My last minute and very short trip to WDW (Updated 3/8)

[mrskckitty]

I'm new to the DIS, and this is my first TR. (Hopefully I won’t bore you). Let me introduce myself. My name is Denise, I'm married with no children, and I fell in love with WDW the first time I visited in 1986 as a teenager. I have always been a huge Disney fan as far back as I can remember. The first character that I became obsessed with was Winnie the Pooh. That started with a Pooh dress my Mom bought me at Sears when I was 5 years old (35 years ago!). I remember I spilled finger paints on it at school and was crushed my Mom wouldn't let me wear it anymore because of the stains. She then bought me a stuffed Winnie The Pooh to make up for it and that is when my collection of Pooh things started and is still going to this day.
Here is a picture of me at the beginning of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

And at the end of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (in the gift shop).

So let me explain how my latest WDW trip came about. My DA (Aunt) and DU (Uncle) bought a DVC at SSR last year and planned a trip for January 18 - 29th with my DM (Mom) & DD (Dad) going along from the 18th to the 24th. They had been planning this trip since last summer and my Uncle had mentioned a couple of times that I should come along too and be their tour guide. Seeing as my DH lost his job last July and is now going to school, money is a little tight, so I put it out of my mind. But then about two weeks before their planned trip, I got a "ding" from Southwest for a flight to Orlando for $78.00 each way starting with flights on January 20th. How could I pass up such a deal?! I quickly called my boss to see if I could take that week off and she said no problem. I then called my Aunt to see if they would like a tour guide for the last few days of their vacation and she couldn't believe it, and was thrilled I would be able to go. I offered to stay up the river at POR, but she wouldn’t hear of it, as they had a two bedroom Villa and had two extra pull out couches, so why spend the extra money. My husband was a wee bit jealous, but he couldn't get the time off from school and besides, he got to go to Nashville a few months ago for a friends wedding that I couldn't go to because of my job.

So I booked my flight to leave at 8:15am on Tuesday January 20th and come back on Saturday January 24th on the same flight as my parents. A quick trip, but a trip to WDW none the less. My Aunt called DVC to add my name to the room and Magical Express and I was all set. I told my Aunt not to tell my parents that I was going, because I wanted to surprise them when I got down there. It was very hard for me to pretend to be jealous of my parents going to Disney without me. And then two days before my parents are set to leave, my Mom calls me to ask if she can borrow my luggage! Now I had to use my Pooh carpet bag and smaller suitcase. Oh well, it will force me to not buy a lot while I’m at WDW.

Now, usually when I am going to Disney, I have everything planned for every second of the day. I just love to sit for months with all my books, maps, go online, etc to plan everything and get me excited for my trip. With only two weeks before I was leaving, and my Uncle not wanting to have any ADR's (as he likes to eat when he is hungry, not when someone tells him he has to eat at a specific time), I was ready to explode!

Next up: Travel day

 

[LaNina72]

Welcome to the DIS! Like you, I also plan out every little detail... I'd like to see how you do with a "last minute" trip.

And not one ADR made .... how are you gonna manage?

 

[OhMari]

Welcome to the DIS and thanks for writing a TR.

One question,
did it make your head hurt, knowing you only had 2 weeks to make an itinerary?
Being a planner, it made me shudder? LOL.

 

[mrskckitty]

Welcome to the DIS! Like you, I also plan out every little detail... I'd like to see how you do with a "last minute" trip.

And not one ADR made .... how are you gonna manage?

Thanks for reading!

 

[mrskckitty]

Welcome to the DIS and thanks for writing a TR.

One question,
did it make your head hurt, knowing you only had 2 weeks to make an itinerary?
Being a planner, it made me shudder? LOL.

Oh, you have no idea! My husband said to me about 1 week before the trip, "You so want to call and make ADR, don't you?" because he could tell I was about to explode!

 

[pooksma]

I am looking forward to hearing more from a fellow pooh fan

 

[mrskckitty]

I am looking forward to hearing more from a fellow pooh fan

Thanks for joining in pooh fan!

 

[mrskckitty]

Let's pick up on my travel day:

I had dropped my parents off at the airport (in the snow) on Sunday January 18th and when I called them on their cell phone to tell them I made it back home ok in the snow, they told me it had only taken them 10 minutes to check in and go through security. So on Tuesday January 20th I got up at 5:15am and had DH bring me to the airport at 6:30am. We only live 10 minutes from the airport, so I figured that would be plenty of time for my 8:15am flight.

We turned onto the ramp to go into the Airport and came to a dead stop. We could see flashing police lights up ahead and a line of cars in front of us. More cars came in back of us, so we were stuck there, with no place to go. I have stomach issues to begin with, so being trapped in a car and not being able to go anywhere, made me have a panic attack. I could feel myself starting to pass out and put my window down (it was 18 degrees outside) because I was dripping with sweat. Just as I did this, a man walked by with his luggage in his hands, so my DH yelled out the window if he knew what was going on. He said he was going to walk back off the ramp and see if he could walk down to the arrivals because the whole airport was shut down.

Thankfully about 30 seconds later, the cars started to move and DH was dropping me off in front of the airport. What a way to start my trip to the Happiest Place on Earth! Anyway, I go into the airport and it is complete mayhem. (Note to self: Never travel in the Northeast on Inauguration Day). I found out later that some yo-yo had put a bunch of CD’s and batteries in a box and wrote: “This is going to explode” on the top of the box, and put the box through security. When security saw that, they evacuated the entire airport. But on the bright side, even after all that, I made it to the gate on time and they boarded us pretty much on time. The plane only took off about 20 minutes late and landed 5 minutes early. There was no gate ready when the plane arrived, so we had to wait out on the runway for about 25 minutes. But that wasn’t bad at all. Considering the way the morning started, I wasn’t even sure I would make it to Florida, yet here I was!

I had never received my ME luggage tags before I left, so I had to go pick up my luggage and then find my way to ME from baggage claim. It only took me about 20 minutes and I finally found ME. When they finally found my name, they gave me my voucher and I was on the bus to SSR. My luck was starting to turn, because I was only on the bus about 3 minutes and it was on it’s way. The bus driver was very friendly and it was a smooth ride to SSR.

I had told my DA that I should be there around 1:00 and it was just after 1:00 when the bus pulled into SRR. What timing. DA was going to tell my parents that she wanted to watch the Inauguration at noon on TV, so they would be in the room when I got there. I checked in and the CM told me to go out to bell services to take me to the room, because it was a bit of a walk from check in. I almost skipped bell services, because I like to walk and am very good with maps and directions, but it was VERY windy and very cold, so I did stop at bell services and within 1 minute I was on the golf cart on the way to the room.

When we found the room (which was very far from check in), the door was ajar, so I knocked and just pushed the door open. I could see my DM sitting at the table around the corner writing in her notebook and when she looked up her mouth just fell open. I had meant to take my camera out and be recording when I went in, but had got all flustered because I had to have help with my luggage. The look on her face was priceless. When I walked up to her, I said “I forgot to give you the keys to my luggage, so I figured I better come down and give them to you”. She was in shock for about 2 minutes that I was there (and without DH).

When I walked in the room, I was still a bit shaken up from my panic attack earlier, so my DA told me to sit down and just relax for a little bit. So we just sat for a bit and had some crackers and water. They hadn’t had lunch yet (I ate my sandwich on ME), so we went next door to OKWR and had lunch at Olivia’s.

They had eaten there on Sunday for dinner and said it was good. I was still a bit shaky, so I just split a turkey sandwich with DM. I only had a couple of bites and it wasn’t that good. There were not very many people in Olivia’s, but the service was very slow. We wanted to get over to Epcot before it got too late, so we finally asked for the bill and off we went to Epcot. All the time, my DM saying “I can’t believe you’re here”!

Next up: Epcot

 

[heaven2dc]

What a beginning you had! I would have panicked seeing the line of traffic

That is so neat that your mom was surprised - I can only imagine the look on her face! I hope you get to feeling better so you can enjoy your trip!

 

[mrskckitty]

What a beginning you had! I would have panicked seeing the line of traffic

That is so neat that your mom was surprised - I can only imagine the look on her face! I hope you get to feeling better so you can enjoy your trip!

Thanks for climbing aboard. I hope you will continue reading and see that I do start to feel better. How can you not feel better when you are in WDW?

 

[pooksma]

What a start!
Glad to hear you made it safely and managed to surprise DM.

 

[mrskckitty]

January 20th Day 1: Epcot

We got to Epcot around 3:30 and went on Spaceship Earth.

Here are some pictures of me on the screen in my ride vehicle.

We then started to head over to The Land and made a detour into Innoventions West to get our complimentary Disney Visa 5x7 photo taken with Mickey and Pluto. We got there about 4:10 and there was only 1 family in front of us. What timing!

Here is Pluto, Me, DD, DM, Mickey, DA and DU

After that we did go to The Land and of course there were no FP left for Soarin’ and there was a 90 minute wait, so we put that on the list for Friday. We did Living with the Land boat ride, and then got a snack at Sunshine Seasons food court. I got a macadamia nut cookie and it was delicious.

After that DA, DU and DD went on Mission Space ( the wait was only 20 minutes), while DM and I poked around in the gift shop. Here is my DA in the gift shop after she got off Mission Space.

We then headed to Nemo & Friends where there was no wait. Did I mention how cold it was? Here is DM and DA huddled up in front of Nemo.

By the time we got off Nemo, Future World was shutting down, so we went over to World Showcase. We started off in Canada and headed for the movie, but my Mom was so cold, she wanted to go into the gift shop to see if they had any winter hats. Here is my DM in some hats she found and DU in the hat that he found.

After we got out of the O Canada movie, it was about 30 degrees out with the wind chill, so we decided to go back to the hotel and have dinner and call it a night. We tried to get into the Turf Club at SSR, but was told it would be over an hour to wait, so we went to the Artists Palette instead. I got the Turkey wrap with chips and it was pretty good. Here are the lights above the seating area.

Next: Day 2 Animal Kingdom

 

[LaNina72]

I love how surprised your DM was to see you there in WDW just days after having dropped them off at the airport.

The hat pics are great! I can't imagine what it would be like to do Disney when it is 30 degrees out. But you all looked fairly snuggy warm.

Sounds like you are all enjoying yourselves! Can't wait to read more!

 

[mrskckitty]

We will pick up on Day 2 - Animal Kingdom

My DA and DU are not early risers, so we didn’t get any early starts, but that was fine with me because my stomach was off all week. We made it to AK a little before Noon.

It was cold, but the sun was out and everything was green. Much better than all the snow back home! We headed straight back to Kilimanjaro Safaris for FP’s and then wandered through Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

Once our FP Safari time came, we headed back there.

After the safari we had lunch at Pizzafari. I had the kids pizza meal. It was the perfect size for me and came with grapes, drink and a cookie. I didn’t take any pictures of food this trip, because we didn’t do any table service restaurants, but next time I’m going to take a ton.

After lunch, we got turned about a little bit and ended up at Camp Minnie-Mickey while trying to head over to Expedition Everest.

The wait for EE was only 25 minutes. My DM, DD, DA & DU all went on. I went on in October, 2007 and once was enough for me. While they were on EE, I wandered through Maharajah Jungle Trek. I love tigers and could watch them all day, so I was in my glory.

Not a lot of the animals where out that day, because it was so cold (none of the monkey’s or gorillas were out), but the tigers were very active and I watched them for about 15 minutes before heading back to EE.

I could see everybody on the car that was just coming out of the mountain, so I headed into the gift shop to see if their picture was up yet. My DA was laughing in it, and my DM looked like she was going to die. My parents will never go on it again, but my DA absolutely loved it!

Kali River Rapids only had a 10 minute wait, but it was way too cold to get wet, so we skipped that and went through Maharajah Jungle Trek again. My DU wanted to see the tigers too. We then went to see Finding Nemo The Musical (DU slept through most it) and It’s Tough to be a Bug!. By the time we finished with ITTBAB, it was after 6:00pm and the last Lion King show had already started, so we shopped a little (I bought two hats - 1 pin hat and 1 winter hat) and then I stopped at guest relations to pick up a disney rewards card, that I didn’t have time to transfer my points to before I left home).

We decided to head to DTD for dinner. We ended up at Earl of Sandwich. I got the “Original” which was roast beef with horseradish and cheese. It was delicious! I ate half of it there and the other half back in the room later. We then went to Ghirardelli’s for Ice Cream (brrrrrr) and walked through the Lego store and headed back to the room for the night, making a note to come back to DTD Friday for shopping at World of Disney and the Pin Traders.

Next up: Magic Kingdom!

 

[pooksma]

I love your tiger pics. Because we travel in the summer months, we don't often see them active. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mrskckitty]

I love your tiger pics. Because we travel in the summer months, we don't often see them active. Thanks for sharing.

I'm so glad you enjoyed them. The last few times I've been to AK they weren't that active either, so I was very excited they were this time. I actually felt bad for one, because he kept going from one door to another, as if to say "Please let me in - it's too cold out here".

 

[mrskckitty]

Day 3 Magic Kingdom (Part 1)

We got to the Magic Kingdom around 11:00am

My DA wanted to take the Train around the Magic Kingdom first. So we took the entire loop around the park from Main Street and then stayed on the train and got off at Frontierland the second time around, to get FP for BTMRR. After we got our FP’s, we went on POTC, HM and then I ran over to Peter Pan and got FP's for everyone. We then all went back to BTMRR to ride with our FP’s. DD got a little confused with having 2 FP's and was trying to give the CM his Peter Pan FP at BTMRR. It was pretty funny - the CM gave up and just let him thru without taking his BTMRR FP.

After BTMRR we had lunch at Columbia Harbour House. I had the Chicken Nuggets and Fries, which were very good. One note about CHH - the bathroom in here was the dirtiest I have ever seen in WDW. The garbage was overflowing and it just didn’t look clean. I was shocked, as everything at WDW is usually spotless.

After lunch, we did IASW and then headed over to see the parade. It was just starting as we walked past HM, so again good timing. We then went on the Carrousel and Tea Cups and got FP’s for Pooh before going on Peter Pan.

My DA is only 5 feet tall, and when she got on her horse it was down low. When the carrousel stopped, her horse was up high. Here is a picture of DU trying to get DA off her horse. I wish I had a video of this - it was very funny.