CJK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2001
- Messages
- 7,594
I can't believe we're leaving for Disney!! We've been so blessed this past year and have been able to go 3 times. This is our first spring trip ever and decided to make it extra special by splitting our hotel stays between ASSports and AKL. Our last night was at the Hyatt Regency right inside the Orlando airport.
Day 1
After getting about 3hrs sleep, we were up and running and on our way to the airport. We've decided that we must look like deviants because our luggage is ALWAYS hand checked at the airport! Both our suitcases were opened and examined. The woman searching our bags got a chuckle out of all the food we were bringing! I joked that it was the only way we could eat while at Disney! Our flight was a smooth one and the food was really good. We had a hot chicken/rice dish with salad and carrot cake. Not bad! Once we retrieved our luggage at MCO, we went in search of a Mears shuttle. We ended up having to wait for 30 minutes. We've never had to wait that long, but hey, we're in Florida!
For the first 3 days, we were staying at the All Star Sports. One bonus was that transportation always goes to the ASSp first of all the All Star Resorts. We saw an alligator on our way to the hotel in one of the swampy areas just off the highway. We were really here!! We were dropped off at the hotel at 2:30pm. We were put in the Touchdown building and boy, were we in for a surprise. It was grad days for many teens throughout the country. Our building must have been the home of most of the teens. We had to weave in and around them down the hall in order to get to our room. Dh was starting to worry about our room location, but I assured him that it would be fine. Those were words I'd soon regret!
We changed and freshened up and went straight to Epcot! We have annual passes so we could go for just a half day. I was very excited to see all the topiaries and flowers in the flower festival at Epcot. The Mickey & Minnie topiaries were beautiful at the entrance. What a way to begin our vacation. We walked in and went directly on Spaceship Earth. We saw the usual hidden mickey's and felt a little sad to think the ride would be closing in a couple years. Next stop was the Land pavillion. The ride had a long wait so we decided to watch the Lion King movie in the building. What a great combination of humour and learning. Always a highlight for us.
We wanted to see the Liberty Singers in World Showcase so we started our way over there via the rose garden path. It was stunning as usual and the aroma was heavenly!! Our flowers in Ontario haven't fully grown yet so it was nice seeing all these flowers so soon. We passed the doggone maze and decided to wander around it later when we had more time. The Liberty Singers were about to perform afterall! Suddenly the skies opened up and it started to pour! We dashed into the American pavillion just in time for the Liberty Singers. They were wonderful as usual but our favourite singer wasn't in it. She was watching in the audience though.
Mickey Thomas from Starship was performing that night for the Garden festival music series. We were excited because "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was one of our favourite songs. We went to get a good seat (under shelter!). Dh then suggested I go watch American Vybe and he'd save me a seat for Starship. Nice guy or what! I happily went back into the American building to hear American Vybe. Wow! They just keep getting better and better and seem to have so much fun while performing. Feeling guilty, I quickly came back out to dh who was talking to a family beside him. The next thing we knew, Mickey Thomas came out on stage. We both thought he was very talented, but he didn't seem to be much of a "performer". He didn't have good rapport with the audience, but we enjoyed the concert nonetheless. The crowd went crazy when they did, "Sara" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"! Ahhh memories!
After the show, we continued to wander through World Showcase. We went to the little village in Germany but didn't find any of the hidden mickey's I had heard about there. We were pleased to see that Malestrom didn't have a line so we went right on it. We managed to outrun the trolls yet again!
Mexico was next. Haven't they done a wonderful job in there? You really feel like you're in a quaint little Mexican village! We went on the boatride and saw the hidden mickey made from 3 bowls. Clever!
Throughout our walk, we enjoyed all the various characters made into topiaries. Beauty & the Beast was our favourite I think (over in France). We decided to go back to Future World and see if Test Track was busy. There was only a 10 min. wait for the singles line so away we went! In line, we saw that one of the cars on display was inspected by "M. Mouse". Cute! Dh was now begging me to stop and have dinner so I obliged! We went to the Electric Umbrella for a quick bite. Dh loves the toppings bar there. Didn't I hear somewhere that this place was going to be replaced by McDonald's? Maybe that was a rumour that never materialized.
It was now getting close to Illumations so we worked our way back to World Showcase. We saw the hidden mickey on one of Canada's totem poles. From the DIS, I got a great tip for finding a viewing spot. Psst.......between you and me........the seating to the left of Rose & Crown restaurant is NOT part of the restaurant. It's a seating place that is for anyone. We walked in 20min. before Illuminations and got a table for 2! I guess people assume it's part of the restaurant and don't go in. Don't tell though, kay? Illuminations was fantastic as usual. It was a little smokey from this angle, but still wonderful! We quickly left Epcot and decided to get to bed. We had been up since 5am that morning! All in all, we had a great first day of our vacation! Little did I know what kind of a sleep we'd be having............stay tuned!
Day 1
After getting about 3hrs sleep, we were up and running and on our way to the airport. We've decided that we must look like deviants because our luggage is ALWAYS hand checked at the airport! Both our suitcases were opened and examined. The woman searching our bags got a chuckle out of all the food we were bringing! I joked that it was the only way we could eat while at Disney! Our flight was a smooth one and the food was really good. We had a hot chicken/rice dish with salad and carrot cake. Not bad! Once we retrieved our luggage at MCO, we went in search of a Mears shuttle. We ended up having to wait for 30 minutes. We've never had to wait that long, but hey, we're in Florida!
For the first 3 days, we were staying at the All Star Sports. One bonus was that transportation always goes to the ASSp first of all the All Star Resorts. We saw an alligator on our way to the hotel in one of the swampy areas just off the highway. We were really here!! We were dropped off at the hotel at 2:30pm. We were put in the Touchdown building and boy, were we in for a surprise. It was grad days for many teens throughout the country. Our building must have been the home of most of the teens. We had to weave in and around them down the hall in order to get to our room. Dh was starting to worry about our room location, but I assured him that it would be fine. Those were words I'd soon regret!
We changed and freshened up and went straight to Epcot! We have annual passes so we could go for just a half day. I was very excited to see all the topiaries and flowers in the flower festival at Epcot. The Mickey & Minnie topiaries were beautiful at the entrance. What a way to begin our vacation. We walked in and went directly on Spaceship Earth. We saw the usual hidden mickey's and felt a little sad to think the ride would be closing in a couple years. Next stop was the Land pavillion. The ride had a long wait so we decided to watch the Lion King movie in the building. What a great combination of humour and learning. Always a highlight for us.
We wanted to see the Liberty Singers in World Showcase so we started our way over there via the rose garden path. It was stunning as usual and the aroma was heavenly!! Our flowers in Ontario haven't fully grown yet so it was nice seeing all these flowers so soon. We passed the doggone maze and decided to wander around it later when we had more time. The Liberty Singers were about to perform afterall! Suddenly the skies opened up and it started to pour! We dashed into the American pavillion just in time for the Liberty Singers. They were wonderful as usual but our favourite singer wasn't in it. She was watching in the audience though.
Mickey Thomas from Starship was performing that night for the Garden festival music series. We were excited because "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" was one of our favourite songs. We went to get a good seat (under shelter!). Dh then suggested I go watch American Vybe and he'd save me a seat for Starship. Nice guy or what! I happily went back into the American building to hear American Vybe. Wow! They just keep getting better and better and seem to have so much fun while performing. Feeling guilty, I quickly came back out to dh who was talking to a family beside him. The next thing we knew, Mickey Thomas came out on stage. We both thought he was very talented, but he didn't seem to be much of a "performer". He didn't have good rapport with the audience, but we enjoyed the concert nonetheless. The crowd went crazy when they did, "Sara" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now"! Ahhh memories!
After the show, we continued to wander through World Showcase. We went to the little village in Germany but didn't find any of the hidden mickey's I had heard about there. We were pleased to see that Malestrom didn't have a line so we went right on it. We managed to outrun the trolls yet again!
Mexico was next. Haven't they done a wonderful job in there? You really feel like you're in a quaint little Mexican village! We went on the boatride and saw the hidden mickey made from 3 bowls. Clever!Throughout our walk, we enjoyed all the various characters made into topiaries. Beauty & the Beast was our favourite I think (over in France). We decided to go back to Future World and see if Test Track was busy. There was only a 10 min. wait for the singles line so away we went! In line, we saw that one of the cars on display was inspected by "M. Mouse". Cute! Dh was now begging me to stop and have dinner so I obliged!
We went to the Electric Umbrella for a quick bite. Dh loves the toppings bar there. Didn't I hear somewhere that this place was going to be replaced by McDonald's? Maybe that was a rumour that never materialized.It was now getting close to Illumations so we worked our way back to World Showcase. We saw the hidden mickey on one of Canada's totem poles. From the DIS, I got a great tip for finding a viewing spot. Psst.......between you and me........the seating to the left of Rose & Crown restaurant is NOT part of the restaurant. It's a seating place that is for anyone. We walked in 20min. before Illuminations and got a table for 2! I guess people assume it's part of the restaurant and don't go in. Don't tell though, kay?
Illuminations was fantastic as usual. It was a little smokey from this angle, but still wonderful! We quickly left Epcot and decided to get to bed. We had been up since 5am that morning! All in all, we had a great first day of our vacation! Little did I know what kind of a sleep we'd be having............stay tuned!
