Gus Gus & Co. Take On the World! **Chapter 1, page 1**

[fancythemouse]

SURGEON GENERAL WARNING: As it is my first time writing a trip report, I apologize in advance for any boredom you may suffer during the length of this trip report.
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This is my pretrip report because I leave tomorrow morning and when I return I will write about the actual trip, and I promise to NOT forget about it and leave this pretrip dangling in cyberspace.

All the successful trip reports I have read,state a cast. I could only wish to be as good of a writer as zzuB, Horsegirl, or 1000thhappyhaunt but alas, I'm not.

Cast:

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Gus Gus (me). 17 yrs; Middle sister, Love almost anything Disney; prefer the classics over anything. Always get that warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I see a Disney commercial. I am a combination of both Jaq and Gus but more so Gus Gus.

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Minnie Mouse; 6yrs. Loves watching Disney movies and of course Disneyland (she's only been twice though). Is thoroughly excited for this trip because she gets to go on a plane. The official countdowner.


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Belle; 19. Oldest sister. Miss Mature, hopefully she will let her inner kid come out during this trip.

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Cindi; Mom, caretaker, exercise queen, dances like Snoopy, enjoys a good coffee and pastry.

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eeyore; Dad, brings the bacon home, he's eeyore not because he's sad but he just goes with the flow. My mom and I think of him as

the beast.

I have always loved Disneyland and have been priveleged to be able to go every year or 2 years with my family; one of the benefits of living in southern California.

It all started when I saw the Disney World section in the January edition of the AAA Travel magazine. They were giving a great deal for this year because of the Happiest Celebration on Earth. I started calculating how much it would cost for our family of five to go to Disney World; A place my parents have been promising to take us since we were little. I slowly lowered the bomb on my dad by at first showing it to him, suggesting it, and then directly asking for it.

At that time (jan 2006) my behavior wasn't so hot with my parents so my dad said that if my behavior improved then he would think about it. So I made a pretty big attitude adjustment and l started to compile all the information that I got from Disneyworld website, disneyworldtrivia, and of course disboards. I created a slideshow presenting my case (something I learned in my communications class in college). I oohd and awed them. Thus our 7 day, 6 night trip planning had begun!

So since then I have stayed loyal to disboards, checking it several times a day, everyday. I called Disney for my ADRs and called Magical express a month before our departure date. I have everything in a pretty pink folder labeled: DISNEY with a mickey head traced onto it with black sharpie. Just recently I have taken my printed out itineraries and transferred them to large index cards, to keep in my backpack.

That's all for now! I leave early tomorrow morning so as soon as I get back I will write my trip report.

 

[tashasKraz4WDW]

Sounds great.. Can't wait to read the rest..

 

[OhMari]

Good job Gus with the trip planning. I would be shocked if any of my kids could put together a trip. They have no problem taking "their college spring break trips", but I don't think they could pull off a family vacation itinerary like you did.

Hope you have a great time. I'll be staying at POR next April, I hope you have nothing but good reviews of the place.

 

[TLinden16]

She's on her way today! Yay!

I can't wait to hear about the adventures of this cast of characters when you get home!

 

[fancythemouse]

Just a refresher

Cast:

-

Gus Gus (me). 17 yrs; Middle sister, Love almost anything Disney; prefer the classics over anything. Always get that warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I see a Disney commercial. I am a combination of both Jaq and Gus but more so Gus Gus.

-

Minnie Mouse; 6yrs. Loves watching Disney movies and of course Disneyland (she's only been twice though). Is thoroughly excited for this trip because she gets to go on a plane. The official countdowner.


-

Belle; 19. Oldest sister. Miss Mature, hopefully she will let her inner kid come out during this trip.

-

Cindi; Mom, caretaker, exercise queen, dances like Snoopy, enjoys a good coffee and pastry.

-

I changed my mind, my dad is most like Baloo because he is very playful with us kids

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Elmo; Head Pastor of our church, very helpful and friendly and loves Elmo, even though he is a grown man


My dad wakes me up bright and way too early at 5:30am! I didn't actually wake up until 6:00am I know, I know I should have been up at who-knows-what-time because, heck! We're going to Disney World! It's our first trip too.

So I manage to fall out of bed and get ready. As I double check and even triple check to make sure we have just about everything but nothing unneccessary.

Elmo comes to our house at 6:45 and we are on our way to LAX!

As we arrive, my stomach is all ina flurry. Today is finally here! So we use the OH SO helpful Delta check in machine and proceed to put our two luggages (yes, we, family of 5 were able to compress all our stuff to two suitcases).

Well one suitcase weighed 45lbs at first and the other was 58lbs, 8lbs over the limit. So we started shuffling stuff around now the weights are 52 and 51lbs UGH. We take out 3 pairs of shoes and now the suitcases are 51 and 50lbs and the guy was nice enough to let us pass without paying $50.

We wait at our gate and about 10 minutes prior to boarding time, my mom and I decide to run and get snacks because this flight was a "no meal flight" (thanks alot Delta ) Now we have to go waste like a a bagillion dollars because airports like to price gouge.

We board and are 1 row before the last and Delta is nice enough to have a personal tv for everyone in the headrest of the chair in front of you. They have free Tv but now you have to pay for your movie! What's up with that? We paid what? $1000+? First, no actual food now no free movies??? Whose bright idea was this? The flight was pretty much uneventful, I watched tv while munching on snacks but it was pretty hot in there.

As we are up in the air, passing the clouds my little sister asks my big sister "Where's God and Jesus?" That made me crack up SO much!

About 4hrs later the pilot makes the announcement that we will be landing soon! So we start decending, boy! How I hate that g-force feeling. We land and I am holding on for dear life, I don't know why but I thought the landing would be REALLY hard. It takes like 5464616384 minutes for people to complete the easy task of getting their carry-ons and exiting the plane! We finally make it off the plane and trek to A side Floor 1 to the magical express counter.

The ME people guiding you, tell us that only one person with the ME papers can go to sign in and the rest have to wait elsewhere. So I designate myself as the official checker-inner. It goes smoothly and we are led to one of the many maze-like lines for Port Orleans Riverside. We make it in the nick of time and are the last ones boarded. The bus is rather comfortable and as we make our way to POR the bus driver announces that a tropical storm is headed our way. It's rainy and muggy.

Welcome to Florida!

As we get into the lobby we are gladly greeted with A/C! We check in with Pinar, extremely friendly. I ask sweetly, "We requested a room in building 15, and was wondering if it was met"

"let me check"

"Yes, your room is in building 14. Have you been here before?"

"No, but I have some friends who told me it was a good location"

Hehehehehe, the DIS strikes again!

After check in, my mom is not feeling so hot (hypothyroidism) so we found on our way to our room #1428. Sweet Deal! So close to food, bus, and boat!

We head over to Boat Wrights because my mom wanted "real" food and wine. Well I already knew that it would be impossible to get seats but nonetheless we went. Hour and half wait.

Off to Riverside Mill​

At first, the food court overwhelmed me a bit. SO many people! We eat and decide to go back to the room because my mom and little sister need to go to sleep.

I stay up watching tv.

Magical express, not so magical. We didn't get our luggage until 11:30pm and we landed before 6:30pm.

As I fall asleep in a nice a/c room, thoughts of Mickey danced in my head.

Coming Soon: Day 2 Magic Kingdom

 

[pumba]

we got crackers on our delta flight........crackers and juice.....what more could I ask for.......I know a two hour layover in Cinn and a place to get breakfast.....thanks so much for your fantastic start to your vacation......you are a good writer and I think you should take a creative writing course in school.....you have the knack.
thanks again and YES 14 is a great bld and our favorite..

 

[Shell0616]

Great report so far! I can hardly wait to read the rest of it......

 

[Disney owl]

Great start

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Sounds like yall had an awesome time down there! Can't wait to read about the rest of it!

 

[dohgusgus]

I promise to NOT forget about it and leave this pretrip dangling in cyberspace.

i already broke that promise, sorry guys!

Since it has already been 3 months since I got back, my memory isn't so great.

Okay, here goes nothing:

I had set up our wake up call for 7am, hoping to be out of the room, have had breakfast, and on our way to the parks by 8:30. The phone rang and my sister answered it, she mumbled a few things and hung up. So much for a wake up call!

I was awake and already dressed at 7am but my family had yet to get their sleepy butts out of bed! So I decided to take my key to the room and go explore the rest of the resort. I walked outside and it was already warm, not hot yet. It felt okay though.

I checked out the food court and restaurant and game room. Then I headed back to the room where my parents were getting ready. My little sister wasn't even awake! So i rushed everyone to get ready and off we went to have breakfast, it was already 8:15-ish! We didn't end up leaving the hotel until 9:30. I was so upset that they ruined my plans but what could you do now? So we rode the bus (with seats ) to MK!

As the bus arrived, I was so excited I nearly ran people over. I had to make my parents scurry over to the entrance. Did the finger scan and headed to main street!

Main street is probably one of my most favorite places in the park. Although it has no rides, it just makes you happy being there (maybe because there are no lines ) It was a different placement so we had to keep checking our map. It was now around 10am and the Cinderellabration was just starting. Of course there was like 259648512 people standing right in front, so we watched from a distance, putting my little sister on a column so she could she all of it. We filmed and took pictures of some it.

We decided to leave before it ended so we wouldn't be caught in a rush of people. Once again going against the itinerary, my family decided to start in Adventureland (when I wanted to start in fantasyland). We had just walked into Adventureland and we already got separated. You see, my sister and I are "go and conquer" kind of DLanders and my parents are "Let's just enjoy the scenery" kind of DLanders. So while Belle and I headed to hit Jungle Cruise, right as the Cinderellabrationers were coming in, my parents were just taking it easy. So of course we flipped out the cellphones and called Cindi & the Beast, and of course they didn't answer. So we finally find each other and go back to Jungle Cruise and get in line. It was only 10:30 and I'm sweating bullets, humidity is not my friend

I remember reading about the special button underneath the handrail by the spider's cage, that if you press it the spider will jump against its cage bars. Well the line moved to fast that I couldn't push it, and I really wanted to scare Belle hehe, I am a evil little Gus Gus

We all rode BTMRR as a family and of course loved it! It was my little Minnie's first "coaster".

From there on we just got on where we could. I can't remember the exact order of rides but I know while we headed to Fantasyland, Belle ran to Tomorrowland to get FPs for Beast, Minnie, and herself. As we were walking through the castle, some random guy asked me if I wanted two fastpasses to Splash Mountain, so even though I don't like Splash Mountain I took them. I ended up giving them to Beast & Minnie. Belle joined them and they rushed back to Frontierland and rode it while Cindi and I were in Fantasyland.

We rode Snow White, Peter Pan, Pinocchio, and It's a Small World (which was indoors unlike DL's IASW). We saw Mickey's Philharmagic and LOVE LOVE LOVED it! It was great! For lunch we had burgers and fries and continued through fantasyland.

Beast, Minnie, Belle, and I rode the Tea cups while Cindi went to some shops (she can't stand the spinning, makes her sick). We decided to get in line for AOWTP (adventures of winnie the pooh) and waited only 15 minutes. Then we shopped in Pooh's store and I bought my friend a Pooh keychain since she LOVES Pooh!


From there, everyone was hungry and thanks to my great planning we had ADRs set for 5pm at Crystal Palace. We signed in and in about 15-20 minutes they sat us down. The buffet was very good but getting pictures with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet was even better! Minnie even joined in the jaunt around the restaurant. Everyone ate until they were satisfied and we moved onward to Tomorrowland.

In Tomorrowland Beast, Minnie, and Belle headed to Space Mountain with their FPs. Cindi and I decided to ride the TTA. We haven't ridden the TTA since before DL took it out. It was very relaxing. Both Cindi and I were able to put our feet up. As we rode through Space Mountain we looked to see if our family was boarding yet but no sign of them. On our way back to the loading area, the TTA broke down and we were waiting there for about 15 minutes. We were borh wanting a snack so we shared a Turkey drumstick and I wanted to ride the TTA again but Beast, Belle and Minnie were back already. My little Minnie is so brave, she conquered all three mountains at the wee age of 6!

We grabbed FP for Buzz Lightyear and then headed to wait in line for Star Tours. Rode Star Tours, and of course it was fun! Then headed to the Carousel of Progress. We don't have that at DL so we had to ride it. It's a nice relaxing ride but that song gets stuck in your head. After exiting and going to Buzz Lightyear, Minnie was singing it loud! Haha.

I stunk on Buzz Lightyear, but I think its partially MK's fault they should have the guns detached from the "rocket".

From there we headed to the exit and waited in line for our bus. Got to our rooms, showered, changed and fell asleep, *snap* just like that!


Next: Epcot!

 

[NewOrleansLady]

I just found your TR and I really hope you are able to add more soon