No Day But Today- Final Thoughts
I gave in, you guys. Im typing this up in one MS Word window, but in another is a blank document titled Disneyween: The Pre-Trip. I couldnt hold out any longer!
But before I let myself post that, I need to finish this one up! Otherwise Im going to end up with 3 trip reports going on at the same time, and for a girl who cant do even two things at once on the best of days, thats just not a good idea!
I decided to break this down into three easy lists: 10 Best Things about this trip, 10 Worst Things, and 10 Tips Id like to share. And then Ill probably do some good old fashioned blah blah blah at the end to sum up and get all nostalgic and emotional. And then I get a cookie for actually finishing.
Sound like a plan?
Good!
10 Best Things
It was hard to narrow this down to just 10, let me tell you! But you probably expected that. These are in no particular order.
1- Seeing Joe Rohde at Animal Kingdom!
This ones pretty obvious, huh? I still cant explain how cool this was. I got to see my hero, and it was all by crazy twists of chance! Very cool. Getting to see the tiger checkup was pretty cool, too!
2- Tea at the Grand Floridian
Weve been wanting to do this for years now, and Im so glad that we finally did. I almost never do table service meals (and this isnt technically a meal), but this was totally worth splurging on. It was so nice to just sit there for three hours over our tea and scones and soak up the atmosphere, enjoying conversation and the rare Disney time when youre not rushing to do anything. Bliss! The tea was SO good, the scones were heaven. Were planning to do this again!
3- Lodge Tours
First of all, these were free! Whats free at Disney World? Not much! If youre staying at either Lodge, I recommend taking some time out to take the lobby tours! Hearing about how WL was built from Stan was so neat, it actually made me have a greater appreciation of the Lodge. And the AKL art tour was exactly the kind of experience a Disney trip should be about- getting to interact with a CM from somewhere youve never been, learn about where theyre from, and learn about where youre staying, as well. How often do you get a chance to talk to someone from Africa? I love that I learned that my tour guide works at a hotel back at home- its funny that we have the same job, but a whole world apart!
4- Beach Club Vilas- I have a new love! I really enjoyed BCV. Being able to walk to Epcot in about 5 minutes is awesome! The rooms are beautiful- just my style. The whole time I felt like I was really staying in some wealthy friends beach house! Having the microwave and fridge is so handy! And I loved being able to see Spaceship Earth from my room! (Well, able to see it most of the time!) Not to mention being able to see Illuminations from my balcony! I really hope to stay here again in October!
5-
Crocs Athens- Are you a Crocs convert yet? If you like the idea of comfy, but just cant deal with the ugly, let me recommend the Athens style. Yes, they are $30 flip-flops, but they RULE. I still got some blisters this trip, but overall, it was the least foot pain Ive ever had on a Disney trip! I alternated between my Beach Crocs and the Athens, but the Athens really are my favorites!
6- Early morning at Animal Kingdom Lodge- There is something so cool about waking up before sunrise and sitting out on your balcony with some coffee to watch the savannah wake up. It was so peaceful! And then heading out to the staircase to watch the show as the animals waited to get through the gate. SO much fun!
7- Adventurers Club Oh, come on, you knew this would be on the list! I have loved the Club since my first visit in 2001 when Samantha Sterling pointed out Jennifer Watsons baby (a stuffed Skippy from Alien Encounter) didnt appear to be done yet. (Ah yes, this was long before the days of baby Alex!!!) They had me at Kungaloosh. I cant wait to go for Halloween!
8- Hanging out on the Polynesian beach with a pizza and some ducks- Its such a simple thing, really- taking some down time to eat lunch and enjoy the sunshine. But its one of my favorite memories. The beach over by Aotearoa is my favorite spot on WDW property, and relaxing there, eating yummy pizza, sticking my tired toes in the cool sand, soaking up the sun, and listening to the ducks discuss whether or not they though Id share my food with them was a party for the senses. Now that was true vacation time!
9- The new Nemo ride at Epcot- It may be The Seas now, but I wont stop calling it Living Seas anytime soon. I am old and set in my ways. I am, however, thrilled that they finally DID something with the ride area! Before this trip, I got to do the ride ONCE, on my first trip in 2000, and its been closed ever since. Such a big chunk of the pavilion just sitting there! I love what theyve done with it! (But I do kind of miss they hydrolators.) I also love Crush. Basically, I love seeing a great pavilion getting some new life breathed into it!
10- Captain Jacks Pirate Tutorial. Do I need to say anything more about this one, ladies? I only wish that Jack stuck around to pose for pictures after! Or was available for long walks on the beach. Whatever.
10 Worst Things
1- You can probably guess that Worst Thing #1 is having a family member pass away while I was on vacation. Getting bad news about things at home is a very odd situation when youre at the World. On one hand, youre upset about it, and wishing you could be home to support family. On the other hand, you know that vacation time is short, and you know youd feel bad if you didnt enjoy this trip to the fullest. Its a weird situation, and I really hope I dont have to experience it again!
2- Bad bartender service at WL. This wasnt a huge deal by any means, but it makes the list because it is the one bad time I have *ever* in 8 trips had bad service in a restaurant or bar. Also, I think Katie now has a fear of blueberry syrup.
3- The transportation sillyness getting from Epcot to Downtown Disney- I admit this is totally my fault for forgetting that there are no longer direct busses from the parks to DD. Learn from my mistakes, friends! I get that Disney doesnt want people parking at DD for free and taking the busses to the parks. But I really hate that we spent over an hour and a half of my very last night at Disney wandering aimlessly! And even worse that that was a lost hour and a half of Adventurers Club time! Eep! At least Ive learned my lesson! And hey, I got to hang out with Care and talk, so at least that good came of it!
4- Ice Storm 2007!!!
I have been informed by my friends who live in Springfield (since it was the part that was declared a disaster area after the storm) that you have to use at least 3 exclamation points after the title. As thrilled as I was to not only miss the storm, but to be somewhere sunny and warm while my home was covered in ice, having crazy weather at home added quite a bit of worries to my trip. I was seriously wondering if Id have to call up CRO and try to add on some extra nights to my trip, if they didnt stop canceling flights! I guess this is one of the down sides to traveling during off season: You get to escape the cold weather at home, which is great, but you might not be able to get back home, either!!!
5- Florida Hair- My hair hates Florida. Does this happen to you, too? No matter how cute my hair is in the hotel room, the second I step outside- BOOM! Hair disaster. I tried curling it once- Hahahahahah! That lasted three seconds. Its too frizzy to wear down. Too stubborn to do anything with. Disney for me means a lot of pony tails! (I recently watched a video of my first night at WDW this trip- it looks like I have a dead squirrel stapled to the back of my head instead of a ponytail! Oh, Florida, why do you hate my hair so?)
5- My Jeans- I have two pairs of the cutest jeans you will ever see. They are long enough for my
Amazon woman legs, and they make me cute. But after a day or so at Disney, they fall down.
The great thing about walking a mile or so every day for a couple of wees before you go to WDW is that you break in your shoes, and get in better shape for your trip. The bad thing about it is that it makes your jeans looser, and you spend the ENTIRE trip pulling them up. They start looking super baggy on you- very unflattering in photos!
My goal is to find supercute jeans for my trip that so NOT turn into a wrinkly pile of saggyness after one day! (Come on now, lets all admit it- we wear our jeans several days at WDW without washing them. Theyre too bulky to pack a dozen pairs, and were all too lazy to do laundry. Its ok. Admit it, youll feel better.)
6- Heelys!
I hope there is some kind of karmic retribution for the guy who invented these things! If I had a dollar for every time a kid rolled by on these things (which are supposed to be banned in the parks), we would be staying in a suite for the next trip. I get that kids legs get tired, and that rolling is fun, but its just not safe. As an able-bodied adult, its easy to stop suddenly or hop out of the way when a kid is rolling towards you, but there are a lot of little ones still trying to get the hang of the whole walking thing at Disney, and Id hate to see them get crashed into.
There was one time leaving Epcot where we saw a girl wearing Heelys try to stop, but somehow tripped, and went flying in a rather acrobatic manner. She must be part cat, because she landed on her feet, and was fine, but probably a little scared. There was a quick moment where Katie and I exchanged a look that said That was the funniest thing EVER, but is it okay to laugh at it? Will we be horrible people? Its okay to laugh, since she didnt get hurt Katie decided, breaking the silence, and we cracked up. Yes, we are horrible people. But every time Id seen a kid on those things the whole trip, I had been expecting them to fall, because they never quite look like they have total control. So to finally see it happen was way funnier than it probably should have been.
Katie and Crystal: Laughing at the misfortune of children since 2007! (But hey, were still better people than the guy that invented them!)
7- Wow. I cant think of anything else! Um
number seven. Wow. Oh! Okay! They still play that Top 7 Must Sees at WDW over and over and over, and the host doesnt get any less annoying (although shes at least better than the previous ones.) Bring back the Zip a dee do dah tip for today! Or at least alternate between this and something else! PLEASE. But oh! That reminds me of something else that I loved! The resorts each seem to have their own TV channel now! It tells you the hours of the restaurants, info about the resort, etc. The best one by far was at AKL, where it gave you info on the animals. I kept meaning to video tape it, but never did! Next time!
And now that Ive run so far out of things to complain about that Im praising things again, Ill end this list!
10 Tips!
1- Photopass it up- If youre planning to buy the Photopass CD, or even just considering it, get photos taken as often as possible! Also, as you saw evidence of in the last update, not every Photopass photo you have taken is going to turn out well. Want to increase your chances of getting a great one? Dont be afraid to have a lot taken! As you walk down Main Street USA, for example, youre going to pass Photopass photographers in at least 10 different locations along the street. Stopping at more than one of them not only gives you variety- the castle will be closer in some than others- but it doubles your chances of getting a great photo. I also recommend getting as many of these photos done early in the day as you can- I dont know about you, but I certainly dont get prettier after hours in the parks! The way I look when I first arrive at the park is pretty much as good as its going to get, so take my picture before my hair is sticking out in eight directions and my eyeliner has melted down to my cheeks!
2- January! This was my first time going in January, but Im pretty sure Ill be doing it again! There was a really cold day in there (my first one) where it got down in the 30s at night, but most of the time was t-shirt weather. (Hahaha, take that, folks stuck at home during Ice Storm 2007!!!) The crowds werent bad at all. They picked up a little around MLK day, but I avoided that by picking the day that would be the busiest, and making it a resort day. My only complaint is that if Id just gone a week later, I would have been able to do the Pirate & Princess party!
3- Break in your shoes & Walk before your trip! Yes, Crocs are notoriously comfy. Some people can put on a new pair at WDW for the first time and be fine, but the little bumps on the bottom bother my feet if I dont break them in first. Plus it helps to mold them to your feet for maximum comfyness! Basically, dont assume that just because you have super comfy shoes for your trip that you dont need to break them in first!!! I highly, highly recommend walking a mile a day for at least a week before your trip, wearing the shoes you plan to wear. When I first put my new crocs on and hopped on the treadmill, they were super-comfy
until 8/10 of a mile in, when they started rubbing the top of my toe. Any shoes can be comfortable for short distances, chances are you arent going to discover the problems with them until youve really put them to the test. My new rule is to do at least 5 miles in any new shoes before they go to WDW! Plus, its surprising how much a little bit of extra walking before your trip makes the long days in the parks easier! Even if you only feel like you can do half a mile a day to prepare, youll feel the difference!
4- Take time to appreciate your resorts- Im slowly getting better at this. Ive stayed at the WL so many times, but this is the first time I really set out to explore it just for the sake of exploration, as well as the first time I took the tour. The resorts have so many neat places hidden away, tucked into their hallways. You may not have time to walk up and down every hallway of AKL like I did, but why not just take a few minutes to walk farther down the hall that your room is in, and see whats there? Or to sit in the lobby for a few minutes and just appreciate it?
5- AP Discounts!
Ready for proof of what a nerd I am? I did the math to see how much $ I saved with my AP.
I got two trips out of this pass- my Feb 06 trip, and this one. Between the two trips, I spent a total of 14 days in the parks. If I had bought a 6 day and an 8 day park hopper (one for each trip), the total cost would have been $544- nearly the price of my pass itself!
I also spent 3 nights at Pleasure Island, and one at DQ. A 1 day Disney quest ticket plus a PI AP adds up to another $100, bringing us up to $644.
I had a big list worked out detailing how much AP savings I got on resorts, but now I cant find it, so Im going to guess
I saved around $100 total on our 5 nights at Pop in Feb, I know. My resort savings on this trip was around $600.
All added up, it comes to around $1350 value from my pass! Not too shabby!
And once again, I dont have ten whole things for the list! Its a good thing I dont have a job as a writer for David Letterman!
So, how do I end this trip report? Ive now officially been home from this trip for two months- you guys have been very patient with me!
I honestly dont know what else I can tell you about this trip that I havent already said. Three months of typing about it will do that, I guess! So now, due to your requests and my own lack of anything better to do, Im going to go start the Disneyween pre-trip.
If you have any questions about this trip, anywhere I stayed, traveling solo, anything- ask away! I need something to keep me entertained at work!
Otherwise, thank you guys all so much for reading and replying! Its the highlight of my day to come on here and see new responses. It makes writing it so much more fun! And a special thanks to you guys who have been following along and commenting since this started- youre awesome!!!
Id love to stay and chat, but I have a pre-trip to start. See ya real soon!
Well done!
Hurry, start your Disneyween pre-trip report so I don't have to suffer!
