Live trip report 12/10-12/17!

[gaffney09]

So our time is finally here!! We are within miles of the most magical place on earth We've never been here at Christmas, so we're pretty psyched (even though we're all laying here like zombies at the moment...) We checked in to a motel here in Kissimmee a couple miles away from The World for the night, and our days at Disney begin tomorrow! We drove a looong 14 hrs from OH, starting at 5am this morning, and arrived around 7pm. I drove through some pretty heavy rain all the way through WV, VA, and NC. But right now it's a balmy 75! They're calling for some T-storms tomorrow, so I hope it doesn't ruin our plans! So other than rain, the drive was pretty uneventful, hardly any traffic. And when I (unwillingly) relinquished control of the steering wheel to my father, we hit a little traffic which he felt necessary to swirve in and out of like a maniac (to which we received several 'West Virginia waves' if you know what I mean... lol). So if you saw a blue blur that resembled a minivan passing you on the interstate... sorry!! (maybe he thought it would be fun to really test what that minivan was made of since it's a rental! eheheh)
So, here's our agenda for tomorrow: going to some of the resorts and view the amazing Christmas decorations. Then we have reservations at Trail's End for lunch. Then we'll try and check in to our cabin at Fort Wilderness a little early (we've never stayed on site before, either, so this trip has a lot of 'firsts' for us!) (Oh yes, let me introduce 'us'! Me-22, and I brought along DF, DM, DSis 14, and DBro 14.) So after we check in, we're off to EPCOT! First ride on the agenda: SOARIN'!! Can't wait to ride it We plan on staying until the closing fireworks, then it's back to the cabin to get settled in and ready for day two!
Keep checking back, I'll try to update this everything when we get back from the parks if I'm not too dead tired! G'nite everyone!

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for posting live.

If you go to Trails End. Go around 11:30. You can get breakfast and lunch. They clean breakfast up at 12 noon.
I wasn't to impressed with lunch at noon.
It was like food left over from the previous evening re-heated. The chicken was really over cooked.

You guys really had a long drive.

Have a great time at WDW.

 

[gaffney09]

Wow, I'm exhausted! We risked the tornado watch this morning and went to visit some of the resorts and the lovely Christmas decorations. We started at the Grand Floridian (our first time here, and at any of the resorts for that matter) and we were quite impressed with the GF. I loved it! It's definitely on my list of places to stay at some point in my life. Then we road the monorail over to Contemporary, and then over to the Polynesian, which also looks very nice. I loved the decorations there, and the ambiance was quite lovely. Finally, we were able to check in early in to our cabin at Fort Wilderness. The crew definitely left their Disney magic in our cabin! My dad happens to have a famous name, Richard Petty, and so they left some pictures of the 'Cars' racecar characters with the number 44 on it. We thought it was pretty cool! They also left the Mickey towel ears on the bed
The only downside of the day was that it was pouring down the rain as we were trying to catch a bus to Trail's End for lunch... we were a little soaked, even with ponchos. Finally the rain cleared around 2:30ish which was just in time for us to head to EPCOT.
First we got fastpasses for Soarin' because the wait was about 50 min. Then we headed over to Honey, I Shrunk the Audience... watch out for the mice! Then we hit up Test Track which was pretty cool. What was even cooler is that we got my mom on it! Then me, bro and dad rode Mission: Space ORANGE team!! (mom and sis definitely chickened out) but it was one of the coolest experiences ever!! We totally loved it
Then we stopped over to the World Showcase briefly and watched the tree lighting. So cool, and beautiful lights!! Finally, our fastpass time was up- over to Soarin'! We probably only waited in line for about 10 min. before we got on. So I changed my mind, Soarin' is my new favorite ride!! We got front row and loved it
Now that we've ridden our top choices, we are all quite hungry at this point. So we decided on Liberty Inn in America. The food was delicious and we sat outside in the amazing breeze! As soon as we were finished, we got right in line for the Candlelight Processional. If anyone hasn't done this- I would HIGHLY recommend it! It was most definitely top notch- amazing vocals and instrumentals. It sent chills down my spine it was sooo good! Really put us in the 'Christmas spriit'. So as soon as the Processional was over, we rushed to find a decent spot for the fireworks. We got a pretty nice spot next to England... minus the people that walked right up in front of us as soon as the fireworks started... grr. But it's ok though because I still got some great pictures. A
And that was our day!! We're totally exhausted, but I'm going to try and upload some pics if I can figure it out here...
On the agenda tomorrow: Animal Kingdom in am (which means Expedition Everest! ) then Magic Kingdom in pm as well as our special holiday carriage rides at WL!

 

[hill6]

Thanks for sharing your trip "live". Have a wonderful trip and look forward to your updates.

 

[OhMari]

Is your dad Richard Petty?
or does he share his name.
You guys really did a lot on your first day.

 

[heaven2dc]

I absolutely love live reports What a long drive you had - am glad I stayed clear of the interstate a couple days ago - j/k (you probably didn't even drive near Fredericksburg, VA.

My new fav ride at Epcot is Soarin' too! We had front row seats last trip and hope to get them again next week (I will be solo from 12/13-12/16 then my daughter, fiance and baby (1) will arrive on the 17th & I can hardly wait!)

Anxious to hear how your day went at AK. I plan to hit the resorts tomorrow after I arrive to look at as many decorations as I can then head over to DTD for the evening. Have a great trip!