Dancin' in the World, a trip report**COMPLETED!!! Day 3 and Final Thoughts**

[DancinDaisyDuck]

I'm back! My pics are all uploaded and captioned, so if you want to view them with a little context before I get to the nitty gritty of my report, go ahead! http://community.webshots.com/user/dancindaisyduck

And you can also read my pre-trippie here: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1353940

Tune in tomorrow for Thursday March 30th- Travel and Downtown Disney!

 

[sunlver]

Loved looking at your pictures. Looking forward to reading your trip report. We are going in June, so it is so much fun to read about everybody elses trip before we go.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Loved looking at your pictures. Looking forward to reading your trip report. We are going in June, so it is so much fun to read about everybody elses trip before we go.

Hey Sunlver! Thanks for reading!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

All throughout my trip I kept a journal to chronicle my travels around Orlando, from landing at MCO to my interviews at ACPA/NASPA and the flight home where we were welcomed back to Buffalo by 35 degree temps and snow. But more on that later. First, let's recap the cast:

Nikki (me): 23 years old, Disney first timer
Brittany: 24 years old, good friend and roommate. She's been to Disney too many times to count.
Kim and Kids: Brittany's godmother. Kim lives in Orlando and her husband is a chef at The Beach Club. I'm so grateful to her (and to Norm) for letting us use the Cast Member entrance. Her kids are Lauren (14) and Nick (11).
Rhonda and Kids: Kim's friend whose husband is also a cast member. Her kids are Rachele, Reylan, and Richard.

Day 1- 3/29/07.
Ever since I knew I was going to Disney for sure I started this:

It's my countdown cube. I got it at the local Disney store about 70 or so days before departure and numbered each page down to zero. Each day I tore one page off so I knew right where I was in my countdown.

This is what I wrote in my journal in the Buffalo airport as we sat waiting for our flight to Boston to board:
We're at the airport! It's about 2 hours from wheel's up. Justin came to get us at 8:30, not even an hour ago, and here we are- all checked in, through security, and I've even stopped for a cup of coffee and cheese danish. This morning when my alarm went off at seven, I almost forgot where I was going today. For the past 23 years, I have never woken up and thought, "I'm leaving for Disney World today." So I hit the snooze a couple of times and rolled out of bed around 7:30. Our flight doesn't leave until 11, so we're planning on getting to the airport around 9. I got dressed, packed a few toiletries, and waited for our friend Justin to pick us up in the living room watching an old episode of Boy Meets World. It was so great to tear off that last page from my countdown cube this morning. Finally, here I come to meet the mouse!

Our flight took off from Buffalo to Boston right on time, and we even landed a whole 20 minutes early! There was a lot of turbulence on the descent, though, and and we were in this teeeeny tiny plane. Needless to say, I was scared. I distracted myself by looking out the window at Boston and trying to figure out of we'd flown over Harvard or not. I had never seen Boston before, but it's huge! I also didn't realize Logan was on the water, which made me just a little nervous, but other than being a bit jostled, we arrived safe and sound. After we unloaded we hit the potty and found what we thought was our gate. The gate that was printed on our ticket. The same ticket I ripped in half at Coffee Beanery trying to take my wallet out of my purse! So we found 36C and parked it with half an hour to spare. Then Britt noiticed the electronic board next to the gate said Pittsburgh, and not Orlando! There must have been a gate change, and there wasn't much time left before boarding. So we checked the schedule and saw that indeed we were in the wrong place and ran to the correct gate. We got there just in time to start boarding.

Here's a view of the New England coast on our flight from Boston to Orlando:

We flew JetBlue down, and our seats were sweet! The economy class on JetBlue was by far the most comfertable of the four or so other airlines I've flown. We were in row 3, too, and that meant firsts- first for drinks, first for snacks, and first off the plane! The flight to Orlando was very comfertable. I wish we got more food because it was a 1pm flight and we'd jsut connected with no time to get food in between. I was starving by the time we landed. Anyhow, the tv channels were good but you had to pay for the movies. Luckily I had either already seen them or had no desire to watch the one I hadn't seen. So I read more in my book, did a word search, and watched a few shows on Food Network, which made me more hungry. When we landed we set off to find the Magical express Counter!

But before I get to that, here's a little story about how I made a kid cry in MCO. We were about to board the monorail tram from terminal A to the main building. As I was walking toward the tram I saw it was full, so we decided to wait for the next one. Well as the doors were about to close, a little red haired boy who must have been 5 or 6 ran off the tram in front of us. I expected an adult to run off after him as the car was about to depart, but no. The kid was on his own out there. I glanced inside the car and saw people who were probably his parents shouting from inside the tram "Jimmy! Jimmy come back here!" Uh, the kid was not going to just waltz back on the tram. The doors were closing and I was scared he would be left in Terminal A by himself, so Britt pushed the doors open and I instinctually took the kid by the arm and gently shoved him back on the tram while the doors closed. I think I scared him because he was holding onto his mother crying as the tram left.

So with that under my belt, we eventually located the Magical Express counter, which was in the most out of the way location they possibly could have found. We boarded our bus to Pop and waited about 20 minutes before we left for the World. The bus was fairly empty and we had a pleasant ride to WDW. I loved this service, it's such a great convenience and I will definately use this again next time I stay on site.

So once we arrived we checked into Pop Century!

It's an awesome, awesome resort. We were in the 50's building room 1323 facing hour Glass Lake. It's just around the corner from the pool, and a short 4 minute walk to the main building and buses. Maybe even shorter for fast walkers like me.
Here's a view from our window looking accross Hour Glass Lake- that's the future 40's secion being built!

We got to our room, called Kim, and made plans to meet at Downtown Disney. As Britt was chatting with Kim I took some pictures around the room:

That's when I noticed him. Our very first towel animal! He was sitting on the sill looking out the window. It's a little dog with long droopy ears.

I named him Farful because his long ears reminded me of my favorite stuffed animal dog who was named Farful after the dog in the Nestlie Chocolate commercials from, fittingly, the 1950's! I was quite excited he was there.

We left Farful to guard the room until we came back, and headed to the bus stop.

As we got to the stop, the bus was just pulling up. Score! A short ride later we were in the Downtown Disney Marketplace!

Kim called and suggested we go to Rainforest Cafe for dinner. When we got to the restaurant it was soooo crowded, the line just to put your name down stretched almost back to Mickey's Mart. At that point it was around 6:10 and there was a one hour wait, so we decided to go shop around before our time. We stopped to watch a cute dance party going on accross from Ghiradelli's. I didn't know people still knew how to do the Macarena.

Finally, it was time for Rainforest. I was famished. So we waited for our name to be called. The return time on our ticket said 7:30. It was 7:45 when Kim spotted the manager and asked him when we were going to be seated. He saw our time had come and passed, and sent us in the Gorilla Room line straight away. Where we waited some more. We got the feeling they weren't the most organized staff ever. At last we were seated, ordered, and got drinks. It was my first venture to Rainforest Cafe, but I'm not sure I'd go again anytime soon. There's one in Niagara on the Canadian side anyway. It was good, I loved my Rasta Pasta, but I think I'd rather try something that's not a franchise next time like Earl Of Sandwich or Cap'n Jacks.

Once dinner was over we headed to World of Disney to shop some more. I got a ballet Minnie plush to take to classes on Saturdays (I teach ballet), a High School Musical pennant for my cousin Briana, a visor, a post-it note cube, and the one piece I've been looking forward to getting since I saw someone wearing it back in September- a Where Dreams Come True hoodie! I had to go to Everything Pop for that because World of Disney didn't have my size. We also stopped into the Christmas Store where Britt managed to drop and break the same ornament not once but twice! The CM at the register was sweet enough not to charge her for it, even though she was more than willing to pay.

On our way out we took this photo op:

Little did we know we'd be coming home in a week to real snow!

On the bus ride back to Pop, we were waiting at a stop when I glanced at our driver's name tag and saw he was from Kenmore! He was actually the second CM we met from Western New York that day. Proof that it is a small, small world. At least in Disney anyway.

Next updates: A very fortunate series of events- Chef Mickey's and the Magic Kingdom!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

On the eve of day one when we got back to our room at Pop, we suddenly remembered that our ADR for Chef Mickey's was at 7am. Oy! Seeing as how I was journaling until almost 1am, I knew it was going to be tough getting that wake-up call at 5:45. We also discovered the buses would not be running before 7 like I had hoped, so we also booked a cab to pick us up at 6:40 and take us to the Contemporary. Another huge thumbs up for Pop, the CM at the front desk hooked us up with a cab company no problem and was super nice. Which put me in a really good mood! I finally put my pen down, turned Stacey off (Look at all those lazy people in the lazy river) and went to sleep. After what seemed to be a minute later Mickey woke me up and our magical day had begun! Here we go!

5:45 am came way too early. Again, the first thought in my head was not "we're going to Disney today," more like "I want to sleep 5 more hours!" But, soon after I wised up and got ready to go. I was wearing my pink tink shirt that I bought at the Disney store a few months ago specifically for this occasion, and packed my visor I bought the night before because I forgot my sunglasses in Buffalo. Apparently I am not smarter than a 5th grader because later that day Nicholas said "How could you forget something like that?" Poor kid has lived in Orlando his whole life and doesn't know the horror of a thing called winter, where you don't need sunglasses for months.

So anyway, we met our cab outside Classic Hall at 6:40 on the dot. It was still so dark outside. The resort was real quiet as we walked through. The drive to the Contemporary was quick, and I was able to see the castle lit up from a distance.We arrived at the resort at 6:50, took a few pictures in the lobby and headed up to check in for our ADR at 7.

We got our buzzer and took a few pictures at the plate. Then our table was ready! We had a great table by the window facing the MK, and about 35 minutes later we had a beautiful view of sunrise over the castle.

The characters weren't out yet, so we filled up our plates at the buffet. Let me tell you, even though 7am is wicked early and I haven't gotten up before 6 since high school, it was the BEST time to go! The food was nice and fresh on the buffet, and we virtually had out section to ourselves for about half an hour.

Finally, the characters! First up, Goofy. He came into our section, which now was filled with two large tables of other vacationers, and did this crazy dance. When he got to our table I could tell he totally had a crush on me. I could feel it. We danced together and got a pic of us in tango pose!

Next came the Donald. Duck, that is. Brittany kind of offended him, though, because as he left our table she said "give me 5!" and Donald shook his head and held out his hands, showing us that he had FOUR and not five. It was histerical. So we gave Donald four and he left. Then came Minnie who was so cute! Britt told her it was my first time at Disney and Minnie started jumping up and down and gave me a huge hug.

Next up to our section was Mickey. He stopped at the other two tables for at least ten to fifteen minutes, and I saw by the door a CM had caught his attention and gave him the universal "wrap it up" sign. For a second I thought I was going to miss my meeting with the mouse. But no, it was just the napkin dance! Apparently not only am I not smarter than a 5th grader I needed a crash course in Napkin Twirling 101. It's harder to do that than it looks! After we put our napkins back in our laps where they belong, Mickey made a beeline for our table. He's my new boyfriend (sorry goofy. You're too tall for me). I thanked him for making such a delicious breakfast and I love how our picture came out.

The last character out was Pluto. He must still have been a little groggy because he was the least excited/animated of all the characters. He spent a few seconds with us and then headed on to the next table.

By this time it was close to 8am and the restaurant was filling up quickly. We paid up and decided to walk around the Contemporary grounds before meeting Kim and the others at 9:30 in the MK. It was warm but misty and hazy. I am not very happy with the way the light coming through the clouds made my pictures come out with glare and and little blurry. And my flash is super bright too so that didn't help. Anyway, we walked around outside for a little while, then went back to the lobby where we sat at the tv by the food court and watched some cartoons! I mean some really great old school cartoons like the Disney Sing-A-Long songs I used to watch when I was 5!

At 9 we walked up to the Monorail station and were the first ones in line. I was hoping no one would be in the front, but there was already a family there and they weren't getting off. I considered tempting them with a delicious breakfast at Chef Mickey's on me, but somehow I didn't think that would do it. Oh well, maybe next time. I loved the Monorail ride, I had a view of the park as we approached the TTC, and got some great pics of the Poly and Grand Floridian. At all the stops the lines were way long and I started to get a pit in my stomache because this was an indication the park would be super crowded and might put a cramp on my day. But then I reminded myself that I was trying to focus on going with the flow and that Disney World wasn't going anywhere and I could see more the next time I go.

The next stop was ours- the Magic Kingdom! We waited for Kim and the others outside the gates after going through security. There were just mobs of people coming off the ferries, buses and monorail, but it actually went fairly quickly. At about 9:40 Kim, Rhonda and the kids arrived. Even with so many people in tow we made it through the CM entrance and before I knew it I was walking through the lower level of the Main Street Station!

Rhonda left to get a stroller and we figured out our game plan for the day. I turned around to look for Rhonda, but instead of seeing her I saw my professor, Dr. Pope, walking toward us! She was in Orlando for the conference, too, and had the same idea we did. She was with her family and brought her two kids. We invited her to ride Space Mountain with us but she declined. That would have been classic to be on a ride with our professor! So we said good-bye to them and headed to Tomorrowland for my first ever ride at Disney, Space Mountain!

The posted ride time was 20 minutes, but it was a lot like 5, a veritable walk on! Not bad for my first ride. As we briskly waled all through the que I noticed the theming right from the start and loved it. It was probably the best out of all the ques I was in all day. I had been "warned" by some seasoned Disney-goers that Space was a let down, but I would have to disagree. I loved it! Yeah it wasn't as thrilling as it could have been but taking the context of this ride into consideration I thought it was great. I loved the exit que, too. It was an awesome way to start my day at the MK.

 

[goofymania101]

I love your trip report! keep it comin!

courtney

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

There wasn't anything else in Tomorrowland I wanted to see, so off to Toontown we went! We took a peek in Minnie's house, which is a lot like how my house might look if I decorated it!

Then we checked out the line to meet some characters, and the wait time for Donald, Chip and Dale, and Daisy was 20 minutes so we decided to go for it. Daisy is my favorite character so I had to meet her! I wasn't planning on starting a Photopass, but I broke down. I doubt I'll order any prints, but it will be nice to have them online (I wrote this last week, and having since viewed such photopass pictures, I will be purchasing some of them!)

After cavorting with ducks and chipmunks, it was time to join Brer Fox in his quest to catch that elusive Brer Rabbit.

The wait for Splash was 40 minutes, which for us was doable. Kim got us BTMRR fast passes in the mean time. The que was long, but it went by a little faster because we made friends with the family in front of us. They were a nice couple from Tallahassee and their 4 year old son, Kyle. We had fun teasing him and playing pretend in the cave. Finally it was our turn! I couldn't wait to ride. I remember when it was built and watching it on the Disney Channel when I was little. I loved the story line and the music, and of course that drop! It was hot and sunny over Frontierland but I didn't get that wet. That came later. After being dumped in the dark and very expensive forest (I mean gift shop) we grabbed a drink, took a break for a few minutes, and headed to the runaway mine train for our fast pass return time.

Thus, completing the Mountain Trifecta! Now, at this point I was on and you would have had to drag me out of the park but I still wouldn't be disappointed because I had done soooo much already, and we'd been there for only 3 and a half hours! I was walking around the entire day (and way into the night) with the hugest grin on my face.

After our ride on BTMRR Kim and Nick left so Nick could go home (poor Nicholas was so bored!) and Rhonda's kids wanted to hit up Tom Sawyer's Island. Britt and I were hungry and so we took off for Main Street in search of lunch. We decided to go to Casey's for hot dogs, which were delicious. I stood in line to order while Britt went to stalk for a table, which apparently she got as soon as she got outside. We sat out on the corner at a lovely table by the piano. The crowd was still large but fairly manageable. It was definately more crowded over in Frontierland than anywhere else because of Splash and Big Thunder. Or the Country Bears. Whichever.

Oh yes, we also tried to get on the Haunted Mansion around noon, but it was experiencing "technical difficulties" and was closed for the time being. I hoped it would be up and haunting soon! After lunch we walked through the shops on Main Street. there was so much to look at I think I was on souvenir overload! The only things I bought that day were two notepads and food, which is pretty good. It was coming on 2:45 and the crowds were gathering for the parade. I knew (thanks to my research) we needed to get out of there lickety split or risk being stuck in the throngs. As we neared Tomorrowland a marching band came doen the street and suddenly I was innundated with memories from my bandgeek days in highschool.

While strolling through Fantasyland, the parade route behind us, we noticed the standby wait for Small World was 20 minutes. This was one ride I knew I had to do because it's so classic. While we were in line Kim called to say the Haunted Mansion was working again and to meet them there when we got off Small World. The ride was cute and it definately is a small, small world after all.

Next up- The 999 Happy Haunts and a jaunt through Adventureland!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

After we got off Small World, we met Kim and the others at Haunted Mansion, mwahahahah! It was working again but the wait time was 40 minutes! The line stretched all the way back to Colombia Harbor House and we were at the very end of it.

We slowly zigzagged through the line that looked like it used to be the entrance to a now-defunct ride but I got some great pictures of Aunt Polly's and BTMRR accross the river. We wound our way all through the green awning. To add to this, it had started to rain. It was sprinkling but sunny when we started in line, and just 10 minutes later it was raining harder. Great. Oh well, go with the flow, right? Even though I waited in line longer to ride Splash, this que was probably the worst of the day. We had some kids (about 10 or 11 years old) in front of us who were very bored and stated fidgiting, fighting, and goofing off, and understandably so. There was nothing to look at until the semitary. I wasn't too bothered by it, but they weren't accompanied by an adult (and if they were that adult was doing a bad job supervising) so Kim had to remind them to keep it moving a few times when their playing held up the line. Once we were through the doors, though, I knew right away this could very well be my favorite ride. After all I had heard about it and seen on tv and read here, I had high expectations. It definately came through! I was a little afraid it might break down because of the earlier technical difficulties and other such stories I've read on Intercot, but it went off smoothly! My favorite scene was the ballroom, there was so much to look at there! I wasn't expecting the fall into the graveyard when I "died" at all! It was such a fun time, I am glad I got to ride it before the refurb.

When we exited the ride it was still raining, and I forgot to look for the wedding ring and the pet semitary. There was no time anyway because I had an appointment with some pillagers.

The wait for Pirates was posted for 30 minutes but it was more like 20. I'm not sure how I feel about Pirates- I almost would have rather seen the original because I have nothing to compare this version to. I liked how Davy Jones appeared and seeing Captain Jack pop up every now and then. Brittany thought it was a real person the first time she saw him. Seriously. It felt to me that this has now turned into a ride that was based on a movie (like the rides at that other themepark in Orlando we won't talk about), and not the ride that inspired a movie. I dodn't get to ride this one again, but I will next trip.

After Pirates it was still raining, so I assumed there would be no pirate tutorial. So we headed for a Jungle Cruise instead!

Again, the posted wait time was longer than what we actually stood for. I was so surprised the waits weren't unbearable! For one of the busiest times of the year on a Friday during Orlando school's spring break, it wasn't bad! I've waited much longer for much less entertaining rides.

Again, Jungle Cruise- I don't know how I felt about it. This is also one of those rides I had built up in my mind and read a lot about, and I'm not sure if it lived up to my self-created hype. It was still raining, for one, so we had to sit on a wet boat. And our guide was so not funny. I know the script can change but his was virtually the same as a video I saw on YouTube. I think it was his delivery or his timing was off or something like that. It was also at this point that I noticed my camera battery in my camera was almost out. What!?! They were brand new when I put them in that morning. And where were my extras? In the room, of course. So I needed to slow it down with the photo documentation. Thank goodness I got that Photopass I didn't want.

When we were done with our cruise it was time to potty and figure out the game plan for the rest of the day. the others were getting bored and decided to hop to EPCOT. Now, really I had already done all of my "must do's" and then some, plus it was getting on 5pm and if I wanted to get my EMH wristband for EPCOT that night I'd have to do it then. It was tempting. But here's the thing. My sister and I made a pact that whenever we would go to Disney for the first time we would go together. There had been a few occasions where either one of us had come close to breaking it, but those plans always fell though. So when I knew last fall I could go for sure, I called hjer to get her blessing to break our pact. She was fine with it, but I had to promise to go only to one park so we could experience the rest of Disney together. So when the time came to make a decision about EPCOT, I just couldn't do it. Plus, while I hear great things about Illuminations, I had had had to see Wishes. And the park hours had been extended from 10 to 11 that night, which ment there was more time to ride and see what we had skipped earlier.

So the group split up and Britt and I were left to our own devices in Adventureland. The Tiki Room was just about to open and since it's another classic we got in line. That and my grandmother told me I had to see it. I liked it! Too bad it's not as popular as it once was. After leaving the tropical hideaway we went to get fastpasses for Splash because we both wanted to ride it again. Our return time was 7:40, which left an hour and a half to get some dinner and maybe do another ride. We decided to try a sit down because we had been in the park going on nine hours and needed a rest. I had only read fabulous things about the Liberty Tree Tavern, so we tried to get in there. The wait was an hour, so no dice. Then I remembered the Colombia Harbor House was just as good (according to my research). We walked in and it was close to empty! After we got our food we sat upstairs by a window looking over the Haunted Mansion. It was virtually deserted up there so I pulled up two chairs, put my feet up and relaxed. We ate, people watched, and made some phone calls. As we got up to leave I glanced out the window and saw the wait for Haunted Mansion was 5 minutes! We walked right on and the cast member in the stretching room was great. She walked around the perimeter of the room when we had to get into the "dead center" and said "get your wretched bodies away from my walls!" And then when it was time to file out to the Doombuggies she gave us the nastiest "get out" I've ever heard. I turned to Brittany and said "oh she's good!" This time the ride began smoothly, but then when we got to the sceance we stalled for about two minutes. I wasn't mad at all, I actually wouldn't have minded having to walk out so I could see it all with the lights on. But we got moving once again and finished the ride. Both times we had the same hitchhiker, I think he liked us!

Next Britt wanted to look in the Christmas shop. I told her she could look but not touch any more ornaments! I wasn't interested because it was the same stuff as in Downtown Disney, so I sat on a stone wall outside the shop and called my mom. I had talked with her briefly the night before, but I had been in World of Disney at the time and it was loud and distracting. The crowds by that point had also thinned out (it was around 7:15). So as it was quieter here and Britt takes her time shopping this was the best time to check in with New York. She must have glanced at the caller ID because when she picked up I heard, in her rare singing voice no less, "M-I-C..." and of course I answered "K-E-Y..." My mom rocks. I told her all about my day and all the characters I had met. Then she said "Do they still have Space Mountain there?" Bless her. I said "Yeah, mumsy, it was my very first ride this morning." Apparently the last time she was in Disney, which must have been in the 80's because she hasn't been on a plane in about 20 years, whe had gone on Space Mountain. "And I screamed the whoooole way down" she said. Seriously, my mom rocks.

Next up: Splashing down again and Wishes! Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[satman1962]

Great report! We're going down in August and I'm so bummed out that Haunted Mansion will be closed for rehab. Glad you got it in ...twice!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Sorry there are no pics for this installment because my batteries had run out around 5pm so I wasn't able to take pictures myself, only Potopass ones which I can't post here until I buy some.

Once Brittany was done in the Christmas shop and hadn't destroyed more Disney property, we headed to Tomorrowland. This wasn't part of my original plan, but it's go with the flow. Plus it had FINALLY stopped raining so I didn't care where we went as long as we didn't miss Wishes. Or our Splash fastpass window. Which was coming up so I guess I did care where we went. Anyhow, Britt had been on the Alien Encounter ride and didn't know it had been changed to Stitch's Great Escape. She actually said a few weeks before we went "there's this cool ride that's really scary called Alien, and-" so I cut her off and told her it was reincarnated as Stitch. So she was curious to see how it had changed, and since the wait time was 5 minutes we went for it. I thought it was cute, but I'm a Lilo and Stitch fan, so there you go. Hated the chili dog burp, but other than that I didn't think it was so bad. Would I do it again? Probably not, but maybe.

Then it was time to hoof it once again to Frontierland and use our fastpasses for Splash. Poor Brittany, I made her march all over that park! Walking through Fantasyland I made note of all the wait times of rides I had in mind of going on since I had only done Small World eariler that day. My master plan was we would watch Wishes from in front of Pinnochio Village Haus and then jump on Pooh or Snow White or something while there was no one in line. All day, any time I walked past Peter Pan's Flight, the wait time was never ever under 40 minutes. And the fastpasses were gone after 6:30pm. I really began to wonder what all the fuss was about, but we weren't going to find out, especially with no fastpass option and Wishes being so close. In fact, when we left the park the wait time had skyrocketed to an hour!

The wait time was half an hour for Splash, but even the fastpass line was moving slowly. It was here I also encountered my first person with fastpass envy. It's not my fault I was smart enough to anticipate a long line and researched before my trip about fastpasses and you didn't, so please keep your dirty looks to yourself. Thank you very much and have a magical day.

Once we got in our log I was so excited to ride this again! I didn't think I'd get to it twice in one day. This time our ride was much, much better than the first. Or at least it seemed that way to us. We got much, much wetter, I think they turned the extra water on, especially the water cannons in the laughin' place or wherever those pesky frogs and their lillypads are. I just love this ride. As we came off the last drop we saw some of the Spectromagic floats coming into Frontierland. I'm definately not sorry I skipped the parades, but it may be something I'll do for the next time. I actually saw more of Spectro than I'm letting on, but I'll get to more of that later. Right now we're on a quest to make a wish and do as dreamers do!

We followed the path along the river from Splash to Fantasyland to avoid the crowds from Spectro. There were plenty of seats outside the Village Haus at 8:30, so we got some treats and parked it. As soon as I heard the music start I got so excited! I love the music to Wishes and had been looking forward to seeing it all day. It definately didn't disappoint and is probably the best fireworks display I've seen. Maybe I'll change my mind once I see Illuminations, but for now I'm all about Wishes! I was singing along at the end and Brittany just gave me this look. Whatever.

After the finale the wait time for Pooh was 5 minutes so we hopped in line, but it turned out to me more like 15. No biggie anyhow, I'd had such a great day anything else after this was just gravy. I loved Pooh as a kid and the theme in my bedroom when I was little was classic Pooh, so this ride got two thumbs up from me! And My favorite cartoon is the Very Blustery Day so this ride was perfect. I'll tell you though, there was a moment I really didn't want to bounce with Tigger anymore! I thought my fish and chips were going to make an encore appearance, if you get what I mean. I loved the Heffalumps and Woozles, I sang along in that room and again got "the look" from Brittany. She just doesn't understand because this was her 30th something time at Disney.

After Pooh it was time to succumb to the centrifical force of the Mad Tea Party. It's such a classic and iconic ride. By this time it was 9:45 and the crowds had significantly diminished, except for the line at Peter Pan, of course. We decuded we had enough left in us for one more ride, and we settled on Big Thunder. We wanted to see it at night and get some unique views of the park lit up. We virtually walked right on after letting the Family of the Hour cut in front of us. That was the first time we'd seen the Dream Team all trip. It was a very fast ride this time, it felt much faster than before. I didn't even put my arms up because I was sliding all over my seat with every turn! When we were done I briefly considered Splash again, but poor Brittany'd had enough. I won't lie, my feet were about to give out too.

We very slowly made our way through Frontierland, and to what did our wondering eyes did appear but the beginning of Spectromagic again! We stopped to watch a little and walked against the parade currant to the castle. I hadn't walked through it yet so we did that and looked at the mosaics. As we emerged on the other side we learned where all the people had gone. Main Street. We knew we weren't going to be able to leave for a few minutes so we parked it on the stairs and enjoyed the last of the Spectro floats.

As we filed out of Main Street USA I was both elated and sad at the same time. It had been one of the best days ever. Everything had far surpassed any expectations I had. We had spent close to 14 hours in the happiest place on Earth and it couldn't have been any better, except for more time of course. The next day we had to check out and move into the World Center Marriott and Gaylord Palms hotels for the real reason we were in Orlando. As we left I forced (she could have said no) Brittany and I to get one last picture in front of the castle all lit up, and it's one of the best pictures of the day.

Next up- some final thoughts and thinking ahead to my next trip!
__________________

 

[the_princess]

great tp.. very nice pics

 

[princessjv]

I love the details...details...details! Oh yea, almost forgot to ask how was the walk from the 50's to the main building? Do you feel it was worth the 'not paying' for preferred? We stayed in preferred for 2 nights last Jan. and the resort just didn't seem to busy.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

I love the details...details...details! Oh yea, almost forgot to ask how was the walk from the 50's to the main building? Do you feel it was worth the 'not paying' for preferred? We stayed in preferred for 2 nights last Jan. and the resort just didn't seem to busy.

I loved staying in the 50's section. We were on the ground floor, had a lovely view of the lake and it was very quiet. The walk for me was maybe 5 minutes tops, but I am a fast walker. If you have little ones or like to meander it will take a bit longer of course. It didn't bother me at all we were "so far away" as other people think the 50's and 90's buildings are. I think if I were staying there longer and had to walk back and forth a lot from the room to Classic Hall maybe I would have cared more. Personally I don't want to pay a lot for a hotel when I'm hardly there anyhow, so whether we were in preferred or standard is small potatoes.

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

We got back from the MK by way of the bus to Pop at 11:15. Our friend Jamia had arrived in Orlando earlier that day and was crashing in our room for the night. She had already gone to bed, but must have forgotten we were coming back because she put the deadbolt on and fell asleep! So we couldn't get in the room. Great. We were pounding on the door and the window and I was afraid we would disturb the neighbors, but finally she opened the door. I was way too tired to journal, so I jotted down all the rides we had done over the day so I wouldn't forget anything when I wrote. I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow that night!

The next morning Kim was picking us up to take us to the World Center Marriott where I was staying for the conference, and the Gaylord Palms where Brittany was staying. We waited until the last minute to check out, and I sat in the lobby trying to take it all in for the last time.

I loved, loved, loved every second of this too short trip! It couldn't have been any better. Breakfast at Chef Mickey's was the best idea, I will definately be doing that one again. I was able to see all I wanted to in the Magic Kingdom and then some despite it being peak season. I don't know how I lucked out with that!

I can't wait to go back! My next trip will be in either June or July of 2008 with my sister celebrating her birthday and first trip, my birthday, and her college graduation. We plan on being there 6 days staying at either Pop or Port Orleans French Quarter, with the DDP. I loved the food I had there but I'm looking forward to trying some sit down dinners because I think I ate my weight in french fries this trip. Already on the list: Liberty Tree Tavern, Crystal Palace, Le Cellier, San Angel Inn, Ohana's, Boma, Tusker House, California Grill, Mama Melrose and Chef Mickey's. I'm getting hungry already! We're planning 2 days for MK, 2 days for EPCOT, 1 day each for AK and MGM, plus an evening or 2 for Downtown Disney.

Thanks to everyone for reading my trip report, I can't wait to write another one in a year!

ps- random fact about the World Center Marriott. I didn't request this but my room faced Disney and I was able to watch most of Wishes from my balcony every night! And they have the most comfertable beds I've ever slept in.

 

[princessjv]

I loved staying in the 50's section. We were on the ground floor, had a lovely view of the lake and it was very quiet. The walk for me was maybe 5 minutes tops, but I am a fast walker. If you have little ones or like to meander it will take a bit longer of course. It didn't bother me at all we were "so far away" as other people think the 50's and 90's buildings are. I think if I were staying there longer and had to walk back and forth a lot from the room to Classic Hall maybe I would have cared more. Personally I don't want to pay a lot for a hotel when I'm hardly there anyhow, so whether we were in preferred or standard is small potatoes.

Thanks abunch! I am going back to POP in the fall with just my DS. I just may change to non-preferred. I have stayed at POR & FQ, both I walked to the main area without a problem. POR is giant!

Thanks for the short, but great TR.

 

[mlill]

Excellent trip report! I love reading about someone's first time in the Magic Kingdom! (although, you did a great job getting around - you must have done your homework!) I think it's sweet that you're waiting to go to the rest of the parks with your sister. Next year will be here before you know it! Just keep planning!

-Michelle

 

[disneyaddicted]

For a one day trip you sure did make the most of it. I loved all the pictures and your journaling was great, I could picture everything as you wrote about it. That was a fun TR to read.

 

[daisy_77]

Great TR! I really enjoyed reading how well you navigated your way around the MK. It sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Thanks so much for sharing! I hope you do a TR for next year's trip!