newman7501
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2006
- Messages
- 335
Thank you for reading this trip report. I will attempt to make my first trip report as entertaining as our first family Christmas trip to the World was.
THE CAST
Me- 31 years old, first trip to WDW in 20 years, a little high strung, hate to fly, afraid of roller coasters, planned like a mad woman for this trip.
Paul- my 32 year old husband, his first trip ever to WDW, hates crowds and lines but is very laid back, left all the planning to me.
Becca- 9 year old daughter, first trip to WDW, is her mother's daughter for the most part, has been waiting her whole life for this trip.
Justin- 6 year old son, first trip to WDW, is my wild man, couldn't wait to ride the fast rides.
Stacy- 25 year old sister, went to WDW last year for her honeymoon, knows how to push my buttons but my kids love her alot.
Brian (or as the kids call him "Uncle Skippy")- 26 year old brother in law, don't know how he puts up with my sister, has been to WDW many times.
Sharon- 50 something, my mom, doesn't put up with line budgers and renegade strollers, loves her grandchildren.
Ron- 50 something, my dad, same as my husband, hates crowds and lines, likes good food and loves his grandchildren.
PRETRIP
We started to plan this trip in March, I spoke to people about where to stay and read my sisters planning books. We decided on Port Orleans Riverside because from all we read it was one of the best moderates and other family members have loved it. We booked our airfair through Delta and I hit these boards and the books trying to figure out where to eat. I also talked to my mom's boss because he goes to WDW almost every year. I actually did not take any of his advice because he is a food snob and I did not want to eat at all 2TS credit restaurants. At 180 days out I booked all my ADRs and only changed one when the Candlelight processional package became available. I even purchased tour guide mike because I knew we were going at a busy time of year and wanted to make the most of our trip. I would have to say though, the hardest part of planning was the waiting (and listening to my husband and dad complain).
12/23 THE DAY OF ARRIVAL
Our flight was not scheduled until about 11am but having the type a personality I have we were at the airport at 8:30am. I got a call from Brian and their flight out of Boston was delayed an hour because they had a layover at JFK and there was a lot of fog there. While we were sitting patiently at the airport a Delta flight came in that was diverted to Syracuse because JFK was not open. I began to panic that my parents and sis and bil would not get to Disney. I called them but the cell phones were off, hopefully they were in the air. We boarded our plane on time and I sat with Becca and Paul and Justin sat across the ailse. I hate take off and white knuckled the whole time, the kids and Paul got a kick out of it. We landed in Cincinnati and had a two hour layover, so we got lunch and proceeded to our gate. Our flight to MCO was delayed,
I started to worry (did I mention I worry alot) we wouldn't make our 8:00 ADR at Boatrights. Well, maintnance had to check the air pressure seals on one of the doors which turned out to be OK and they boarded us and I white knuckled again but we got to MCO at about 5:30pm. I then paniced because I couldn't find a sign for ground transportation, thank God for my husband, he asked and we were at Magical Express in no time. My parents called they had arrived at the resort and checked in and somehow got them to hold a connecting room for us until we checked in. They then proceeded to call every 5 minutes, where are you, are you almost here, my nerves couldn't take anymore. We arrived, checked in, got a connecting room to my parents and then went to Boatrights to eat, everyone enjoyed it very much and it was so nice to be able to relax for the first time that day. We got back to our rooms at 10 and our luggage arrived 15 minutes later, well everyone's luggage but my moms. She waited about 30 minutes longer and went down to the luggage shack. They kept telling her they delivered it, but she said trust me, I didn't get it. The guy who made the delivery was there and checked his list and said, opps, I delivered it to the wrong room, and they retrieved it for her and all was fine. We went to bed at about 11 or so and had the wake up call for 6 the next morning, so we could start our trip at EPCOT.
Will post 12/24 and 12/25 later.
THE CAST
Me- 31 years old, first trip to WDW in 20 years, a little high strung, hate to fly, afraid of roller coasters, planned like a mad woman for this trip.
Paul- my 32 year old husband, his first trip ever to WDW, hates crowds and lines but is very laid back, left all the planning to me.
Becca- 9 year old daughter, first trip to WDW, is her mother's daughter for the most part, has been waiting her whole life for this trip.
Justin- 6 year old son, first trip to WDW, is my wild man, couldn't wait to ride the fast rides.
Stacy- 25 year old sister, went to WDW last year for her honeymoon, knows how to push my buttons but my kids love her alot.
Brian (or as the kids call him "Uncle Skippy")- 26 year old brother in law, don't know how he puts up with my sister, has been to WDW many times.
Sharon- 50 something, my mom, doesn't put up with line budgers and renegade strollers, loves her grandchildren.
Ron- 50 something, my dad, same as my husband, hates crowds and lines, likes good food and loves his grandchildren.
PRETRIP
We started to plan this trip in March, I spoke to people about where to stay and read my sisters planning books. We decided on Port Orleans Riverside because from all we read it was one of the best moderates and other family members have loved it. We booked our airfair through Delta and I hit these boards and the books trying to figure out where to eat. I also talked to my mom's boss because he goes to WDW almost every year. I actually did not take any of his advice because he is a food snob and I did not want to eat at all 2TS credit restaurants. At 180 days out I booked all my ADRs and only changed one when the Candlelight processional package became available. I even purchased tour guide mike because I knew we were going at a busy time of year and wanted to make the most of our trip. I would have to say though, the hardest part of planning was the waiting (and listening to my husband and dad complain).
12/23 THE DAY OF ARRIVAL
Our flight was not scheduled until about 11am but having the type a personality I have we were at the airport at 8:30am. I got a call from Brian and their flight out of Boston was delayed an hour because they had a layover at JFK and there was a lot of fog there. While we were sitting patiently at the airport a Delta flight came in that was diverted to Syracuse because JFK was not open. I began to panic that my parents and sis and bil would not get to Disney. I called them but the cell phones were off, hopefully they were in the air. We boarded our plane on time and I sat with Becca and Paul and Justin sat across the ailse. I hate take off and white knuckled the whole time, the kids and Paul got a kick out of it. We landed in Cincinnati and had a two hour layover, so we got lunch and proceeded to our gate. Our flight to MCO was delayed,
I started to worry (did I mention I worry alot) we wouldn't make our 8:00 ADR at Boatrights. Well, maintnance had to check the air pressure seals on one of the doors which turned out to be OK and they boarded us and I white knuckled again but we got to MCO at about 5:30pm. I then paniced because I couldn't find a sign for ground transportation, thank God for my husband, he asked and we were at Magical Express in no time. My parents called they had arrived at the resort and checked in and somehow got them to hold a connecting room for us until we checked in. They then proceeded to call every 5 minutes, where are you, are you almost here, my nerves couldn't take anymore. We arrived, checked in, got a connecting room to my parents and then went to Boatrights to eat, everyone enjoyed it very much and it was so nice to be able to relax for the first time that day. We got back to our rooms at 10 and our luggage arrived 15 minutes later, well everyone's luggage but my moms. She waited about 30 minutes longer and went down to the luggage shack. They kept telling her they delivered it, but she said trust me, I didn't get it. The guy who made the delivery was there and checked his list and said, opps, I delivered it to the wrong room, and they retrieved it for her and all was fine. We went to bed at about 11 or so and had the wake up call for 6 the next morning, so we could start our trip at EPCOT.Will post 12/24 and 12/25 later.
, being lifted 40 feet in the air and not having anything under your feet just wasn't my thing. I even used the special strap on the seat belt for the smaller kids, I wasn't going anywhere. And guess what, I was the only one who wasn't crazy about this ride. Next we did Living With the Land. It was relaxing and pretty cool, to see how they are growing all those veggies and herbs and son enjoyed the fish tanks. We finally decided to get breakfast at that point and ate a quick counter service in the land building. That is when I noticed that the crowd level was starting to rise. When we were done we went to the Nemo ride in the Living Seas building. No line, thank goodness, my husband said he would have been ticked if he waited for that ride. My kids were definitely too old to be entertained by that ride. So after we went to Turtle Talk with Crush, that was awfully funny. Everyone, even Grandpa Ron enjoyed that attraction. It was about 11:00 so we decide to make our way to World Showcase, as soon as we got over we ran right into Donald Duck, Becca's favorite, so we got our pictures taken and then went to ride the Mexican Boat Ride, my son said it wasn't fast enough, after TT, nothing was fast enough, we then went to ride Maelstrom, that was a little more entertaining for the kids. At that time my son was getting very tired, so Paul and I took him for a snack and the rest went to see the China movie. Justin got a chance to rejuvenate and relax and take more cold medicine. We worked our way to Germany and Dad and paul got some German Beer and we decided to ride the boat across the lagoon back to Mexico and then walk to Canada for our LeCellier ADR. When we got back over we went in a few gift shops and Becca found the 2 bears from brotherbear. Grandma Sharon took her over to get her picture taken, Justin was more interested in watching the ducks and the birds. We strolled our way over to Canada and took a lot of pictures in front of the gardens. We were early for our ADR so we took the kids back to the kidcot station, Becca colored a mask, Justin crawled up on me and took a nap. We met a very nice family from SC and talked to them for awhile and then went in for our LeCellier ADR. We loved this meal and were so excited because they actually pronounced our French Canadian last name correctly(we were in Canada, after all). My son slept through most of the meal but woke up in time to eat. We rushed over to the Candlelight CP after lunch and got in the line for the package group. We didn't sit under the covering because we wanted to be in the middle. What a mistake, about half way through, the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. Thank God for ponchos. Gary Sinese did an excellent job, he seems like such a humble man, I was truly impressed. After we split up from my mom and dad and sis and bro in law. They wanted to stay in World Showcase, the kids not so much. The rain seemed to stop so we threw our ponchos away, mistake #2 for the day. It began to pour harder than ever. We went into MouseGear to waste time. We decided to ride the Ellen Degeneres Energy ride which was kind of neat. My son wanted to ride TT again but it was down, probably because of the rain? We then did the ride in the sphere, BORING and decide to call it night and head back to POR and get ready for our 5am wake up call and Christmas Day at the MK
We were all exhausted and grumpy but made plans to call her and Uncle Skippy when we arrived at the MK. We got ready in pretty good time and headed to the busses. When we arrived at MK we called and made plans to meet them at where else?...Space Mountain. We all got FPs and just waited for my sis and bil to show up. The kids were getting impatient and they wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear SpaceRanger spin again. We left my parents to wait and we waited about 20 minutes in line for that ride. We found my parents and sis and bil and decided to go on the tomorrow land transit authority to waste the time that was left on our FPs. My sis thought the kids might like it because it went through Space Mountain. Yeah, they didn't, it wasn't fast enough. So when it was over we headed to Space Mountain, this time every one rode on it. Stacy and Uncle Skippy took the kids as a party of four and my parents and Paul and I rode as a party of four. I have to say the guy who sitting in front of my mom was more entertaining than the ride itself. He kept saying Oh God I'm going to hit my head, oh my stomach, and he was just whining and cracking us up. When we got off the ride I was surprised to see he was an older teenager. My parents, Justin, Paul and I went off to do Stitch's Great Escape and my sis and BIL and Becca went to ride the teacups. We really weren't going to do stitch because we heard it wasn't a great attraction but the line was short and we were there and Justin likes Stitch. Well we did it but I won't ever do it again. This is one of those rides I would have been mad about waiting in line for. We met up with everyone again and headed over to Big Thunder Mtn Railroad. To this point, this had been my favorite ride and I wanted to ride it again, FP or Not! The line time said 30 minutes so we opted to just ride it instead of getting FPs. We only waited 20 minutes so that was a nice bonus. After these rides we decided we would go get lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe for lunch. The only problem was the parade was going on and we had to wait to cross the street. We knew that after the parade it would be a mad dash to get food but we didn't have breakfast and were all very hungry at this point. We only waited a short time for food and got seating easily and I have to say this was our favorite counter service. Maybe I'm only saying that because I was so hungry but it was good food. After lunch we went to the Hall of Presidents. Becca loves Presidential history and politics ( I know, she's only 9) and my dad really thought she would enjoy it. This was also a great opportunity for Justin and Uncle Skippy to take a nap. We are sitting in there listening to the show and all of a sudden I hear my son snoring. It wasn't loud, thank goodness and we just let him sleep. After Hall of Presidents we went to ride the WDW railroad. We rode it to Main Street and then walked to Fantasy Land, the only ride Becca didn't get to ride that she wanted to was Peter Pan. Well the line was 110 minutes so she decided she could live without it. The FP return was also schedule for sometime after 7 in the evening so we just walked away. FantasyLand was very crowded, this was the most crowded it felt all week so we walked toward Toontown. We went to the Hall of Fame tent to see if other characters were there. We got in line to meet Donald, Chip and Dale and a surprise character. We waited 20 and the surprise character was Chicken Little. Becca had a blast, she loves Donald. Justin doesn't like donald for some reason so he wouldn't get his picture taken with him. The kids spent some more of their disney dollars at the Hall of Fame gift store and we sat outside of there for a little while and rested. At that point we decided to call it a day and go to catch the monorail to the Poly for our ADR for Ohanas. We looked in some gift shops and headed out for the evening. Dinner at Ohanas was a lot of fun but the food was just ok and because of some apparent computer glitch we were an ADR party that was overlooked. I have our Ohana's story posted on disney dining reviews. 
but he soldiered on. Anyway everyone met up and we all headed to the bus at 7:15. We arrived to the park pretty close to opening and really didn't have to wait in line to get into the park. We headed right for Tower of Terror. Paul, Justin, Becca, Brian and my Dad got right in the line(the rest of us chickens sat on a took everyones cards and got FPs for Rock and Roller Coaster). Now I don't think I mentioned that when my dad was 36 he had a massive heart attack and quadrupile bypass surgery. He hasn't had any heart problems since, but we worry and there were certain rides my mom, sister and I really didn't want him to ride... Mission Space, Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster. He kept telling us his heart is fine so we reluctantly gave in to Tower of Terror. While we were waiting we met a very nice fellow diser from Ill. We talked to her for quite awhile while her DH and DD were riding RnR and ToT. While waiting we noticed that our family got right back in line to ride ToT again. When they came off the ride Paul, Brian, Becca and yes, my Dad headed over to RnR. Justin being 45 inches was not tall enough to ride RnR and the waterworks started
I don't know, it must have been psychological because the worst part was when you were dropping and the doors where open and you could see the park. When you were dropping and it was dark, not so bad. Also being shot back up was a horrible feeling. But I did IT! We met back up with everyone else and got breakfast, only at WDW can you eat a softpretzel for breakfast
and I know it made him feel good too. We then headed over to Star Tours to use our FPs. That was a funny ride, we liked it and were glad we got FPs earlier in the day. Our original plan was to head over to Indiana Jones for the 9:00 show but everyone was COLD AND TIRED. We just decided to head back to the resort and call it a night...
