Celebrating a 13th birthday, Disney Style!

[hardlabor]

I will preface this report with one fact, I have never written a trip report before.... However, our trip was so memorable, I felt that I needed to share!

We had been planning this trip for three years, saving up a little bit each week. The time had finally come! December 6-11, staying in a 1 bedroom villa at Beach Club!

My DH (50) loves Disney, his first trip was in '06 and I dragged him along begrudgingly. By the time we came home he was hooked and spent many hours on Disboards after our return.

Me, (44) loves all things Disney. Spent many hours on Disboards and TGM reading and getting lots of great advice.

DD (just turned 13) loved her first trip to Disney, a surprise for her 10th birthday. This one she helped with the planning.

Ok, on to the trip. We flew out of Boston on December 6th at 7am, left a snowstorm behind us, and arrived to perfect 70 degree weather. Smooth flight, smooth ME, arrived at our resort around noon.

We had requested a ground floor, quiet pool room. We where informed that it was not ready yet, but should be soon, so we headed over to Beaches and Cream for burgers. By the time we had finished lunch, I had a text that our room was ready, so we stopped by to check it out. It was perfect!!!

By 1:30 we where entering the International Gateway for some Epcot fun. We did not expect to do any of the major rides, but to our surprise, we where able to walk onto everything except Soarin' with minimal waits (5-10 minutes). We headed back to our room around 4ish, having done almost everything that we planned on doing our Epcot day, what a start!

After showering and resting, we went back to Epcot for our 6:40 ressie at Chef's de France. We had a great dinner (seated about 7:15) and had planned to head back to our room, but our FP for TT and Soarin' where burning holes in our pockets, so off we went to ride both! While in line for Soarin' we asked of we could ride front row, center, and there was another group waiting off to the side. They exclaimed "You must be Dis'ers!" They too where waiting, and we got into a great conversation with them. They where there with their boys (from Canada). So if you are reading this- HELLO

We ended getting back to our room about 9:45pm, feeling exhausted, but elated that we had accomplished so much our first day!

Coming up, our crazy RD at HS..... and the mad dash to Toy Story!

 

[hardlabor]

Monday 12/7- Hollywood Studios

We arrived by boat at HS by 8:30 am, through the turnstyles without a hitch, and arrived before the crowds at the rope, Yep, no one in front of us except cast members. Lots of people BEHIND us! Feeling pretty good..They dropped the ropes and we where shocked at the actions of several groups in the crowd. Lots of shoving, pushing, and general rudeness.... Gave us a feeling of dislike for TSM before we had even seen it! We arrived probably 200 people back because we refused to push, and still rode within 15 minutes. Hope all the "pushers" felt really happy that it only took them 10!

We LOVED TSM!!! By the time we got off, standby was 40 minutes, so we got FP for later and headed over to TofT and RR. Both where a walk on, maybe 5 minutes. At that point we where hungry for breakfast, and we decided on bagel sandwiches at the stand near TofT. Fun to eat there and listen to the screams from TofT! After that we where ready to tackle the rest of the park. We managed to see everything on our list, and collect several FP for later. Back to BVC for a swim and a rest.

We had early dinner ressies at 50's Prime Time. Our plan was dinner, use up FP, and Osbourne Lights. Dinner was really good, we had a waiter who was not too over the top, but great. Sadly, after a great dinner of fried chicken, pot roast and a few beers, none of us wanted to ride TofT, or RR, so we spread the magic and gave our FP away. (Don't you just love doing that?) We just walked around and soaked in the feel of being at HS. By that time, the clouds where starting to look very menacing. We could not wait for them to turn on Osbourne Lights, so that we could escape before the rains! We loved Osbourne Lights, but the crowds, not so much.....We walked through in the drizzle and then made our way back to the boats, just missing one By the time the next boat arrived, the line was at least 3 boats long, and the weather was becoming less enjoyable. We got back to our villa, changed into suits wanting to go into the quiet pool hot tub, but our daughter convinced us to head to Stormalong Bay...."This might be our only chance"...Did I mention that the weather was less than perfect? So anyway, suits on....trudge through the lobby.... Stormalong Bay here we come.

But wait! I forgot ! That includes Hurricane Hannahs! Hurray! DD in the pool, meeting new friends, DH and I relaxing in lounge chairs, sipping fruity drinks! We did manange to get a swim in as well, along with the hot tub. In the end, we where glad that we where talked into Stormalong, and it did end up being the only time that we swam there.... so.....

Up next: Magic Kingdom RD... Will we make it? And will my DH find a hidden Mickey on his little toe???

 

[MHTeacher]

Joining in to hear all about the birthday fun.

We stayed at Yacht Club over New Years (first time to stay at an Epcot resort--loved it! ) ...My oldest DD turned 16 during that week between Christmas and New Years, so we were celebrating too!

 

[hardlabor]

MHteacher- Thanks for reading! We love the EPCOT resorts, and had actually booked at Boardwalk, and then switched to BeachClub when it became available, just because we had stayed there before. Spent an entire morning reading your report.... Great job!

 

[hardlabor]

Tuesday 12/8- Magic Kingdom

Got everyone up and ready. At the bus stop by 8:15, my DH wanted to stop in the Marketplace for a cup of sludge, but I told him "NO time.... gotta catch the bus for RD..." There is NO ONE at the bus stop, except a castmember with hula hoops.... My DD is too cool to pay any attention to him, so sits on the bench with us. He wants her to get up and get moving so he keeps rolling the hoops past her. Ater 15 minutes... yes you heard me right... she finally breaks down and plays with the hoops, they are having a grand ole time... NO BUS.... DH keeps mentioning the cup of sludge... This is NOT how I planned it.... The castmember gets on his phone to check on the whereabouts of the bus, and finally one shows up. We get to MK just as the opening show is finishing. Does this still count as RD???

We walk down Main Street with THEM... with one goal in mind... the newly reopened Space Mountain! We get there and there is a line of maybe 100 people, get in line, secure FP for later, and within 10 minutes are riding. LOVED IT Backtracked to Buzz.. terrible score without our morning sludge... Back to Main Street Bakery for breakfast.... We sat at an outdoor table overlooking the castle and enjoyed croissant sandwiches and coffee(hmmm sludge...) and of course a famous sticky coffee roll, hot from the oven. Good thing that MK does not have any rides like HS!!! We then headed over to BTMR, and Splash, both walk on. Can't remember the order, but did all the other rides that we wanted to, all walk on... Haunted Mansion, Jungle, Small World, POC,Monsters Inc.....

Relaxed with a yummy dole whip float.... funny story here..our DH, being 13, does not want to listen to her parents, who would? My DH tells her "you want a dole whip" She says, no, I want a rootbeer float... She gets a rootbeer float and says..."can I try yours?" Tastes it, and says "Yum, why didn't I get one of those, it is much better than mine".... WHAT???! She claims that we never told her that a dole whip has PINEAPPLE!!! She eats half of ours.....

Anyway, for our afternoon break today, we did not want to go back to BCV, too far. We toyed with a lot of different ideas, and came up with a break at the Poly, lunch, pool etc... So we head over to the monorail and get off at the Poly. We have a great counter service luch there, sitting out on the patio with all the ducks hovering. (Now my daughter knows why there are signs hanging everywhere about NOT feeding the ducks!) We changed into baithing suits and hit the pool for a few hours. We had a great time relaxing and trying out something that we had never done before! After a nice relaxing break we took the boat back to the MK to finish off all the rides that we had FP for.

One of the really fun things that we did, was ride BTMR at night. we had never done that before, and it really adds a different feel to the ride. Loads of fun! The park was closing at 7pm, due to the Christmas party, so we headed out to the gates, and caught the Casle Lighting Ceremony on our way out. That was so pretty, but again... did not like the crowds.... we are so spoiled! We took the monorail back to EPCOT, wandered through FW, resisting the temptation to stop for rides, and headed to Cantina St. Angel for dinner. We had read terrible reviews here, but felt like casual Mexican food and of course a Margarita! We actually enjoyed our meal here, was it as good as our local Mexican restaurant? No, but it was exactly what we wanted and our DD loved the Churros. After a relaxing dinner and drinks, we made our way back out the IG, and to our room by 9pm. Unwrapped my DH's hidden Mickey toe and called it a night. What a long day, but I can easily reccomend the Poly break for anyone not wishing to go back to their resort midday.

Up next..... Epcot day.. no need for RD, we have done most everything once already.....

 

[MHTeacher]

. So we head over to the monorail and get off at the Poly. We have a great counter service luch there, sitting out on the patio with all the ducks hovering. (Now my daughter knows why there are signs hanging everywhere about NOT feeding the ducks!) We changed into baithing suits and hit the pool for a few hours. We had a great time relaxing and trying out something that we had never done before! After a nice relaxing break we took the boat back to the MK to finish off all the rides that we had FP for......

We really like Capt. Cooks, over at the Poly for counter service and of course, my kids really love the volcano pool.

. One of the really fun things that we did, was ride BTMR at night. we had never done that before, and it really adds a different feel to the ride. Loads of fun! ....

I like BTMR at night as well. One year, while we were riding at night, "Wishes" was going on. That was really fun to see.

 

[hardlabor]

We really like Capt. Cooks, over at the Poly for counter service and of course, my kids really love the volcano pool.



I like BTMR at night as well. One year, while we were riding at night, "Wishes" was going on. That was really fun to see.

That would be so cool to be on BTMR during Wishes!

 

[hardlabor]

Wednesday 12/9 Epcot!

Today was our sleep in day. Wake up when ready, no RD, get to the park when we feel like it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? We are in Disney for cryin' out loud! We where ready and out the door by 9:15, at the IG by 9:30, and at Soarin' by 9:45.... The standby line at this point was 30 minutes, so we decided to FP instead. Had a quick breakfast at Sunshine Seasons (Is it my imagination, or has that breakfast platter shrunk considerably over the years?? Even I could finish it!:confused)

Got in line for Living w/ the Land, and it did not move.... Why are we waiting for L w/ the Land... Oh the cast member is telling us that the ride is broken down... Let's go, this is not a "morning" ride anyway.... this is filler, RIGHT?? Oh yeah, my DH reminds me of the hidden Mickey on his toe, he is trying to conserve steps so that he can get through the rest of vacation without disaster...OK, we will wait a few more minutes to see if the ride starts up... NOT!!!

We walk onto everything again this morning, TT, Mission Space (tame version... we will try orange later on... right?) We loovvveedd the new updates on Spaceship Earth, could have gone on that many more times with the pictures at the end, especially since both DH and DD are being goofs for the pictures. We make our way over to Innoventions to try Sum of all Thrills. It is decided that I will go it alone, and DH will ride with DD, whatever she designs... I decide a "nice" roller coaster, one loop, not too fast... Not sure what they are doing... We all go up the stairs to wait for our rides.. They tell me that theirs is crazy with lots of loops, the jet fighter... lucky DH! I go first, they lower the cover to the ride and I DO NOT LIKE THIS...... Feels like I am enclosed in a very tight space, and now it is moving.... I feel not so great....... I want OFF!!! Thank God it ends before too long, I get out and tell my DH "You are going to HATE this ride"... Poor DH, what has he got himself into...They had watched mine and claimed that the ride car barely moved... proclaimed it "boring"... now my DH is concerned with what is in store for him...

I go out to the viewing area, feeling very sorry for DH, as their ride car takes off and starts to roll and buck, and sway..... There is a group of older people next to me saying "oh my... that is the craziest one I have seen yet... I wonder who is in there?" I inform them that it is my family, and that I feel very sorry for my DH... I am worried... They get off the ride and proclaim that they LOVED IT!!! Go figure! I guess that I am just a whimp on that ride, but I will tell you that I will NEVER go on it again!!!

After that adventure, we went back to Soarin' to use our FP, again Front Row Center... and Living w/ the Land is up and running again, so we go on that, actually love that ride. My DH asks the cast member how long the ride was down for earlier, and was told, this ride was never down.... Only in Disney! Nothing EVER breaks down in Disney, Right??

Off we went in search of a snack, so we ended up in WS at Germany, what better than bratwurst and beer... that makes me happy On our way out we stopped at the Japan pavillion to let our DD pick a pearl... My DH had read about that here, and thought it would make a great birthday present for DD. She was thrilled! We loved the "show" that goes with picking and opening the oyster.... SWEE... TWOOO....vone......Zeee pearl is HIIIDDINGG..... A lovely pinkish pearlllll, may I showw everyone???? She did pick a pretty pearl and had it set in a gold basket pendant. She has worn it almost every day since!

On our way out of the park, we also stopped and got our first ever Grey Goose Slushie, and Grand Marnier Slushie.... YUM!!!

We headed back to BCV for a relaxing dip in the quite pool, lay down for a bit, showered up, and called a taxi for dinner tonight (Yes the hidden Mickey toe strikes again!)

We have 7pm ressies at California Grill tonight for a special birthday dinner for DD. Happy 13th!

We get to the Contemporary about 6:30, and check out the promenade level, go outside on the viewing deck, of course check out the stores, and head upstairs about 6:50. We order drinks at the bar, and sit in the lounge area to wait for our table, which is ready in just a few minutes. "Mr. and Mrs. Bunten, your table is ready, and Happy Birthday Samantha" We just loved the extra attention to details here. We ended up with a corner window table, overlooking the castle, with Mickey confetti covering it for Sam's birthday. Yeah! We ordered the chef's sushi platter which we all devoured, it was soo good. I had the pork tenderloin, and DD and DH both had the filet. All the food was FANTASTIC!!! I especially loved the goat cheese polenta that came with the pork, my DD has asked me several times at home to try and make it for her! We also had a great bottle of red wine with dinner, YUM!! Just about as dinner was ending Wishes started, we stayed right at our table to watch. I had tears in my eyes just thinking about what a perfect evening we where having! Lucky us! By the time we all finished dessert, (One chocolate cake, two bananna desserts) we where ready to call it a night. Our original plan was to take the monorail back to EPCOT and walk through using up 2 sets of FP, but we where too full, and too relaxed, so we called a taxi to take us home... Money well spent! I think that we where asleep before our heads even hit the pillows this night!

Up next.... Animal Kingdom...wind...rain.... and an evening that tops them all!

 

[hardlabor]

Thursday 12/10 Animal Kingdom

Only "yesterday" we felt that we had a whole week ahead of us, how could this possibly be our last full day at Disney??? With the threat of rain for the day, we packed our ponchos and head out to the bus stop by 8:15. Animal Kingdom is a GREEN day. We get to the bus stop, and EVERYONE else is waiting for AK. Shouldn't they all be going to a DIFFERENT park??? The bus shows up fairly quickly, we all board and it is standing room only... This is not looking good... We start to hear snickering and comments of H1N1... Quickly we figure out why. The little ole lady who is driving the bus should have stayed home today... She was coughing and hacking the whole trip to AK... Quick! Get out the hand sanetizer and bathe in it! We got to the park and it seemed packed. Got through the turnstyles and ready to make our quick approach to Everest and our DD decides that she wants to stop at the Cast Member "decoys" at the front of the park with small creatures to look at, to slow the crowds down. WHAT??? That is NOT part of the plan! We decide to slow down and smell the roses, so she spends 10 minutes or so looking at all the creatures that the cast members have to offer.

We then follow the crowds to EE, but no problem, the standby time is still only 10 minutes or so. Have our first ride of the day, gather FP for later, and off to the Safari. Only about a 10 minute wait there... OK this is not so bad. We had a great safari and saw many animals close up, including the baby giraffe, and the baby elephant. The white rhino walked right down the path next to us, creating a great photo op. that I can not share with you because I am not that computer savvy, but it was great! It had started to drizzle by this time, but we decided to stick with the plan and do the Maharajah Jungle Trek, and the Pangani Trail while we where in the area. The animals where active, and the crowds where minimal. We especially loved the Nakid Mole Rats!

We decided at that point to get under cover and and have some breakfast, so headed back to the Tusker house area and got a table under the outdoor canopy. Coffee and breakfast sandwiches where the plan from Dawa Bar. Just as we got our food the RAINS CAME DOWN.... The winds picked up.... and the crowds poured into the canopy area. Thank goodness we had gotten our table 5 minutes earlier!

We ate our breakfast during the pouring rains and heavy winds. Time to just sit and people watch, the rains can not last forever, right? Disney sold many,many rain ponchos during the next hour. We sat and watched everyone scramble. I learned a lot about rain ponchos that day. I had bought some at home, $1.00 each, not thinking too much about quality. We watched many people walking in the rains in different types of ponchos. Some just snapped down the sides, some barely covered adults... I started to worry about what ours would be like. We wavered between calling it a day and heading home. We had done the "big" rides already... or should we tough it out? We took out our ponchos, and EUREKA!!! Full raincoats, long sleeves, hoods that tied. Lets keep going!

We made our way to the Tree of Life and into TTBaB. By the time we came out the rains had died down, and we thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the day. We had a great lunch at Pizzafari, which we had never done before. Did anyone else see the tour group from Brazil that day? They all wore bright yellow outfits, head to toe... They had lunch at Pizzafari too, so we ate in a sea of yellow bees! We finished up the day at Kali River. All three of us rode, two of us stayed dry. DH escaped after the first ride, but since there where no lines DD and I stayed on for another round. We both got SOAKED the second time! I escaped after ride two, and DD stayed on a third time! Stayed dry the third time, but finally got off the ride. After hanging at the bridge, and soaking others for a while we headed back to EE to use up our FP and call it a day. There was no standby line, so we road SB, got off and rode again FP....

Returned to BCV and by then it had started to drizzle again. We had all planned on relaxing in the room for a while, but DD and I decided to walk into EPCOT to shop at Mousegear while DH relaxed. I am glad that we did! We had some great one-on-one time, got some great Photopass pictures, and had a great time! Back to the room, relaxed a bit, and showered for our last dinner and evening.

We had 8pm ressies at Rose and Crown, with the hopes of a patio seat for Illuminations.... It could not have worked out more perfect! We where seated by 8:15, right out on the patio overlooking the lagoon! We had a great waitress and a great dinner. Just as Sticky Toffee Pudding and Cappacino was being served, Illuminations started. We where so close, we could feel the heat from the fires, and feel the vibrations from the fireworks... What could be more magical? This night even topped California Grill and Wishes! What a perfect finish to a perfect week! We strolled back to our room and crashed for the night with smiles on our faces!!

Up next... which park should we finish in, and Seas Aqua tour!

 

[hardlabor]

What a great report, you captured the greatest memories .And now, i can re live them. Thank you! you are the best, love from hubbie

 

[hardlabor]

Friday 12/11-Our Last Day...

We woke up pretty early this morning, can't waste a moment, it is our last day in Disney... Reviewed my TGM notes, all parks are green this morning EXCEPT EPCOT... it is yellow. OK family, what park do we want to spend our last morning in HS???MK???... NO, they want to go to EPCOT.. OK, let's see just how good this TGM guy really is... We walk over to the IG, looking good, no crowds... walk through WS... looking good, no crowds... take lots of funny pictures of us, the only people in WS... We cross over to FW, and WOW!!! Where did all these people come from! Holy Cow! This is what a three blue people, yellow day is like??? Gimmee green!! We walked over to Soarin' with about a million of our closest friends.... Standy time-40 minutes.... forget it, lets get FP....wait...those have a return time of 2pm, we will already be in our tour by then... OK, lets get breakfast at Sunshine Seasons. WOW! there are no tables, send DD to look for a table while we get our food. We sat and ate breakfst looking at the constant stream of people walking to Soarin' and getting in the standby line which now reads 60 minutes... Do these people NOT read TGM??? We decided at that point that this was "soak it in" morning and not a big ride morning, sooo what better ride than Living w/ the Land! Even that had a 15 minute wait!

After riding, we wandered about, rode some other filler rides and spaceship earth. By then, it was time to wade through the crowds to the front gate and check in for our Seas Aqua tour at Guest Relations. Could they make it any harder to find Guest Relations, when you are already inside the park?? We finally found our way over, with just a few minutes to spare, and the line was really long with lots of people with LOTS of questions... Yikes!!! We wait in line (rather impatiently I might add), get to the window to inform them that we are here for the tour, and are simply told to "wait with the others by the bench"... WHAT?? Why did I have to wait in this line to to be told that!!! How about a sign, by the bench, instead of waiting in that long line??? Oh well... Shortly thereafter, our guides came out to greet us, and we where off through a little side door, and at the back of the Living Seas pavillion. Hmmmm, now I know why they say NO PICTURES! Not so pretty back here! We had a really great backstage tour of the aquarium, the feeding prep area, etc.... After that , we where led to a room that we where briefed on what our dive would be like, what rules are, etc... We head to the locker rooms to change into our wetsuits, and parade through the pavillion to the top of the tank... (OK, glad there are no pictures of this... just picture.... ME... 44 years old.... just ate lots of great meals... just drank lots of great drinks... all week long at Disney.... NOW YOU PUT ME IN A WETSUIT AND PARADE ME THROUGH CROWDS???? Is this a joke?? Good thing that I did not know anyone! We got our dive gear on, and where the first to enter the tank, and all I can say is WOW! We had an amazing time, had lots of sea creatures approach us, especially the rays. Our DD had a shark come up under that scared her a little, but she still has all her digits! The coolest, was when the large turtle surfaced right near me and just looked at me. My DH spent a lot of time over near the dolphin tank watching them. We all had fun waving to all the people that where watching from the pavillion and the Coral Reef.

After we got out of the tank (about 35 minutes) we got to see some of the Dolphins in depth tour, and the manatee tank out back. We showered and changed, they provided shampoo etc., and met up in the main room again. There we had special backpack bags and pictures of us in the tank waiting for us. There where snacks and cocoa and tea available as well. Overall this tour was well worth the price (about $100/each after AAA discount) and a great way to finish our trip! The overall tour was about 2 1/2 hours, with about 1/2 hour actually swimming.

We made our way back to BCV, finished up with ice creams from Beaches and Cream, and waited for our ME bus to come pick us up.... We felt that we had accomplished so much on this trip, and really had a great week as a family. As we where waiting for the ME bus, we watched several families that where just arriving at BCV for their stays, and pondered what they all had in store for them... I could only hope that their vacations would be as magical as ours!!!

Coming up.... final thoughts and summaries....

 

[hardlabor]

Now that my trip report is done, I thought I would mention a few things that we missed, or might have done differently. We had planned on doing Mission Space Orange, but somehow never seemed to do it...(maybe a good thing!)... We wanted to rent searaycers and never had the time...(something to look forward to next time).... MORE GREY GOOSE SLUSHIES!!!!

Here are a few things that where just right... Staying at BCV again....(loved it so much the first time)..... California Grill and Wishes.... Rose and Crown and Illumination.... spending time with our DD (13) who enjoyed being with us!

But most of all , I enjoyed touring Disney loaded up with all the advice that we have received from these boards.... THANK YOU!!!

 

[OhMari]

We will be staying at the BC in a few weeks.
I love the walk into Epcot.
Thanks for your report, and letting me know you are finished.

 

[SimmerBaggins]

Wow, you know, there's something to be said for a trip report the way you did it -- it was an enjoyable read. Our TR was so long and so full of pictures that I'm sure it probably got tedious in some respects, but I like how you told us what your decisions were and how you made them.

Also, I like the sound of your dining experiences -- the only one of those I've tried is the 50's Prime Time! Thanks for sharing.

 

[hardlabor]

OhMari, there is definately something special to be said about walking from BCV to the International Gateway. Especially the first time each visit!

SimmerBaggins, Thank you for your kind compliment! I feared that no one would read due to the lack of pictures, but I really wanted to do a report to put it into words for me to read over and over again!!