Fun, Sun, and Mickey Mouse! An August 2009 TR...new 11/19 p. 34

[wdwgirl03]

Ah...I just love those purple signs!! You managed to capture everything I love about first arriving at Disney World. Love, love, LOVE all your pictures!

Me too!! Even my anti-Disney DH fell in love w/ the Poly. It's such an awesome resort.

Thanks Kirsten, glad you liked all the pictures!

Awesome about your DH liking the Poly. I don't see how anyone could NOT like it.

Great report so far- I love the photos!

Thanks!

All caught up!!! Great report Sarah!!! Can't wait to read more... Love the WL!! Hope to be able to stay there one day, along with many other resorts!

We have 2 chic-fil-a's less them 3 miles from our house!! We are there alot!! Um... Um...

haha, I know what you mean. We've been fortunate enough to stay at a bunch of the resorts but there's still a lot to go! It would be awesome to stay at them all eventually.

No words to describe the feeling I get seeing those pictures...this little icon explains it all...

I agree...perfect icon for first getting to WDW.

Good start. Looking forward to more.

Thanks! Hope to have a new update tomorrow.

Wow you sure put some great pictures in your post, I'm sure it was fun to stop at Poly and GF. Don't you just love the MK resort area. Can't wait to see all the great pictures you got of WL.
Thanks for sharing with all of us!

It was neat stopping at those resorts, especially the Poly. Whenever I see that place I always think of all the trips we took when we stayed there.

I also think I should give credit to my sister, most of the pictures are hers! She got some really good ones.

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK people, I seriously need to find a way to get to Disney World for the Old Spice Classic (a college basketball tournament). My school's team is playing in it this year. I was on the athletics site yesterday and saw they have packages where you can book a room at Coronado Springs and get tickets to the games. So tempting. Marquette basketball and Disney World...two of my favorite things...how awesome would that trip be?! The only bad thing is it's over Thanksgiving so I'm sure airfare prices are through the roof. I can hope, can't I?

I've been working on a new update so hopefully I'll get it finished tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who's bothered reading so far...I love sharing all our adventures with you guys!

--Sarah

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

do Southwest or Airtran fly out of where you live? I've found that they are the cheapest around, esp southwest!! I flew home the day after New Years last year and just the one way was still under 100 bucks so I'd look into those first if they fly where you live!

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Sarah!

All caught up now! We'll be using ME for the first time next year - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get one of the real buses!

Can't wait to see the photos of WL!!

Di x

 

[onelilspark]

I just noticed that there was a link to a TR in your signature I am ashamed.

But I'm here now Not too late!

 

[shordiebecka]

Just read through your TR...I am dying to check out Wilderness Lodge! I can't wait to see your pictures from it. Can you please tell me how you felt about Whispering Canyon Cafe? I'm curious and can't seem to find any good reviews about it!

 

[wdwgirl03]

do Southwest or Airtran fly out of where you live? I've found that they are the cheapest around, esp southwest!! I flew home the day after New Years last year and just the one way was still under 100 bucks so I'd look into those first if they fly where you live!

Yeah, Air Tran does for sure and I know Southwest is going to be, if it hasn't started already. I am going to have to check those out!

Hi Sarah!

All caught up now! We'll be using ME for the first time next year - so I'm keeping my fingers crossed we get one of the real buses!

Can't wait to see the photos of WL!!

Di x

Hey Diane!

The Magical Express is so fun. Hopefully for your first time you get one of the real ones.

I just noticed that there was a link to a TR in your signature I am ashamed.

But I'm here now Not too late!

Nope, you're definitely not too late, we're just getting started over here! Thanks for joining in.

Just read through your TR...I am dying to check out Wilderness Lodge! I can't wait to see your pictures from it. Can you please tell me how you felt about Whispering Canyon Cafe? I'm curious and can't seem to find any good reviews about it!

We really liked Whispering Canyon Cafe. It's the type of food that we like (typical barbecue stuff...my sister and I had chicken and I think Dad had ribs). The food was pretty good and the atmosphere is a lot of fun if not a little cheesy. I think it's worth trying atleast once.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

Southwest does fly out of Milwaukee now and there were some AMAZING specials to promote it! Check it out and see if they are still available! They also have a thing called Ding! that you install on your computer and everyday it shows you if there are any specials to/from the airports that you select. It's really cool! Hopefully it works out for you because that would be fun!

 

[DisneyFaeriePrincess]

Hi! You just posted on my TR and you were there right after me so of course I had to come over and read all about your trip! I didn't realize till I came over here that your name is Sarah but as you should well know you do spell it wrong, it is in fact spelled Sara! Hehe. I love riding ME and seeing different resort! We had a Mears bus too on our way down and we saw the video on it. That's weird. I definitely think another trip to Disney is a must and you should do it!

 

[ibedancin824]

Heyy i just wanted to let you know I was joining in!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Southwest does fly out of Milwaukee now and there were some AMAZING specials to promote it! Check it out and see if they are still available! They also have a thing called Ding! that you install on your computer and everyday it shows you if there are any specials to/from the airports that you select. It's really cool! Hopefully it works out for you because that would be fun!

You know, now that you mention that I vaguely remember Dad saying something about some deals Southwest had (atleast I think it was Southwest...). I would loooove to be able to go so we will see what happens!

Hi! You just posted on my TR and you were there right after me so of course I had to come over and read all about your trip! I didn't realize till I came over here that your name is Sarah but as you should well know you do spell it wrong, it is in fact spelled Sara! Hehe. I love riding ME and seeing different resort! We had a Mears bus too on our way down and we saw the video on it. That's weird. I definitely think another trip to Disney is a must and you should do it!

Hey Sara! Thanks for joining in. It's funny you say that about how we spell our names because I almost posted the same thing on your TR.

Heyy i just wanted to let you know I was joining in!!

YAY, another new reader! I'm going to head over to your TR too, I think we were there the same time.

 

[jwwi]

How fun to go to Disney and see Marquette BB. Good luck with your flight search. Airtran has a 25.00 FL coupon, check out the budget board to see if you can get it.

 

[wisblue]

Southwest does fly out of Milwaukee now and there were some AMAZING specials to promote it! Check it out and see if they are still available! They also have a thing called Ding! that you install on your computer and everyday it shows you if there are any specials to/from the airports that you select. It's really cool! Hopefully it works out for you because that would be fun!

The amzing specials for Southwest out of Milwaukee were only for the first few days when they begin flying out of MKE (middle of November). So far, my experience with Southwest is that they don't take reservations too far out, which isn't the best for people like me who like to have things arranged in advance. Also, their nonstops to and from MKE are not at our favorite times. For our next trip in January, the earliest nonstop departure was at 9:30, and we prefer leaving earlier so we can arrive earlier. The only nonstop return leaves MCO at 8 AM, which is a little too early. The base fares are comparable to AirTran, although Southwest doesn't charge baggage fees. After balancing it all out, I decided on AirTran. If nothing else, if we have weather problems, AirTran has more flights and more opportunities to get rerouted.

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Ooh, I hope you can figure out a way to make it down there for the game! How fun would that be?! I just looked over at Southwest. It looks like you might be able to find something for $200 or less. That's not too bad. Not only would you get to see Marquette, you'd also get to be at WDW to see all the awesome Christmas decorations!!!

 

[joy13]

I'm so glad I checked in - I had no idea Southwest has started flying out of Milwaukee. We have our flights for this trip - but we may be going to Phoenix in Jan. so I'm off to look. I prefer to fly out of GB if I can, but Milwaukee isn't so bad.

 

[wdwgirl03]

How fun to go to Disney and see Marquette BB. Good luck with your flight search. Airtran has a 25.00 FL coupon, check out the budget board to see if you can get it.

Thanks, hopefully something will work out...like I said, two of my favorite things in one trip... If only we were big MU boosters/donators we could maybe get on the team's charter flight.

The amzing specials for Southwest out of Milwaukee were only for the first few days when they begin flying out of MKE (middle of November). So far, my experience with Southwest is that they don't take reservations too far out, which isn't the best for people like me who like to have things arranged in advance. Also, their nonstops to and from MKE are not at our favorite times. For our next trip in January, the earliest nonstop departure was at 9:30, and we prefer leaving earlier so we can arrive earlier. The only nonstop return leaves MCO at 8 AM, which is a little too early. The base fares are comparable to AirTran, although Southwest doesn't charge baggage fees. After balancing it all out, I decided on AirTran. If nothing else, if we have weather problems, AirTran has more flights and more opportunities to get rerouted.

I kind of figured the Southwest deals were only good for a few days.

Ooh, I hope you can figure out a way to make it down there for the game! How fun would that be?! I just looked over at Southwest. It looks like you might be able to find something for $200 or less. That's not too bad. Not only would you get to see Marquette, you'd also get to be at WDW to see all the awesome Christmas decorations!!!

I know, it would be awesome even though I have a feeling the team isn't going to be too good this year. But I don't care, it would be so fun plus I've never been to Wide World of Sports before.

I'm so glad I checked in - I had no idea Southwest has started flying out of Milwaukee. We have our flights for this trip - but we may be going to Phoenix in Jan. so I'm off to look. I prefer to fly out of GB if I can, but Milwaukee isn't so bad.

Yep, I think they announced that maybe a month or two ago that SW was going to start flying out of Milwaukee. Phoenix sounds fun...we went there last year to go to Brewers spring training!

 

[wdwgirl03]

August 20, 2009...part 3

Once we were done dropping people off at the Grand Floridian, we backtracked to the Wilderness Lodge. I tried getting one more picture of the Polynesian...instead the monorail started passing by.

Dad thought the drop off order was a little strange-he thought we’d either be first or last-after the WL the bus was going to the Contemporary. Oh well. But by that time we were getting pretty excited! I loved the Great Hotels episode on the Wilderness Lodge and couldn’t wait to pull up to the Lodge. Bill started to tell us all about the hotel, like how there were no palm trees because they wanted it to really feel like you were driving up to a national park lodge. He also told us how it was affectionately known as the “Lincoln Log Lodge.” At last we turned down Timberline Drive and saw the arch. Again, bad spot on the bus=blurry picture of the bottom of the arch.

And then just around the bend we could see the Wilderness Lodge in all its glory. Emma got a couple of great pictures as we pulled in!

This is all I got:

But I did get a decent one of the "not-so-free-roaming buffalos"!

We hopped off the bus, thanked Bill and headed inside to check in. The lobby looked a little different from the last time we saw it (no giant Christmas tree) but it’s still just as impressive with the towering wooden columns, giant teepee chandeliers and the totem poles. If you’ve never been to the WL it’s worth going just to see. Amazing! Emma and I got a few pictures while Dad went to check in. Unfortunately they don't do the lobby justice.

Our room was ready right away so we made our way over to the villas to drop off our stuff.

The entrance to the VWL is so neat—there’s a covered wooden walkway that leads into the lobby, which just like the main lodge, is beautiful. There’s a giant birdcage, more wooden columns (that have cute little animal carvings on them) and some sitting areas. I wish I would have taken a few more pictures—I’ve got a few but those will come later. So we found room 1506 (ground floor, turned out to be very convenient for getting to the bus stops) and settled in for a bit, checking out our Welcome Home packet and calling home to say we made it. But we didn’t want to sit around all afternoon so we decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom. Our first order of business was to get our tickets and renew Dad’s annual pass. So we went over to the concierge to redeem our will call vouchers. They told us that Emma and I could get our tickets but the AP renewal needed to be done at the parks. Dad decided it would be easier to just do it all at once so we walked down to the docks to catch a boat over to the Magic Kingdom.

On the way down we got to admire the great theming of the resort: all the pine trees, the wooden walkways—there are even animal tracks in the cement! When we got to the dock we could see a boat coming back so we wouldn’t have to wait too long. Good timing! Soon we were on our way to the MK. We had never ridden one of the boats before so I was definitely looking forward to it. And I couldn’t wait to get that first glimpse of the park. The boat ride was pretty short and after passing the Contemporary, we started to see this:

Another awesome view! I loved how you could see all the excitement of the MK: the monorail station, the railroad, and the very top of Cinderella Castle. What a great way to start our trip. We then went to will call to get our new tickets.

My brand-new, 10-day, no-expiration park hopper! The designs were really cute but it was just one of the paper ones. Do they only give you the credit card style ones if you purchase in advance or have them on your room key? Oh well. With our new park tickets in hand it was time to have some fun!

We were curious to see what the crowds were going to be like since it was already mid-afternoon. We entered the park (not without some trouble with our tickets…stupid finger scanners) and started walking down Main Street. Did I mention how much I love seeing the castle for the first time? And then there were the new What Will You Celebrate decorations, the balloon vendors, and the Main Street band. Happiness!!

As we continued walking toward the castle we stopped at the attractions board to check out the wait times. From the number of people on Main Street it didn’t seem like the park was too crowded. And the waits for the rides weren’t bad at all. Other than Splash Mountain and Big Thunder, I don’t think anything had more than a half-hour wait. So we had a few options but where would we go first?!

 

[Beauty & the Best]

Great update!!!

Yeah, I wish that AP's were more like the credit cards that they give to everyone, but I guess they must have some reason for giving you those flimsy paper ones even though I can't seem to figure out why that would be.

 

[xoktenox]

Ahhh the Wilderness Lodge is beautiful beyond words. The pictures of the lobby are so nice even though its so hard to get a good one in there because of the lighting. Just looking at the pictures bring back such a warm feeling

What a gorgeous view of the MK from the boat! I remember riding the opposite way, towards the WL and its breathtaking. Then of course the first look at the castle gave me the chills! Can't wait to be there again!

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Hey girl! I'm joining along on your trip report!

I love the feeling of walking down Main Street on the first day of vacation!