My First Trip Report! - "Escape from New York" - completed

Luvin the pictures. I can't wait to see Disney in holiday season. I love how all the characters are decked out for Xmas as well
 
Oh my gosh what a nightmare!!! My flight was cancelled in Jan due to a snowstorm but I only spent 8 hours in the airport and went right home afterwards!! We cancelled our original trip and postponed it a month. I was ready to cry when I found out my flight was cancelled after being delayed several times...but I can't imagine how heartbreaking it was to be on the plane and ready to take off! :sad:

I'm glad you didn't give up and eventually got there! Your DD really looks like she has a cold in your AK pictures *BUT* she also looks so happy to be there!! Looking forward to hearing more!
 
That's horrible that the airport closed but I'm glad you finally made it there. This has kind of got me worried though, I'm living in upstate new york and I've got a trip planned for the week before Christmas. We're flying and I hope there isn't another big storm like that(I remember that storm well), if our flight gets cancelled I will cry.
 
Awww....I had that after everything y'all went thru to get to WDW, y'all ended up sick, too! :sad2: But, I think all of y'all were great troopers in AK. Considering that everyone was feeling under the weather, I think y'all had a pretty great day! :thumbsup2 Looking at all the Christmas decorations in your pics has me excited to go for our quick weekend in December! I hope y'all got to feeling better quickly!

The way things were going, you just knew we were all going to be sick! lol. But being there in WDW, there were times I forgot how sick we were.

I am so glad we went and got to see how WDW does christmas. A little bummed we missed out on the christmas party and some other things. But it was still great!

I've never been to WDW during the holidays, so I'm loving those pics! Hope you guys ended up feeling better.

Thank you! If you ever have the chance, you have to go for the holidays!

Fantastic photos - I love the ones of your daughter with the characters - so cute!

Good to see you have Disney fun - despite your illnesses! Can't wait to hear more.

Thank you so much. I used to take pictures of DW with all the characters. She's been replaced!!:rolleyes1

Luvin the pictures. I can't wait to see Disney in holiday season. I love how all the characters are decked out for Xmas as well

The characters we got to see were probably the best part of the day, IMO. That's the whole reason we wanted to go for the holidays.

Oh my gosh what a nightmare!!! My flight was cancelled in Jan due to a snowstorm but I only spent 8 hours in the airport and went right home afterwards!! We cancelled our original trip and postponed it a month. I was ready to cry when I found out my flight was cancelled after being delayed several times...but I can't imagine how heartbreaking it was to be on the plane and ready to take off! :sad:

I'm glad you didn't give up and eventually got there! Your DD really looks like she has a cold in your AK pictures *BUT* she also looks so happy to be there!! Looking forward to hearing more!

I'm sorry to hear you had a similar experience. It was the first (and hopefully the only) time that's ever happened to us and it was horrible. We're so lucky that DD has always been such a go-with-the-flow kid. She had some moments where she would seem out of it, but she would perk right up whenever something was happening.

That's horrible that the airport closed but I'm glad you finally made it there. This has kind of got me worried though, I'm living in upstate new york and I've got a trip planned for the week before Christmas. We're flying and I hope there isn't another big storm like that(I remember that storm well), if our flight gets cancelled I will cry.

That's the crazy thing about air travel, there are so many factors involved that sometimes it's not even your airport that has the trouble that gets you delayed. I hope the weather is on your side for your upcoming trip. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
 

Animal Kingdom, Part 1 has been updated with links to youtube video of Finding Nemo, the Musical.

I will repeat them here as well with a word of warning: I shot handheld, and I was coughing, sniffling, and dealing with DD next to me, so it gets a little shaky here and there. I am sure there are better videos out there, these are mine.

Finding Nemo, the Musical Part 1
Finding Nemo, the Musical Part 2
Finding Nemo, the Musical Part 3


Still to come... Jingle Jungle Parade video links and the next installment of our TR.
 
Wow, you really had some awesome character interactions. Bless your hearts, toughing it out while colds are invading your bodies! DD looks like she's truly having the time of her life!:cutie:
 
I guess f you're going to be sick, Disney is THE place to be sick! I hope you all felt better into your trip. And Disney at Christmas is my dream vacation, crowds and all! :D
 
/
You take fantastic photos!
Whew!! so glad you guys made it safe and sound, though sick.

Keep up the report, it's very exciting:yay:
 
Wow, you really had some awesome character interactions. Bless your hearts, toughing it out while colds are invading your bodies! DD looks like she's truly having the time of her life!:cutie:

I know the commandos will want to revoke my status after reading this TR, but what can you do? :confused3 The characters were great! hopefully we didn't get THEM sick!

I guess f you're going to be sick, Disney is THE place to be sick! I hope you all felt better into your trip. And Disney at Christmas is my dream vacation, crowds and all! :D

Some might say that Disney IS my illness. :rotfl2: I hope you get to experience a Disney Christmas sometime soon!

You take fantastic photos!
Whew!! so glad you guys made it safe and sound, though sick.

Keep up the report, it's very exciting:yay:

Thanks! The people over in the photography forum put me to shame, but I am working on it!:thumbsup2
 
Resort Hopping

In the original plan, we would have done 3 parks by now and would have used this day to sleep in, and rest up for MK on NYE. We had some thoughts about changing things up and maybe doing Epcot or DHS instead, but we still needed the rest, and since we did get an added day on the end of the vacation, we stuck with the Resort Hopping idea.

We had read all about the gingerbread displays at the various resorts, and really wanted to see them. We had also seen a flyer in our room packet about a DVC Merry Member Mixer. We weren't sure what that was all about, but it was at the CR that afternoon, so we made a mental note to take a look if we were there when it was happening. Lastly, we had a rezzie for dinner at 1900 Park Fare.

The day before, I called over to the GF spa and was able to get DW an appointment for a pregnancy massage. Each vacation I try to do something or buy something special for DW, and this was it. The appointment wasn't until 12pm, so we were able to sleep in, and get breakfast at the SSR food court. The line at Artist's Palette was really long, so we opted to just grab muffins, bagels, and cereal from the self-serve market area and bypass the line so we wouldn't be late for DW's massage. I was surprised that the CMs were able to take our hodgepodge breakfast items and piece together counter service meals out of them for the DDP. That was cool!

We had all eaten and drank plenty of juice. DW had her nasal spray to help her breathe, and I was using the cold medicine for myself. DD was still going through tissues like we owned stock in kleenex, and had that persistent cough.

We headed over to the GF Spa, parking in the Wedding Pavilion lot. We planned on leaving the car there for the day and using the monorail to hop around the lagoon.

We dropped off DW at the spa, and then DD and I went to go walk around and kill some time. Right outside the spa, we left the path and walked up onto the white sand of the beach between the GF and the WP. DD had a good time running around for a while...

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She got tired out after a while and wanted to rest. We still had some time to kill, so she got back in the stroller and I walked us down to Poly.

These are just some pics of GF, WP, and a sign in the water @ Poly.

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We walked around the resort a bit and then headed to the docks to take a boat ride around the lagoon. Normally, DD would love this, but for some reason she wasn't as excited as I thought she would have been. We got on the boat anyway. I hoped maybe she would perk up once we were out on the water.

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Instead DD looked miserable. By the time we reached the GF stop, she started to cry and I noticed she kept playing with her ear. She said it hurt her and didn't want me to touch it. She cuddled up against me and I just sat there holding her, trying my best to soothe her and hoping we wouldn't annoy all the other people on the boat. Thankfully most people were sympathetic and I didn't see anyone glaring at us. We rode all the way back around to Poly and then it was time to go meet up with DW.

We had a short wait at the Spa for DW to come out. She looked much better when she did! She loved her massage and wanted to know if she could come back for another before we left for home! lol.

Unfortunately, I had to burst her bubble a bit with my concern for DD. I was pretty sure she now had an ear infection to go with her cold. We were thinking about leaving and going back to SSR, but we decided to walk over to GF to see how it looked all decorated for the holiday. It was right next door and it wouldn't take long at all. Then at least we could say that we saw one of the resorts, just in case we never made it back. DD nodded off in the stroller as we headed over to the GF.

This is the christmas tree in the GF, and above on the ceiling you can see the nets holding the balloons I suspect they would drop that night at midnight on NYE.

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and here's the GF Gingerbread house...

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We walked around to the other side of the gingerbread house, and to my astonishment, there were CMs selling treats out of it!! You literally walked up to the window and could buy gingerbread shingles, or gingerbread men, or a few other treats. We got a little something for DD so she could have it later when she awoke from her nap in the stroller.

Okay, we might get flamed here for what happens next, but it's water under the bridge, as they say.:rolleyes1

Instead of heading back to our room, we got greedy and decided to take advantage of DD napping in the stroller to jump on the monorail and head over to CR to see their gingerbread tree.

On the way, I had an idea to call our pediatrician back home and see if there was any way possible to get a prescription faxed to a local pharmacy. It was a longshot, but I figured it couldn't hurt. The last thing we wanted to do was to take DD to a walk-in clinic or urgent care. I reached the receptionist and made my request, hoping that the Dr. would help us out. I was told they would call me back on my cell.

In the meantime, we arrived at the CR and made our way down to the concourse level to get a closer look at the gingerbread tree.

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After scoping out the gingerbread tree, we made our way to the lobby so we could go to Guest Services. I was still waiting for the pediatrician's office to call back, and I wanted to see if I could get information about nearby pharmacies, prescription deliveries, and area doctors. I guess my question was kind of complex. So the CM brought a manager out and we laid out the situation for him. He was very nice and extremely helpful. DD had woken up from her nap and he gave her some stickers. He explained all our options to us. There were pharmacies that delivered to the resorts, as well as doctors who make resort-calls. Since we had a car, we also had the option of driving to a nearby pharmacy, as well as Centra Care, which was an urgent care facility on rt. 535.

Aside from an occasional visit to first aid inside the parks, this was our first WDW medical problem, so this was all new to us. (Well, technically, this was MY second WDW medical problem, but that's a story for a different time)

So, there we were, armed with all our options, and waiting on the phone call that would determine what we did next... It didn't make sense to leave until we knew where we were going, so we decided to just hang out at the CR until the call came. We noticed it was just before 3pm, and wouldn't you know, that was the time that the DVC Merry Member Mixer was supposed to be at.

So we walked around until we found a sign, and we followed it to the mixer. And since we were waiting to find out what would happen next, I'll make you wait too.

stay tuned...
 
Loving the pics of the gingerbread! I totally understand why you kept going- you were actively trying to help DD, you couldn't have been doing more if you were sitting at your resort.
 
I don't think what you did is flame-worthy. Your DD was asleep, getting rest she needed, and you already called your pediatrician.:)

I love the GF pic with the tree and balloons at the ceiling. It really does look festive and beautiful!

So now, the suspense is killing me! I sincerely hope the pedi is sympathetic and sends down a prescription for DD. Poor thing.
 
I was in the middle of writing the newest entry, and I was mourning the loss of several pictures and some videos of this trip that I took on my old phone (I lost the phone and everything on it a few months ago)... and then I remembered that I had uploaded some of those pics to my facebook account!!

So while you wait... please enjoy "Escape from New York: The Forgotten Pictures"

Our plane:

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People sleeping at JFK

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Our little TSA alcove at JFK

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Hotel weather forecast in Maryland

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DD and DW asleep in the car


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Welcome to North Carolina

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Welcome to Florida!

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Back to Table of Contents?

or

To Resort Hopping, Part 2...
 
Subbing so that I can hear how it all turns out. What a vacation! It definitely deserves a trip report.

You guys are being such great sports about it all. I'm impressed.

Can't wait to read more!
 
I don't think what you did is flame-worthy. Your DD was asleep, getting rest she needed, and you already called your pediatrician.:)


Thanks! DW was reading this as I was writing and she said "omg, what are people going to think of us?" I am sure most people would understand, but there's always a few...

I love the GF pic with the tree and balloons at the ceiling. It really does look festive and beautiful!

The GF is so nice on its own... the holidays make it even better!

Loving the pics of the gingerbread! I totally understand why you kept going- you were actively trying to help DD, you couldn't have been doing more if you were sitting at your resort.

Thanks! This whole trip I know I was going back and forth between feeling justified for putting my family through all of it, to feeling guilty... it all depended on their mood.

So now, the suspense is killing me! I sincerely hope the pedi is sympathetic and sends down a prescription for DD. Poor thing.

went from a adventure movie to suspense! ;)

Sorry to keep you all in suspense... not a nice thing to do to my readers! :rolleyes1
 
Subbing so that I can hear how it all turns out. What a vacation! It definitely deserves a trip report.

You guys are being such great sports about it all. I'm impressed.

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks so much for reading!
 
I know you are all hoping that this part begins with... "The phone rang", but it doesn't.

It was about 3pm, and I am not a pushy person (I firmly believe you catch more flies with honey, as they say), so I figured I'd give it until 4pm, and then if I still hadn't heard from the Dr., I would call them back. So yeah... we’re still waiting.

In the meantime, we had located the mixer. We weren't sure what to expect, but I had suspicions of this being some pretense to get us all in a room to see if they could get us to buy more points!

The mixer was in the Fantasia ballroom of the Convention Center. There were a good number of people there, and a line had formed to get in. CMs were handing out pens and forms for people to fill out while on line. We could hear music coming from inside the ballroom, and we were eager to see what they had in store for us inside.

The forms being handed out were raffles for you to drop into boxes inside, along with a map of the ballroom showing the different "stations" they had. To get in, you had to show your DVC member card. The line was moving quickly, so before we knew it we were going inside.

The room was huge. On the far side was a stage with a DJ, and in front of that, a dance floor. There were a lot of small tables spread around the room for people to fill out raffle forms, and eat snacks. There were some chairs, but not enough for everyone. Around the outside of the room were the various stations. One was selling pins, another had artwork, there was a kids craft table, and in one corner there was a character greeting.

There were also a couple of snow sculptures of characters:

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We filled out our forms and then made our way to the snack table where we could get a mickey-shaped rice krispie treats and some punch. We then deposited our raffles in a box and took in the scene. While we were watching the dance floor, Goofy came out to dance!

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DD perked up, and when the conga line started, DW and DD were in it!

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DD loves crafts, so we headed to that corner next. DW got her situated at the table, where she could color and glue together Christmas ornaments.

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While they did that, I walked over and got on line for the character greeting. When I got on line, Mickey and Minnie were out, but when I got closer, Mickey and Minnie left, and Chip and Dale came out. This was when DW and DD joined me on line, and we got our picture with Chip and Dale.

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The way it was working was that every 30 minutes they switched. So at 4pm, Mickey and Minnie would be back out. So, if we were still there, maybe we could try again. We were back near the dance floor and now Pluto had come out to dance. DD was once again shaking her groove-thing. I have no pictures of this because...

I took a look at my phone and saw I missed the call from the Dr.!

It was loud inside with the music and people, so I had never heard it ring. I left DW and DD and stepped outside to check the message. The message just asked me to call them, so that's what I did. The receptionist told me that the answer was “No.” The doctor would not prescribe anything without seeing DD, so that meant we’d have to take her to Centra Care. It was disappointing, but I can understand the doctor’s decision. It wasn’t what we wanted to do, but we had to get DD checked out… so I went back inside to break the news to DW.

Back inside, DD was having fun. We decided to let her enjoy herself some more before leaving for Centra Care. It was getting close to 4pm, so I got back on line for the character greeting so we could get a picture with Mickey and Minnie.

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Beverly!! this one was out of focus. Note to self: put camera back in auto focus before handing to someone else to take a picture, even if that person is supposed to be a professional.

I got my camera back and was able to snap off a couple more shots as DD said goodbye to Mickey and Minnie.

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With only about a half an hour or so left in the mixer, we hung out until the end. We took turns dancing with DD on the dance floor.

DD and I got to do the Cupid Shuffle.

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DW and DD did the...

Chicken Dance

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The YMCA...

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and ANOTHER conga line

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We were still there when they announced the raffle winners. We didn’t win anything. Before we left, we checked out the Pins and bought a pin that was only available there. On our way out the CMs handed us a gift. It was a DVC Christmas ornament.




It was 5 o’clock and we were heading back to the GF and our car so we could take DD to Centra Care. Our dinner reservation was for 7:20, so it appeared we would probably miss that. So we tried to figure out what to do about dinner since we were already hungry. (All we had for lunch was rice krispie treats and punch!)

Well, pushing our luck had worked up until this point… what if we stopped off at 1900 Park Fare and asked about changing our reservation?? We were getting off the monorail at GF anyway because that’s where we were parked. It couldn’t hurt to ask, right?


The CM at the podium outside the restaurant was very nice. He listened as I explained our dilemma. I asked if they had any tables open. The CM told me he thought he could do something, so he asked us to wait and not more than 10 minutes later, we were on our way inside!




This was the picture they took before we went in. It came with a pop-up frame.

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I couldn’t believe our luck! Now we could eat. This was another buffet-style meal. I particularly enjoyed the chicken marsala. While we were eating, DD had some visitors.


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I liked that we got to see cinderella's wicked step-mother and step-sisters, because you don't normally see them in the parks. Those three really played their parts well. It made for a good atmosphere with the step-sisters yelling at each other across the room and their step-mother scolding them. We're still not sure exactly how Ariel got put into that mix... but Ariel is one of DD's favorites!! So she wasn't complaining!! (I don't know if there's anywhere else you can see the human version of Ariel, now that I think about it)

Overall all, I think this is a good character dinner for girls. I am not sure how it would go over with the little boys. But, hey, you never know!



Afterwards, we finally were on our way to Centra Care. I'm serious. We're actually going this time.

It didn't take too long to get there. It is located on rt. 535, on the other side of that non-disney hotel complex across the street from DTD. Which means we were close to SSR.

We waited for a while at the walk-in. DD sat on my lap, but would jump down every minute or so to walk across the waiting room to get a tissue. She must have down this 20 times. Finally, her name was called and we went in. They checked her out and confirmed the ear infection, for which the doc prescribed an antibiotic. We also informed the doctor of her history of colds settling in her chest, and her bout with pneumonia. He also prescribed us an inhaler, just in case we needed it. I think we spent about 2 hours @ Centra Care.

After that, it was off to the 24 hour pharmacy to get the prescription filled. Remember how close we were to SSR? Well, the pharmacy wasn't. It was a good 15-20 minute drive. They had a problem with our insurance, which made things difficult. I got fed up and just paid full price for the meds so we could get going. By 11pm, we had the medicine in hand and were on our way back to SSR.

All things considered, I think we had a pretty good day. The mixer was definitely the unexpected surprise. We all had a good time, and we felt better now that DD would be on an antibiotic for her ear. The end of day 2 was upon us. We really needed to get some sleep this night because tomorrow was...

New Year's Eve at The Magic Kingdom!!
 
Oh that poor little girl! Looks like she's having fun anyway. We loved 1900 Park Fare, but Ariel wasn't there for our dinner- we got Prince Charming instead.
 
Oh that poor little girl! Looks like she's having fun anyway. We loved 1900 Park Fare, but Ariel wasn't there for our dinner- we got Prince Charming instead.

Hmmm... I heard that Prince Charming was a germ-a-phobe... maybe that's why we got Ariel?? :rotfl:
 













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