An 18th Birthday, and a Celebration with Surprises! A Feb 2010 TR! Upd 4/15!!

[Nicole786]

Chapter List
Introductions!- Page 1
Day 1, Part 1 - Page 1
Day 1, Part 2 - Page 1
Day 1, Part 3 - Page 1
Day 2, Part 1 - Page 2
Day 2, Part 2 (The Pirates League!)
Day 2, Part 3
Day 3, Part 1
Day 3, Part 2



Hello Welcome to our trip report! I took my little brother to WDW in February to celebrate his 18th birthday! We had a great trip and I can't wait to share all the details!! It was so hard to keep quiet about the surprises I had in store for him but it was so worth it!

But first, who we are!

Nicole: sister, 23, works in the computer industry! I am the go to person for Disney advice! Just a few weeks ago, my boss was traveling to disney and staying with their family who live fairly close (they have always done this) I have begged her to stay on-site and she finally did at Pop! They came back with a DVC membership! and a lot of "I told you so!"

David "little" brother, 18. Guitar guy, Music buff, disney channel buff (look out for random Phineaus and Ferb quotes) He is an aspiring chef and is known to whip up some random disney treats (I came home to find tie-dye cheesecake one day) So look out for sporadic bakings! He'll be contributing to the report in his own shade of blue He's joined us out in the working force, which is what makes this over-the-top trip possible!

We stayed at my favorite place the Wilderness Lodge with a woods view room and the basic dining plan. Our dates were February 17-20th with david's birthday being on the 18th! I was on because we stayed here:

I rented a great lens for this trip (Canon EF 50mm 1.4) and it took some awesome pictures, but I can get a little snap happy in Disney so if you love lots of pictures you've come to the right place!

I hope you'll stick around join the party, cuz this party isn't gonna stop anytime soon! David and I are returning in August staying at the Poly and I can't wait to share those details as well when the trip report is complete!

 

[Nicole786]

David had a lot of surprises coming to him, and it was so hard to keep them all a secret, but I did a good job and it was worth it! We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge from February 17-20, with David's birthday being on the 18th!

We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge and were next to check in! The moment we walked in the lobby, we had these giddy smiles on our faces! It's no surprise that WL is my favorite Disney hotel and I just couldn't wait to be here!

We were checked in by a nice CM although he wasn't pouring out the smiles and Disney magic, he wasn't mean. He didn't wish David a Happy Birthday or remember to give him a birthday button (I kindly asked when we were done) Our room wasn't ready, so we grabbed our things and headed to the bus stop for the DHS opening!

We ran to TSM with the rest and waited about 15 minutes before getting on the ride. You could tell this was president's week for sure! Next time, we'll FP it instead of riding it! We had a blast, David JUST beat me! I'll get him next time!!

David's Thoughts: Take that!

We high tailed it over to RnR to score some FP and ride ToT. It was only around 9:40 when we got over there and there was a HUGE line for FP! We waited about 5-10 minutes to get some and than went over to ToT to walk in the line. Usually this is our DHS strategy and in May and August works fine, we walk on practically everything! Little did we know about Presidents week! The wait for ToT was 45 minutes! Since we didn't have a lot to see here at DHS we got in line and waited with everyone else.

But surprise! While we were in line, BEANA was there! She saw David and recognized him, and knew me from a NYC DIS Meet we had in 2008! I wish we had more time to talk, that line moved fast! If i wasn't afraid of a crowd brawl I would have asked her to come join us (We were about 10 minutes ahead of her in line) Great to see you again, even though it was short!

Here are some queue photos:

My favorite:

ToT were great, I made a few short attempts at photos that didn't come out.

We had time to spare for our RnR FPs so we walked around and caught a Streetmosphere actor! We had recognized him from our Christmas 2007 trip and he is HILARIOUS! He said goodbye to us shortly after playing because he was off to an audition!

About 12:45 we hopped on over to RnR and walked right on within 10 minutes (now thats more like it, but of course we had FP) I have SUPER anxiety about bringing my stuff onto rides. At Universal, there are complimentary lockers outside of major attractions to store your stuff while you ride so you don't lose anything. And if you think about it, I'm carrying my Canon DSLR, a Lens that usually isn't mine (borrowed) my iPhone which is very expensive to replace, our lanyards which has our hotel key and my ID, and today, because our room wasn't ready, my wallet. So we spent a lot of the morning trying to find paid lockers but it wasn't to be. David says i'm ridiculous, and that he would hold the bag and make sure it was safe, but I told him that would be much worse because i'd keep looking over to make sure it was still there (which I've done when I put items in the basket) we shoved everything into my nike drawstring bag, which I placed around my arms and on my chest, the lap bar was comfortable and I could feel it the whole time!

It was a great ride!! So much better knowing my bag was with me at all times!!

Okay time for some lunch!! We passed by another streetmosphere performance we watched for a few minutes and than it was time to catch the boat launch to the Beach Club for some Beaches and Cream!

I love this boat launch, and its one of the reasons we're debating Poly or Boardwalk right now??

When we got there, the wait was 45 minutes, and we decided to hang out for it. There was a really angry guy that came storming out screaming at the Host CM because he was waiting a while for the wait staff to come!

David's Thoughts: The guy wasn't listening to the CM when she explained and tried to apologize, we felt really bad

We decided to walk around the Beach Club to explore since the CM said the pager would reach. We even took the elevator up to the rooms just to see what the interior hallways looked like! We walked over to the DVC lobby and than back to the regular lobby to people watch.

Continued in next post...

 

[Nicole786]

When we got back to Beaches and Cream, the Host said she paged us but seated us right away because she knew we had been waiting

When we sat down a neighboring table got a Kitchen Sink, I asked if i could take a photo! They were awesome, they were like "sure!"

We started off by sharing this awesome drink:

…and finished off with some burgers and fries/onion rings. We declined birthday ice cream, not realizing the server wanted to sing! Because before we knew it, here she came with a balloon and had the whole restaurant singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

She tied it around his wrist and we were laughing the whole time!

Here's the birthday boy with his balloon!

At the international gateway we gave it a way to a little girl

I love this shot of the Beach Club beach, it was a beautiful day!

We leisurely walked around the World Showcase just excited to be here and taking it all in. We ended up over at Norway and decided to ride one of our favorites, Maelstrom. The wait was around 20 minutes. While in line, I called WL and turns out our room was ready, they just hadn't texted us, so we decided to leave Epcot and return to the room.

David's Thoughts: It's awesome to have an iPhone with us in line, I used it to find Hidden Mickeys during our many wait times.

When we got there all excited to see our new room, there was a PROBLEM....

 

[mousetravel]

Subscribing! I love your pics! Can't wait to read more!

 

[heaven2dc]

I can't believe David is 18 years old already! Belated Happy Birthday, David!!

I've always loved reading your TR's in the past and excited to see you have another adventure to post. Can't wait to see how you like WL - my friends from work are staying there in May and they are so excited.

 

[MeMom]

Somehow, this all looks very familiar.

Here.....again.

 

[michellem1118]

When we got there all excited to see our new room, there was a PROBLEM....

Oohhh... ominous. I'm in!

 

[cmp1111]

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

I can imagine President's week being bad. I live in NH, but am a native of Illinois. I had never, ever heard of this "February break" that happens in the northeast until I moved here. NH actually takes the week AFTER President's Day, so at least we miss the throngs out of MA, RI, CT, NY, etc., etc.

I always loop my bag about 3 times around my ankle for RnRC. Glad to know I'm not the only one who worries...

 

[Nicole786]

Subscribing! I love your pics! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I'm so happy you're joining the party, i love taking pics and i love sharing them!

I can't believe David is 18 years old already! Belated Happy Birthday, David!!

I've always loved reading your TR's in the past and excited to see you have another adventure to post. Can't wait to see how you like WL - my friends from work are staying there in May and they are so excited.

Hey!! Great to see you again, I looooove WL its my favorite disney hotel and I call it my "home" its amazing there!

Somehow, this all looks very familiar.

Here.....again.

Haha the other thread got deleted

Oohhh... ominous. I'm in!

thanks for joining in!

Great photos, thanks for sharing!

I can imagine President's week being bad. I live in NH, but am a native of Illinois. I had never, ever heard of this "February break" that happens in the northeast until I moved here. NH actually takes the week AFTER President's Day, so at least we miss the throngs out of MA, RI, CT, NY, etc., etc.

I always loop my bag about 3 times around my ankle for RnRC. Glad to know I'm not the only one who worries...

It was really bad this morning but some days were better than others which you'll see in the next chapter. DHS this morning was and i'm pretty sure it was a green day!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

Im in. Its really nice of you to take your brother for a birthday celebration!!! i love your pictures there really good.

 

[burly]

I'm jumping on board!

 

[Nicole786]

Im in. Its really nice of you to take your brother for a birthday celebration!!! i love your pictures there really good.

Thanks for joining in! I love taking him too, that way I can go!

I'm jumping on board!

Welcome! Thanks for reading!

 

[Nicole786]

We got back to the Wilderness Lodge after a bus nap eager to check out our new room! Plus I knew there was a surprise waiting in the room for David and I was excited to see how it came out!

Our room was on the fifth floor (awesome, i love the higher floors) right above Whispering Canyon Cafe off of the lobby not very far at all. I was really concerned about the noise levels from stories I had heard on the DIS so I was already skeptical, and I also knew from my DIS knowledge that these rooms were considered standard view rooms, when we had a woods view.

Even though in the back of my head I had to see that balcony, I stopped for a second to allow David to see his first surprise! A basket from Memories by Betsy!! I just love working with her! She helps create such beautiful gifts!

One of the things I knew David would love was a Wilderness Lodge hat. MeMom had gotten David an AKL hat in the past, and we tried to get one for the WL in May but they were going through a logo change and they didn't have them. David was upset, so I knew this was one of his gifts. The second item in there was a giant Wall-E plush, because he's David's favorite disney character! David loved this he was so excited about the hat and Wall-E!

Okay so now back to the room! I checked the balcony and my heart sank. There were a few skinny trees in our eyesight, but most of our view was of the delivery trucks and the area they delivered to. We spend barely anytime on the balcony anyway so it normally wouldn't be a big deal, but we had booked a Woods View room. We paid for a Woods View room, and had a Standard View been available, we would have booked that instead but we didn't have the option. So there was no way that I was going to stay in this room if I was paying for a different view. Coupled with the noise factor, I was pre-occupied.

So was David, with his hat and Wall-E.

So we walked down stairs and got relocated to our beautiful new room! It was further inside the hotel which we loved to walk the interior hallways. And it had an amazing view of the Villas and their pool! Turns out when we have a nice view, we spend time on our balcony!

Our mid-day break, turned into a WL tour, but it was worth it. We felt settled in our new room, and we left to go check out AK for EMH!

We had our first ADR at a favorite of ours: Yak & Yeti!

We waited about 10 minutes and we were seated! Oh by the way, if you haven't you have to go to the bathrooms here so you can wash your hands and use these awesome hand dryers!! The restaurant is beautiful:

Our server was awesome, great service, and great food!! I got the coconut shrimp:

David got the Maple tamarind chicken which he loved!

Dessert was never a favorite here, but we will definitely return (actually we are in August) because its such an awesome restaurant, and hello! wok fried green beans, AMAZING!

We walked around to digest and soak the atmosphere, and ended up on Dinosaur. Walked right on to the this one (where were the crowds from earlier??) but we got stuck on the ride repeatedly!! Nothing is scarier than pitch black and dinosaurs chasing after you! The CM let us ride again after the woman in front of her mentioned what happened. Smooth ride that time!

We decided since this was our first dark night at AK we would do a tour and take photos!

When we reached Africa we were the only ones around and played around with the camera!

We did a complete circle and ended up in Asia, face to face with a certain yeti.

Turns out this is where everyone was hiding. Not too bad of a wait though! Only about 20 minutes. Vroom!

We decided since it was practically wait time, we would ride one more time and than head back home. This time, we got front seat and we saw Illuminations!! What a treat!!

We collapsed on the bus, and made it back to our beds at the WL. Tomorrow was a big day, it was David's 18th birthday and MK morning EMH! Yikes never did this before!!

 

[roomthreeseventeen]

Subscribing. AWESOME.

 

[Nicole786]

Subscribing. AWESOME.

Yay! And yay for your Princess Half Marathon ticker, i want to do that too!

 

[MeMom]

I stopped for a second to allow David to see his first surprise!

Our server was awesome, great service, and great food!! I got the coconut shrimp:

David got the Maple tamarind chicken which he loved!

You are such a good sister!

Both the meals look good. I don't know which I would choose, but that coconut shrimp would probably get my vote. I've only had Yak & Yeti counter service, so far.

 

[Nicole786]

You are such a good sister!

Both the meals look good. I don't know which I would choose, but that coconut shrimp would probably get my vote. I've only had Yak & Yeti counter service, so far.

Thanks! The basket is cool. We love Yak & Yeti you need to go there, I don't have it pictures but they have these awesome wok fried green beans!!

 

[Nicole786]

I just had to post something really exciting!! When David and I go to Disney in August, we're making a 2 night stop at Universal, and one of the things we can't wait to check out is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (the new themed land inside Islands of Adventure) New details have emerged this morning and you guys have to read the details!!! This is going to be amazing! I may need to add another universal day!!

http://www.mugglenet.com/erichpfjreview.shtml

 

[Nicole786]

We woke up bright and early this morning, we were about to check out morning extra magic hours at the magic kingdom for the first time! Oh, and David officially turned 18!!!

I woke up first and went outside to the balcony to see this beautiful view:

I came inside and put my iPhone on the included iHome's that are in the WL, and played "Birthday" by the Beatles. No better way to wake up in Disney and hearing that song!!

The only reason we were attempting EMH was because David had his choice of decisions the whole day on his birthday, and one of those decisions was his birthday breakfast. David chose his favorite omelette making place: Crystal Palace, so the love for the 100 Acre Woods outweighed the nervousness of EMH.

His first decision of the day? Take the boat, not the bus, to MK! Okay David I said as I shivered my way to that water:

They did the morning show like usual, and David received Happy Birthday's from quite possibly every cast member that lined Main Street, he was on cloud 9! We had approx. 2 hours until our purposely late ADR, so we needed to make the best of it! Our first stop was to FP Space Mountain, a favorite ride that has been closed we couldn't wait to ride, but first we had to wait in the line for the FP!

David's decisions brought us to Fantasyland, where we rode (my favorite) Winnie the Pooh

And everyone gathered together to say, Hooray!

Snow White:

and finally, Peter Pan (his favorite)

We walked on all of them except Peter Pan, waiting on a 20 minute line

Here is the birthday boy in all his glory:

Next up was a trip to the Haunted Mansion! Waited a bit for this one and than had a great ride, with David humming along to his favorite disney jam!

We stretched around back to Main Street through the Liberty Square area, and since it was almost time for our ADR, decided to check in early for our breakfast! I told David to wait and I would check us in, and ordered our first surprise of the day, a pop up card that decorates the table! We waited about 10 minutes before being called to breakfast! David loved his decorated table!

The characters came out (all except Piglet) rapidly, and in between we ate an awesome birthday breakfast! I just love the make your own omelette station!

The waitress brought David a cupcake and birthday card, and we were off!

David's next decision brought us to the most relaxing ride in all of WDW, the TTA!

Look at the park now!

And than from there we waited in the line to defeat Zurg! I beat david!! Got him back for TSM!

Our FP return time was here and it was finally time to ride the ride we had been waiting for Space Mountain!!!

I didn't really recognize the changes, but it was such an awesome ride!! We couldn't wait to ride it again, but we had important plans to follow through with!!

We were off to the Pirates League!!! Here's a sneak peak:

Side note: Morning EMH for us was useless. We accomplished less than we would have on a normal morning and we had to get up earlier we'll avoid these from now on!

 

[__disneygirl]

Hi, i'm joining in! I started reading this and thought 2 things: you are an AWESOME sister, and WHOA... I need someone in my household that has Tye Dye Cheesecake on the table when I get home! You guys rock!