If the Shoe Fits-A Surprise Engagement-Sept 2010 TR - UPDATED 04/03

[Leeanne]

All the background info on this trip can be found in my pre-trip review

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2452755

A brief background of the reason for the title is that our last trip was not the best in the world….with travel agent problems and fear of canceled ADRs….for more details, you will just have to read my PTR!

I will go over the main players of this trip review:

Myself (27 –at the time) – addicted to Facebook, loves traveling, and becomes a 5 year old (minus most of the temper tantrums!) while at Disney

Brian (35) – loves Star Wars, Muppets, and also becomes a 5 year old as well while at Disney

Other players will pop in and out but we are the steady constant in the trip. I traveled from September 5-15, Brian (being the goober he is) traveled September 3-15. The reason for this shall be revealed later.

Supported cast include my mom, best friend, her son, and her parents.

And off we go!!!

 

[onescgirl]

Yay! I'm so happy that you started your TR!!!! I can't wait to read about all your excitement in WDW!!!!

 

[Leeanne]

The first couple of days I am going to run through really quick. Brian had decided that he was going down two days before me. He said that he wanted to get away from work and be able to relax before I got there and ran him crazy! He went to Downtown Disney, and hung out at the hotel, the first day. He went to Hollywood Studios the second day. The first night he ate at T-Rex. He was able to walk right in but…….he said it was loud, and dark. He had some type of chicken (he didn’t know what and I wasn’t there to remember lol) and said it was okay…..until it got enough light for him to see that it wasn’t cooked completely!
The next day he went to Hollywood Studios. He stated that he ‘followed the Sea of Humanity” to Toy Story Midway Mania. Last year I ran to TSMM for Fastpasses so he didn’t remember how crazy it was. He did end up riding Rockin’ Rollercoaster and TSMM. He called me a hundred times. I think he really missed me! He ate at the Sci-Fi Drive-In for dinner. We had eaten here last year for his birthday and loved every minute of it! I think he just wanted to replay some place he had eaten with me, because he knew it was good. I do all the research so I know the good/bad/ugly about places, and he just trusts me!
The next day is the day we arrive…..and we have to wait until next time for that update!!!!

 

[onescgirl]

Glad Brian had a couple days to his self with some pretty cool restaurants to eat at.
Can't wait till you get there!

 

[Leeanne]

Glad Brian had a couple days to his self with some pretty cool restaurants to eat at.
Can't wait till you get there!

I can't wait until I get there either!!! Trust me I was to get there! But we are going to have to wait a couple of days so I can load pictures. I had lost my memory cards that had ALL my picture on them eek and I just found them today. I had let my mom borrow them to burn all the pictures and I put them somewhere I wouldn't loose them....and I forgot where that was! So hopefully I will get to update soon!

 

[KGGJT]

Can't wait to read more. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Leeanne]

The first day is Sept 5. Mom and I left out early to get to the plane on time. We were so excited!! Our flight left out fairly early so we ate breakfast at O’ Charleys in Nashville airport. Then it is on our way to Orlando!!!
When we get there we go down to the bottom floor to the wonderful Magical Express, they place us on the bus and away we go! When Brian and I went last year we drove so we didn’t get to ride the Magical Express but I knew they had a video, so we sat very close to a video screen. I am so glad we sat right behind the tv screen as we couldn’t hear the words at all! It was horrible. We had to read the words on the screen, just to understand what they are saying. I thought it might just be our bus, but found out on the way home that it wasn’t (unless we had the same bus on the way home and they just painted it to look like a cruise line bus!!). But who cares!!! Because we are so close to Disney I can smell the pixie dust!!

 

[Leeanne]

For some reason, this didn't post when I posted it so lets try again!

So we arrive at the hotel and it looks amazing….just like a dream. It is absolutely amazing! I am always amazed at how Disney decorates their hotels. They take so much effort and energy into making sure the hotels look absolutely amazing! Brian had been there for two days and really missed me, so he was waiting for us in the lobby of the hotel. We got checked in and finally got our key to the world card! I love the blue and the castle. It makes me……it just makes me happy! We had dining reservations at House of Blues that night, and mom and I ate at Ol’ Charley’s in the airport, so were weren’t that hungry to try and eat any wonderful Disney food.

So what to do while waiting on our luggage, and everybody else to get there? Why, head to Downtown Disney of course! In my opinion, DTD is a wonderful way to get in the Disney mood. They have Disney features but it is not so ‘in-your-face’ that it is too much. So we hop on the bus, and off we go. Now, if you remember mom has only been to Magic Kingdom, for one day 20 years ago. She has no idea how big this place is! So when we get to DTD and start walking she just takes it all in. It is like a kid at Christmas, in front of department store windows! To me DTD is absolutely beautiful. You can relax and walk in and out of shops and see so much stuff. They have show kitchens, shops with beautiful displays, restaurants with wild decorations, balloons, everything. Pleasure Island is a bit of a disappointment, strictly because there isn’t much there, but I am super excited to see what will be opening up and it look like in the future! We walked and shopped and mom got her first taste of Disney service, when she was looking at something but didn’t want to tote it around. So I told her to ship it back to the hotel. Her eyes got big and she said, “I forgot you could do that.” It really brought back my memories of my second (first extended) trip, when everything was so amazing and my trip with Brian last year when it was his first trip. To think that I was able to introduce the magic to not just my mom but also my best friend and her family (who haven’t arrived…wonder where they are?). It makes me still want to cry. About this time my friend calls. They are on their way, but their GPS won’t take the address for POP I gave them. So her dad decides they will just put in WDW and surely they can find the hotel from there. I am not so sure about this. WDW is big! They admit they don’t comprehend how big this place is. So off to customer service (which btw fantastic!) to try to get an address. Get them taken care of , and they state they are close. We have gotten to the end of DTD and decide that we will go meet them at the hotel and everybody ride back together.

So we arrive back to the hotel and…..wait a minute. I didn’t tell you which building we were in did I? Silly me! We had requested the 70’s building, simply because I thought it was near the main building and because her little boy loved the look of the Big Wheel. When Brian got there, they had one room in one building, and the other two in another, so he had to see if they would change them. We ended up in………………………..70’s Big Wheel!! Wee!!!!!

Up next, the other crew first look at Disney, and House of Blues!
I do plan on going a bit faster in the future, and not dragging it out, but for some reason this day just seems to require alot of info! Also coming up our first day, tears, funny comments, and parties!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I didn't even know you had started your TR! I definitely would have been here sooner. I'm going back to get caught up now!

 

[Leeanne]

I didn't even know you had started your TR! I definitely would have been here sooner. I'm going back to get caught up now!

Thats okay. It took me a little bit to get everything started back, once we got back from our trip. Between work and the holidays it was crazy! Glad you are here now! And can't wait to read more on your PTR!

 

[Leeanne]

When my friend and her family get to Pop they are super excited because of….well, everything! The lobby, the size, everything! One thing to know (in case you haven’t figured it out!) is that I grew up in a very rural area, and my best friends little boy is as country as they come. So what does he do (other than look around with very big eyes?) when he gets to POP. He goes up to the Big Wheel, and kicks the back wheel! It cracks me up! We get them unloaded and then hop back on the bus for their taste of Downtown Disney! We have reservations for dinner at House of Blues. Well, of course we run late! Usually, we are everywhere early, but with the other family getting lost and our reservations being earlier in the evening, we were getting on the bus when we should have been getting off the bus at DTD. So I make a mad-dash of a phone call to House of Blues to make sure we can still be seated and explained the situation to them. They stated that it was no problem and to come on! I have never eaten at House of Blues, and I loved it. The atmosphere, decorations, food, everything was wonderful! Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of the food…..we were to hungry to take pictures! But everybody enjoyed the food. We used a Restaurant.com gift certificate. Just in case, you haven’t heard of this, I advise you to quit reading this trip review, and go check it out! They are wonderful! Basically, you put in where you want to go and then you can purchase gift certificants cheaper than the listed price. For instance, a $25 gift certificate might be purchased for $10, which in and of itself is a good deal. However, they have sales regularly, for 60, 70, even 80 percent off! Which means our $25 gift certificate, was $2! And if the restaurant for some reason stops taking them, you can email the company and get a credit back on your account. One word of caution, I bought both the gift certificates and gave one to my friend, because I already have an account. It says only one use per month per customer. A couple of months after we got back, restaurants.com emailed me and asked about the use of two certificates in one month. I explained the situation to her and there was no problem after that, but I was very surprised to get that email! Ok back to the trip review in progress…….

After we had dinner, we cruised on down to the boat dock right behind HoB, to take the boat back to the other side of DTD. This is where I think the magic truly started to sink in to this family. We got down to the boat dock and my friends dad, asked what it cost to ride the boat…..of course I responded (all together DISers!!) “Nothing its free! Disney provides free transportation.” They were blow away! I so love making people happy like this! So we get to the other end and start working our way to the Lego Store. And of course, we are all looking….left…..right….left….right….left…..right…..I think you get the point! But you know how darn addicting those windows and all those shops can be! And when it’s your first trip at that!!! (Ok even if it’s not your first trip!) So we stop at Mickey’s Mart, and go by Goofy’s Candy Company, however we have a very anxious little boy who wants to go to the Lego Store. So, we walk in and his mouth drops open, he looks around, and looks like he has died and gone to heaven! He starts looking around and find a couple of sets and then they go back to the “pick-a-part” lego section, where you can fill a tub, full of legos. He starts putting stuff in the tub, and they get it pretty full. Then his grandpa decides that he is going to repack the tub. They ended up with a tub stuffed full of Lego’s. We were pushing little wheels and steering wheels into the little cracks and crevices. He was having a ball. I never knew one could have so much fun in a Lego story! Kids and legos…..they go together like peanut butter and bread (I don’t like jelly so…..bread!!! lol). Now, we have already had a pretty full day, and I know we have to be up early in the morning, but what is a trip to DTD without a visit to the World of Disney Store?? So off we go to our last stop of the night…..World of Disney! This store is amazing….it has everything!! And what a better way to end our first day there, than to go to WoD!

Up next, our first day in the parks and some pictures!! I had lost my memory cards and just recently found them so I should be able to start posting some pictures to go with my TR! See ya’ll soon!

 

[onescgirl]

Yay for getting the 70's section!
I can't wait to read more with pictures!!!!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Awww, I'm so glad your friend and her family were loving Disney! That's so cute about the boat!

Can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks!

 

[Leeanne]

Yay for getting the 70's section!
I can't wait to read more with pictures!!!!

Your wish is my command.......see below!

Awww, I'm so glad your friend and her family were loving Disney! That's so cute about the boat!

Can't wait to hear about your first day in the parks!

I can't wait to tell you about it! Actually putting finishing touches on it now!

 

[Leeanne]

From the airport!

Pop Century

This is from the walkway of our building.

And here are some pictures from DTD.
House of Blues

Enjoy! And up next, our first day!

 

[Leeanne]

Our first day……ahh, the excitement! I love our first day at Disney! Last trip, Brian and I went to Magic Kingdom for the first day and we love the way it works out for the magic. So of course we had to go back to MK for our first day.

Ok, so bear with me for a moment while I think about our first day. I love everything about Magic Kingdom. Part of what makes MK for me is the opening ceremony. I adore the opening ceremony! I don’t know why, but I do! I will also admit when I hear that opening song, I actually cry. Last year, when Brian and I went together, is actually the first time I ever cried at the ceremony. I have seen every park opening, except Epcot, and this is the only one that touches me and makes me cry. I really think it has to do with knowing what is ahead, but I just don’t know. I love it!!!

Ok, back to the Trip Review! We enter MK, and funnel to Main Street USA, and there is beautiful Cinderella’s Castle. I think this is what I look forward to every visit. I couldn’t wait until I could see everybody’s face when they saw the castle. It’s amazing when people look at Cindy’s Castle for the first time. It just brings back that amazement for when I saw it for the first time. We (of course) head to Space Mountain. Now, I am thinking that Space Mountain needs to be more of an adult ride. I am very nervous about the 7 year old going on this ride. My thought was that most of the adults would ride (one had already said she wasn’t riding) and then we would move on. However, the 7 yo said he wanted to go, so off we go. I last rode this before the refurb and I have to say….this ride is a lot rougher than I remember!! We all had heart problems when we got off this one!!! To the point that nobody wanted to trust me for the next one and everybody was ready to go home! So I pull an Ace out of my sleeve. I figure if I can get the 7yo to trust me and go one more ride, I have the worst out of the way! So I pull…..Buzz Lightyear! I figure it is an awesome ride, and is too fun!!! This has to be one of my main addictions! If you are on WDW facebook page, they always ask “What would you do if….?” Or “If you had a……” If I had to divide my time in Magic Kingdom, and to myself, for a day, I think I would spend a lot of time in Buzz, while I was in Tomorrowland! Thankfully, after that ride, everybody trusted me again! We went on through Tomorrowland, Fantasyland (Dumbo had a 10 min wait!), and Liberty Square. We decided that we would go on Haunted Mansion and then would have lunch.

Now I have never eaten at Columbia Harbour House, but heard great things about it. So we all decide to try it. We had an assortment between the fish and chicken, with fries and apple slices and kids meal with chicken strips. For desserts we had chocolate cake (apparently a little too much chocolate, if that is possible), and absolutely the best apple crisp I have ever had! I love the apple turnover, and the only thing I needed was to warm it up and have a little vanilla ice cream! I don’t have pictures unfortunately of this meal, for some reason but I do have one of the building!. But I can say the food was yummy!

We rode a few more rides and decided to see Country Bear Jamboree. Now, as we all know this is a cutsie show that really hasn’t changed any since the beginning of time! Well this time, it was different! We get all the way to where Teddi Barra gets ready to go back into the ceiling……..and it doesn’t quite work! She gets almost all the way up to the top and then all heck breaks loose! She comes plummeting down from the ceiling, and is laying over on the side like the bar is supporting her drunk body! The CM jumped up and if his feet touched the floor, going down the steps I didn’t see it! He very quickly exits us out of the building, and the show goes offline. However, I really think I will never forget that bear, slumped over the side bar, head tilted down, looking passed out drunk!

Up next, dinner, fireworks and the Main Street Electrical Parade!

 

[onescgirl]

Sounds like a great morning. Funny about the bear!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I agree that MK is the best place to start off a trip. We always do the same! It's just not a Disney vacation until you see the castle!

 

[Leeanne]

Sounds like a great morning. Funny about the bear!

It was a wonderful morning! And the bear.....I still crack up thinking about it!

I agree that MK is the best place to start off a trip. We always do the same! It's just not a Disney vacation until you see the castle!

The castle is such an important part to me. I have always loved Cinderella and Brian gave me my promise ring in front of the castle last year. It is just the best!

 

[Leeanne]

While I am trying to find one of my picture, I decided to give you all a treat…..or what I consider a treat! Lol

Picture of the FantasyLand Expansion. The little boy we were with loves construction. So, while on Dumbo he loved the peek over the construction wall….and I loved the sneak peek!

Notice the two tents, which I think probably will be the new Dumbo

A big pile of dirt! Lol


And a really pretty picture of Cindy’s Castle!

Ok I promise a real update in the next couple of days!

And I am thinking of changing the name of my Trip Review….what do you all think? Is this done?