Honeymoon to Anniversary...a trip 20 years in the making

[amblackmon]

Hi! I'm Michelle, and I'm a Disney addict...

Ok, I can’t stand it any longer! The suitcases are packed, the car is gassed up and ready to go, the grandparents are briefed…I am ready for the trip a full day before the trip is ready for me. What to do, what to do? I know…I am going to begin writing the pre-trip report. Here we go…

Let me introduce the cast of characters for this adventure:

Going on the trip:

Michelle – The DW, Disney addict, home school mom of 4, keeper of the zoo, trip planner, ADR maker, Disney addict, taxi driver, packer, Disney addict…I think you get the picture. But seriously, I can quit anytime I want!

Alan - DH of our adventure, long-suffering spouse of a Disney addict, luger of heavy luggage for long distances, driver of cars while his DW snores quietly in the passenger seat, enjoyer of good food, head inmate of the asylum. Usually found wandering behind the main hoard herding strays with a confused expression on his face.

NOT going on the trip:

DS – Nearly 15 (oh sooo teen. Available for rent to a good home, has been known to fold a shirt in his time)
DD – 12 (Can’t believe that we aren’t taking her on the trip; just knows that we will come to our senses any day now.)
DS – 11 (Looking forward to a week without chores, sleeping late, watching TV and playing Wii, bring out the day-long PJs!)
DD – 8 (Still begging to go and isn’t looking like she is going to slow down any time soon.)

Not going on the trip and completely clueless:

3 dogs
4 cats
2 birds
2 turtles
(And no, there are no partridges or pear trees around here)

Our Plans:

Sunday 5/16 – Leave after church and drive as far as we can. (Yes, we are driving. I look at it as nearly 11 hours of uninterrupted quality time with my DH.) (DH note: 11 hours without continual chatter, interruptions, fusses, spilt food that goes to feeding the family of ferrets that lives under the back seat, I have no idea what we will do to fill the time without the continual low-scale riot in the back seats).

Monday 5/17 – Fri 5/21 – Staying in a studio at the Bay lake Towers, Bay Lake view
Fri 5/21 – Mon 5/23 – Staying in a studio at The Boardwalk Villas

Our ADR’s:

Monday – The Plaza Restaurant (first time)
Tuesday – Hollywood Brown Derby (first time)
Wednesday – The California Grill for our anniversary (first time)
Thursday – Tusker House
Friday – Rose & Crown
Saturday – Teppan Edo (first time)
Sunday – The Coral Reef (first time)
Monday – Kouzzina’s for breakfast (first time)

Not sure why, but DH keeps looking at our dining list with a far-away look in his eyes drooling a bit. It’s a bit disturbing, but it does make him easier to handle. If I promise to feed him well he will follow me anywhere!

Now you know a little about us and about our trip. I hope that you will join us! I look forward to hearing from/meeting you!
Michelle (and Alan)

 

[amblackmon]

Day 1 – Monday, May 17, 2010
This is our first day here and it has been quite a day! For some reason, anything that the B’s do turns out to be an adventure (note: adventure is defined as something inconvenient, uncomfortable, sometimes dangerous and ALWAYS expensive that happens to someone else) and this day proved no different. I will just write about part of the day in this post and I will add the rest of the day later. I want to get out to the parks eventually.

We drove up to Walt Disney World at around 2 o’clock today. We have been here many times (we practically have our own parking spot…) and we really do know how to get here, but our Tom-Tom GPS was telling us that there was a new and better way to get here. Being in a rather adventurous mood, we decided to let Tom-Tom lead the way. After driving through several neighborhoods and being told to go down a road or two that really didn’t exist, we gave up on Tom-Tom and decided to find WDW on our own. We ended up following a very tattooed biker (DW – “I bet that biker is going to WDW.” DH – “No way. He isn’t the Mickey Mouse type!” DW – “Look, he’s turning off. Where is he going? ROTFL He’s turning in the cast member parking lot! He is going to WDW!!!”) After touring the not so magical side of WDW, we arrived at our destination. We checked in to Bay Lake Towers at the Contemporary, parked our car and brought our luggage to the 8th floor. Our room has a great view of the pool and Bay Lake. We can see the Tower of Terror off in the distance as well as the huge hot air balloon that is at Downtown Disney. Not bad!

After checking out our little studio, we unpacked and got ready to walk to Magic Kingdom. It has always been a dream of mine (silly, I know, but…) to stay at the Contemporary and be able to walk to the MK. It was finally time to fulfill that dream! DH and I grabbed our rain jackets, just in case, headed out the door and started walking. We made it out of the parking lot and to the sidewalk, smiling and taking pictures, before the torrential rains hit! Yes, my first walk to the MK was done in the pouring rain!

On the plus side, we were able to find out that our Coleman jackets really were waterproof.
We ran through the rain to the front gate where we had my little bag checked (the line was really short here) and up to the ticket office (again, short lines). We bought our annual passes and headed into the park. Now I always love that moment when you walk into the park, down the middle of Main Street, and toward Cinderella’s castle. That moment didn’t happen this time! We were like trout swimming upstream through the hoards of people leaving, with our heads down, avoiding rain drops and careening strollers. Not very magical but quite funny!

We decided that we were going to go straight to Space Mountain. The last time we were here (during the monsoon of 2009) it was closed for refurbishment. We grabbed our fast passes and decided, despite the 50 min wait time, to go through the standby line to see what had been changed. It was obviously a fabulous idea, because thousands of other people were doing the same thing! Hey, we didn’t mind, we were at the MK and life was good. We laughed, we waited, we played the video games that are in the line, we waited and we finally get to the inner line that snakes back and forth before you get to the ride itself. Well, the wonderful rain and lightening that we were hiding from did something to the ride and they shut it down. Sigh. We all had to exit the building, but we did get fast passes for our trouble.
We walk out into the blazing sunshine and head to Fantasy Land. Maybe the rain drove away all the families with small children. Nope! They were all still there, waiting in lines. Can you believe that its A Small World had a 20 min wait? What!? That never happens in mid-May!! This is crazy!

We battled our way out of Fantasy Land (the strollers were particularly ornery to get around) and headed to the Haunted Mansion…50 min wait there. I don’t think so! We headed to Adventure land where Pirates only had a 15 min wait. Yes! We were finally going to ride a ride! We sat by the cutest older couple that had never been on Pirates before. The drop at the beginning just about did the wife in! Chuckle!

Next we headed to Frontier Land and used the fast pass from the Space Mtn. debacle to ride Thunder Mountain Railroad. Two rides down! From there we headed to the Haunted Mansion where we decided that a 25 minute wait really wasn’t that bad (this is not something we normally do)! After the ride in the doom buggy, we headed back to Fantasy Land to grab a fast pass for Buzz Light Year, ride the Carousel of Progress and catch Space Mountain with our fast pass before our ADR’s at The Plaza Restaurant. Finally, I am going to get to ride Space Mountain! We get in line and…the fast pass line is L-O-N-G-E-R and S-L-O-W-E-R than the standby line. WHAT IS UP WITH THAT? We wait, and wait, and watch the standby people play the neat little video game, and wait and finally get to the place where they take your fast passes only to have to take the chicken exit so we could catch our ADR’s. Yes, that is twice that we have waited in that line now and not been able to ride that ride! (DH note: Space mountain line is one of the more pleasant spots to hang out while it’s storming outside, the little video games they installed on the stand-by side are fun ways to pass the time while you wait.. and wait… and…)

That’s enough angst for now. I will finish the rest of the day later! We are getting ready to explore the Contemporary a bit and then head to Hollywood Studios. We are just praying that today goes by with fewer adventures!

 

[PrincessFendi]

I love the Contemporary! It was nice to see that you rode The Carousel of Progress. Enjoy your week at Disney!!!

 

[Goofy442]

Oh BLT can't wait to stay there. I hope you and your DH enjoy your kid free week

 

[amblackmon]

Thanks, guys, for your good wishes! We are having a great time!

 

[amblackmon]

Day 1 – part 2

Well, we made it to The Plaza Restaurant just in time for our reservation. We only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seated. The Plaza is being refurbished on the exterior so all of the windows are covered right now. (DH Note: on the plus side, no one could see the drowned rat look he was sporting after the deluge earlier) I was a little disappointed about that, but thrilled to be sitting down! We had a nice meal and then opted to go back to our room at BLT for a little while. DH socks were still wet and he wanted to change before we headed back for the EMH and Spectromagic at 11:00. DH and wet socks make for a grumpy DH.

I must say that the highlight of my evening was seeing Spectromagic again! We had wonderful ‘seats’ at the beginning of the parade and no one was in front of us! It was wonderful. One of the most fun parts was following the parade after the end passed us. Since we were at the beginning we were some of the first people behind the parade. It nearly felt like we were part of the parade itself! DH was waving to the kids who returned confused waves. I may have to up his medication if he keeps that up.

Before we headed back to our room we decided that we would try Space Mtn. one more time. There were no fast passes left and the wait was 50 minutes. After DH whined a bit we decided we would try again another day! Basically the crowds did not get any better during the EMH and the lines at all of the rides were very long. The only ride we rode was Its A Small World and we even had a 10 minute wait for that! (You can tell we were desperate we to ride something!) We decided that we would call it a day and head back to our room for a night of well earned sleep.

Day 2 will be coming soon - we had a WONDERFUL day at Hollywood Studios!

 

[amblackmon]

Day 2 – May 18, 2010

After a late morning start, we arrived at Hollywood Studios around lunch time. We immediately headed to Toy Story Mania to see if there were any fast passes available… harrumph, not in your wildest dreams, the cast members had covered up the machines and were waving folks off with fire hoses (not really, just DH and his knack for over-exaggerating)…. With a wait of over an hour we opted to head to the Tower of Terror to see what the situation was there. The wait there was 20 minutes. That wasn’t bad considering what we had seen, but we still opted to get fast passes and see what else we other trouble we could get into.

DH was hungry, again, so we headed to off in search of food. I lead the way, winding through the various shops as we went. I love to shop at Hollywood Studios! There are some interesting and different things to buy. Unfortunately, DH got wise to my plan and took the lead, out of the shops and straight to the ABC Commissary (fun killer….) where I had the Chicken sandwich and he had the Chicken Curry. The weather is far warmer today than yesterday, so the cool a/c was much appreciated by all. While we ate, we made our plan of attack for the day. I really wanted to do Toy Story Mania, no matter what the wait. DH wanted to see Muppet 3D. We had a plan, DH had a full belly and I had another shot at the stores later, all were happy.

Fortified with lunch and a potty stop, we headed to the 70+ minute wait of the Toy Story Mania line. We convinced ourselves that it really was ok since we had never stood in the standby line before and there was much to see! (Of course it could have been seen in much less time, but that is beside the point.) After 70 minutes of standing and making friends with the other captives of TSM, we made it to the ride.

DH was quite ready to redeem himself after the beating I gave him yesterday on Buzz Light Year! The ride was great, and DH was proud to have barely beaten his lovely bride of nearly 20 years. (Don’t tell him that I let him win!) (DH note: In your dreams! )

After the ride we went on a search for Star Wars paraphernalia for our DS’s. Being successful in that endeavor we went to fulfill DH’s desire to see Muppet 3D so that he could try and reprogram the memory of his youngest DD throwing up in his lap during the show when she was only 3 years old. That nasty episode has sent him to therapists for years (again, over-exaggeration). Alas, it was not to be, the show was closed for ‘technical difficulties’. At least I got to go to the gift shop and find a gift for my dad to console myself. I let DH pay for said gift in an attempt to make him feel better. I don’t think it worked…

At this point we had some time before our dinner reservations at The Hollywood Brown Derby so we decided to ride the Tower of Terror and then go to see One Man’s Dream. I had never seen that attraction and I have really missed something! It was fascinating and I am so glad that we went in. I need to go back at another time to get a better look at all of Walt Disney’s items in the ‘museum’.

We still had 30 minutes to our dinner reservations, but with a little consultation with DHs growling belly we decided to see if we could be seated earlier. No problem! We were seated immediately. I thought DH was going to cry with happiness. This was such a lovely meal. Our waiter, James was very considerate. He noticed our Anniversary buttons and brought us two flutes of champagne on the house. Alan had the filet mignon and I had the pork chop, both recommended by James, and we ended the meal with strawberry cheesecake that he brought to us with a lit candle on each. A family at the next table sang a ‘happy anniversary’ song to us as our dessert was served. The food was fabulous and I would highly recommend eating here to anyone!

After our meal we went back to Toy Story Mania to see if the lines were any shorter. They weren’t… in fact, the rest of the park seemed to have lined up in our absence. The rematch will have to wait for another day.
DH and I strolled out of the park and to the bus with cast members wishing us Happy Anniversary as we went. It was a very nice and relaxing day that we both enjoyed very much!

To end the evening we wandered around the Contemporary, bought refillable mugs for each of us and spent some time at the BLT’s pool and hot tub. As I write this we are on our balcony waiting for the Electric Water Parade to begin. I think that this will be the perfect end to a perfect day!

What fun! The Electric Water Parade stopped right in front of the BLT and the Contemporary and put on the entire show before it moved on to the rest of the Bay Lake!

 

[Melmanro]

You are having too much fun!!!!
Hope today is just as great!!!!
(I found out I was a member here and didn't know it!)

 

[Melmanro]

Me again?! Do you know who I am?

BTW, if you are posting pictures, they must be risque, because they aren't showing up on my computer!!!

 

[Goofy442]

Great trip report, and here I thought my DH was the only one with sock issues. If it rains he will wait or walk through the shops, he will not go on any rides where his feet get wet. So now I bring his sandals and a towel so he can dry off his feet. Have a great week!

 

[Melmanro]

Me again?! Do you know who I am?

BTW, if you are posting pictures, they must be risque, because they aren't showing up on my computer!!!

 

[amblackmon]

Wednesday 5/19/2010

This was our 20th anniversary. We slept in a little, had apple turnovers from the Main Street Bakery on our balcony and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom to see if we could give Space Mountain another try. (had to brush crumbs off of DH, think he purred as he ate his turnover)

We were happy to find that the number of people at the Magic Kingdom was back to where it should be at this time of year. The sky was blue and the temperature was warm! A perfect day, good weather, low crowds and space mountain was running!

The first thing that we did was get a fast pass for Space Mountain and since the standby wait was only 15 minutes we decided to go ahead and wait. We actually waited in the line and got to ride the ride! I even got to ride in the first seat! We thought the ride was just as good as before and it seemed a little darker than it used to be. After Space Mountain we headed to Buzz Lightyear, where I am happy to say that I beat my DH (DH note: she distracted me! I was robbed!), and back to Space Mountain for the fast pass. Once again with a little deft maneuvering by DH (I think he elbowed an old lady in a wheelchair out of the way at one point) I got to be in the first seat. DH was left crying in the corner after the second ride, so I’m thinking the fastpass side was the better ride.

We decided that we shouldn’t push our luck with Space Mountain so we headed out to other lands. We went through Fantasy Land and decided to get out of there as fast as possible before we were run down by a stroller! It is always busy in that area but it seems more so right now with Mickey’s Toon Town closed off. Those strollers are murder! DH tripped over a shoelace and had 4 sets of little wheel tracks on his back before I could drag him to safety!

We went on Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, grabbed fast passes for Jungle Cruise (which had quite a long wait) and ate lunch at the Pirate Y Perro. I had never eaten there before and we really enjoyed the tacos and the taco salad –an unexpectedly nice change from the usual hamburgers and chicken.

DH was happy, he’s always happy with Mexican food. After lunch we headed back to Space Mountain for another fast pass and strolled around the castle to get to Adventureland. We were lucky enough to see the wicked stepsisters of Cinderella (DH noted an odd resemblance to his DM-I-L, I smacked him a few times).

and Mary Poppins! We got to Adventureland with time to spare before our fastpasses for Jungle Cruise so we did what any Disney lover would do on a hot day to pass the time. We got Dole Whip floats and found a seat in the shade to pass the time. DH loves his Dole Whip Float….

Finally it was time for the Jungle Cruise - one of DH’s favorite rides, I am not sure if its because of the exotic locales we went to on it or the corny jokes, but it was all I could do to keep him from grabbing the mike and belting out stale jokes himself) .

The line was pretty long and we were glad to have the fastpass. I was especially glad since it is not one of my favorites! After a long (made longer by the bad jokes and DH ‘s belly laughs) and rather warm ride we headed to ride Space Mountain one last time (front seat again…a record for me) and then to the Main Street Bakery to pick up more apple turnovers for breakfast tomorrow. With turnovers in hand we headed back to the room to get ready for our reservations at the California Grill.

All I have to say about California Grill was that the food was fantastic, the view was divine and parents with loud obnoxious kids need to teach their kids how to act at a “big person’s” restaurant. After a fabulous meal we went to see Wishes on the top of the Bay Lake Tower. They pipe the music in and it is perhaps the best view in the entire property to watch the fireworks! A wonderful end to a wonderful day!