May 14 - 20: The last time I was clueless but now I know

[Cynt]

BACKGROUND AND THE DAYS LEADING UP TO MY DEPARTUREMy trip planning started back during Fall 2005 with me taking my 4 nieces and 1 nephew. After months of research I decided to go w/ a friend and take my nephew and nieces at another time when their parents were available. I realized that would be a bit much for me to handle for a week. Good decision on my part. My first trip to see Mickey was March 1997. I didn't know anything about Disney. We had a ball back in 1997. I didn't know it then but now I realize I was CLUELESS!! But what I didn't know didn't hurt me. Now fast forward 9 years. I learn about these boards and other Disney boards. Whoever thought of these boards THANK YOU! You ROCK!! I purchase the Passporter and TGM. I am on information overload by December 2005. But I'm loving every minute of it. I'm a bean counter (accountant) so I'm really into details and organizing things. I made my ADR's and mapped out a plan for each day. Or should I say printed TGMs plan for each day and tweeked them. LOL! It's only January and I'm raring to go. We close the books for year end at work faster than I thought so that made January creep by even slower. Now it's February. O my goodness, Disney announced free upgrades - park hopper and water parks and more. So I weigh my options. Originally we were going to Universal the last two days and stay at a Universal hotel to take advantage of FOTL. Well after weighing everything we decide to stay at Disney all 7 days and take advantage of the free upgrades. Good decision, it rained Tuesday and we went to Disney Quest and several nights we went to Pleasure Island and the Comedy show. We cancelled our AAA package and booked straight with Disney. Good decision. We saved about $500 (one night at US hotel, two day ticket to US/IOA plus food for two days).

Side Bar: Although I will go to US/IOA one day, I do understand getting your monies worth at Disney if you've never been. If you're a veteren Diser I totally understand going to US/IOA to mix things up a bit. I don't quite consider myself a veteran so next time I'll still probably do all Disney. There's still so much I didn't get to experience. Now back to the story.

In between February and March I decide to go ahead and purchase airfare. AA - DFW to MCO dropped to $231 but of course in my pinching pennies and thinking it was going to drop some more it rises back to $251. I pounce on it thinking, it surely isn't going to drop again if anything it will rise even more. I call my friend and tell her you better purchase your fare now the price just went up. She booked hers as well but couldn't get on the same flight back. I told her no problem. This was a blessing in disguise. You'll find out later just how much of a blessing it was to me.

March finally rolls around and I think I have read every trip report that pertained to the things I liked to read about. Hence, I never could follow a TR that started a new thread for each segment and it took them 12 months to finish. I just didn't have that kind of time. After all, I'm on my employers time while I'm reading these things. I need them all to be in one thread. LOL! So with that being said all of my TR will be in one thread. Remember, it's not my fault, I'm an accountant and organization is KEY! The IRS and Auditors do not tolerate disorganization. I need to be able to quickly find documents and such for them.

It's April and the 20 pounds I started to loose back in the Fall are still present. Get up and get your butt to the gym. So I start going to the gym 3 days a week and work out for an hour. That lasted maybe two weeks. I don't have time to workout, I have shopping to do. DEPRESSION sets in. After hitting a couple of stores, I realize why I needed to drop those 20 lbs. I look like a buffalo. I'm 5' 2'' and any weight accumulates in my thighs. I'm talking lower thighs, upper thighs, inner thighs, outer thighs. O and I can't forget the hips. So the next couple of weekends I stroll through the stores hoping and wishing this weight drops off.

No luck. It's now May and I'm desperate. We leave May 14 and I have a few days to get a wardrobe together. So I pull out my last year summer clothes. Guess what, they're all too tight. So the plan now is to purchase items with ELASTIC. My cousin needs me to watch her son this weekend. Oh well, he'll just have to go with me. I hit TJ Maxx, Ross, Steinmart and all my favs, of course I can't find anything that fits me right. Poor fellow, he was quite a trooper w/ his cousin acting like a crazy woman running through stores trying to find her vacation wear. I find a few things. Now it's Friday, May 12 I decide to hit Target. OMG, I hit the jackpot. They have nice outfits that are AFFORDABLE. I still say I'm going to lose 20 lbs. so I don't spend an arm and a leg on clothes that I won't be using for long. At least I hope not. I think I'm finished shopping, I vow not to spend another dime.

Saturday, May 13 less than 24 hours and I'll be at Disney World. I wanted to cry, scream, shout and dance. Too many emotions calm down. I had another girlfriend come in town from Milwaukee so I had to turn on the Texas hospitality. We decide to go to the spa for manicures and pedicures. Much needed after spending every waking moment shopping for the last two weeks. They used these hot rocks to massage our lower legs and feet. PURE ECSTACY. And then of course we hit another shopping strip that I hadn't visited yet. Ann Taylor had nice sleeveless shirts on sale $12.99. Jackpot. Her boyfriend calls and she has to leave. Good, I have packing to complete. I'm back home it's around 5ish and I want to be in the bed by 10pm because, I'm not an early morning person and 4:30am will be here before I know it. My dad will spend the night tonight because he's dropping me off at the airport. No big deal for him because I live near his church so after he drops me off he can go back to my place and crash until time for him to go to church. At 9 something, I'm finished. I call DF and she's hasn't started packing. She's had a tough work week and will need to work Sunday while we're at Disney. I tell her no working allowed while on vacation with me. Didn't you read the Traveling w/ Cynt Things to Know before you Go? She said please can she take her laptop. She will only work one day. I allow her take it. She only worked one day, Monday morning. I'm half watching the Mavs game and dosing on the bed. Where is my father? I'm tired more like exhausted and I need to go to bed. Knock, knock. OK he finally made it. I pull out blankets and make him a pallet on the floor. OK my dad is super country and he likes to sleep on the floor. I always offer him my bed but he refuses. Now that I'm 35, I just know to pull out the blankets and make him a pallet. The rest of the game watches me and I doze off.

Next: I'm on my way to Disney. Nanna nanna boo boo.

 

[Cynt]

FEATURING THE CAST:
Me: 35 yrs old, self proclaimed event planner and organizer, bootleg travel agent, accountant and credit manager by day and dedicated to running the Children's ministry at my church by night. Speaking of which, I'm typing this trip report and I should be reading my VBS lessons. I have a meeting w/the teachers Sunday after service. Anyway, I wanted to visit Disney again because the last time I visited I was honeymooning. I didn't see much of Disney. My ex and I stayed at SOG. Since then we went our seperate ways. No hard feelings and I'm not a bitter ex wife. We're still cordial and respectful to one another. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to go back to bring closure to that relationship or what. Things that make you say, HHMmm!

SF: Joie is a dear friend I met at church over 18 years ago. She's a sister friend...more than a friend more like a sister. Shoulder to cry on, sounding board, keep it real committee, woman of wisdom and the most politically correct person I know. We are total opposites but I'm her SF who can keep it REAL and she knows who to call when she wants to have fun and a good time. The American Airlines Center has been open for a couple of years now. She had never been to a Mavs game nor the AAC. I took her to her first Mavs game a couple of months ago. We had a blast. She realized during the trip to the World that she was in love with TINK!! I swear she didn't live a normal childhood. Her parents were hitting 40 when she was born. My parents were 22 so they didn't know how to be parents. I ate dirt, fell off the bed, ate honey suckle and 4 leaf cloves off the ground. She couldn't go outside and play. You get what I'm saying. When you're with someone a week, you learn more than you ever wanted to know.

OK, on with the story. I'm not going to go into details about every day. Instead, I'm going to share some thoughts and what I know now experiences that I learned every day.

Sunday, May 14 - Try and go to bed at a decent hour. 4:30am came quickly and I was at the airport waiting on SF by 5:30am. Why is airport food so expensive? And why are you always so hungry when you arrive at the airport? Flight uneventful. Get me to Disney. Breakfast burritos at 6am. I know my stomach was still asleep. Guess what, I'm too excited to sleep on the plane. What do you know? Always carryon a good book. Thanks Omar Tyree.

Last time, we met a Shades of Green shuttle bus. This time we used DME. It was excellent and easy to find. I didn't know that the airport monorail made two stops. One at the terminal and one at Ground transportation. When we entered the monorail we didn't know whether to get off or not at the first stop. Someone finally told us it only makes one stop and then goes back to the terminal. Whoever you were thank you. We looked like chickens with our heads cut off.

DME has it's own counter. Looks very professional I might add. You must check in at the counter and get your voucher stamped and then get in line for the bus. They ask that just one person from your party check everyone in, which made perfect sense to me. It kept the line short and it moved quickly. I was at the end of the zig zag line and I was at the counter in 5 minutes getting my voucher checked and stamped. We just missed the bus because we were first in line for Coronado Springs and I think Animal Kingdom bus. Our bus wasn't full so we also took some POP Century folks. I didn't realize it was going to be a big coach bus. It was nice, cool and comfortable. It served its purpose. After I started riding, I did remember reading somewhere that it would be a coach bus. But that first impression was rather nice.

BUZZ thank you. Coronado Springs was more than I expected. Emaculate kept grounds, hotel and room. CM at the counter earned her paycheck that day. She assigned me to Casita 4, a water view because that's all they had left when we made our reservations. I asked her to switch me to 8A or 9B. She did and then I realized I need to be on the top floor. I live downstairs and my neighbor and her dog drive me crazy. So on vacation I didn't want any pounding on the ceiling. Ooops, excuse me will you check to see if you have a top floor room. No top floor rooms in 8 or 9. OK, will you check Casita 4 to see. Jackpot. We were in room 4460. The view was spectacular. It was a corner room that looked over the lake. O, and let me add it was 11am and I was expecting to drop off my luggage and hit a park. NOT! Pixie dust time...our room was READY! Let the MAGIC continue. No way! YES WAY!

The buses - We were at stop 2 which was perfect for us. Walk down the hall, down 4 flights of stairs and across the parking lot. 3 to 5 minutes we're there. Stop 2 is also the first stop when they pickup and drop off. So you get first selection of seats. Important early in the morning and late at night. Last time, March 1997 the SOG shuttle would drop us off at the TTC and we would take monorail/bus to wherever we needed to go. This was before AK. We didn't go to TTC not once our entire stay. This was different for me. But I loved going straight to the parks or DD from the hotel. I'm from a large city that has a bus service - DART. If you are not use to this mode of transportation, I totally understand you might get frustrated with the bus system. I can't stress enough that Disney World is a city with subarbs and the whole nine. You are riding the city bus to the different parks and locations. Expect delays and what not. Plan time to get from point a to point b to point c if necessary. I allowed an hour to get anywhere w/ a straight route or 1 1/2 hours for two stops. Keeping this frame of mind helped me tremendously. You are not going to get from point a to point b in 15 minutes. It's not going to happen. Be prepared to wait. It's an excellent system and it runs like a well oiled machine but you should know what to expect going into it and you will not get frustrated.

Funny story, I didn't know the busses would not pick you up if you are not at the assigned bus stop. We were going to DTD from the Polynesian to get back to Coronado. When we pulled into DTD we saw the Coronado bus and thought we could run to the other side of the bus stops to catch the CSR bus. We ran halfway and the bus starts to drive off, drives right beside me and I wave my hands like a mad woman trying to get him to stop, he slows down and looks right at me and does the cut throat motion telling me he can't stop. I was pissed. It was hot and I was tired after a long day. Oh well, I ran off some of that Ohana's.

Make sure you understand how to get from your hotel to other hotels as well as from the parks to other hotels and then back to your hotel. We didn't understand this day 2 and it cost us precious time but then we learned. You basically can catch any bus to a hotel from the parks to DTD. I didn't know you could walk from Epcot to the Boardwalk, Swan and Dolphin and another hotel but I can't remember the name of it.

Earl of Sandwich - People rave about the sandwiches and they are yummy. But the OATMEAL RAISIN COOKIES are to die for. You get one big cookie as a dessert. You know how you taste something expecting the normal oatmeal cookie taste. I bit into this cookie and almost choked trying to take another mouthful. It was so moist, chewy and delicous. I had about three of these large cookies during my stay. Yes that meant three seperate trips to DTD. It was worth every minute I had to wait on the bus stop.

I learned you really need a good day to check out DTD. I'm glad we visited the 1st day to put the taste of Disney in the atmosphere. We windowed shop for items to purchase, we took lots of pics and people watched.

Mavs are tied w/ the Suns @ 66, 5 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter. I'll type more tomorrow. I need to go and cheer the Mavs on to victory. We must when this game or we're in BIG Trouble. TRANSITION DEFENSE!

Next...Wishes, the perfect ending to our first day at Disney.

 

[burly]

Can't wait for the 3rd installment.

 

[averill94]

What a great beginning- Makes me want to be there.
Thanks

 

[DeterminedOne]

Nice report - very organized. Go MAVS!

 

[MagicMe]

Great report so far...can't wait to hear more!!

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ Can't wait for more.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Subscribing! Love a good trip report all in one place! You are my kind of writer!

Allyson

 

[Cynt]

Wishes, the perfect ending to our first day at Disney.

The MAVs are up 2 games to 1. GO MAVS!

Now, where was I? Let’s see, o yea, we spent the entire day at DTD and found out where the best oatmeal raisin cookies could be purchased. At Earl of Sandwich we also encountered our first opportunity to use the Dining Plan.

Disney Dining Plan (DDP) – After using it, I can’t figure out why people don’t use it. It’s the best value for your money. People have mentioned that it ties them down to a schedule, they don’t want to make reservations for TS, they don’t want to eat all that food, they feel like it forces them eat each meal in order to use all of their credits, they don’t want to eat what the meal plan offers. My response to all of that is the plan is so flexible, there’s a ton of options to select and no one forces you to eat all the meals. For instance, (I am aware that the plan changed for the better effective May 1, 2006) I had from ribs, to sandwiches, to a kids nugget meal, to a Dole Whip, to a funnel cake, to bottled water, to a chocolate dipped banana the list was endless. I had fine dining five nights: Le Cellier, Ohanas, Spoodles, Jilo’s and Coral Reef. The fine dining alone paid for the $34/day cost of the DDP. So I guess my rational is if you pay this $34/day and you eat one TS meal than it has more than paid for itself. So why wouldn’t you use it? Even if you don’t eat all the meals, spread a little magic and pass it forward by purchasing someone’s meal if you're so concerned about wasting credits. It’s always nice to be a blessing. Right? Now let’s talk about sharing on the meal plan. I was too hungry to split a meal with my SF. I think the only thing we shared was the funnel cake and that’s because we were both to tired and really wasn’t hungry when we purchased it. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. Who can pass a funnel cake, get a whiff of them cooking, see others eating them and not purchase one? Not Me! We would taste each others food but share NOT going to happen. To me the portions were a little super sized but not enough for me to share. If you’re a light eater, I could see possibly sharing. However, I was thinking about my nieces and nephews and there’s no way that growing teenagers and preteens could share. They eat more than I do and all that walking stirs up an appetite in my opinion. In ’97 SOG had a dining plan but you had to eat only at SOG. We didn’t know any better and we were clueless that Disney had fine dining restaurants. We would grab a snack or two at the park and I do remember eating at the 50’s restaurant. Other than that, we ate at SOG. Boy, did we miss some good meals by not being informed. I highly recommend DDP. It is well worth the money. Plus, its worry free and you don’t need to carry cash for meals. They have placed DP stickers next to the snack items so it was very easy to distinguish what was on the plan. If you’re deciding whether or not to use it, there’s no way you can go wrong with the plan. I am definitely going to use it when I take my nieces and nephews and if we stay on site one less headache trying to figure out how much money to bring for meals.

WISHES – MK was EMH tonight. So we took advantage of it. Good decision. We had walked off our Earl of Sandwich so when we arrived to MK and after taking it all in (pictures, pictures and more pictures) we were on the prowl for food. People had begun scouting their spots for Wishes so we walked through the mob to Cosmos Rays. I grabbed the ribs and SF a burger and fries, o we get a drink and a dessert. Sure, we’ll take it. That DDP is wonderful. It was our second time using it and we were still getting use to it. Now hurry back outside to find us a spot. Our first stop was on the walkway between Cosmos Rays and the Castle. We were sitting on the walkway with food in hand and SF had a hard time sitting down. Let me help you ole lady. We settled for a moment. I wasn’t pleased w/ our location. You stay here and I’m going to see if there’s anything closer. Jackpot there was still room on the right hand side of the street facing the castle. “Will you hold this spot for me, I need to go and get my friend.” Sure the teenager responded. Great! SF pack up. I found us a better viewing spot. I help her up and we headed down the walkway to our new location. Our location was perfect. We settled in again. I helped SF sit down and I sat next to my new found friend who held our seats. The pavement was hot, so I sat on my croc flip flops. Wishes is a must see. This was my second favorite show/fireworks/activity. This was SF first glimpse at Tinker Bell. When TB flew out to open the celebration, SF fell in love. This show takes you back to your childhood and it allows you to refocus on your dreams and aspirations. While you’re watching the show a million and one emotions run through your mind. This show allows you to look in the rear view mirror of your life and helps you evaluate what you have gone through. But more than that it gives you the hope to continue dreaming and lets you know that you can still dream and dreams still come true.

After Wishes, it was time to hit the rides. Our longest wait that night was Indy Speedway, 20 maybe 25 minutes. We didn’t care about the time. It was our first ride and SF selected it so I went along. We had just watched Wishes and we were still on . What a flop! I don’t know what we were expecting but after we finished all we could do was laugh. OK, on to the next ride. I forgot my handy dandy must ride lists so I was going from memory. Think Cynt, think Cynt which rides were on that list. OK, there’s a mountain somewhere, I think to mountains that are a must do. I need a park map. Check your pockets did you remember to grab one at the gate. Yep, here it is. OK SF, we need to ride one or two more rides over here then let’s make our way to the other side of the park. I didn’t realize until Wednesday that we missed two whole sections of MK. I say this because it is imperative to have a map. This was a free willy nilly night so we didn’t have a plan we were taking it all in and riding a few rides along the way. Our actual MK day was Tuesday.

No longer Clueless - We didn’t see any night time fireworks, parades or shows on our last visit. Make sure you’re aware of what’s going on around you each evening at the parks. Take advantage of EMH. Our waits were usually 10 minutes or less. We found the mountains but left the wet one for another day. Wishes is spectacular and it is what everyone says that it is. A must see. Don’t forget your dessert w/ your meal plan. Some places will let you have bottled water or a bag of chips as the dessert. This was a perfect day to the beginning of a wonderful vacation.

Day 2 – Epcot, SF is feeling queasy, QUICK get a barf bag.

 

[bbump]

Can't wait to read more... it sounds like you had a wonderful time!!!

 

[Cynt]

Epcot - It really takes two days or more to enjoy this park. I thought we could get it all done in a day, since we were two adults and for the most part active and healthy. We had all intentions or should I say I had all intentions of making this a full day at Epcot. We started in in the first part of the park, Future World. Again, make sure you get a map. This park has nooks and crannies and if you don't have a map you might overlook something. We rode several rides and then it was time for Mission Space. We get on the ride had an awesome time and low and behold SF isn't looking to well after we get off the ride. She sits down to catch her bearings. She was feeling nauseated and she says, "I guess I should have adhered to the motion sickness rule." I was cracking up. It was funny to me because it was a simulation ride. How can you get sick on a simulation ride? Well, I went and played the arcade team game, the name escapes me but our team won. I went to check on SF and she still didn't feel well. She went to the bathroom while I went to get her some water and popcorn. She said she needed something on her stomach. That just about did it for her but she went on like a true trooper.

Flower and Garden show - This was spectacular. I'm kind of wondering now what Epcot looks like with out the decorative flowers. I tried to enjoy as much of this as possible. I love flowers.

Fine Dining - I highly recommend that you make reservations. We had all of our reservations at 5pm or 5:30pm for dinner. We tried to eat at a restaurant at the park or near the park. Prior planning is required to accomplish this task. It was hard to go back to the room midday and then return to the park or to dinner. We used dinner as a time to wind down and rejuvenate for the evening. All of our dinding experiences were wonderful.
Le Cellier - excellent steak.
Ohanas - Can we say, Eat until you barf? This is an awesome setup and for MEAT LOVERS. If you're a vegetarian or into fish do not select this restaurant. If you like meat and there's plenty of it, select this place.
Spoodles - The rack of lamb was very delicious. I could do w/out the couscous and ask for the potatoes. The rack of lamb is a HUGE portion.
Jikos - Taste of Africa. I don't understand the hoopla about this. It's just different types of bread and sauces/spreads. I would pass on this next time. Not worth it.
Coral Reef - this was my favorite. The blackened catfish and cheese grits were to die for.
All the food was delicious. I tried things I normally wouldn't try just to experience different things. Some I liked and some I didn't.

Jet Lag - I was exhausted after dinner at Le Celliers and my SF was getting on my nerves. I used my exhaustion as the perfect scapegoat to go back to the room. She stayed at Epcot and went on to the countries. I didn't realize how tired I was until I went to the room showered and was in the bed and sleep by 8pm. Travel the day before, up until after midnight trying to close down MK, sun all day today and a hearty steak zapped all of my energy. Remember to schedule a day of rest to recover from the first couple of days. I slept until 7ish the next morning. We were suppose to go back to Epcot to see Illuminations. SF said she asked me if we were still going. I asked her what time is it. She told me and she said I went back to sleep.

Traveling w/ Friends - I learned something about myself. I do not like to travel with a chatter box. SF and I stay alone so I'm use to a quiet atmosphere. What I've come to realize is that she loves to talk. Usually there's a group of us so I didn't know how much she enjoys conversating 24/7. Well now I know. Two days of non stop conversation. SHH! Let's just enjoy the moment. NO TALKING! I mentioned I work with children. So I did what any good parent learns to do, I tuned her out.

Day 3 - Rain, rain go away.

THE MAVS ARE IN THE FINALS! Go MAVS! Nose bleed tickets...$358. YIKES!

 

[OhMari]

You're going to have to incorporate your June trip with your May trip. I know life gets busy, but maybe just recap to finish.