How do you do WDW??? - UPDATED 4/8/08 Last Day! Want final thoughts?

[mla1977]

I'm staying at CSR in 10 days...I will let you know how it is. We requested the Ranchos. Far I know but they looked the coolest to me!

I can't wait to hear your reviews. The pictures that I've seen are amazing. Before this most recent trip, the nicest resort I was at was Dixie Landings (POR now).

 

[OhMari]

Hey, giving you a bump.

 

[mla1977]

Thanks for the bump.

I've been very busy training hard for my Tae Kwon Do nationals. I'm done with that (they were this past weekend) and DBF is starting his final class for his MBA tonight, so I am hoping that I can spend some time at home on the DIS getting this TR done.

I also have the pictures that DSF2 took to supplement my own pics.

 

[mla1977]

Saturday, May 5

I can't recall what time we woke up this morning, but I do know that it was later than I had originally planned. That all being thanks to good ole PHL.

Let's guess that we woke up around 8. Sounds good to me!

Unfortunately that means that we have already missed the morning EMH at MGM. Doh!

I give Mom and call and let her know that we are going to make our way over to the Dolphin and then we will meet her and DSF1 at Epcot.

***Flashback to trip planning stages***

DM: Honey, me and DSF1 are going to stay at a time share and go to WDW with you. (No, DM does not speak Dis-speak)

Me: Great Mom, make sure you find out about transportation to WDW.

DM: Oh, they said that there is a shuttle.

Me: I know Mom, but it will probably cost you some money. They weren't cheap from what I found.

DM: I'm pretty sure it is included.

Me: Just double check because it probably isn't.

DM: Ok, I will.

***

At this point in time, DM tells me that they have decided to rent a car because it will be cheaper than using the shuttle. Apparently the shuttle costs money every day (can we say Mears?). I tell her that is fine and she can drive over to our hotel and then we will head over to Epcot together.

We head over to the busses and get these pictures on the way:

Our hometown team

My team

DB walking through All Star Sports.

Next up: Will we ever get onto a ride?

 

[punkin413]

yay!!! an update! love the pictures of AS sports. i don't think i've ever seen any!

 

[mla1977]

Hey Punkin! Thanks for coming back! Life gets really busy for me sometimes and I needed to get pictures onto photobucket before I could do anything with this. At least now that they are on a website I can update from any computer.

I'm sorry about the size of the pictures. I hate it when the pictures are too big for the screen. I'll fix that later.

 

[mla1977]

Punkin -

Didn't you say you were from Tennessee originally? We drove from Philly to Memphis (straight through!) for 4th of July weekend. My question for you or any other Tennesseeans (sp?) is: What is up with the bugs in that state? I had huge smushed bugs on my windshield that do not come off with just washer fluid. Some came off when I scrubbed with the squigey at the gas station, but I think I need to stop being lazy and really wash may car this weekend because the bugs won't go away.

... Yes it is now August and there are still bugs on my car from the beginning of July. I know, I'm lazy.

 

[mla1977]

We made our way over to the Dolphin via MGM. I was a little bit nervous about taking our luggage on the buses. I didn't know if the drivers would allow it. Thankfully since it was EMH at MGM that morning, most people had already made there way over to the park and there wasn't too many people waiting for the bus. The driver didn't say anything about the bags and we were on our way!

After getting dropped off at MGM, we easily found the boat for the Dolphin, and it was there waiting for us! It was a nice, quick, and relaxing ride over to the Dolphin.

*** Quick note, we were very lucky to be staying at the Dolphin. DBF was there for a conference, so his company was paying for the room. We only paid for the night at AS Sports. I love this conference because I am able to travel with him. Last year we were in Anaheim and I got to go to Disneyland for the first time. The year before that we were in New Orleans (pre-Katrina). Next year the conference will be in Philly I told him he was on his own for the one! I'll save my money for another trip! ***

When we got to the Dolphin, we went to check in and our room wasn't ready yet so we checked our bags in and walked around the hotel. Mom called me to tell me that they had just picked up the rental car and they were heading back to the room to shower then they would be on their way over. DM takes forever to get ready.

We decided to head over to Epcot so I told DM to meet us there. She could just park at our hotel and take the boat over. Before heading to Epcot, we went down to the counter service restaurant (Picabu) and found out that even non-Disney owned hotels have refillable mugs. DBF and I got one to share and DSF2 and DB each got one of their own. Before we even finished paying, DBF got a call that our room was ready, so we decided to grab our bags and head up to the room.

When we got up to the room, this was what we saw:

Oh yeah, that was the view from our room!!!

DB thought he could take a break and lay down (on the oh-so comfy beds). Heck no! Get up boy! This is Disney!

DM still wasn't ready so we made our way down to the dock and waited for the boat to Epcot. DM and DSF1 would head over there when they were finished. Yay! We were finally on our way.

We picked up our tickets at the International Gateway. I must tell you, if you ever have the opportunity to buy tickets through a conference, do it! I searched all of the internet, AAA, etc. and the cheapest tickets I could find still cost more before taxes than our tickets through the conference did after taxes.

Once we got through the baggage check (much quicker at this entrance than anywhere else) and into the park, I knew that we needed to rush over to FP Soarin'. Um, yeah. I guess I didn't study the maps too well, because it wasn't easy for us to get over to the Land Pavillion. Once we found it, we got our fast passes for 4:30! I realized there was no complaining. We had started our day late , so we would have to head over to MK later, after the fast passes.

Once we got out of the Land Pavillion, I got a message from DM saying that they were waiting for the boat, so we started making our way back to the Int'l Gateway.

We made a quick stop at Club Cool to try the Beverly. I've never had it before, but I knew its reputation, so I just got everyone a cup to try it. Blech!!! We tried everything else and the got on our way again. DB found some of the fountains on the way over there, so we left him and DSF2 there while we went to retrieve my parents. DB had some fun while we we gone:

We made it over to the Int'l Gateway and DM had successfully picked up her Park Hoppers that I had ordered for her and they we just walking up to the gate when we got there. After some difficulty (DM was not so good with following directions at the finger readers) we were on our way!!! DM was hungry but settled for McD's fries (even though walking past the Fish and Chips was very tempting). I convinced her to have the fries as a snack because I wanted to head over to Mexico for lunch later. After all, it is Cinco de Mayo!

Next up: Finally some rides.

 

[mla1977]

After picking up the 'rents and the rest of the family, we decided to make our way through future world. DB and I were really excited about Test Track. I believe it was still new when I was at WDW in 2002. For whatever reason, I didn't make it on it then. I am also a fan of GM cars (I have a Grand Am that I love!), so I wanted to have some fun. We got over there and saw that the stand-by line was 45 minutes. However, the single rider line was only 20 minutes. I *asked* (i.e., told) everyone if they would mind riding alone, and we were on our way! DM wasn't going on this ride since she had brain surgery about 3 years ago. I believe she now has a plate in her head. Not that she would have gone on it anyways.

I enjoyed the pre-show, and I really enjoyed the queue. DB and I loved the knee test. (OUCH!) When we got close to the loading area, we realized that even though DB wanted to ride, we need to have one adult go through ahead of him, so DSF1 went first, then DB, then DBF and I (we got into the same car!), then DSF2.

Throughout the first two days, we had problems with DSF2 keeping up. He was having asthma problems, but DB was supposed to be staying with him. Everyone had "buddies" so that no one got lost, but DB just wanted to run wild (he doesn't really have any boundaries set by his parents, so this behavior is normal for him, but it drives me crazy). Whenever DSF2 got too far behind, DBF sent DB back to him. DB would whine and moan and stomp his way back to his dad.

After we were all done with TT, we decided to head over to Mission Space. DBF and DB went on the wild side and DSF1 and 2 and me went on the mild side. I was nervous about DBF going on the wild side since he has high blood pressure. We all went into our respective pre-show areas at the same time. I believe I was the pilot. We finished our trip to Mars first and I thought that maybe I could try the wild side if I get a chance. We went out and found DM and waited, and waited. I started to get worried since DBF wasn't coming out, but after a few more minutes of waiting, they appeared! Thank goodness!

After the rides, we were all hungry for lunch, so we headed over to Mexico!

We ran into these guys on the way:

Me trying to explain the Three Caballeros to DM and DSF1:

I have other pictures of these guys, but for some reason they got deleted off of my computes. At least I got them onto Snapfish before I lost them completely.

Next up: Lunch in Mexico and a little boat ride

 

[mla1977]

Lately DBF has been complaining that I took him away from Disney. Maybe I can turn that whining into another trip for us? Maybe my b-day?

 

[Echo queen]

Great report, I,m lovin it

 

[mla1977]

I had to work backwards from Snapfish to get the pictures that mysteriously disappeared from my hard drive.


Here's what we did while waiting for my parents:

I think he was pretending to smell Flower. I guess I didn't brain wash him enough before we got there.

Hopefully these come our okay and aren't too small.

 

[mla1977]

Yay! Cinco de Mayo in Mexico!

We saw these guys:

Believe it or not, I had the Three Caballeros for years. I bought it in college (I guess) when Disney was releasing movies every month or two. I never saw it!!! When I heard that they were being added into the ride in the Mexico pavillion, I decided to finally watch it. I'm sorry to tell all of the fans, but I really didn't like it. Maybe it was because it was a dated film, but I really didn't get into it. But I digress (ah a Golden Girls reference - I so miss their house!)...

We went to Cantina de San Angel for lunch. I ordered the Tacos al Carbon. They were pretty good, but we have a lot of Mexican immigrants near our house, so we are spoiled with delicious traditional Mexican food. I am very sad to say that I didn't get pictures of the food throughout the trip (except for one dessert). I believe that within our group we also ordered an Ensalada Mexicana and a Plato del Nino. I probably should have ordered the children's meal for myself, but what I had was okay. DSF1 also ordered a XX Lager. Yum!

After we were all fed and watered we climbed up the pyramid and headed down to visit Donald and his amigos. I don't recall ever being on this ride or being inside the building even. Don't know why, but I was finally there. After waiting in line for a few short minutes and teaching DB "thank you" in Spanish, to which the CM replied "de nada", we were on our boat to visit Mexico and find Donald. In the end, the three friends were reuinited and became the Three Caballeros again.

We looked around at the toys and other goodies, but DB really wanted to head back to the more exciting rides. Our FP for Soarin' weren't ready yet, but there was plenty to see and do before then.

I know that most people don't like that and are very happy to see that it is almost gone, but it never really bothered me.

Since it was the afternoon and, we were able to hop onto Spaceship Earth with almost no wait at all. I love this ride. I think DBF took a nap on this ride!

 

[mla1977]

After journeying through history, we decided to play around with some of the exhibits/games that were at the end of the ride. I can't wait to see what this area looks like after the refurb.

We were still about 15 minutes early for Soarin' so I dragged everyone over to find our favorite Clown fish.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

I love the seaguls. I haven't seen Nemo in a while, so I had completely forgotten about them. We got in line for The Seas with Nemo and Friends. I really love the queue for this ride too. I had heard about is in the many podcasts that I listen to, but I thought it was so cool to be walking down into the sea. The one thing that made me realize we were at Disney and not really in the sea was when I leaned against one of the "rusty" pylons, I started to bruch my hands off thinking they would be covered in rust. They weren't and I touched the pylon just to make sure it wasn't rusty. It wasn't, but it darn well looked like it.

***

I'm falling asleep at th computer, so I'll get to come tomorrow to finish up our first day tomorrow.

Good night!

 

[scottny]

Just found your report and it is great.

 

[mla1977]

Thanks for joining scottny! I just read your TR this week and it looks to me like you made a convert.

Everyone,

I'm sorry there were no updates this week, but I tried to update last Sunday and the website took forever to re-load and then I lost my work! Grrr!

Well, I'm going to try to finish up day one right now.

 

[mla1977]

So after riding through the sea on a clam-mobile, we found Nemo (thank goodness! That little boy has got to stay put!). We then headed over to practice our Turtle-ese with Crush. DB did not want to sit up front with the kids, so he didn't get called on. I really enjoyed the show. I know that it is different every time, but I enjoyed the show in DCA last year more than this one. Who knows though? Maybe if I go again I will have the best show yet.

We explored some of the pavillion and DM and DB were eaten by a shark!!!!

I guess the "Fish are Friends, not Food" mantra really only applies to fish. Friendly Florida tourists are fair game. After DM and DB were extracated (sp?) from the jaws of the shark, we headed over to the Land. We ran into a friendly Photopass photographer and had some pictures taken with Nemo. I didn't purchase the CD since we only had about 30 picture taken, so I don't have any to share from that.

We made it over to Soarin' with our FPs and I gave mine to DSF1, and DBF, DSF2, and DB headed into the FP line. DM and I hung out and walked around the Land Pavillion. Had I known that the ride would take as long as it did, I would have taken DM on another ride, but I must have missed the DIS posting that a Soarin' FP still takes at least a half hour. I also missed DBF's call from the line saying that the wait was really long (and he didn't leave me a message with that info either). So DM and I rested for a little, saw Mickey, Chip, and Dale walking aroung the Garden Grill, and I learned how to tell them apart (Chip has the small black nose like a Chocolate Chip). I also stopped at the Kidcot station and colored a butterfly for myself.

Finally, everyone emerged from the ride and we were on our way to visit my lover!!! Finally! Before we left Epcot we saw one of my favorite stories played out in flowers:

I'm sorry the picture is so dark. I haven't had a chance to play around with editing my pictures yet.

So we head over to the Magic Kingdom!!!! Yay!

Next up: Pirates!!!

 

[scottny]

Nice update.

Whenever a photopass person takes your pic ask them to take one with your camera. They will not say no.

 

[mla1977]

After leaving Epcot, we head to the Monorail. I asked if we could ride in the front (being a good DIS-er), but there was already a family waiting, so we decided to skip it this time. By the time we got to MK, it was almost time for our ADRs at Tony's Town Square, but we weren't really hungry (just really hot), so I cancelled the reservations and we headed into the park.

I've been waiting years just for this:

I guess the crowds here weren't that bad for a Saturday evening:

DBF bought some popcorn for all of us, and DB was starting to get cranky.

DM was somehow about to cheer him up. The woman has so much more patience that I do.

After grabbing the popcorn, we headed over to Adventureland and our first stop was Aloha Isle for the famed Dole Whip. I got a Dole Whip, DBF got a Dole Whip Twist, DM shared a Dole Whip Float with DSF1, and DB got a vanilla soft serve . Kids these days. He actually like pineapples, but he wasn't interested in trying the house specialty. My opinion of the frozen treat: I liked it, but it wasn't as great as everyone makes it out to be. I will definitely have is again. I wish I have the twist that DBF had or if they offered a float with pineapple juice and vanilla soft serve. That would be just yum!

Yo ho! Yo ho! We headed over to Pirates of the Carribean next. This was my favorite ride in all of Disney before the rehab and the adding of Capt. Jack. When we were in Disneyland last year, the ride was closed due to the rehab. I was so upset! After listening to the various podcasts about the differences between the two rides, I really need to get back out to DL to try out the ride for myself. I loved the addition of Davey Jones at the beginning. DM started freaking out because she thought her hair was going to get wet. I guess they did a really good job on that effect . The additions of Jack throughout the ride were amazing.

Ah my lover

When we left the ride, I was able to find my Capt. Jack Mickey ears (I'll add that picture later since there I didn't get any taken with me wearing the ears while I was there). After watching the YOMD video, I wanted to get the pirate Mickey ears, but when I asked a CM where to find the ears, he showed me the famous red ones and then told me that they had just received the Capt. Jack ears. Well, I just had to have them. I also picked up a pirate key key chain. I have yet to assign it to a particular key. DB picked out a dubloon (sp?) necklace with some of his spending money and we headed out towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

I'll end here for the night since it is 1:10 am and I actually need to work tomorrow.

Next up: Where to eat dinner?

 

[mla1977]

Nice update.

Whenever a photopass person takes your pic ask them to take one with your camera. They will not say no.

Thanks! I did that with some, but this was my first real Photopass experience. This particular photographer almost turned me off to the whole idea of photopass. She seemed very busy and not very helpful. After her, the experiences got much better. I'm off to add more pictures to Photobucket. I don't have any more of my own pictures for day one, but I have a lot more for day two and beyond.