My very delayed New Years trip Report!-6/23 Finally UPDATED!

[LaurenMic]

Hi Guys!
My name is Lauren. I'm 22, a teacher and grad student living in CT. I have been a Disney fanatic from what I consider birth haha, but I only stumbled upon these boards last fall when I was helping my mom plan our last trip. I have become addicted to trip reports and have enjoying so many of your stories, I decided it was finally time to share my own!

Our dates were January 1st thru January 8th....a while ago, I know, but between teaching and grad school, I have had no free time since we got back. But thank god for April Vacation, I can finally make my long awaited report!

Our trip was a big one...I went with my family of 8: mom, dad, brother-18, sister-also 18 (the twins) and our three significant others (my DBF-who is 22 like me, and DBil and DSil, as I will refer to them, who are also both 18.) Hope I didn't confuse anybody with that!

A little more about DBF since you'll be hearing a lot about him. This trip was part of his graduation present. We met at UConn about 3 years ago, and he graduated this December. He's now a marketing associate with a company here in CT and basically supporting me while I finish school over the next year. He's very laid back, and since I am the compulsive planner, I arrange the trips and he just goes along for the ride. Which works out for me because when I told him that we'd be vacationing in Disney every year from here on out he was fine with it

My parents have been bringing me to Disney since we were babies, and even though we're all in college and/or out on our own now, we wanted to keep up the tradition of at least one Disney trip a year. This year, my darling DBF decided to join in. It wasn't his first trip, but he hadn't been since high school and he did not understand my obsession. I told him that one trip with us, and he would be hooked (you'll have to keep reading to find out if this worked )

With all these people (and the four boys are pretty large people!) we needed a big place to stay. So we decided to go all out and spring for a villa at Boardwalk, water view. We had stayed at the Dolphin before and loved the Epcot area, so we wanted to go back.

We were renting the DVC villa from a family friend, but he only had 6 nights and we wanted 7, so we solved that problem by staying at the Dolphin again the first night, which happened to be New Years, then moving over to Boardwalk for the rest of the trip. We started planning a year and a half before we left, which was a loooong wait for me. I'm one of those girls who gets all silly and squeely with excitement when it comes to Disney.

Here was the plan:
Day 1-Fly out of Hartford at 4pm, check into Dolphin, CS dinner and explore the Boardwalk.
Day 2-Mom's BDay! Check into Boardwalk and head to MGM, dinner at 50s Prime Time...then surprise Illumination Cruise!
Day 3-Magic Kingdom, my favorite! Breakfast at Crystal Palace
Day 4-Epcot, Dinner at Biergarten (my beer-loving DBF's choice lol)
Day 5-Animal Kingdom, Dinner at Boma
Day 6-More MGM/Epcot, dinner at San Angel Inn and EMH at Magic Kingdom
Day 7-More Magic Kingdom/Dinner at Chef Mickey's
Day 8-Breakfast at Cape May, fly home (boo!)

I think that's all you need to know for now...I hope you enjoy reading along with me! Up next....departure day, so stay tuned!
But first, a little picture preview-me and DBF in front of the Dolphin on our first day in sunny FL!

 

[LaurenMic]

Ok, time for another installment already. I figured I’ll get as much up as possible before finals! If you’re reading, say hi! Comments make me happy I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures...I’m at work so I can’t add any right now, but I promise next time

So our flight out was 4 in the afternoon on New Years Day. We usually like to flight out in the morning, but it was cheaper this way and we had a New Years Eve party to go to the night before, so we probably wouldn’t have been in great shape had we got up really early that morning anyways! But of course, I’m one of those “way too excited to sleep” people, so I was up at 7:45 (I am only a morning person when it comes to Disney related things). DBF was not too pleased with me, because of course I had to wake him up as well, and he is NEVER a morning person.

We were staying at my parents’ house because they live 10 minutes from the airport. I had already been packed for about month, so there was really not too much to do except sit and wait for 1pm, when we would be leaving. This extra wait time was not a good thing. Not only do I get extremely antsy and impatient, but we had been watching the weather forecast really closely and they were predicting a snow storm to hit CT on that day. Basically my worst nightmare-we would get stuck in the cold and snow and the trip we’d been planning for a year and a half would not happen! By 10am it hadn’t done a thing, not one flurry, so I kept telling myself, ok maybe they’re wrong. God knows it wouldn’t be the first time the weather men were wrong! My dad went with my brother to pick up DBil and DSil and pack up the cars with all of our luggage, and the rest of use tidied up the house, fed the cat (our neighbor watches her because kennels our a no-no for our very spoiled feline) and waited some more.

So we’re sitting around waiting, trying to get our minds off the weather and be optimistic, when it happens: the sky opens up! It starts snowing just before 11am, and HARD. We got about an inch in an hour, at which point I was like ok we need to go now before it gets much worse. DBF and dad are of course the laid back ones, telling me I’m being silly and this is nothing and we shouldn’t worry and just stick to our plan. My parents grew up in Syracuse, so snow doesn’t faze them as much. But my Disney commando self couldn’t let it go, and I basically badgered them until they agreed to leave early.

So we get in the cars, me and DBF in his car with half the bags and everyone else in mom’s van. The roads were a mess! I hate driving in bad weather, poor DBF tries to patient with my back seat driver tendencies, but it was still snowing very hard and the roads were so slippery and people were spinning out all over the place-it was a mess! I was clutching his leg and freaking out-not that he is bad driver, he does great in the snow, but what if the flight is cancelled? I can be such a worrier, if it’s not one thing its another.

We finally make it safe and sound to the airport, but the 10 minute drive took close to 40 minutes, which isn’t horrible, but I was still saying “I told you so!” after everyone called me crazy for wanting to leave early. So that was a relief. We park the cars, take the little shuttle to our gate. Since it was a holiday the lines to check in were very short. I’m finally starting to get excited again, until we see the flight boards…instead of those friendly little green “on times” across the board, we see lots of RED-half the flights are cancelled! My heart just about stopped, and we’re all scrambling to find our flight on the screen.

Up Next: Do we make it out of CT on time?? Stay tuned!

 

[LaurenMic]

Well I see that I do have some views, so I guess I will keep plugging away at this trippie! Hope the suspense didn't kill anybody Even if nobody does comment (which would make me sad!) I am very much enjoying reliving my trip through this report so it's ok!!

So we see that tons of flights are cancelled so my eyes dart across the screen looking for our flight to Orlando...and I see the magical green "On Time"! It's a miracle...I breathe a sigh of relief and pray that it stays that way. So we continue on to security, which was kind of funny because DBF doesn't fly very often so he was so confused when they made him take his shoes off going through all the check points. I tell him it's normal and just do what the nice security guards say so we can get the heck through the line!

After we have gathered all our belongings again, we head to McDonald's for a quick lunch, and hit up the gift shop to pick up some magazines. I'm a sucker for cheesy celebrity gossip, so I got my trusty People to get me through the two hour wait to board the plane. The time flew by, and they were calling our section to board before we knew it.

Just a random side note...we flew Delta this trip, and does anyone else really miss the Song planes? I loved the little trivia game and the tv shows/movies! It made the flight so much more fun! Last year we had one of those planes even though it wasn't called Song anymore and I really missed it this year. : Oh well, back on track!!
Here's us waiting for take-off:

We get comfy in our seats, DBF was nice and gave me the window...I think this is partly because he is 6'5" so he needs the extra leg room from the aisle! So we sit...and sit...and sit. Uh oh. After a good 45 minutes of everyone being on board yet no sign of take off, I get nervous. Turns out they are de-icing because it's still nasty out there. When we finally start moving, we hear this awful screeching noise, and after a minute of backing out of the gate-we switch directions. We're going back towards it again?!

This is when I freak out some more. Why are we heading back? DBF tries to calm me down (poor guy, I can be so high strung haha) but after the messy roads and the possible delays, I just want to get the heck out of here! We look down and see airport workers plowing and shoveling around our plane, trying to make a clear path for us to back up. After three more attempts and lots of sliding around and getting stuck on snow, we finally move down the runway! Thank God! I breathe yet another sigh of relief and turn on the good old ipod. Because before I knew it, we would be landing in a place where the airport workers were in shorts, a huge change from the guys shoveling snow in CT! Woo hooo!
The pretty view from my seat:

Up Next: Arrival at the Dolphin and first day at the parks!!

Let me know what you think so far

 

[LaurenMic]

I see I have some lurkers! Say hi!!

 

[LaurenMic]

So when I left off, we were on the flight. It was quite bumpy so that wasn’t fun, but the 3 hours flew by and before I knew it we were in Orlando! We landed around 8 and it was very warm and barely dark out….a big change from winter nights at home!

We basically run to the monorail that takes you to the other side of the airport. I love that thing. We always joke that it is our first “ride at Disney”. DBF is impressed at how well we know the layout of the airport. I probably could have found my way around it at the age of 6, that’s how many times we’ve been. He was busy looking at signs for the baggage claim (he’s a take-charge kind of guy) when I had to break it to him that he could just follow me because I knew the way. Hee hee.

We get to the baggage claim area and don’t bother tipping a skycap to take care of the bags, because we figured the boys could handle it. We had 12 bags total, not horrible for 8 people but DBF disagreed (maybe because he was always stuck taking care of mine and they were quite heavy-what can I say, I never know what I’m going to want to wear so I pack a lot!) My brother, DBil and DBF made a game out of who could get the most bags off of the conveyer belt. We come from a very competitive family!

So we gather all the luggage and head outside to find our van. We hired one through Tiffany Town Car. We’ve used them lots of times. Occasionally they send a limo so you can ride in style, but with this many people and bags it was a big ole white van. It’s not too expensive, and although I don’t mind ME, my parents hate waiting for it and this way you don’t have to make other stops. So we all pile in the van, and are off on our way to the Dolphin. When we pass through the Disney gates I'm freaking out with excitement, and DBF is making fun of his crazy GF. I warned him prior to this trip-you think I'm excited before we go, just wait til we get there!

Before we knew it, we were at the Dolphin. We hadn’t been in a few years and hadn’t seen the renovations they made. I was very impressed, it was even prettier than I remembered. I apologize for the lack of pictures; my dad has them all on his camera!

Mom checks in while the rest of us relax in the lobby. I think DBF is in awe of the place; the only Disney hotel he has ever stayed in up to that point was AS Music so this is quite a step up. Needless to say, I was very excited for him to see Boardwalk, where we would be spending the rest of the trip! We drag all of the bags up to the rooms (we got two adjoining). The views were horrible, we were staring out the window at some back parking garage, but just for one night so no big deal. Since it had been so warm out when we were on our way to the hotel, we decided to change into swimsuits and head to Picabu to get a quick dinner since McDonald’s was the last we’d eaten.

The food at Picabu was surprisingly good. DBF and mom slit the pizza, which was huge. I got a good old Disney hot dog (I don’t know why, but I just love the hot dogs down there! The family makes fun of me for it but they are the best.) My brother and DBil got the chimichangas (sorry I have no clue if I spelled that right!) and I think everyone else went for the burgers. The portions were huge, there was so much to choose from, and it was all very fresh. (Sorry, no food pics in this report, I didn't know I'd be writing it or I would have photographed everything!)
The only problem with this dining experience was the entire seating area was full of Brazilian tourists who were letting their kids run all over the place, ramming strollers into everyone, and just generally being annoying. Come on, let us eat in peace! We were glad to be checking out the next morning because it seems the whole hotel was full of people like this.

After dinner we headed out to the pool area-only to discover that the temperature had dropped about 20 degrees and it was freezing! The next two days were supposed to be in the 50s, which is unusually cold for FL, but fine for us New Englanders. However, this meant swimming was out. But we were all wayyyy too excited to go back to the room for the night. I suggested bundling up and heading over to the Boardwalk, and everyone loved this idea, so off we went after a quick change.

We all walk over the bridge from the Swan and Dolphin area to the Boardwalk. I’m skipping along, being my usually dorky self because I’m so excited. We’re in Disney, my favorite place in the world! Suddenly, the lights of the Boardwalk catch DBF’s eye. “Hey, is that Downtown Disney over there?” he asks me. Oh wow, I had a good laugh over that one as I explain to him, no, that is the Boardwalk. “But aren’t we staying at the Boardwalk?”. He is so new at this! But I was even more excited now because he was so impressed with the hotel, and he couldn’t believe this was where we would be staying for the next week. The stores, midway, and ESPN zone really won him over. I couldn’t believe it either, staying at Boardwalk had always been a dream of mine. And now it was coming true!

We stopped at BoardWalk Character Carnival to look around. I am such a gift shop lover! This place was awesome, I found about a million things I wanted. We'd make about 10 more trips to this place over the next week. My brother found this great Mickey cookie jar, so he snuck off with DSil to buy it for my mom, since the next day was her Birthday. I distracted her by leading her up to the lobby to see the xmas decorations. We have always come at Christmas time, but this year we were going in January so we were nervous they’d be down. But we step inside and there’s the gingerbread gazebo. Mom and I were dying to see it because we’d spent the holidays watching the Disney specials on Travel Channel and Food Network and they featured this on more than one show. There are hidden mickeys all over it, and DBF fell in love because he LOVES Donald, and Donald and Daisy Duck are inside. Thank god we saw them, because the next day when we went to check in, the decorations were all down! Next year we are going back to actually get pictures, because of course we forgot our cameras that night.

At this point it was 11, everything was closing up for the night and the exhaustion of this long day hit us. It was time to head back and get some rest because tomorrow it was MGM!!! (the name changed half way through our trip haha)

Ok I’m done rambling for now! Stay tuned, because next time was our action-packed day at MGM-find out why it was my mom’s best birthday ever (here’s a hint: there was a surprise illuminations cruise involved!)

Again, more pictures next time (I'm at work again) so get excited! haha

 

[DisneyDaughter5589]

I just found you today! So I'm here and reading! Your so lucky staying at the BWV! I'm a value girl... not completly by choice. We got to Disney a day or two before you left! The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Reading along.... can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[LaurenMic]

I just found you today! So I'm here and reading! Your so lucky staying at the BWV! I'm a value girl... not completly by choice. We got to Disney a day or two before you left! The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Reading along.... can't wait to see more pictures.

Yay I have a reader! You have no idea how happy that makes me!
I have no problem with the value resorts. I really want to stay at Pop, it looks so cute! It's my family who are Disney snobs haha.

It's funny that our trips overlapped, and I see from your signature it was your first time bringing your boyfriend too? Very cool, I hope he liked it as much as mine did! And you are right, the weather was gorgeous!

 

[DisneyDaughter5589]

I would be a Disney snob... but I'm a poor college student! So much for that. We like the values and havent had an issue until last trip. We were on the 1st floor next to the pool. It was around 1am and we keep hearing the neighbors door slaming. I was funny though. Because my dad was asleep and my mom, dbf, and me were awake and just kept laughing at my mom. The next moring she got up (around 7 or 8) and started knocking on the wall and flushing the toilet and opening/shutting the door. I couldn't help but laugh.

My signature is alittle off and to be honest I dont rember how to get to it to fix it. We actually arived the 6th (we drove) at 11pmish. As far as DBF he said the other day I WANT to go back ( and then I mentioned free dining)! Which is far from what he said soon after we got back in January which was "once a year is enough"! I think its the money issue. But I told him $400 for tickets,room, and DDP a person is not bad.

 

[LaurenMic]

Since my last update had no pictures, here are a few we took the next morning, after we checked out of the Dolphin. Of course I was up about an hour before the alarm, which was set for 8. I got everyone up, we showered and packed up, and headed out. The first park day is the best! It was a bright, beautiful day, as you can see

Here is a picture of the Swan...those tiny people are my sister and DBil, busy hauling our luggage over to the Boardwalk.

Random side story: As we were crossing that bridge with all of our bags to go over to the Boardwalk, we bumped into a guy from Wisconsin who came up to us out of the blue to say hello because DBF was wearing a Packers Jersey. He assumed we were from the Green Bay area, imagine his surprised when we said we're from CT. Packers are the only non-New England team we love! I just thought I'd share because I love how everyone is so friendly in Disney...it's like you bond with strangers because you're at such a happy place!

Here is a view of hotel number one from hotel number two...

We had to take one of the Beach Club...we would be stopping by there a couple times in the coming days and I am dying to stay there now! It is gorgeous.

DBF was trying to get artsy with his camera...

DBF decided this trip that his favorite park is Epcot...his fixation with the giant globe (his words, not mine!) started this day. We have many pictures like this:

We checked in, dropped off our bags, and headed to the bakery to get something for breakfast. I tried the egg and bacon panini and didn't really care for it. The bread was weird....so I gave it to DBF, my human garbage disposal, and got a donut instead. They are my weakness, and hey, its vacation! After eating (and defending our food from the very eager Boardwalk birds) we went to the boat launch to catch a boat to MGM.

Mom got to pick the park that day because it was her birthday, and MGM is her favorite. I think she'd ride the Great Movie Ride all day long if you let her. She is not a big rides person, she just loves to sit and soak up the atmosphere and people watch. Oh, and she HATES her birthday haha! Well, she doesn't like to be the center of attention as she gets older. But at check in my dad had insisted they give her a birthday button. So I was eager to see how this would go over. She only wore it because she thought maybe the Dream Squad would see and give her a "gift".

So we get on the boat to MGM after a 5 minute wait or so, and the captain of the boat immediately notices her button. Yes, already! As soon as we leave the dock, they make her walk to the front of the boat so everyone on board can sing Happy Birthday to her! Oh lord, she's gonna hate this, I'm thinking. She did turn bright red, but she was laughing the whole time and everyone got really into it and sang loud. It was so cute, a great way to kick off a trip to the park. Here is mom, me and sister after the birthday embarrassment:

Mom also hates having her picture taking, so this was a double whammy. But we had to document the moment!

Up Next: A very crowded park, a very funny Prime Time Dinner...and will we make it in time for the big surprise birthday present??

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

hi - i am here and reading - am enjoying it so far - i am getting more excited about our trip - 15 more days - wohooo!!! post more - can't wait!!!

 

[LaurenMic]

hi - i am here and reading - am enjoying it so far - i am getting more excited about our trip - 15 more days - wohooo!!! post more - can't wait!!!

15 days, that is awesome! I'm excited for you haha. Thanks for reading, I hope to have more up by the end of the weekend!

I would be a Disney snob... but I'm a poor college student! So much for that. We like the values and havent had an issue until last trip. We were on the 1st floor next to the pool. It was around 1am and we keep hearing the neighbors door slaming. I was funny though. Because my dad was asleep and my mom, dbf, and me were awake and just kept laughing at my mom. The next moring she got up (around 7 or 8) and started knocking on the wall and flushing the toilet and opening/shutting the door. I couldn't help but laugh.

My signature is alittle off and to be honest I dont rember how to get to it to fix it. We actually arived the 6th (we drove) at 11pmish. As far as DBF he said the other day I WANT to go back ( and then I mentioned free dining)! Which is far from what he said soon after we got back in January which was "once a year is enough"! I think its the money issue. But I told him $400 for tickets,room, and DDP a person is not bad.

Hahaha that story about your mom is great, totally something I would do!
If you go up to User CP, there is an Edit Signature option on the left hand side.
I am also a poor college student, but I am very lucky that I have parents and a DBF (he graduated in December and has a full-time job now) who pay my entire way. I don't know how long that will last though! Soon I graduate and beginning teachers don't make that much money haha
$400 for everything is not bad at all! I hope you get to go again soon!

 

[LaurenMic]

Hello again! Sorry I've been MIA for a few, days, I went to Boston this weekend for the Red Sox game. Disney might be the first love, but the Sox are right up there too

Let’s see, I left off with us taking the boat over to MGM. I love this
boat ride, it’s very peaceful and the scenery is great, but this was one
of two boat rides we took the entire trip. The walk to both DHS and Epcot
was very quick from our room, so we just preferred walking most of the
time.

The boat lets us off, and we stop to soak in the atmosphere. We just love
the Christmas music and the decorations; every trip but one we’ve gone at
Christmas and it’s just not the same atmosphere otherwise. We took some
pictures in front of the tree and then headed through the gates.

The lines were quite long; it took us about 20 minutes to get through
security and ticket gates. People cannot figure out that darn finger scan
thing and its so frustrating! The New Years crowd we’d heard so much about
was not gone yet, so we waded through the crowds down to the ToT, RR end
of the park to hit our two favorite rides. The line for ToT was 80
minutes, and RR was 90. At this point it was around 10am and the park had
been open for about in hour-definitely not the lines we are accustomed to
from our first week of December trips! But we decided to just go with the
flow and hopped in line for ToT-we are very silly in Disney so the eight
of use kept each other occupied just fine in all of the lines.

At one point we are winding through the queue and a random woman sees
Mom’s birthday button and proceeds to have her whole, very large family
sing to her! The whole crowd around us joined in! It was so fun, only two
hours into her bday and she’s already been sung to twice (and this wasn’t
the last time it would happen!). The even funnier thing about this story,
is the next day we were in MK and a random guy says to her “Hey, wasn’t it
your birthday yesterday? I remember you from the ToT line!”. For someone
who hates to even mention her birthday, she got a lot of notice for it!

So everyone but mom rides ToT. She just loves the decorations so she waits
with us until its time to board and gets on the “chicken elevator”
instead. I sit between DBF and my dad and clutch their arms for dear
life! I love this ride so much but the first trip down that drop is always
terrifying for me! DBF got a cool picture at the top, just before we were
about to be dropped for the first time:

After that, we decided against waiting for RR and my brother went to get
fast passes for later on instead. Here is where my nerves set in, let me
explain why. I need to sidetrack a little here to give you the background
before I continue:

So my mom is a very hard person to shop for. Since our Disney trip
happened to fall on her birthday (she booked it and did not plan it that
way, we picked this week because all of us happened to be home for college
break during that time), we wanted to do something extra special in
Disney. I had read on the boards and All Ears about Illuminations cruises,
and so had Mom, and we both thought they were so cool and really wanted to
do it. I also read about how hard they are to book. But thanks to these
boards (you guys are so helpful!) I was prepared. Dad and I both called at
exactly 7am, 60 days before January 2nd to book it. I really started at
6:55 and kept calling and calling until I got through! Now I just had to
keep it secret from her. Everyone on the trip knew but mom. One day about
a week after I booked, she even mentioned that she was going to call
herself and try and book one! This is where Dad saved the day and said it
was too much money and he’s not a fan of Illuminations (little white lies
never hurt in these situations!).

Anyways, back to our regularly schedule trip report! We get these
fastpasses for RR and they are for 8pm, the same time we have to check in
to the Beach Club Marina for the cruise! My brother is oblivious and got
the passes anyways, completely forgetting about her surprise. He keeps
talking about how excited he is to come back and ride, and while Mom
doesn’t do coasters, she picks this day of all the days to decide she
wants to try it! Ahhhh! Like I said earlier, I am a chronic worrier and
wanted to keep the surprise for as long as possible so this put me on
edge. But whatever, we’ll deal with it later.

After getting the (useless) fastpasses, we decide we are all starving and
head over to Pizza Planet for lunch. We were on the Dining Plan, don’t
know if I mentioned that earlier. The four boys eat like truckers so it
was a huge money saver! I wanted Pizza Planet because DBF loves Toy Story
so I wanted him to see it. He loved how the cast members were dressed like the ones from the movie. The lines were huge and we had to literally fight for a table (people can be so pushy!) but the food was good, and we decided to tell mom about her surprise.

Why were we blowing it kinda early? Well the high that day was 50, and they were predicting it to drop down to the 20s at night (eeek!) so if we were gonna survive this cruise, we had to stop back at the BWV, get our bags sent to the room, and change into warmer clothes. So we tell her and she is floored. Usually she is the one who plans surprises for all of use, including two Disney surprise trips when we were in grade school, so she was shocked we pulled this off. But the compulsive planner that she is, we had to revamp the game plan and change things around so we would make it. We had 5:30 ressies at Prime Time so it would be cutting it close to our 8pm check in at the Marina, and no RR like I mentioned earlier. But the cruise was the highlight of the trip, so we couldn't miss it.

After lunch we hit up some more rides. We did Muppets, a favorite of mine, and the Backstage Tour. Gotta love Catastrophe Canyon, DBF hadn't done this one before so we put him on the side where he could get wet.

We walked by the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and saw a Scrabble piece. We are all Scrabble junkies!

Next we did the Lights Motor Action Show, which was malfunctioning so it wasn't as cool as usual, but a nice rest for the old feet. Then we decided to check in early at Prime Time to try and get in before the ressie so we wouldn't be cutting things so close.
All right I have to get some lesson planning done...sadly April vacation is over! More to come soon! But when I return: the funniest dinner ever, a mad dash to the Boardwalk...and will we make the cruise?!!

 

[MouseGirl]

Just writing to say how much I am enjoying your trip report so far! It sounds like you all had such a great time - can't wait for your next installment

 

[LaurenMic]

Just writing to say how much I am enjoying your trip report so far! It sounds like you all had such a great time - can't wait for your next installment

Thanks, we did have a great time! Glad you're reading and you like it. I'm trying to post as often as possible because I hate waiting for new posts when I'm reading other people's TRs. What can I say, I'm very impatient

 

[LaurenMic]

Since I'm on the boards AGAIN (ahh I'm addicted!) and procrastinating, I thought I'd post a couple more pics that go along with my last report!
Us "kids" in front of the tree:

This trip DBF and I took pics with every single pair of 3D glasses...oh how we find ways to entertain ourselves! Here's Muppet Vision 3D:

Ok seriously time to do work! haha yeah right

 

[DisneyDaughter5589]

Its so great reading you TR its like re-living parts of my Trip. (Actually makes me want to do a Trip Report) Your DBF and my DBF both LOVE ToyStory! Also we are both smart girls and put our DBF of the Left hand (outside) on the backlot tour! (My DBF was however alittle ill at first b/c I knew putting him on the outside he would get wet ) We didnt eat at PTC this year, however in Dec.06 we did and really liked it. (Of course this was Pre-DIS and we had no idea what to expect)

 

[LaurenMic]

Its so great reading you TR its like re-living parts of my Trip. (Actually makes me want to do a Trip Report) Your DBF and my DBF both LOVE ToyStory! Also we are both smart girls and put our DBF of the Left hand (outside) on the backlot tour! (My DBF was however alittle ill at first b/c I knew putting him on the outside he would get wet ) We didnt eat at PTC this year, however in Dec.06 we did and really liked it. (Of course this was Pre-DIS and we had no idea what to expect)

We have a lot in common! You should totally do a trip report, they are so fun, and I'd love to hear about your experiences from that same time of year! And I see you got your signature all fixed. My fingers are crossed that you get to go on your September trip!

 

[Scot-n-Michelle]

ok i am caught up - i really liked it till... we got to the part about the Boston Red Sox - BOOOO!!!! - GO CLEVELAND INDIANS - disney is our first love - the indians are are second - can't wait to read more!!!

 

[nts4wdw]

Great so far!! So jealous of the BWV! You all look like you are having so much fun. Birthdays are great at WDW. I've been for my birthday three times and had a blast. Looking forward to more.

 

[LaurenMic]

Picking up where I left off…

We check into the cute little living room at Prime time. Mom stands guard at the hostess standing so we can get seated promptly (we hope) and have plenty of time to eat before we head back to the hotel. Dad, DBF, and I head to the bar for our first cocktails of the vacation (well, the boys got beer, they make fun of me for drinking girly drinks!). Our 5:30 ADR passes and we’re still at the bar. Dad decides to fill in the manager on the situation, telling him we need to be in and out quick for Mom’s bday cruise, and what do you know, the guy works is Disney Magic and we get a table within minutes! I forget his name, but he was so nice.

So we settle into our table and order right away to speed up the process. I got the meatloaf and smores for dessert, both were soooo good! Our server, Amanda was hilarious. She made up nicknames for all of us like Scooter and Princess, and made fun of Dad for being in such a hurry. She teased me a lot for not eating veggies, but I didn’t have to sing because of it, which has happened to me there in the past! Talk about embarrassing! She was great, but they messed up our orders and the food took forever to come out. So that bugs me. Then, Amanda decides to bring out a cupcake and sing to mom (this is song number 3 for those of you keeping track!). It was very cute, the cupcake was yummy and she made the whole room sing to “Mom”. I wish I had pics, dad videotaped this part. The problem was, it was now 7:15 and I was freaking out. We needed to get the bags to the room, change, and check in at the marina by 8:00! If we missed the cruise, it would still be charged to my card and mom would be without her Bday gift

Dad and DBF see me freaking out, so we decide to make a run for it and get to the hotel and get the luggage while mom pays. I hated rushing out on her dinner, but her gift was at risk! We literally ran out of MGM, skipped the boat and jogged straight to Boardwalk. It was quite the adrenaline rush. We stopped at the lobby to tell them to send the bags and got our room number. We race around trying to find it and get lost twice (ugh!) before we stumble upon it. Turns out we had a first floor villa overlooking the canal to MGM/the Swan and Dolphin, so we were upgraded from the Garden view we thought we had! I was excited, but distracted because as I am running around finding blankets from the rooms to bring with us on the boat so we wouldn’t freeze to death, I realize DBF is on the phone. This is no time for phone calls! I am starting to get annoyed, but when he hangs up 5 minutes later, it turns out he was on the phone with his new boss-he had just been offered a job! I mentioned in an early post that he had just graduated from college, two weeks before this trip, and had been scrambling to find one before we left. He was hired as a marketing associate at a big company here in CT, and he was going to be making big money! I pause my mad dash for warm clothes (the bags got there during all this) to jump up and down and hug him. Just then the rest of the family walks in to hear the good news. We all cheer for him, before we rush to change into 5 layers of clothing to prepare for what was predicted to be the coldest night Disney had seen in years. What a crazy evening!

We got to the marina on time by some miracle and checked in. The boat didn’t leave until 8:30 so we had time to check out a bit of the Yacht Club. The lobby was gorgeous and I loved the decorations. We are New Englanders so this was our kind of place.

We relaxed for a bit then headed out to see the boat. It was all decorated with a banner and balloons. The pictures aren’t great because our fingers were freezing off! Everyone thought we were nuts for doing this, but even in though it was 26 degrees out we were so excited! First, the boat took us all around the water, to MGM and back and around the resorts. The view was gorgeous with everything all lit up. We all couldn’t be happier. Mom was close to tears I think. There was also snacks and drinks on board. The driver was so nice, he really made the trip special.
Sorry if these were blurry!
The side of the boat:

Me and DBF trying to keep warm!

Burrrr!

After driving around a bit, we docked under the bridge by International Gateway to see Illuminations. While we were waiting ofr the show, the driver presents a cake for mom! Dad and I were shocked at this, because we had called to order one, but when I called to confirm two weeks before we left, they said they lost the order! But there it was, the yummiest cake ever:

The CM insisted that we sing, even though this was the fourth time that day! Hey, can't get enough of your bday at Disney! After the driver served us, the show started. Perfect timing! I hadn’t seen it in years so it was really exciting. Snuggled up with the family and DBF, it was the most memorable night I’ve ever had at Disney. I teared up a little too, I just couldn’t help it!
Our view of Illuminations:

After the show, we got let off back at the Boardwalk, with cake and snacks in hand. It was time for bed after a wonderful first day in the parks! Next time: Breakfast at CP and MK, my favorite!!