I'm back!!

[jasnal]

Hey everyone!!! I just got back....three days at wdw is just not long enough! I thought of you guys when I was there. Going just got me even more impatient for july...haha! My sister's interview went really well and she will find out whether she got in after 3 or 4 weeks (how nerve racking!!) I really hope she gets it ya'll!!! Well Ill have to write a little trip report b/c we had a few adventures (b.t.w.....taxis in orlando are ridiculous, if you are counting on these you should try and consider other forms of transportation!!)

 

[luna99]

....three days at wdw is just not long enough!

tell me about it! I'd almost rather not go cause if I'm there with only like two or three days I start thinking about all the things I"m missing and not going to be able to see!.... I hope you had fun though! good luck to your sister.. I don't know what you're talking about but I"m guessing maybe the college program?

 

[jasnal]

lol....im sorry i guess i should have ellaborated on the reason for our trip a little more!!! My sister had an interview for the physicians assistant program at nova southeastern in orlando!! It is a really big deal to her and I really hope she gets it.

 

[jasnal]

Hey everyone....thought I would start on my TR. My sister and I got up around 6:45 in the morning because we had to drive to New Orleans, LA to catch our plane (we are from the MS Coast-Long Beach, MS). It was about an hour drive and our flight took off for Orlando around 10:30 so we wanted to make sure to have plenty of time. My little brother (8 yrs old) was having a hard time because he wanted to come with us since he knew we were going to Orlando! Poor little guy-I felt a little guilty going to WDW w/o him!

We said our goodbyes and we were off to WDW. Once we got to New Orleans, we checked in our luggage and boarded the plane w/o any problems. We ususally drive to orlando so this was our first time to fly there. Once we arrived there we collected our luggage and wanted to get to our hotel as quickly as possible so we would have time to play!! We were staying at Star Island(in our parents time share-off property). We went to get a taxi and were told it would be $60 just to take us to our hotel one way!!! I was shocked so we asked if there was anything less expensive. They sent us to MEARS. MEARS was charging 60 dollars to take both of us to our hotel that day and take us back to the airport when we leave (we were told to call 24 hrs before we check out to make a reservation with them to take us back) We found this to be pretty reasonable and so decided to go with it. Once we arrived at the hotel we checked in, got into our room (which was a beautiful room but I forgot to take pics) and got the concierge to call us a cab. We took the cab to MGM(we were dying to get on rock'n'rollercoaster). By the time we got to MGM it was around 4:30. This did not give us much time b/c we had dinner reservations for Boma's around 8:00 (this is one of my fav places to eat at WDW and my sister had never been). Once we got there we got a fast pass for rock'n'rollercoaster and got in line for TofT. I love that ride!! After we rode both of those we decided to go on Great Movie Ride and then head over to the Magic Kingdom. Everything had a long wait (b.t.w the parks were pretty crowded this weekend! I think there was some kind of cheerleading competition there...of course we would be there at the same time....lol) We got on the haunted mansion and by the time we finished that ride we decided to leave MK and head to the AKL (I know how slow Disney bus system is!)...We were cutting it close for our ressies and so we had to run alot and were exausted by the time we finally made it to Boma's. We checked in and were seated almost immediately. By this time my sister had begun to get nervous for her interview and so we decided she definately needed a drink! lol!! We both got margaritas which were pretty good and then hit the buffet. I have been to Boma's several times but I felt like the food was not as good as I had remembered last time I went. They changed some stuff including my favorite dish (the salmon-it was salmon with some kind of barbque sauce on it and they changed it to salmon encrusted w/macadamian nuts-i hate nuts!) of course the zebra domes were as good as I remembered and I made sure to get plenty of those. By the time we were done with dinner it was too late to return to the parks so we decided to shop around DTD. It was really hot during the day so I just had a little tank top and capris on and the temp dropped in the evening so I decided to by a cute litte top at the world of disney. It was light blue with a little mickey in the corner! I put it on right away My sister saw a mickey shirt that she liked and debated whether or not to buy it for way too long, then decided not to get it ! I wanted to get little happys for my dogs but my sister started making fun of me so I changed my mind. We decided to grab a drink at rainforest cafe (love the atmospere)! She wanted to take a pic with our drinks (she just turned 21 recently! I hate taking pics especially with her b/c I feel so inferior to her b/c I think my sister is absolutely gorgeous. And to make of course she is one of those people who can eat anything, never exercise and still have a perfect bathingsuit body!! She flirted it up (in her words) with the guy at the bar and got him to take a pic of us.

We finished up our drinks and called a cab. We wanted to get to bed b/c we were exausted after all that traveling! ! We set the alarm for 7:30 b/c were catching a shuttle from our hotel to AK in the morning!
Next up...AK, Epcot, and MK all in one day!!
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[DisneyFairy19]

Jasnal thats the first time I have seen a picture of you... You are gorgeous. your face is so flawless.. I wish my face was flawless.. You should be a model.. I love your trip report can't wait to hear or read the rest..lol

 

[jasnal]

awww...thanks for the compliments...you are so sweet! Well on to day 2: Sunday Feb.25, 2007 (continued)
The hotel we were staying at (star island) had a shuttle system that would take you to the Disney parks and back for $10 per person. It was arranged by the concierge so the day before we took a look at the shuttle system. There were two pick up times for all 4 parks...8:15 and 10:45. We decided to go with 8:15 so we could get to the park early since we would have to leave early (my sister wanted to be in the room by 8:30 or so) The pick up from each park were as follows: 5:45 from AK; 8:15 and 10:00 from MK; 8:00 and 9:45 from Epcot; and 8:30 and 9:30 from MGM. We arranged to be picked up from MK at 8:15. Then I arranged for a pick up for my sisters interview for the following day by county cab for 6:30 in the morning. Then I called MEARS and made sure to arrange a pick up for the airport the next day. The lady on the phone asked for the departure time and I said 6:30p.m. and she told us MEARS could pick us up at 4:15. I said okay and she gave me a conformation #. Tnen my sister and I got dressed and headed for the front desk area where the shuttle was to pick us up. We waited, and waited and waited.......and then were finally told by the concierge that the shuttle driver called and said he was going to be a little late :???: . She said he didnt give a reason but it was b/c he was probably running late b/c the shuttle stopped at several resorts. Finally the shuttle came to pick us up at 9:15. When we got in the shuttle my sister and I noticed we were the only ones in the van!! The driver introduced himself as Milton and said we were his only pick up and he hoped we didnt mind that he ran a little late b/c he had a few errands that morning :roll: . Then he told Anita and I that we looked like models and the rest of the day he kept calling us his two litte models (Creepy!!!) He asked us what time we were scheduling a pick up for. We told him 8:15 from MK. He explain to us that we were his only pick up for the day. Then he gave us his cell # and insisted several times that if we wanted to be picked up earlier or later that the set times given it would not be a problem. We insisted the 8:15 time set by the shuttle provider would be fine. He insisted a coupe more times and told us to call his cell when we were ready to be picked up (even though we insisted on 8:15)!!! Once we got to AK we said bye to Milton and headed straight for Mt. Everest. Anita had never been on it. When she saw it she wanted to take a pic. there was no one to take a pic of the two of us and I hate being in pics anyway so I took a pic of her.

After that we got in line (only a 10 min wait). She loved it and insisted we ride it a second time. After the second ride she felt a little queasy so we decided to head for Epcot. We took a bus(Did I mention that the disney bus system is incredibly slow!!! or maybe Im just impatient...lol) Once we finally got to Epcot my sister got a little teary (my dad loved Epcot-his fav park-and my sister has not been to WDW since he passed away) and so I got a little teary. We decided to get a fast pass for soarin'. We had plenty of time to kill before our fastpass time and so we got a bite to eat. We went to the food court in the land (I think it is called sunshine terrace??) I got hummus and pita but my sister could not find anything b/c she said she hates health food so we headed to electric umbrella to get her a burger. After lunch we went to test track but the wait was 8o mins long and we did not have that much time so we went to mission to mars. Anita had never been on this ride and she was a bit nervous about it. After a debating between the intense and less intense versions (thank goodness the disney staff has such great patients...lol) we decided to ride the less intense. After mission to mars we rode the new nemo ride (which is ablsolutely adorable). Then it was time for soarin'. My sister had never been on soarin' but I had b/c we took a family vacation in 04 to DL but Anita didnt come b/c of school. My dad loved this ride. Once Anita and I got on the ride I began to tear up b/c it made me miss my dad. I was okay after the ride started though. Once we finished soarin' (which Anita loved)! we headed for the world showcase. We got fast passes for the Norway ride Maelstrom(I think?) and then headed for the ride in Mexico which was closed for refurbishment . We decided to shop around instead. I picked up chocolate for my mom in Italy and chocolate covered marzipan from Germany for Michael (he loves that stuff). Then we headed for the ride in Norway. After the ride we decided to head for MK. We had to hurry b/c we only had ressies for O'hanas at the Poly (my sis had never been and I wanted her to try it b/c we were eating there after the wedding) so we did not have a lot of time in MK. We hopped on the monorail and headed for MK :balloon: and as soon as we hit main street we had to stop for a little treat :mickbar: (who can resist those smells!) Then we ran to splash mtn and got fast passes for that ride. We had plenty of time till splash mtn so we headed for pirates of the carribean (love the changes). After the ride I bought Nick a cute pirates of the carriebean shirt with mickey on it (he loves that movie). Then we headed for tomorrowland and got in the line for space mtn. The line said 20 min but it really ended up being 45 min. which began to cut into our fast pass time. After space mtn. my sister and I made a beeline for splash mtn. and just made it before our fast passes ran out. Right when we were about to get on it an announcement was made that the ride was broke and they did not know how long it would take to fix it but that we were welcome to wait it we wanted (of course that would happen) Anita got real upset b/c this was her favorite ride at WDW so we waited. After 30 min the ride was fixed and we rode it!! :cheer: At the end of the ride a cast member gave us a couple of fast passes for any ride since we had to wait. How great was that!!! So we headed for the buzz lightyear ride. My sister and I are very competitive so we made a competition out of it. The person who scored lower had to ride whatever ride the person who won chose next. In the begining we were neck and neck but then I got lucky and hit something (I dont know what) that was worth alot of points and I ended up winning!! yay!! :boxing: We did not have any more time for rides b/c my sister wanted to buy that shirt she had been debating on the night before and we had to make it for our ressies. We went to the gift shop on Main Street and she bought her shirt and a bag of malted milk balls for me (my favorite candy) b/c I won our competition. I found a tie for michael that i liked (it was blue with black mickey's on it) so I bought that and then we headed for O'hana's. :tiki: On our way there I decided to call Milton and check to make sure he was picking us up at 8:15. He said he was running late and that he wouldnt be able to pick us up till 9:00. Weren't we his only pick ups that day? whatever!! After a little bickering we decided 9:00 was okay but NO later. Anita and I check in at O'hanas and explore the poly resort while waiting to be paged. Then my cell rings again. Milton says it will be 9:30 till he can pick us up. My sister is really starting to freak out know b/c we have already paid Milton. We get seated to eat and we have the perfect seat right in front of the window looking out to cinderellas castle!!! I am thrilled!! We get our food and start to relax when my cell rings!!! It is Milton again explaining he is too far and that he will only make it for 9:45 at Epcot. Now I am really angry but he says there is nothing he can do. I call the shuttle service and no one picks up.....what kind of a buisiness is this???? My sister is real upset at this point!!! I dont know what to do! We decided that we will just enjoy wishes and then head to epcot to meet milton by 9:45 b/c we have no choice. We take our time eating. We get our dessert right when wishes starts. The timing was perfect. We enjoyed our dessert. After wishes we headed for the monorrail. Before heading to epcot I thought I should call Milton and ask him where to wait for him at epcot. I call Milton and he says to go to MK and he will pick us up at 10:00!!!! mg: WHAT!!!! 10:00!!!!!!! This is just ridiculious. He tells us to wait where the taxis pick up. We go and wait and wait and wait. It gets to be 10:15. We call milton and he says he will be there soon and that he is near the orlando AIRPORT!!!!!!!! He is suppose to be at MK at 10:00!!! I decide to call a cab b/c my sister was really mad and she was taking it out on me and I started crying b/c my feelings get hurt really easy and I will admit I am a cry baby!!! :tearyeyes: The cab says they can only get to us in 35-40 min.!! We just said forget it! :waiting: Milton finally arrives at 10:45!!!! We climb in the van and he says "how are my models...did you guys have a fun day" and at that point I am ready to strangle milton!!!! We just politely say that we had an good day and my sister starts hinting how she REALLLY wanted to be back at our hotel sooner and Milton never even apologizes. We finally get to our hotel at around 11:15 and he drops us of at the front office. We have to walk all the way to the back of the resort. We finally get to our room and set the alarm for 5:00 the next day for my sisters interview the following day. The cab is arranged to pick her up at 6:30 am. Boy were we exhausted!!! :sleep1:
Next up....Anitas interview, more Disney, MEARS, and flying home

 

[Lynn5700]

Oh my gosh you and your sister are beautiful..you both look like Jasmine

 

[DisneyFairy19]

I agree they should be Jasmine at Disney...

Oh my gosh you and your sister are beautiful..you both look like Jasmine

 

[JJClemson]

I know what you mean about only going to WDW for 3 days. DF and I are going for 3 days in a few weeks and it's so bittersweet.

By the way, both you and your sis are equally gorgeous! I cannot believe you feel inferior to her! You are going to make such a beautiful bride

 

[jasnal]

Aww thank you for the compliments.....I guess everyone feels intimidated by some things and for me my sister has always been....she is just very confident and has a great self image which is wonderful....i just wish i could absorb some of that!!!lol....That was a long day!! Especially b/c of shady Milton!!!

 

[Maggimus]

Wow-- just read up so far. First of all you and your sister are gorgeous-- but if I had to choose--- I would say definately dont let yourself feel inferior to her!! You have a beautiful face and complexion!!

As for taxi's... Dh and I learned the hard way with taxi's in Orlando while we were headed to the Osceola Courthouse to get our marriage liscense. What a trip! Going we felt as though we were going to be robbed at gunpoint any minute and the guy kept pushing the machine to make it go higher in wages.... we ended up paying out the rear just to get there. We dismissed him and decided we would call a taxi after we got finished with the marriage liscense ordeal. On the way back we got a flat rate with another company (suppost to be Allied Taxi but ended up being "Latino One"..). 25 + 9 to get through the WDW gate. He insisted though that DH and I go with him to his house for lunch so he could get his wifes free pass (shes a housekeeper)... and it would save us 9-- WHAT? no way we were going to his house! LOL I prefer crowded slow busses anyday over weird creepy people!

Did your sister like Ohanas?

Everything goes great-- lets just hope the shuttle wasnt LATE picking her up the next morning too!!

 

[jasnal]

My sister loved ohanas....she loved the banana bread pudding the most!

 

[Maggimus]

ME TOO!!

 

[jasnal]

Sorry for the delay you guys!! I have been sick! But here comes the last bit!! The alarm went of at 5:30 in the morning :shock: . We took a picture of us just because we both looked awful because of the lack of sleep...lol.

The cab was coming to pick my sister up at 6:30 so I helped her get dressed and quizzed her on some of the interview questions. She did not know how long her interview would be so I decided I would go play in the parks until she was done. She said she would probably get done around 2:00p.m. We had to check out by 11:00 so we went ahead and packed our stuff and had it all ready to go. We were going to leave our bags at the front desk (they said they could lock it up for us until we were to leave). We had to duffel bags and my sisters back pack that we were leaving with the hotel. I made a bag for my sister with a change of clothes (jeans, t-shirt, flipflops...so she wouldnt have to stay in a suit and heels all day long. MEARS was scheduled to pick us up from the hotel at 4:15 so everything was all set. My sister went outside to wait for the taxi...and waited...and waited..at 6:40 she came inside and wanted me to call and make sure they were coming.....I called and it turns out they had LOST our reservation so they sent a cab right away. Good thing my sister had decided to order the cab extra early. I wished her luck and the cab finally got there at 7:00. She called me when she got to NOVA Southeastern (around 7:20) and told me that she was there safe! whew! I got dressed, called a cab (not the shuttle with shady Milton!), and dropped my stuff off at the front desk..and headed for MGM (I wanted to ride rock 'n' rollercoaster and TOT one more time!). When the cab came to pick me up I told him I wanted to do the roundtrip fare we had done the first day I got there..he said that would be fine and asked me how I was gonna pay....I told him credit card so he got a slip, filled it out, and got my number...but then he said he messed up and made a second slip...he gave me the first slip and said I could tear it up so I did. I went to put the torn up reciept in my purse and then he said (you dont have to put that in your purse and make it dirty put it in my trash can...and he handed me a small trash can! I said it was okay but he kept insisting so finally I put the wadded up paper in the trash can but I was really uncomfortable with it (something just didnt feel right) :hmm: . Then he started telling me about how Disney has gone downhill b/c they allow gay people to work there (he went on about how he hated gay people and I am definately not a gay hater...some of my closest friends are gay!) and I was really starting to feel uncomfortable! Then he told me he used to work for Disney and Roy Disney himself fired him b/c he wouldnt shave his mustache. By this time I just wanted to jump out of the cab!!! Finally we got to MGM and he turned around to grab his card so I could call him when I was ready to be picked up...and when he wasnt looking I stuck my hand in the trashcan and got my wadded up reciept(ewh!) . I got his card and ran from the cab as fast as I could...Finally at Disney!! I got to the park before it opened so I waited with others anxiously...and once the park opened I decided I was starving so I went to Starring Rolls Cafe and grabbed a giant chocolate chip cookie and a diet coke (the lady at the counter gave me a hard time b/c I was getting a cookie with a diet coke!) Then it was off to rock n rollercoaster...I grabbed a fastpass b/c it had already built a line and went to TOT...which is so fun...then went back to rock and rollercoast b/c it was time for my fastpass...I was waiting and waiting (which was weird to me b/c I had a fastpass) and then they announced that the ride was broken and everyone had to leave the area??? (of course!) So I decided to head for magic kingdom. Once I got to Magic Kingdom I decided to head for philharmagic first b/c I never got to do the show the night before (its one of my favorites) and I got on with no wait!! :magicm: After philharmagic, I decided to do thunder mountain railroad...and there was hardly a wait for that as well...then I hit splash mountian and decided to do its a small world (Disney is alot of fun but I decided its not near as fun by yourself!)...While I was on its a small world my sister called and said her interview was done!!! she felt really good about it :welldone: ...we decided to meet for lunch at DTD at planet hollywood so she was on her way there. After the ride I left MK and asked one of the workers what was the quickest way to DTD. He told me to take a monerrail to one of the resorts and then catch a bus to DTD from there. So I did what he told me to do and got off at the contemporary, went to the bus area and waited (it was about 12 oclock at this time. My sister called at 12:15 and said she was at planet holleywood...we decded after lunch if we had extra time we would go look at the wedding pavillion. yay! Well I waited and waited and waited..NO BUS! :waiting: While waiting I called MEARS to double check our ressies from our hotel...The lady I talked to said that our ressies were at 4:15 but to note that this was not the reccommmended time and so they cant be responsible if we miss the plane...what? reccommended time? I was never told about a reccommended time??? mg: So I asked her what that time would be and she said 3:15 but it was too late to change it?!!! I was getting really irritated at this point... :-x if I couldnt change it what was I suppose to do...so I just told her to MAKE SURE MEARS was there at 4:15...she said they would do their best :roll: ! The bus finally came at 1:00!!! RIDICULOUS!!! Then it made several stops to other resorts :whistling: ...I did not get to planet holleywood till 1:40 and my sister was livid...oh well it wasnt my fault right? So we ate a good meal but by the time it was done it was 3:00 so we decided we would stick around DTD and we called the cab guy to pick us up at 3:20 at DTD...we walked around and did a little bit of shopping and then our cab picked us up and he was on time...It was the weird man from the morning!!! He was trying to convince us to cancel MEARS and get him to take us to the airport...He made me call mears to make sure they were coming to get us and I was reassured by MEARS that they would pick us up at 4:15. I was so happy to get out of the cab when we got to the hotel...My sister grabbed the bag I had made for her and changed out of her clothes and we sat at the lobby and waited for MEARS. We were ready by 3:50...My sister and I began talking about how we hoped MEARS would be on time when a worker at the resorts said someone from MEARS had come around 3:40 to pick to people up from the airport and then left....WHAT!!!! It wasnt even 4:15 yet...So I called MEARS and the lady puts me on hold for forever....my sister calls with her cell as well!! Finally a lady comes on the phone and says she paged the driver and the driver said he came and went b/c we werent there and I told her that we had eyewitnesses that he was there at 3:45 (not the time that we were told) and that he didnt even wait! :surprise: I asked her if it made sense to her that we were told 4:15 and then the guy comes and leaves before 3:50!!!! She agrees that they were in the wrong and says she will send a cab right away...The cab finally gets there at 4:45!! :hairpuller: I am really mad b/c our flight is at 6:30!....Then the guy says he has to pull over and get GAS!!!! :roll: WHAT!!! We finally get to the airport around 5:20. Luckly the airport was not really busy at all and so it takes us no time to check in our luggage and go through security. We finally get on the plane and are on our way home. lane: I was sad flying over Orlando but then I had this moment of excitement when I realized the next time I saw WDW I would coming back for my wedding and the next time I leave I will be leaving as Mrs. Divya Sheffield!!! :fireworks:

Things I learned from this trip:
1) It is better to drive and have a vehicle or just rent a car!!
2) All Orlando taxi drivers are CRAZY!!!
Thank you for reading my TR and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

 

[Maggimus]

Im sad to see this TR come to an end..

All in all a good lesson to be learned-- avoid the hastle and stay on property!

I cant believe you had such a bad time with MEARS. Well-- I can believe it-- and thats th ebad part. I hope your wedding trip turns out a whole lot better!!

By the way I live in TN and about 5 minutes from my house is NOVA headquarters. They own a whole lot here-- wonder if its the same NOVA?

Im glad you all made it back okay-- now im ready for your wedding to get here so we can do this all over again