Minnesotans Celebration Cruise!
Trip Report Day 1 December 31, 2003
For those who forgot or couldnt find my Pre-Trip report here are the details again
Who: Me Amanda (22) 2nd DCL Cruise, 5 previous WDW or DL trips.
Sara My Best Friend from High School (22) 2nd DCL Cruise 4 previous WDW trips
What: Celebration Vacation for my Associate of Arts Degree and the end of Saras Personal Injury settlement
When: December 31, 2003 January 11, 2004
Where: All the Central Florida Theme Parks and DCL
Well for those of you who read my DL trip report here it is at last! Minnesotans Celebration Cruise! For those of you who didnt read my DL report here are a few notes. First, I am a hobby writer, my reports are long and detailed. Second, Sara and I have nicknamed our vacations as well organized Disney Raids. We have been planning this trip for over 400 days. This report, including the pre-trip, will be posted on my website: http://www.geocities.com/picturedisney I am hoping to update the pictures there as well when uploading the reports so keep checking back. Now on with the story!
December 31, 2003
The day dawned bright and early as usual with the alarm clock going off at 4:00 am CST. Sara is used to getting up this early to go to work but I am not so it wasd a bit more effort for me than her. The excitement of finally going did help a lot though. We left for the Minneapolis Airport at 5:00 am with my Dad driving us. It was a bit of a challenge to get our luggage into his Saturn Coupe (This should have probably been called the Minnesotans who seriously over packed Celebration Cruise). We have never really over packed before but this was our first time to WDW and DCL when it was not June August and in our defense we did use about 95% of what we brought so it wasnt that bad.
Being the Homeland Security Condition was Orange we arrived to the airport about 2 hours in advance of our flight which was at 7:30 am. We were through Security by about 6:15 am so we went to our gate and watched DVDs on Saras laptop until we boarded at about 7:15 am. We took off about 15 minutes late at 7:45 am and watched DVDs on the plane until we landed uneventfuly at Orlando on time at 11:35 am.
We met our Tiffany Towncar driver in the luggage area and drove to the Pop Century. Both the driver and the car was very nice and smoke free, just as we asked for. The Pop Century had only been open for about 16 days at this point so it was a little funny when our driver missed the turn off and had to go around again.
The Pop Century was an awesome resort! The rooms were (In my opinon) bigger than the other value resort rooms and well decorated. The rooms had digital thermostats which was nicer than the old fashioned ones at the All Stars, and the bathroom/vanity area was also re done from the other value resorts. It had a style more similar to the more upper class resorts but on a bit smaller scale. Outside the themeing was similar to the other value resorts but with more landscaping. The main hall area and food court was set up in a fashion similar to the land food court in Epcot. I was also fortunate enough to get a limited edition opening pin for my collection.
We walked around the resort taking pictures and ate lunch before going back to the room to get supplies and money to go on our shopping spree in DTD. We usually dont go on a shopping spree while in WDW but this year our Disney Club Membership was expiring on the 31st so to really benefit with any shopping we had to do most of our shopping in one afternoon. Fortunatly we did get most everything we wanted then and didnt really have to worry about picking things up along the way.
Once finished spending what was probably too much money we sent the packages back to the Poly where we would be the next day and got a taxi to Seaworld where we would be spending New Years Eve. We first wandered around a little then went first to the Shamu Show followed by the Key West Dolphin show, and the Clyde and Seymore Show. Of course we loved watching them all since we are both into sea life as much as we are into Disney. After the shows we bought a locker and rode Journey to Atlantis and the Kracken twice each.. While drying off some more we walked by the Sawyer Brown Concert and then caught the Holiday Shamu show which ended up being our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! They didnt do the typical explanation and talking as in the regular show just 30 minutes of solid tricks and stunts with their two older whales.
We finally went to eat dinner at 11:00 pm on the waterfront then walked around the lagoon until we found a spot to watch the NYE Fireworks. Even though we had midnight an hour before my parents we still called them at midnight thought I doubt mom hear much on the phone other than the noise makers we all got. She did know it was me though. We then left with the majority of the park even though the park was not closing until 1:30 am.
Suprizingly we got a taxi right away, we should have known better. We got in and told the driver who barely spoke English that we wanted to go back to the Pop Century. He called over another driver and they argued about how to get there for about 5 minutes. I was about to get out when Sara just told them to take us back to DTD. In retrospect we should have left. The driver was the worst driver I have ever seen in my life! He never signaled, made right turns from the left lane, cut people off including semi trucks, and instead of dropping us off at the first place in DTD he drove us clear to the Cirque Du Soliel stop. We were furious and he did not receive any tip whatsoever. We even tried to warn the next person who wanted that taxi but couldnt.
We then took WDW busses back to the Pop Century, at least those drivers knew where they were going. It took longer but it was cheaper than a taxi all the way back to the Pop Century from Seaworld. We finally got to sleep at about 1:30 am after a really long day.
Coming soon: Minnesotans Celebration Cruise Day 2! We check into the Poly and start our DCL Land/Sea Package.
Minnesota
PS This and the pre-trip are also posted on my website.
Trip Report Day 1 December 31, 2003
For those who forgot or couldnt find my Pre-Trip report here are the details again
Who: Me Amanda (22) 2nd DCL Cruise, 5 previous WDW or DL trips.
Sara My Best Friend from High School (22) 2nd DCL Cruise 4 previous WDW trips
What: Celebration Vacation for my Associate of Arts Degree and the end of Saras Personal Injury settlement
When: December 31, 2003 January 11, 2004
Where: All the Central Florida Theme Parks and DCL
Well for those of you who read my DL trip report here it is at last! Minnesotans Celebration Cruise! For those of you who didnt read my DL report here are a few notes. First, I am a hobby writer, my reports are long and detailed. Second, Sara and I have nicknamed our vacations as well organized Disney Raids. We have been planning this trip for over 400 days. This report, including the pre-trip, will be posted on my website: http://www.geocities.com/picturedisney I am hoping to update the pictures there as well when uploading the reports so keep checking back. Now on with the story!
December 31, 2003
The day dawned bright and early as usual with the alarm clock going off at 4:00 am CST. Sara is used to getting up this early to go to work but I am not so it wasd a bit more effort for me than her. The excitement of finally going did help a lot though. We left for the Minneapolis Airport at 5:00 am with my Dad driving us. It was a bit of a challenge to get our luggage into his Saturn Coupe (This should have probably been called the Minnesotans who seriously over packed Celebration Cruise). We have never really over packed before but this was our first time to WDW and DCL when it was not June August and in our defense we did use about 95% of what we brought so it wasnt that bad.
Being the Homeland Security Condition was Orange we arrived to the airport about 2 hours in advance of our flight which was at 7:30 am. We were through Security by about 6:15 am so we went to our gate and watched DVDs on Saras laptop until we boarded at about 7:15 am. We took off about 15 minutes late at 7:45 am and watched DVDs on the plane until we landed uneventfuly at Orlando on time at 11:35 am.
We met our Tiffany Towncar driver in the luggage area and drove to the Pop Century. Both the driver and the car was very nice and smoke free, just as we asked for. The Pop Century had only been open for about 16 days at this point so it was a little funny when our driver missed the turn off and had to go around again.
The Pop Century was an awesome resort! The rooms were (In my opinon) bigger than the other value resort rooms and well decorated. The rooms had digital thermostats which was nicer than the old fashioned ones at the All Stars, and the bathroom/vanity area was also re done from the other value resorts. It had a style more similar to the more upper class resorts but on a bit smaller scale. Outside the themeing was similar to the other value resorts but with more landscaping. The main hall area and food court was set up in a fashion similar to the land food court in Epcot. I was also fortunate enough to get a limited edition opening pin for my collection.
We walked around the resort taking pictures and ate lunch before going back to the room to get supplies and money to go on our shopping spree in DTD. We usually dont go on a shopping spree while in WDW but this year our Disney Club Membership was expiring on the 31st so to really benefit with any shopping we had to do most of our shopping in one afternoon. Fortunatly we did get most everything we wanted then and didnt really have to worry about picking things up along the way.
Once finished spending what was probably too much money we sent the packages back to the Poly where we would be the next day and got a taxi to Seaworld where we would be spending New Years Eve. We first wandered around a little then went first to the Shamu Show followed by the Key West Dolphin show, and the Clyde and Seymore Show. Of course we loved watching them all since we are both into sea life as much as we are into Disney. After the shows we bought a locker and rode Journey to Atlantis and the Kracken twice each.. While drying off some more we walked by the Sawyer Brown Concert and then caught the Holiday Shamu show which ended up being our ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! They didnt do the typical explanation and talking as in the regular show just 30 minutes of solid tricks and stunts with their two older whales.
We finally went to eat dinner at 11:00 pm on the waterfront then walked around the lagoon until we found a spot to watch the NYE Fireworks. Even though we had midnight an hour before my parents we still called them at midnight thought I doubt mom hear much on the phone other than the noise makers we all got. She did know it was me though. We then left with the majority of the park even though the park was not closing until 1:30 am.
Suprizingly we got a taxi right away, we should have known better. We got in and told the driver who barely spoke English that we wanted to go back to the Pop Century. He called over another driver and they argued about how to get there for about 5 minutes. I was about to get out when Sara just told them to take us back to DTD. In retrospect we should have left. The driver was the worst driver I have ever seen in my life! He never signaled, made right turns from the left lane, cut people off including semi trucks, and instead of dropping us off at the first place in DTD he drove us clear to the Cirque Du Soliel stop. We were furious and he did not receive any tip whatsoever. We even tried to warn the next person who wanted that taxi but couldnt.
We then took WDW busses back to the Pop Century, at least those drivers knew where they were going. It took longer but it was cheaper than a taxi all the way back to the Pop Century from Seaworld. We finally got to sleep at about 1:30 am after a really long day.
Coming soon: Minnesotans Celebration Cruise Day 2! We check into the Poly and start our DCL Land/Sea Package.
Minnesota
PS This and the pre-trip are also posted on my website.
