Philadisney
<font color=blue>In the Name of Epcot<br><font col
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2005
- Messages
- 4,295
Yay! I just returned from 4 days at WDW. I am still recovering from the trip so this trip report may not be the Most Amazing Thing Ever, but hopefully you will like it as much as I like reading everyone else's reports.
March 10th/11th, 2005
So on Thursday I left work a couple hours early and ran to the subway, which took me to the train station, where I took a train to gate D of the Philadelphia International Airport. I was flying Air Tran and was initially worried becos I had never flown with them before and they had already made me wary by changing my return flight on me (I would be getting back almost 2 hours later than originally planned). But I ended up having a splendid flying experience. I printed my boarding pass online while I was at work so the total process of checking in & going through security & finding my gate took maybe 30 minutes. I had a window seat on the plane over the wing and we flew to Atlanta, where I easily found my next flight - it left about 20 minutes late becos they were holding the plane for a connecting flight that was late, but we still arrived on time! When we got on the plane I paled when I realized I would be on the same flight as a co-ed high school cheerleading team, but they were actually quiet the whole time. Magical! I got into MCO around midnight.
Sinatra was driving from Virginia and had planned to pick me up at MCO, but his 12 hour drive had turned into 15 hours due to traffic, so his college friend Supernice Guy picked me up at the airport. He lived in a lovely little house about 20 minutes from MCO, so we went there and watched The Apprentice and I crashed in his guest room.
Now something I forgot to mention is that about a week before the trip, I got sick. Really sick. So sick I had taken my first day off from my job ever. By the time the 10th came, I was feeling about 80% better, but I had this nasty cough that would NOT go away (I still have it!). So I was hacking away all night. Not pleasant.
I woke up at 7:00 AM and got ready for the day, then went to the living room to find Sinatra sleeping on the couch. I woke him up, feeling really really bad about it, as he hadn't even gotten in until about 2 AM. Although I am a freak about planning, I usually relax once the trip starts, so I wasn't in a huge rush. We took our time getting ready and then left to check into our hotel, Coranado Springs! I could not believe how amazing the weather was. Blue skies, sunny, 77 degrees, perfect.
I thought the hotel was absolutely beautiful. We were in Ranchos, 7B, with a view of the parking lot (eh). We had 2 double beds and I thought the decor in the room was delightful, everything was painted blue and there was this black metal mirror on the wall in the shape of a sun. We put our bags in the room and then headed out to MGM Studios!
We got to the park around 10 AM and beelined for RnR. We got a FP but the line was only 15 minutes so we decided to ride right away. Sinatra was sad becos he had planned to bring a book that said QUANTUM PHYSICS on it in huge letters and pretend to be reading it in all of the ride photos, but he forgot it. After that we hit ToT. Here are Mr. Vacuum and I standing outside the ride:
(I am the one on the left). We rode this twice as well, I sat in the front row for the first time ever - I totally suggest doing that if you haven't, it made the ride much better.
Me: 'Look!!! Look at these letters at the bottom of the glass case!!! They say EVIL TOWER U R DOOMED! Isn't that cool?'
Sinatra: 'You are a nerd.'
Next we went on the movie ride, then the magic of animation, which was totally different than the last time I had done it. I loved the Mushu intro and we got to draw Stitch. Then I ingested a Mickey bar and we went to WWTBAM becos I had never done that. We both got on the board but only one person was in the hot seat, a mom from Wisconsin, she did really well. I think she won 11 pins. Next it was time for something else I had never done...Playhouse Disney. Yes, we were the only people there without children. I do not care. I love puppets.
especially this one:
Awwwww Tutter the mouse. I will marry you, and you will be mine.
We hung out around New York street for a while, where I spent some time waving Mr. Vacuum around and shouting into my camera while Sinatra pretended not to know me
After that Sinatra was totally exhausted from lack of sleep so he went back to CSR to nap. I wandered around for a while, finding the raining umbrella near New York Street, and I went on the backlot tour which was awesome becos they had new props from The Life Aquatic. Also got to see the set for the stunt show that is in the works. I meandered through some shops and then got on the Friendship 3 for a boat ride over to Epcot. On the boat I sat in front of a woman who was very very upset that the statues on top of the dolphin hotel didn't look anything like dolphins. "I just don't think they do justice to how beautiful a dolphin truly is! don't look nothing like them!" she kept saying, over and over. i found this mildly hilarious.
i got off at the international gateway and ran through the park to the monorail station. i had four hours before I was meeting Sinatra in Canada for our Le Cellier PS, so I decided to ride the monorail for a while and maybe check out some resorts I had never stopped in. I ended up at the Contemporary, wandered around there for a while and then got back on the monorail just as Sinatra called me to say he was at Epcot. I met up with him at Innoventions, where we sent pictures to our Friends and Loved Ones. Then I convinced Sinatra to go on my favorite WS attraction, which is Impressions de France. He's not a fan but I just love that movie, especially the soundtrack. Even though the park was not crowded at all the crowd was a bit rowdy, a woman behind us talked on her cell phone through the whole movie, kind of irksome. Finally we got to Canada and were seated right on time for our 8:20 PS. Our server was Stephanie and she was very sweet, I had the filet mignon, which was a little rarer than I expected but still really good. Then I ordered the chocolate moose for dessert, which was so adorable, but not all that appetizing.
But I figured I ought not to go through life without eating a dessert that was sticking its tongue out at me at least once. At that point we were both pretty tired so we went back to the CSR and crashed.
coming up: Belle! Japanese candy! and drunken Norwegian Adventures!
March 10th/11th, 2005
So on Thursday I left work a couple hours early and ran to the subway, which took me to the train station, where I took a train to gate D of the Philadelphia International Airport. I was flying Air Tran and was initially worried becos I had never flown with them before and they had already made me wary by changing my return flight on me (I would be getting back almost 2 hours later than originally planned). But I ended up having a splendid flying experience. I printed my boarding pass online while I was at work so the total process of checking in & going through security & finding my gate took maybe 30 minutes. I had a window seat on the plane over the wing and we flew to Atlanta, where I easily found my next flight - it left about 20 minutes late becos they were holding the plane for a connecting flight that was late, but we still arrived on time! When we got on the plane I paled when I realized I would be on the same flight as a co-ed high school cheerleading team, but they were actually quiet the whole time. Magical! I got into MCO around midnight.
Sinatra was driving from Virginia and had planned to pick me up at MCO, but his 12 hour drive had turned into 15 hours due to traffic, so his college friend Supernice Guy picked me up at the airport. He lived in a lovely little house about 20 minutes from MCO, so we went there and watched The Apprentice and I crashed in his guest room.
Now something I forgot to mention is that about a week before the trip, I got sick. Really sick. So sick I had taken my first day off from my job ever. By the time the 10th came, I was feeling about 80% better, but I had this nasty cough that would NOT go away (I still have it!). So I was hacking away all night. Not pleasant.

I woke up at 7:00 AM and got ready for the day, then went to the living room to find Sinatra sleeping on the couch. I woke him up, feeling really really bad about it, as he hadn't even gotten in until about 2 AM. Although I am a freak about planning, I usually relax once the trip starts, so I wasn't in a huge rush. We took our time getting ready and then left to check into our hotel, Coranado Springs! I could not believe how amazing the weather was. Blue skies, sunny, 77 degrees, perfect.
I thought the hotel was absolutely beautiful. We were in Ranchos, 7B, with a view of the parking lot (eh). We had 2 double beds and I thought the decor in the room was delightful, everything was painted blue and there was this black metal mirror on the wall in the shape of a sun. We put our bags in the room and then headed out to MGM Studios!
We got to the park around 10 AM and beelined for RnR. We got a FP but the line was only 15 minutes so we decided to ride right away. Sinatra was sad becos he had planned to bring a book that said QUANTUM PHYSICS on it in huge letters and pretend to be reading it in all of the ride photos, but he forgot it. After that we hit ToT. Here are Mr. Vacuum and I standing outside the ride:

(I am the one on the left). We rode this twice as well, I sat in the front row for the first time ever - I totally suggest doing that if you haven't, it made the ride much better.
Me: 'Look!!! Look at these letters at the bottom of the glass case!!! They say EVIL TOWER U R DOOMED! Isn't that cool?'
Sinatra: 'You are a nerd.'
Next we went on the movie ride, then the magic of animation, which was totally different than the last time I had done it. I loved the Mushu intro and we got to draw Stitch. Then I ingested a Mickey bar and we went to WWTBAM becos I had never done that. We both got on the board but only one person was in the hot seat, a mom from Wisconsin, she did really well. I think she won 11 pins. Next it was time for something else I had never done...Playhouse Disney. Yes, we were the only people there without children. I do not care. I love puppets.

especially this one:

Awwwww Tutter the mouse. I will marry you, and you will be mine.
We hung out around New York street for a while, where I spent some time waving Mr. Vacuum around and shouting into my camera while Sinatra pretended not to know me

After that Sinatra was totally exhausted from lack of sleep so he went back to CSR to nap. I wandered around for a while, finding the raining umbrella near New York Street, and I went on the backlot tour which was awesome becos they had new props from The Life Aquatic. Also got to see the set for the stunt show that is in the works. I meandered through some shops and then got on the Friendship 3 for a boat ride over to Epcot. On the boat I sat in front of a woman who was very very upset that the statues on top of the dolphin hotel didn't look anything like dolphins. "I just don't think they do justice to how beautiful a dolphin truly is! don't look nothing like them!" she kept saying, over and over. i found this mildly hilarious.
i got off at the international gateway and ran through the park to the monorail station. i had four hours before I was meeting Sinatra in Canada for our Le Cellier PS, so I decided to ride the monorail for a while and maybe check out some resorts I had never stopped in. I ended up at the Contemporary, wandered around there for a while and then got back on the monorail just as Sinatra called me to say he was at Epcot. I met up with him at Innoventions, where we sent pictures to our Friends and Loved Ones. Then I convinced Sinatra to go on my favorite WS attraction, which is Impressions de France. He's not a fan but I just love that movie, especially the soundtrack. Even though the park was not crowded at all the crowd was a bit rowdy, a woman behind us talked on her cell phone through the whole movie, kind of irksome. Finally we got to Canada and were seated right on time for our 8:20 PS. Our server was Stephanie and she was very sweet, I had the filet mignon, which was a little rarer than I expected but still really good. Then I ordered the chocolate moose for dessert, which was so adorable, but not all that appetizing.

coming up: Belle! Japanese candy! and drunken Norwegian Adventures!