Dreams, Tigers, and Roller Coasters, Oh My!!! 1/5-1/19

[diswedwish]

My mom and I go to WDW again

Me - 28, OCD planner who learned (or was forced to learn) to be less compulsive this trip
My mom - 28 + 30, my side-kick

Background for this trip:
We stayed for 14 nights in May and had AP. I had suggested that we take another trip to get the best usage of our APs. I work at a college, so I had most of January off, so it made sense to plan a January trip. I had thought that maybe, just maybe I could talk my mom into 7-10 nights. I brought it up and she said "but we stayed for 14 nights in May, can't we stay that long again?" Mission accomplished with the May trip, I had a Disney trip partner

So in August the flight prices came out for Allegiant - they were cheap for a day, then shot up. After several days the prices finally came down and we booked the flight portion of the trip. We should've waited on that one - 2 weeks before the trip it went down to $29 one way... Oh well. Then we booked SunRay again for our towncar. Last trip and this one I've made noises about going to SeaWorld, but no go on that one. My mom didn't want a car (not that I really wanted one either), so Disney only it was. Then the long wait for AP rates... We ended up booking 4 nights at POFQ with the AAA rate and 10 nights at POR with the AP rate.

We talked about meals - last time my mom thought we had too many, so this trip I scaled it back a bit. No more than one a day. Except for the day when I added Crystal Palace - 2 weeks before the trip I realized that I *couldn't* miss out on CP!! And no Cirque this time and no tours (at least for her), she has IBS and didn't want to worry about getting up early for anything. So all of that was taken care of easily.

Then a month beforehand I had a brief problem with my toe. I mention this in case anyone has this happen to them and have cruel family members like me... I had an ingrown toenail. It got infected. I'm tough, so I don't go to the doctor right away. This happened in early November. I didn't see a doctor until mid December. I kept thinking it would get better on its own. Finally I realized that unless I wanted to limp my way through Disney like I limped my way through the past month and a half, I'd better see someone. One of my students told me horror stories about how painful it would be to have it removed. My mom joked that if I had to have it amputated, at least we might be able to get one of those passes that would enable us to get on the rides faster. Thanks, that really helped... In the end, I had it done on 12/29, and although I had to wear a bandage the whole trip, it felt fine and didn't hurt at all and I could walk normally practically as soon as it was done. So if this happens to you, don't be a big baby like me - and don't listen to your mother!

Up next - our trip is off to a wonderful start

 

[diswedwish]

Our trip down...

So the day we left was not a good one. My dad decided that today would be a good day to upgrade our Norton antivirus on the computer. Except that he's not very good with computers. So that took several tense hours. I wanted to leave for the airport much sooner than we needed to - who needs computers, we'll be gone for 2 weeks?

Eventually (although not soon enough!), the car was packed, and my dad took us to the airport. The flight was on time (6:25 pm), so we grabbed some dinner at Subway, settled in with the Disney Trivia 2 book, and waited for our flight. We got on the plane and sat. And sat. After about 20 min. we were told that the cargo hold door had malfunctioned, it might be easier for us to wait in the terminal, but wait a few minutes. The guy in front of us got on his phone and started screaming obscenities about the airline. At the end of the call he said "call you later Mom" My mom and I just laughed...

So we waited in the terminal. They got us sodas (the first round had expired in October), and pizzas (all 45 from the same Dominos). After 9 everything shut down except the bar. So we watched several people get drunk. Around 11 an 82 year old guy passed out - we thought he had a heart attack, but one couple we talked to was trained in CPR and ran to him and told us that no, he was just drunk and had a concussion. So he was taken away in an ambulance. We finally left around 1 am. They flew a mechanic from St. Pete., FL to Allentown, PA to fix the door, then flew him back to FL with us (it was nice to know he was on the plane with us anyway!). In this case I was actually glad my mom smokes since she went through security regularly and talked to the security guards - they kept her updated.

We were given a $60 voucher for our trouble, but we'll have to use it a year before we booked the flight (in August). It was interesting to people watch and talk to different people, but I felt bad for a lot of the people who wouldn't be in FL for very long. We were going for 2 weeks, so it didn't matter much to us, but some were only going from Fri. night until Sun. afternoon... I called a couple of friends and my Prince Charming, so that was nice, I didn't expect to get to talk much to anyone that night.

We were both thankful to see Bob from Sunray waiting at the bottom of the steps in Sanford. I don't think he was quite as thankful, but he was there We got our luggage and were on our way. We got held up a bit in Marathon traffic, but eventually we checked in. Check in was quick, thankfully! We were settled in our room by 6am.

Up next - our first day!!!

 

[diswedwish]

Our first day on 3 hours of sleep - Epcot and MGM
One definite benefit to our long delay was that my mother's snoring (or her delicate breathing ) didn't bother my once the whole trip. Unlike last trip, I was out every night as soon as my head hit the pillow... We had agreed this morning at 6 that we would set our Mickey wake-up call for 9:30.
Today we just had some sort of music. I was too sleep deprived to figure out what. A few days later I actually figured out how to use speaker phone and we had fun figuring out what the music was and we actually like Stitch so that was a lot of fun.

We got ready and stumbled down to the food court. We didn't feel too bad considering. The food court was pretty crowded and I hoped that it was due to the Marathon. I really felt like a bum when I saw some people wearing medals - they were finished with the half-marathon already?! My mom got her usual kid's breakfast, I had a breakfast croissant and my refillable mug for this trip and we were good to go.

We got on the bus and again I learned the value of patience and not getting antsy. We went to POR, did all 4 stops (slowly), then headed back to FQ once more before heading to Epcot. The bus driver said that he'd only made 2 runs all morning because of the marathon. No matter, we'd get there eventually. I was just so happy to be back

We got to Epcot and braved the long line through security, then got to try the new one finger scanners, a definite improvement over the old system! Then, proving that I had slowed down over last time we stopped at the Character Connection for some character pictures. We saw one of the handlers that we remembered from May. He's great and we took the time later that day to fill out a thank you form at Guest Relations for him.

Then it was off for our first new ride of the trip - the Nemo ride. We waited in line for about 20 minutes - the longest wait for this of the trip. We had plenty of time to enjoy the detail of the queue. We liked the ride, except that it was kind of warm in there. My mom loves Crush, so we had to see that next. That began her Dory obsession of the trip. I don't know why her memory wasn't the best, but it wasn't (maybe no sleep?). We'd get out of a ride and she'd say "which way?" even though we'd been that way dozens of times. I'd tell her what we were doing next, or where we were going that day, or where we were eating. "What are we doing today? Where are we eating tonight?" It became a running joke. So Dory was especially appropriate... Then we visited Calvin and Rainier - much less fun on this side of the glass, but we couldn't pay for Dolphins in Depth every trip!

I allowed my mother to have a cigarette (actually I think she told me that if I didn't let her stop soon she would kill somebody or something). I was a bit bummed about the crowds and hoped that it was all due to the Marathon and would disperse later in the week. All I'd done was harp on the fact that January was empty, much less so than May My mom didn't know any better, but I did... Anyway, we headed over to ride Journey into your Imagination which didn't have a line Then we waited for Living with the Land - that was our first time riding it after our Behind the Seeds tour last May. Yep, yep. I guess I'm just not a gardening type. The alligators looked bigger. We learned about them. My mom commented that they wouldn't be around much longer...

Then we got our pagers for Garden Grill. I've wanted to try Garden Grill for the past 4 trips and *finally* here I was!!! We arrived a bit before our time and were still seated before our time - I think we waited about 15 min. This was a good choice for a first lunch My mom and I both enjoyed the food and the characters. It was nice to have the food served family style - more relaxing character meal (if a character meal can be called that? lol). When we were finished I found some of the Hidden Mickeys.

After lunch it was time to head to MGM; this was the last weekend of the Osbourne lights and I wanted to make sure we saw them. So we caught the boat over to MGM. Again I was amazed at the crowds (relative - I've never been to WDW in any peak season - so it was crowded for me!). We went on Star Tours and saw the Muppets. On the way in to the Muppets I saw the sign for the key under the mat, but we were quickly ushered into the theater. So after watching the Osbourne lights "dance" for a few minutes (my mom's verdict "tacky" *gasp*), we went back around to Muppets and I checked out the key. This is another thing I've always wanted to find, but had never been able to. Success And a magical moment certificate My first one!! I'd never ever gotten one before, so I was very excited (probably a little too excited, but hey it's Disney, I'm allowed )!

We headed over to ToT and I got my ride on that in - very sad that RnR was down Then we wandered the shops and waited for the second showing of Fantasmic. This was another thing I'd always wanted to do (wait for the 2nd showing), but either there hadn't been a 2nd show, or I hadn't stayed for it. It was nice since it wasn't as crowded. We got good seats and enjoyed the show, then practiced our crowd-weaving abilities as we went back to the bus.

We tried the food court for dinner, talked to our respective princes, and collapsed glad that we weren't stuck in an airport tonight!!

Up next: AK, we get a Dream!, my mother's encounter with a TumbleMonkey

 

[snoopy two]

I noticed you flew Allegiant into Sanford. Allegiant just started flying from our area and I was wondering about transportation from Sanford. How long is the trip and can you give me an idea of what it cost with Sunray?
Thanks.

 

[diswedwish]

The trip from Sanford to WDW lasts about 40 min. depending on traffic and Sunray costs $180 before tip. HTH

 

[diswedwish]

1/7 - AK

A full night of sleep certainly does make you feel better! We woke up feeling much better. I actually recognized Stitch and Mickey's voices this morning! We had breakfast at the food court and hoped that the buses wouldn't be too bad getting to AK (because of the Marathon).

The bus ride was fine, however when we arrived the runners were going through the park. I thought it was neat to see the runners, but I was a little concerned about negotiating our way through the crowds to find my mom a smoking area, while at the same time getting my FPs for EE - you know the important things

I was also on a mission to prove to my mom that AK is a wonderful place - it is my favorite park, but it seems to lose a bit in translation when it's May and hot and doesn't have a/c... Everything seemed fine. We even got to see AK's Christmas tree! We passed the first smoking area (my mom blissfully unaware that we were doing so), I figured she could hold out until EE. Then we came upon the runners. Oops. Bad idea to wait. Even worse idea to go to EE, so I gave that idea up.

She finally got her cigarette and proclaimed that she didn't want to stay in AK the rest of the day if it was going to be so crowded (proving I'd failed the quest to instil a love of AK in her so far). Plus it was a tad warm and that wasn't helping either.

So I suggested that we go to Conservation Station. She'd wanted to see if there was some way of finding out the operation schedule when we were there, plus I figured it wouldn't be too crowded. So off we went. We ran into Devine on our way and I got a picture On our way out I noticed some of the Dream Team, but they were on the other side; I figured they would notice if you started stalking them At least now we knew what they looked like.

Once there we searched for the Backyard Habitat that was on Animal Planet - I can't remember the name of the show, but my mom taped it and we'd watched it a few weeks before our trip. One of those things that you only watch because it's filmed at Disney. We wanted to find it, and eventually we did. Then we walked into the building and asked about the operations. We were told that they don't announce them ahead of time because they can change and they don't want people to get upset since it's not scheduled entertainment. Fair enough. They said that there was supposed to be an impala scheduled in 15 min. if we stuck around. 40 min. later still nothing, so we headed back. We were told that later in the week one of the tigers was supposed to get her annual check-up so my mom wanted to try to come back for that. She didn't *have* to see it, she just thought it would be neat.

As we approached the train we saw the Dream Squad And we got our lanyards That was a lot of fun since I usually never win anything. Then we basked in our glow of winningness and decided to walk through Pangani. We watched the gorillas and sat in the avaiary (sorry "bird forest" - learned that on Wild by Design) for a while. Then we went on the Safari and I took a gazillion giraffe pictures. I don't know why. My dad takes a gazillion wave pictures, I take giraffe pictures...

We were hungry so we tried Tusker House for lunch. My mom had her usual kid's meal. I had a turkey wrap with soup. We both enjoyed our lunches. I think we agreed the Flame Tree was our favorite in AK, but Tusker House was pretty good too.

Then it was off to FotLK. We were seated right along the edge, and my mom got a pleasant surprise, she made friends with a Tumble Monkey I didn't realize that the performers come up and interact with you if you're on the side like that - not a lot, just high-fives and stuff. But the Tumble Monkey actually jumped (tumbled?) over the railing (making a bunch of us jump). It was a lot of fun.

We both wanted to see the new Nemo show, so that's where we headed next. I wanted to try to get on Dinosaur, but the line was just a tad too long. So we looked around in the shops until it was time for the show. Neither of us liked the show as much as we thought we would. And I'll just leave it at that. It wasn't bad at all! Just not our favorite...

From there it was over to the Polynesian and dinner at Kona. When we checked in I asked if Debi was working and if we could have her as our server. We had a wonderful experience with her on our May trip and I had written a letter. She was working, and after a brief wait we were seated with her. She came over and sat down to talk with us - I was glad that I had written the letter, I guess it was a good thing, it went in her file, she got a lot of kudos and a special pin The last time my mom had this chicken with a salad with strawberries thing (I usually hate salad, but this one is good). So this time we both had it. Then we split the creme brulee. Last time they made us a special dessert and decorated the plate for us. This time they decorated the plate for us - it said "Welcome back" and "Aloha" and it made us feel very welcome.

MK had EMH tonight and I had talked my mom into going. Just for a little while. We got to see MK's tree. We watched Wishes, then made a bee-line for Pirates. Last trip it was closed, so my mom hadn't been on this since '83. No line and Captain Jack, it was great We also went on the HM before we called it quits, we were just too tired. On the way out, I noticed that the castle had snowflakes projected on it so I took a picture of that.

We got back to FQ, called our respective princes and crashed.

Up next: MK and we meet the "real" Prince Charming

 

[diswedwish]

1/8 - MK

Today was Monday and the start of our real wake up calls I leave my cell phone on overnight and my Prince calls me on his way to work - that would be around 7:45am. Usually I'm getting ready to head out of the door on my way to work. During this trip I let my mother "sleep in" - so his call functioned as our pre-Mickey and Stitch wake-up call. She likes my Prince, but I don't know if she was too thrilled after the second week of pre 8am calls . After I figured out how to use speaker phone in our room, I put that on so my Prince could hear Mickey and he was highly amused (although I'm not sure whether it was over my inability to find speaker phone for a few days or hearing Mickey but in any case)...

So once we were ready - which seemed to take some time this morning - we were on our way. Apparently my mom's stomach/IBS equate the first full day at the MK with "attack". Both trips our first MK day has been a bit slow on the uptake but we made it there eventually. So I dined solo at the food court and walked around FQ in daylight so I wouldn't hover in the room asking "ready yet?" every 5 seconds.

Soon enough we arrived and it was amazing - even though we had just been there the night before and it was EMH and the tree was up *poof* it was gone! We were amused by that for a few minutes, and were glad that we had stopped by the night before and had the chance to see the decorations.

Today was all about the rides and we did get on quite a few of them. The first one was definitely not the best however. I rushed over to Space Mt. to get FPs and then we hopped on TTA. I figured it would be a nice soothing ride for my mom's stomach. Um, yes, so I'm glad her stomach was better. We were stuck on it for about 30 min. or was more how we felt at the time. We had seen a Dream Team person as we got on the ride so the first 5 min. we thought maybe they were setting up - we'd be the DVC winners After our winning high of yesterday we were dreaming big Anyway when we got off the ride we asked a CM and they said that someone tried (or did) get out of one of the vehicles (true or not who knows). We were just glad to get off of the thing...

After that (and an extended smoke break for my mom), we got on Stitch, Buzz (I won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! first time ever - my success at the Reese's Cup Challenge at Hershey had paid off - for a few rides anyway), Space Mt., Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, Small World, and Philharmagic. We even got to watch Mary Poppins hop on the Carousel - watching the little girl's face was priceless. And she did ride Cinderella's horse so now I know exactly where that's at - I usually have to search for a bit.

Then we tried Cosmic Ray's for lunch. My mom had her ever varied kid's meal - soup this time. I had a burger. We liked Sonny Eclipse. And I had finally tried Cosmic Ray's. Then it was time for another first - to actually watch the parade - I'm not too big on parades - I'm a ride person. My mom doesn't really care. But we actually staked out a spot (sure it was only 5 min. before it started) and watched the parade. It was cute and we were glad we watched.

Then we went with the mass of humanity to Fantasyland to use our Peter Pan FP. We rode HM next followed by the JC, the Tiki Room, a Dole Whip for me, a bucket of popcorn for my mom, a long wait for Pirates, and BTMRR with my FP. We took the train and off we went for our character dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

On our last trip we went to CRT and my mom had really liked it, so this trip we talked it over and decided to try 1900 Park Fare. We both found the face characters slightly intimidating (especially my mom who has difficulty making "princess hands"), but we were willing to try again. And I had to get a picture with the "real" Prince Charming if for no other reason than to irritate my "prince". We checked in, got our beeper and after about 10 min. we called back to be seated.

The Fairy Godmother was in the lobby and of course we got pictures. My mom had her usual Zinfindel and I decided to break down and finally get a Glowtini (the drink with the stupid glow cube). My parents, aunt, uncle, and I went on a cruise in October and every night they'd bring around the drinks. I refrained from drinking (Disney trip to think of - who needs a stupid light up drink anyway), but those light up cubes are kind of neat. And now I got 20% off of it, even if it *was* over priced And my mom definitely didn't make fun of me the way my dad would have... So I got my glow cube We both liked the food - the strawberry soup was very good and the rest of the food was good too. Suzy and Perla wandered over next and after some time Cinderella and Prince Charming came by. Unfortunately I had to take a picture with them both together. I suppose I could've asked for a solo pic, but since we're 2 adults I try to minimize the time they spend with us.

Then it was time to get back to POFQ which took forever of course - first to DD then to FQ. It didn't really take forever, but when you're tired it certainly seems that way! Once we got back to the room we called our Princes and told them that Prince Charming didn't compare at all (of course), and packed our things for our very lengthy resort transfer tomorrow to POR

Up next: Transfer to POR/Epcot

 

[diswedwish]

1/9 - Switch to POR/Epcot

I got my wake-up call from my "prince" again, and we packed up the remainder of the room. I had stopped by bell services last night and was told to call when we were ready. So I called and we waited about 5 min. for someone to come for our bags. I figured we would just walk to POR, but our bell services guy told us that the boat started running between FQ/Riverside starting at 9-11 before it did the DD runs. That was convenient, and I was glad although somewhat embarrassed to find something (that I should have known ahead of time) that I didn't know

So we enjoyed one last "normal" food court breakfast - I got my choc. chip pancakes, my mom got her kiddie breakfast, and we departed for POR. We hopped on the boat and froze - it was windy - and enjoyed talking with our boat driver on the short trip to Riverside. There were a few people making the trek to FQ for breakfast (I think), and our boat driver told us that he had already ferried a few people over from POR.

So our first order of business upon arriving was to check out the food court. Neither of us was too concerned, but still we wanted to see if it was worth getting upset over or not. I really just wanted to know whether the refillable mug stations were open. Not to worry, one side was open and they were serving some form of a hot breakfast. So we headed over to check-in, and were greeted by a very talkative CM.

She was nice, but at the same time kind of down on Disney so I wasn't quite sure how to take it. She saw that we had APs and how long we were staying and was talking about how once you establish yourself as a seasonal CM you can just work 1 day a year and keep your status, etc, etc. I was thinking "yes, but I don't really *want* to work for Disney at this point, I just want to spend my $$$ here" Then she went on about how expensive things were, but how they saved $ on a Disney cruise since she was a CM. And how her family (somehow she managed to mention her second husband in a funny way - it sounded like she knocked the first one off - my mom and I laughed about that later) would be going to Ireland soon, but not with Adventures by Disney, why that cost a fortune and how ridiculous Disney was, etc!!!! But we listened attentively which she seemed to appreciate, and hopefully it helped her day go faster (there wasn't a line so it wasn't like she - or we - were holding anyone up).

So about 25 min. later we were checked in and heading to.... the exact same room in Oak Manor as our last trip Easy for Dory (er, my mom) to remember When we opened the door we had a towel rose waiting for us in a glass on the table, so we both enjoyed that.

Then we threw our stuff in, my mom had a quick cigarette, and we were off for Epcot. Oh, we did have a message on our phone about them testing fireworks in Epcot, so if we heard any loud noises overnight that was what it was, not to be alarmed (we didn't hear anything). And when we returned, we had a message from our check-in CM saying that if we needed anything to give her a call, so that was very sweet of her. I hope that she had a good time in Ireland and that everything was inexpensive

So we headed for Epcot and managed to catch Crush and the Nemo ride again. But first we had a fun encounter. As we were walking towards the Seas there was a 10 year old boy weaving back and forth across the pathway and he rammed his head into my mom's upper arm - hard (she got a bruise from it). We tried to avoid him, but you know how when kids are semi-running and not really paying attention... She didn't say anything, but she did give him a nasty look. His father who was within watching distance (although apparently not within holding onto to avoid colliding distance) said in a very nasty tone of voice "ma'am what do you expect, he's a child" to which she replied "watch your child then." So after this we were in our "we hate people" mode. Just because you spend major $$$ at Disney does not give your kids the right to turn into little monsters and you to let them and yell at other people because they happen to be in the same walkway.

However after Crush and Soarin' and Mission Space we did feel somewhat better. Then it was time for our late lunch at Chefs de France. We had a very nice waiter and a very nice lunch. My mom had a glass of the house white wine and the most expensive tuna sandwich she'd ever had I tried a glass of the house red wine and the French menu - so the French onion soup, the ham and cheese sandwich and the creme brulee (which we shared).

After lunch we wandered WS. I saw an umbrella with a Monet print on it that I had to have in France so I bought that and had it shipped back to POR. Note to self - next time remember that you have to get said umbrella back home again... Then we watched the candy lady in Japan. We'd never seen her before, she was really neat to watch. Then we watched as the gulls stole people's funnel cakes (or attempted to) in America. Yesterday I'd been arguing with my mom about why she shouldn't feed her popcorn in the MK to the birds. This is why. Not that she particularly cared for my logic, but at least today she didn't have any bird food ready And it was something amusing to watch (amusing because in most cases the birds didn't actually get anything - we didn't see any tears so it was all in good fun) while we rested.

Germany was our next stop. One of my mom's friends is into Hummel's (I don't even know if I spelled that right), so we walked around in that shop. They had a sales table and on the table was this incredibly ugly cat. We own an incredibly ugly cat - a tortie - we don't think she's ugly. But when my uncle saw her for the first time he said "expletive here, that's one ugly cat!". So my mom likes ugly cats. We took this one up to the register and asked how much it was and we were told $22, and took it. He gave us the canister it was supposed to be in, and told us that the artist was there and would sign it for free. Then we kept wandering and I found the canister on the sales table - and the sales price - $15. So we walked back to the register and tried to explain to the CM what we wanted. I don't think he quite understood, and I think he thought we were major pains, but we got our $7 back. And just in time for the chiming of the hour to watch the clock Then my mom went back inside to get the ugly little cat signed.

Then we wandered up to Spaceship Earth and I realized that maybe, just maybe it was still early enough for us to catch a ride on a Segway in Innoventions. And yep, it was We sat through the talk and then hopped on for our brief minute spin. Neither of us botched it too badly and we were at the end of the line, so we had plenty of time for pictures.

We still had time for a light dinner before Illuminations and we decided on Kringla, even though it was freezing. Probably not the best choice because of the temp. but the food was yummy. I had the combo meal and my mom had a rice cream. The combo meal was soup, open faced sandwich, and rice cream. I think you had your choice of sandwich and dessert. So we froze, but we were going to see Illuminations (aka I was forcing my mom to stay). My mom hadn't seen it from this side of the lagoon, come to think of it I don't know if I ever had either. Then we forded our way through the crowds and made our way "home".

Then we got to unpack, talk to our princes, and sleep.

Up next: MK, my mom's very first roller coaster , AK

 

[diswedwish]

This morning we had breakfast planned at Crystal Palace This was an addition to our ADRs - originally we'd decided not to eat here, but about 2 weeks before our trip I decided that our trip wouldn't be complete without it, so here we were.

We had time for a ride or 2 before breakfast so we took in Buzz - and I scored over 100k points !! And we saw the Dream along with Mickey show. Then we had our breakfast. I was upset that they didn't have my stuffed French toast - then I saw it on the kiddie side What a relief... It was pretty quiet (for a character meal), and pleasant, and we were stuffed as we floated away (I had a lot of coffee).

We headed for Toontown and ran into Abby Mallard. Actually I knew she was from Chicken Little (my mom and I had watched the movie together) but couldn't remember her name. So I sent my mom off, autograph book in tow for a picture and autograph. On our way I was trying to convince my mom to try to ride Goofy's Barnstormer. I told her that it was a kiddie coaster, not very fast, lasted about 20 seconds, was cute, and wouldn't Daddy be impressed that she rode a roller coaster (we wouldn't tell him which one)? On and on for about 15 min. She said she'd look at it. I knew she'd ride it.

She stopped to ask the CM at the line entrance about 200 questions first. He assured her that no, no one had died on the ride, yes, she would be fine, and yes, he had ridden it and enjoyed it. I speed walked her through that line so fast she didn't have time to blink (and more importantly change her mind). There was no wait, and we got right on. "There aren't any seatbelts?!" "No, it doesn't need them, it's not Top Thrill Dragster...". Her knuckles were pretty white on the handlebar, but she was smiling on the humongous drop. When we got back to the loading station she got off and said that she thought she'd like to go again, so we did

Then we had to call my father who asked if my mother had lost her mind . I waited all of 5 seconds before attempting to push BTMRR. "It's the same thing only longer". "No!!! Not today!!!" Okay, well, it was 1/10, I had until 1/19. Plenty of time to work up to that....

We went on the big thrill rides after that - the Liberty Belle, Hall of the Presidents. Needed to calm my mom down after all... j/k. We got another ride on Pirates in and decided that we'd head for AK for the rest of the day and EMH before our late dinner at Boma.

Once we got to AK we decided it was lunch time, and our favorite place there is Flame Tree so that's where we went. I love looking out over the water, and how pretty the pavilions are. I had the beef sandwich, my mom had the kid's chicken wings. Again, I loved having the DDE since we got 20% here.

After lunch we headed for the Maharajah jungle trek. We actually saw the tapir swim - apparently this isn't that rare from what I found out on the tour (the water = their bathroom), but I'd never seen this before. We spent a lot of time in the aviary. After that we saw the gibbons on the platform outside Kali and saw the one with the baby - that was very very cute!!!! I think we got our wristbands around this time - didn't take very long and we were set.

After EMH started I knew not too much would be open as far as the animals went, so we went on the safari and I took yet more baby giraffe pictures . Then we headed for Dinoland and stopped by the boneyard - I was determined to find the xylophone bones. We had to ask, but we found them. Most of them don't work anymore; the CM told us that they held up pretty well considering they'd never been replaced, but... Then we went on Tric. Spin - have to follow up Goofy's Barnstormer with this one and went on Dinosaur. Then we went to see FotLK and my mom had another run in with her tumble monkeys On the way out of Camp Minnie Mickey it was interesting to see the birds nesting in the trees - there were so many of them that it looked like snow! We went to EE and I hopped in the single rider line and got on twice in a row in about 10 min., that was great. Even if I couldn't talk my mom into it. Today... We caught ITTBAB on our way out, and it was time to head for AKL.

We checked into Boma around 8 for our 8:30 ADR, and I think we were finally seated around 8:50? It took a while. We weren't expecting that... But we loved Boma the last time we were here and we loved it this time. We missed our server from last time - this time ours was kind of a dud, but he did what was necessary. My mom had the white wine sampler, I had the red wine sampler. We were both stuffed and happy until we tried to negotiate back to DD-POR. That takes a while. I think this was the night our bus driver from DD-POR actually ended up going into OKW and turned around almost hitting someone - he apologized and explained that he'd been assigned to OKW and forgot. Oops... We did get back and did call our princes and did get to sleep so it was fine in the end .

Up next: MGM/Epcot

 

[diswedwish]

1/11 - MGM/Epcot

Today we decided to spend the early part of the day in MGM, then switch to Epcot before our ADR at Le Cellier. We woke up the usual way - phone calls from both my prince and Mickey, and decided that today was the day we would break out the matching jeans. Yes, for Christmas I bought us both the Disney store jeans that had the characters drawn up the front. And you can tell I'm grown up when I actually *want* to match my mom I can't tell you how many times we were asked if we drew them ourselves. Yep, artistic talent, that's us They made for some cute pictures though and I was glad I got them.

Anyway, we tried the dreaded POR food court for breakfast. We both had the buffet - my mom had the kid's version, I had the adult's. This was the last time that I had an adult breakfast... It was huge and way too much food! Besides, the kiddie meal came with milk, so that was an added bonus. You got eggs, breakfast meat (which mostly I turned down, after a week of bacon that was enough), pancakes, a biscuit, and breakfast lasagna. More than enough. At the kid's price of $3.59 it was a steal. And then my mom would rinse out the Mickey dish it came in and *poof* I had china for at home

We went to MGM with no problems and caught the first Beauty and the Beast show. I attempted to talk my mother into ToT, but she definitely couldn't be budged on that one. I was still pushing hard for BTMRR, but she still had at least until Saturday - our next scheduled MK day. So I went on ToT solo and enjoyed myself. We wandered around the hat, hoping for a sit of either Clarise or Marie and there was Clarice!!!! She was just about to go in, but I got a picture and an autograph. No Marie though, so we went on the GMR and figured we'd try later. Sure enough, when we got out, there she was!!! I was very excited, I think we were the first ones to see her and get in her line .

To make our lives complete we headed for Sorc. Mickey. We also went on the Backlot Tour (us and about 6 others) and saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid. That one was funny because my mom kept insisting that she hadn't seen it yet (her Dory moments kicking in). Once it started she did remember - sort of... We tried Studio Catering Co. for lunch. And had another war about feeding the birds. I did relent slightly - I mean grapes are much healthier than chips or fries or popcorn. So I let her throw a grape or 2 to a bird, I know it was wrong, but it kept her quiet... .

Then it was off to Epcot. We took the boat over, that's always very relaxing. I grabbed our FPs for Soarin', we went on Journey into your Imagination, then we headed for Test Track. We decided to ride in the single rider line. Every time we went this trip for a FP it was either the ride was down or the FP machine was down or out of FPs. So single rider line it was - and now my mom was brave because she would ride it; so shouldn't she ride BTMRR now?

Could you listen to that for days on end and not ride?

Anyway, we wandered the shops and restrained ourselves - after all we would be going to the World of Disney with our substantial AP discount tomorrow and we were saving for that. Then we did what we always do in Epcot - went to the Seas, rode the clamshells, watched Crush, watched Calvin and Rainier, then rode Soarin'.

Then it was time for dinner!!!! I always enjoy checking in to Le Cellier simply because we actually have ADRs. It seems whenever we check in the hostess always gets screamed at by someone as we're walking up because they have no openings that evening. At least we're easy to take care of... We were seated right away and our waiter came soon after. He wasn't so wonderful, but well... Oh well. We did get our food, it was within a reasonable amount of time, there were only 2 of us, so even if he didn't clear anything there was still some room on the table, and even if we did have to wait about 40 min. for our check after we were done before Illuminations. I think because there were only 2 of us, we were seen as less important - even though we weren't a "cheap" table - 2 people spend less than 4 or 6...

It was a little odd that right before we got our appetizer someone came up and asked for our name and said that we shouldn't have been seated - I think they sat us instead of someone else. I thought we had been seated very quickly. I felt bad about that, but they didn't boot us out, and at that point we had already ordered.

On to the food... We split the mussels which were good. I had the salmon which I had in May, and my mom had the pork chop which she had in May (aren't we adventurous?). We had wine and we split the creme brulee for dessert. I decided to try ice wine which was good.

Afterwards we didn't have too long before Illuminations, but my mom wanted to get back to the room (she really doesn't like fighting the crowds after fireworks), so she headed "home". I hung out and watched Illuminations, then talked to my prince.

Up next: Wild by Design, AK, DD

 

[diswedwish]

1/12 - Wild by Design tour/DD shopping

Today was the day I would *finally* take the Wild by Design tour I had wanted to do this tour since my 1/04 trip but hadn't managed to fit it in for one reason or another. So I was very excited that today was the day!!! I couldn't talk my mom into doing any of the tours with me this year (early morning starts and IBS don't mix well), so I would be doing this one solo. But after the cruise and my solo jaunt into the rainforest zip gliding I knew I would do just fine on a Disney tour by myself. I didn't even have to sign a waiver for this one My prince was happy because this tour didn't involve an animal for him to be jealous over (I really am attached to Calvin, he is pretty cute after all). And I was out of the room before my prince called, so my mom got to sleep late. It was a win-win situation all around.

I knew I'd get fed at some point in the tour so I just got coffee and a little snack at the food court and headed out. I did make a call to my Disney loving friend to tell her of my accomplishment of getting my mom on a roller coaster and how tall exactly was EE's drop? And other such facts that I was unable to get out of the 3 (yes, count 'em 3) guide books that I had with me. She was happy to oblige and before I knew it there I was at AK.

I wandered up to Guest Relations and checked in, hit the bathroom one last time, then waited to line up. Lo and behold I was the only one for Wild by Design!!! Dan was my tour guide and he was great. The point of the tour is to explain all of the stories behind the onstage area of AK. We started with the parking lot, proceeded through the gates and went through the Oasis. I got to ask as many questions as my little heart desired. Then we went through Dinoland - and yes there is a story behind it. Then on to EE and we went through the queue. I was bummed because I thought we'd get to ride it - he did get me a FP for it though. Then we went through the rest of Asia. It was really interesting how many little (and big) details that I had missed; I was really glad to have taken the tour and felt very spoiled to be the only one on it. I know that the more people on the tour the more slowly you go (by necessity) and there's nothing wrong with that. But how wonderful is it to go exactly at your own pace and ask exactly what you want!!!!

Remember those gibbons with the baby near Kali? There was a trainer waiting there to talk all about those and the nearby Siaming Gibbons (sp?). That took about 15 min. and after that my brain was pretty full. The trainer talked very fast, she was very good and it was interesting, but it was a lot to take in! Then we walked through Maharajah and he tested my hidden Mickey knowledge - and pointed out a few I had missed.

We went back to the Tree of Life area and he talked about that. Then it was time for the continental breakfast included in the tour at Tusker House. He asked me what I wanted to drink and brought back a large diet Coke, and huge bowl of fruit and a huge plate of pastries. I told him that I hoped he didn't expect me to eat all of that! He said that whatever I couldn't eat would get brought back to the break room for the CM. Good... Then we walked through Africa and the little bar next to Tusker House - look at the beer bottles the next time you're through there We walked through Pangani and near the gorillas was another keeper for me to talk to (or sorry, to listen and try to absorb information and try to remember it to repeat to my mom later in the day). That was also very interesting.

By then it was past 11:30 and time for the end of the tour I filled out my survey, got my pin with Gino on it (the silver back on Pangani) and got 2 FP for the Safari. Then I had to sprint back to the smoking area near Flame Tree to meet my mom at our appointed meeting place. By then it was almost noon and she thought she was at the wrong place.

If you have any more detailed questions about the tour, I'm happy to elaborate, I just didn't want to spoil it for anyone in case they want to take it soon.

My mom also had an eventful morning. She went to Rafiki's to see if there were any operations lined up and got to see Peaches, one of the tigers, have her check-up (and got her paw-print on a piece of paper with Peaches' picture), and met Jiminy Cricket. Of course I had the camera She had the autograph book though, so we had that anyway. She also saw Joe Rodi behind the glass too. So it was an eventful day for both of us at AK

I tried to talk her into EE, but no luck I did drag her on the Safari because I had the FPs. But we were both hungry so that was it in AK. I talked her into Rainforest Cafe - because of the air conditioning and the fact that I needed to use my Safari Card to keep it active. Sure - actually I just wanted to go to RFC... Wisely we didn't drink (too hot) other than water and diet coke, she only had a huge appetizer and I had some shrimp thing that wasn't very good. Oh well, I had my RFC fix and we had the Safari Card discount and didn't have to wait to be seated.

This afternoon was our planned shopping trip to DD. We'd waited all week, saving our shopping time for here - we'd looked longingly in the shops but restrained ourselves figuring we'd find everything in the World of Disney. So we waited forever for a bus - we figured we'd go to AKL, then transfer to DD. After 25 min. we gave up and hopped on the next one to arrive - from SS. We'd never been there so that would be fun. We walked from there to DD. Not the best idea when you have to pee, but we got to see the sights.

Anyway, we thought we'd find everything. Yep. I really really really wanted this Tink hoodie. It was powder blue with Tink on the back. Guess which section it was in? We asked 5 CMs and finally ended up at the information desk before they directed us to the men's section. Yep, that's right men. And they didn't have my size. Thus began my quest. I knew they had it at MouseGears in Epcot. We also couldn't find something else, but I can't remember what. I couldn't figure out what to get my prince's mother - the pooh pasta was cute last time, but wouldn't do this time. Finally I picked something, we got more stuff, and we had it sent back to POR.

We left the store and found a smoking area and my mom expressed her disppointment with DD. Actually that's how I've felt the past couple of trips, I don't know why. I don't particularly care for it. Then we went to Pin Traders to get my mom a Dory pin to commemorate her lack of memory. And we went to Once Upon a Toy to get my friend's daughter some Mickey ice creams and of course ended up with a box of parts. That was fun, some nice CM ended up helping us stuff the box. I almost got another box of My Little Pony stuff, but restrained myself. My last box just sits there, what do you do with that stuff if you're not little? But it's so cute and I want it!!! Next trip...

So we took the boat back to POR and tried to decide what to do. We were hungry, but didn't want to eat at the food court and had to ADRs and didn't want to go to a park. Okay, I wanted to go to Epcot for my jacket, but my mom didn't. So we asked at Boatwright's and the wait was 40 min. so we got a beeper. Outside we heard many irate people complaining. A bunch of them angrily said that they intended to go to DD for dinner - there wouldn't be any waits there. So we listened to the horse and carriage roll by and the people complaining and eventually our pager went off. Boatwright's was okay - I probably wouldn't go there again for dinner, but it served it's purpose. I had the salmon, my mom had jambalya, we both had wine.

As soon as we were done I was off like a shot for Epcot (and my stupid jacket that I just *had* to have). My mom strolled through the gift shop and back to the room. Epcot had EMH tonight, but I wasn't sure how long Mouse Gears stayed open. I got my wristband and was in MouseGears by 8:40. I found my jacket and they didn't have my size There were 2 CMs slightly younger than me who were very helpful, they called the backroom and they had my size Okay, it was one size too big, but close enough I thanked them profusely and walked out just in time to see Illuminations

After that I walked around WS lagoon, which I had never done after the fireworks, and talked to my prince. I attempted to see if I could get on either Soarin' or TT, but I didn't feel like waiting 45 min., so I just went back to POR. Mission accomplished, I got my jacket! My mom was glad that I did - I don't think she wanted to go in and out of every single store for the next week.

Up next: MK, we meet another of the Dream Team, does my mom ride a "real" coaster?

 

[diswedwish]

1/13 - MK

This morning we woke up to another "princely" phone
call. At this point I think my mom was cursing him,
but I'm not sure He did have Sunday off, so I knew
we'd be okay tomorrow... We decided that tonight we'd
make ADRs for Concourse Steakhouse so we didn't have a
repeat of last night. I decided that today was the
day I would nag my mom onto BTMRR and maybe Space
Mountain too if I was lucky

We had a late breakfast at 'Ohana planned, so we went
to MK first. We went on Buzz and discovered that my
losing streak was over (see that means it's time for
you to go on BTMRR). We rode Astroblasters with no
wait (see, this is much higher than BTMRR). We went
on Stitch (much darker than BTMRR). We even got to
ride in the front of the monorail and got our
co-pilots' licenses to the Contemporary (much faster
than BTMRR) where we had to get off so another family
could ride in the front, then we rode in a regular
car. You'd ride too, right? My mom told me to be
quiet, she would be too to eat breakfast...

I was very excited to go back to the Polynesian; here
is where I would get my prince's gift .
After breakfast... I hadn't eaten here since Stitch,
and we both love Stitch, so this was a fun breakfast.
The pineapple bread was the same, and the food was
good. We stuffed ourselves, and had fun with Stitch.
Pluto came by several times and licked us.

After my mom's cigarette break we wandered to the
front desk. I didn't know if you could make
reservations for your next trip in person, but I was
going to try. If nothing else, I wanted to beg for a
lei and some Polynesian stationary. That was to be my
gift for my prince. Not the whole trip! We'd planned
that - and we don't have the exact dates nailed down
either. Or the place. We'd picked that too. But I
wanted to surprise him and book the trip/pay for the
first night. He wouldn't be expecting that at all.
After typing this it doesn't really seem like much of
a surprise since we'd planned it all, etc, but he
really was surprised And I thought the lei and
paper would be perfect for that. Well you can't book
in person, but the CM was very sweet and gave me 2
leis, some stationary and an envelope and said she'd
see me next January

So then I had to have something to put the lei and
envelope on so I bought a tiny Stitch - the magnetic
one. And some alien chow as a joke. I'd wanted to
buy it for him last trip but thought he'd be offended.
Now I knew he would think it was funny and it would
be perfect for sitting Stitch on.

Then we headed back for the MK. After going on
Astroblasters and Tricerotop Spin the other day I
thought we were ready for Aladdin's Magic Carpets, so
we rode that (plus I'd never ridden it). And it was
sort of on the way to BTMRR. Then we saw the Country
Bears (like BTMRR an atrraction my mom hadn't
experienced yet and swore I would never drag her to).
Then in an effort to distract me from my BTMRR
obsession she said she saw a sales rack in a store in
Adventureland. She did! And there was also a
question on a blackboard behind the register. "Who is
Simba's mother?" At this point I felt like Dory.
Namba? Narabi? Salabi? Sarabi! I cried. "That's it!"
the CM said. And I won a magical moments certificate
as did my mother who also tried and failed miserably
at guessing. We also won 2 real certified diamonds
from the treasure chest. I immediately called my
prince to tell him that I'd been given a diamond and
expected one of like size when I returned .

Back to BTMRR. So then we were on our blackboard
trivia search. At least my mom was. I was on my "got
to get my mom on BTMRR" quest. Then we ran into him,
my answered wish, my dream squad person
Appearing as an innocent trash sweeper with the
appropriate attire and clothing - I knew what he was
and my mom didn't get it at first, he started talking
to us. I had a Tink shirt on that said "Make your
wish come true", he said "can you make my wish come
true?" and of course I said "what is your wish?" He
said he always wanted to ride ToT. Well that started
me going about my mom and BTMRR. We talked for about
10 min. about him and ToT and my mom, and he told her
she had nothing to worry about. Of course I couldn't
convince him to try ToT, but at the end of our
conversation he thanked us for our time and gave us 2
FPs good for any attraction in the MK. Of course I
saved ours to scrapbook.

And then we headed to BTMRR. Couldn't let all that
good talking to be wasted? My mom did ask the
CM at the entrance 20 questions just like the CM at
Goofy's. This CM told her that Goofy's was much
scarier than BTMRR (See, I told you!!!). And away we
went . She loved it. She had a cigarette,
we called my dad, and she went on again. Then she
said "So what's Space Mountain like?"

We walked across the park and I gave her the blow by
blow description of this one. Our helpful Dream Squad
CM had also included SM in his description earlier,
which helped... I think I had the foresight to get
FPs for this earlier in the day and hadn't used them
yet, so thankfully I hustled her on this one pretty
quickly. After she asked the CM 20 questions.
Thankfully it was less dark than she thought, but
bumpier than she liked. You can't win them all; she
only rode this once this trip. More FPs for me
Again we called my father who asked if my mother was
ill

My mom asked if we could see if we could catch Capt.
Jack's pirate tutorial, so what could I do but say
yes? And we were in luck, there he was We both
enjoyed this one, it was very cute. Plus Capt. Jack
was cute...

Then we had dinner at Concourse which was decent -
better than Boatwright's. We did have to wait a bit.
We both had wine, my mom had shrimp and pasta, I had
the NY strip. Nothing outstanding, but not bad
either. And my mom even found another shirt on sale
in the gift shop!

MK was open until 10 tonight so we headed back and
rode PP with our FPs that we'd picked up earlier. We
also saw Philharmagic just before Wishes. We rode the
Jungle Cruise at night which my mom pronounced much
better than during the day. And we rode BTMRR at
night, and my mom was very pleased with herself for
being brave enough for riding a coaster at night!

So now she'd done BTMRR and SM, Splash and RnR were
down for our stay; but EE was still up and
running

Up next: AK (EE maybe?????)

 

[diswedwish]

1/14 - AK/little bit of MGM

Our day started out predictably enough - except we did sleep in - my prince had the day off We did have breakfast at the food court, both of us had the kid's meal this morning. I had the whole walk to breakfast, all of breakfast, the whole bus ride to AK, and the whole walk to EE (for FPs) to push the fact the my mom really should ride EE - it was on her AP after all, etc, etc. I quoted all of the statistics. She did ask many questions of the helpful CM at the FP machine and we watched the train come down the hill. She likes to count how long it takes so she knows that if she's scared, that's as long as it lasts. Um, I down played the whole backwards part The drop kept her attention quite nicely as far as I was concerned

We had a while until our time, so to prove her braveness (and to shut up my nagging) we headed towards Dinoland and Primeval Whirl which she rode twice in a row and liked. Again, another phone call to my dad. For a change of pace we headed out to Rafiki's to see if there would be any operations. We got to see a white-faced whistling duck getting something done to it (apparently nothing too interesting since I can't remember it) and we saw Push.

Then it was time. Would she ride??? She stopped for not 1, but 2 cigarettes at that pretty smoking area in Asia. Then we got in line. I always make sure she gets in the car first and off we went ! I looked over as we went down the hill and she was indeed smiling . However when we got off she yelled at me because I didn't tell her that the backwards part took so long . Then of course I forked over the $$$ for the picture and we bought a souv. in the shop - fake prayer flags - to commemorate her braveness. She certainly wouldn't be riding again . We called my father who announced that now we should head for Cedar Point since she was riding "real" coasters.

Then we sat down at the smoking area right outside and she talked another mother onto it. That was priceless. My mom did a good job; it's a shame that mother couldn't talk her onto ToT. I couldn't quite understand her fear - how could you ride ToT, yet be afraid of EE? I knew there was no talking my mom onto ToT, that was truly a lost cause... If Splash and RnR were open *maybe*...

We had lunch at Flame Tree - we are truly exciting aren't we? We always go to the same places.... Anyway it was good and we liked it. We went on Dinosaur next. To think the first time my mom went on this, she was scared Then we saw Flights of Wonder. My mom had hoped that she would be chosen with her dollar bill again, but no such luck. I told her not to be greedy . We went on Safari again and got some good pics of the lioness and I actually restrained myself from taking giraffe pictures!!! We walked on Pangani and I pointed out some things that I had seen on the tour including confirmation of the hidden Jafar. On the way out of the park I wanted to see if the otters were out and they were!!! The past few trips I hadn't seen them. We watched them for a while and then left for MGM on our way to Cape May Cafe.

At MGM I really only wanted to ride ToT since I didn't think we'd come back to MGM for the rest of the trip. The wait was pretty long, but I decided to do it anyway. My mom wandered through the shops and an hour later I was out. Then we took the boat to the BC and Cape May Cafe.

Cape May was an experience. Keep in mind that this was MLK weekend. We checked in around 6:40 for our 7:30 ADR. We were actually seated after 8. We didn't have anywhere to go and weren't in a hurry. Not to say we were thrilled, but we knew everything would be packed. And we certainly had entertainment... I don't know if they overbooked or what, but everyone had to wait quite a while (like us). And everyone was tired and crabby, etc. Quite a number of people asked to speak with a manager regarding the wait time. Then they yelled at him and/or the hostess. It got pretty ugly. And it didn't help that you had a few people coming out of the restaurant that made cracks like "boy there aren't any clams left" to be funny, but for those people it definitly wasn't funny anymore...

The best was the one woman and her family of 5 who went up and assumed she'd be seated immediately. She'd just checked into the BC after all and had an ADR. When they handed her a pager and said it would be a few minutes she stood right by the podium and came back up after 10 min. fuming. After 20 she said that she intended to check out of the hotel. She was back 30 min. later. Her husband was on the phone with another hotel getting reservations and she stalked up to the podium and slapped a sheet of paper down and said "we WILL be seated in 5 min.". They handed her a pager. And she was seated in 5 min. I believe that she did check out and they comped her meal.

We were seated shortly after her and boy was she a witch inside too. The manager was right behind our table and we heard the waitress come up to him - she demanded another high chair because "hers didn't work properly", but she was fastening the straps wrong, my mom saw her in the buffet line screaming at her son, loads of fun. I hope the rest of their vacation went better than that; it was kind of disturbing...

We had a wonderful time though. Salads, corn, fixin's, who needs that stuff? We were here for the clams. Lots and lots and lots of clams We had plate after plate. I think that's all we had. Oh, some mussels too. I was saving myself for tomorrow's mussels at Artist Point, so I mostly had clams. And more clams. We did try a few desserts. But I think we had about 10 plates of clams a piece. Not a well-balanced meal, but we enjoyed it.

Then of course we had to go "home" by way of DD. And that again took forever. But we made it back eventually, made our phone calls and went to bed.

Up next: Epcot/MK

 

[tiggerbell]

Then a month beforehand I had a brief problem with my toe. I mention this in case anyone has this happen to them and have cruel family members like me... I had an ingrown toenail. It got infected. I'm tough, so I don't go to the doctor right away.

It must be our name! I also tough it out - took 5 days after the concussion to call the doctor and be told to get to the ER, and 8 days after wrenching the finger to have it x-ray'd (it's not broken, but it moves sideways now... that's new!)

Looking forward to getting further than the very beginning - maybe if I shut up and read it, that would help!

 

[KATIESMOMMY]

Nice report so far, thanks for sharing!

 

[disneyaddicted]

Liking the TR so far. Kudos on getting your mom to ride some "Coasters"

I am in York Co. so Hershey is a park we go to every year, after going to Disney nothing else compares now.

I would love to spend 2 weeks in Disney, and to have my mom with me would be extra special, she won't go, she has no desire. Sounds like you and your mom had a blast.

 

[diswedwish]

Thanks for your comments and for reading, I'm glad you're enjoying the report

 

[diswedwish]

1/15 - Epcot/MK

Unsurprisingly, today began like every other day; a phone call from my prince (who didn't have the holiday off), 2 kid's meals at the food court, and a bus ride. Our first stop today was Epcot.

Again, we didn't do anything out of the ordinary (for us) We rode TT using the single rider line, went to the LS and saw Calvin, Rainier, and Crush, and went on Soarin' once our FPs were ready. Yep, we're pretty boring. At least we like the same things...

We'd seen all we wanted at Epcot and decided to see how bad the crowds were at MK. By the time we got there we were hungry, so we went to Columbia Harbour House. As we rounded the corner of the Castle I saw Drisella, Anastasia, and the Stepmother from Cinderella rush into the Castle! Well that was certainly new!!! But they were gone, so we figured we'd come back later.

Lunch was good, although like last night we had quite a show... We always eat upstairs here because it's quieter. There was a large family up there, and they seemed to be almost done and weren't too loud. Well, the mother decided to change the baby right there next to the window. Yep, right in public.

Anyway, after that experience we thought maybe if we stayed in Fantasyland we'd see the Cinderella characters again, so we went on the Carousel and Small World. No luck, so we headed out to see Captain Jack. I rode Space Mountain twice (the good thing about my mom not riding - 2 FP for me!!!). Then my mom saw the Queen of Hearts and stopped for an autograph. I was getting the Strawberry version of a Dole whip. We rode the HM and it got stuck at the ballroom scene, that was actually kind of nice. Then we both rode BTMRR On our way out, I bought my prince his other present from WDW - last trip I bought him one of those Mickey head sampler things from the Confectionary shop on Main St. and he loved it, so I got one of those.

At that point we decided to head back to the room to change for our dinner at Artist Point. In May we had ADRs there and, unaware of the dress code change (it changed after we made our reservation), I arrived in a skirt and a boatneck shirt. Well, that counted as a t-shirt and they wouldn't let me in (and weren't too nice about it). That's how we ended up trying Kona for the first time and meeting Debi our favorite server at WDW. When we came home I wrote 2 letters; one about Debi and Kona, the other about Artist Point. I received calls about both letters, and the manager at Artist Point sent us a letter for a free dinner for 2 if we chose to come back. So I made sure that I wore nothing resembling a t-shirt, and we both had on dress pants.

We were taken exactly at our ADR time (we checked in early), and had a wonderful dinner. My mom said this was her favorite meal of the trip. We both ordered the mussels, the buffalo steak, and the berry cobbler (all my usual favorites). Within minutes our waiter was back - no more mussels So we each tried different things - I got the duck (ok, not as good as the mussels), my mom tried the scallop and liked it. We both got the wine flight - that we paid for as alcohol wasn't included in our meal.

Afterwards we debated taking the bus back versus a cab, and picked a cab. I was nervous about this since I'd never taken a cab at WDW before. But it was no problem at all - I think it was around $12 or $14 which (for me) is too pricey to spend every night but definitely worth it once in a while.

We made our phone calls, made our princes jealous about our meal, and went to sleep.

Up next: Backstage Magic tour/PSB dinner

 

[diswedwish]

1/16 - Backstage Magic/MK/PSB dinner

This morning I got up even before my prince called! I had the Backstage Magic tour booked Like Wild by Design, I would be flying solo on this one; my mom didn't want to do it. I was a little nervous about this one, mostly because I would be eating lunch with a bunch of people I didn't know; but because of the nature of my job I deal with people all the time, I was sure I'd be fine...

So I left my mom in the room contemplating how to spend her day until 3ish and prayed that she wouldn't get lost... I mean she *did* have to stop and ask 3 CMs for directions that night she went back to POR from Epcot. That's right, directions 3 times from Canada to the bus stop . But at least she asked, so I figured she'd be fine.

I had my normal kiddie meal for breakfast and talked to my prince on the way to Epcot. I got there very early, first one there in fact. Then I waited and waited for everyone else to show up. No chance of anyone forgetting this one - they call you to remind you, much to one husband's dismay... He tried to surprise his wife - which had worked until they called to remind him. The maximum amount for the tour is 20 and the day I went it was packed. I had hoped to be the only one like when I went on Wild by Design, but you can't have everything!

I'll just give the bare bones of where we went, so as not to spoil it for anyone. If you have more specific questions, I'm more than happy to share in greater detail...

I can't remember our guide's name, but I liked her and she was very good, personable, and nice. I can't believe I forgot her name First we stood in a circle, shared our name, where we were from, and our dream Disney job. Then she led us through the gate into Epcot (you don't need admission tickets for the tour by-the-way). Then we went backstage and onto a DCL bus that had a cooler full of bottled water for us to help ourselves to during the day. On the way we drove past the Living Seas and 2 of us (myself included) asked how Crush worked. We headed for AA and walked onstage then into the back of the attraction. We were told how it worked, about the projection system, how they care for the audio-animatronic end of it, etc. Then back on the bus and on to Epcot casting. But first, a quick detour to show us the tunnel in Epcot (just a drive by). Then we saw the hallway that each section of the CM gets to decorate - I think the janitorial staff was the one that has fiberoptics and it talks It was interesting to see their wardrobe and how their lockers work, etc. Some of it (how they get their costumes - the regular CM not characters) did overlap with KTTK tour, but that's okay. Then we saw where they do repairs to the costumes and where the princesses were getting ready for the PSB lunch.

Back on the bus and onward to MGM. But first, we made a stop at Disney Florist. That was a lot of fun for me. We were there about 20 min. and saw both the florist and gift basket section. Then backstage at MGM where we saw the costuming department - the same part that you can see from the Backlot tour. We spent quite some time here.

After our time here we had lunch at Mama Melrose's. Lunch was served family style and we were split up into 2 tables. It was a full lunch - bread, salads, flatbread, 3 main courses, and a plate full of desserts. If you wanted alcohol you had to pay extra (I believe a few did, I didn't), otherwise everything was included.

Then we went to MK around the back and got to see where they house all of the Christmas decorations. This was probably one of the highlights for me, very very interesting. Especially because my mom and I saw most of the Christmas decorations up in the parks since we arrived 1/5, and now I got to see them as they were being put away.

After this we walked to the building where they store the props, and the building where they make the ride vehicles and work on the audio animatronics. Also interesting. We got to play with an old Tiki bird and touch a nail to something to make it's beak open and close and make different parts move.

From here, it was back on the bus for a final time (for me anyway), and up to the front of the park. We went into the Utilidors briefly - I was kind of surprised. When I did KTTK in '03 we stayed here longer I think. Again some of this information overlapped with KTTK, but some was different. Then we went back onstage and lined up to watch the parade.

We were given several choices as to what we wanted to do. If we wanted to stay in the park - as I did - our guide took our ticket and validated it (I don't know if she even needed to for mine since it was an AP). For the rest, the bus driver offered to take them back to their hotel if they were staying on-property since he wasn't busy until 6, or back to the parking lot in Epcot. So you really didn't need park admission to take the tour.

For those of us who decided to stay in the MK, she gave us our pin and we were on our way. I told my mom I'd meet her at the smoking area by Tony's so that was perfect and very easy to do.

My mom had spent the first part of her morning in Epcot as well. She'd ridden Soarin', then had a very early lunch/late breakfast at Sunshine Seasons (her favorite kid's meal). Then she took the monorail to the MK (only had to stop and ask 1 CM for directions this time ). She saw Pinocchio and got his autograph. Then she staked out a spot behind the Castle and asked/waited for the Step mother, Anastasia and Drisella to appear. Of course, I had the camera, but she did get 2 autographs and the Stepmother teased her about how daughters are; eliciting more funny remarks from the stepsisters. She went to Guest Services next and filled out a comment card about the Dream Squad CM that talked with us the other day before she rode the coasters - about how nice he was, etc.

So we met and decided to walk through some of the MK while I told her some of what I had learned on the tour. We rode the TTA and got to see Space Mtn. with the lights on. Then we rode Buzz where I actually won!!! Not that I gloat. Then we rode the tea cups, which my mom had never been on before. We also hiked out to the gift shop by Splash since it was the one place where I had seen this soft brown blanket that I had to have and bought that. Of course later I saw it somewhere on Main Street, but that day I couldn't find it anywhere...

Then it was time to head to Epcot for our PSB dinner. But first, it was time to make another stop for something I hadn't seen anywhere else. At the Polynesian I saw this white hoodie with Tinkerbell embroidered on it. I hadn't seen it anywhere else, so we went there to retrieve it. Of course they didn't have my size, so the very helpful CM called to see if it was anywhere on Disney property. Of course not so I dejectedly went to the dressing room to try on a small and hope that it fit and I didn't look like a sausage. It did So the moral of the story for next time (for me) is to buy what I want when I see it. World of Disney doesn't carry everything....

We made it to Epcot and went to Norway. I wasn't sure how this dinner would go; both character interaction (we're a bit afraid of face characters) and food. Everything was okay. We got our picture taken with Belle in her yellow gown in the foyer. Of course after we saw the picture package and heard the price we passed. Even if I did have a Belle shirt on... We also saw Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, and Cinderella. As Jasmine came by I commented that I would like to have her abs. She looked very confused. I don't know if she didn't hear me or didn't understand... Anyway, the food was okay too - we liked the pick and peel shrimp and the other food was so-so. Afterwards we watched Illuminations. We were thankful that tonight only involved 1 bus to get "home". Then we called our princes and went to sleep.

Up next: - AK/MK

 

[diswedwish]

1/17 - AK/MK

We began yet another day exactly the same way as the others; phone calls, our kiddie meals and a bus ride (very predictable) Our park of choice this morning was AK. And true to form (because we are so spontaneous ) we headed for EE so I could ride. Yes, I, not we, because my mother had used up her bravery earlier in the trip... So I used the single rider line and hopped on twice with very little wait. Now this was more like it!!! The parks weren't crowded, we had nice weather, very good

We managed to see Devine again. She dropped some of her costume; my mom saw/retrieved it after she'd gone for scrapbooking purposes. She also talked to her handler and found out how many Devines there are, and other useful (or not depending on how you look at it!) information. Then we headed for Rafiki's - to see if we could see Peaches the tiger or any other interesting operations. We got to see an impala have part of his hoof amputated - it reminded me of my toenail problem before the trip and was kind of disturbing... And we got to see Jiminy Cricket We got a picture this time since last time my mom didn't have the camera.

Then we spent a long time on the Pangani trail and rode the Safari. Everything was out for some reason. I took 80 billion giraffe pictures We spent a long time on the Maharajah trail too. Then we had lunch at Pizzafari so we could branch out a bit from the usual Flame Tree BBQ food. Plus it was on the way to FOTLK so my mom could see her Tumblemonkeys. They didn't touch her this time, but we were still pretty close. Unfortunately I was next to a wiggler. She was pretty old to be a wiggler too (20s). You know how they will tell the crowd to squeeze together to make room for everyone, so you do, then once everyone is seated they spread out? Well she didn't. Everytime I tried to move over more (my mom was on the end) she'd just move over even closer to me; I don't think she had any concept of personal space. So I didn't really enjoy the show. I'm beginning to think I'm getting a wee bit claustrophobic in my old age...

So after that we headed over to the MK by way of the GF - we wanted to check out our Photopass pictures. My Disney loving friend very helpfully told me that the price on the CD would be going up, so today would be the day to buy it if we wanted it. We decided not to buy the whole CD, but we did get one 5x7. Then we took the monorail to the MK and rode the JC, BTMRR, HM, Dumbo, Buzz, Space Mountain (well, I did anyway), and then watched Wishes.

Our plan had been to have dinner at 'Ohana. We checked in at the podium and waited and waited. We were tired and hungry and in the back of our minds we knew how long it would take us to get back to POR from the Polynesian. I asked at Kona if they could seat us and there was a wait there too, but I got a pager anyway. Kona's pager went off first, so we returned Ohana's and off we went. I was sort of disappointed because I would like to try 'Ohana for dinner at some point; but given our mood that night was probably not the night! Dinner at Kona was fine. We didn't have Debi although we didn't request her either - we just wanted to get in. We both tried different things than our usual and both were okay, but we liked our usual chicken/salad thing better. We did eventually get back to our room and make our phone calls, but we were beat...

Up next: our last day - MK