they said basically what Mindy had said about giving pain killers, but then they looked in their cabinets and didn't even have any to give out (nor sunscreen either for that matter). The suggestion then was to try the Clubhouse..so off to the Clubhouse we went.

The one cashier at the Clubhouse who could possibly have it in his drawer, only had Benadryl. That wouldn't work. So the next suggestion was the Disney Sports Store on the oustide of the stadium gates. One of the CM's at the front of the Clubhouse called down via walkie talkie to make sure they had some before we headed down. They did! Wesley had said that even if they didn't, he would go somewhere and get some because they have a stash that's just for CM's.

We were able to get out via the Press/Media entrance and as we walked down to the store I appologized for all the running around. Wesley responded that while he wasn't glad I had a headache, he was grateful for something to do. He'd been at work since 8 and this was the first time he'd actually had something to do. We finally scored at the outer store and I got two Advils for $2. I figured it was worth it, esp considering that we hadn't bought any bottled water at all this trip and I now knew to carry my pain killers with me.

Wow that was a lot of exposition on the search for pain killers. Anyway...the game was fun. They beat the Mets 11-7. Got to see a grand slam with the bases loaded in the first inning by an unknown (invitee or non-invitee not sure which but Mindy thinks he'll make the team).

Getting out of the parking lot was a breeze then it was back to the hotel for a nap. Afterwards we tried to find a pizza place on E 192 but I'd typed the wrong address into Google Maps so we never found it. By the time we realized my mistake we'd already turned around and were headed back to I-4. We stopped at a shopping center that looked like it might have promising food but it was too expensive for our tastes, and no coupons in the Entertainment Book. So we just decided to eat at the park.

We pulled up to the parking booth at 6:48 and they were still manned so I just resigned myself to paying the $9 parking. However, when we got there and Mindy handed him money he just waived us in. Score! Of course we just turned around and spent it on dinner. We were both really hungry, having skipped lunch on accident but we did get frozen lemonade at the game (mmmm frozen lemonade), so we didn't want to split a dinner like we had before. They were out of chicken at Cosmic Ray's so we had ribs instead. They were better than I expected.

According to the UG, one of the better places to watch Specromagic is in front of Sleepy Hollow snack counter. I didn't really know where it was just what part of the park it was in. So we crossed over Main Street and after walking over the bridge I happened to notice people lined up for food and hey, there was Sleepy Hollow. They were already setting up the ropes for the parade so we scored a spot right in front where we could sit on the sidewalk (we'd brought in a towel and sweatshirt to sit on).

Loved loved LOVED Specromagic. That really made it feel like a Disney place to see that parade. I took some pictures with my cameraphone since we'd forgotten the camera in the car on accident. It really made our night. We decided that was the best of the evening performances we saw.

Afterwards we tried to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad because Mindy thought it might be ok for me to go on. However they were experiencing Technical Difficulties so we headed back through the throngs waiting for Wishes and ended the evening.

 

[LdyFaile]

Hello fellow Oregonian!! Well, as you can see I now live in VA but grew up in Portland (last lived in Gresham). That's cool you were able to chat with someone from Vancouver while you were there. We took a trip from Portland to Kissimmee in 1994 to see WDW and stayed at a Days Inn on 192 - horrible maid service and no fitted sheets either come to think of it (actually our van barely made it to the parking lot and never started again). We never made it to WDW (sad chain of events after we arrived).

Am hoping to take the kids this fall. Your report was great - you both really had it all together considering staying at the Knights Inn and trying to find places to eat but you did a great job - kudos ladies!!

Ohh VA. I've been there. Went a couple of summers ago to catch three Carbon Leaf shows (it was their latest cd release parties). Had a great time around Richmond and DC since I'd never been to either.

That surprises me about the Days Inn. I'll know to avoid that one too in the future. Last time we went we stayed at the Holiday Inn on 192 and it was fine. It wasn't luxury but it was better than Knights Inn (and Days Inn by the sounds of it).

I hope you get to go this year!! I'm glad we went but I think that we might not go to the World again for a while. We want to go back every two years for the games but there's so much stuff around Orlando to see/do....and we don't have any kids just us two 30somethings.

 

[LdyFaile]

This day was mostly a shopping day. We knew there were things at MGM we wanted to buy specifically. Plus a couple of attractions we hadn't gone to see yet. And attractions we wanted to see again if possible. So we started out at MGM.

Right when we got in the door we saw the sign that said there was no Indiana Jones Stunt Show that day. Mindy was sad. I didn't really want to see it again so soon but would have gone if it had worked out.

We started out trying to go to Voyage of the Little Mermaid. But the show had already started by the time we made it to the attraction so we went a little further down and walked through One Man's Dream. (Mindy hadn't wanted to go through it but since we had the time she decided to go ahead and was glad we did in the end). We didn't make it in time for the movie so we ducked out after reading all the bits of trivia. We debated about how much of the 28,000 acres Walt bought in '71 was actually in use for WDW. The answer to that was found out the next day....

When we got out it looked like once again we had time before the next show and there was the Villians store that we wanted to get some stuff at right around the corner. Made our purchases and then walked into the show. It was fun, another condensed version of the story. Afterwards I found the earings I wanted to buy for my SIL so that saved us a trip to the Tink store.

We opted to go see Lights! Motors! Action! again so went and got a fast pass. Then went back to the store next to Star Tours so I could get a Jedi Mickey. We didn't really have that much time between when we got the FP and when we could use it so we headed back to get seated for the show. Mindy took a couple of pictures this time since we knew what to expect though she still missed one shot she was trying for. Ah well.

Then it was time to high tail it out of there so we could get to the game. This time we were seated on the Braves side although still seemed to be surrounded by Cardinals fans. That was the highest attendance for a game we went to, 10,785 people. Tickets were available for standing section only which I thought meant the lawn but turns out it meant standing at the wall behind the lawn. I didn't envy them in the slightest.

Got to see a second grand slam. Disney sure does love their fireworks although during the day they're harder to see. Even though we were in the upper section we were slightly shaded so that was good. The Braves won 4-3. Whee!

The game was over fast, like after 2 hours. So back to the room for some rest. Then it was off to Epcot. We decided to just eat at the World Pavillions at some point but our first stop was Test Track. Mindy got to go in the singles line, which only had a 20 minute wait as opposed to standby which had more like a 50 minute wait. While waiting for her to come back I dashed over to Soarin' to try and get FP's for it. Since I was the designated pack mule I had both of our park tickets. But alas when I arrived I found that all the FPs were distributed for the day. I still went down to see what the wait was...70 minutes. Figured since we'd done it twice already we were probably done.

Then we wandered through Innoventions just to see what it was. I scored pretty low on the 14 player video game thing. Ah well. We ate in Mexico and wandered through the shops there. Did not bother with the ride. Then it was off to watch O'Canada. Very cool movie. As they were obviously getting ready for Illuminations we decided to just split.

There were two specific things that we couldn't find in the parks that she wanted so we headed back to World of Disney at DTD and found something close. The one shirt though she could only find in long sleeve and figured she'd buy it so she had it, but if they had it in short sleeve at the last park we went to she'd buy it and return the long sleeve.

After leaving DTD we decided that working at World of Disney would be enough to drive someone to drink. Wow. Lots of unhappy kids in that store that night.

 

[LdyFaile]

We didn't make it to MK before opening. We tried, but Mindy was coming down with something awful and since we were flying back the next day she wanted drugs to try and fix it. So we stopped at a Walgreens on the way to the park and got there right at opening.

Our first stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Only...once again it was closed for technical difficulties. *sigh* Mindy really really really wanted to meet Cinderella. So we hopped the train and got off at Toon Town. We were there about 10 minutes before it opened. Spotted where we would find the Princess Room, and when the rope dropped we headed that way hoping that Cinderella would be among the Princesses there first thing in the morning. Good news, she was and we were second in line to see her. I dont' mind that Mindy wanted her picture with Cinderella but I did NOT want to wait in line behind a bunch of kids to get it. Too much to do and it was our last day!

Then we headed back to Tomorrow land as there was one or two things left to do there. Only on the way Mindy spied the Teacups and really really really wanted to go on them so we did since the wait wasn't bad. She regretted it at the end. What can I say...I love to spin

We then tried to find the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I figured it wouldn't be much of a 'ride' but I still wanted to do it. When trying to find where the entrance was we noticed that Carosel of Progress was open. Made a note to do that next. TTA was nice in the 'rest a bit and see some sights' sort of way.

I really enjoyed Carosel of Progress though couldn't figure out what year the last set was supposed to be. By then it was time to leave for the game, we wanted to get there early so Mindy could get someone's autograph on the inside of the bill of her hat.

When we arrived at the Stadium we split up. Mindy went through the no bag line, bought a sharpie at the Clubhouse, and went to try and get a signature. While I went through the bag check line and picked up some food for the game. I had a feeling we'd be sitting in the middle and I hate getting up once I'm down. Today's game we were seated in the bleachers which was good and bad at the same time.

The good part was we were at the end where the Braves were practicing before the game. When I got to our seats with the food, Mindy was already there. Apparently when she got to whoever was signing stuff they said no more signatures so she didn't get one. We sat and ate our dogs and after a bit noticed some of the players coming over to the people still standing at the half wall in front of the bleachers and signing stuff. Mindy waited until someone she recognized came over to sign things then went down and succeeded. I don't remember which autograph she got but she was very excited about it.

As with every game we go to...the foul balls get hit where we were sitting the day before or far enough away in the same section. So no game balls for us. It was a sad day for the Braves. They lost 9-0 to the Cardinals.

We had plans to meet with my relatives after the game but Mindy hung out a little while longer to see if anyone else was going to sign. When it became obvious that they weren't we left. We met them at DTD (just for an easy meet point) and Mindy returned the long sleeve shirt since she found a short sleeve version at MK earlier.

This was family I'd not met before and until a few years ago, didn't even know I had. It was my grandmother on my dad's side's sister, her DIL and granddaughter. I just call them cousin, it's easier that way. We sat and talked for a bit then went off to Red Lobster for dinner.

When they headed back home it was onlya bout 8 pm and MK didn't close til 11 so we figured it was our last day might as well head back to the park. That's when the real fun began. We got a parking spot close to where the tram stops. On the way to the tram I checked and at first thought I only had one park ticket, but then it looked like both so I said we were good and we hopped on the tram. However when we got to the TTC and I went to give Mindy her ticket I realized that her's was the only one I had.

The hope was that it had just dropped out of my pocket when I was driving and pulled my cell phone out. There was another tram heading back out to the parking lot so we hopped on. We happened to be in the back near the conductor. Once we got to the long drive (we were in the dwarf area of the parking lot) between stops the conductor told us some trivia. She said that the parking lot was so big that all of Disneyland could fit inside it plus have spaces left over for 500 cars. Mindy then thought to ask her about the 28,000 acres and how much of it was actually in use (come to think of it that might have been answered in the movie had we chosen to stay for it but ...). She said that she thinks maybe 1/4th of the land is currently in use by all the parks and resorts but that 1/3 of the land will never be built on but rather left as a natural habitat. IIIInnnteresting.

We got to the parking lot, I ran to the car, found my ticket between the driver seat and middle console, and we hopped back on the same tram. Finally made it back to MK and rode BTMR. All I can say is....that's definately a ride I should NOT have gone on with my condition. However it was fun and considering I only went on ONE ride that I shouldn't have, I'd say that's not terrible.

When we were done with the ride Specromagic was just starting to arrive in Frontierland. We were boxed in. So we hopped the last train that was stopping for the night at Toontown and went off to Tomorrowland to do Buzz Lightyear Ranger Spin again. Picked up fast passes and went searching for ice cream. Unfortunately all the ice cream vendors had packed up for the night. So we wound up back at Auntie Gravitie's and had smoothies. The worst $3.75 we spent in the parks was on those smoothies. I think a snow cone would have had more flavor. At least we could keep the cup.

One last spin through Buzz Lightyear and then we were done. Headed back to the room. Packed. Set the alarm for o dark thirty. And spent our last night in the Knights Inn.