My Magical (mystery) tour- What am I celebrating? Something new everyday...

[Self_resqing_princz]

First let me start by saying: Thank you! Thank you for reading my trip report. You could have chosen any other trip report... and you chose mine.... So... thanks! And I'm going to try to post SO many pictures... you'll probably be overloaded!

Now, let me introduce our cast: (not to be confused with Castmembers... we're not that magical)
There's Me- Self-Resquing-Princess (Self rescuing princess) a.k.a. Rebecca
There's DH- Mike
DH's parents:
Lisa and John
my sister-in-law and her husband:
Leena and Alex
and their two kids:
Lisa (7) and Hank (5)
(Some names have been changed to protect the identities of the innocent )

The whole reason we're going to WDW is for Hank's 5th Birthday. Leena has LOTS planned for Hank's birthday and we're all very excited to be able to do it.

Here's the plan: fly out of Indianapolis International Airport on Saturday at 11:50 a.m. and then land at the Orlando Airport that afternoon, check into Wilderness Lodge and enjoy a nice relaxing vacation for 5 days!

Well, DH and I are staying for 5 days and 4 nights, the rest of the crew is doing a whole 7 day stay! Lucky them.

Before we can start on this fun filled trip, there is one task that, while not difficult will be hard. I have to take our baby to DH's grandparents' house. He can't go with us.

Our baby is 8 months old, 16 pounds, has beautiful brown eyes and is half beagle, half dachshund.

Yes, our baby is a puppy... if you don't have a dog, you don't understand.

His name is Goliath, even though he's only about 20 inches long, from the end of his snout, to the end of his tail and about 10 inches tall.
He thinks he's a Goliath!

We took him on Thursday (10/7) to be microchipped, just in case he should run away.

On Friday after I got home from work, I loaded him and all of his stuff: blanket, food bowls, food, toys, crate, bed, leash and treats into the car... oh yeah, and the dog too.

I drove him the 40 minutes to DH's grandparent's house. On the way down there he sat in the passenger seat listening to me tell him through tears that we'll be home soon and that he needs to be a good boy.

I know, I know... crying over dropping off a dog.

I went back home, did a load of laundry, went through my checklist to make sure everything was packed and then re-packed.

At this point it's 11:30 p.m. Just over 12 hours til our flight should be taking off!

Alarm goes off at 7:15 a.m.... hope I'm ready!

 

[johnsonmatt3]

Im here first... going back to read

Editing now in 3...2...1
We are From anderson Indiana, Where are you from. good start so far.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Hey! Thanks for reading! I'm from the Indy area. But originally from Terre Haute. I've been through Anderson several times though, I went to college at Ball State.

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Alarm goes off at 7:15 a.m. ON A SATURDAY! Got up, double checked to make sure everything was packed and then packed my carry on.

DH and I are running around, doing last minute chores- I unplugged everything in the house. He took out the trash. Then, there was a knock at the door.

Suddenly the screechy music from psycho went off in my heads... it was our ride, it was... THE IN LAWS! Not JUST the in-laws... the in-laws at 8 A.M.! Sure John's had his coffee but Lisa is not a morning person.

After one last check and everyone's last potty stop, we're out the door. A minivan, belonging to DH's sister, Leena and brother in law, Alex is parked next to John and Lisa's Buick. ALL 8 of us are ready to make the 20 minute drive to the airport.

Once up in the air both the kids decided they want to sit with John a.k.a. Pop. The three of them sat behind DH and I. Lisa, Leena and Alex sat across the isle from DH and I.

With about 15 minutes left in the flight, Hank strikes up a conversation with a lady across the isle from him... a blond lady, in about her 20s.
"Are you going to Disney World?" she asks.
"Yep! I'm going with my sister and Pop, and my mom and dad, Oma (Lisa) and Mikey and Becca," Hank says, pointing to each one of us as he says our names.
"Are you excited?"
"Yeah, this time we're staying at our Hotel," he says.
- This needs explaining- every time they have gone they have stayed at the WL. Except last time when it was just the 4 of them, they stayed at POR. Hank doesn't like change. And apparently neither does Laura, because neither of them liked staying at POR; so this time it was back to WL.
"Oh, what's that?" she asked.
"We're staying at the Wilderness Lodge. Last time my mom made us stay at a stupid hotel," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh... I see. Are you going to see Mickey?"
"Yeah, we are having breakfast with him for my birthday." he said.
"Happy birthday... how old are you?" she asked. (His real 5th birthday was the week before we left, so we already had a birthday party for him. But since we were celebrating his birthday again, he must have gotten confused.)
"6"
"No, Hank... just because we're celebrating your birthday again doesn't mean you get older," Alex said.
"Oh... well, 5 then," Hank told her.
So, who's your favorite character?" she asked.
"Umm... I like Buzz and Woody. My sister likes the princesses and Becca likes Tinkerbell," he told her.
"That's nice. I like Mickey Mouse."
"I like Mickey too... we see him every time we go to Mickey's World."



5 hours later we're gathering our baggage from the Orlando carousel and in our 12 person van! (Where I'm PRETTY sure we saw Lawrence Fishburn.)

After the VERY LONG drive and two children bouncing off the very tight quarters of the inside of the van, we pull up to the Wilderness Lodge... and this driver, like the buses, tells us "welcome home".

For those of you whom have never either been in or stayed in the Wilderness Lodge, this is what the lobby looks like.

To the left is the front doors, in the middle is the Whispering Canyon restaurant... where you TOTALLY have to go and then ask for ketchup and extra napkins. To the right of that is the HUGE fireplace and to the extreme right is the geyser thing inside- see further down. Directly behind me, at this point is also the check in desk... and next to that is the gift shop "merchantile"... where you will find this:

And this is still inside the lobby... if you were to stand where I'm standing, taking the picture of the lobby and turn directly around, this is what you'll see... it's a bubbly geyser thing.

They also have a geyser outside, between the pool and the beach. It goes off every once in a while... but it's cool to see when it does.

We had beautiful rooms facing the pool, on the second floor, with balconies. Leena and Alex's room conjoined with Lisa and John's... and ours was next to Lisa and John's- but did NOT conjoin.

Which was just big enough for the two of us... which was awesome, because we both decided... since we're paying for two beds, we might as well USE two beds.

The room:

The sink area:

The view from our balcony, looking to the right:

and the left:

Now... on to the parks... but which one?

The only problem when traveling with two children (when you're not used to being around children), especially when it's one of their birthdays... is that the children control the schedule. Which, as previously stated... I am NOT used to. But, I'm willing to try.

Hank is a HUGE Toy Story fan. Buzz is his favorite character and last time we went to WDW, he wanted to ride TSM over and over and over... which was fine because we all enjoyed it.

So, we all thought he would want to go to DHS first thing and ride TSM. So we were all ready to wait a LONG time for our first ride... it being the middle of a Saturday afternoon.

I thought maybe, if not that... maybe Buzz Lightyear's spaceship spin. He also REALLY likes that ride.

However, on the plane Leena asked, “What's the first ride we're going to do in Disney?”

Hank was ready with his answer....

“The Three Caballeros!”

We all looked at him like he was crazy. He looked at us and said.. “what? It's a ride!”

Now... I not being a huge fan of Epcot, didn't even know there WERE rides in the World Showcase, before I read up on Epcot on the Disboards.

So, when we got to Epcot and went to Mexico... I walked around with my mouth hanging open... Did you realize there is stuff inside the big Myan Temple- ish thing? I didn't! There's a market place, a restaurant AND a ride in there! I didn't know it was that big!

When we left, Donald, dressed as one of the three caballeros was outside... so of course the kids wanted their pictures with him... and since we were there... I went ahead and got my picture with him too.

Next was off to Norway... did you know they have a ride there too?! Malestrom. It's a much more depressing "it's a small world" type ride... meaning it's inside and in a boat.

But the rest is... I guess... about Norway. Which, it's not. It's really just about Vikings... kinda. It's hard to explain... and hard to remember, because it wasn't that much fun. And not worth a 20 minute wait.

Preview of Day 1.5- our balcony's night view and our first time, of this trip to the Magic Kingdom.... more fun to come!

 

[nebo]

Before we can start on this fun filled trip, there is one task that, while not difficult will be hard. I have to take our baby to DH's grandparents' house. He can't go with us.

Our baby is 8 months old, 16 pounds, has beautiful brown eyes and is half beagle, half dachshund.

No need to apologize Rebecca, our kids are half German and half American Indian.

Yes, our baby is a puppy... if you don't have a dog, you don't understand.

Oh,,, I knew it. Really.

His name is Goliath, even though he's only about 20 inches long, from the end of his snout, to the end of his tail and about 10 inches tall.
He thinks he's a Goliath!

Actually, I love dachsies, I grew up with three of them, and before them, we had a beagle. The dachsies were Skoshie, Heidi and Pretzel, the beagle was peanuts.

We took him on Thursday (10/7) to be microchipped, just in case he should run away.

Oh the poor dog, that hurts. My wife, Smidgy had that done to me a few years back. It usually goes right behind the ear.

Alarm goes off at 7:15 a.m.... hope I'm ready!

Great start Rebecca, can't wait for more.

 

[johnsonmatt3]

we had our dog microchipped when we got him, havent lost him but we are hearing all the time on the radio about dogs being found because of microchips. We should get together sometime, ever been to the castleton square mall disney store? what about anytime lately?

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Nebo- thanks for stopping by... I appreciate the read!

Johnson-- No, I don't go to the north side much. I kinda stay to the south side more. I have been to the Catleton Square mall... once, maybe twice. I go to the Greenwood park mall more... but the took the Disney store out of there just less than a year ago now, sadly.

Tonight I'll try to post the rest of our first day of our trip. Hopefull you'll keep reading!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

We decided for lunch to go to the Electric Umbrella, because it's the Food and Wine festival and all the countries are SO crowded it's not even funny... We seriously had to stand in lines to get anywhere-- even from one country to another.


I had chicken nuggets, which weren't bad and DH had an Angus burger, which was pretty good.

So then we decided to try to make our way around the world.. just to see what was going on in the middle of the day... and because Alex wanted a turkey leg from America.

There was a stage where one of the American Idol guys was playing... good to see he's getting work....

While we were walking around, a group of people dressed up- ladies in dresses, men in business suits- were following a cast member with a glowy light saber. Anyone know what that was about? We had no idea what the deal was.

So, while we're walking, we pass Morocco. John stopped and said "we should really stop and enjoy the views in each country a little more."
"I agree," I said. "That's a good idea.. see the other countries and the Epcot ball from different views."
Then DH stopped... "I think he was talking about the belly dancer." (He thinks he's so funny!)
He pointed to a stage with musicians and a belly dancer.
"Wow" I said, I rolled my eyes and kept walking.

After we had made our way around the World Showcase, we went back to the resort and got our refillable mugs from the Roaring Fork snack store... and then we sat on the beach to watch the light parade on the water. Which was cool. It starts with sea animals and music then ended with a patriotic salute.

Then... back to the room for bed.
Pictures of the view from our room at night:

I put in a call for a wake up call, for 7:15 a.m. Tomorrow everyone was getting up early to be at the rope drop ceremony at MK.. I had never been and the whole family said they would go. My sister in law, Leena, said I should get a wake up call, so I could get a surprise... because I'd never gotten a wake up call (and answered it myself) in Disney World.

Stay tuned for an unexpected wake up call, some questions about the MK and "date night" with a DELICIOUS DINNER!
See ya real soon!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Side note:
Although this is kind of giving away part of the end of our trip, here is me and my baby:

Goliath

This was taken while we were giving him his souvenirs from our trip to Disney World.

 

[MAJ RN]

Rebecca, your dog Goliath looks so much like my dog Lucy, who is also a dachund beagle mix! Can't wait to read more about your report.


Melissa

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Melissa, thanks for reading! I'll have more pics of Goliath and I up near the end... showing the cute stuff we brought back for him. I don't think there was 1 day of the trip where we didn't talk about how much we missed him.
Thanks again for reading! I'll try to post more tomorrow!
See ya real soon!

 

[johnsonmatt3]

Oh doggy love... the things they make for them. my dog would never wear something like that, he hates them. Good update. I think we should have a dismeet at one of the disney stores around Indy.

 

[smidgy]

what? no pictures of you except your scalp?? no fair!

wilderness lodge is great! we stayed there for 4 nights and loved it. (we only got view of the villas pool ,though)

I love the way your nephew called WL "our hotel"! how cute!

 

[smidgy]

"We had beautiful rooms facing the pool, on the second floor, with balconies. Leena and Alex's room conjoined with Lisa and John's... and ours was next to Lisa and John's- but did NOT conjoin.

Which was just big enough for the two of us... which was awesome, because we both decided... since we're paying for two beds, we might as well USE two beds."
-----------------------------------------
I'm glad we're not the ONLY married couple who enjoy our "space"!(when Nebo's leg starts going at 1000 RPMs I don't need quarters for the vibrating bed!) ....oops, wrong motel.....

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

I tried to update last night but when I did, for some reason I had to re-register and lost everything I wrote... that'll teach me!
Hopefully I can get some of it reposted tonight. Day 2 is celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary... so it was one of my favorite days!
Stay tuned...
See ya real soon!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

what? no pictures of you except your scalp?? no fair!

wilderness lodge is great! we stayed there for 4 nights and loved it. (we only got view of the villas pool ,though)

I love the way your nephew called WL "our hotel"! how cute!

AHH! Smidgy, I totally didn't realize there weren't any photos of me posted. I'll put some up tonight.

 

[smidgy]

that must be so frustrating. I have seen Nebo after it happens to him. (he has "lost" his hours of work a few times, and he about goes through the roof!

 

[nebo]

Yes Rebecca, always, always, always right click and select all, then click copy, any time you write something, and before you try to post it. It has happened to me at least once every trip report.
Boy, sure is a great room at the Lodge you got, we wanted an inner courtyard view ourselves but didn't get it.
By the way, how were the love bugs? They over ran the place when we were there. Great report, keep it up!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

I had asked for a 7:15 a.m. wake up call.

The phone rings... I roll over and answer it, in my still asleep voice.
"Hello?"
"Are you guys up? We're leaving in 45 minutes."
It was NOT Mickey... it was my sister in law, Leena.
"No... what time is it?"
"It's 7."
"Our wake up call is for 7:15."
"Oh... okay, I'll let you go so you can get that."
I hang up, roll over and try to go back to sleep.

The phone rings again....
"hehha... have a magical day!"
Dang! I must have let it ring too many times... I missed it.
But.. it's time to get up and go to the rope drop for the Magic Kingdom!

I had never seen the opening ceremony, so the family agreed to go along.
I will admit, it did bring a few tears to my eyes... but with me standing basically in front of everyone else in the family (and wearing sun glasses) no one else noticed.

Then we went right to our first ride... it's always our first ride.... Dumbo.

On the way there... I saw this...

That's not very magical... who wants to see a crane?

They have a wall put up behind Dumbo and practically running down to Minnie's House. They have signs on the wall with saying they're putting in a special plays for Story time with Belle, which I thought the were doing away with for the Tangled characters. Then, later on I saw a sign saying they were going to put in Ariel's castle with a lake... seriously? I know they've got a lot of land... but TWO castles? I'm not sure how I feel about that... anyone else know any details about that? I'm really just not sure if ONE park can support TWO castles... it'd just be... weird. Am I right?

Leena told me they were adding to the park and moving Dumbo to a building.

Then after riding Peter Pan after Dumbo... I realized I had lost my sunglasses. So I had to go buy a new pair

Then we rode Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain, which was the first time for Lauren.... she was AWESOME! She rode the whole way with her hands up!

Then we went to Cosmic Ray's. Someone on the disboards told me they were really good, so I got one... IT WAS REALLY GOOD.... They have whole wheat buns now, for just about everything. 3 1/2 stars out of 5

While we were eating lunch on the balcony, looking out at the castle, we noticed across the little creek, on the little covered balcony they were filming some people with Mickey and Minnie... what were they filming?

Then Michael and I split off from the group, Michael and I went over and rode Pirates and Tiki Room. Then we went back to the WL for a break for the day.


Once back, we stopped at the pool bar and each got a drink. I got a Carribbean Limeaid and DH got the Paradise Punch. Mine was green and sour and his was pink and sweet- the further you got to the bottom with his the more it tasted like cotton candy.

We decided to have some alone time with our drinks on our balcony and we watched everyone else swim.

We had dinner reservations at Nine Dragons in Epcot, to celebrate our anniversary. We were excited about eating there... but not about battling the crowds again. So we showered and headed out.

Now, what I'm about to tell you... I THINK... is top secret! Everyone goes to Disney expecting to see Mickey, Minnie and their friends... but....
If anyone finds out you know, you may not get ANY Christmas presents this year.... but while walking into Epcot, we saw Santa. Not.. "oh, that guy kind of resembles Santa.." IT WAS SANTA! He was wearing a green t-shirt and red shorts. He had his white hair, cherry red nose and cheeks and definitely had a tummy like a bowl full of jelly.
I jabbed DH in the side with my elbow "hey... look.. up there to the left, walking towards us... It's Santa!" I tried to be discreet.
As soon as he passed us, the family of 4 behind us started chattering...
"Did you see Santa daddy? We saw him.. he was probably checking to make sure kids were being good in Disney."
Then the father-- rather loudly-- said "I DIDN'T KNOW SANTA CAME TO DISNEY FOR VACATION TOO!"
We turned around and said "you saw him too?! We thought we were seeing things! It REALLY WAS Santa!" It was the COOLEST thing ever!

So.. then we high tail it to China... except that we were there about 40 minutes early. So, we decided to stop in Mexico and have a margarita. I had a Fiesta Margarita- which is Mango, Strawberry and Lime mixed together, and DH had a boring Strawberry one. Let me tell you... there was probably twice as much alcohol in mine as there was in his... which was great until he reminded me we had about 15 minutes until our reservations and I was only about half done with it. So I had to suck the rest of it down, pretty fast.

I was feeling pretty good when we got to dinner...
Then, we got our table and ordered our dinner.
We ordered the General Tsoa's pot stickers, which were wonderful. The almost like a light, tangy bbq sauce.. but not too bbq-ish. The chicken inside was spicy on it's own and the sauce was a great compliment to it!

They brought out our orders very quickly... and as they were taking the empty pot sticker dish off of our table, someone else was putting our entrees in front of us.
DH had the Kung Pao chicken, which had a great flavor- even if it did have peanuts in it.
I ordered the Honey Sesame Chicken. Mine came with a small dish of cucumber salad and each of ours came with rice.

DH's:

Mine:

We tried a little of the other's and they were BOTH delicious! 5 out of 5 stars! Trust me.. if you like Chinese and you've got time... Nine Dragons is a GREAT idea!

Then we went back to the WL and hung out with the family before bed. Great day!

 

[Self_resqing_princz]

Smidgy-- please notice the picture of DH and I.... don't think that post was an accident... Now you've seen my face... but apparently I've had a stroke because my eyes are messed up... and DH must be undercover because in about half of our vacation pictures, he's got his sunglasses on.
Either way, there's a pic of me drinking my limeaid thing... so I don't look quiet as strange in that one.