Gabe's First Trip!!! Jan 20-27th with PICS!!!!!!! Updated 3/24!!!!

[Cory's Gal]

All I know about Trip Reports is that I LOVE TO READ THEM!! In the evenings I will sit for an hour and just read trip reports, pre-trip reports, on-going trip reports, and completed trip reports!! FYI-I am an exclamation point addict, be prepared for a lot of !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The planning for this trip began in my crafty little brain about a week after DH and I got back from a long weekend at WDW last December. It was an awesome trip and the first time he and I went to WDW together. We have been married for five years and I am a Disney addict!! I have been many times as a pre-teen, teenager, and twenty something. DH had only been once before me with his high school band. Anyways, he had finally caved last fall after years of me nagging him about Disney, I think he just wanted me to shut up, but I didn't care because he said "book it"!! WOO HOO! I was VERY HAPPY!!! We decided to go w/o DS who was not quite 1. It was my FIRST night away from my boy ever. I was sad BUT excited at the same time.
Here's DH in the Magic Kingdom December 2005

We had a great trip but I had to promise not to bring up Disney for a while, so I didn't bring up another vacation there until about one month after that trip(he he he)...

 

[princessjv]

I'm 1st!

I just love being 1st!

I'm in, neighbor!

I think you sound just about as sly as I, when it comes to 'talking' dh's into seeing the MOUSE!

You like your !!!!!!!!!!'s

Hey I like my....'s..... and more .....'s

 

[pumba]

I am a dit and a dotter......but I like !! too...........Thanks for letting us know about you guys........always a good starter

 

[cincy]

I am in. Looking for more

 

[Cory's Gal]

It finally was April or so and I really was itching to book a trip for January, slow time of year and cooler but still warmer than the Midwest. So, instead of convincing my husband on my own I used my mom's help and my son's. We watched every Disney show on Travel Channel and watch our old vacation planning videos and I taught my 18 month old to say, "Gabe, Disney!!!!!" My mom and dad said they would come with if we went, they haven't been for 7 years and were excited to go back. My dad still had reservations about bringing Gabe who would be 2 for the trip, the old, "he won't remember, blah, blah, blah..." So I kept at DH all summer and he finally caved in September!!!!! I reminded him that DS was free!!!!! That surely helped!! So we booked through Small World Vacations, whom we used last time and by the end of October our flights were booked, hotel was booked, tickets purchased, and ADR's made. My dad was still a little skeptical, but it's a good thing he loves Disney too...

SO, here's our little cast.
Me, Beth, 28, preschool teacher and Disney Fanatic!!!!!!!! I love Mickey, Cinderella, and Nemo.

DH, Cory, 28, Engineer and is slowly becoming a fan!!! He likes Sully, Mike, and Crush.

DS, Gabe, 2, Loves to play with trucks all day everyday! He loves all the characters from MM Clubhouse, Sully, Pooh & Friends, Cinderella, Nemo, and all the Cars!!

DM, Nancy, 50 something, is the "saint" of the family, she does anything for everybody!! She likes Mary Poppins and Peter Pan!!
DD, Gary, 54, he is a chemist. He likes anything Sourcerer Mickey!!

There's our cast...stay tuned!!!!!!!!

 

[mt mommy]

Excited to hear all about your trippy!!!

 

[Cory's Gal]

On with Trip Report!!
We left FREEZING cold Minnesota early morning on Saturday, January 20th, I think our non-stop Air Tran flight left about 9AM. Uneventful flight, I could see WDW from the air as we were getting close to landing, it looks small from up above! Gabe did great on his first flight!!
Here he is waiting to board with DH:

And here he is boarding with me:

We landed about 11:30 or so and then checked in with Magical Express, waited in line about 15 minutes, boarded and we were off!!

When we got to POP Century we waited in the check-in line for about 15 minutes, we had booked connecting preferred rooms. We got exactly what we wanted and couldn't have asked for a better location! We were in rooms 1104 & 1105. The Lady building facing towards the middle. It was perfect!! Very close to Classic Hall and close to the pool without it being right outside the door. The temp outside that day was high 60's, it was BEAUTIFUL!! We went to Everything Pop for some lunch and then went back to our room for a rest. I had ordered a basket from Memories by Sarah for my parents. It came to their room about an hour after check-in.

She did a great job and my parents loved it!! We headed out for Downtown Disney about 6:00pm, got to the bus stop, waited about 2 minutes and the bus came.
Gabe with DH and DD:

Let the hugging begin:

We had dinner at Earl of Sandwich, shopped a bit, and I of course had to get my Cherry Sours from the Candy Shop, then we headed back and went to bed by 10pm. We were beat!!!! We bought our refillable mugs too, and I got addicted to Frozen Cokes!!!!
Next up, riding the "Everyday Bus" and our day at Animal Kingdom!!!!!!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Like I said in our descriptions, my son loves trucks!! That includes all transportation vehicles, buses, planes, trains, boats, cars, you name it. When we walked to the bus on Sunday morning for the first park, Animal Kingdom, we told Gabe that everyday we will ride the bus everywhere we want to go. He then started to call the bus, the "Everyday Bus", and the name stuck!!! TOO CUTE!! So off we went on the Everyday Bus to the Animal Kingdom on a beautiful sunny and 75 degree day!!! Got Gabe's 1st Visit Pin at Guest Services and off we were to the Safari!! Gabe loved it and called it the "Jeep Ride". Saw lots of elephants this time, it was a great ride. Cory and I high tailed it over to EE for fastpasses to return by 1. Then we saw FOTLK, AWESOME as always!! Gabe was dancing!!! He fell asleep on the way to Tusker House for lunch and slept all the way throught the meal!! WONDERFUL food!!! DM had Salmon, DD had Fried Chicken Sandwich, and DH & I split the Rotisserie Chicken!! VERY VERY good!!! Then we went to tackle EE!!!

This was DH and mine's first ride and we get right on seated in the front!!! This ride is now our favorite!!! What an awesome ride!! I can't say enough good things about it!! Too bad our ride pic didn't turn out, BUMMER!!
THen we headed over to Dinoland for a couple of rides on Triceratops Spin for Gabe!!

DD and DH went on Dinosaur and then we lined up for the parade!! I haven't seen a Disney parade since my first trip when I was 10. I have been on 6 trips since and thought of them as "Not Cool" (hey I was a teen), now with a child I didn't want to miss a single one!! Let me say the AK parade was awesome!!! (Have I used this word before???) Gabe loved the whole thing and was greeted by many characters! THe music was fun, and all 5 of us loved it, even my dad!!!
Waiting for the parade with Grandma!

After the parade we rode the train to Conservation Station. Gabe met Jiminy Cricket!! He gave him a hug and a five, he wasn't scared at all!!

After that we were all tired, it was about 4:30 and we started to head out. Back on the "everyday bus" and back to POP!! We got back to our rooms and had a cute elephant towel animal waiting!! Our first one EVER!!!

Dinner at the food court and a quick swim in the pool!! The water was warm and we had so much fun!!! My first rice krispy chocolate Mickey and of course a frozen coke and then off to bed!!!

Tomorrow we were off to MGM with warm weather and a little rain...did we make it for ILLUMINATIONS????? Stay tuned....

 

[tksbaskets]

What a fun trip report! I too am an addict and now I'm subbing to your report. I think it's great that your folks came along too. I'm looking forward to joining your trippie.

 

[Cory's Gal]

Thanks to all those who are reading!! It was a great trip and REALLY nice to have my parents with. They were so helpful and we all travel well together. Thanks princessjv, pumba, cincy, mt mommy, and tksbaskets for your comments!! I love to read the comments as much as I like to read trip reports!!!!!

 

[sunlver]

Ive been enjoying your trip report as well.. I think its wonderful you traveled with your parents. We went to Disney once with my parents about 9 yrs ago. They are getting older, and I know they have no desire to go back with us LOL..
We are heading to Disney in June with my 3 kids, who are 12,7, and 2... I love reading trip reports before I go. The pictures make it even better.

 

[NMAmy]

Gabe is adorable! I'm enjoying reading about your adventures! (Apparently, the ! thing is contagious.)

 

[Cory's Gal]

Thanks for reading sunlver and NMAmy!! It's fun to recall the trip, hopefully I can remember most of it!! It stinks cause the trip itself always go faster than it takes to write the report!!! LOL!!!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Our second full park day and our plan was to start the day, Monday, at MGM and then end it at Epcot for Illumintaions. So we got up and had some cereal in the room and then off to hitch a ride on the "everyday bus". The line moved quick and in no time we were off to MGM!!!! The weather was sunny again and just about 80 degrees, beautiful, they predicted a few showers throughout the day, that didn't matter to us, we were so happy to be at WDW!!!! Our first adventure was the Little Mermaid show, which we always have liked. Now though, it didn't seem as good because I think the singers used to sing live and now you can tell it's recorded. Gabe thought it was okay, as did the rest of us. As we were crossing back over to the other side, Gabe saw Pooh & Tigger and wanted to say "Hi". My son is a hugger, so EVERY character he had to give a hug and a kiss to.
This picture is so precious:

Then we ran into McQueen and Mater!!! Gabe and Grandpa got a closer look:

Then we headed back to what was the highlight of Gabe's day, "Lights, Motor, Action!". We took a lot of video during this trip and not as many still pics as I would have liked. Let me just tell you, Gabe talks of this show at least once a day!!! I told you he was into cars and such!!!!

After the show I took DD and DM pic by good ole' Herbie:

Then we were off to our awesome lunch at 50's PTC!!

Our server was Cousin Charlie, who was AWESOME!!! Our meal was fantastic, Gabe had the Mac-n-cheese, I had the stacked sandwich, my dad had the pot roast, DH had the pot pie, and my mom had the meatloaf. Then we all shared the angel food cake with berries for dessert!! This place was VERY GOOD and we would for sure go back!

After lunch mom and dad went on TGMR, while DH and I walked around and shopped with a sleepy Gabe. Cory and I then went on RnRC, fun as always, and then we lined up for the parade!!! The parade was great and once again Gabe got a lot of interaction!! We videoed the parade so no pics. Towards the end it started to sprinkle and then it poured!!! We seeked out shelter, shopped a bit, then hopped the bus back to POP!! We had some dinner, and then it started POURING BUCKETS!!! We went back to the room to decide if we were going to brave Epcot and shoot for Illuminations. We were brave and sported rain coats, ponchos, and umbrellas. While we were walking from the bus to the entrance, it kept pouring and pouring so we jumped on Spaceship Earth, this was about 7pm or so. We came out and the rain let up and was just a drizzle. So we shopped some more hoping the rain would stop and that Illuminations would be shown. People were flooding out of the park but we braved it. By about 8:30 the rain had completely stopped and we lined up for the show right along the fence by the two shops!! Perfect view, perfect show!!!!
Gabe and DH waiting...

Beautiful Spaceship Earth...

We strolled out of the park, didn't wait for the bus, and went back to POP!! Despite the rain it was a peaceful night!!!! We were in bed by 10:30, dreaming of our return to Epcot tomorrow and hoping that their would be no more rain!!!!

Thanks for reading!!!!!!

 

[AnninIowa]

Great start!! Gabe is adorable!! We just got back from a Jan. 31-Feb. 7 trip, so most of the kids there were little ones; so cute to watch them! We're from the midwest, too; I complained that it was chilly while we were in Florida, but should have shut my mouth with the cold return we had back in Iowa. We can't get a direct flight to Orlando from Iowa (unless you fly Alligent and go to Sanford); I'm seriously thinking if we ever go again to get a flight out of Minneapolis.

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks for sharing another installment! I love the picture of Gabe with Pooh. We loved the Prime Time Cafe too and plan to go back. Waiting for more....

 

[Cory's Gal]

Thanks to all those who are reading, it's so fun to remember our trip, we just watched the videos last night, I can't believe it was almost 2 months ago!!!

AnninIowa-Thanks for the message! It was really fun taking Gabe and watching him react and interact!! It's nice flying out of MSP, we flew out of the smaller terminal this time which was really nice with Gabe, it wasn't as busy as the big terminal. Where in Iowa are you?? My brother used to live in Ames, nice town!!

tksbaskets-PTC was great, the atmosphere and the food was very nice! Thanks for the continuing comments!!!

I need to go and shovel, that's what 20 inches of snow will do to ya!!! Hopefully I can get another day up later!!!

 

[kimkreis]

We were there the exact same time asy ou. Standing by to see if we had any overlaps and also reliving my trip through you. Great writing!!!!!!!

 

[daisy_77]

Thank you for sharing your TR! We were there at the same time as you! Our dates were 1/21-2/1...I am sure we probably passed on another at some point. We also stayed at Pop! We were in the 70's section by the Pop Jets.

I am enjoying your report and your pics! I look forward to reading more!

 

[VanniGirl]

Great report - I love reading about children's first trips!