PopArtGal
Mushu's Best Gal Pal
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2006
- Messages
- 6,396
Florida July 2 July 16 2006
My parents and I (Im 23 but wanted to do this trip with my parents for my university graduation and we also wanted to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary) left Montreals Trudeau airport at 7am on July 2, 2006. We were happy to see that the plane was on time. The plane ride was quiet (except for the cutie who kept hitting my seat with his feet and the mom who apparently didnt see it .. anyway hahaha) since it seemed a lot of people had been at the airport since 4am, like us. We were all psyched since I the last time I had been to Disney was 2 years ago with my mom (work kept my dad away) and my dad hadnt been in 15 years. I was so glad my dad was with us since we almost lost him in December (but that is another story).
We got to Orlandos International airport at 10:15 am, and managed to find Disneys Magical Express greeting desks. We were escorted to our bus and soon left. It was great to have the little songs in the bus and the welcome video (Im very sentimental so that video alone brought tears to my eyes). At 11am we arrived at the All-Stars music resort.
Here are the check-in counters!
It was just as I remembered it. Though there was a small problem. We were in the Jazz In as we had requested, but were on the second floor. We asked for a room on the first floor. But after a few minutes the lady managed to find a room that was in the same building but on the first floor! THANK YOU who ever you are. The only thing is that she had forgotten to ask us if we had vouchers for park passes. This would have helped us! But lets move on We went to our room, and then went to buy mugs (though if we had known that they had the same mugs that we bought 2 years ago, we might have saved 22$. We bought an excellent cheese pizza (that was a special request of mine. I remembered loving that cheese pizza the last time around). We ate and went back to our room. My dad decided to take a nap, and my mom and I went to Maestro Mickeys and shopped a bit. To our surprise, our luggage had made it to our room while we were there, making it only a wait of 2 hours.
Here's our building: The Jazz Inn
Here's the fountain where we'd go rest. How beautiful, right?
Here's my favorite pool. I thought it was quieter than the guitar pool since less people would hang out here.
Here's the cafeteria
And here's the guitar pool with the 3 cabelleros!
After a few naps and emptying our suitcases, I managed to drag my parents to Magic Kingdom. On our previous trip, during our check-in, they had put our park passes on the hotel card, which wasnt done this time. We didnt know that we had to bring our vouchers to a park and redeem them. So a GREAT castmate and the guest relations who believed us gave us courtesy tickets that allowed us to get in! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! (Im so mad I did not write down their names!!)
As soon as we passed City Hall, we saw a face that was so familiar: Donald Duck!!!! He was greeting guests and posing for pictures. DD is my dads favorite character of all time. He even believes that Donald has the right to be mad at Mickey because hes never the center of attention lol Believe me, its a debate that has been going on for a while between the two of us. I asked my reserved dad if he wanted a picture and he did. We waited in line for a few minutes and I took the priceless picture. AWE that look on his face is priceless. (Sorry I cant post pictures of my parents on the board as it is their desire for me not to. But believe me, its an amazing picture). Then we headed for Main Street.
You all know this, but this first walk down Main Street was indescribable! The feeling that overcomes you is .. Theres no word for it! My mom wanted to go into the stores right away, but I managed to keep her away, promising a lot more shopping later on (Which I indulged in). We heard music from Cinderallabration, and even though my dad wanted to see it, we decided to pass. (We should have stayed since my dad did not manage to see it). I had made a request when we left home; I wanted Mickeys Philharmagic to be our first stop! And it was. There was only a wait of 5 minutes. My dad had no idea what the fuss was about. But I was sooo excited. My dad is 54 and has NEVER seen a 3D movie. But as you know, this is not just ANY movie, right? My dad was pleased that Donald was the star, and overwhelmed. He even asked that on our next Magic Kingdom visit, if we had time, that we should go see it again. He could not believe what he was seeing. It was all magical.
We then made our way to the classic Its A Small World. It was time for my moms request. She had been very disappointed that we could not see that attraction during our 2004 trip. It was being refurbished. The dolls were prettier than ever, and it was relaxing, as always.
The Haunted Mansion was next. Even though I really dont find it frightening, I always love to ride it. I think it is beautifully done, and very entertaining. My mom passed on this one, and I went with my dad. Thanks to all of you, I paid attention to the décor found in the wait queue. Especially Mme Leota. Wow! I love those green eyes!!! My dad also thought it was very fun. The only thing that seemed to have changed was the beginning. You know when we are in the elevator before entering the embarking zone of the doombugees? Well I remember walking in the dark. This time we didnt. So I looked like a wuss holding on to my dads arm lol
We were now getting tired, but decided to take in a show at the Enchanted Tiki Room. As usual, no one understood the cue to get up (Get on your feet). Though I knew hehehe And that had me looked at bizarrely lol
We concluded that day with the beginning of a long line of shopping trips. We then made our way to the hotel with my dad saying how he enjoyed that hotel hehehe
On July 3, we decided to go to a park we had NEVER been to: EPCOT. For some reason, we were never attracted to that park. We were pleasantly surprised. We started out by checking out the Living Seas. It was so crowded that we were disappointed by it. Nonetheless, we decided not to let it slow us down. My mom went shopping and my dad and I checked out Innoventions. Unfortunately, it seems the second floor was closed. So we explored the first floor then were out again. We checked out the line for Soarin but decided not to wait since the lines were over 2 hours long. We then discovered The circle of life movie. What a beautiful movie! I really hope that one day they release it on DVD or VHS so I can show it to my students! By then it was 11am and we could make our way to World Showcase. But as we walked there, we made a pit stop at Club Cool. Mmmmmmmmmmm I had a nice coke slush. That was yummy. Never had one before. We tried out the different colas (my mom was amazed that something was free at Disney), and then rested on a bench.
World Showcase was now a few feet away. We started out by Canada and the O Canada movie. Ok, before I go on, let me say that Im a Canadian. So as soon as we saw the movie we started laughing. That is soooooooo insulting. That movie was shot 25 years ago! We dont dress like that, we dont live like that, we dont have these cars!! We look like woodsman! But we did enjoy the fact that it was a 360 degrees movie, after we got over the shock! LOL. We then went on to more shopping! Yes, this is the place where I spent most of my mommy, and ate the most. We didn't really eat lunch that day. We survived on the gelatos and pastries we could get from different pavilions. The pavilions we enjoyed the most are without a doubt the Europeans. The pastries in France are to die for! We went to eat there twice (My parents had a crème brulée and chocolate mousse, while I had cheesecake). Oh the memories! I'd go back there only to eat lol
After an exhausting trip around the world, we went back to the hotel. And believe me, by that time we were REALLY tired. And our feet did hurt a hell of a lot!
On July 4, we decided not to go to parks. First of all, we were tired from spending the previous day at Epcot, while at the same time we didn't feel like being in huge crowds. We decided to do a little bit more shopping at Downtown Disney. While my mom browsed stores, my dad and I went to play at Disneyquest. I did try a few virtual reality games, but ended up being dizzy and nausiated. So we decided to play with the classic old school games that we always loved. And that was great to spend some quality time with my time since we are always so busy with work! After about 2 hours, we met up with my mom at Ghirardelli's!! This is THE stop for us at Downtown Disney. Their chocolate milkshakes are like HEAVEN to us. I'm sure we are not the only Ghirardelli's lovers here. Well I hope so! lol We ended the night with a relaxing dinner in our hotel room, and the little fireworks at the hotel.
On July 5, we went to MGM-Disney Studios. It was a very sunny and hot day as usual. By then, we had decided to carry our ponchos with us wherever we went...in case...We decided not too be fooled by the wonderful sun that was shining down on us.We first started by taking in a showing of "Muppets 3D". Ok, well it's cute. But as I keep telling myself, you can see how old it is compared to "Philharmagic". We then did a bit of shopping and ended up waiting about 30 min. to see "Beauty and The Beast" which I always love! It's great when you want to rest a bit... and entertaining. Especially the little performance by Return to Zero.
The Beauty and The Beast Broadway style musical!
After watching this beautiful performance (which allowed us to rest and drink ..which we really needed), we headed To "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream". What a beautiful exhibition! I was worth taking it in. Let's just say that I've always been obsessed with Walt Disney (the man, his background, his accomplishments...as well as the Walt Disney Company..etc...), so it was great to see some memorabilia. We then did the "backlot tour" since the line was very short. Well so short that we walked in right away! My mom and I didn't really want to go see "Lights, Motors, Action!", but since the backlot tour shows a bit of it, my dad got as excited as a 5 year old and we knew that we'd have to go see it. After this tour, my mom was given some alone time, while my dad and I headed to "Lights....". We were REALLY disappointed! A few of the stunts had to be started over because of mechanical problems, and tricks had to be taken out because it would not have been safe for the stuntmen to do it. In the end, we barely saw anything. And to think we stood in this heat that made us feel like living hot dogs! We decided to leave a little bit before the end. I had taken a fast pass for "Tower of Terror" earlier in the day, so we were off to that attraction. As usual, I screamed like a mad girl. I could not believe the face I had on the picture. I looked horrified... though I was really having fun! I didn't buy the picture because I was sure I'd go again on another visit, but ended not going back. Oh well... there's always next time. We ended that day with shopping....
July 6 was a very quiet day. We decided to stay at our hotel and rest. We had been going at it since we had gotten here that we definitely needed some rest. We used that day to take naps, swim, visit the hotel boutique, read, and do whatever we felt like. Also, my dad had started to feel ill. He had a cold. So we needed to take care of our man!
July 7 marked my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary! Woohoo! I am so proud of them! I never give them gifts, but I always try to do something nice for them. So a few days earlier I had mentioned the anniversary to the front desk. This nice man took all the details..even asking me which characters I preferred. I asked for Mickey and Minnie. He did bring to my attention that the mouse couple was never married... if it was still alright...But of course it was! So on that day, when we came back from lunch... a cute card and 2 balloons were waiting for my parents on the bed. My mom at first thought it was for me... that I had somewhat mentioned my graduation. But I had not. (It seems I never think of myself hehe I need to change that). My parents were ecstatic. They could not believe it hehe (The card is proudly displayed in our living room). I thought my parents needed some time alone. So I went to Downtown Disney to see "The Da Vinci Code". I was a bit disappointed by the movie since I had read the book. But it was nice to spend some time in the A/C to see this movie that no one else wanted to come see with me back home hehehe
The card signed by Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse was waiting for my parents as we came back to the hotel!
(Seems there's too many images in that post... I'll try to seperate them. Look below for the rest of my trip)
My parents and I (Im 23 but wanted to do this trip with my parents for my university graduation and we also wanted to celebrate their 33rd wedding anniversary) left Montreals Trudeau airport at 7am on July 2, 2006. We were happy to see that the plane was on time. The plane ride was quiet (except for the cutie who kept hitting my seat with his feet and the mom who apparently didnt see it .. anyway hahaha) since it seemed a lot of people had been at the airport since 4am, like us. We were all psyched since I the last time I had been to Disney was 2 years ago with my mom (work kept my dad away) and my dad hadnt been in 15 years. I was so glad my dad was with us since we almost lost him in December (but that is another story).
We got to Orlandos International airport at 10:15 am, and managed to find Disneys Magical Express greeting desks. We were escorted to our bus and soon left. It was great to have the little songs in the bus and the welcome video (Im very sentimental so that video alone brought tears to my eyes). At 11am we arrived at the All-Stars music resort.
Here are the check-in counters!
It was just as I remembered it. Though there was a small problem. We were in the Jazz In as we had requested, but were on the second floor. We asked for a room on the first floor. But after a few minutes the lady managed to find a room that was in the same building but on the first floor! THANK YOU who ever you are. The only thing is that she had forgotten to ask us if we had vouchers for park passes. This would have helped us! But lets move on We went to our room, and then went to buy mugs (though if we had known that they had the same mugs that we bought 2 years ago, we might have saved 22$. We bought an excellent cheese pizza (that was a special request of mine. I remembered loving that cheese pizza the last time around). We ate and went back to our room. My dad decided to take a nap, and my mom and I went to Maestro Mickeys and shopped a bit. To our surprise, our luggage had made it to our room while we were there, making it only a wait of 2 hours.
Here's our building: The Jazz Inn
Here's the fountain where we'd go rest. How beautiful, right?
Here's my favorite pool. I thought it was quieter than the guitar pool since less people would hang out here.
Here's the cafeteria
And here's the guitar pool with the 3 cabelleros!
After a few naps and emptying our suitcases, I managed to drag my parents to Magic Kingdom. On our previous trip, during our check-in, they had put our park passes on the hotel card, which wasnt done this time. We didnt know that we had to bring our vouchers to a park and redeem them. So a GREAT castmate and the guest relations who believed us gave us courtesy tickets that allowed us to get in! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! (Im so mad I did not write down their names!!)
As soon as we passed City Hall, we saw a face that was so familiar: Donald Duck!!!! He was greeting guests and posing for pictures. DD is my dads favorite character of all time. He even believes that Donald has the right to be mad at Mickey because hes never the center of attention lol Believe me, its a debate that has been going on for a while between the two of us. I asked my reserved dad if he wanted a picture and he did. We waited in line for a few minutes and I took the priceless picture. AWE that look on his face is priceless. (Sorry I cant post pictures of my parents on the board as it is their desire for me not to. But believe me, its an amazing picture). Then we headed for Main Street.
You all know this, but this first walk down Main Street was indescribable! The feeling that overcomes you is .. Theres no word for it! My mom wanted to go into the stores right away, but I managed to keep her away, promising a lot more shopping later on (Which I indulged in). We heard music from Cinderallabration, and even though my dad wanted to see it, we decided to pass. (We should have stayed since my dad did not manage to see it). I had made a request when we left home; I wanted Mickeys Philharmagic to be our first stop! And it was. There was only a wait of 5 minutes. My dad had no idea what the fuss was about. But I was sooo excited. My dad is 54 and has NEVER seen a 3D movie. But as you know, this is not just ANY movie, right? My dad was pleased that Donald was the star, and overwhelmed. He even asked that on our next Magic Kingdom visit, if we had time, that we should go see it again. He could not believe what he was seeing. It was all magical.
We then made our way to the classic Its A Small World. It was time for my moms request. She had been very disappointed that we could not see that attraction during our 2004 trip. It was being refurbished. The dolls were prettier than ever, and it was relaxing, as always.
The Haunted Mansion was next. Even though I really dont find it frightening, I always love to ride it. I think it is beautifully done, and very entertaining. My mom passed on this one, and I went with my dad. Thanks to all of you, I paid attention to the décor found in the wait queue. Especially Mme Leota. Wow! I love those green eyes!!! My dad also thought it was very fun. The only thing that seemed to have changed was the beginning. You know when we are in the elevator before entering the embarking zone of the doombugees? Well I remember walking in the dark. This time we didnt. So I looked like a wuss holding on to my dads arm lol
We were now getting tired, but decided to take in a show at the Enchanted Tiki Room. As usual, no one understood the cue to get up (Get on your feet). Though I knew hehehe And that had me looked at bizarrely lol
We concluded that day with the beginning of a long line of shopping trips. We then made our way to the hotel with my dad saying how he enjoyed that hotel hehehe
On July 3, we decided to go to a park we had NEVER been to: EPCOT. For some reason, we were never attracted to that park. We were pleasantly surprised. We started out by checking out the Living Seas. It was so crowded that we were disappointed by it. Nonetheless, we decided not to let it slow us down. My mom went shopping and my dad and I checked out Innoventions. Unfortunately, it seems the second floor was closed. So we explored the first floor then were out again. We checked out the line for Soarin but decided not to wait since the lines were over 2 hours long. We then discovered The circle of life movie. What a beautiful movie! I really hope that one day they release it on DVD or VHS so I can show it to my students! By then it was 11am and we could make our way to World Showcase. But as we walked there, we made a pit stop at Club Cool. Mmmmmmmmmmm I had a nice coke slush. That was yummy. Never had one before. We tried out the different colas (my mom was amazed that something was free at Disney), and then rested on a bench.
World Showcase was now a few feet away. We started out by Canada and the O Canada movie. Ok, before I go on, let me say that Im a Canadian. So as soon as we saw the movie we started laughing. That is soooooooo insulting. That movie was shot 25 years ago! We dont dress like that, we dont live like that, we dont have these cars!! We look like woodsman! But we did enjoy the fact that it was a 360 degrees movie, after we got over the shock! LOL. We then went on to more shopping! Yes, this is the place where I spent most of my mommy, and ate the most. We didn't really eat lunch that day. We survived on the gelatos and pastries we could get from different pavilions. The pavilions we enjoyed the most are without a doubt the Europeans. The pastries in France are to die for! We went to eat there twice (My parents had a crème brulée and chocolate mousse, while I had cheesecake). Oh the memories! I'd go back there only to eat lol
After an exhausting trip around the world, we went back to the hotel. And believe me, by that time we were REALLY tired. And our feet did hurt a hell of a lot!
On July 4, we decided not to go to parks. First of all, we were tired from spending the previous day at Epcot, while at the same time we didn't feel like being in huge crowds. We decided to do a little bit more shopping at Downtown Disney. While my mom browsed stores, my dad and I went to play at Disneyquest. I did try a few virtual reality games, but ended up being dizzy and nausiated. So we decided to play with the classic old school games that we always loved. And that was great to spend some quality time with my time since we are always so busy with work! After about 2 hours, we met up with my mom at Ghirardelli's!! This is THE stop for us at Downtown Disney. Their chocolate milkshakes are like HEAVEN to us. I'm sure we are not the only Ghirardelli's lovers here. Well I hope so! lol We ended the night with a relaxing dinner in our hotel room, and the little fireworks at the hotel.
On July 5, we went to MGM-Disney Studios. It was a very sunny and hot day as usual. By then, we had decided to carry our ponchos with us wherever we went...in case...We decided not too be fooled by the wonderful sun that was shining down on us.We first started by taking in a showing of "Muppets 3D". Ok, well it's cute. But as I keep telling myself, you can see how old it is compared to "Philharmagic". We then did a bit of shopping and ended up waiting about 30 min. to see "Beauty and The Beast" which I always love! It's great when you want to rest a bit... and entertaining. Especially the little performance by Return to Zero.
The Beauty and The Beast Broadway style musical!
After watching this beautiful performance (which allowed us to rest and drink ..which we really needed), we headed To "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream". What a beautiful exhibition! I was worth taking it in. Let's just say that I've always been obsessed with Walt Disney (the man, his background, his accomplishments...as well as the Walt Disney Company..etc...), so it was great to see some memorabilia. We then did the "backlot tour" since the line was very short. Well so short that we walked in right away! My mom and I didn't really want to go see "Lights, Motors, Action!", but since the backlot tour shows a bit of it, my dad got as excited as a 5 year old and we knew that we'd have to go see it. After this tour, my mom was given some alone time, while my dad and I headed to "Lights....". We were REALLY disappointed! A few of the stunts had to be started over because of mechanical problems, and tricks had to be taken out because it would not have been safe for the stuntmen to do it. In the end, we barely saw anything. And to think we stood in this heat that made us feel like living hot dogs! We decided to leave a little bit before the end. I had taken a fast pass for "Tower of Terror" earlier in the day, so we were off to that attraction. As usual, I screamed like a mad girl. I could not believe the face I had on the picture. I looked horrified... though I was really having fun! I didn't buy the picture because I was sure I'd go again on another visit, but ended not going back. Oh well... there's always next time. We ended that day with shopping....
July 6 was a very quiet day. We decided to stay at our hotel and rest. We had been going at it since we had gotten here that we definitely needed some rest. We used that day to take naps, swim, visit the hotel boutique, read, and do whatever we felt like. Also, my dad had started to feel ill. He had a cold. So we needed to take care of our man!
July 7 marked my parents' 33rd wedding anniversary! Woohoo! I am so proud of them! I never give them gifts, but I always try to do something nice for them. So a few days earlier I had mentioned the anniversary to the front desk. This nice man took all the details..even asking me which characters I preferred. I asked for Mickey and Minnie. He did bring to my attention that the mouse couple was never married... if it was still alright...But of course it was! So on that day, when we came back from lunch... a cute card and 2 balloons were waiting for my parents on the bed. My mom at first thought it was for me... that I had somewhat mentioned my graduation. But I had not. (It seems I never think of myself hehe I need to change that). My parents were ecstatic. They could not believe it hehe (The card is proudly displayed in our living room). I thought my parents needed some time alone. So I went to Downtown Disney to see "The Da Vinci Code". I was a bit disappointed by the movie since I had read the book. But it was nice to spend some time in the A/C to see this movie that no one else wanted to come see with me back home hehehe
The card signed by Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse was waiting for my parents as we came back to the hotel!
(Seems there's too many images in that post... I'll try to seperate them. Look below for the rest of my trip)
But I decided not to move..and at one point he stopped. Normally I would have let him do it since I'm shy. Two years ago, I bent down because this lady cursed at me for standing up in front of her kid in a stroller for Wishes... Even though I was there an hour before she arrived... So I watched the entire show bending down. Aren't I nice?...Geez.. I am mad at myself now for obeying to that grrr.. But you know..me and kids! (Love 'em to death which is why I'm a teacher). After that, we left World Showcase and the kid in me wanted to know who was at the Character Connection for the extra magic hours. Well it was Mickey(such a gentlemouse...he kissed my hand), Minnie, Goofy(such a flirty duck! He also kissed my hand and would not let go of me hehehe), Donald, and Chip and Dale. I was happy. My dad decided that he also wanted to be part of pictures so we took one picture of the 2 of us with Mickey, of me and Minnie (ok I was not the one who came up with that pose, Minnie did. And I love her for that since everyone loves that pictures and I'm normally someone who hates herself in pictures). 
) Our first stop was the safari ride. 2 years ago we had been in the afternoon and I have to say that we saw almost no animals. So this time I knew that we had to go in the morning. And it was worth it. My dad was so happy and in love with the pictures I took. He especially loved the giraffes!
And we are looking into staying at the POR 
