"IT'S A TRAP!" A January 2012 trip report ~ *Updated FINALLY! 7/6*

[xoktenox]

Yummm, Chef Mickey's looks delicious! And I totally know what you mean about short Minnie...when we ate at 1900 Park Fare once, I took a picture with Cinderella and I was a good 3 inches taller than her and I'm only 5'5" too!

Osbourne Lights GORGEOUS!

Oh and since I know you've been wondering, I've forgiven your Dad for his Bruins shirt

 

[IheartDDuck]

Hahaha, the lefty picture is so funny. My brother is the only lefty in our family and every time we have to sit next to him, it's the same thing. "Oh great!"

Those guys in line for ToT sound too funny. However, they sound EXACTLY like my brothers a few years back.

 

[MeMom]

Once we were completely stuffed...

So easy to do with all that good food. The roast is always so good in WDW. I have had superb roast experiences at Crystal Palace, Boma, and Chef Mickey's.

Drew is our lefty. We have to strategically place him at the outside of the table/booth when he eats with us.

Honestly, all the pictures don't do the lights justice. I was SO happy to finally see them in person.


Mom and I decided that we really wanted to do an early morning at MK the next day. We've never seen the opening ceremony, or really done rope drop, period, so I was thrilled that we'd get to.

We were all excited for you and some others to finally get to see the lights this year. They were better than ever!

I look forward to your Magic Kingdom opening pictures. It's such a cute way to start a magical day.

 

[dara00]

does everyone have a lefty? my dad's a lefty, and so is my 4 yr old!

I remember Chip and Dale being at Chef Mickey's when I was there in 98. But when I was a kid and went with my parents to the buffet at the contemporary it wasn't a character meal at all!

 

[sunny_stace]

Oh parmesan mashed potatos and the Osbourne lights....sounds like an awesome evening!

 

[Tink9721]

Sox games are loooooooong! At least with the hockey games you know unless something really bad happens, or it's tied or scoreless by the end, it's not gonna take super long. There's also fights constantly with the players...that's just part of it. Unless there's blood on the ice and they have to scrape it off, there's really no delays for fighting.

I am so excited that we might get to meet up next weekend, too! I'm so glad I just took off the entire weekend on a whim!

Sox games are long, but I loooove them! I never even notice how long they are, especially when I'm there. And the fighting is definitely not as normal in baseball

I'm so excited for our DIS meet!!!!

It was when we were leaving the Contemporary that I realized I could never stay at a deluxe...because they are freaking huge resorts! I am the most directionally challenged person you could ever hope to meet, so staying at a resort any larger than Pop would just equal disaster.

I've had the same problem with deluxe resorts. WL isn't bad though. I think it's because the whole thing is one building, unlike most of the deluxe resorts. Finding your room can be a little tricky the first day, but everything else is pretty straight forward. Which reminds me, we had a CM checking us in once who decided to mess with us and when he gave us our room number and we asked how to get to our room he said something like "Walk out the back door, alllll the way around the building, come back in the front door, then go to the elevator right over there and go down the hallway."

And now, I have to go back to studying I'm skipping my morning class today so I have extra time to study. I studied for like 5 hours yesterday, and combined with 4 hours of class time my brain was about ready to burst and I got a really bad stress-induced headache and got nothing done after 8:00. So I went to bed early, got like 9 hours of sleep, and now I'm going back to my psych book

 

[marDgreen88]

Hi! I just found your TR link and read it all. I'm really enjoying it! Your family seems like a lot of fun. OH and I can totally relate to the lefty thing. I'm one too, so we have a system worked out in my family too.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Megablocks]

My mom is the lefty of our group, and we always have to rearrange our seating! That's a fantastic picture of your dad's unfortunate seat!

I'm so glad you loved the lights!!! Aren't they just incredible??? I love your pictures of them! We literally had missed them by ONE DAY this past trip, I was super-annoyed about that!

Someone usually forgets and ends up sitting on my left....I think it's hilarious when they do!

The lights were sooooo amazing!! This was my first time seeing them and I was just in awe. That stinks you missed them by one freakin' day

Yummm, Chef Mickey's looks delicious! And I totally know what you mean about short Minnie...when we ate at 1900 Park Fare once, I took a picture with Cinderella and I was a good 3 inches taller than her and I'm only 5'5" too!

Osbourne Lights GORGEOUS!

Oh and since I know you've been wondering, I've forgiven your Dad for his Bruins shirt

I'm so glad you understand! I'm not an amazon but I felt like one!

So glad you forgive my dad...try to look past my brother's Boston sports-related shirts and hats too, okay?

Hahaha, the lefty picture is so funny. My brother is the only lefty in our family and every time we have to sit next to him, it's the same thing. "Oh great!"

Those guys in line for ToT sound too funny. However, they sound EXACTLY like my brothers a few years back.

Yeah, every time someone ends up stuck next to me and realizes their mistake, I hear, "oh, good, I'm with the lefty."

Those guys were SO much like my dad. I have no doubt that he would have said something commending them had he been with us!

So easy to do with all that good food. The roast is always so good in WDW. I have had superb roast experiences at Crystal Palace, Boma, and Chef Mickey's.

Drew is our lefty. We have to strategically place him at the outside of the table/booth when he eats with us.





We were all excited for you and some others to finally get to see the lights this year. They were better than ever!

I look forward to your Magic Kingdom opening pictures. It's such a cute way to start a magical day.

I definitely filled up on the pot roast at Boma too!

I feel bad sometimes at the preschool because when I'm copying down words for the kids to write, I have to move around so they can see me making the letters as I'm saying and writing them. I know two of my cousins on my mom's side are lefties and I have no idea about my dad's side because his side of the family is huge. My grandmother's younger brother on my mom's side, my great-uncle, was a lefty, but since left-handedness was...frowned upon, I guess, he was taught in school to use his right hand, so he is actually a righty. Crazy, huh?

The lights were awesome. And the MK opening was AMAZING!! It was so cute and so magical...I was tearing up the entire time!

 

[Megablocks]

does everyone have a lefty? my dad's a lefty, and so is my 4 yr old!

I remember Chip and Dale being at Chef Mickey's when I was there in 98. But when I was a kid and went with my parents to the buffet at the contemporary it wasn't a character meal at all!

It does sound like everyone has a lefty! Neither of my parents are left-handed...I'm the only one in my immediate family!

So glad you remember that, too! I can't remember exactly when we stopped seeing them there. And wasn't Chef Mickey's at like DTD or something years ago? I remember there being a thread with all old WDW pictures and I think I remember seeing a picture of it somewhere else entirely...hmmm...

Oh parmesan mashed potatos and the Osbourne lights....sounds like an awesome evening!

It was such a perfect evening. Definitely a great end to our first full day!

Sox games are long, but I loooove them! I never even notice how long they are, especially when I'm there. And the fighting is definitely not as normal in baseball

I'm so excited for our DIS meet!!!!

I've had the same problem with deluxe resorts. WL isn't bad though. I think it's because the whole thing is one building, unlike most of the deluxe resorts. Finding your room can be a little tricky the first day, but everything else is pretty straight forward. Which reminds me, we had a CM checking us in once who decided to mess with us and when he gave us our room number and we asked how to get to our room he said something like "Walk out the back door, alllll the way around the building, come back in the front door, then go to the elevator right over there and go down the hallway."

And now, I have to go back to studying I'm skipping my morning class today so I have extra time to study. I studied for like 5 hours yesterday, and combined with 4 hours of class time my brain was about ready to burst and I got a really bad stress-induced headache and got nothing done after 8:00. So I went to bed early, got like 9 hours of sleep, and now I'm going back to my psych book

I have zero sense of direction. Like none. Even in a building like WL, if everything looks similar, I'd have a problem because I tend to go by landmarks. My best friend is going on a roadtrip and when she was looking at directions, she said that her first thought was, "oh, even Meghan could follow this." Not in a mean way, but just very matter of fact...she has witnessed firsthand my terrible lack of direction. She has a really good sense of direction so it works out well.

I am super excited for Saturday!! Just two days!

Hi! I just found your TR link and read it all. I'm really enjoying it! Your family seems like a lot of fun. OH and I can totally relate to the lefty thing. I'm one too, so we have a system worked out in my family too.

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for joining, glad you're here! Also glad you can relate to the lefty thing...we're actually going to have to strategically sit ourselves when we go to dinner tonight for my sister's birthday.

 

[Megablocks]

So before I update I just wanted to share a couple pieces of news. First, I want to wish a to Kailyn...my little sister is 19 today!

Second, this Saturday I am having a DIS meet in Boston with Christine Tink9721. We'll be going to the New England Aquarium so I will for sure be posting some pictures from that.

Third, WE ARE GOING BACK TO DISNEY NEXT YEAR! Nothing in set in stone, we haven't booked anything or figured out exact dates, but it's going to happen! We really loved going in early January so our dates might similar next year. Dad doesn't really want to spend the full week there, and I don't think Mike does, either, but they're okay with coming home a few days earlier and the rest of us staying. It probably won't be finalized for a bit, but I am very excited that we get to go back next year!

Day three - Friday, January 6

So, my mom and I had decided that we really wanted to make a few rope drops this trip. More specifically, rope drops at MK and Epcot (our two favorite parks.) On previous trips, it really didn't happen because if Kailyn wanted to come with us and Dad wasn't feeling it, he'd be left alone. This time, since Mike was with us, it really wasn't a problem. Kailyn wasn't sure the night before if she wanted to come or not so she asked Mom and I to just wake her up when we got up and she'd decide then. We woke her and she said she wanted to come. So we all got ready (love having two rooms!) and headed down to the food court.

I also just wanted to mention how much I really loved the room refurb at Pop. There was a curtain that came across the area where the sink was, so I was able to keep the lights off while Mike was sleeping and just turn on the lights behind the curtain so I could get ready without worrying about waking him. My mom and Kailyn also took advantage of that in their room...it worked out really well a lot of mornings!

We headed down to the food court to fill our mugs and get something small for breakfast. None of us can eat a big meal first thing in the morning, and even the idea of sharing a breakfast pizza was too much. I got a fruit and yogurt parfait, Kailyn got a chocolate muffin, and my mom got either fruit or the same parfait I did. We sat outside to eat and then headed to the bus. I'm not sure exactly how long we waited, but MK was opening at 9 and we arrived around 8:30 and walked right up to the front! I was so, so excited because I had never seen the opening show before.

I feel like the pictures might make it look more crowded than it really was. It honestly was not bad at all and I was pleasantly surprised.

I loved this window...

IT'S THE MAYOR! The excitement was really building at this point

By this point, I was positively giddy...I kept on tearing up and waving to everyone

The Magic Kingdom is now open!

I was kind of walking and taking pictures blindly at this point. I hadn't seen MK and the decorations in daylight yet so I was really really excited haha

Now that we were out of the way of so many people, we actually stopped to take pictures. There's really nothing like MK first thing in the morning.

As we got closer to the castle, I saw some people taking pictures, and one of them looked a LOT like one of Kailyn's friends from high school. I said, "hey, that looks Leah." Kailyn looked to where I was pointing and said, "THAT IS LEAH!" So they had a reunion on Main Street...it was SO strange and so funny! I didn't get a picture, but Leah's mom did. We chatted for a few minutes and then went our separate ways. We wanted to get Fantasyland done before it got really crowded, so we headed that way.

Please note the gorgeous blue sky...it was a PERFECT day! It had definitely warmed up!

Next update: Magic Kingdom morning

 

[manntra]

I AM noting that perfect blue sky!!
How cool that your Kailynn saw one of her friends on Main St!! Oh and Happy Birthday to her!!!
I am not a rope drop kind of girl Have done it and will depending on who I have with me...if it NEEDS to be done
Hope you had a fun girls morning at the MK!!

Tracy

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Happy birthday to Kailyn!!!

Yay for MK rope drop!!! I love the ceremony there, it's so cute and fun! Your castle pics are great!

 

[marDgreen88]

Happy Birthday to your sister!

I can't eat a lot early in the morning either! I have to wait at least an hour or so... it's odd!

The opening show is SO precious! I agree, early morning at the Magic Kingdom is just wonderful. That's so funny that she saw one of her friends! IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL.

 

[sunny_stace]

I absolutely love the rope drop show at MK! I went to it 3 times on my last trip! Seeing it the day of the 40th anniversary I bawled like a baby! It is tough getting up so early though....

Isn't it the strangest thing when you run into someone unexpected when you're away from home. A couple of years back I ran into an old co-worker at Epcot! It really is a small world!

I can't wait to hear more about your day at MK! A big happy birthday to your sister (19 is a big one here in Ontario). Have fun at your Dis-meet!

 

[Tink9721]

I have zero sense of direction. Like none. Even in a building like WL, if everything looks similar, I'd have a problem because I tend to go by landmarks. My best friend is going on a roadtrip and when she was looking at directions, she said that her first thought was, "oh, even Meghan could follow this." Not in a mean way, but just very matter of fact...she has witnessed firsthand my terrible lack of direction. She has a really good sense of direction so it works out well.

I am super excited for Saturday!! Just two days!

I have a pretty good sense of direction...so how come on my birthday, you made it to Remy's without a problem, and I got hopelessly lost for an hour?

Just one day now!

Second, this Saturday I am having a DIS meet in Boston with Christine Tink9721. We'll be going to the New England Aquarium so I will for sure be posting some pictures from that.

Those castle pictures are getting me so excited!!! I definitely want to make a rope drop this year. We came so, so close in 2010. We got there just as the train was leaving the station MK opens at 9:00 on our full MK day. We can definitely make that. We'll take the boat; the bus can be faster but every time we try to be at MK at a certain time, the bus takes forever to get there and makes a ton of stops

 

[xoktenox]

Wasn't the curtain for the bathroom area at Pop great? It worked well in the morning when I was up getting ready while Chris was still sleeping!

Awww, I'm glad you got to see the MK opening show! It's so precious, I love it too!! I definitely tear up as well

I love your pictures of the castle...I can never see too many!

 

[MeMom]

I was so, so excited because I had never seen the opening show before.

By this point, I was positively giddy...I kept on tearing up and waving to everyone

Yay for seeing the morning show!

Giddy pretty much describes us, too. We want to bust out with 'Good Morning! Good Morning!'...but we don't.

 

[Megablocks]

I AM noting that perfect blue sky!!
How cool that your Kailynn saw one of her friends on Main St!! Oh and Happy Birthday to her!!!
I am not a rope drop kind of girl Have done it and will depending on who I have with me...if it NEEDS to be done
Hope you had a fun girls morning at the MK!!

Tracy

Aww thank you! I still need to show her all the birthday wishes!

See, Disney is pretty much the only place I'll happily get up early to do something! I am so not a morning person...I'm pretty hostile pre-caffeine

Happy birthday to Kailyn!!!

Yay for MK rope drop!!! I love the ceremony there, it's so cute and fun! Your castle pics are great!

Thanks!

It was SO cute, I was so excited to see it! And thank you...I couldn't stop taking pictures!

I absolutely love the rope drop show at MK! I went to it 3 times on my last trip! Seeing it the day of the 40th anniversary I bawled like a baby! It is tough getting up so early though....

Isn't it the strangest thing when you run into someone unexpected when you're away from home. A couple of years back I ran into an old co-worker at Epcot! It really is a small world!

I can't wait to hear more about your day at MK! A big happy birthday to your sister (19 is a big one here in Ontario). Have fun at your Dis-meet!

I actually saw it two days in a row...the second day was with Mike. He was less enthused than I am because a., he's a guy, and b., he really doesn't get excited over anything unless it's related to sports. As far as I could tell, though, he liked it, too.

Years ago, I forget exactly which trip, we ran into neighbors/family friends of ours in Epcot! Even now, we sometimes say, "remember when we ran into them here?"

Thanks for the birthday wishes for Kailyn - I had no idea 19 was big in Ontario!

I have a pretty good sense of direction...so how come on my birthday, you made it to Remy's without a problem, and I got hopelessly lost for an hour?

Just one day now!

Those castle pictures are getting me so excited!!! I definitely want to make a rope drop this year. We came so, so close in 2010. We got there just as the train was leaving the station MK opens at 9:00 on our full MK day. We can definitely make that. We'll take the boat; the bus can be faster but every time we try to be at MK at a certain time, the bus takes forever to get there and makes a ton of stops

Did I tell you that the only reason I made it to Remy's last year was because I was with Charles? I actually kind of think I wanted to go one way, and he was like, "no, Meg, it's this way." This is why I need to be with someone at all times!

You neeeeeeeeed to make a rope drop at MK!! You're staying on MK property, it must be done!

Wasn't the curtain for the bathroom area at Pop great? It worked well in the morning when I was up getting ready while Chris was still sleeping!

Awww, I'm glad you got to see the MK opening show! It's so precious, I love it too!! I definitely tear up as well

I love your pictures of the castle...I can never see too many!

I lovedddd having that curtain there! Mike did too because it meant I never woke him up

Glad you like the castle pictures...I was really snap happy, it was my first time on the trip finally seeing MK in daylight! I can't wait to back!

Yay for seeing the morning show!

Giddy pretty much describes us, too. We want to bust out with 'Good Morning! Good Morning!'...but we don't.

I can't remember if I texted you that morning. I remember I wanted to because I wanted to give you a Disney "fix"!

I was seriously bouncing around because I was so excited. It was so cute!

 

[Megablocks]

Day three continued - Friday, January 6

So Kailyn, mom and I finally made a rope drop at MK. We decided to head for Fantasyland before it got really crowded. I really really love Fantasyland but we don't often get to do it so I was really excited.

I love how on the walls, they have quotes from Walt...while Mom and Kailyn went to use the bathroom, I took pictures of a couple

I can't remember exactly what order we did rides in (my notes get less detailed as time goes on ) but I know we rode Peter Pan (because we love it but refuse to wait super long for it), Snow White, and Pooh. Kailyn was not a fan of Snow White or Pooh. She thought Snow White was scary and she really disliked Pooh...I think the part with the heffalumps was what freaked her out. However, all of us loved the interactive queue!

Rabbit has always been one of my favorites...I'm not sure why. I just loved him when I was a kid and I still do

Dad HATES anything sticky so we decided when we saw him that we had to tell him we drew in honey. We did and he got really freaked out...we're so bad.

The one stinkin' picture I got of the Fantasyland expansion. I really kind of wanted to stand on a bench or a wall or something and take pictures but I am very much a rule follower and I was too scared!

After Fantasyland (that was all we did, apparently) we headed to Frontierland to check the wait times over there. It was still really uncrowded. BTMRR had a 20 minute wait, and Fastpasses for 10:40 (it was probably a little after 10 at this point), so we got Fastpasses, hopped in line to ride, and headed to Splash Mountain afterwards. I had not been on this since April 2008! We walked almost up to the loading area...we waited maybe like ten minutes.

This was on the walk to Frontierland

It was VERY strange to see Splash Mountain with water, and running! It was closed for refurbs on both our 2009 and 2010 trips, and we didn't go in 2011, so seeing it up and running again was awesome!

After Splash Mountain, we headed back to BTMRR with our Fastpasses. After that, we were definitely hungry. We had only had little breakfasts, so we went over to CHH for lunch. There was this very nice CM greeting people outside, and when he saw us, he said, "princesses...your majesty!" He was SO nice and very enthusiastic!

I can't remember what Kailyn got, but mom and I got the Anchors Aweigh sandwich. We honestly would not have known about CHH if not for the KTTK tour we did in 2010. I'm not sure what it is about that sandwich, but I absolutely love it! I wish I could make all my sandwiches on that bread!

I love that even the potato chip bags are themed

After our early lunch, we headed over to HM, since we were right there. It was a 15 minute wait or less. After HM, we headed over to ride Pirates, then headed out. You can never have enough pictures of the castle, obviously.

Before we actually exited, we stopped in Main Street Bakery. Kailyn got a brownie, and mom and I each got an eclair. Then, we found out what rope drop and exiting the park early means...

We made it back to the room around 1:15. I don't think the guys were there at that point, I am pretty sure they were at DHS. Kailyn fell asleep, and I watched Stacy, ate my eclair, and updated my notes. Since Kailyn was asleep and we didn't have any immediate plans, I decided to head down to the pool bar and just relax and then walk around and take pictures.

Continued in next post

 

[Megablocks]

Continued from previous post

I really, really wanted to try something I had read about on the DIS but never tried for myself...a pina colava. To be honest, I really wasn't sure what was in it, just that it looked pretty and everyone said it was really good. It did not disappoint...it was delicious!

I sent this to Facebook and a couple of friends

Not long after I settled in with my drink, dad walked by, on his way to the room after hitting the food court. This was how he found me:

The view to my right

Straight ahead

To my left

I think it was right about now that I was really regretting not bringing my bathing suit, or a pair of capris. It was definitely warm!

After I finished my drink, I decided to just walk around Pop, because I knew that no one would be in a huge rush to go anywhere. Pop Century is very much my Disney "home" and I was so happy to be back.

Just a picture of palm trees. Don't see those up here!

I really, really wanted to see the progress on the AoA suites. The last time I was at Pop, they weren't even a concept, so the buildings were still abandoned and creepy. Seeing this was a HUGE change!

Once I was done trying to get pictures across the lake, I just walked around and soaked it all in

I had to get a picture of this, even though it looks weird...I love the attention to detail! The little opening being there, and the copyright stuff? LOVE.

Definitely had these disks haha

Once I was done wandering, I headed back to the room. Everyone was back there so we talked about what to do. We decided to head to Epcot and then maybe DHS for the nighttime EMH.

Next update: Epcot!