Flabbergasted in WDW ** 1st trip report!! All completed now :)

[marivaid]

The Cast of this TR :

Mom (58) : aka Grumpy - because she's short and short-tempered! Came with me because I didnt want to go alone. I didnt expect her to love Disney, and neither did she. Boy were we wrong.

Me (28) : I've been planning this trip for months and I could have never imagined what Disney World was really like.

We're French and we've been to Disneyland Paris a few times. I can't stand that place. It's small and crowded and dirty. Grumpy is a teacher and takes her class there once a year. She was already driving me nuts before we left, because she kept comparing things in WDW to things in DLP. I kept telling myself that I booked a restaurant, ordered a special cake, and got La Nouba tickets for her birthday, and that it would probably be a lot better if she was still alive by then.

Thankfully, the "They have it in Disneyland Paris, too" turned into "No one at home can even imagine what this is really like..." about 10mns after we set foot in MK on the first day.

Yep. We're both adults, and we've been all over the world, but there we were in DisneyWorld, eyes and mouth wide open, gasping in amazement at everything - well, ALMOST everything.

Day 0 - Arriving in WDW!!!

Our day started around 6am, we finished packing, Dad loaded the car and soon we were on our way to the airport. Charles de Gaulle is a huge mess, so we allowed ourselves plenty of time to get lost, stuck, or asked to leave the premises while they blew up some poor dude's suitcase.

Actually it went OK, and fast, except we got bad seats in the middle of a row of 4. I will never take US Airways again. They had strangers sitting next to each other on the side seats and there we were, wedged between 2 people who refused to budge for the entire 8 hour flight. First thing we did when we got to Philly was to run to the bathroom. Peeing felt magical, and there wasnt a mouse in sight.

I was exhausted and when we got on our 2nd flight (Philly to Orlando) I fell asleep the second I sat down. I looked at my watch right before that, and it was 7.35pm. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8pm. When I woke up, it was past 9, and I told my mom that I was so excited, it was getting close !

MMM nope she said. We havent even left the airport yet. WHATTTTTT??????
It's 9.15 !! We should be landing in an hour, what do you mean we haven't left the airport ? Sure enough I look out the window, and yep, we're still on the ground. You gotta be kidding me.
I had planned for us to be at park opening the next day at MK - 7am. Not easy even if we land on time, and definitely harder if we're over an hour late.

So there I start sulking. My plan was perfect. We HAVE to be at MK at 7am. There's just no way around it, I have been planning this thing forever and we HAVE to do exactly like it says on my pretty chart right here. Little did I know that after 24 hours it would end up where it belonged - in the trash at ASMO.

We landed in Orlando almost 2 hours after we were supposed to. It's almost midnight when we head off to the Welcome Center. I need to use the restroom again, so once I have located the Welcome Center, I tell Grumpy to wait for me here just for a few minutes and don't move.

When I come back, its OK, she's still standing there, good. Except, she's very worried. The airport is so huge, she says, we're never gonna find that Disney bus thing.
MM. Mom. See that huge Mickey Mouse on the wall about 10 inches from your head ? See all the nice smiling people with "Disney Magical Express" on their shirt ? Or for that matter, see the BUS right outside that says Disney World on it ????
Well, apparently, she didnt.

We got in the bus very fast and were off to ASMO within a few minutes. I loved the Disney video. I couldnt help but get excited every time I saw STITCH in it ! I just discovered him a few months ago thanks to the DIS, and I just looooooove him. The bus let people off at Sports, then Music, and finally Movies. It was 1am and I was really getting tired.

It took a little while to check in. I had bought an electric kettle for Grumpy who is addicted to her morning coffee. It wasnt stored here, so we would have to wait until the next morning to get it. Nevermind good woman, please point me to where the pillows are.

Off we go to our "preferred" room. Only, they're doing major work on the pool, so instead of being able to go straight to our building we have to go around the closed off pool and then walk through it. We were given room 8715.

I proudly get my "Key to the World" out and try to open the door. Nope. Not working. The light is red instead of green. Grumpy tries too. It doesnt work. NOOOOOOOO !!! It's 1.30am and we need to get to bed NOW so we can be at park opening at MK tomorrow. Don't you know that by 10am Tour Guide Mike says that everything will be crowded ?! What is wrong with you people !!!

I walk back to the front desk. Another lady changes our cards and tells me that if these dont work, I can use the phone next to the elevators to call and they will send someone. Okay. But I'm sure those will work.

Nope.

By this time I'm really fuming.Not because I'm tired, not because I had to walk back to the front desk and the damn keys still don't work, but because I have pretty much figured out that our early morning EMH at MK is not going to happen.

So I call, and they say they are sending a technician "right away" to open our door. Except "right away" means 30mns at All Stars Movies. And when the guy gets here, and opens the door, what do we see in the room ? My room, that I'm going to share with my snoring,feet smelling mother ?

A king bed.
No way. No way I am NOT sleeping with my mother. I am NOT.
Well just for tonight, mostly because of the whole "I'm going to pass out if I dont get in horizontal position very soon" thing.

The technician didnt speak much English, and my Spanish is BAD unless you want to talk about chihuahas and burritos. We still managed to understand that the lock needed to be reprogramed but that it would be OK for one night. Una noche, puedo entrar, no problema?
YES, my resume DOES say that I'm fluent in Spanish.

Grumpy is upset about us having a king bed instead of 2 queens. Personally, I dont care, because there's a huge Mickey head made out of towels on our bed. Yay ! Our first towel animal,on our very first night, how cool is that ?

We went to bed right away but I wasnt able to sleep. All I could think about was that my whole plan was screwed up now. Should I wake up at 7 and call Disney Dining, and switch Crystal Palace and Donald's Breakfastausorus ? Should we go to MGM instead ? The last time I looked at the clock it was 4.47am and then I finally passed out.

Tomorrow is another day..

 

[marivaid]

Day 2 : Magic Kingdom and MGM

Despite getting to bed so late yesterday, I was wide awake by 7am. And still a little upset, because by 7am we were supposed to be AT Magic Kingdom already. Oh well, I tell myself, let's try to make the best out of this day, okay?

Our luggage came around 8am while Grumpy was showering. It still took us another 2 hours to get ready,but by 10am we were out of the room. We hadnt bought the refillable mugs yet, but the food court was a zoo, and we didnt feel like stopping yet. Our ADR for Crystal Palace was at 11.30, and I wanted to be able to get us some FPs for Splash Mountain first thing.I was worried they would be all gone by the time we got there.

So, for about a week before our trip, I had seen a lot of people talking about how COLD it was in WDW right now, advising people to bring coats and gloves. We've been in Florida several times over Christmas, but just in case, we packed fleece sweaters, and long sleeved shirts.

I think it was about 80° that morning .. just for information, it was 30° in Paris when we left. We were thrilled with the "cold" weather !!!!

This is the first photo I took, on our way to MK.
(Sorry, I'm a really really bad photographer)

We got our bags checked, and entered MK. Went straight to the train station, on our way to Frontierland. I was hoping to get us Splash FPs for early afternoon, at best. When we got to Splash, I heard a man behind me say they had FPs for Splash Mountain only 45mns away !!!! Yessssssss!
I got 2 right away. Our first mission accomplished, we relaxed a little and started walking towards Liberty Square. Grumpy had shown interest in the Hall of Presidents, and I thought it would be a walk in. But the next show was at 11, and we had our ADRs to go to.
So instead, we started walking to the Castle. We'd forgotten to take maps, but I remembered that Crystal Palace was somewhere close to the castle.

The castle was beautiful, and the Dream show was going on, we watched for a few minutes but then had to go back to the entrance and find some maps.
After that, we finally located Crystal Palace and got in line to check in.

Of course, I had thought of bringing my autograph book,lip gloss, pen, ponchos, lip gloss, space blanket, gum, and lip gloss,but I totally forgot to take the list of our ADRs.
They couldnt find us on their list at first with our last name because it had been spelled wrong, but they found us with my phone number. They handed me a beeping thingy and told me it would only be a few minutes. It's OK we're not in any rush!

Our ADR was for lunch at 11.30, the very first sitting; we waited about 15mns outside then our thingy beeped and we got inside. I thought the restaurant was very pretty, delicate, all in white and pastels. The room was almost empty and the characters came right away !! First Eeyore, then Tigger, Pooh, and finally Piglet. My mom was hungry and went to the buffet. She missed Pooh, but I got phtos with everyone else!

Grumpy really liked her food. She had vegetable frittatta, brocolli, some salads and other hot items I forgot about. I had chicken strips and mac'n'cheese from the kid's station, fruit, and brocolli. Everything was good. My mom liked the desserts but I didnt - I'm not a very chocolatey person, and sundae was off - limit (lactose intolerant). Overall we really loved this place. Because we were so early, the characters spent time with us even though we were adults.

I was a little intimidated by the characters at first. When I told that to Eeyore, he pretended to cry. So cute. When Piglet came to our table, my mom called him "Porky" and he really didnt like it!!! My favorite was Tigger. My mom tried to take a photo with us but couldnt figure how to use the camera, so I said something like "you suck" to her and Tigger hit me on the head! After that I behaved

We were out of the Crystal Palace by 1pm and headed to Adventureland. I wanted to do something before Splash Mountain, because even though it's not a scary ride, somehow going down a 5 story drop after a buffet didnt seem like the greatest idea.

Pirates of the Carribean had a 60mns wait. Jungle Cruise was giving out FPs for 6pm, a time where we expected to be in MGM. So we went in the stand-by line for Jungle Cruise. It seemed shorter than 40mns, that's because half the line was hidden from our view !! But it only took about 20mns anyway.

I found the ride to be corny, but funny. I kept waiting for something to happen. The elephants were cute. It was a nice ride to do with a rather short wait until we were ready for Splash Mountain.

Splash was awesome !! We walked right in with our FPs. I was worried about not fitting inside the log, since I'm a big girl, but it was just fine. We laughed and screamed and got wet (even through our ponchos). I had the Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah song in my head all day after that!

After Splash we went to get a spot to see the 3.30 Mickey's Merry Christmas Parade. We found a place to seat that was still close to the "action", in Liberty Square not far from the boat. Some photos of the parade !!

....

After the parade we got out of MK and took the ferry to the TTC, then the bus to MGM.

The wait for Tower of Terror was 120mns so we skipped that. Beauty & the Beast was starting in just a few minutes so we went into that instead.. We're really not "Princess" people, and while I thought the show was very pretty and the songs were beautiful, I couldnt help being bored. Frankly, I liked the a capella band a lot better than the actual show.

After we (happily) exited the theater we wanted to see the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights; we got lost in MGM. I told my mom that if we got separated, we should meet at the Sorcerer's hat. Well believe it or not, SHE DIDNT SEE THE HAT. Couldnt find it. I finally found her around Backlot Express. We were not really hungry (lunch was only about 6hrs ago), but needed a drink and a break. We ordered chicken strips and a cheeseburger with drinks, skipped the desserts and sat down outside for a little while.
Then we headed back to try and find the #***^$^$^ lights.

WOW. This was SO worth it. Not only were the lights gorgeous, but they also had fake snow falling in the street !! It was really magical. My photos don't do it any justice.
We walked slowly and enjoyed the lights and the "snow". After that, it was about 7pm and we decided to try & get into the 8.30 Fantasmic show.

We literally got trampled. It took half an hour to walk - if you can call it walk - to the stadium. We found good seats, waited, and enjoyed the show. I had downloaded the video online and thought I knew what to expect - it was beyond anything I could have ever imagined. Just breathtaking.

I took photos, but they didn't turn out good at all. I was too busy enjoying the show to make sure my camera was on the right setting - I took all my Fantasmic photos in "Foliage" mode

I loved seeing the looks on the little kids faces when the boats with characters came into view. One little girl, about 4, jumped up and started calling ARIEL, ARIEL, ARIEL!!! until Ariel finally waved back at her. I heard some people complain, the kid was noisy, but I thought it was so adorable. This little girl really thought she was seeing her beloved Ariel, the real one, and she couldnt contain her excitement.

They let us out by a different path and we were right at the exit, so we decided to call it a night. On the way back, my mom said she was so impressed by how everything was so PERFECT, and spotless. She also said she wished she'd taken us (I have a sister who's 3 years older than me) to WDW when we were kids, because if it was magical for us, can you imagine what little kids feel like ?

We got back to our resort around 11, bought refillable mugs at the food court and went back to our room. We completly forgot to ask for a room change, anyway the king bed was so big that we couldnt even touch each other, so it would do. The last thing we wanted was to have to pack and move again!

So, this was our first day. We really enjoyed everything we did. My mom usually doesnt like parades, but she loved this one. We were both amazed by Fantasmic. All in all, a great first day even thought we started much later than we had planned.

Tomorrow, Dec 29th, we had planned to do AK in the morning, Premium Outlets in the afternoon, and Epcot at night. That didnt happen, but we had great day nonetheless. Oh, of course, there was the whole dying thing....

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Thank you, really enjoyed your post. Sorry about the room, glad mom's smelly feet were not too close

Looking forward to more.

 

[cherokeemamma]

Hi Marivaid,
I just wanted to say I am enjoying tour TR so far. Thanks for posting.

My sister lived in Paris for a year...I kept begging her to go to Disneyland Paris the entire time she lived there. She never did go. She wasn't interested at all and she isn't a Disneyholic like the rest of my family.
I am working on her though. I would love to know the differences between WDW and DLP.

Thanks for sharing and so happy you both had a great time.

Cherokeemamma

 

[PaMom001]

First thing we did when we got to Philly was to run to the bathroom. Peeing felt magical, and there wasnt a mouse in sight.

I know that feeling very well!!

 

[marivaid]

Day 2 : Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Yeti, lepers and boogers (not in that order).

I was dead set on being at AK for early EMH (7am). Set the alarm clock at 5.45am and my man Stitch woke me up right in time. We got ready and went to the bus stop. My feet were already starting to hurt, but I didnt want to complain or waste any more time. I wanted to be at AK, getting Everest FPs!!

The line for the bus to AK was huge, even though they sent one bus after another we still ended up waiting a good half hour for that bus - the only time this happened at ASMO.

When we finally got in a bus and sat, I felt something gooey on my hand. A big booger!!!! I went EWWWWWWWWWWWW and got tissues and Purrell in my backpack. Meanwhile Grumpy is laughing her head off. I tell her it's not funny, it's disgusting, and she says well come on you just wiped your nose that's all. I'm like NO, YOU DON'T GET IT, IT'S NOT MINE!!!!! I touched the bars when we walked towards the back of the bus and some kid must have stuck his booger on one of them. It was just disgusting. Grumpy called me the Booger Magnet on and off for the rest of the week.

We got into AK and by then my feet were seriously hurting. Like I said before I'm a big, big girl,and my first reaction whenever something hurts is to think that it's because of my weight. I thought maybe my feet hurt so much because my sneakers were too worn to carry my weight. So I stopped at the first shop I saw and bought some brownish slide things that looked strong enough.

We walked through the Tree of Life, towards Asia on our way to Everest, and I was hurting even more. At that point, Grumpy told me to sit (and mind the boogers) and she would get us some FPs if I could explain to her how the machines worked. I told her and off she went. She came back with FPs for Everest for 11am. Our ADR at Donald's Breakfastausorus was for 10.10am and I told her we should get FPs for Safaris before going to Dinoland, because once again it wasnt a good idea to ride Everest after breakfast (if only I had known!!!).

We started walking again, and by then it was all I could do not to burst into tears, I was hurting so bad. I knew what was going on, it's been happening to me ever since I was a little kid. We had a house in the South of France, and every summer, because of the heat, the skin of the bottom of my feet would peel off within a week or so. That's what was happening today and they were almost raw in some places. Here's a pic... JUST KIDDING

So Grumpy said I should rent an ECV for the day, that it was either that or go back to the hotel. We slowly walked back to the entrance and got in line to rent one. I kept thinking about all I read on the DIS about overweight people renting ECVs and I felt really bad. When it was my turn, I asked the lady if they had enough ECVs left if some disabled people needed one today. She assured me that yes, they had plenty, and they could get more if needed. She asked me if I was 18 (I'm 28, and don't look 18, so I'm thinking she did that to make me feel a little less crappy about having to rent one of those things).

The ECV costs $40 for one day, including a $5 deposit that they give you back when you return it and the key. She also told me to keep the receipt and that if I needed one tonight at another park I would only have to pay the $5 deposit again.

Let me tell you something, after driving that ECV for 5mns I knew that I would always try to be more careful from now on when I see scooters, strollers, and wheelchairs in parks. People were constantly crossing in front of me, running a few inches from the wheels. I was SO afraid of hitting anyone that I ended up bumping into rocks, walls, trash cans and fences... We finally made it to the Safaris and got FPs.

Then we started to cross the park again, going towards Dinoland.

On our way there, we spotted the Tricera Top Spin (kind of like Dumbo, but green rhinoceros instead). The wait was only 5mns, so I parked the ECV next to a trash can (that will become a tradition) and off we went. We waited a little bit, and guess who came ? THE DREAM TEAM ! With Dream Passes for everyone in our group.
One of the CMs said something like, "It's your lucky day ! As part of the Year of a Million Dreams...." then I stopped listening because I had seen the DreamPasses in her hands. Oh-My-God. I couldnt believe it. That's exactly what we needed after wasting so much time this morning.

I explained to my mom what it was and she was thrilled too. The first thing we thought is that now we could give our regular FPs to other people in the park. Gotta love spreading the magic

We rode Tricera Top Spin and enjoyed it. And since we now had FPs for Primeval Whirl, and it was right next door, we decided to go do that before breakfast too.
MAN what a jerky ride !!! I got a whole seat (they're supposed to seat 2) for myself and kept bumping into the security bar. It hurt, but it was fun. We screamed a lot, though it was nothing compared to what was coming later today.

After Primeval Whirl we went to Donald's Breakfastausorus for our ADR.
Here's Grumpy showing off her DreamPass while we're waiting for a table:

(She would KILL me if she knew I put that pic of her on the internet!!!).

Donald's Breakfastausorus was OK. The food was good. They had the usual eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash brown.. some donuts, bagels, cereal and fruit.
I was disapointed in the character interaction. They all came in the room at the same time and spent maybe 30seconds with us, just long enough to take a pic or sign a book. Even with little ones they didnt spend much time at all. I still managed to get some cute pics of Grumpy with characters!
I paid OOP for this meal (shouldnt have) and it was about $50 with the tip.

Sitting next to us was a Canadian little girl and her mom. They were very nice and we chatted in french. The little girl showed me all her Princess autographs. We gave them our Everest FPs... I hope wherever she is, she has stopped cursing our names.

After breakfast we decided to go and see It's Tough to be a Bug. It was cute and funny. I didnt expect the bugs on my seat at the end of the show, and jumped off screaming. Two guys about my age sitting behind me couldnt stop laughing. Hey, at least, I made someone smile !!!

After Bug, we went to Safaris. We rode once and saw some animals, giraffes, elephants, zebras... it was close to 1pm by then and I think they must have been fed right before we came, because most of them were sleeping. A few pics though ! The truck moved pretty fast, and so I got a lot of photos of trunks, and bars, but some came out okay.

When we came out of the Safaris, the queue was over 2 hrs wait and went on for what seemed like miles. We only had 2 FPs, so we had to find a party of 2. We did find one, two girls in their early 20s with painted faces. They were so happy, at first they couldnt believe when we told them they could leave the queue and go through the FP return right now. Then they shrieked and thanked us.

We decided to go towards Everest and make a stop at Kali River Rapids on the way. Kali is a short ride, but very fun (not scary at all) and very refreshing. Again the water went right through our cheap ponchos. We had a great time and wished we could do it again, but we wanted to do Everest soon and the line for Kali was over 40mns by then.

And so off we went to Expedition Everest.
WHY ? WHY WHY WHY ????

Oh yeah. Because it looked fun... sort of!

We should have known. Grumpy was hesitant, but I wanted to go, and she wouldnt let me go alone. So we went. Went right in with our FP. I started freaking out almost right away, because my security bar didnt go all the way like my mom's did. I knew though that it was normal. That the train wouldnt even leave if everyone wasnt secured. But I couldnt help it. I thought, there is just too much space between me and that thing, when we go down that big drop I will just slip out I KNOW IT.

The ride up the mountain was OK until I looked down. Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. When we got to the point where the tracks are broken, and I knew we were getting ready to go backwards, my mom touched my hand and asked

- Are you Okay ??
My answer ?
- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That's when we went backwards. In the dark. And SO fast. Then there was a drop, in the dark, backwards.

You know how when you're on roller coasters or even Splash Mountain,people scream but they're actually laughing ? Well, we werent doing that. What was coming out of both of us was pure terror, the kind you cant control. I was screaming non stop, so was my mom, and it seemed to go on forever. I just KNEW something was gonna happen, we were either gonna fall out, or hit a wall, or the train was going to go off its tracks.
When we got to the part where we see the Yeti, we were actually relieved. Because the train had stopped moving. But it didnt last very long and off we were again. I kept my eyes closed and Grumpy was grabbing me as much as she could.
Still, even when you cant SEE, you can still FEEL. And boy we felt everything. That last drop, the one that looks so scary from far away, was actually a relief for us because we knew that after that, it was over.

When we FINALLY came out of that thing, we could barely walk straight. Grumpy kept telling me, WHY DID YOU MAKE ME GO ON THAT THING???
My throat felt so raw I could barely talk. We sat down for a little while until we felt we could walk more or less normally again, then Grumpy went into the shop and bought the Everest photo. In it, my eye are closed and my mouth is wide open, and Grumpy is hiding her face in my shoulder.

That was, without a doubt, the most terrifying ride I have ever been on in my life. After that, Grumpy vetoed everything that looked like a train, a roller coaster, or that had drops. So, no Tower of Terror,Space Mountain, Rock'N'Roller or Big Thunder Mountain for us on this trip.

You know what the funniest part is ?
I kind of want to do Everest again now

Here's a little pic of Grumpy, much more relaxed, in front of the Christmas tree after we exited the park :

We went back to the resort for a short break, then off to Epcot. We just walked (well, in my case, rode) around World Showcase, looking at the pretty sights, had dinner at Cantina de San Angel - sitting on the floor because all the tables were taken - and watched Illuminations from there.
Illuminations was absolutely PHENOMENAL and we decided right there that we had to come back and see it again somehow.

EPCOT was another park where we got totally caught up in the magic. It was just SO beautiful. We stopped and stared at the World Showcase bridge for over 10mns. Unbelievable.

We were lucky to hear some of the Candlelight Processional on our way to Mexico. That is one of the things I never thought of booking and I regretted it a little.

At the beginning of our Disney trip, we thought it would probably be a one-time thing. By the end of the 1st day, we planned to come back in a couple years. After Illuminations that night, I told Grumpy about Value Season that starts in July... which resort do you think we should try?

Tomorrow, Magic Kingdom, with a stop at the Poly for fireworks and Kona dinner.

 

[marivaid]

Hi Marivaid,
I just wanted to say I am enjoying tour TR so far. Thanks for posting.

My sister lived in Paris for a year...I kept begging her to go to Disneyland Paris the entire time she lived there. She never did go. She wasn't interested at all and she isn't a Disneyholic like the rest of my family.
I am working on her though. I would love to know the differences between WDW and DLP.

Thanks for sharing and so happy you both had a great time.

Cherokeemamma

Thanks Cherokeemamma I hope I'm not too boring with this TR !

Your sister isnt missing much at Disneyland Paris. First, it's tiny. And I mean REALLY tiny. Everything is cramped together, there's no place to cool off. And I find it dirty. I like living in France, but a lot of people have just no respect at all. They throw dirty things everywhere, and seem to be completly unable to wait in a queue. The kind of behavior that is accepted here would not be tolerated for a minute in WDW.

The good thing about it i that it's relatively cheap. If you live around Paris (and had to put up with the construction several years ago) you can get annual passes for about $120. But frankly I'd rather get 1 day in WDW than 1 year in DLP. It's just not Disney.

Disney to me now after visiting WDW, means perfection. And DLP is very very far from that. My mom who's been at DLP several times liked it until she went to WDW. Now, she says that compared to WDW, DLP is like a county fair.

 

[dvc at last !]

I am enjoying reading this.... more, more, more...... PLEASE !

 

[eugeniuss]

My favorite was Tigger. My mom tried to take a photo with us but couldnt figure how to use the camera, so I said something like "you suck" to her and Tigger hit me on the head!

just had to laugh at that after today's news...

 

[marivaid]

Day 3 : Magic Kingdom and the Poly

According to my plan, we were supposed to go to MGM this morning. Grumpy didnt like MGM at all (except for Fantasmic) when we went one evening, and after Everest, we decided to take a break from the thrill rides. So there was really no reason for us to be at 7am in MGM for early EMH that day.

Instead, we left around 9 and took the bus to Magic Kingdom. I have no photos at all of today because we were too busy going from one ride to the next.

I had to rent an ECV again today which I wasnt too happy about, but didnt have a choice. We wanted to start by Pirates of the Caribbean. On our way there, we noticed that Magic Carpets of Aladdin only had a 10mns wait, so we went in and it was fun. Rather short, but still fun.

After the carpets, we went to Pirates of the Carribean, which was a walk-in. I LOVED this ride and so did my mom. We both love Johnny Depp, even though we havent seen the Pirates movies. I loved the song. It was really nice. We kept expecting a drop (I think Pirates at DLP has a big drop).

After the ride, we went to the gift shop. Pirates is my sister's favorite Disney movie, so we got her a T-Shirt, beach towel, a pirate Mickey and pirate Goofy, the new DVD that's not out yet here, and a bunch of other pirate stuff; we took advantage of package delivery and had it all sent to ASMO.

We stopped at Splash Mountain long enough to get FPs and then headed to Haunted Mansion.

The wait was short, about 15mns, yes on the dreaded post-Christmas week, we never waited more than 20mns for a ride. Believe it or not, I was scared on Haunted Mansion. Not of the ghosts, which were pretty funny, but I'm afraid of the dark, and some parts of HM are completly black. Of course I wasnt scared like in EE, but still shaking a little. Besides the dark, I really liked the ride. It's MUCH better than the one at DLP, and Haunted Mansion is the only ride I really enjoy at DLP.

Once we were done with HM, it was about 11, and we thought now would be a good time to have lunch and beat the crowds. Columbia Harbour House was right in front of us so that's where we went. I had the chicken and fish combo and my mom had a salad and ate some of my stuff too. We skipped desserts again.

After lunch, we first stopped at Peter Pan to get FPs. We intended to use the that night before EMH.
Then we went to something I had been looking forward to for a while : PhilarMagic ! It was AWESOME. Another thing that had me smiling without even realizing it. We both love Donald, and 3D movies, and this one is just amazing. Funny and exciting, we were laughing so hard. I, of course, jumped out of my skin when the champagne bottles exploded towards us.

The one thing that I didnt like about PhilarMagic is that, while the queue was short, we had to stand for about 15mns in front of the doors waiting for the previous show to end. My feet were still hurting and it was very uncomfortable for me to stand like this for so long without anyting to lean on. I didnt realize that I was allowed to use the ECV inside. I would use it to get from attraction A to attraction B, then find a trash can somewhere and park it next to it (made it easier to find it later).

Anyway, the quality of the show was more than enough to make me forget about having to stand for so long.

This is where I get confused. I don't exactly remember where we went after this, which attraction we did, and when.

I know that we went to use our FPs for Splash Mountain, and waited around for some FPs for Winnie The Pooh before heading out of the park, I think around 2.30pm. After that, big blank. I had a notebook that I took with me to the parks the first few days, but I quickly forgot to write things down.

I think it's possible that we just went back to ASMO and relaxed in our room, until about 7pm when we left for our Kona reservation.
We took the bus to MK then the "launch" to the Polynesian. It made a stop at Grand Floridian first.
Once at Poly, we got some drinks at the Tambu lounge and waited for the fireworks. We saw what I think was the Electrical Pageant. It was cute.
The fireworks, however, were pretty disapointing. We would barely see anything, and without the music, it really wasnt that great at all.

We decided to go check in at Kona after a few minutes, and checked out the shops and O'Hana. The floor was VERY busy and noisy. I always thought Kona was a very calm restaurant, but we could barely hear each other speak. Especially in my case since I'd been having trouble talking since Everest, and waiting for Illuminations in the cold that night probably didnt help either.

This is the first restaurant where I was asked which allergies I had, if any (shrimp and lactose). The chef came to our table and told me what was safe to order and what was not. I had been studying the menus on WDWINFO before leaving and wanted the Kona salad, however my throat begged for something hot and smooth, so I went for the chicken noodle soup.
At first when we got to WDW, I really wanted to maximize our dining plan as much as possible however it was just not gonna happen. We were never hungry enough for desserts, and never wanted a snack. Our TS so far had been buffets which we enjoyed but were definitely not a good use of the plan. So, we gave up, and just got what we wanted, without trying to get more bang for our buck.

Grumpy had the crab cakes and Teriyaki steak. I had the chicken noodle soup and turkey medallions. Everything was good. The soup was served in a tiny bowl, and I wouldnt have minded seconds. It felt really good for my throat. The turkey medallions were good, and I'm extremely picky about my meat. However, the sauce was a little too strong for me, and mostly, there was WAY too much food on that plate. I ate maybe half of it. The veggies were very good. My mom really enjoyed the crab cakes and her steak. She had no room left for dessert. I wanted to try the Kiddie Cone because I love cotton candy, but it had ice cream in it. No problem, our server said, we can make it for you with soy ice cream. It took a little while, but I appreciated the effort.
To tell you the truth, soy ice cream is pretty gross. Sticky and with a weird after taste. But they had done this just for me, so Grumpy & I tried to eat at least some of it so it wouldnt look like they had done this for nothing. I also left an extra tip.

I had noticed a store with a bunch of Stitch items not far from the monorail stop, so I went there next. I got a Stitch backpack, Stitch keychain, a Stitch blanket, well you get the idea... $80 worth of Stitch. They cant send your stuff from resort to resort, so I had to take it with me to the park.
I just put it in the basket of my ECV.
That night, we were not too impressed by the Poly. I couldnt see what everyone else was seeing about that resort. When we came back a few days later, and used the front entrance,now THAT was something else!

We wanted to see Fantasy in the Sky at 12, but before that, we had FPs to use. Fantasyland was almost empty. We started by Peter Pan, then got FPs for PhilarMagic, though we didnt need them. We also did Winnie the Pooh, Snow White (cute, but won't do those again, they are really more for the under-6 crowds). The queue for Dumbo was rather small, so we went in. That's when Grumpy made a mistake. When we got in the line, I showed her the Dumbo "cars" and told her, they only have 1 seat, not like the ones at AK and the Carpets, so we'll need 2, we wont fit together in one. Well, when the CM asks her " How many in your party?" ... she says TWO. I whined NOOOOOOOO but it was too late. I let her ride by herself and exited the ride. I was a little upset, because I had JUST told her that we would need two cars, and she completly ignored what I said.

After that, I have a blank. I think we may have done PhilarMagic again. I wanted to move to the front of the castle to see Fantasy in the Sky, but Grumpy said we would see just as well from Fantasyland. Yeah, from BEHIND the castle. So we really didnt see much at all. After that, I think we went back to ASMO and were in bed by about 2am.

Day 4 : New Year's Eve!

During the night, I choked several times, and the next day, I couldnt wake up until 11am. Grumpy went to the food court and brought me back some hot tea that helped a little bit, but I felt crappy all day.
We didnt go in a park, and from what we heard the next day, that was a wise decision.Instead, we had lunch at the ASMO food court, then we took a cab to the Premium Outlets and shopped at Coach, Timberland, Skechers... we alwas go to Premium Outlets when we're in Orlando. At the Disney outlet there, I found a cute jacket for my 5 year old "niece", a bunch of cheap Stitch stuff, including a memory kit that cost $7.99 that I saw for $22 on eBay today!

I need to vent about the cabs; we've taken cabs everywhere in the US from International Drive in Orlando, to NYC, and in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. I have NEVER had nastier cab drivers than we had in WDW. For one thing, they didnt say a word except "where to". No Hello, no Thanks when we pay (and tip). So rude. We were not asking for someone to chit chat with us, but it never hurt anyone to say Hi. For another thing, I think it's rude to talk in your home language when you have customers in your car. Especially when you havent figured out which country your customers are from. There was one driver from Haiti who took us to the Contemporary one morning, who kept talking on his phone about what he did to his girlfriend the night before... well, they speak French in Haiti, so I got all the details. TOO MUCH INFORMATION!!! When we left the cab, I said to him Good-Bye and Good luck Tonight in French. I didnt stay to look at his face after that, but he must have figured that we understood everything he said during the ride!!!!
For information, a cab from ASMO to the Premium Outlets is about $25 each way.

We had dinner at Yacht Club Galley at 9.30 that night. We were back in our room around 6, and had already decided that we wouldnt try to go into Epcot tonight. Too many people, and we wanted to be at the park early the next morning. After that, well, having to take 2 buses to the YC just to have dinner and then come back didnt really appeal to us at all. I checked with the concierge to see what else was available, but of course, at 7pm on NYE, there wasnt much to choose from. So we did the unthinkable.
We went to the food court at ASMO, and traded 2 of our TS for 2 CS and snacks.
That's right. We had reservations for NYE at the Yacht Club, and instead, we ate Chicken Penne Alfredo at the food court, brought back our Mickey rice crispie treats to our room, and watched the movie about Fantasia Barrino on Lifetime. And since we were switching resorts the next day, we also did something very exciting : PACKING.

I shall repent and will accept my sentence, whichever it is that my DIS Masters choose.

 

[DebIreland]

OMG!! This is hilarious! I've loving it.

She was already driving me nuts before we left, because she kept comparing things in WDW to things in DLP. I kept telling myself that I booked a restaurant, ordered a special cake, and got La Nouba tickets for her birthday, and that it would probably be a lot better if she was still alive by then.

I'm just getting started - going back now to read the rest!! Keep up the great writing!!

 

[T-i-double-g-err]

DW and I love your TR. Your description of EE confirmed that we're not trying that one! My DD9 will probably love it though. Luckily, my cousin who loves thrill rides will be joining us on the next trip.

 

[blue_river]

I am enjoying your TR so far.

My youngest daughter wanted to go on EE but she was unable to convince the rest of us to join her. I may try it with her on our next trip.

The story about the cab driver had me laughing I wish you had seen the look on his face.

Keep it coming marivaid

 

[buccikulju]

Great trip report! I love hearing about Grumpy...but where are the pictures of you?

More trip report please and please a little background on why you decided on Disney.

Patty (7 times onsite and a-counting down to Feb at POFQ)

 

[vanillarum]

Marivaid, Ca Va? Love Your Tr, And The Fact That You Call Your Mom "grumpy" ! Aurevoir !

 

[marivaid]

OMG!! This is hilarious! I've loving it.



I'm just getting started - going back now to read the rest!! Keep up the great writing!!

OMG !! A compliment from my favorite TR writer (along with LauraLee) !!!! Thank you ! I love your TR and hope you enjoy mine

DW and I love your TR. Your description of EE confirmed that we're not trying that one! My DD9 will probably love it though. Luckily, my cousin who loves thrill rides will be joining us on the next trip.

You know, once my brain started working again after EE, I took a look around and noticed that while the parents walked out of EE looking like they just had a transplant of some kind, the kids were all excited and wanted to go back!! Your daughter may not even be scared at all.

My youngest daughter wanted to go on EE but she was unable to convince the rest of us to join her. I may try it with her on our next trip.

My description made you WANT to go ? Oh no.. where did I go wrong ?
Oh well let us know how you liked it when you come back!

Great trip report! I love hearing about Grumpy...but where are the pictures of you?

More trip report please and please a little background on why you decided on Disney.

No pics of me in the parks because Grumpy is not allowed to touch my camera. I'm not mean with her, seriously, but she dropped cameras in the water twice, including once in the Nile, so I'm not letting her anywhere close to my brand new camera especially in Epcot!

We decided to go to Disney for several reasons. First, I have a friend who LOVES Disney. She kept telling me that it's just unnatural, not to mention criminal, that we've been in Orlando so many times yet have never set foot in a Disney park. Second, we wanted to go back to Orlando, but I don't like Universal at all and having done Seaworld 3 times in one year, we needed something new. So, we decided to try Disney. For ONE day, at Animal Kingdom. When I looked online at the websites, I decided that one day wasnt enough, let's try 3. At just Animal Kingdom, and MGM, because obviously there was nothing to do in Epcot and Magic Kingdom is just too baby for us. : RIIIIIIIIGHTTTTTTTT
Then, I found the DIS. Nuff said. We ended up with an 8-night trip, and we can't wait to go back!

Marivaid, Ca Va? Love Your Tr, And The Fact That You Call Your Mom "grumpy" ! Aurevoir !

Ca va super, merci!!! Mom actually calls herself Grumpy these days ! She also has her own collection of Grumpy items, including a 4ft tall stuffed Grumpy that I got her for Christmas a couple years ago. Her collection got a lot bigger after this trip.

 

[sconnell]

Can't wait for more! Keep it coming!

 

[Cass]

the king bed was so big that we couldnt even touch each other, so it would do...

Enjoying your report, but what you are saying about DLP is scaring me for my trip later this year.

 

[klmall]

Interesting trip report! You really travelled a long ways (and several time zones) so I wasn't surprised when you fell asleep on the plane and it wasn't even going anywhere! I did that a couple of years ago and the worst part was we had to pack everything up and switch planes because they decided the plane had a problem. I never fell back to sleep and I was exhausted after camping for a week!

Shame about the wrong bed size and door not working. We've had door problems too at WDW. I love your Eeyore picture - it's precious! And don't feel embarassed about riding in an ECV for your feet; that's better than making your feet worse by walking on them or not seeing things after traveling so far! Good report!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Great trip report so far - it's always fun to read about a first timer's trip to WDW. Your report is helping me pass the time until our upcoming trip...only 8 days!! Glad you enjoyed the Lights at MGM - we thought they were just amazing when we saw them!