Converting Dr. Who into Mr. Disney-Taking my DBF on his 1st WDW trip.

[suorkaterina]

Hey there folks. My name is Katerina and my boyfriend is Dave. This is our trip report starting with our preliminary planning. His first time, my umpteenth time to WDW, our first vacation together and my first time at the World with Celiac Disease. And now, a little about us.

I have been going to Disney with my family since I was very little. I can't even remember my first time there. After I left for college in '98 I ended up poor and vacationless for about 10 years but got back on the Disney horse with a Christmas trip in 2008 with my parents. I have many happy memories at WDW of my parents and I and our family friends. My friend even got married at Disney and they were there with us in 2008 as well. Now after much anticipation I've found a man(dare I say, THE man) willing to indulge my Disney freakdom. Dave and I have been friends for a long time and just recently started dating. We will have been together 6 months when we leave for our first vacation together. We have been comparing my Disney obsession with his Doctor Who obsession, hence the title of this trip report. It's actually quite close a comparrison. He knows all the old shows, I know all the old Disney movies. He listens to Who podcasts, I listen to The DIS Unplugged! But so far there is no Doctor Who World so I'm hoping that taking him to WDW will make a convert out of him. I know I'm really getting into Doctor Who! Hehe. But it's not quite the same level of obsession.

So, I have done all the planning(with Dreams Unlimited travel agent Tracey Heinrichs help), and finally I will be able to go to WDW with the man I love on February 11th 2011. Our flight leaves from Portland, Maine at 11am. We are both very excited and I hope this is the beginning of a fabulous new tradition for us.

Thanks for reading and I hope you will enjoy our trip report!

39 Days till our trip!

Next: Our Itinerary

 

[suorkaterina]

Well we've been back for a couple weeks and reality sort of took over the moment the clouds opened up below us on cold white/gray Maine. But I am ready now to do this trip report so that I never forget the amazing time we had.

LET THE MEMORIES BEGIN!

Day 1: Merry Manor Inn(Portland, Maine)
Day 2: In Flight(Maine to Florida)
Day 3: Magic Kingdom
Day 4: Studios
Day 5: Epcot
Day 6: Animal Kingdom
Day 7: Magic Kingdom/Downtown Disney
Day 8: Leaving Home and back to reality

 

[suorkaterina]

February 10th 2011

DBF and I started for the Merry Manor Inn in Portland Maine in the early afternoon. I'd decided to stay here the night before our flight just in case there was some bad weather. Also friends had told me about their Fly and Park package which worked out well. We parked our car there for the week we were in Florida.

We went shopping at the mall for a while and DBF got some swim trunks. We had a nice time meandering around Best Buy and drooling over the new gadgets and games. Then we went to the hotel which was nice. In the lobby though, DBF stopped to get a cup of coffee and as he did I noticed something strange about their Valentines decorations.

Happy Inlentines Day?
So then we got into our room and DBF who is a HUGE Doctor Who fan discovered imediately that there was a very familliar looking crack in the wall...hopefully you Who fans out there will get the reference even though it's hard to see the crack in this picture.

We went to the Governors Restaurant that was attached. These restaurants are known in Maine for their home cooked meals. I must tell you though that you don't want to eat here if you have a gluten allergy. I made do the best I could a bun-less burger and DBF had his usual Ruebin, I think. The cool thing about Governors is the train they have making it's way around the dining room.

That night we tested out their beyond awesome Indoor/Outdoor pool. Yes you read that right. This pool is heated. It starts inside, then you go through a little plastic curtain and you are swimming outside in the middle of winter! It was way cool. We swam for over an hour amazed by the fact that we were surrounded by snow and could see our breath but were swimming comfortable. They also had a hot tub and another little pool that was cooler than the regular pool. We skipped that one.
It was an incredibly relaxing way to kick off our first vacation together. I will never forget the sense of peace I felt floating hand in hand with man I love, the steam drifting between us and the stars.

Stay with me here, one more day and we'll be in Disney World!

 

[Reddog1134]

So then we got into our room and DBF who is a HUGE Doctor Who fan discovered imediately that there was a very familliar looking crack in the wall...hopefully you Who fans out there will get the reference even though it's hard to see the crack in this picture.

I'm glad to see you weren't erased from reality.

 

[suorkaterina]

I'm glad to see you weren't erased from reality.

Hehe, YAY, I knew there were some Who fans out there.

 

[holleypie]

But so far there is no Doctor Who World

Somebody REALLY needs to get on that.

Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

 

[suorkaterina]

February 11th 2011

The adventure begins! So it was a crazy night. I slept a total of three hours because my mind was racing with flight times and such. I spent the night downloading games onto my itouch and playing angry birds. Sigh. So when it was time to wake up I was a bit cranky, but also very excited so I got up and showered and DBF(who was loving the memory foam mattress and fell asleep in about 2 seconds flat) and I made our way to Governors again for our complimentary breakfast. Strike two for Governors. Their hashbrowns were sadly cooked in the same oil as breaded things so they had to make mine seperately which aparently takes half and hour, who knew! So after that we packed up, had the front desk call us a taxi and we were off to the airport. I didn't understand a word the driver said so i just nodded and laughed when it seemed appropriate but DBF seemed to understand him well enough. So we got there and went through security, DBF got his hands swabbed which we found fascinating. It's been a while since we've flown

Sooo. We got bored and went into the CNBC store and bought Voodoo dolls. Our idea was to treat them like Flat Stanly's(but as you'll see we forgot about them after a couple days) Anyhow, here they are. DBF has a Roman obsession so he went with the Gladiator.

The flight was on Delta who's planes I regret to inform you are sadly out of date. I flew Jet Blue two years ago and their planes were way better. The little commuter to NY was tight but it got us there. Once in NY we got ourselves some lunch/dinner and sat down to wait out our 3 hours layover. About an hour before take-off we were sitting by our gate when an announcement came over the speakers that our flight had been cancelled. Now, there were blue skies out there so I just sat in denial while DBF shot up and got into the line quickly forming at the desk. At this point all my planning and preparation built up and as i joined him in the line to get assigned a new flight I started to quietly freak out. We only had 5 days at the parks and I was afraid they were going to make us fly out the next day instead. We waited in line for over an hour but finally when we got up to the counter we were told we'd have a flight to Tampa and a shuttle to MGO and the new flight would leave only a couple hours after the original flight. Oh yeah, and also that the flight had been cancelled due to technical difficulties. So we grabbed a snack and waited again. The next flight was cramped and outdated as well. Delta, you are not scoring big with me even though you did give us each 100$ vouchers. But we got to Tampa. Then nobody had mentioned this shuttle thing to anybody in Tampa so we had to figure that out. Then we had a shuttle ride with a couple of women who were nice but kept complaining about our flight being cancelled even though one of these women got an upgrade to first class! I call shenanegans! Anyhow, the shuttle was fine, I almost fell asleep, DBF was enjoying the view out the window. He's never been to Florida before. Of course at this point it was 10pm but you know Tampa was lit up nice and bright and so was Orlando. DBF thanked me for insisting he bring a jacket cause it was pretty cold that first night.

Ok, so finally we get to MGO and they let us off right near the Magical Express. We walk through past the lady there. just seeing that CM waiting by the queue made me very happy. We got into our Queue for the Caribbean Beach resort, handed our luggage to the driver and settled into the dark bus. I swear i could even smell the Disney-ness the second we got on the bus. So at this point it's about midnight. We drive and enjoy the cool video in the bus, which of course gives me goose bumps. I'm screaming in my little head. It's here, we're here, we're finally here! Of course I'm paying so much attention to the video that I almost miss the signs! which DBF points out to me. So we get off the bus and BAM, I'm home again. Never fails to amaze me how much CBR feels like home no matter how long it's been since I've been there. My family and I have been CBR fans for years. We tested out a few others, Contemporary, Port Orleans...but none of them ever measured up to the steel drums, beautiful pathways and bright island colors of CBR.

So we check in and the CM is very nice, tells me I got Jamaica like I had requested. Yay! And we go back to the curb to wait for someone to take us to the room. At this point I am almost too tired to be excited. DBF just wants a cigaret. The CM that takes us to the room is really nice and I tip him big, realizing quickly that I didn't save nearly enough money aside for tips. Did I mention that this is pretty much my first vacation that I've ever planned and paid for on my own, at 31? Sad, I know. Ok, so tips and Delta, these are things I need to remember for next time.

We go up to the room, which DBF finds without a problem. CBR rooms and numbers always confuse me. For the remainder of this trip I realize I have to have DBF with me in order to find our room, in fact I stop bothering to remember the room number halfway into the first day. So of course we whip out our voodoo dolls for a photoshoot in the room.

Then I decide to follow DBF out to find the nearest smoking area and enjoy a little walk in the early morning...er 1am!

So that is the end of our travel day and overflow into the next day. It's amazing how the magic of Disney takes over the second any of the park comes into sight, even getting into the queue for the Magical Express! I vowed before we left for this vacation that I would stop and try to imprint every moment into my memory. I think I succeeded. Three weeks later and all this still feels like yesterday. Anyhow, stick with me, We're going to Magic Kingdom tomorrow!

 

[Reddog1134]

We usually fly Airtran and haven't had any problems. I'll have to make a note not to fly Delta. I'd like to try Jetblue but they don't have any flights to Orlando from our airport.

 

[suorkaterina]

We usually fly Airtran and haven't had any problems. I'll have to make a note not to fly Delta. I'd like to try Jetblue but they don't have any flights to Orlando from our airport.

From what i've checked out there aren't any direct flights from Portland, ME with Jet Blue. I'm not sure who flies straight from PWM to MGO actually. I think there were a couple Delta ones.