Just Back! The Butler Family Magical Trip 10/28-11/1/06

[imadisneyfanatic]

Hello all! I am excited to post my trip report. I hope it's not too boring and provides helpful info for you guys.

Cast: Me - 36 yr old Mom that loves Jesus and was blessed by Him
with this trip to WDW. Glory to God! Weight 330lbs
Height 5'10" (size matters fitting in some seats!)

Shelley - 14 year old daughter with many medical problems.
Turned 15 during our trip and loved being the Birthday girl!

Accomodations: Contemporary Resort
(Booked Tower Room with MK View)


We live 450 miles (approx. 8 hours) away and chose to drive due to the price of gas. Left at midnight and arrived at the Contemporary Resort about 9:30am. I was exhausted but the minute I pulled up to the front entrance I was immediately energized with excitement!

Now I have to tell you that I can barely afford to stay at a moderate resort and through alot of faith and prayer was able to stay at the Contemporary through a discount code that came out in August (I think). We are not the "ritzy" hotel type of people because I am a single parent in the lower middle class economic range and have never been able to afford such oppulence.

I felt like the Queen of Sheba from the moment I pulled up to the portico and bell services came right up to my car. For the first time in my life, I had a ton of luggage that I never had to touch or lug up stairs or a long way down a path to my resort room! My luggage was unloaded, tagged, and I was given a receipt. I went inside to check-in and there the bell man was waiting for me to see if my room was ready so he could take it up.

As could be expected, as I was checking in well before the official check-in time, my room was not ready so they happily stored my luggage. Wow...a girl could get used to this treatment!

I was checked in by a nice young lady from China. She politely explained to me that although she couldn't give me my room number yet that she could tell me that my room would be on the 12th floor!! After nearly fainting, I started jumping up and down and cheering!

Of course, my daughter is now completely embarrased and asks "Mom! What is the big deal?". I tell her that the 12th floor is the Atrium Club/Concierge floor and we got a FREE UPGRADE!!! I got the typical "whatever Mom, lets just go ride Splash Mountain". "You'll see just you wait!" I replied. I said WISH #1 granted!!!

(I should also note that we were on the dining plan with 1 snack, 1 counter service, and 1 table service per night per person.)

We headed over to Magic Kingdom to ride Splash Mountain (5 minute wait only!) and the new Pirates of the Caribbean (10 minute wait only!). Due to reviews on this board we tried to go eat the the Pirata y el Perico for our counter service lunch. It was closed

We decided to try Columbia Harbor House instead. I had the Fish and Chicken Strips combo with a piece of chocolate cake. My daughter just had the Chicken Strips combo with a piece of chocolate cake. We each had 22oz sodas to drink. The food was pretty good for theme park fast food.

After visiting Mickey's Philharmagic , I called and our room was ready! Let me just say that the 3D and other effects of this show is truly magical! Love it, Love it, Love it!!

We had room 4845 on the 12th floor Atrium Club. The room was beautiful and elegant! We had our own computer in the room and a DVD player too. The best moment was when I opened the curtains and saw the castle right outside my window! I was just so overwhelmed! My daughter finally caught on about why I was excited about the upgrade after first seeing the view from the balcony and then going to the Atrium Club and eating the chocolate chip cookies and other goodies.
I called bell services and my luggage was delivered IMMEDIATELY! Great service!

We headed over to MGM Studios to ride my favorite ride of all time - Rock 'N Roll Rollercoaster
I waited while my daughter rode Tower of Terror (no WAY am I ever riding that thing ever again! )

We had ADRs at 50's Prime Time Cafe for our table service dinner. I immediately knew what other posters meant when they said they felt like they had a "dud" of a server and looked at other servers with envy. Our server Bob was not into it at all and we barely had any interaction with him at all. He seemed very rushed and unorganized. The other two servers near us were just hilarious and everyone around us (not Bob's tables) were having an absolute blast!

Needless to say we felt very left out. . I had the fried chicken, onion rings, and angel food cake with strawberries. My daughter had the pot roast, fried herb cheese, a brownie sundae, and a coke float to drink. We of course used a table service credit, but the total for dinner would have been $76.22 (for two people!)

We rode RNRR again before leaving for our resort. (I am addicted to that darn ride!) We were so tired from a long day of travel.

We got back to the Atrium Club and there were two hot dishes and snacks set out for dinner. There were also many different liqueors for the parents.

We took our deserts and drinks to the balcony to watch the Hallowishes fireworks from our balcony. We had the best seat and they pipe the music into your TV channel 20. It was heavenly!! We went to bed. Wow! Those are the best mattresses and pillows! I loved that you got 6 pillows on each bed! I wanted to steal those pillows soooo bad! This is NOT and exaggeration. I literally laid down on my bed and watched the castle change colors and do the "kiss goodnight". I spent many nights falling asleep to the sight of the castle

That's the end of day 1!! More to come tomorrow!!

 

[pumba]

You were defininetly blessed.......what a great start to your vacation. I TOO will not do Tower of Terror EVER EVER AGAIN.....did it maybe 4 times since it opened and I decided......why make myself ill thinking I have to do it again....NOPE..

Thanks so much for your great start to your vacation

 

[cybrkitn]

I see that the Lord has blessed you as well as us ! We were blessed with our first "family" vacation deal back in August when Disney Visa had the $355 deal going. Prior to that coming, I had said to my DH that unless God comes through with a great deal or something, we aren't going to be able to afford Disney this year. Me and my big mouth . A few days later that deal came through and I looked at my DH and said, "When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut?" It was pretty difficult to keep this a secret from our DS4 but once I told him, I reminded him that God had blessed us and given us this vacation We just got back this past Wednesday.

Glad you had a great and blessed time! I'll be posting our trip report soon, too.

 

[imadisneyfanatic]

Here is day two:

We woke up to a Mickey wake up call and hit the Atrium Club for breakfast. They had a wonderful array of cereals, danish, croissants, donuts, and fresh fruit.

We hopped on the monorail to EPCOT. Test Track was only a 10 minute wait (it was up to 80 minutes after lunch!). The Living Seas with Nemo was only a 10 minute as well! Turtle Talk with Crush was totally awesome! The special effects were cool! (it was worth the 30 minute wait). I usually get motion sick from simulation rides but decided to try Soarin and risk it (Thank God for Bonine pills!!) It was absolutely fabulous! The different scents that matched the scenery was awesome! (OK...I know I am saying awesome way too much but I can't help it!)

We ate lunch at the Sunshine Season Food Fair at The Land pavillion. They had alot of great choices for the dining plan. They had grilled salmon with mashed potatoes, sandwiches, grilled beef on flatbread, and assorted chinese dishes. I had the grilled beef on flatbread with mixed greens and my daughter had a sub sandwich. My grilled beef was ice cold and hard to eat. My daughter's sandwich was great and stuffed full of meat and cheese. For dessert we got to pick from their entire bakery/dessert display for our dessert credit! I picked the Soarin Creme Brulee and my daughter picked out a brownie. My Creme Brulee was so fabulous! . The brownie was only OK.

Next we headed to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. They really, really need to update that movie. After seeing the 3D effects in Mickey's Philharmagic it just seemed outdated.

We took a rest at the resort for couple of hours and then headed to the Grand Floridian for dinner.
They did a fabulous job of celebrating my daughter's birthday! She got a golden tiara to wear that was so cute! Prince Charming came by and my daughter thought he was so cute! (The teenage years have officially begun ) The food was OK but nothing spectacular. We were there for 45 minutes and Cinderella never made it to our table . Alot of people were complaining about it. Cinderella's mice friends Perrla and Suzy came by 4 times trying to keep the guests happy. We finally gave up and left.

We went to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic hours (open till midnight) We spent the evening in Tomorrowland and had a blast!
Finally, we limped back to the monorail to go crash for the evening.
Funny how we looked around and and EVERYONE was limping and wobbling to the monorail and buses....Disney is so much fun we are all willing to suffer through blisters, sore feet, and aching muscles - it was like we were all part of the same club

Day three coming soon.....

 

[OhMari]

Look at my avatar, I totally agree with you about TT.

Congradulations on the upgrade.

 

[imadisneyfanatic]

This morning was my daughter's 15th birthday
Since she was turning 15 she couldn't wait to drive the Sea Raycer boats at the marina behind our resort (Contemporary).
I joined her briefly and we boated over to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. The view was awesome!
We had a great time! It cost $23.47 for 30 minutes or $32.86 for 45 minutes. That was not a bad price although if I had three kids it would be too expensive. I guess being an only child has its advantages

We decided to spend the day at MGM Studios riding our favorite ride ever...Rock 'N Roll Roller Coaster!
Wish granted alert!

I had asked the nice CM loading everyone if she could put me into one of the front cars so that I would have more room since I am such a big girl. She smiled and said "sure". I looked at her and simply said "thank you so much. I really appreciate it". The look on her face was a bit disturbing to me. She looked so grateful for a simple thank you and smiled at me at said "no..thank you!". After an awesome ride on the coaster we pulled up to the unloading area and that same CM was telling the other CMs to please let us ride again without waiting in line because we were so nice! They led us through a back door directly to the loading area and put us in the very, very front car! Woo hoo!!!! That was the best ride ever! The front car kicks butt!!
When we unloaded I thanked all of the CMs again and one handed me a ticket for a free 5x7 photo of our ride! It was fabulous! I hugged all of the CMs and thanked them for making my daughter's birthday very special.

Although I always smile and say hello, please, and thank you to every CM I see (besides good manners, I am truly greatful for how hard they work to give us all a magical vacation) I started to notice all of the other people in the lines. Those poor cast members have literally thousands of people that just file by them and never acknowledge them. It made me sad. I guess that's why they seemed oh so happy to get a smile and a thank you. Those who are going soon, try to make an extra effort to thank the CMs that you see.....they truly deserve it and seem to sincerely appreciate it

We left MGM and went back to the Contemporary to rest a bit before dinner. We were so tired. My daughter's JRA and heart condition were acting up so I called Randy's Mobility to ask if they could deliver a scooter the next day for us to rent. Believe it or not, Adam (the delivery guy) said he would be over in one hour! We were so greatful and he was so nice and showed us everything we ever wanted to know about taking care of a scooter. I highly recommend using Randy's Mobility if you need a scooter.

After resting we went downstairs to have a birthday dinner at Chef Mickey's. We had a great time and the food was awesome as usual.

After dinner we went back to our room to rest and watch the Hallowishes fireworks from our balcony. I never get tired of looking at Cinderella's castle! We went down the hallway to the Atrium club and grabbed drinks, cookies, and brownies to snack on . I laid down and fell asleep watching the castle change colors. A perfect ending to a perfect day!

Coming soon....day 4 and Expedition Everest!!

 

[blue_river]

Prince Charming came by and my daughter thought he was so cute! (The teenage years have officially begun )

join the club...i know how you feel

I can feel your excitement as I read your posts. Sounds like you had such a great time.

Happy Birthday to your daughter Shelley!!!

 

[VanniGirl]

Sounds like a great trip!

Looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[cybrkitn]

Sounds like a great trip!

Looking forward to reading the rest.

Same here! Looks like you were having a great time on your vacation, regardless of missing out on Cinderella.

 

[First timer]

Wow - how wonderful for you - to have such a great trip. You sound like a very good person and good things do come to those who deserve it. Can not wait for the rest of the report!!

 

[pumba]

fantastic report so far and YES THOSE CM"s need to be thanked once in a while instead of people saying HOW COME and WHY CANT YOU ......thanks for reminding us all to be more pleasant....we get back what you give out...

anxious for the rest

 

[LegoMom3]

Subscribing!

I'm thoroughly enjoying your report! Indeed you and your daughter were blessed with this trip! My family and I just went at the end of September and it was such a wonderful time. The Lord is good!!!

Can't wait for more! Keep it coming!

 

[3NJDisneyDivas]

What a great trip report.
I can't wait to read more.
It truly makes me happy when good things happen to deserving people.

Lisa

 

[imadisneyfanatic]

Sorry it's been a bit but I have been battling a sinus and ear infection. I knew those Splash Mountain seats/padding looked a little yucky.

OK..on to day 4. Our plan was to go to Animal Kingdom to experience Expedition Everest. I just have to whine a little bit.....couldn't Disney make a train, trolley, or boat to transport you from the entrance of Animal Kingdom to the farthest reaches of Asia?? We saw more people laid out and exhausted at this park than we did the entire trip!
Little did we know today would unfold a magical wish! We decided to hurry to Asia to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest and then backtrack to ride the Dinosaur ride. I seriously would not do that again! I would rather stand in line for 30 minutes than hike to the back of the park only to have to hike back there again later.

We got our fastpasses and headed back to Dinosaur. We were pulled aside by a very nice cast member with a clip board. She asked my daughter if we wanted to be the "Family of the Hour"! How cool was that!
She gave my daughter an honorary dream come true certificate and escorted us into an elevator. Inside the elevator she explained to us that the CMs at different attractions had the ability to grant wishes and that as a reward for being chosen as the "Family of the Hour" that we would be put onto a ride vehicle and have the entire vehicle to ourselves!
We exited the elevator and were right in the loading area of the attraction. I felt bad because the people that had been waiting in line looked very aggravated that we were put into the vehicle ahead of them and they left all those seats behind us empty. I asked the CM to please fill the car because we didn't mind and didn't need a whole car to ourselves. "No way" she said "You are our Family of the Hour!". Well, my daughter ended up being very happy that we had the car to ourselves because on two occasions my 15 year old tried to jump into my lap! She was scared to death! I think the empty car also made it more scary since there were no other people there to remind us that it's "just a ride". Now for you larger folks out there, the seatbelt was not a problem but my hips took a huge beating/bruising. They have metal hand grips on the side of each seat and the ride kept slamming me into each side, back-and-forth, so jerky and FAST! My hips ached for an hour! I think I would do better to sit on an end seat instead of between two metal bars.

We ate lunch at the McDonald's Restaurantasaurus nearby. We both had a cheeseburger combo. It was pretty standard stuff except for the toppings bar! Wow! They had grilled onions, mushrooms, and about 6 other things I can't think of. They even had sauerkraut for the hotdogs.

OK, now onto Expedition Everest. We got there about 15 minutes before our fastpass return time and the wait time was only 20 minutes so we went ahead and got into line and decided we could use the fastpasses to go again. One thing I have always loved about Disney is the way they make the line/queue area part of the "show". There were very interesting artifacts throughout the area. I was very distracted though by some personal sadness that I think took away from the ride. OK, please, please, please don't flame me I am just explaining so I don't chase people away from an attraction with some abstract reason that doesn't get explained. Disney is always incredibly authentic with their themeing. In keeping with that tradition, there were some alters of worship/dedication to "gods" other than my own. That left me a little sad and distracted. Sorry but I am sensitive to those things. Again, it was very authentic to the region but just not something I wanted to be totally immersed in. That's all. No hating, just uncomfortable feelings. I know it sounds crazy
The seats on the ride are very much like the seats on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Very easy to fit into for everyone.
I really don't want to giveaway anything on the ride but suffice it to say I screamed the entire time! Me and my daughter were actually debating about something that happened on the ride we were so disoriented so I asked a CM and of course I won! (It had to do with what direction we were going in the dark at one point on the ride).
We exited the area in yet another uncomfortable spot and decided we weren't brave enough to get tossed around like that again
We decided to look for a nice party of two that looked like they would like to ride again and give them our fastpasses. A nice couple came along and we asked them if they wanted to ride again and gave them our fastpasses! They were very sweet and thanked us.

We stopped at It's Tough To Be a Bug on the way out of the park. Great special effects as usual. We then limped the rest of the way to the entrance wishing that Disney had train or something like the Magic Kingdom has.

Believe it or not it is only 11:00 am and we are ready for bed! My daughter wanted to head over to Disney Quest for a couple of hours before napping and preparing for the MNSSHP.
Details to come on Day 4 part 2........