Disney 2006 trip: Day 1, December 9th Departure, AntiHelpdesk, Arrival

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

We got to bed early last night (Can’t sleep, I’m too excited), and at 4:20 woke up before the alarm went off. Made myself a pot of coffee and woke the kids. Zulaya was not happy I did that, but I figured it was only 5 minutes early.

Grandparents on Zulaya’s side picked us up at the prescribed time and we got to the airport in plenty of time. Note to self: Remove cell phone from belt before going through security.

The flight to Atlanta was fine. We landed ahead of schedule, and were able to just meander to our next gate, also stopping for some lunch at the main terminal.

We landed in Orlando without a problem. Went to get our bags and our largest bag – the one with DW and my clothes in it – was missing. We waited around for about 20 minutes, hoping that the conveyer would finally spit it out of the magic hole in the wall.

Lost Luggage. Dang. Headed over to the Delta Luggage office and they had no idea where our luggage was. We had the copy of the tag off of the bag, but they don’t scan it upon departure, just upon arrival. And our bag did not arrive with us in Orlando. Or maybe it did, but was sent on without us. I didn’t know.

Extremely pissed off at the Not-Helpful Delta Help desk people, we stormed off to National and grabbed a red/wine colored Jeep Liberty and headed out to Disney.

We arrived at BCV, and Zulaya says that check in was more of a pain than normal. It never seems to go as easy as she wants, but I’m more of a roll with it type of guy, and didn’t really care. We were at Disney!

Our room wasn’t ready so we grabbed the kids’ suits and headed for SAB. At about 16:00, we were assigned our room, #s 157+159, 2BR at BCV. DW was initially irked at location, but warmed up to it, as it was good-n-close to the quiet pool.

Zulaya was on the phone with Delta/Grandparents/Brother-who-travels-too-much to figure out what had happened – turns out our bag went to Puerto Rico and the next flight from PR to MCO wasn’t going to land until tomorrow at about 13:30. *sigh* Oh, well. We’ll make do. Turn the underwear inside out and trade shirts or something. Not a big deal.

We went to dinner at Kona Café. The Polynesian was awesomely decorated for Christmas, as usual. Our first time at Kona for dinner, and we loved it. Check out our reviews on the Restaurant Board.

Since Delta decided to ship our main bag to Puerto Rico, I had to run to Target for some essentials. (Can anyone say undies?) I forgot that the shuttle was lifting off as I was going to get the rental car, and I was wondering why people were running, not walking, running, into the parking lot. Got outside and turned around and saw in the sky, why. There was a streak of light about the length of a pencil and a dull rumble as the space shuttle lifted off. I called Zulaya on the cell phone, but she and the kids didn’t make it out to see the shuttle until it was a point of light in the sky. I remembered to save the receipt as the Delta manager on the phone told us we’d get reimbursed $25 per person per 24 hours after we were supposed to land. (HAH!)

Oh, yeah, if you want to see pictures of our trip(s), go to our Gallery

Day 2 next.

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

We ordered room service breakfast as we had no plans for breakfast, and we were all tired from yesterday’s travel and lost luggage fun.

We went to AK in the morning and bee-lined it for the new ride, Expedition Everest. Had to wait in line all of 15 minutes and then we were next. It was GREAT! I loved it, but I like coasters. Zulaya didn’t like it, but she has yet to tell me why. DS thought it was great, but DD said the drop was “too high” and she didn’t want to go on it again. I guess the girls will have to get tea and wait for us boys to get back next time.

Day 3 up next.

Next we headed for the Kilimanjaro Safari and again the wait was about 15 minutes. We rode the ride and the kids took some pictures of the animals. I gave my camera to Zulaya, otherwise, we’d have about 200 pictures of animals and only about 150 of the rest of Disney. DD wanted to go on the Maharaja Jungle Trek after we were off the Safari, so we went that way. Both kids were enthralled by the gorillas, and DS was amazed at the male gorilla just hanging out in the open in all his glory for everybody to see.

We went to lunch at the Flame Tree Barbecue. My favorite counter service place in all of the parks. I love their ribs-n-chicken combo meal. DS couldn’t stop feeding the ducks and skinny orange-billed white birds while we were eating. I’m sure they got fat off of our buck. LOL!

Headed back to our room and hit SAB for some fun in the sun. The locals were looking at us like we were crazy, but low 70s when you’re from Minnesota is swimmin’ weather.

We went to 1900 Park Faire for supper. DS loves that meal, as it’s the only one with a prince that comes to your table. Beforehand, we wandered around the Grand Floridian looking at the decorations, and DD bought a large hunk-o-fudge from the Gingerbread store.

We went back to the room and our luggage was not there. I was just transferring our first load of wash from the washer to the dryer (dang, those appliances are small!) and Zulaya was starting to get really annoyed when the front desk called and said that our bag had shown up. At about 2100. The bellman brought the luggage right over to our room and we had our clothes! Yes! No more laundry! (At least for right now)

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

We were off to Magic Kingdom today, as we had an ADR for before the park opened at Crystal Palace! We love that breakfast lasagna and the kiddos think that the waffles at CP are the best at Disney. We made it out of CP just in time for the official park opening and waited at the entrance to Adventureland to zip on over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We were the first family there, and there was nobody in line with us. In front of or behind us. The kids got to ride the train 3 times without getting off, as the CMs were really cool and said they could ride it over and over until someone was in line. DS and DD still are talking about riding it 3 times in a row.

I was waiting with Zulaya at the exit from the railroad and heard a beeping. I checked my cell phone (great devices for finding each other if you can’t find each other in the parks – darned infernal devices if your co-workers or boss(es) need to get a hold of you) Checked Zulaya’s phone. Nope. Huh.

Heard the beeping again, and DW pointed at my insulin pump. There wasn’t enough insulin left in the pump to cover lunch. I had to go fill my reservoir. I took off and grabbed the Monorail between Magic Kingdom and the TTC. That went fast, less than 5 minutes to wait for the Monorail to come and get me there. So, I figured, okay, that was quick, I’ll just hop the Monorail to Epcot. Hah! bad Bad BAD decision. 45 minutes of waiting, and the Monorail finally hit the TTC. We got to Epcot quickly enough, and it was about a 10 minute walk from the front of Epcot to my room in the BCV. I quickly changed my set and called the rest of the family to find out what their status was.

I found out that they went on the Haunted Mansion ride and also hit Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom. I’ve not hit Tom Sawyer’s Island, but I’ve got another 28 years of points, I think I can manage.

I jumped the bus back to Magic Kingdom. That was infinitely faster.  I met them at Columbia Harbor House for lunch because I wanted clam chowder in a bread bowl. I was totally bummed to find out they didn’t have a bread bowl any more! DS wanted pizza so DW ran him over to Pinocchio’s and then we all ate together before heading home for our midday break.

We rested in the room for a while then headed back out to MGM Studios.
Zulaya wanted to see the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show, so we grabbed a timesheet and BAM! We were off and not-quite-running, we had less than 5 minutes to make it from the entrance of MGM to the entrance of the stunt show. Both kids were complaining about how fast we were moving, and after we sat down, both said that if we have to go that fast again, they’d just miss the show next time. We watched the show, and I thought it was really cool, if a little loud. I wondered why the stunt cars sounded like my old dirt bike when they revved their engines, and found out later in the show that they’re specially made and actually have motorcycle engines in them. Score one for my memory! Both kids say that it was fun, but that the rubber smoke really stinks. Makes me glad my sense of smell has been broken since I was hit by a car walking to supper.

We went to the Star Wars ride after that. The wait was less than 5 minutes. We walked right through the entrance lines and were positioned at the “shuttle doors” without any waiting. We hit the Star Wars shop afterwards, and I was a little disappointed in the shop. I was looking for a Star Wars polo type shirt I could wear to work, but the closest they had was a tee-shirt. *sigh* Next time, maybe.

We were getting hungry by then, so we headed to the Studio Catering Company for supper. DS took one look at the menu and went EEEW and I had to take him to the Back Lot Express for a burger. I was disappointed that there was no longer a “fixins” bar for the burgers. I probably won’t eat there again.

We met up with DW and DD after supper to watch the Spectacle of Dancing Lights on main street. It was really cool. Not quite as good as the “house of Christmas lights blinking to Trans Siberian” you can find on the internet, but really neat to see in person, nonetheless.

Next: Day 4

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

Today was our first day at Epcot. We got up early and had breakfast in our room, then took off for Epcot to jump in on Soarin. I’m scared of heights so as we were waiting in line for the ride, DS and DD were trying to tease me that I’d be scared and it was going to be too high for me and that I’d chicken out and jump out of line at the last door. Fooled them! I’m okay with heights as long as there’s a seat belt or something like that. It’s climbing trees, cliffs, and tall ladders that I’ve got issues with. The ride was neat, and I enjoyed it. If you’ve not been on the ride, or if you have and haven’t noticed, watch the golf ball for a cool surprise.

We then went to the Finding Nemo ride. That wasn’t as cool as Soarin’ but we all enjoyed it.

The kids and I went to Test Track, while Mom went shopping. We hit the single rider line and had no wait. The kids were both scared that it would be too bumpy, too fast, but they came off of the ride wanting to go again, but we had to meet mom by the “Big Bouncy Balls” by MouseGears, where she went shopping.

We went to get a snack when DS started panicking and digging through all of his pockets and his PassPouch. He had lost his AP! We went back to the bench by the Big Bouncy Ball kiosk by MouseGears, keeping our eyes down and looking for a business card sized pass. No Luck. Dangit. DW and I gave the kids her cell phone and sent them to ride Mission Space as we went to the Guest Relations room to have the AP turned off and re-printed. 20 minutes, and 1 cool conversation with someone from Bell Plaine, Minnesota later, we had a “new” Annual Pass to replace the lost one.

We had a ADR for lunch at the Garden Grill, or the “Spinney Restaurant” as its known in our household. Our ADR was for 11:50, but we were there at 11:10, and they got us in by the time we were all done cleaning up in the washrooms by the Garden Grill. We had a really good server who kept us swimming in food and drinks and gave DS a “Its My Birthday” button, even though his birthday was last week. He also brought out a really really big birthday cake for us all to eat. But, I like the apple cobbler too much and let the other 3 eat the cake.
We then went back to our room to relax and the kids went for a swim. Then, we had a late reservation for Afternoon Tea in the Grand Floridian Tea Room. It was excellent! DW doesn’t think I liked it, but it was fun and good too. I had the biggest package available, not realizing that it included champagne. One of my few not-likes on the earth, champagne, so I dumped some sugar in it and was able to drink about half of it. I ordered the Earl Grey tea and there was a 4 course type meal that came with it. Mini-sandwiches and fruit and dessert. It was good. DS absolutely hated it, so I probably will have to hang with him next time the wimmin-folk go to tea here. Ah, well.

That evening we stayed in to chill in room and had frozen pizza for supper. Since we have a washer/dryer in our room, we only pack enough clothes for ½ of our time at Disneyworld, so it was time to do laundry. (again!) The washer and dryer are not quiet, so I started the first load as soon as we got back from Tea. All the wonders of home, our BCV has.

Comin' up: Day 5

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

Finished folding the laundry this morning and had each family member take their pile to their room and put it away. DS decided that this meant making a large pile out of his clean laundry in the corner, but the rest of us put our clean clothes away.

We then left for the Contemporary to have breakfast at Chef Mickey’s. DW was annoyed that the family that came 5 minutes after us got seated before we did, but we were about 5 minutes late for our Priority Seating. I think she was just hungry. After hanging out in the Contemporary for about half an hour, we took off for Downtown Disney.

We all love the Giant Disney shop in Downtown Disney, and I think my daughter fell in love with the Basin store there too. She kept going back in and out of the store while we were waiting for DS to get back from the LEGO store with his loot. Aha! Christmas presents. I “went to the PeePee Station” and snuck in to get her some bath-bombs and the Lilac soap she loved.

We then went and played mini golf at Fantasia Gardens. Zulaya chose for us to use the easier mini-golf course there. If you want to do the mini-golf course that uses all of the characters from Fantasia, this is the course to use. I know she and the kids were excited by it. I, however, was not. I remember seeing the really bumpy green mini-golf holes from the road and I was looking forward to those, but none of them are on the easy course. I put up with it, and had a great time, but next time, I’m going on the bumpy-green course.We went back to the room to relax and then we went to Epcot for supper.

However! That night the turnstile computers were broken at _ALL_ the entrances to the park. We had to wait over 60 minutes to get through the gate. There were a few families that got through the wheelchair exit to get in to the park, but they had to have a Cast Member get a manager to let them through. There were a few people in line with us that were really pissed off at that fact. I didn’t see the need to get mad. It wouldn’t speed up getting us into the park and would just raise my blood pressure. Not needed, so I just let it go. We’d get in eventually, or we’d be compensated for our trouble. I wasn’t worried.

As it was, we were still quite early for our supper at Le Cellier. So we wandered around England for a while checking out the shops and the kids started working on their Passports that Zulaya made for them. There was a square on each page for each country that they could get the KidCot stamp, and then there were 4-5 questions to ask a cast member from that country, stuff like “is it hot or cold in your country at this time of year?” and “What’s the coolest thing to see or do in your home country?” Epcot was cool to see in the dark, and we took quite a few pictures of some of the lights in the black sky. We caught the last part of the Candlelight Processional and then went home to rest.

Day 6 is next

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

As we were planning on going to Kennedy Space Center today, we had nothing planned, so it was just a do what you want day. The kids wanted to play games, so we headed for the Arcade at BCV. DS was really really annoyed that he wasn’t’ able to use any of the quarters he had been saving since about June, as the BCV arcade went to a “game-card” type system for credits on the machines. I ran to the gift shop to turn the quarters in to dollars so that they could be fed into the machine for credits on the game-card.

When the kids were done playing games, and Zulaya and I were really sick of the gameroom, we went to Epcot to finish walking around the world. The kids grabbed mom’s cell phone and took off for Test Track, while we went to the Yakitori House (Why does someone named Tori have a yucky house anyways?) in Japan. When we were done eating we started meandering towards Test Track to meet up with the kids, but by the time we got to the outpost, it was raining. Done in 30 minutes, we kept going and met the kids in Norway and finished the walk around the world.

We timed it right so that when we left Epcot, we went right to the DVC mixer. We entered the tent and turned in our raffle tickets to win (we didn’t, dangit) and then while the kids went to dance with the DJ and some other kids at the mixer, Zulaya and I went to graze on the food and drink they had laying out. We took a look at the various tables of stuff that DVC had available for us to look at (LE pins, the Disney Florists, and how to get more DVC points are what I remember) Zulaya went to play with the kids while I stood in line for DVC only merchandise. After we blew a wad at the DVC stand, DS and I ran over to get our pictures taken with some Characters in Christmas costumes. It was fun!

We had a late dinner at Cape May, then we headed back to our room for a rest.

Day 7 comin' up!

 

[lightsaber]

Cast:
Lightsaber, Me, 34 years young
Zulaya, DW, 33 years old
DS, 11 years old
DD, 10 years old

We went to MGM first thing in the morning today. We were only a few people back from being first in line. We hit the stand in the middle of the entry to MGM to grab a map and event schedule and one of the Cast Members hit us up to see if we wanted to be the “First family on Rockin’ Rollercoaster” for the day. Yes! We were planning on doing RnR for the first time ever today anyways! We got taken through a super-secret passageway from the main entrance to Sunset Boulevard and then we were treated to the Rockin’ Rollercoaster ride all to ourselves. Zulaya bowed out at the last exit on the ride, and the rest of us got to see Mr. Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith explain how we were going to get backstage passes at their concert and everything then we were off! I asked the CM where the most fun part of the roller coaster to sit was, but the kids only wanted to sit in the middle, so it didn’t matter. I loved it. Whooping and hollering, and singing along with Aerosmith, I’m sure the kids thought that dad was off his rocker. We jumped back in line right away and rode it again, but it just wasn’t as good as the first time ever.

We then went back to the Light, Motor, Action stunt show so we could get better seats, and DS (You, there, wild hair boy!) was chosen to be the Precision Stunt Driver and got a Special Limited Edition Pin and a certificate for being part of the show. That was really neat.

While DW, DD, and DS were swimming, I snuck off to “get Spanish maps of all the parks” and also hit Downtown Disney to get a “bunch” of Christmas presents for the rest of the family.

We went back to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon and took the big train to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – wait was 40 minutes, so went on Splash Mountain, as there was no wait. I forgot to tell you that I melt when I get wet, so the wife and kids just loved it when I got dowsed badly on the ride. (I hate wet underwear!) Then the kids –n – mom went on BTMR. I took off to get some eats, I was hungry, and 45 minutes later, they were done and none of them ever want to wait that long for a ride again.

We hung around and just took in the sights. I enjoy watching people and always get amused at the people in a full parka with mittens and a hat when it’s in the 50s, so I was having a good time. Saw some really stupid footwear too. How can you walk all over Magic Kingdom in 4” heels that make your ankles wobble with each step? We ate dinner at Cosmic Ray’s and I had their BBQ ribs and Chicken meal, but only got to eat the ribs and potatoes as the kids really liked the chicken and ate the chicken in addition to their own burgers. When we were done, we went out to the bridge and watched the Wishes fireworks. It was really cool to have Tinkerbell “fly” right over our heads. DS and I went in to Stich’s Great Escape while DW and DD went to ride the Buzz Lightyear ride. We went home after that and, started packing, and crashed for the night.

Next: Our last day at disney.

 

[lightsaber]

On our last day, our traditional breakfast is at Cape May for Goofy’s Beach Bash. It was fun and cool, but there was no Dale this time. DS was disappointed, because he likes to put on the tablecloth “Dale Rocks” or “Chip Rules” depending on which chipmunk is coming, and he couldn’t get them going this time, like he has in the past, because Dale was not there. We found out that we got too much “loot” and had to buy a new piece of luggage from the gift shop. No worries, we needed new luggage anyways, ours is too old.

We left for the airport when we were done and with no mishaps, we made it from Orlando to Atlanta just fine. However, in Atlanta, we had to wait for 3+ hours while they were “doing maintenance” on the original plane. Then we were told to go to the next gate down and we’d be taking off on a new plane. That took about 20 minutes, and then we were off. Total flight time was about 45 minutes less than the original amount of time (I think they were trying to make up for lost time) and we landed in Minneapolis. We called gramma and grandpa to come get us and went to see, with baited breath, if all of our luggage made it home. It did and there were no surprises.

TBD: When can we go again? Zulaya? LY/MI.

 

[BriarRosie]

Good so far....except for the luggage snafu, of course!

I'm a BCV owner, too. Welcome home!

 

[Cass]

Maybe Delta sent your underwear on the space shuttle lol

 

[BriarRosie]

We went to MGM first thing in the morning today. We were only a few people back from being first in line. We hit the stand in the middle of the entry to MGM to grab a map and event schedule and one of the Cast Members hit us up to see if we wanted to be the “First family on Rockin’ Rollercoaster” for the day. Yes! We were planning on doing RnR for the first time ever today anyways! We got taken through a super-secret passageway from the main entrance to Sunset Boulevard and then we were treated to the Rockin’ Rollercoaster ride all to ourselves.

<snip>

We then went back to the Light, Motor, Action stunt show so we could get better seats, and DS (You, there, wild hair boy!) was chosen to be the Precision Stunt Driver and got a Special Limited Edition Pin and a certificate for being part of the show. That was really neat.

Not one, but two Magical Moments!
Congrats!

 

[BYC]

WE were at BCV at the same time as you! We also had a first floor, quiet pool room. I was also disappointed. Instead of a balconey, we had a slab of concrete, and it smelled so moldy out there, we never sat on it once. I wanted a higher level floor, but they said there were not any.

 

[pumba]

being from Maine I understand going swimming in the 70s temp......yup that is swimming weather.......glad that your luggage arrived.......

Oh yah gotta love that gorilla........

 

[pumba]

we must be related.......We too were disappointed to find no bread bowls with the clam chowder....it is almost like mine but no bowls....and no fixing bars at alot of the places!!!!
Thanks for the report......we were there the 13th to the 18th and I loved the weather......

 

[pumba]

thanks so much for your great report.....glad that you were able to get a new AP......I would freak out if I lost mine too....
We did Soarin 9 times last April-May ....our eleven day vacation.....and only 2 times this December trip..our all time favorite......
thanks again

 

[pumba]

WE did Le Cellier Saturday evening....our most favorite place to eat.....BUT I do believe we were there at Epcot the same time the computers broke at the front of the Epcot.......this is to funny.......thanks so much for your report....

 

[pumba]

wow you did alot with your evening......we got rained out at our MVMCP and can you believe it .....we got a refund.....I was very very damp......
I have not eaten at Japan yet but my favorite store to buy hot rice crackers in the back of the store.......I love that place..
Thanks again for your days

 

[pumba]

now I know we are related.......we went to Atlanta too and then to Maine.....well almost ....both of our states begin with the letter M.......thanks so much for your great report.....it was fun doing disney with you all

 

[zulaya]

Note to lightsaber: I called today and started making the reservation for December.

Dude. Just had to use this smilie and it so said, "Dude" to me.