Oh my GOODNESS...WE'RE BACK!!!! (the end up 6/24)

[cmp1111]

Ooh, I'm first! Looking forward to it. I'm at 15 days myself and can barely contain my excitement.

Let us know how it went! My DH is tolerant but not near as excited as I am, so hopefully you have good tips for me.

 

[Disneyolic]

Just back today from our 6 days in the World. We had an absolutely fantastic time, even my non-Disney loving DH had way more fun than he thought he would (thank you very much!!) so it was more than I hoped for!! I'll get pics and a TR and dining report up soon!!

I had to remember what report this was as you changed the name, huh? Well...

Welcome Back

I can't wait for the trip report to begin...

 

[veryblessed]

Just found your TR today and I am looking foward to reading more!!! It helps me not go crazy until I go!!!

 

[jess98ac]

We spent 4 days in Key West before we went to Disney and we LOVED it. It was our first time there, we had such a blast. I won't get into too many details here since this is the Disboard after all, but PM me if you want more info or have more questions!!

OK - on with the Disney show!!

Day 1 - May 6th - arrival and Epcot

We woke up on our last day in Key West with mixed feelings - well, mine were mixed, DH was flat out bummed to be leaving. We had a really great time and as much as I hated to leave, we were going to DISNEY!! It was FINALLY time for the part of the trip that I had been talking about, obsessing over and planning for what seemed like years (it was really only about 4.5 mos, but who's counting). We ate our last delicious breakfast at the B&B where we were staying, grabbed our bags and called a cab. We had a 12:05 flight from Key West to Orlando.

We arrived at the airport about an hour before our flight. The ticket agent tried to take off our yellow ME luggage tags because she didn't know what they were. I had to stop her, I didn't want our luggage to not end up with us at POR!!

If you've never been to the aiport in Key West it's quite an experience. There are 2 gates, one for arrivals and one for departures. It was quite amusing to hear "Passengers on flight # blah blah to Orlando, please come to the gate now." Anyway, after 2 small problems (a passenger who had a panic attack and refused to get off the plane once she landed in KW, and a computer glich that involved completely powering down the tiny little plane...twice), we were on our way about 1/2 late.

We touched down after our very short flight at about 1:20. We were HERE!!! I was so excited to finally be there that I could barely sit still...but the plane was so small that there was only one seat per row, so I wasn't bothering anyone!

We made our way down to the ME desk and got to wait in our first Disney line. It moved VERY fast and we were on the bus by about 2. Our bus was going to OKW, SS, POR and FW, with POR being the third stop. We pulled into the POR lot at 3PM. I can't even tell you how excited I was by the point!! We hopped off the bus, grabbed our carry on and went inside. I was a little nervous about check in crowds since it was already 3, but there were only a couple of people in front of us. Check in was fast and before I knew it, we had our KTTW, resort maps, park info, and DDP info. Once that was taken care of I finally looked around a little...the lobby is gorgeous and so spacious!! It was themed beautifully!

We were assigned AB bldg 18, room 1857. We set off in search of the room. After an almost detour over the bridge to Ol Man Island we found our way. AB 18 is the second building after passing the main one, it was perfect. I had requested bldg 14, 18 or one other I can't remember and a second floor room. Also, we had paid for a king room. 1857 was PERFECT. It was a second floor CORNER room over looking the quiet pool!!! JACKPOT! The room was a really good size, the bed was huge, and there was plenty of storage for both of us.

We were STARVING so we split a sandwich at the food court and then headed out to Epcot for our dinner at Alfredo's (we had a 6PM ADR). I wanted to enter Epcot through the IG so we would be in WS, so our plan was to boat to DTD, bus to BW and walk. I honestly can't remember what time we left the room, but we had allowed PLENTY of time. We walked over to the dock only to see them making people get off the boat and take the busses due to thunder and lightning in the area...they weren't kidding!! We headed out to the South Depot, got on a DTD bus really quickly and then the storm started. It was NUTS!! Lucky for us, it was just drizzling by the time we got to DTD and had stopped by the time we got on the next bus. We took the bus to the YC and walked to Epcot from there...it was a nice quick walk and it had stopped raining.

We entered Epcot and I almost danced. It's my favorite park and I was so excited to be there. We walked right towards France and just took our time strolling to Italy.

We checked in at 5:50 for our 6PM ADR and we were seated right at 6. I'm going to do a seperate dining report so I won't go into too much detail here, but we really liked it. I had the Fetuccine Alfredo app, lasagna dinner and Tiramisu for dessert. DH had the lobster bisque, gnocci, and chocolate cannolli. We weren't starving because we had just split a sandwich (we tried to wait for dinner, but we couldn't!!), but the food was all very good, and we liked the atmosphere of the restaurant.

We finished dinner at about 7:30 and decided to keep walking the rest of the way around WS. The topiaries for the F&G Festival were really cool. There were lots of character ones!

We strolled and decided to ride the new Gran Fiesta ride in Mexico. We saw a few more F&G displays along the way.

There's DH waving!

The ride was really cute and the updates were great. It was a walk on (this isn't a ride I would ever wait for) so it was perfect.

After that we kept walking and decided we were way too beat to stay for Illuminations so we kept going out the IG and through the BW. More F&G stuff -

We caught the bus with a short wait to DTD and walked through the Marketplace to PI and caught the boat back to POR. We stopped and got our mugs, filled them and headed back to the room. Our bags were waiting for us so we unpacked and then crashed.

It was a perfect first night!!!

Up next - Epcot for rope drop, DTD, DQ and Raglan Road.

 

[cmp1111]

Cool! Sorry, but I couldn't see any of the pictures. But, it sounds like you had a great first night! I'm happy to hear that ME was easy and pretty fast, and that you got the room you wanted! The F&G thing is still going on when we're there, so I'm pleased to hear that it was pretty!

I'll be very anxious to hear about Raglan Road, because after much hemming and hawing, that's what DH and I are doing for our "date night" when we put our kids in the Simba Club babysitting dealio at AKL one night. It was highly recommended by some folks at the restaurant board, so here's hoping!

Thanks for sharing!

C.E.

 

[jess98ac]

Cool! Sorry, but I couldn't see any of the pictures. But, it sounds like you had a great first night! I'm happy to hear that ME was easy and pretty fast, and that you got the room you wanted! The F&G thing is still going on when we're there, so I'm pleased to hear that it was pretty!

I'll be very anxious to hear about Raglan Road, because after much hemming and hawing, that's what DH and I are doing for our "date night" when we put our kids in the Simba Club babysitting dealio at AKL one night. It was highly recommended by some folks at the restaurant board, so here's hoping!

Thanks for sharing!

C.E.

Argh, they were there last night!! I'll have to figure out what happened when I get back on my computer tonight.

 

[jess98ac]

Argh, they were there last night!! I'll have to figure out what happened when I get back on my computer tonight.

WHEW - they should be fixed now. I'll have day 2 up by the end of the week!

 

[cmp1111]

Yep, there they are! They're terrific! Look at that room!

I'm excited that the F&G thing is still ongoing when we arrive - it looks so cool!

Can't wait to find out about the next thing! Thanks for the pictures.

 

[KathyRN137]

Hello again, Jess!

BACK!!

Ahh, what's so great about a TR is that it helps to ease the Post Disney Blues! Those topiaries are gorgeous; I'm so glad you posted pics b/c I will probably never get to do WDW at this time of year. I really enjoyed them.

You were so smart to include some non-Disney stuff in your vacation since DH was lukewarm about it!

Looking forward to more TR and more pics!

Kathy

 

[jess98ac]

Day 2 - Monday 5/7
First full day at Disney!!


We set the alarm to be up early, this was a Disney vacation after all!! I got up showered and then woke up DH. He wasn't too happy with me, but with promises of down time at the resort later and no lines if we got to Epcot early, he got up. While he showered I went to the food court to grab us some breakfast. I got 2 bananas (paid OOP, didn't want to use snack credits on those), 1 bagel to share (1 S credit) and filled our mugs with coffee (me) and tea (DH). I brought it all back to the room and we ate while he finished getting dressed and ready to go.

We headed out to the South Depot and had a short wait (other than one time coming back from PI, we never waited more then 5-10 minutes for a bus to or from anywhere!). We got to Epcot at about 8:45, got through the bag check, through the turnstiles and were waiting at the rope at Innoventions just before 9. The rope dropped, I grabbed DH's hand and we joined the stampede to Soarin'. I don't think he believed me when I warned him about this!! He couldn't believe it!

We were at Soarin by about 9:05-9:10, posted wait time was 20 minutes. I'm sure it wasn't that long, I think they just start it there! We grabbed FPs anyway, return time was about 50 minutes away. We headed over to Livin with the Land. I hadn't been on this in about 10 years so I wanted to check it out. We were on the first boat of the day. I actually liked it better with the recorded narration. It was more interesting than I remember it being.

After our boat ride through the veggies we decided to go see Nemo and his friends. We walked over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. DH hadn't seen the redesigned outside, he thought it was pretty neato. (I don't know why I don't have any pics of it ) There was a posted 10 minute wait, but I think they put that because it's a 10 minute hike to where the ride actually starts. I can't even IMAGINE how long the wait would be if there were actually people in the entire queue!! The ride was a walk on! It was cute. Much better than just having this whole attraction be a walk through, but I still like the old ride the best. Little ones will really love this though, and the concept is cool.

After Nemo it was time for our FP for Soarin'. We handed in our tickets, strapped on our backpacks, checked our camping supplies and started the trek to where the ride actually starts. This queue is SOOOOO LOOOONNNGGG!! We got right one, great seats, towards the middle of the second row of the middle section. We love this ride. We first went on it at CA back in 2001 and were excited when it came to Epcot.

After our trip over CA, we headed over to TT and MS. TT had a posted wait of 20 min, we grabbed FP and headed to MS. I love the intense version of this ride and our original plan was to split up, I'd go orange, DH would go green. When we got there I decided to try the green, too, because my stomach wasn't feeling great (could it be the spectacular coffee from the POR food court??!! LOL). The green was cool, but I still like the orange. After we left Mars we still had 25 minutes until our FP return for TT. We grabbed a pretzel (1 S credit), filled our mugs at a water fountain, and sat on a bench and people watched for a while. I think DH was pleasantly surprised that relaxing like that could be a part of a day at Disney!! After our little break we headed to TT, walked right into the preshow room (with our FP), and took a spin, it was fun as always.

At this point it was just about noon and we had seen everything we wanted to see in FW. We hadn't figured out how to escape Ellen's Energy Adventure after the dinosaur part, and SE was closed for a short refurb!!! We headed over to WS. We had ridden Gran Fiesta last night so we just stopped in Mexico for drinks (it was 5 o'clock somewhere), a margarita for me and a Dos Equis for DH. We poked around in the shops in Norway, Maelstrom was closed so we couldn't ride. Here's DH's best viking impression.

We kept walking, poking in and out of shops and countries, and soon found ourselves back in Italy.

We caught the end of a performance by the WS players here, hysterical as usual. We kept walking and got to the US just in time for the 1:15 show by Voices of Liberty, which I always love. We stopped and got some sugared almonds (1 S credit) and headed in for the show. After listening to their 15 minute show we went up to the theater for the American Adventure. I LOVE this show, always have. DH took a little snooze, LOL.

We wanted to be back at POR by about 4 so we started to head back towards the front entrance (we were coming back on our last night). We stopped in the UK so I could get fish and chips for lunch (1 CS credit) and I got a pint of Bass with it, DH headed into the pub and grabbed a Guiness. We sat for a few so I could eat, then kept walking, stopping to check out the topiaries along the way.

We caught the bus back to POR with almost no wait, and were there right about 4. We went to the room, hung out a bit, changed and got ready for our night at DTD. Around 5 we went down to the dock and got on the boat to DTD. This was certainly not the FAST way to get there, but it was nice. They were working on the docks at Marketplace the whole time we were there, so the resort boats were running from the PI dock.

We got off the boat and headed to DQ, got there about 5:30 and walked right in. The elevator ride to the third floor was SO NEAT!! We weren't expecting that at all!! We had never been here before, so it was a little confusing to get around, but we figured it out. We decided to start at the bottom and work our way up. We did Virtual Jungle Cruise with no wait...that was TOUGH, we laughed through the whole thing because we couldn't paddle fast enough!! After that we went to Pirates, had to wait about 15 minutes, but it was worth it, it was SO cool!!! We then took a ride with Aladdin on his carpet, I thought this was ok, DH didn't like it. We played some video games and then shot some asteroids with Buzz. This was neat, but by the time we figured out how to shoot and drive, the ride was over. Next we did Cyber Space Mountain which is what I had been looking forward to the most. We thought we were designing this big bad roller coaster, then when they rated it, it only got a 2 out of 5!! LOL
We decided to ride it anyway, and it was really cool. We decided to head out and come back another time to design another one. Overall, DQ was a lot of fun. I don't know that it would be if it were crowded (there was no one there when we were), or if we had had to pay OOP, but it was definitely worth going to for us!

We still had about 45 minutes to our 8PM ADR at RR, so we walked slowly through the West Side to PI and stopped at a few shops along the way. We checked in about 20 minutes early and were seated within 5-10 minutes of that. We got a high top table right at the beginning of where the rounded booths start (if that makes sense). It was a perfect spot for watching the band and the dancer that started about 9 (both were fantastic, definitely worth checking out even if you don't eat here).

I had heard mixed reviews of Raglan Road, so was a little nervous. I shouldn't have been. We had a great server (not exactly quick, but we weren't in a hurry). We each got a couple black and tans (you kind of HAVE to in an Irish Pub, don't you?) and checked out the menu. As I said before, I'm going to do a dining report, but I will tell you that we both REALLY liked our meals here. We both had the steak salad to start, it was FANTASTIC, I think the best appetizer of the trip, and it was big enough for a meal...yet we both ate it all! DH had he Guiness Stew and I had the Sheperd's Pie. For dessert DH had the Apple crumble which was very good, and I had the Banoffi Beauty which was heavenly!! We sat and enjoyed the band for a bit, then headed out. Stopped in the gift shop, but didn't buy anything, and then hopped on the bus (with no wait) back to POR, got there about 11:30. I did my notes for the day and then we both crashed!!

It was a great first day!

Tomorrow - MK and Whispering Canyon

 

[cmp1111]

What a nice sounding day! I am so pleased that you were happy at RR - that's where DH and I are doing our "date" night while the kids are in a babysitting club.

I love the pictures!

 

[KathyRN137]

I laughed at the "boat ride through the veggies" line; I never really thought about the ride that way before!

Glad to see you two having so much fun...looking forward to the next chapter...

Kathy

 

[jess98ac]

Day 3 - Tuesday 5/8

Today was MK day!! Epcot is my favorite park, but there's still nothing like walking into the MK...it gives me goosebumps!

Anyway, there was NO getting DH up to get to MK for rope drop today. I tried, but it just didn't work. I got up and showered and went to the food court to fill our mugs and grab some food - I didn't write it down so I can't remember what I got, other than coffee for me and tea for DH.

Even with him being pokey we were on a bus before 9 and at the gate by 9:10, so I couldn't really complain (at least not out loud). We got in the bag line, went through the turnstiles and walked onto Main St USA! We were here!! YAY!

DH got a nervous look in his eye as he surveyed the crowd, but once I assured him that we were NOT waiting in character lines and that that's why there seemed to be SO many people right there, he was ok. We walked down Main St, taking in all the sights and smells and sounds, and headed right into Tomorrowland. DH grabbed a bench and I high tailed it over the Space Mountain for a FP. The posted wait was 10 minutes, our FP return time was about an hour away at 10:25.

FPs in hand, I met back up with DH and we took our first spin with Buzz Lightyear. I just LOVE this ride, I always have so much fun. I talked a lot of smack and of course got my hiney kicked by DH, but he was at least nice about it!

After Buzz we walked over to Fantasyland. Pooh already had a 20 minute wait and we couldn't get FPs yet, so we kept walking. Snow White was basically a walk on so we hopped on and survived the Scary Adventures. We kept walking and I couldn't resist taking this

(don't worry, we only had to take out a few small children so DH could have a turn)

Then I turned around and took this - crowd level doesn't look to bad there!!

We kept walking and flew along with Peter Pan after less than a 10 minute wait (20 min posted)...this is still one of my favorites!! IASW was a walk on so we headed over there, it's a must do on every trip...I almost feel like it's against the Disney Law or something to skip it. I don't even love the ride, I just feel guilty or something!!

It still wasn't quite time for our FP for SM, so we kept going into Liberty Square and rode HM. I'm SO glad we were there while it was still open, I would miss it if we couldn't go on!! We left our hitchiking ghost behind and kept walked through Frontierland...we walked on the boardwalk along the water and checked out the wait times for Splash and BTMRR. Splash was posted 30, but was also not running at the time, so I grabbed FPs (can't remember when the return was, I want to say sometime around 12 or so) and got in the 15 minute posted line at BTMRR. We were on the ride in under 10!! I think I'm getting old because I don't remember this being so herky jerky!!

DH didn't have enough train time on the runaway one so we took the real one from Frontierland over to Mickey's Toontown. We decided to "come back later" to check out the mouse houses, but we never did. We walked along the "secret" path to Tomorrowland to ride Space...we didn't see one single person on the whole path...it was so peaceful!! We rocketed into outer space with no wait, we literally walked through the queue and got in a car, it was nuts!!!

By this point it was a little after 12 and we were hungry. We debated where/what we wanted and decided a tuna sandwich would hit the spot so we walked over to Columbia Harbour House. Neither of us had ever eaten there, but I had heard good things so we took a chance. We both had the tuna, fries for me, can't remember what DH's side was, but it wasn't fries, and we both had apple pie for dessert. It was a good meal, plenty of food, and well worth the 2 CS credits.

We wanted to let our lunch settle so we headed to my favorite attraction in all of MK - Mickey's Philharmagic. I just LOVE this show. It never gets old! We walked through the queue and into the lobby and had about a 5 minute wait before the show.

After we helped Donald get Mickey's hat back we came out into Fantasyland and saw them...the strollers...the children...the tired parents...and we ran!!!
Ok, we didn't run, but we walked very fast out of Fantasyland and into Tomorrowland (stopping for FPs for Pooh which now had a 40 min wait). We hopped on the TTA, which is one of my all time favorites, and then took a spin on the COP. I'm always so happy when it's operating when I'm there...it's so Disney.

It was time for our FP for Splash, but DH wasn't feeling it, so we headed back up Main St to the exit. DH had been asking to ride the monorail since we landed in Orlando, so we decided to take a spin on the resort loop. I asked to sit up front, and since there was just a solo lady up there, they let us! She was very nice, on a solo trip. The driver didn't say a word to us the entire time we were there, so it was a little awkward, but oh well. Here we are just as we pulled out of the Contemporary (I think) taken by the nice lady.

We decided to get off at the Poly because I wanted a "real" cup of coffee, but the Kona coffee bar was closed, so I was out of luck. We took a quick look around, spotted 'Ohana (we would be back here for dinner later in the trip) and went back out to the monorail. The one we were on hadn't even left yet! We got back on (not in the front) and rode around to MK and caught the bus back to POR to relax for a while.

Up next - the rest of day 3!!

 

[cmp1111]

Aww, you guys are so cute! The crowd levels sound great! I keep hearing good things about Columbia HH's tuna! Maybe we'll try it for dinner on our 2nd MK night.

Sorry about the Kona being closed - the one thing I'm really worried about is that DH is a coffee snob.

I'll be anxious to hear about the rest of the day!

C.E.

 

[jess98ac]

Aww, you guys are so cute! The crowd levels sound great! I keep hearing good things about Columbia HH's tuna! Maybe we'll try it for dinner on our 2nd MK night.

Sorry about the Kona being closed - the one thing I'm really worried about is that DH is a coffee snob.

I'll be anxious to hear about the rest of the day!

C.E.

Disney is NOT the place to be for coffee snobs, better warn him now!!

Hopefully I'll get more up before your trip, I'm jealous that you're going soon. Have a BLAST!!!

 

[jess98ac]

Aww, you guys are so cute!

Oh, and thanks!!

 

[cmp1111]

Oh, and thanks!!

It's true! No thanks necessary!

You must be on the MA side of CT? Or, did you grow up more north? I live in NH now - grew up in IL - and can't help but notice the Red Sox hats.

Thanks for the warm wishes for our trip. I am SO excited (but not ready - yikes!)

 

[jess98ac]

It's true! No thanks necessary!

You must be on the MA side of CT? Or, did you grow up more north? I live in NH now - grew up in IL - and can't help but notice the Red Sox hats.

Thanks for the warm wishes for our trip. I am SO excited (but not ready - yikes!)

I actually grew up in MA and moved to CT when DH and I got together (and for work) and now we live outside of Hartford. Yeah, at least one of us had a Sox hat or something on for most of the trip it seemed, and it was always a conversation starter!

 

[jess98ac]

I should have the rest of the TR done by the weekend as our plans have been canceled...DH's "free souvenir" came out in full force today - he has CHICKEN POX!!!
We can't think of any other place where he would have been exposed, and the doc said it can take 7-21 days to come out, we were home for 9 when he started noticing them.

I had them as a child, and we don't have any kids, so we'll be ok...but I don't think we'll be attending any picnics over the long weekend!

 

[cmp1111]

I should have the rest of the TR done by the weekend as our plans have been canceled...DH's "free souvenir" came out in full force today - he has CHICKEN POX!!!
We can't think of any other place where he would have been exposed, and the doc said it can take 7-21 days to come out, we were home for 9 when he started noticing them.

I had them as a child, and we don't have any kids, so we'll be ok...but I don't think we'll be attending any picnics over the long weekend!

Oh, NO! Good luck to him... But good news for your readers!