Cast of Characters
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Day 1 always starts with great excitement and anticipation. Yeah, we were finally going. After months of counting down the weeks and days, the time had finally arrived. We arrived at Philadelphia airport about 2.5 hours early in rainy windy conditions. We were really praying that there would be no delays. The ticket counter and security were a breeze. We were flying with Airtran and did the $35 upgrade to business class. Since the fares are usually very inexpensive, this is a good deal for us. It is hard going back to cramped seats and having to wait to get on and off the plane after you have experienced business class. The wait in the airport went by remarkably quick and before you know it we were on the plane and taking off, only a couple of minutes late. Once we left the dark skies of Philadelphia, the ride was smooth sailing. Before we knew it, we were touching down in Orlando in beautiful sunny weather. We hopped on their little monorail to the main terminal to pick up our luggage. To avoid waiting at the baggage claim for our bags, we stopped at the arcade to pass a couple of minutes. I have traveled a lot and Orlando is the only airport I know of with an arcade. You have to love tourism. OK, time to pick up the bags and get our rental car. We still had to wait a couple of minutes for our luggage, but once we had it we disappeared into an elevator for a trip to the rental car counter. We went with Budget for the first time and were pleased with their service and especially their location. I am not a big fan of having to get on a bus to get my car. We had reserved an intermediate car, but since none were available we got a free upgrade. I chose the Hyundai Santa Fe over a Ford Taurus. The car was easy to find in the garage and even easier to load our stuff.
After a confusing trip around parking garages and construction sites, we were finally on our way to Disney World. I used to always take the Bee Line Expressway to Route 4, but this time I got a little lost and we ended up on the Central Florida Greenway which is an equal rip off of a road with expensive tolls every couple of miles. Who cares, we are on vacation. First stop was lunch in Lake Beauna Vista at Steak N Shake, which has become a staple on any trip to Florida. Lunch was great as usual and Kristen even bought a T-shirt to commemorate the experience. You have to love the fact that restaurants even sucker you in with merchandise. Next stop was Goodings, this has to be one of the most expensive grocery stores ever, but since it caters to tourists you know why. We picked up some breakfast foods and we were finally off to see the mouse.
Seeing the Welcome to Disney World signs are always magical to us. We have so many great memories of this place that we almost get a tear to our eyes when we return. I know we are nuts, but where else are you going to find purple and red direction signs instead of the boring green ones all over the rest of the country. We were staying at Boardwalk in a studio with a preferred view. We pulled right through security where we were greeted enthusiastically by the valet parking attendants. One section of Boardwalk was covered with scaffolding, but that did not quell our enthusiasm in the slightest. There was no line for check-in and our host greeted us with a Welcome Home and we were off to our room. We were given room 2053, which was close to the lobby and had a balcony over the Wyland Art Gallery that gave us a pretty good view of at least one half of the boardwalk. We did not do much un-packing because we were anxious to get over to the parks. We both have annual passes so we were not worried about the late start we were getting, oh it was around 4:00.
First park was MGM. We decided to walk there, wait a second, we walked every where. We had to burn off that lunch somehow. The walk from Boardwalk to MGM is pretty long, but a nice one nonetheless overlooking the little canal that the boat uses. We knew we had arrived when we walked through the ticket gates. The park was pretty crowded, but not unbearable. First stop had to be Tower of Terror. This is our favorite ride and never disappoints with its theming and pure fun factor. The wait time stated 13 minutes, now if you know this attraction that means there is virtually no wait. The line was a little longer than expected, but after about 5 minutes we were in the familiar library waiting to hear the famous voice of Rod Sterling introducing the attraction. It always gives me goose bumps. After waiting a couple of minutes we got to load one of the elevators with only seat belts in the rear row. It was a different experience not having a bar in front of you. Kristen was worried that it would affect her air time, but the seat belts were as much fun, if not more, because of the feeling of being free. The gift shop had some new items that we checked out and we were back on line for another does of terror. After riding the falling elevators a second time we headed to Rock and Roll Rollercoaster for a fast pass. We were successful in our quest and decided to hit some shops and walk around the park while waiting for our time slot. Villains in Vogue is one of my favorites, so of course we had to browse through that one. I wanted to see the Little Mermaid show, but we had missed the last showing so we headed into the Walt exhibit instead. If you havent seen the film about his life, you really need to check it out. It is a real tearjerker. Exiting the theater we still had time so we headed over to the Animation Tour. I have a love hate relationship with this attraction. I love it because it is interesting and informative, but I hate it because I wish I had a job as cool as these people. They were focusing on their new film Treasure Island that looks to have more adult themes similar to Atlantis. I just love looking at the animators desks. They have the coolest stuff. When the tour was over, we walked through the store wishing we were wealthy so we could cover our walls with Disney artwork. It was now time for our fast pass. We quickly made our way over to good old Rock and Roll. The ride was as exhilarating as we remembered. Kristen always gets a little nervous the first time we ride this speed machine, but she enjoyed it thoroughly. It seemed a little darker than I remember, but it was still so much fun. This ride is not to be missed if you enjoy rollercoasters. It was almost closing time by now and we were hungry so we made the long walk back to Boardwalk. We stopped at the Brewery for dinner, which was just ok and headed back to our room to finally unpack and prepare for the next days journey.
It was an awesome first day; perfect weather and we got to ride some of our favorite attractions.
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Day 1 always starts with great excitement and anticipation. Yeah, we were finally going. After months of counting down the weeks and days, the time had finally arrived. We arrived at Philadelphia airport about 2.5 hours early in rainy windy conditions. We were really praying that there would be no delays. The ticket counter and security were a breeze. We were flying with Airtran and did the $35 upgrade to business class. Since the fares are usually very inexpensive, this is a good deal for us. It is hard going back to cramped seats and having to wait to get on and off the plane after you have experienced business class. The wait in the airport went by remarkably quick and before you know it we were on the plane and taking off, only a couple of minutes late. Once we left the dark skies of Philadelphia, the ride was smooth sailing. Before we knew it, we were touching down in Orlando in beautiful sunny weather. We hopped on their little monorail to the main terminal to pick up our luggage. To avoid waiting at the baggage claim for our bags, we stopped at the arcade to pass a couple of minutes. I have traveled a lot and Orlando is the only airport I know of with an arcade. You have to love tourism. OK, time to pick up the bags and get our rental car. We still had to wait a couple of minutes for our luggage, but once we had it we disappeared into an elevator for a trip to the rental car counter. We went with Budget for the first time and were pleased with their service and especially their location. I am not a big fan of having to get on a bus to get my car. We had reserved an intermediate car, but since none were available we got a free upgrade. I chose the Hyundai Santa Fe over a Ford Taurus. The car was easy to find in the garage and even easier to load our stuff.
After a confusing trip around parking garages and construction sites, we were finally on our way to Disney World. I used to always take the Bee Line Expressway to Route 4, but this time I got a little lost and we ended up on the Central Florida Greenway which is an equal rip off of a road with expensive tolls every couple of miles. Who cares, we are on vacation. First stop was lunch in Lake Beauna Vista at Steak N Shake, which has become a staple on any trip to Florida. Lunch was great as usual and Kristen even bought a T-shirt to commemorate the experience. You have to love the fact that restaurants even sucker you in with merchandise. Next stop was Goodings, this has to be one of the most expensive grocery stores ever, but since it caters to tourists you know why. We picked up some breakfast foods and we were finally off to see the mouse.
Seeing the Welcome to Disney World signs are always magical to us. We have so many great memories of this place that we almost get a tear to our eyes when we return. I know we are nuts, but where else are you going to find purple and red direction signs instead of the boring green ones all over the rest of the country. We were staying at Boardwalk in a studio with a preferred view. We pulled right through security where we were greeted enthusiastically by the valet parking attendants. One section of Boardwalk was covered with scaffolding, but that did not quell our enthusiasm in the slightest. There was no line for check-in and our host greeted us with a Welcome Home and we were off to our room. We were given room 2053, which was close to the lobby and had a balcony over the Wyland Art Gallery that gave us a pretty good view of at least one half of the boardwalk. We did not do much un-packing because we were anxious to get over to the parks. We both have annual passes so we were not worried about the late start we were getting, oh it was around 4:00.
First park was MGM. We decided to walk there, wait a second, we walked every where. We had to burn off that lunch somehow. The walk from Boardwalk to MGM is pretty long, but a nice one nonetheless overlooking the little canal that the boat uses. We knew we had arrived when we walked through the ticket gates. The park was pretty crowded, but not unbearable. First stop had to be Tower of Terror. This is our favorite ride and never disappoints with its theming and pure fun factor. The wait time stated 13 minutes, now if you know this attraction that means there is virtually no wait. The line was a little longer than expected, but after about 5 minutes we were in the familiar library waiting to hear the famous voice of Rod Sterling introducing the attraction. It always gives me goose bumps. After waiting a couple of minutes we got to load one of the elevators with only seat belts in the rear row. It was a different experience not having a bar in front of you. Kristen was worried that it would affect her air time, but the seat belts were as much fun, if not more, because of the feeling of being free. The gift shop had some new items that we checked out and we were back on line for another does of terror. After riding the falling elevators a second time we headed to Rock and Roll Rollercoaster for a fast pass. We were successful in our quest and decided to hit some shops and walk around the park while waiting for our time slot. Villains in Vogue is one of my favorites, so of course we had to browse through that one. I wanted to see the Little Mermaid show, but we had missed the last showing so we headed into the Walt exhibit instead. If you havent seen the film about his life, you really need to check it out. It is a real tearjerker. Exiting the theater we still had time so we headed over to the Animation Tour. I have a love hate relationship with this attraction. I love it because it is interesting and informative, but I hate it because I wish I had a job as cool as these people. They were focusing on their new film Treasure Island that looks to have more adult themes similar to Atlantis. I just love looking at the animators desks. They have the coolest stuff. When the tour was over, we walked through the store wishing we were wealthy so we could cover our walls with Disney artwork. It was now time for our fast pass. We quickly made our way over to good old Rock and Roll. The ride was as exhilarating as we remembered. Kristen always gets a little nervous the first time we ride this speed machine, but she enjoyed it thoroughly. It seemed a little darker than I remember, but it was still so much fun. This ride is not to be missed if you enjoy rollercoasters. It was almost closing time by now and we were hungry so we made the long walk back to Boardwalk. We stopped at the Brewery for dinner, which was just ok and headed back to our room to finally unpack and prepare for the next days journey.
It was an awesome first day; perfect weather and we got to ride some of our favorite attractions.
