Chkysbaks TR for 2008 Family Vacation

[Chkysbak]

Ok here is my best try at my first trip report. Hold on tight... Away I go..

Link to my PTR for background information (If you dare...LOL) Clicky Clicky

Friday Morning (Aug 8th)

We wake up at the hotel at start to realize that in a few hours we will be in WDW. Needless to say that we are all excited, but a little tired since it is 0400. Well we finally get up take showers, and eat breakfast (Pop Tarts)

Well the night before I asked the person at the front desk if I could park my van in the parking lot instead of at the airport. Well to my surprise she said sure. Only thing was that there was a shuttle so I had to call a taxi that evening to set up for the morning pickup. They said that they had a deal with the taxi company and it would only cost $5. So needless to say that I just saved money on my budget since I planned on parking at the airport.

Ok anyways moving on...

We get to the airport and use the skycap to check my 5 bags. Worth it since the line inside was exceptionally long. Apparently people that needed to print out their boarding passes (Southwest). We go through security and head off to the gate. About this time my wife is starting to look a little worried and nervous since it was her first flight. Well anybody that knows me knows that I like to make people laugh so I get her mind off the subject easily enough by making jokes. So we get to the gate at SW and I notice that they have the newer seats that you can plug in your laptop and ipod. So I plug in my laptop and we watch Peter Pan to help pass the time.

Here is a picture of us waiting at the airport.

Well time went by fast and since I have OCD we had the one of the first boarding passes for group A. Well time had come and we loaded the plane. To my surprise we loaded fairly early and took off about 10 minutes early as well.

Picture of DW and kids on the plane.

To my surprise my wife took the flight really well. In no time we were on the ground and off trying to locate ME. It really didn't take long to start feeling the magic, especially with ME. We walked right up and I took out the packet and we were directed to follow Mickey... What Mickey at the airport... WOW.. So Mickey showed us apparently our very own bus. I was thinking to myself.. great now we have to wait for the bus to fill up, but NO the driver hoped right on and off we went.

Picture of Family on ME

Soon after we get on the bus I notice the very first sign that we are headed to WDW

Well the driver was really nice and answered all the technical questions that I had about the bus (Once again the OCD). Well about 30 minutes later... A wonderful sight appeared

Well the bus finally gets to our resort (ALL Star Sports) and I check in, get all the KTW cards. We give the concierge desk our carry-on baggage minus the Fanny Pack . We hope on the very first bus headed for MK and my family and I can't wait until we get officially started. Well I have to admit, when we pull up I have this dear in the headlight look about me and I notice the exact same thing on my family. We are all like WOW... its so beautiful. Of course I have NO clue on where to go and what to do at the ticket place, but soon figure it out and we are IN.

Well after looking around for awhile we begin the march down main street, and guess what I see

I almost cried...

Keep in mind that I do have photopass pictures so when I get them I will post some of these as well, but for now, guess who is taking the pictures

Anyways my family and I were starving so since I had planned CS anyways we head off to Tomorrow Land. Well we stop at Cosmic Rays, which later on I will discover has the only place I could find sauteed onions and mushrooms in the toppings bar.

Picture of the food

As you could tell we all order the double bacon cheeseburger since we were starved.

Well we left Cosmic Rays and I had to take a picture of the landscaping so here ya go..

Well unfortunately for everyone I didn't take many pictures of the rides, but I did take videos of some, well this one at least. I will get those posted as soon as I can upload them to You Tube.

Well after hours of riding rides we decide to go back to the resort. I call the resort to make sure that our room is ready and they say yes and we head back. Well to my surprise everything was perfect. I got exactly what I requested and we began to unpack. Thank got for the over door shoe organizer. THANKS DISBOARDS

Well I decorated my window.. Whatcha think

Well we get everything organized... Once again OCD.. and head back to WDW MK. We couldn't miss out on anything. Of course we had to take it all in.

Well we decide once we get back to MK that we are going to walk around. Guess what we are hungry again... So we stop at the Harbor House, I think that is what it was called. I was in Liberty Square at the Haunted Mansion. This meal was ok, but if wouldn't plan on eating there again if I had a choice.

Well by this time we are getting tired, but we stay as long as we can. We are able to stay for the parade, but find that my son has fallen asleep on the curb so we leave about half way through the parade to get back to the resort. Don't worry we see it again

Finally the end of Day one...

What will we do next?

Will my son wake up @ 0200 and want to play?

Will my wife not kill me... Find out soon ....

 

[Tosha]

Hey you!!!!!!! I found you, I found youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu ( In my best singing voice...thank goodness it's over a computer! LOL)

Looking good! I can't wait to see more! I finished my first day TR as well

You have such a cute family We hit Tomorrowland first too! Are we secret relatives? We had so much in common.

How did your swap go? I won't BEGIN to speak of the one I was so called apart of

And I am dying to find out why your wife would want to kill you

I can't wait to see more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tosha]

Oh and btw I LOVE your window! So cute!

We had no time to do that if we wanted to. It was in the tub and shower, off to the parks, then back in the tub and shower to sleep. Repeat.

Also have you started editing your photopass pics? I need to

 

[Chkysbak]

I can't get on the photopass website at work, so I can't modify them yet.

My fridge swap went off really well. I had no issues with mine. It was a little work getting the information from the previous person, but I guess that was normal since it was over a month it had been waiting for me.

My wife always wants to kill me...

She just puts up with me because her heart won't let her harm me...

YEAH RIGHT

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Nice report. I hope to be starting one eventually. I am still editing all our photo's. Taking the red eye out of almost 500 pictures is quite time consuming.

I like the picture of you on Astro Orbiter. This was my least favorite ride and this is coming from someone who did EE 5x's and RnRC 2x's. I almsot started to cry and threatened to ground DS12 if he moved our space ship any farther. I swear I thought I was going to fly out of that thing.

Glad everything went so smoothly. You got luckey not having to wait on ME. We were the first ones on our bus and had to wait almost a half hour for more people to get on.

Keep the posts going. Hopefully it will motivate me.

 

[Chkysbak]

Well lets begin that my DS was bugging me all the first day about when we were going to see Star Wars. Well I hadn't scheduled HS until Monday (Day 4), but lets just say that we "altered" our plans. Good thing about park hoppers is that you can pretty much do what you feel like that day. Even though we didn't plan it, we went to HS first thing. Actually I think we slept in until about 0730 that day. That is actually sleeping in for me

So we hope on the bus to HS and start heading to Toy Story Mania. Keep in mind that its only 0915. Park opened @ 0900, and the fast passes was already at 1530 (3:30 pm). Well needless to say that we didn't want to do that, and decided that we would get the fast passes for that ride on Monday when EMMH. So we head from there to Star Tours. My sons jaw dropped when he seen this site:

Well we went through the ride with NO wait.

Of course after the ride my son had to build his lightsaber. For some reason he is attracted to the dark side and wanted the dual light saber.

Well after the light saber was shipped to the resort.. BTW LOVE that option. We decided that we wanted to go see the Muppets 3D show, since the Jedi Academy didn't start until another 45 minutes.

I had to take a picture of the fountain:

Now for the JEDI Academy. Well we was almost the first person in line. Still had about 20 minutes until it started so we decided to wait. We were up front and of course DS was EXCITED. I was thinking to myself, please please please pick him. Well the Jedi Master came out and sure enough picked him. Of course I am sure that the grown man jumping behind him saying pick him pick him didn't have anything to do with it

Here is my little Padawan:

Well soon after the quick lesson in controlling your light saber, guess who showed up.

Well my DS actually got to fight Darth Vadar so it was really cool. Lets just say when we got home it was a real joy to listen to him talk about it to his friends. I need to get those videos from home so I can upload them. Mental note... PROGRAMMED

Ok so anyway, after the Jedi training, we decided to do Lights, Motors, & Action. I have to say that this was one of the best things I seen in a long time. I remembered about halfway through the show that... Shoot I need to take pictures. Of course the sight of this below helped me grab my camera real quick.

I kept the camera out and captured this picture which I am proud of:

Well after this we continued to go around HS and took in some of the sights. We ate at some CS, obviously it wasn't that special since I didn't even think about taking a picture of the food. Well from there we actually went to the Tower of Terror. I know I know.. great idea hugh...lol

Well from there we was getting tired and my family and I decided that we wanted to go to the resort to rest before we headed back out to MK to Crystal Palace for dinner.

Pictures from that dinner that I took are in the next post

I Hope that you enjoy this day as much as we did...

Stay tuned for Day 3 (Epcot Day)

Will we reck on Test Track or crash land our ship on Misson Space... Stay tuned for more

 

[Chkysbak]

 

[Chkysbak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v8kCoIWBpc

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Looks like you had a great day 2. I am glad your son got picked for Jedi training. Keep the posts coming. I will be starting my tr at any moment.

 

[Chkysbak]

Ok Day 3 was Epcot Day. We decided that we wanted to get to Epcot early so we woke up and headed out. We were there actually right when the gates opened but didn't have to wait since they opened about 15 minutes prior to us arriving. So we went directly to Test track and pulled a FP. After that we decided that we wanted to go to MP (Green). Well we rode that then it was time for our FP for TT. It was awesome.

So far we didn't have a chance to stop so we decided to go to the Character Spot. While my family was waiting in line I decided to get FP for Soarin. Keep in mind it was around 10:45 and the FP for Soarin was already at 2:45. So I got em. So I met back up with the family about 10 minutes prior to them getting to meet characters. Once I get my photos from Photopass I will have to post some. It was great, got to meet all the characters especially my favorite... Goofy. Well that was over and we started to walk out the exit, but this person stopped me. Then three other people came up and said... CONGRATULATIONS YOU JUST WON DREAM PASSES. Well needless to say that we were very surprised and extremely happy.

So once we get over the shock we decide that well you know, we wanted to go and get some food. What better place than EPCOT. So we traveled the world. Of course I had to get my passport signed by everywhere.

First stop Canada

Then we walked around and my DD and DS spotted these phone booths and couldn't resist. Don't ask me, but they wanted a picture. Guess they hadn't seen one so it was special to them so here ya go:

Then comes oh France.... Wife couldn't decide on ONE bottle of wine so we tested like 2 glasses

Well by this time we were all getting hungry and we decided to go to germany since Japan didn't have anything that we would like, and America, well we can get burgers anywhere. So I believe the place was Somberfest (CS):

Yes those pretzels are HUGE... Here is Proof..lol

Ok now that we have our bellies full time for more sight seeing.

Picture of China:

While we were in China look who we seen : (Yes we got auto-graphs)

By this time my DS was getting a little bored even though we have tried to make it interesting by using the masks @ the Kipspots. Great thing Norway is just around the bend. What better place to cool down.

So after Norway was Mexico. Like the inside shopping area... Once again Air Conditioning

Well after that we started to use all the Dream Passes. Well actually we used the first one at Norway. The person at the gate said that it was his first FP for the day then when he noticed it was Dream Passes (DP) he cheered us

Of once again to TT. It was great using the DP everyone was like, where did you get those. How much do they cost? I told them that these are what happens when you believe in Magic

Well DS and DW want to ride MS again, but DD and I went Orange this time. I have to admit, I heard a lot of hipe about this but I was kinda let down. It was nice, but I was expecting something more exciting. I guess going green first kinda ruined it. Maybe they should have different shows per side. OH well. Time for Soarin...

Well by this time (3:15) we were able to use our DP for soarin.... Keep in mind that I have the orginal FP in my pocket. Well I wanted to share so this is what happened. We went to Soarin, used our DP and enjoyed it a lot. The ride was really cool, but I didn't want to take away from it to ride it again. So this is when I share the Magic. By this time there are NO more FP for Soarin and I look for a family that is obviously here the first time... Glassed over eyes and looking up Well they look and see no FP and they start to get inline. I ask the young couple if they wouldn't mind coming over before they get inline. Didn't want other people to get angry. They came over and I gave them my original FP. I realize that they have our names on them, but they don't check that. So they went directly to the FP line and off they went. Felt really good to help them and share the Magic.

Oh well enough of that, we went to Imagination... Honey I shrunk the audience. It was interesting, but probably something to pass the next time. Then we went to the Golf Ball...lol Rode the Space ship ride and even though I have rode this when I was a kid, it was really exciting now. I really liked it and so did my family. Especially at the end with the show with our faces. I have to remember to video that next time we go. **Mental Note**

Well it was getting closer to our dinner addy at Coral Reef and we were all getting tired so we headed over. Then I remembered, hey we have to find NEMO. I am glad I didn't forget about this especially since they seem to put that in the back corner, kinda hidden. See I found Nemo..

Well after the claim ride, we went to talk to crush. This was great fun for everyone. My DS sat up front and we were like 5 rows back. It was really fun to actually talk with crush. I enjoyed that very much. Well after that it was time for Coral Reef. We go there and well my wife wanted this place and had fond memories of this place. Don't get me wrong the place is nice, but I guess I was expecting the aquarium to be around you not just in front of you. They had a lot of divers in the water I think I counted 5. So you really seen divers not as many fish. It was relaxing, so I guess that was a plus. The food was good, but the service seemed like we were getting rushed a little.

Well after that we were all tired and decided to head back to the resort for a nap. DW and I decided that we will come back for Imagination Fire Works on a later date. So we get back to the resort and crash...lol

Next thing I know is that we wake up and its almost 7 so we decided to go to the pool and stay around the resort for the remaining of the evening.

Shewww... that was a lot of stuff in one day... I have to admit I didn't think that I would enjoy Epcot that much, but as an Adult, it was pretty cool. I know my kids like MK more for the rides.

Still goin Strong...

 

[Nancy for Disney]

Ok Day 3 was Epcot Day. We decided that we wanted to get to Epcot early so we woke up and headed out. We were there actually right when the gates opened but didn't have to wait since they opened about 15 minutes prior to us arriving. So we went directly to Test track and pulled a FP. After that we decided that we wanted to go to MP (Green). Well we rode that then it was time for our FP for TT. It was awesome.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well after that it was time for Coral Reef. We go there and well my wife wanted this place and had fond memories of this place. Don't get me wrong the place is nice, but I guess I was expecting the aquarium to be around you not just in front of you. They had a lot of divers in the water I think I counted 5. So you really seen divers not as many fish. It was relaxing, so I guess that was a plus. The food was good, but the service seemed like we were getting rushed a little.

Well after that we were all tired and decided to head back to the resort for a nap. DW and I decided that we will come back for Imagination Fire Works on a later date. So we get back to the resort and crash...lol

Next thing I know is that we wake up and its almost 7 so we decided to go to the pool and stay around the resort for the remaining of the evening.

Shewww... that was a lot of stuff in one day... I have to admit I didn't think that I would enjoy Epcot that much, but as an Adult, it was pretty cool. I know my kids like MK more for the rides.

Still goin Strong...

I must of come really close to you a lot that day. It sounds like we arrived at about the same time. We also headed for test track. We rode stand by and then went stand by for MS. The wait was something like five min. We probably just left CR just as you arrived. The divers had been swimming for maybe 15 min when we left. We left the park at around 7 pm.

Congratulations on those dream FP. Lucky!!!

 

[Chkysbak]

Ok well on day for my family and I was headed back to MGM for our character breakfast @ Hollywood and Dine. My son wanted this one since he still watches Playhouse Disney. Well our ressie wasn't until 0830 and the park had EMH and opened @ 0800. Well we hop on the bus and away we go. Surprising enough the bus was empty except us. Well of course we were on the bus @ 0720. Well we arrive at MGM and I had to take this picture:

Well we get in the Character breakfast line thanks to my wife noticing the sign. It was by far the shortest line. About 0745 the let people go through the turn stiles and I thought wow they are opening early... Nope no such luck. Shortly after they opened the gates, there was a rope across the street that wouldn't allow you to go in for awhile. While we were waiting near the front, I took this picture:

Well keeping in mind that last time we were here that we wasn't able to get FP for Toy Story Mania so I was on a mission. Well our breakfast wasn't until 0830 so I had plenty of time to get FP. Well needless to say the music came on and the park was officially open. I proceeded (Calmly) to TSM and pulled 0915 FP. I didn't wait inline since I didn't want to miss our ressies. We headed back to Hollywood and seen Donald. Of course we had our pictures taken:

Well it was now time for our ressie @ Hollowood and I being that this was our first breakfast I was really anxiously waiting for mickey head waffles. Well we got to the door and the let us right in. We ordered our drinks and OFF we went to the bar. As you are surely aware, I didn't let the kids eat anything at the resort so I knew they were hungry. I got my waffles and a lot more than I had planned for. Lets just say that my eyes are definitely bigger than my stomach.

Here are some pictures from breakfast:

Well after breakfast we went to ride TSM and I must say that we had a BLAST. Of course I happened to score the best score of that day. I am sure that someone beat it, since it was my first time playing and I was laughing and everything while I was playing. I sat with my son and well lets just say that he was having fun with the pies and darts. He was aiming at the people in stead of the balloons. He enjoyed himself and that is all that a father can ask for.

After TSM we went straight to Rockin Roller Coaster and pulled FPs. After that we needed to burn some time so we went back to one of my rides that I remember from when I was in high school, The Great Movie Ride. Of course my DD and DS didn't know most of the movies, but it was nice to step back in time for a moment. While we were on our way to the ride I couldn't help by take pictures of the walkways.

Well we were then able to go to RRC and on our way I took a picture of the fantasia lawn decorations. I thought that this was really cool and especially like the Disney care that this obviously gets.

Ok now we arrive at RRC, and I have to say this is the one of the best rides I personally think WDW has. It was the first time for all of us on this ride so we were all anxiously waiting. I loved the start of the ride and apparently my DS was white knuckled at the start of the ride with the OH SHOOT FACE...lol I tried to take a picture, but didn't work out to well.

Well after all that my wife and I decided that we wanted to go back to the resort and freshin up since the crowds were getting a little big and the heat was poorin on. So we headed back and relaxed. Of course were coming back to see Fantasmic.

Post more after a Nap...

 

[Chkysbak]

Ok so now that our naps are over and we are refreshed, we decide to go back to HS (MGM)...lol hard habit.

Well we arrived about an hour before our ressie and Mama Melroses so we went directly to Star Tours and purchased more Star Wars pins for my son. We also walked around until our time for dinner. Dinner time arrived and I must say that I enjoyed this dinner a bunch.

Pork Marsala

Warm Chocolate Truffle Cake

After dinner we decided that we wanted to go shopping to kill some time before Fantasmic. Well on our way back to the shops, I decided to stop one more time and Star Tours since it was going to be our last time there and take some pictures.

We arrive at the shops and look who I seen. He said that he would be back. I had to take a picture of the Terminator.

Well it was about 1.5 hrs until Fantasmic so we went to the character drawing show near TSM. I have to say it was really interesting and really nice . I have to admit it was really interesting that I couldn't fine any Wall-E toys in WDW but I kept my eye open. This will have to do for now:

Of course who could resist on not taking a picture of the Man and the Mouse.

Well now its time for Fantasmic, well at least time for us to walk that way. I have to say that next time I will go much earlier to this. I was thinking that 30-45 minutes was plenty of time. Apparently everyone else thought the same thing. Well we had to stand at the top, but luckily for me I found a spot that my family could see fairly unobstructed so I was happy. Next time I will get there earlier **Mental Note**

I have to admit I like Fantasmic a bunch so I will definitely see that again next time. Of course I will see every firework display next time I go, who am I kidding. Well its back to the resort for rest and finally a day off from the parks tomorrow, or will it?