Once more back into the World

[MickeyMaz]

Wednesday 11/7 was the first day of our 2007 trip to WDW. This was the first time we have gone to WDW within a 12 month period. We were down in December 2006 also. It turned out that there were a lot of firsts on this trip. So here we go.
We are a family of four. Myself, 42, DW 40ish, DS10 and DD7. We have been to the WDW parks on and off property for the past 25 years in many different ways. Pretty much all leading up to this trip. We were leaving out of Philadelphia early. We woke up at 5:00 and got the kids up and dressed. We threw the rest of the bags in the truck and headed off to the Car Park were we would leave the truck. Three big bags and each person had their own backpack for the plane. We got to the FastTrack CarPark at around 6:15. Missed the exit but still made it. We then got a ride to the airport. After leaving the bags with the guy at the curb we found our way up to the security check-in line. The line went on forever. It only took about 15 minutes though.

Once through we got a bite to eat waited about 30 minutes and then boarded the plane. The flights to Charlotte and then to Orlando were pretty ordinary. I sat next to a pilot dead-heading it to Orlando for training. Nice guy. After landing in Orlando, we grabbed some lunch at the airport and then found our way down to the Magical Express counter. We waited for our bus for about a ½ hour. Last year we waited 5 minutes. That spoiled us a little. But then again, we were the lucky ones I guess. The All-Star resort line was super long before and as we were leaving.

The Pop Century was the first stop for the bus from the airport. I am not sure what I was expecting. I had read so many reviews, but I was rather impressed. The place was nice. We checked in and made it to our room.

2115 in the 50’s building.

We faced the 50’s parking lot with a first floor room.

Not sure if all are the same, but our room opened up to the outside not a hotel hallway. We were just on the other side of the building from the Bowling Pin shaped pool. The room itself is definitely worth the $99. It seemed pretty big except for the bathroom. No fridge and the safe was a hole in the wall with a key not the electronic closet safe like the poly had last year. We hung out in the room for about 20 minutes, re-packed the back-pack and headed to the Disney Studios. We made it there by 3:30 which was only a ½ hour past when I had planned to be there. So far so good with keeping on schedule.(That was soon to end) DW was feeling a little under the weather so she stayed in the room and slept. While at MGM, we went on the GMR, Star Tours and Muppets 3d. DD7 had never been on the Great Movie Ride, that she remembers, so this was a must do for her.

There was no line and we had the Gangster as our temp driver.

I also played the good Dad and gave the cue to cover ears and close eyes for the Alien part of the show. Star Tours is the DS10's favorite from last year.

As you'll see he's ride shy, but each trip he makes it on a couple of new rides. Once he gets on them then their his for life.

We sent on Star Tours at least six times in Dec. This trip would come close. He was also on the hunt for a LightSaber kit from the store there. Muppets 3D is always fun. We found even more items in the Pre-show than before. We also saw the High School Musical 2 show.

The kids loved it. We even got to say hello to Pinocchio. By this time we worked our way over to the Fantasmic show area and we had dinner at Eddie’s Cantina. The kids had pizza and I had a Toluca Turkey leg. My first one. This picture was after getting up at 5:00 am in Philly and eating this leg 14 hours later. After dinner we walked over to Fantasmic. There was a ton of people already there and it was still 75 minutes away from the start.

However, DD7 found us some good seats up front in the center. Fantasmic was very good as it always is. It did get a little cold and wet. Since we were so close up front, the spray from the show would once in a while blow over us. Great show as always. After the show we went over towards the Indy stunt show. There were thousands running for the exit after Fantasmic. I did not want to join the masses. It was only 7:30 so we had a ½ hour left to kill and let the lines for the busses die down. We found the old well by the Indy Ride again and this time DD was with us.

DS and I had seen this last year. There is a sign next to the well that said Do Not Pull the Rope, with the word NOT crossed out. She was a little scared when DS pulled the rope and we heard the poor guy at the bottom of the well. He actually spoke every time we pulled the rope. Last year it was only on the first time. Very cool. We also took another ride on Star Tours. After that we headed out of the park and back to the Pop. We took a walk thru the food court and store and it all looked great. Crowded, but great. We all got back to the room and warmed up.

The bags made it from the airport. And we all went to sleep happy. Even DW who was now feeling like herself.

 

[Richard Bruvofetc]

Great Pics and a wonderful report.

 

[MickeyMaz]

The second day started out a little rushed. We got up to a wake-up call of Stitch and Mickey going at it on the phone. Today we needed to get all the bags ready to move over to the Grand Floridian. We called the bell stand and made arrangements. We left a note and a five on the luggage. We then took off for the Magic Kingdom. That was a quick 16 hours at Scopa Towers.

We would go back to stay there at a not so crowded time of the year. It was about 7:10 as we got to the bus stop. The bus came after about 15 minutes and we made to the MK in time for Rope Drop. Very cool, but no train this time. Mary Poppins and Bert introduced the Family of the Day. I next needed to get a locker. I did not feel safe letting the bell guys move the laptop. So I took it with us to the MK and got a $7.00 locker. The bag just fit. It was very cool to see that the attendant at the locker shop as choked up over the Opening Ceremony and the introduction of the Family of the day as we were. I caught up with the family on the walk down Main Street with the crowds. We did Fantasyland which was Dumbo,

Mickey’s Philharmagic, Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan. Around 9:00 the kids went with Lesley to ride Small World and Snow White. I took a stroll over to the Haunted Mansion. The newly re-furbed Haunted Mansion that is. It was great. The stairs scene was cool and so was the new Bride. Everything looked new and clean.

Madam Leota’s floating head was done very well also. This is a must do attraction. I met up with the family and we headed our way over to the front of Cinderella Castle for the castle show with the Fab five and some great villains. They had the new talking, eye blinking heads for Mickey and the other characters that wear the heads.

Very realistic, if a talking mouse and duck are realistic. I did have a problem with Captain Hook and Smee. They came out as kinda face characters. When I say kinda, I mean they did not have the heads that these characters normally wear, but they did have some things glued on their faces.

I later saw the same kind of applications on the guys who are on the first couple floats of Spectromagic. Next we backtracked into Toontown to ride Goofy’s Barn-Stormer. We then made it over to Tomorrowland by about 11:30. We stopped at the Starlight Café for lunch. The wife and I always get the Rib/Chicken Combo and split it. A little heavy for 11:30, but with a small breakfast we just called it brunch. The kids got the regular nuggets and burger things. We then used our Fastpass Space Mountain passes. The girls rode first, the boy won’t go on SM. Then me using the child-swap process. Here is something very surprising that we found in the arcade next to Space Mountain. They had a couple of games set to Free-Play. Never would have thought that. They were old games like Donkey Kong and Frogger, but for free? It was worth a play. We then went on the TTA,

Carousel of Progress(I will never not go on this ride) and we went into the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor. This was new for us and was great. At around 2:00 we called the Grand Floridian and our room was not ready yet. We went over anyway and checked out the property. The food Court was nice and the pools were out of this world. 3:00 finally rolled around and I went to check in. They were working on the Gingerbread House in the lobby.

We got to the front desk and the girl, after a couple of minutes, called someone and told us that we had been upgraded to Concierge level and we were put in the Sugarloaf lodge. Patrick from the concierge staff came out and led us to our room. WOW! This was incredible and it was part of the Year of a Million Dreams. The room was huge, the beds twice as large as the Pop’s and we had complimentary food service outside our door.

Not full meals, but snacks and beverages. The only downer in this whole deal was that I had sent a box of snacks to us to avoid the extra weight in the luggage. Oh well, it could be worse. We spent a couple hours resting in the room and then headed out to the MK again. That is after we used concierge to add our park tickets to our room keys. We also borrowed a movie from the concierge desk for the DVD player in the room for later. After calling around, our luggage also showed up from the Pop. We got to the MK and jumped on the train to Frontierland. We had dinner at Pecos Bill’s. Again standard fare except I tried the Taco Salad for the first time. It was ok. We then rode Big Thunder three times. We found a great place to watch Spectromagic across from Pecos Bills near the end of the parade route. It was great. This was one of the best locations that we have watched Spectromagic from. The parade seemed so close to where we were sitting. My daughter and I rode Splash Mountain twice during Wishes. She’s not a big fireworks fan, but it was beautiful seeing the fireworks from this ride. Since there was no line we were allowed to go one more time without getting off and that did it. We got soaked. We then made our way out of the park. Stopped for Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride and Pirates and then left. They had switched boats and there was a nice big boat waiting to take us back to the GF. Must be used for busy nights. We got back to our room as they were cleaning up the Concierge spread of snacks. Bummer. But that’s where the snacks we sent from home came in. It worked out perfectly. Mousekeeping had also turned down the blankets and left chocolate and a friend for my daughter's bear.

Good Night to day 2.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

spectacular write up, thanx for sharing,,,,,,,,more soon I hope

 

[heaven2dc]

What a great report so far! How lucky to have been upgraded too. Can't wait for more!

 

[MickeyMaz]

Day 3 started with another early wake-up call and we were off to the Magic Kingdom for breakfast at the Crystal Palace. It was an awesome feeling walking down Main Street with about only 50 people.

They had put up all of the Main Street holiday decorations that night. We took the requisite pictures and made it down the Crystal Palace. The breakfast spread was incredible. All the normal breakfast food with the addition of the breakfast pizza. In addition there was an omelet bar and every type of breakfast meat you can think of.

Oh yeah, Winnie the Pooh and friends were there too. We got some great photos and pictures of them and the kids.

After breakfast, the park was just opening so we decided to take a walk through Adventureland and went on the Jungle Cruise. The skipper we had today was very good. He had a couple of jokes we have never heard before.

We then took another ride on the Pirates attraction. Here is something I never noticed before. If you go on the right line, you go to the other side of the loading platform. As we were waiting I took a look through the ‘window’ and I saw a ship far away. Not sure if I knew this before, but in the Scene in the attraction where the ship is firing on the fort, we are in the fort at the beginning of the ride and the boat that I saw through the window was Barabrossa’s in that scene. Very Cool. This is another of the boy’s new favorites. Another thing I noticed from Pirates was the last scene with Jack Sparrow in the Treasure Room. As you pass him he talks and sings. Until you get stuck on the ride in front of him you don’t realize the amount of dialogue he actually has. He went on for about 5 minutes about the treasure and lost pirate friends and the women he misses and the quality of the rum and more. After that we were trying to wait until 10:00 so we can go to Tom Sawyers Island. We went on Big Thunder and Splash mountain and then over to Tom Sawyers Island. This is the first time for all of us. It was pretty fun. We ran all over the island. We went into the caves and over to Fort Langhorn.

The rifle ports in the fort actually had fake muskets that made electric shooting noises. There was even an escape tunnel out of the fort. There were both animals and people manning the fort. The high point was that we found one of the Tom’s paint brushes that get hidden by the Cast Members at the beginning of the day. We found it in one of the caves. We also found another one in Fort Langhorn, but gave it to a boy that was in the same room we were in at the time. We were given a family fastpass for Big Thunder Mountain.

We asked to keep the ticket but were not allowed. After this we jumped on the train and took it to Main Street and out of the park. We went back to the GF and the kids and Lesley went to the pool and I stayed in the room and read and relaxed. Slide Picks
We then got ready and went over to Epcot. We spent some time looking through Innoventions which we rarely have time to do. There are a lot of fun things to do and explore in both the east and the west. We had a 3:00 appointment to visit Base21 in the base of SpaceShip Earth.

This is a Siemens run center for either business meetings or for employees of Siemens, a place to relax and get a drink. We went through the Base21 door into a small secured room and punched in our code. The next door opened and we then took an elevator up to the Employee Lounge and were met by a very nice receptionist and were shown around by Jim McCaskill. There was a nice snack area and a nice demo of some of the Siemens technology used in Spaceship earth.

The kids were excited about a small gimmick that they have set up on a portable PC that Jim was using. By selecting a color in the program that showed spaceship earth, the PC Communicated wirelessly with the computer in Spaceship Earth and turned the floor in the lounge the same color the kids picked. They did that many times. I now wish I had asked to see the meeting areas but did not. Bad on me.

Before we left we asked Jim what he knew about the new Spaceship Earth. He said that they are almost done and that he had been up in the attraction. Along with some set changes and a new narrator(Judy Denche), the cars that you ride in have been modified. There will be a touch screen that will ask you your interests and address and more. A picture will be taken of your face and then used in a cartoon that revolves around the questions that you answered. In addition your face shot will then be sent to the post show area and displayed on the big globe

that Siemens has there. It will show where you live on the globe. The post-show had a couple of cool hands-on exhibits. New technologies in the medical field using 3D and the new items you might find on your car some day. Laser Windshield wipers and X-ray vision to see through fog and other items. One last item as we left the Spaceship Earth Post-show area, as we were leaving we found three Soarin Fastpasses on the ground. No-one was near enough to ask if they were theirs so we chalked it up as another YOAMD wish. At that point of the day, 4:00, the stand-by line for Soarin was 70 minutes and there were no more fastpasses left to get. The return time was 6:15, so we did some slow walking. We went back into Innoventions and we all participated in the exhibit about plastic. The kids designed their own robot and then built one.

A little misleading in that you don’t get to build the one you designed. There are standard parts that you use to make your robot. It appears that they make all of the parts there in a machine off to the side. We then played a video game against 10 other players where we built and moved a small flyer around collecting different items. My seven year old daughter won the game. We then went over to the Land and went on the Circle of Life Lion king show and the Land ride through and then our time for Soarin rolled around. Here was the problem. Three fastpasses and four of us. I let the kids and the wife go. She also showed me that she has been listening to my Disney park ramblings and she asked the CM for a Child Swap. Sometimes this works some times not. It did this time. When they got off the ride, she handed me the child swap pass which lets three back on the ride through the fastpass line. So the kids and I rode next. This is one of my favorite rides. Now was a chance to ride a ride we have not done yet as a family, the Ellen Energy Ride.

This was fun since it was the first time for both kids. We then stopped at the Electric Umbrella to get the kids something to eat as a snack and then we started out to the World Showcase. I was anxious to start trying the Food and Wine offerings. We stopped at Argentina for an Empanada. Most of the stands were full and the crowds a little high so we only made it as far as Mexico before the wife and daughter decided they were done for the day. They headed out and that left me and the boy. We stopped in China and ate at the Lotus Blossom CS. Very, very good. We continued on around the world showcase. We stopped and watched David Sanborn for a little while at the stage across from the American Experience and then moved on. We were more in the mood of looking around for now instead of going into each country. The one place we did stop was the Oklahoma kiosk to try some of that Buffalo. It was hot and rare. It was very good. As we finished the tour around the world, my son decided that was it and we made our way out of the park.

We saw Illuminations on the way out and we also watched Wishes on the monorail back to the hotel. Always very cool to take the monorail and get a show. End of Day 3

 

[Hedy]

Sounds like fun!

 

[MickeyMaz]

Sounds like fun!

Thanks. Your taking a Solo trip? I've always thought about doing that but have not been able to justify it. Have a great trip. Check out the Osbrone Family Lights and the other Holiday stuff. Any Mousefest plans?

 

[Hedy]

Thanks. Your taking a Solo trip? I've always thought about doing that but have not been able to justify it. Have a great trip. Check out the Osbrone Family Lights and the other Holiday stuff. Any Mousefest plans?

Pretty much solo-my mom is popping in the last couple of days. I can't wait to see the lights. By the time I checked out Mousefest, I already had my plans.

 

[Disneychix]

What a very nice surprise to be upgraded! I'm sure the chocolates were tasty!
Can't wait to hear more.

 

[OhMari]

Nice upgrade.

 

[MickeyMaz]

Saturday was to be our early day at Epcot. The park had EMH’s that morning. Instead, since we stayed at Epcot pretty late last night, we decided to sleep in. Well, I could not do it. I was up by 8 with the goal of getting into the park before 9 and beat the non-resort crowds.

It worked out. I got there 10 to 9 and slipped right in front of all of the people waiting. It was not a big crowd, but every little bit helps. As every good Disney Geek does I fast walked over to Soarin. Wow that hill leading into the land is a drag. The stand-by line was already a 50 minute wait but the Fastpass return time was 10:15 and that would work. I then took a walk over to Mission Space and rode the good side that has you sticking to your seat.

It is always a good ride except this time. After the pre-show, we were asked to back-out of our room and enter another room. The simulators must have been on the fritz where we were. After MS I took a little time to look around Mousegears and then moved back to the land side of the park. I had some time before going back on Soarin, so I went over to the Living Seas with Nemo. Clam mobiles were shut down and I did not want to do the Turtle Talk with Crush attraction with-out the kids. I walked around the aquarium which I had not done on our last trip. Very cool stuff. It’s all very Nemoized though. I even found the Nemo breeding factory.

After a look at the Manatees it was getting close to Soarin return time so I worked my way back to Soarin. It was very cool. I sat next to a family with small kids who were very into the ride which only makes a better ride for all. After Soarin, I called the DW and found out that they were about 45 minutes away from the park so I took a walk over to Canada.

It was almost lunch during the Food and Wine festival after all and I wanted to try the Cheese soup and the Riesling wine. Both were very good. The wine was thick and served in what I would call a shot glass. The soup was good as always. After Canada I walked over to Mexico for a Quesadilla and Dos Equis beer and walked over to Test Track where I would meet the family. This would be the first time DS10 would ride Test Track. DD7 has already been on it. I might have said this earlier, but DS10 is slowly getting into the ride thing. He is a little timid with rides. But now he wanted to do Test Track and I was thrilled. But there was a 60 minute stand-by wait and even though it was only 12:15, the return time for fastpass was for 6:15. We really had no choice and were ready to get the Fastpasses until a Cast Member from Test Track stopped us and asked if we wanted to ride right now. We were to be the family of the hour and with that we were taken into the store at Test Track and upstairs to the Control Room.

Very cool. We watched all of the cars on the track and listened to his explanations of how it all worked. We were then led over the heads of everyone on line and down a set of stairs to the loading area. We rode the ride and DS10 loved it. We were extra psyched because when we got back, they let us stay in the car and we were awarded the YOAMD’s award and then sent on for one more ride. The kids were loving it big time. As were the two guys we did not know, however, they were asked to stay on with us. This was a major highlight of our trip. After Test Track we began to walk around the World Showcase. The kids had a Quesadilla and we went into Mexico. El Rio de Tiempo had been re-done since we had been there and it was a refreshing change. Donald is a goof and so were his friends. We then stopped at the CS Mexican rest for a more substantial lunch and then moved on into the WS. We stopped at each country as we passed. Norway and China are always nice. We stopped at the Irish Food and Wine hut and then moved on. We did not do much in Germany, but we stopped at the American Experience(AE). This is a must do each trip. The Voices of Liberty were very good and the AE show was great as always. Voices of Liberty We then moved on through Italy. We stopped in Japan to watch the drummers. We also stopped to watch the Chair balancers in France. They were very funny and played up the French aspect of the show. It was funny watching the one guy way up on top of the chairs and his buddy scared to get up on a 6 inch step-stool to hand up the next chair. We then went to the see the movie in France which the kids had not seen. I gotta remember to thank the French guy who introduced it by making a comment about how French kissing was allowed in this movie. Nothing like trying to explain that to the kids. The movie was OK. We then moved on through the UK and into Canada. The O’Canada attraction with Martin Short was very funny. A very nice upgrade to an existing attraction. It was about three and we decided that we would cancel our TS at Fort Wilderness and we went back to the hotel to swim. We hung out there and then went to the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom was to be open late that night and we were looking forward to doing a couple of rides at night. We started out with a ride on the TTA and then the Carousel of Progress again. We hit Buzz and then Monster Inc. During this show of Monsters Inc, DS was on the screen at the beginning of the show as the "Monster hiding his third eye under his hat".

And I was actually "That Guy" during this show. Very fun time. We then, purposely missing Spectromagic, walked over to Frontierland and rode both BTM and SM and then onto Pirates and the Jungle Cruise. The Jungle Cruise is really a totally different ride at night. Everything outside the lights of the boats is in darkness. Very eerie and fun. At this point DW and DD took off for the hotel and a unknown meeting with one of the re-occurring callers from the Let’s Talk About Disney podcast. DW had heard me talk about looking for a really tall guy driving the boats from MK to the hotels on Bay Lake. After we had gotten back home I heard how this guy, on this night, had taken a load of people to the Grand Floridian and they had stopped to watch the fireworks and the Electric Water show before getting to the Hotel. That was the same story the DW and DD told me the next morning. So, putting two and two together, the wife almost won a bunch of prizes from LTAD. Back to the night, DS and I had a dolewhip and then saw that the second run of the Spectromagic parade was just passing the castle. We walked over to the entrance to Liberty Square and watched the parade from a new great spot. Right as the parade came over the bridge from the hub, we were there. Very cool watching the parade with the castle as the back-drop. http://youtube.com/watch?v=oMy_Yn2sSkc
After that, the boy and I did the slow walk back down Main Street. We did find a small disappointment. The boats to the Bay Lake hotels had stopped running. We went up to the monorail station with about 500 or more other people waiting for the next monorail. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to the Grand Floridian from the Magic Kingdom. Still though, crowds can be fun. We had a Pirates Sing-along as we entered the Ticket and Trans. Center. There are still two more days.

Maz