Best Vacation EVER!! My 1st Trip to WDW

[edaymond]

Part 1:

Ok... here goes.... It's been almost one year since our trip to Walt Disney World (my first trip, DH's second). I've been through withdrawals lately (ok... they started about 4 months after we returned home) so thought I should finally put our completed TR up! Hope you enjoy!!

We took our 7 day trip to WDW in the last week of April 2007. This really was a PERFECT time to go. The weather was pretty ideal the entire trip (with the exception of one crazy hot day in Magic Kingdom... but Peter Pan and Tea Cups helped take our mind off the heat for a bit). The crowds were also pretty small --- well, small for Disney!

I should back up a bit here and admit something: I thought WDW was overhyped. I was excited about going; however I just didn't get it. What was the big deal? Ok... now changed forever.

Now back to our regular broadcast!

We left home (Arkansas, USA) pretty dang early so that we could make the most out of our first day. We left the house at 3:30 a.m. CST and arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ from here on out) at 11:55 a.m. EST. Flying in we flew over parts of WDW and that's when the real excitment started kicking in!
We rode the Magic Express (a regular coach bus) to the POFQ. The video was so cute - plus our driver was very friendly. We checked in pretty quickly and we actually got to go to our rooms!! Yipee!!

POFQ was beautiful! The room was a little dirty; but overall a wonderful, quiet place to stay.

I'm going to stop here for a bit. I'd like to add pictures; however I can't figure out how to do it. If somone could enlighten me I'd greatly appreciate it!!

 

[IATink]

Can't wait to read more! I am glad to hear you had a great trip. To add pictures you need to go to photobucket.com and get an account. (It's free) Then, you have to load your pictures on that site, so you can post them here. Hope that helps.

 

[Disneydd2]

Your off to a great start, edaymond. Keep it coming.

 

[Illuminations06]

there's nothing like that feeling when you are boarding the plane and know the next place you'll be is DISNEY!!
great start. can't wait to hear more

 

[edaymond]

PART 2

Thanks for the help IATink! I created an account and will now attempt to utilize it! Thanks also for the encouragement. I've read so many of these trip reports that were so superb... only hope I can live up to it. ha!

Now... where were we? Ah, yes... POFQ. As I said previously the hotel was lovely - quiet and we loved the atmosphere. My DH's home state is Louisiana, so we were really looking forward to see how the Imagineers recreated the FQ. They did a pretty great job. Here are some pictures of the check-in area, grounds, and room!

The boat dock to DownTown Disney. Everything was so manicured and lovely.

These type of signs are all over New Orleans.

No! Don't fall asleep yet! We just got here! We MUST get to the castle! hehe.


Hope you enjoyed the pics. Now I'll start on our first park stop: Magic Kingdom!

 

[Phedre]

Great start! Looking forward to more

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I love your pictures! Can't wait to see more!

 

[edaymond]

Part 3

So after checking in, getting an autograph book, and settling in a moment we walked a short distance to our bus stop. These bus stops were great. The lines when the parks closed were somewhat frustrating (some people tended to forget that this was a happy place -- not a shoving, rude place); however that's probably about the same in most every line waiting to get to bed after a long day of enchantment.

So with park hopper/admission cards in hand we hopped on the bus and I decided to not look around too much because I wanted to savor the moment of actually seeing the castle for the very first time.

The lines weren't bad to get into the park (or in the park for that matter -- 10 to 15 minute wait tops for most rides if you were already using your fast pass!)... and I almost couldn't keep my excitement contained. We walked into the park and saw Pinnocio signing autographs. The line was pretty long; so we decided we'd catch him later.
Around to the right of the square (opposite the Firehouse) and almost to Main Street USA.... turn a little corner...and THERE IT IS!! Cinderella's Castle. My first Disney movie was Cinderella, and I've loved her ever since.

Here are a couple of pictures we snapped when we got there and later that evening before Wishes....

From the Rose Garden. This is a most romantic place to watch the fireworks and wait for the crowds to thin a bit.

The blue shade came out the best. But the picture just doesn't do it justice.


Ok... I'll try to make that the last of the castle pictures. hehe.

After my infatuation with actually making it to the MK died down slightly (only slightly) we remembered that we were hungry. Yes... remembered. Our excitement made us forget I guess. ha.

We had the meal plan (actually had leftovers and took them with us a few times!) and decided to hit up Columbia Harbor House. The attention to detail here was amazing as well. Cute eatery. Would definitly go back! I had the Anchors Aweigh Sandwich and slaw. DH had the Garden GalleySalad and fries. Both were SOOOO good!! The deserts were forgettable, though. It was lunch, though... so that was fine.
Here's a picture of my meal:

Now to a parade and rides/attractions! My first Disney ride was the Haunted Mansion. It has since become one of my favorites. This ride (and a few others) stopped for a while while our doombuggy was viewing the dining room scene. So neat!

The parade was pure magic. The castmembers just amaze me with their enthusiasm and dedication to the guests. Side note: we only came across one "odd" attitude in a castmember the whole trip - and that was in our gift shop.

Anyway here are a couple of pictures from the parade:

Alice and crew. Casting sure is precise with ths character. Each Alice we saw looked so closely like the others!

OH! Just before the parade DH ran over to Thunder Mountain Railroad to fastpass it (good idea for future reference!). After the parade we got in the short line for Splash Mountain. Whle on it we got soaked (yay!) and we got stuck for about 15 minutes at the pinnacle just before you go down to the big splash. Luckily we were in the front and got some more great pictures of MK. Here are a couple of MK and Splash Mountain and TMR!

After TMR we went and explored Liberty Square and the Hall of Presidents. I'm a history and political buff/nut so I really enjoyed this!

Then we climbed Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, rode the jungle cruise, Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, and took the train around the park. Just to remember how we were feeling is so special. Afterwards we liesurely walked around the park and decided to eat dinner at Noodle Station in Tomorrowland. I wouldn't recommend this place. It wasn't horrible; but it wasn't great either. The food was pretty bland. If you want to be in a certain area before Wishes you could eat here and relax for a bit. Otherwise... there are other options.

After eating we made our way to the rose garden, as I stated earlier, and waited for Tink to fly over (a tip I got from the boards!). I used to think that people who said they cried during Wishes were silly. CORRECTED AGAIN! I got teary eyed. Couldn't help it. I was there with my DH on a perfect night in the happiest place on earth... what more could you ask for?

Got to bed around 11:30 p.m. and was looking forward to the next day ---
ANIMAL KINGDOM!!

Day 1: 28,020 steps in Disney = 10.61 miles (DH wore a pedometer)

 

[edaymond]

PART 4

After an almost 21 hour first day of travelling and being the third most excited I've ever been in my life (first was engagement and second was the wedding) we were pooped! I believe we got in bed and passed out until our 6:45a.m. wakeup call from ... well, I don't know what character that was ... it was NOT pleasant to be woken up by some Thing screaming on the other end of the line. ha! Maybe I overexaggerate a bit; but DANG that was annoying. Plus I had a tinge of a migrane (stupid migranes!!)... so I got up, took the meds and prayed really hard that I could go through the day w/o having to come to the room to try and sleep it off for a couple of days. All I can say is: prayer works! I had a regular ol' headache for a couple of hours... but nothing we couldn't push through!

Anyway... we were bound and determinded to make the most of every second in while in WDW, so we took full advantage of the extra magic hours in the morning. We tried to take advantage of them during the evening hours... but were worn out by that time.

We ate breakfast on this morning at the POFQ Sassagula Floatworks. Of course we had the beignets. They were pretty good --- but it's hard to beat Cafe Du Monde in the real FQ! Here's a pic for your enjoyment!

Well, fiddle! I thougt I had some pictures of the beignets... but I don't. Sorry! If you've never had 'em THEY'RE A MUST at least once! Fried dough and powdered sugar... mmmMM!

So as I said previously our main park today was.... drum roll please... ANIMAL KINGDOM!! We were very much looking forward to this park. We love zoos (and yes... we knot his is not a zoo); and this was going to be better than any zoo we could ever go to!

The opening of the park was so neat! Here are some pictures of the opening .... we'll call it a ceremony and the Tree of Life.

The animals that are around the tree are so cool! To see them so calm and in such a wonderful environment made me happy.

The detail is amazing!!

Hey guys!


This is such a neat and BEAUTIFUL park! The biggest plus: there is A LOT of shade!!

Our first stop: DH ran/walked really fast ahead of me to get a fast pass for the safari. While lolly-gagging behind him I saw THE ONE... THE ONLY.... Mickey Mouse!! He was coming out from the underbelly of the Tree of Life. He couldn't take any pictures but he did blow me a kiss! Ooops! Hope Minnie doesn't get jealous! hehe.

DH got our fastpass and off we went to spend some time at Rafiki's Planet Watch. This was a cute place... we can say we've done it... but probably wouldn't go back unless our future children wanted to go. I DID, however, get my picture with Rafiki... and his mind was on something else. You decide:

After being checked out by the monkey we listened to Grandmother Willow (this was actually pretty relaxing -- except for the chainsaws -- to my poor head) and listened to another animal handler about a couple of lizards she brought in for the kids to pet. I am a whimp... so I didn't touch.

OH! BY THE WAY: if you're reading this and haven't been to WDW yet (or your children/grandkids/friends, etc. haven't) you MUST get by the visitor's center/guest services and get a "First Timer" button. CMs will be extra nice to ya! That was one of the first things we did on our first day and it rocked!

Ok, back to the story....

It was time to use the fast pass for the Safari. Our driver was really nice and funny. AND the animals were out in force! Here are some of the pictures DH snapped!

Such a cute familiy of giraffes!

Poor little guy only had one antler!

Well... we have more... but my internet isn't letting me upload anymore right now. So I guess that'll be all for now. I'll pick back up later! Enjoy!

 

[IATink]

Just got all caught up today. You have some really great pictures! Can't wait to read more!

 

[edaymond]

PART 5

Thanks for reading IATink and everyone else!

Hopefully I can upload more pictures now… photobucket has been giving me some lip lately.
Side note: I had an odd desire to see Bedknobs and Broomsticks so I added it to our Netflix que. Came in today (yay!). It’s playing as I write. Haven’t seen it since I was a little girl.
Here’s another little tidbit --- below is a picture of our own animal Autumn. She’s an Australian Terrier --- emphasis on “terrier.” Ha! DH travels quite often; so when she saw the suitcases come out she knew she was in for a little vacation of her own. We board her at the “5 star” Pet Palace. Honestly – it’s better accommodations than some hotels I’ve stayed in. haha!

Ok, back to Animal Kingdom!!
We saw all sorts of animals on the Safari ride. I was still trying to get over the headache; but enjoyed it nevertheless. Here are a couple more pictures from the ride. The elephants were out. Yay!!

He was shaking dust/dirt all over himself to keep cool. He really did have two ears.

After the safari we headed over to Pangani Forest Trail. We LOVED this!! All sorts of interesting things were discovered. We saw beautiful birds, interesting factoids and survey stations, and animals of all sorts. Here are some more pictures! **Disclaimer** Since it’s been a little while since the trip I might combugle some of the Pangani pictures with some of the Maharaja Jungle Trek. Enjoy regardless!

The bird is in the middle --- right above the most defined leaves. We saw such beautiful birds. HOWEVER, I seem to have this fear of getting bird pooped on. *willies* I stayed on the look-out and didn’t stay for too long. DH took most of the pics.

These little fellas are so cute!

Why hello Mr. Silverback!

I thought this was such a beautiful setting to catch a magnificent creature eating.

Such a pretty waterfall….

After the wonderful walk through the forest DH suggested we head over the Expedition Everest (whoo-HOO!) for a fastpass. So Asia here we come!

We blessedly got our FPs pretty quickly. We only had about an hour and a half to explore before heading back to conquer the mountain! Yay!
Maharaja was calling out name. Yet another breathtaking area. I just keep being amazed by everything that is Disney! From Tigers to Gila monsters to monkeys to antlered deer-like mammals. OH!!! AND POOH BEAR AND FRIENDS!! Oh how I love these guys. When I saw their short line for photographs and autographs … oh yeah, we got in line. I got a nice note and kiss from Pooh, a kiss and big hug from Eeyore (after I told him he was my favorite), and a “talking to” by Tigger when he thought I tried to trick him with a closed pen. These characters were awesome! Truly made me feel special.
Here are some pictures of the Jungle Trek! Enjoy!

Hold on little buddy!

I think that was a Gila Monter….

A bat with its wings open and one to the upper-right in the tree (the black football shaped thing). Ooooh! Bats! I know they eat insects… but ….

The tigers were ready to go inside. Best shot we could get.

Yet another bird sanctuary. Again – birds were so beautiful; but whatever phobia is that which you’re afraid of birds pooping on your head took over. Ha!

OOH! Time for Expedition Everest!! I’ll leave that for next time. Hope you enjoy!!