October/1st Anniversary Trip Report! - Updated! 12/18/2010

[arbolita]

Well hello there, fancy seeing you here! Those of you who are coming over from my PTR know a bit about me and this trip, but I spy a few new faces in the audience, so let me get you caught up.

The Cast:

On the left:
- Me! aka Arbolita/Theresa
- 25 years old (for another 2 weeks)
- Obsessions: Dole Whips, Gertie the Dinosaur, Taking pictures at Disney

On the Right:
- DH aka Mr. Arb/Scott
- 36 years old
- Obsessions: Dole Whips, County Bear Jamboree, Getting his picture on the castle (He was very disappointed that this promotion isn't starting until next year. I'm still hearing about it).
- It's also important to note that he injured his knee a few months back, and still gets pain from it.

Trip Details:
- October 9-15, 2010
- POP Century and Port Orleans - Riverside
- All 4 Disney parks, as well as Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure
- Special Events: Food & Wine Festival, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, Keys to the Kingdom Tour, Halloween Horror Nights (at Universal)

I think those are the essentials you all need to know. Now strap in, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, and please, no flash photography.

 

[arbolita]

Sleep Deprived and Overly Caffeinated
Daisy Duck, my how you've changed!
This Chapter is Open Seasonally
Kicking off our first full day
It Really Is A Small World After All!
Three Parks in One Day? aka I RODE SPACE MOUNTAIN!!

 

[KatMark]

I'm here and I'm FIRST! I can't wait to read all about it.

 

[hollybearsmom]

I'm here and waiting for more!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm ready...bring it on!

 

[Shannon84]

Im joining in

 

[arbolita]

I'm here and I'm FIRST! I can't wait to read all about it.

I'm working on getting caught up on your TR right now, and plan on starting mine later tonight after I finish!

I'm here and waiting for more!

Glad to have you!

I'm ready...bring it on!

Woohoo! Reading your Trip Report before I left definitely got me in a good frame of mind as far as taking pictures/notes to help remember my trip.

Im joining in

I just ran over and saw that you recently started your TR also. I'm excited to have another one to follow!

 

[Scampi]

Looking forward to the trip report!

 

[arbolita]

Looking forward to the trip report!

You won't have to wait too much longer! I'm really hoping to get the first chapter up tonight or tomorrow evening.

 

[LisaKeys]

Wow, I'm actually starting before a link begins!!! YAHOO

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney experience.

 

[jc040404]

I have got to try a Dole Whip...


Signing on! Love catching a TR when it's just starting!

 

[arbolita]

Sleep Deprived & Overly Caffeinated

The night before we left for Disney, both Mr. Arb and myself did not get to sleep as early as we should have. He had been out that evening seeing one of his favorite semi-local singers perform for the first time, and hadn't even started packing until after he got home. I had done most of my packing earlier in the week, but after I had finished tossing in all my last-minute items that I had been using during the week, I came to the conclusion my suitcase was much bigger than I actually needed.

So at around 10:00 PM, I decided that it would be better overall to unpack my ginormous suitcase and re-pack everything into my two smaller ones, taking one as a carry on. Around the time that Mr. Arb was home and we were both packed and ready to go, it was nearing 11:30 PM. We went to bed and I begrudgingly checked the alarm clock make sure it was set for our wake up time...4:35 AM.

Considering that I was waking up for Disney as opposed to going to work, it was surprisingly easy for me to get up in the morning and make sure we had everything together. This was also helped by the Starbucks Double Shot Energy Drink I'd purchased the day before. Our flight was leaving at 7:45 AM, and we were first driving my car to Mr. Arb's mom's house, and she was going to take us to the airport.

We left our apartment at 5:15 AM, and it was around this time that the lack of sleep first started getting to me...when I tried to open the back doors of my car using my car keys.

After I finally realized there was no keyholes back there, I handed my keys over to Mr. Arb and told him that he was going to drive to his mom's house. We made it there around 5:40 AM, and after a quick luggage transfer to her van, we were off to the airport.

We arrived there around 6 AM, and since I had done online check in with AirTran the night before, we went straight over to security, and got through with no problems. As we were walking to our terminal, Mr. Arb was using Foursquare to update his location on Facebook, and it kept trying to tell him that he was already in Orlando. Ahhh, if only it were that simple!

Can you tell who is sleep deprived and who is overly caffeinated?

As we were waiting to board our plane, Mr. Arb decided that he really wanted to revisit the SciFi Dine In during our trip. I logged onto the Disney Reservations site from my phone and took out the copy of our itinerary/ADR's that I had printed before we left, and was able to make a reservation for 7:40 PM the next night.

They began boarding our flight around 7:00. The flight itself was extremely uneventful, and we made it to MCO at 9:35 AM, 25 minutes ahead of schedule. The downside to this was that we were so early the airport wasn't ready for us, and we had to sit in the plane for another 15 minutes until we were able to pull up to a gate.

After we got off the plane, we followed the crowd towards the airport train system, and continued to follow about 75% of the people on our flight over the the DME check in.

The line was much longer this time compared to last year (which makes sense, back then we came on a Tuesday morning), but it was still only about a 10 minute wait until we got outside.

We were seated towards the back of the bus, and we were able to watch the Welcome video for the first time - last year something was wrong with the GPS on our bus, so the video never knew when to start playing. It was cute and definitely getting me in the Disney mood.

And then, through my window, I saw this:

Look at that glorious sign - you can actually see the joy and excitement radiating from it!

Okay, maybe that's just because there was a smudge on the window. But that's besides the point. We had finally arrived!!

Our first stop was at the Caribbean, and then we were off to POP, our home for the next two nights. We got there around 11:30, and I took a couple lobby pictures while we were waiting to check in.

Not surprisingly, our room wasn't ready just yet. They handed us our folder full of park info and our anniversary pins, and sent us on our way. Considering neither of us had really had anything to eat for breakfast, we were both extremely hungry and went off in search of some food.

It was pretty busy when we first walked in, so Mr. Arb went to grab us a table and watch our stuff while I got in line. Nothing was really jumping out at me, so I just decided to get something that I don't often have at home, shrimp lo mein and carrot cake.

After I got back, Mr. Arb went up to grab his food, a chili dog with mustard, and some unpictured apple slices.

After we were done eating, we sat around for a bit relaxing and trying to decide what we wanted to do. Because it's a liquid, all of my suntan lotion was packed in my checked bag, which we wouldn't see until we got to the room. We're both extremely fair skinned, so heading out into the Florida sun on our first day with no protection wasn't an option. I'd seen some pictures of the decor around the resort, so we decided to check it out for ourselves. As we were walking back through the lobby, we were approached by a woman working with Disney Research who wanted to ask us some questions. It turns out she wanted to know if I was interested in keeping a Trip Diary to keep track of what parks we visiting, and how much we spent each day in the park outside of the dining plan. She was working really hard to convince us we should do it, and the entire time I was laughing to myself since I had my own little notebook in my bag to make notes for this trip report. Once I send it back, they'll send me a $25 gift card in return. So thanks DIS-ers! If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't have planned on doing a trip report and might have turned down this opportunity. I owe you one!

Up next: Daisy Duck, my how you've changed!

 

[arbolita]

Wow, I'm actually starting before a link begins!!! YAHOO

Looking forward to reading all about your Disney experience.

Thanks for joining!

I have got to try a Dole Whip...


Signing on! Love catching a TR when it's just starting!

Yes, you absolutely must try a Dole Whip. I had both the regular Pineapple Dole Whip and the Dole Whip Float this time, and they are both fantastic.

 

[ArthurIhde]

wow thanks what a nice report

 

[Shannon84]

I feel like I am re living our September trip so far, this is AWESOME

Isn't it funny how little sleep you need when it comes to Disney, yet how impossible it would be to go to work on that sleep

That is so cool you were chosen to keep a trip diary, I have never heard of that before!!

 

[jc040404]

Yes, you absolutely must try a Dole Whip. I had both the regular Pineapple Dole Whip and the Dole Whip Float this time, and they are both fantastic.

Every time we start planning to go to MK, I tell dh I want to get one. I've yet to actually do it! Even walking by the area, I don't seem to think about it until we're home again.

Awesome update! How nifty that you were asked to keep a journal of your trip. I've never heard of that one before! Yay for $25, too!

 

[hollybearsmom]

Very cool being asked to keep a journal.

yeah for uneventful flight!

 

[arbolita]

I feel like I am re living our September trip so far, this is AWESOME

Isn't it funny how little sleep you need when it comes to Disney, yet how impossible it would be to go to work on that sleep

That is so cool you were chosen to keep a trip diary, I have never heard of that before!!

I was expecting her to just ask us a few questions about our stay. I'm trying to decide if I want to save it for a future trip or buy something fun from the store.

wow thanks what a nice report

Thanks for joining in!

 

[arbolita]

Every time we start planning to go to MK, I tell dh I want to get one. I've yet to actually do it! Even walking by the area, I don't seem to think about it until we're home again.

Awesome update! How nifty that you were asked to keep a journal of your trip. I've never heard of that one before! Yay for $25, too!

We learned that the only other places to get them are at Disneyland and the Dole plant in Hawaii. It really hits the spot when you've been in the sun for several hours.

Very cool being asked to keep a journal.

yeah for uneventful flight!

I have the journal mostly filled out - I just have to finish up the survey at the end of the book and remember to send it out. We're getting ready to move, so I can't decide if I should do it now so they have the info sooner, or if I should wait until after we move.

 

[KatMark]

Great start. One of these days we are going to go over to POP and take a walk around the resort (we've been there once to drop someone off but never got out of the car).