** My First Trip Report ** Our Dream Vacation >> COMPLETED -- PLEASE READ

[jodilinton]

Great TR! Can't wait to read more! DH & I did an adult only trip in September and it was wonderful!

I think every couple needs to do Disney without kids at least once!

 

[cccody]

Great TR thread, it makes me miss WDW so much. I can't wait for the next part!

P.S. Nice pins

 

[jodilinton]

Great TR thread, it makes me miss WDW so much. I can't wait for the next part!

P.S. Nice pins

I miss it too. We go back to the WORLD in September! We are pin traders/collecters. Thanks so much for being part of my report.

 

[jodilinton]

Today we had a plan that we needed to be at Hollywood Studios at opening so we could get to Toy Story Mania first thing.

We woke up around 7am and got ready. We headed up to Ole’ Port Royal to grab a Danish and fill our refillable mug. Then out the door to the bus stop, again about 3 minutes until the Hollywood Studios bus arrived.

We made it and the plan was to run/fast walk to TSM as soon as the rope dropped. And were off.,….just before we got in line for the ride, I seen a Green Army Man and I told Kirk as soon as we get off this ride, I need to find one of them. We walked directly on the ride. I kind of wish we would have gotten fastpasses also because we loved it and would have liked to have rode it twice. It was so fun. Kirk beat me, his score was 124,000 and mine was 113,000. Next time I will get him. I loved Andy’s room!

When we got off the ride and the Green Army Man was still out so we got his signature and a photo:

We knew that Woody & Buzz would be coming out so we waited and they came out early, we were first in line. I had their signatures (which normally Buzz stamps but last August he signed for me) but I wanted a photo.

It was only 9:20am so he went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We have seen this show tons of times but, we still love it. The laser lights are amazing and the effects like the water mist, bubbles, and wind really make you feel like you are under the sea with Ariel.

After the show, we went to the Animation Studio to see what characters were there. Sorcerer Mickey was the only one available and we have never had our picture with him but I did have Mickey’s signature.

And this-- coming out on my birthday this year:

Next on our plan was to see One Man’s Dream. I seen this back in 2000 and Kirk had never seen it. There were a lot of changes and I loved it. I had tears in my eyes, the story of Walt’s life is amazing and moving. It’s a walking tour of all of his milestones and at the end is a movie about him. He struggled and over came so much. I think every person who enters Disney World or Land should have to see this. Kirk enjoyed it just as much as I did.

Beauty and the Beast live on stage was up next. This was a first for both of us. This is also Kirk’s favorite movie. All I can say is that this show is breath-taking. It is done Broadway style with singing & dancing. This is something that I have to see again, nothing short of awesome. The only down side was that the auditorium was cold.

Coming up next....Day 3 continued

 

[disneyaddicted]

I really love this TR. My husband and I are taking a trip this September, no kids. they don't care for disney, neither does husband but I am hoping to change that.
We have have alot of similarities you and I. I'm originally from michigan, the Pontiac area, event though I have been in Pa for 14 years now I fly home alot, sometimes into Detroit sometimes into flint depending on who is picking me up.

It's just mind boggling all the "alikes" I also got a free round trip ticket from Airtran when I flew down to Disney last December.
I am remarried with kids from a previous marriage.
I scrapbook, especially disney.

Anyway that's just to name a few, I can't wait to read more.

Ty

 

[jodilinton]

I really love this TR. My husband and I are taking a trip this September, no kids. they don't care for disney, neither does husband but I am hoping to change that.
We have have alot of similarities you and I. I'm originally from michigan, the Pontiac area, event though I have been in Pa for 14 years now I fly home alot, sometimes into Detroit sometimes into flint depending on who is picking me up.

It's just mind boggling all the "alikes" I also got a free round trip ticket from Airtran when I flew down to Disney last December.
I am remarried with kids from a previous marriage.
I scrapbook, especially disney.

Anyway that's just to name a few, I can't wait to read more.

Ty

I bet you will change your hubby's mind, Disney is not just for kids! Be sure to stop and enjoy the small things along the way. Disney is very romantic and that is why I loved Caribbean Beach Resort.

We do have a lot in common. Who did you go to Disney with in December?

 

[MEK]

Nice updates. I really love the Plaza - I think its a great place for sandwiches and ice cream, whether it be lunch or dinner. Such a great atmosphere.

How great that you were able to walk right on TSM. It really is a fun ride.

I also love One Man's Dream. I never get tired of hearing Walt's story. It really is a rags to riches story and should be an inspiration to all.

Unfortunately, I can't see photobucket pics while I am at work, so I will have to view them later!

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Great updates. Looks like you two are having a blast.

 

[jodilinton]

Here are more photos of Beauty and the Beast show:

Lunch was at Hollywood and Vine at 12:30pm so we headed in that direction. This was another first and we were a little nervous that it would be full of kids and we would feel out of place, we were wrong. It was buffet style with some really great choices plus an ice cream sundae bar. The food was great and we will be making a reservation for here when we come back in September with the kids. This is character dining with Playhouse Disney characters, JoJo and Gallith from JoJo’s Circus and June and Leo from Little Einstein’s. They did do some singing and dancing with the kids. My boys will love it.

We looked at the time and we just had enough time to get to the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. This was another first for both of us. The bleacher area where we sat was huge, it seats 10,000 people. The stunt show was so cool. Cars spun around and drove backwards they also jumped over other vehicles. It also had stunts with motorcycles and jet ski’s. At the end of the show a girl was riding a motorcycle through fire and she ignited, of course it was part of the show but it was still amazing. They also explained how the stunts were done and how film makers use the footage. I also like the way you can feel the heat from the fire while the show is going on.

We walked back up towards the hat to see that afternoon parade this is not one of my favorite parades at all but we still sat for a little bit to see if anything changed. I love Disney/Pixar characters—especially Woody – but the parade is boring to me. The dancers in the Block Party Bash Parade are real athletes with all the dancing, trampoline work, and lip syncing. It is a work out.

We left before the parade was over and went to the Great Movie Ride. Our driver was not good at the acting part of the ride at all. She did not put on a show for us. They did the mobster scene and the actress (again a girl) was not good either. She was not a convincing “bad” person, we were not impressed. I still love seeing all of the old movies scenes especially Mary Poppins and Wizard of Oz. This is another classic Walt ride.

For dinner we went to Pizza Planet and in the past I have loved this place, today not so much. Our pizza was very greasy and I think it had sat out awhile. It was about 5:30pm when we went here to eat and there was only 2 other families in the whole place. It was a very quiet dinner.

We did see Mater & Lightening too

Next up......Day 3 Character Stalking Success

 

[MEK]

Great update. I went back and looked at all the previous pictures I missed ( I can't see photobucket pics at work). I think its just an evil little reminder that I am not supposed to be reading the Dis boards while I am at work, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

I enjoyed H&V for dinner. I thought the food was really good. The reviews scared me, but I, like you, was pleasantly suprised.

Your camera takes beautiful pictures. The colors are so vibrant. I also like your photopass pics - very cute!

 

[kraeurb]

I love your trip report. Looking forward to the next installment.

 

[jodilinton]

Nice updates. I really love the Plaza - I think its a great place for sandwiches and ice cream, whether it be lunch or dinner. Such a great atmosphere.

How great that you were able to walk right on TSM. It really is a fun ride.

I also love One Man's Dream. I never get tired of hearing Walt's story. It really is a rags to riches story and should be an inspiration to all.

Unfortunately, I can't see photobucket pics while I am at work, so I will have to view them later!

Walt's story is so amazing - I think it helps people realize that if you want something bad enough you need to work hard..and DREAM

Great updates. Looks like you two are having a blast.

----Thanks so much ----

Great update. I went back and looked at all the previous pictures I missed ( I can't see photobucket pics at work). I think its just an evil little reminder that I am not supposed to be reading the Dis boards while I am at work, but sometimes I just can't help myself.

I enjoyed H&V for dinner. I thought the food was really good. The reviews scared me, but I, like you, was pleasantly suprised.

Your camera takes beautiful pictures. The colors are so vibrant. I also like your photopass pics - very cute!

I am glad you got to see the pics - I can not believe that work would not want you to be on the disboards all day -- do they not know it is magical and you could be more productive if you were looking at magical pictures. Thanks

 

[jodilinton]

I love your trip report. Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks so much...more to come!

 

[jodilinton]

We decided to head back up to the Animation Studios to see what characters were out and he hit the jackpot. Tons of characters and they kept changing who was coming out.

Frozone & Mr. Incredible

My Mr. Incredible and Disney's Mr. Incredible

TweedleDee & Tweedle Dum

Snow White

Jasmine

Aladdin

Mr. Penguin & Mary Poppins

Mulan

Pocahontas & Meeko

We were so excited to get all these signatures and photos. It was the best as far as characters go. We did miss the Snow Queen but we are coming back here in a couple of days so hopefully we can get anybody we missed then.

We thought we would catch the final showing of American Idol so we headed over in that direction and it was full. We saw some other people sitting on the ground in front of the large screen TV that is in front of the building so we sat down too. We watched the 5 final contestants of the day. The first couple were ok, the 3rd person was pretty good. The 4th contestant was a guy and we thought he was awesome but the final contestant was a girl and she won. This girl will receive a ticket to sing at any audition in the United States. I thought they would at least get a ticket to Hollywood if they were really good but either way Kirk and I would never do this. I think we had the best seats right where we were. We headed out of the park before the mob left the American Idol Experience and headed to Caribbean Beach. Our legs were tired and it was getting cold. We had on long sleeves and coats and we were chilly.

Once we got back to the resort we set out our clothes, repacked the bag, and hit the hay!

Up Next….Day 4 Animal Kingdom

 

[jodilinton]

Again we woke up on our own, no alarm which is magical all by itself. We got ready to go and we knew today was going to be cooler and most of Animal Kingdom is shaded so we wore jeans and sweatshirts. We headed to Animal Kingdom; the bus stop was empty and only a few people on the AK bus. Every bus we got on we had a seat and it was not crowded at all. Love Caribbean Beach!
First characters of the day were off to the side of the enterance:

Brer Bear & Brer Rabbit

We headed straight to the back of the park to get on Expedition Everest. We love this coaster; it is such a huge thrill. When we were in line we seen the kids that my mom babysits for, we knew that they were coming to Disney the same time we were but I did not know what their schedule was it was a huge surprise to see them. After we got off the ride we waited to see how the kids liked it and the youngest said it was not good. I did forget to mention that there was no line for Everest at all. We just walked right on so we thought since this was now wait that we would head to Dinosaur and hopefully it would be the same way. It was!! When I rode this ride the last time, I screamed so loud at the last dinosaur so I planned to keep quiet this time and I remembered that once I seen the flash (from the picture they take during the ride) I would be in the clear. I seen the flash and took a deep breath and then there he was – the huge conatouraus at the end of the ride and again I SCREAMED…Kirk just kept teasing me.

Nemo the Musical was starting soon so we headed in that direction and we sat real close to the stage. It’s not the best place to sit. It’s better to sit above the main entrance because you can see all the action. It is still an awesome show, very Broadway style.

We ate lunch at the Restaurantsaurs (not sure it is spelled right). We had some very messy burgers. They were very good too. We decided to do a little character hunting and it was to our advantage. We had seen these characters:
Devine

Miss Bunny – Thumpers Girlfriend from Bambi

Flik from Bugs Life

Terk from Tarzan

Baloo & King Louie from Jungle Book

Then we walked over to the Flights of Wonder show. I have always skipped this because I was under the impression it was boring. Boy was I wrong. This was a first for both of us and it was amazing. The birds came out of the building and flew right over our heads. The bald eagle was breathtaking. Kirk said his favorite was the eagle also.

We were close to Kilimanjaro Safari so we again – WALKED RIGHT ON. We have ridden this dozens of times and it is never the same. This time an Ostrich was walking down the center of the road and would not move so we just followed it, very slowly. Finally it stepped off the path and then we encountered a White Rhino in our path. They stopped the truck and just waited for it to move and it turned around and walked very close to the truck, honestly I was a little nervous that it might charge us. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I have nothing...

Pangani Forest Trail was next, and I was bumming about my camera battery but I figured – I have taken tons of photos while walking this trail before so no big deal , right? Wrong! We walked to the Hippo viewing area and a hippo swam right in front of the glass and was doing belly rolls. Like it was showing off. Very awesome to see, they are so weightless in the water. The Gorillas were very active and very close too. It was bumming.
We walked back towards the Tree of Life and got our pictures with a photopass photographer.

The It’s Tough to Be a Bug show was our next stop. I have always loved this show, I do know enough not to let myself get stung in the back but I still love all the other interaction.

We figured we would catch the parade before our dining reservation at Rainforest Café and we picked a spot. Well, it was not a good spot – it was at the end of the parade route and we realized that if we waited for the parade we would miss our reservation so we walked up to Rainforest Café.

We love Rainforest because it is not as accessible at home, we would have to drive about 3 hours to get to one so we always eat here. Kirk got steak and I got coconut shrimp. We have both ate these before so we knew that it would be great and it was. But towards the end of my meal I felt really weird. My face was on fire and I felt clammy. I went to the bathroom because I thought I might get sick but I started to feel faint and like I could not breathe. I came out and I seen a waitress so I told her that I was not feeling well. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something I ate. They called the paramedics and grabbed my husband from the table. I had dipped my shrimp in a mango sauce so I was thinking it could have been that. The paramedics took my blood pressure and it was very high and they wanted to put me on an IV of Benadryl and take me to the ER but I did not want to go to the ER – I was on vacation. The only other option was to get me some Benadryl from the hotel store and see how I felt. I said I would do that. I felt extremely sick going to the bus but they took me to Caribbean Beach first thing (the park was closed so only a couple of buses were out front). Kirk went to get me Benadryl and I lay down. I took the meds and went to sleep.

 

[jodilinton]

When I woke up this morning I felt great – very well rested. I was embarrassed about what had happened the night before. I want this trip to be perfect and no problems but I guess at least I am fine now so let’s have a great day. Kirk just kept saying that I should have went to the ER and how scared he was.

We are off Epcot today! We wanted to do Soarin’ first thing and since I know how fast this line fills up, we wanted to be there for park opening. We grabbed our granola bars and backpack and arrived at the opening.

When we walked through the gate we seen - Daisy

We went to Soarin’ first. This is one of Kirk and I’s favorite ride. It is an amazing ride. I think we waited about 5 minutes to board.

The Nemo ride was next on our list. This ride is a little cheesy without kids but I still think it is a must do. Plus when you get off the ride, you are that aquarium and I love to watch the fish. They were doing some dolphin training so we watched that for awhile. They were teaching the dolphin recognition skills, these animals are so smart. We skipped Turtle Talk with Crush since that is geared towards little kids and we have seen it a few times.

We strolled over to the Epcot Character Spot to get pics with the classics:

Donald

Goofy

Minnie

Mickey

Pluto

It was time to walk around the world now! We were on a mission to find some characters. First up was Mexico and Kirk wanted ride the Three Caberella’s ride since he had not seen that. He liked it but he loves Donald. We got our photo with Mexican Donald too:

Norway was the next stop and we rode Maelstrom. Then we continued around the countries but every character we had already seen so we just kept walking until we got to America. This was where we planned to have lunch.

We ate lunch – I do not remember the name of the place but it is a quick service place next to the American Adventure show. I had chicken nuggets and Kirk had a burger both with fries. It was very good. The American Drum & Fife band came into the restaurant playing.

After lunch we went to the American Adventure show. The singers in the lobby were amazing. The show was very cool too. I was not to take pictures but this is a must see. This was a first for both of us and we loved it.

 

[MEK]

Well....my dear.....you are allergic to shrimp and you better cross them off your list of foods to eat. You are far braver than I am. I would have gone to ED for sure after they shot me up with Benadryl. I am glad that you felt OK the next day. Sheesh! What an unexpected thing to happen.

I love the animal kingdom and it looks like you had a fabulous time - that is until the shrimp! You got some great character pictures. I love EE! It's such a fun ride and great themeing.

 

[jodilinton]

Well....my dear.....you are allergic to shrimp and you better cross them off your list of foods to eat. You are far braver than I am. I would have gone to ED for sure after they shot me up with Benadryl. I am glad that you felt OK the next day. Sheesh! What an unexpected thing to happen.

I love the animal kingdom and it looks like you had a fabulous time - that is until the shrimp! You got some great character pictures. I love EE! It's such a fun ride and great themeing.

Actually I have had shrimp since then and it was fine. I think it was the mango salsa that I was dipping them in. It does not normally come with that salsa but I wanted something to dip them in and the waiter suggested that. It was scary!

 

[jodilinton]

Up next is France and we seen Beauty & the Beast. Kirk was so excited, this is one of his favorite movies. We already had beauty’s signature but she did sign for Beast and we got our photo with them.

We also saw Marie from Aristocrats:

U.K. was where we hit the mother load of characters. We got pictures and signatures with….
Suzy & Perla from Cinderella

Annie from Little Einstein’s

Rafiki from Lion King

Foulfellow and Gideon from Pinocchio

We were very successful with this hunt. Our next stop was Spaceship Earth. I had rode this about 8 years ago but it had underwent some changes since the last time I was on the trip. I really like this ride. I loved how interactive it is. At the end we were able to email our picture from the future to our family and friends. We played some games like car racing and shuffle board.

Test Track was up next. I love being a test dummy for GM. The walk-through to get on this ride is very fun to look at too but we had no wait so we did get to look much. We love the hairpin turns and the acceleration part. Our car got up to 63 miles per hour. Then it just comes to a stop. We were riding with these 2 kids that had ridden it about 5 times in a row – no wait.

Kirk & I decided we needed some down time so we grabbed a couple of Mickey ice cream bars and a bench and enjoyed Epcot. After we finished, we got our pic taken by a photopass photographer. I love the ball in the background.

We decided to head back to the hotel for a nap since we were planning to watch illuminations and did not want to be tired. I was actually very tired and I think it was from the Benadryl the night before. The nap felt amazing. We did not got up around 8pm and walked to Ole Port Royal to grab some dinner. We had chicken alfredo. It was ok but I think we are spoiled because we love Olive Garden’s alfredo and this did not meet that standard. We also got chocolate dipped rice krispie treats and those were very good.

Of course – we missed Illuminations tonight but that is fine we will catch it another night.

I have not mentioned how much I missed my boys but it was killing me by this day. I have never been away from them for more than 6 days and that was Kirk and I’s honeymoon a couple of years ago. I was rough to talk to them on the phone and not cry. I just kept telling myself that I was in Disney World.

Here are some photos of our hotel:

 

[MEK]

I am glad to hear that you were able to successfully eat shrimp! I think I'd rather be allergic to Mangos than shrimp!

You pictures of CBR are really beautiful! I love the changes the made to the pool. It really is a pretty resort. I also love all your character pictures. I don't think you guys missed any characters - great variety!

Sorry you are starting to get a little homesick for the boys!