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

[MeMom]

? It should be snowing. This is Massachusetts in January." I am glad that we haven't had a winter like last year...but come on, I'd like at least a little more snow! I think it's gonna snow this weekend...

My class looked in the 2012 almanac today, and it said that we will have a mild, wet winter. I am not thrilled with the wet, but I am delighted with the mild!

 

[Megablocks]

Day 1, part 1 - Wednesday, January 11. Goodbye Boston, hello Orlando!

I had a bunch typed up then hit something wrong on my laptop and lost the entire thing…learned my lesson, type it in Word first!

We had a very uneventful travel day. Left for the airport around 5:45 AM for our 8:15 AM flight. By the time we had parked, checked in with JetBlue, and gone through security, it was not quite 7 AM, so we had about an hour to kill. Our gate was like a mile away from security, and there was a Starbucks not far past security, so Kailyn and I went alllllll the back to Starbucks, then back to the gate to wait. The flight was pretty uneventful; we left at 8:15 and all of us were pretty much occupied with watching TV the entire flight (thank you, JetBlue!) We landed in Orlando around 11 AM, and had our first ride and our first glasses picture of the trip. (Side note: some of these pictures are off my cell phone so I apologize if any of them look weird)

The ME check-in was empty, so we checked in and were directed to our line. We only had to wait about ten minutes before we were directed to our bus, and Kailyn and I grabbed seats right near a TV so we could watch the video.

We watched the video…and drove…and drove…

Then, we saw that magical sight…

CBR was the first stop, and Pop was the second. We got there around 12:30, and I was off that bus and walking that red carpet as fast as my little legs could carry me. As soon as we walked in, I was hit with that Pop Century smell. In between my sniffing, I said to Kailyn, "IT SMELLS LIKE POP CENTURY!"

I took this while we were checking in

We had asked for a preferred location, but didn't ask for anywhere specific. We got our KTTW cards, all with charging privileges (remember this for later.) We were put in building 4, floor 2, in connecting rooms 4230 and 4231. The room that Mike's name was on, 4231, was ready, but the other one was not. We decided to just dump our stuff in the room that was ready, freshen up, and go down to the food court to get lunch and plot our next moves. We did just that and were soon on our way to Classic Hall. I actually took these pictures a couple days later but want to show you exactly where we were.

We were in the Play-Doh building, a first for us! We were in the orange building, closest to the elephant, but in the back. I loved seeing all the Play-Doh "molds" on the wall!

From the other side of the pool. If I had turned to the right when taking this, you would have seen Classic Hall. So we were a very short way from the food court and the bus stops. It was our first time staying in this area of Pop and we really loved it.

The Play-Doh can from behind

Looking across from the second floor

And this is what I saw every day when I left the room. Not a room with a view, but it was a GREAT location!

We got to the food court, picked out our mugs, and got food. I got a pepperoni pizza, Mike got a burger, Dad got some two pound burrito (no lie, that thing was HUGE), and I can't remember exactly what Mom and Kailyn got.

Remember how I said our KTTW cards had charging privileges? We hit a little snag when my mom's didn't work. This may have been because her room wasn't ready, but before we could really try and figure out, another CM, Joann (she might have been a supervisor, I'm not sure), came over to see what was wrong. The very nice CM whose line we were currently holding up explained, and we explained that we had just checked in and that maybe that was why. Joann wrote down our room numbers, took all five of our KTTW cards, told us she'd take care of it, and headed down to the front desk. In the meantime, we paid with another card and went to eat. A few minutes later, Joann came back, handed us back our KTTW cards, and said that it was taken care of, that the charging privileges were all set on all of the cards, and the other room was ready! She was seriously amazing. She was SO nice and went out of her way to get it fixed for us and really made what could have been a frustrating situation not bad at all. My mom wrote down her name so that she could email Disney about her when we got home. Definitely some pixie dust on the first day!

Charging privileges crisis averted, we finished and headed back to the rooms to unpack. We had our game plan and we were READY to put our park hoppers to good use and hit some parks!

Up next...where to for the afternoon and evening? And "I'VE NEVER SEEN HER BEFORE!"

 

[Megablocks]

My class looked in the 2012 almanac today, and it said that we will have a mild, wet winter. I am not thrilled with the wet, but I am delighted with the mild!

Ooh, I should totally check our almanac. We've had a really, really mild winter as far as winters here go. I think this past December might have been one of the warmest on record. This past weekend was absolutely frigid...somewhere in the low teens or below, even during the day, SUPER windy, and -5 wind chills. It would have been still freezing but somewhat tolerable if it hadn't been for that wind!

 

[DWGal210]

Nice castmembers make all the difference, don't they? It's frustrating to hit a snag, but she really handled that well. I'm glad your mom got her name!

And nice location!!! I do love POP and I'll stay there again one of these times. I really want to try and stay each place at least once but I'm a creature of habit, I guess!

 

[Poolrat]

Glad you had a somewhat uneventful trip down.
Great Job Joann !!!! It takes a great CM to complete the experience.


I have stayed in the playdoh building and it is a great location.

 

[Tink9721]

We have just a little bit of snow left over...it was melting, then when Charles and I were leaving the mall, it was kinda raining, and I kept saying, "why is it raining? It should be snowing. This is Massachusetts in January." I am glad that we haven't had a winter like last year...but come on, I'd like at least a little more snow! I think it's gonna snow this weekend...so between snow and football (what IS even going on?), work is gonna be insane.

I'm excited too! Your trip is getting so close!

We didn't have any snow left this morning I want snow too! Preferably before I go back to school on Monday. I have to drive up/down a really steep hill on my way to/from school and I don't think my little Taurus would make it in the snow and ice. But if it's enough snow to make the roads bad they'll probably cancel classes anyway since my school has a lot of commuters.

I can't wait to be on that ME bus!!! As fun as it would be to do a road trip to Disney some day, I really think I'd miss the ME!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I love flying JetBlue now, those TV's are awesome! Glad to hear you arrived pretty quickly and easily!

I wonder if we did cross paths at some point without realizing it!

 

[manntra]

Here!! Was following along with you and the glasses on FB
LOVE Jet Blue!! Just booked my flight for May this morning. Such a quick flight with the tv/music and blue chips
Funny how we associate smells with resorts, rides etc. I will be somewhere and think wow that smells like Test Track or AKV

Tracy

 

[noahdove]

I am in for the ride, so far so wonderful

 

[photographymom517]

I will GLADLY send some snow to both you and Christine!!!!

I am soooo happy for the mild winter. I just hate snow & ice & driving in it. I'm thankful that I don't have to go out in it much, but when I do, I am a nervous wreck the entire time!!! We live on a back road and the past two times it has snowed, I haven't seen one single plow! Once we hit the main roads, it's usually not as bad, but it just depends on the amount of snow we've had.

I actually looked up pictures from last year -- I always take a tape measure outside & put it into the snow so I remember how much snow we got. Last year on January 9th we had 16" and by the 20th, we had over 25" -- so yes this is definitely a mild winter for sure!!!

I read the beginning of your report after you sent me the email -- but for some reason I didn't post. Most likely it was some odd hour & I fell asleep! I've been falling asleep with my laptop on & the one day I woke up with a keyboard print on my forehead!

I know where you're going next!!!! But don't worry, I won't tell!

I can't wait to hear more about the trip!!!!

 

[sunny_stace]

It's always nice to make sure people who give good service are noted! I did that on the last trip as well, wrote down their names, where they were from and where they worked so I could email Disney when we got home! I find you only ever hear about negative service and positivity is just so much better! Sounds like the trip was off to a good start!

 

[Megablocks]

Nice castmembers make all the difference, don't they? It's frustrating to hit a snag, but she really handled that well. I'm glad your mom got her name!

And nice location!!! I do love POP and I'll stay there again one of these times. I really want to try and stay each place at least once but I'm a creature of habit, I guess!

She was so great. The CM whose line we were holding up was also really, really nice, but I forgot his name. He was talking to us and when he asked where we were from, he said he'd heard a lot of good things about Boston, which was nice...don't hear that too often!

I am so attached to Pop that I can't really picture staying anywhere else. You know us creatures of habit!

Glad you had a somewhat uneventful trip down.
Great Job Joann !!!! It takes a great CM to complete the experience.


I have stayed in the playdoh building and it is a great location.

She was great! I'm pretty sure Disney takes those emails seriously so I'm really hoping she gets recognized.

We loved the Play-Doh building. We've stayed in the 80's, 90's, and more recently the 70's, so this was a new building for us. I loved being able to go down to the pool or the pool bar and just relax.

We didn't have any snow left this morning I want snow too! Preferably before I go back to school on Monday. I have to drive up/down a really steep hill on my way to/from school and I don't think my little Taurus would make it in the snow and ice. But if it's enough snow to make the roads bad they'll probably cancel classes anyway since my school has a lot of commuters.

I can't wait to be on that ME bus!!! As fun as it would be to do a road trip to Disney some day, I really think I'd miss the ME!

I start Monday, too, and I'm back at my preschool internship that day, too. I miss the kids and the teachers I work with, but it has been soooo nice just dealing with work instead of work, school, and preschool. I am reallyyyyy hoping for some snow days, both from schol and the preschool...the preschool I'm at follows the closings of the high school they're located in, so if that city's public schools are closed, they are, too. Fingers crossed.

I would totally miss that ME video! I think roadtripping to Disney would be fun, but just one way. Coming back would not be fun.

I love flying JetBlue now, those TV's are awesome! Glad to hear you arrived pretty quickly and easily!

I wonder if we did cross paths at some point without realizing it!

I was so occupied with watching Iron Chef or some similar cooking show that the time just flew by! LOVE JetBlue!

I do, too! When I was at DHS one day, we passed by the Phineas and Ferb M&G and I thought of you!

Here!! Was following along with you and the glasses on FB
LOVE Jet Blue!! Just booked my flight for May this morning. Such a quick flight with the tv/music and blue chips
Funny how we associate smells with resorts, rides etc. I will be somewhere and think wow that smells like Test Track or AKV

Tracy

Hi Tracy! I knew you'd appreciate the glasses pictures on Facebook

I forgot they had the little TV's and I was SO excited when we boarded and saw them! I had the blue chips too of course.

I was actually at the mall once with my friend (the ONLY non-DIS friend I have that "gets" Disney like I do), and we passed the Rainforest Cafe...the water or something about that place smells like somewhere in Disney to me, I'm not even sure what or where. I've always thought that and I finally said something to her...she got SO excited and was like "I think so, too! But I could never say anything to anyone because they'd think I'm crazy, but you think so, too! This is why we're friends!"

I am in for the ride, so far so wonderful

Yay, welcome! Thanks for reading

I will GLADLY send some snow to both you and Christine!!!!

I am soooo happy for the mild winter. I just hate snow & ice & driving in it. I'm thankful that I don't have to go out in it much, but when I do, I am a nervous wreck the entire time!!! We live on a back road and the past two times it has snowed, I haven't seen one single plow! Once we hit the main roads, it's usually not as bad, but it just depends on the amount of snow we've had.

I actually looked up pictures from last year -- I always take a tape measure outside & put it into the snow so I remember how much snow we got. Last year on January 9th we had 16" and by the 20th, we had over 25" -- so yes this is definitely a mild winter for sure!!!

I read the beginning of your report after you sent me the email -- but for some reason I didn't post. Most likely it was some odd hour & I fell asleep! I've been falling asleep with my laptop on & the one day I woke up with a keyboard print on my forehead!

I know where you're going next!!!! But don't worry, I won't tell!

I can't wait to hear more about the trip!!!!

Send some so I get some snow days off from school and preschool please! I really can't believe the non-existent amount of snow this winter, especially compared to last year, which was horrible!

We live on a one-way side street, but the way the street goes one-way, you can't reach it from the nearest main road. You have to go down a couple side streets to reach it. It seems like getting sanded/salted/plowed is an afterthought. There were a few days last year that I never would have made it to work had it not been for my dad and his monster Jeep. He doesn't even bother shoveling it out because he doesn't have to; he can just drive out and back in and not worry because no other car could make it in and out.

You need to learn how to sleep, girl! I saw your baby ticker, too, I cannot believe you are so close. I'm so excited to "meet" the little one!

It's always nice to make sure people who give good service are noted! I did that on the last trip as well, wrote down their names, where they were from and where they worked so I could email Disney when we got home! I find you only ever hear about negative service and positivity is just so much better! Sounds like the trip was off to a good start!

You are so right! I work at a grocery store as a front-end supervisor and it is soooo nice when people take the time to tell me about someone who's done a good job. I'm pretty sure Disney especially takes those emails seriously so I really hope they are recognized. It was SUCH a great start to the trip!

 

[DisKate]

I'm here! Better late then never right???

 

[MeMom]

I bet you can remember exactly what you were feeling like when you took these two pictures. Going under the arch makes me smile and have a little party on the inside. There is not much better feeling in the world than to be checking in to your resort with the entire trip ahead of you!

She was great! I'm pretty sure Disney takes those emails seriously so I'm really hoping she gets recognized.


I am reallyyyyy hoping for some snow days, both from schol and the preschool...the preschool I'm at follows the closings of the high school they're located in, so if that city's public schools are closed, they are, too. Fingers crossed.


I was actually at the mall once with my friend (the ONLY non-DIS friend I have that "gets" Disney like I do), and we passed the Rainforest Cafe...the water or something about that place smells like somewhere in Disney to me, I'm not even sure what or where. I've always thought that and I finally said something to her...she got SO excited and was like "I think so, too! But I could never say anything to anyone because they'd think I'm crazy, but you think so, too! This is why we're friends!"

I always send an email when we return from a trip, praising the good, and on occasion, telling about an incident that was not so good that I feel is noteworthy to keep Disney World holding itself to the standards it always has. I never do anything nitpicky, of course, because things happen that aren't perfect, but I am talking about things I truly thing management would want to know.

I hope you get a few snow days. We have used one. I don't think we'll get five more, but maybe we'll get lucky and get another 1-2.

Totally know what you mean on the Rainforest smell. I hope to be experiencing it again when Opry Mills opens back up, if it does. Now they are saying it might not. They've been so back and forth with that place, I don't really know.

 

[wuzzy6]

I can't wait to hear/see more!!!

 

[Megablocks]

I'm here! Better late then never right???

Yay, my bestie I am sorry again I forgot to tell you about this!

I bet you can remember exactly what you were feeling like when you took these two pictures. Going under the arch makes me smile and have a little party on the inside. There is not much better feeling in the world than to be checking in to your resort with the entire trip ahead of you!

I can remember! When I took the Everything Pop picture, I was standing at the check-in desk and just looking around at everything and being so excited to have the entire week ahead of us!

I always send an email when we return from a trip, praising the good, and on occasion, telling about an incident that was not so good that I feel is noteworthy to keep Disney World holding itself to the standards it always has. I never do anything nitpicky, of course, because things happen that aren't perfect, but I am talking about things I truly thing management would want to know.

Pretty sure that's exactly what my mom does, too. That's why we were double-checking Joann's nametag, to make sure that we got it right. There was another awesome CM that I'll get to in the next update too.

I hope you get a few snow days. We have used one. I don't think we'll get five more, but maybe we'll get lucky and get another 1-2.

Yeah...really hoping for a few. I have class Monday/Tuesday and I am at the preschool Monday-Thursday, so there's four out of five days to hope for!

Totally know what you mean on the Rainforest smell. I hope to be experiencing it again when Opry Mills opens back up, if it does. Now they are saying it might not. They've been so back and forth with that place, I don't really know.

I am so glad you understand that! I knew I could say it to that friend and that she'd probably understand. I was actually wondering about Opry Mills not too long ago. That's too bad they're so back and forth with it, I'm sure there's a lot of people that would like to see it come back.

I can't wait to hear/see more!!!

Thanks for joining/reading!

 

[Tink9721]

I start Monday, too, and I'm back at my preschool internship that day, too. I miss the kids and the teachers I work with, but it has been soooo nice just dealing with work instead of work, school, and preschool. I am reallyyyyy hoping for some snow days, both from schol and the preschool...the preschool I'm at follows the closings of the high school they're located in, so if that city's public schools are closed, they are, too. Fingers crossed.

I would totally miss that ME video! I think roadtripping to Disney would be fun, but just one way. Coming back would not be fun.

I want snow days!!! I don't care that I just had a month off, snow days are fun

I'm so excited about the snow we got tonight! Daisy was excited too. I didn't fall over at all tonight, which I usually do when it snows because Daisy pulls me down the street and then I slip on the snow

 

[MeMom]

I was actually wondering about Opry Mills not too long ago. That's too bad they're so back and forth with it, I'm sure there's a lot of people that would like to see it come back.

Coincidentally, a big announcement was made yesterday. Dolly Parton is teaming up with Gaylord to create a new theme park in that area. They are starting with a water park/snow park, and then will be adding onto that (or that is the plan) in the future. I would be happy to have a form of Opryland back or something similar to Dollywood.

http://www.wkrn.com/story/16556228/gaylord-opryland-theme-park

 

[Megablocks]

I want snow days!!! I don't care that I just had a month off, snow days are fun

I'm so excited about the snow we got tonight! Daisy was excited too. I didn't fall over at all tonight, which I usually do when it snows because Daisy pulls me down the street and then I slip on the snow

I really want snow days! There are four out of five days this can happen for me. I am so not ready to go back Monday. Text me and let me how the first day goes for you!

Going into work for 8 AM today was horrible because the roads were so crappy from that little bit of snow! Whatever we go, it's really nothing. I didn't even have to shovel my car out, I could just drive out. I think it might have been like 4-5" total. So really nothing, especially when you consider how much we had at this time last year.

Coincidentally, a big announcement was made yesterday. Dolly Parton is teaming up with Gaylord to create a new theme park in that area. They are starting with a water park/snow park, and then will be adding onto that (or that is the plan) in the future. I would be happy to have a form of Opryland back or something similar to Dollywood.

http://www.wkrn.com/story/16556228/gaylord-opryland-theme-park

That sounds SO cool! I'm glad you're going to be getting something there. I'd love to see that when it's done!

 

[Megablocks]

Day 1, part 2 - Wednesday, January 11 continued

I left off with us leaving the food court and going back to the rooms to unpack and discuss which park to hit first. Mike and my dad really wanted to go to AK. According to my notes, we hit AK a little after 2, so I am assuming that's when we actually got there.

I was SO excited to see that the Christmas tree was still up!

So, we entered the park, walked up...who was RIGHT there?

DEVINE! We have never, ever seen her before so it was AWESOME to see her. I believe I texted Katie DisKate and Hope photographymom517 with a picture and something like "talk about pixie dust, we have NEVER seen Devine!" We watched for a couple of minutes, then started heading towards EE. Me, dad, Mike, and Kailyn all were dying to ride it. The backwards in the dark part disorients my mom so she decided not to ride. The standby line was 45 minutes, so we all hopped in the single rider line instead and waited just 15 minutes. SCORE! The guy I was riding with couldn't seem to understand why this strange girl was riding with him and his two friends, so the CM let me in and sent the next single rider to ride with me...who happened to be Kailyn. So all four of us ended up being on at the same time.

After EE, we hit Dinosaur, which had hardly any wait. We walked right into the big room and only had to wait a couple minutes before being ushered into the preshow area. After that, me, dad, Mike and Kailyn hit Primeval Whirl for Fastpasses, then we all headed over to the safari, which was like a 30 minute wait. This was our second amazing CM. Our driver, Ryan, was awesome and absolutely hilarious. I unfortunately can't remember a lot of what he said, but I was laughing the entire time. There was this one guy that kept on STANDING UP in the Jeep, while it was moving. Ryan kept on asking him to sit down and he clearly wasn't paying attention, because he had to repeat it a few times. When he finally sat down, everyone applauded. Before we went over the bridge, he told us all to "cross your fingers and toes!" that we made it over. It shook when we drove over, and when we got to the other side, Ryan said, "someone wasn't crossing their fingers and toes! Was it you was standing up for ten minutes?" He was AWESOME!

Some safari shots (all from my mom)

More pixie dust...the lion was AWAKE!

After the safari, it was time for our Primeval Whirl Fastpasses. Mom sat this one out because she doesn't do well on spinny rides, so she took pictures of us instead. I have no idea what I was doing...

After Primeval Whirl, I got my beloved spicy cheese pretzel and we headed back to Pop. When we got back there, we changed into more layers because it was getting CHILLY! Mike decided to stay at the room for the time being, but asked us to text us when we figured out where we were going for the night. So mom, dad, Kailyn, and I headed down to the food court and discussed what to do. I was absolutely dying to see if the castle lights were still on at MK, and to see Wishes, so we decided to go there for the night. I texted Mike to tell him, and he decided to come.

Continued in next post!