kelmac284
Lover of all things Disney since 1975
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2005
- Messages
- 5,287
Disney World Nov 20 Dec 2, 2008
Cast: Myself 41, husband Shane 35, daughter Katy 8 (will turn 9 in December), daughter Shelby 7, my mom Rosemarie 63, my dad Gary 66 and my stepdaughter Lynn 16
Transportation: Air/rental car
Hotel: Doubletree at Universal Orlando for 2 nights, Orange Lake Timeshare for 1 week, and Pop Century for 3 nights
Experience: This will be our 3rd trip
Pre-trip planning:
I have written many reports before. This will be my 3rd about Disney World. We are currently annual passholders to Disneyland in California as we live in Northern California and go several times a year and as I stated above this will be our 3rd trip to the world. Our first trip was in May of 2002 during the flower and garden festival. Our 2nd was in October of 2005 for Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and that is when we saw some of the beginnings of the Christmas decorations and decided that we MUST come back to see that. We have been to Disneyland many times during the holidays and that is just about our favorite time of year to go. So we wanted to experience that in Florida. So pretty much right after we left in 05 we had already started planning this trip. It has been a long time coming and although we had ideas of what we wanted to do we didnt actually start making actual plans until the end of 2007. We booked our timeshare at that time and at this point that is about all we have done. It is currently Jan of 2008 and I am still in the hotel booking phase. My mother owns a timeshare in Mexico and last time we traded for the Sheraton Vistana. That place was located well but VERY well used and we found we were not able to stay again anyway. You are only able to stay in the same place once every 4 years I believe. So this time we are staying in a place called the Orange Lake Country Club. It looks nice from the photos so we are hoping for the best. Very soon I will be booking our room at Universal and at Disney. Our plan is to stay at Universal for 2 nights, check in to the timeshare for a week and then upon checking out of the timeshare check in to Pop Century for the last 2 nights before going home. We will be there over Thanksgiving and plan to see all of the Christmas festivities including Candlelight procession and the Osborne Lights.
February 12, 2008
Well FINALLY after all this time I have done some more planning on this trip. I have been planning it since our last trip in 05 but other than booking the timeshare we hadnt done much else. Then we thought we were going to have to cancel because my entire family gets their income off the real estate market and here in CA it is BAAAAD. But thanks to a great tax refund and of course the lovely rebates it is BACK ON!! J So I just got done booking the Doubletree and the Pop. We originally were going to try and stay at one of the nicer Loews properties at Universal but they are just too darn expensive and after all they ARE just a bed. So we got a GREAT rate online with AAA for 80 bucks a night at the Doubletree which is right at the front gates. I have stayed at Doubletrees before and they are usually always nice. The only catch was I had to pay in full in advance but that price was with tax. So for 160 I got 2 nights PAID in full! Not too bad but it is non-refundable so the trip is definitely ON now! J Then I booked Pop Century and I got the first night at 92 but the second for only 65!!! So that was a good deal as well. And with Disney you have to pay for one night up front but that was ok. It is refundable if we did have to cancel but that isnt going to happen. Now I just have to wait till the dates for MVMCP to come out so I can do the final tweaking to my schedule and buy the tix and then I can start booking my priority seatings as well. And then the next big item will be airfare which should be out around June. I am hoping to score some good prices on Southwest although it will be a brutal flight because upon looking it appears they have NO layovers and of course we all know they have NO food. So that is going to be a LONG flight! Then the only other thing I have to worry about is our tickets which I will not get till about a month before we leave. So that is it for now!
May 2, 2008
Well for those of you that know about Disney World you probably know that May 1st is the day they release the MVMCP tickets and so as of yesterday I scored my tickets. I also have since decided to add an extra day to our trip. We have thought and thought about it and since, by the time you read this report, gas will probably be to 5.00 a gallon whereas right now it is at 4.00 and when I started this it was still in the 2.00 range, we decided it was best to move our dates back to fly home. Southwest STILL has not released the flights and I fear everyday it is going to cost us a MINT. We feel that the farther away from the holiday we get the cheaper it will be if that is even possible at this point and so we went ahead and booked the pop for one more night. The ONLY good part was I got the value rate of 65/night for that extra night at least. So our hope is the minute they release November we will buy our outbound tickets and then worry about our inbound whenever they release December and take our chances! We know the days of 200 roundtrips are probably over but it is killing me waiting. I also have about 2 more weeks to wait before I can start making my ADRS and I am still not sure about the Candlelight Procession and have yet to get a straight answer from anyone but am sure in the next few months I will get my answer. But once I score our air tickets and ADRS then all that is left is our park tickets and that is a piece of cake compared to the rest. Also my mom is trying to convince my dad to go and thus bringing my teenage stepdaughter who originally was not going to come because of school. So it is up in the air at this point if they will be joining us mid trip. She cant miss school and thus they will not be able to come WITH us in the beginning but MAY be joining us mid trip and leave before us but that remains to be seen at this point although they will need to decide soon as I will have to buy air tickets and make ADRS in the next few weeks. So more things will be firmed up in the next few weeks. I am getting excited though and yet saddened as I know that this may be our last trip for a LONG time so I am hoping that this is a GOOD one!
June 2, 2008
Well at this point I just finished making my last ADR. So where we stand now is my father and stepdaughter ARE coming and the ADRS are made and we decided we could NO longer wait on Southwest. The gas prices just keep going up and we just feel that Southwest isnt going to offer any cheap fares esp being Thanksgiving week so we succumbed to Delta and now we are flying with them. It is probably better since they at LEAST have a movie and now we DO have a layover although ironically both ways our layovers arent till the flight is almost over. But at LEAST we DO have one. Anyway so the airfare is purchased, at a dear price I might add, and the ADRS are made. I had to get up EVERY single day for 7 days but I got them all! I am STILL waiting on Candlelight Procession and I will buy my Universal and Park tix around the end of summer and then FINALLY that should be it!
July 5, 2008
Well at this point I have my Candlelight Procession package reserved! They actually released early! They released it in June this year! I called right when I found out and got San Angel for 2:00. A little earlier than I wanted but at least we got it! So everything is FINALLY done. Now I just have to buy our park tickets which I will most likely do in either the end of August or September. And that is it! We are still trying to decide if we want to go to Ice so we need to make up our minds and probably book that but otherwise thats it. WHEW!
July 31, 2008
Well another little change has occurred. One thing that did NOT occur to me before was ticket price increases. As a loyal board watcher I was informed that around August 1st the prices usually go up and so I went ahead and bit the bullet and purchased our hopper tickets. I DID have the money set aside but it DOES pack a punch. For 4 of us for 9 day base tickets it was nearly 1000.00! OUCH! But it had to be done. My mother went with an annual pass and is going to purchase the DDE card so we can save on meals. She purchased a 6 day pass for my dad and stepdaughter since they will be there less days and she bought my stepdaughters pass to help us out since we had to pay double for the airfare etc. I have yet to buy our Universal tickets although I will probably have to get those in the next week or so now as well. We still have to reserve a rental car and we ALSO found out that Delta had already changed our flights. I had read on the Disney boards that peoples flights were being changed and we had JUST purchased them only a month or so ago and sure enough our outbound flights had been completely cancelled with NO word to us at all from Delta. Luckily I thought to check and sure enough they were changed both from here to Atlanta and Atlanta to Orlando. So I have gotten the new info and now have them marked for updates on the computer. So now we have to check my dad and stepdaughters flights as I bet money they have changed as well.
SO frustrating. And since we dont fly for another 4 months I will NOT be surprised if they dont change again as well as our outbound flights! So I will DEF be checking them several times before we leave. But other than the tickets and checking on the flights and the rental car we are NOW just about done. Now it is just WAIT for the time to pass. I cant believe though that in just a few days I will finally be in double digits. I remember when I started my countdown calendar it was 400+ days and now it is almost down to 99! Sometimes it still seems like a long way away when I think that it is Thanksgiving and right now it is still summer time but if the time flies by as quickly as summer has then it should be here before we know it! J
September 16, 2008
Well in just a few days it will be the first day of fall. I cant believe how close it is getting. I am finally in double digits and I think I am down to 60 some odd days left. It is really starting to fly now. Yesterday mom and I booked the rental car finally and we are going with a mini van through Enterprise. We have used them before and are pretty happy with them. I am using a coupon through our entertainment book and got a fairly decent rate for almost 2 weeks. The only problem is we dont get in till almost 11 and they close at 12 and they are offsite. So that could get tricky! Also I have decided to wait and purchase the universal tickets until a week or so before we go since you just print them off your computer. No need to spend the money till I absolutely have to especially since I am having to start booking my airfare and hotel for my NEXT two trips in March and April! But that just about wraps this trip up. I cant think of anything else left. The hurricane season has been pretty ugly and I am just praying that we dont have a repeat of 05. Luckily we are going about a month later than last time so hopefully that means we wont have any problems! I am really getting excited and hope everything goes off without a hitch. Delta has changed our flights several times but at least for now we still HAVE flights! Hopefully the next time I write it will be with a completed report! J
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Plan: Take noon flight on Delta to Orlando. Check in to Doubletree.
What actually happened: Well the day FINALLY arrived. Things right up till then were quite hectic so it made waiting for the trip easier. My kids are on the soccer team and in Girl Scouts and a church group and so our lives were VERY busy including our soccer party on the Sunday night before we left and church group the NIGHT before we left! But the day DID arrive and we were QUITE anxious! After thinking and rethinking everything we were finally on our way hoping we had not forgotten anything. We had all our bags packed and headed to the airport. Grandpa dropped us off and said he would see us in a few days. We got checked in with Delta and after ALL the hassles they surprisingly werent too bad. They had sent us an e-mail the day before and we were able to check-in online (including our bags) although if you dont do it correctly youre in trouble. My mom had this problem and almost got charged for her bag, but that is another story. But we got through security quite easily and the airport was pretty quiet! We had what we assumed would be our only meal for awhile and headed to the plane. We took off and had our LONG flight to Atlanta. Atlanta was EXTREMELY crazy and busy and we had about a 2 hour layover where we were able to have some dinner before our short 1 hour flight to Orlando. We arrived in Orlando quite late and after retrieving our luggage we headed for the rental agency. We got our van and the first surprise was that Enterprise is now charging for an extra driver. This was new to us and was an unpleasant surprise but what can you do at midnight but just accept it. We then stopped at a local 7-11 for waters and 3 curious raccoons came out to dig in the trash cans and they werent the least bit afraid. It was really cute!
We had a heck of a time finding our way to Universal at that late hour especially with the toll roads etc but we finally made it and checked in to the Doubletree. The rooms were nice and we were more than happy to hit the hay. It had been a LONG day!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Plan: Islands of Adventure all day. Stay at Doubletree again this night and eat at Mythos.
What actually happened: We were up bright and early and since we did not have many options for breakfast we decided to try the Doubletrees restaurant. BIG mistake. The food was OK but it was WAY overpriced as most hotel restaurants tend to be. I think it cost 60.00 some odd dollars and Shane and I only had toast and oatmeal. It was ridiculous. But nonetheless we finished our meal and were on our way to the parks. We took the hotel shuttle which dropped us off at the parks so we saved the parking fee and then walked in. It was surprisingly freezing. MOST of the time we were there they had a cold spell and it was in the low 40s and even 30s most mornings. BRRRRRR! We had planned to only do Islands of Adventure this day but we lucked out and the parks were very quiet. We had bought the 7 day pass because we had planned to go to Universal on Saturday but had I known that we were going to end up going to both parks in the same day I probably could have saved some money and just bought a 1 day 2 park pass but nonetheless I bought the 7 day print at home pass and that is what we used.
Shane and I hit the Hulk first thing which is great fun! We chose to skip Dudley do Rights this trip as it was just TOO darn cold! It is a great ride but you get absolutely soaked to the skin on that thing! We then did the spiderman ride and headed towards Dueling Dragons where he and I did both Fire and Ice. We saw the Harry Potter area and are very excited to come back and see that when it is finished! We took the kids on the Teradactyl ride and Jurassic Park and then through the Seuss area. We rode the Seuss train and the Cat in the Hat. By then it was about lunch time and so we had lunch at Mythos which was very good! We had wanted to try it in 05 and so we finally were able to do so this time. After lunch we were able to see Posidons Fury which was not running in 05 and did not have time to see the Sinbad show. We had pretty much done everything and so we decided we should go ahead and go to Universal since it was still early and so that is what we did. We hopped over and saw Jimmy Neutron and Twister as well as the Simpsons Ride and ET. We also rode the Mummy. We let the girls see a few characters and I believe that was about all we did. Since we have Universal here in California we have done a lot of the rides and such here. So we tried to just hit the things that we didnt have here. By then it was getting late and so we left and had dinner at Margaritaville. It was just ok. We then caught a cab back to the hotel and had wanted some coffee but were surprised that at only about 8 p.m. nothing was open. So we just hit the hay.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Plan: Check out of Doubletree and possibly do UO for part of morning. Cant check in to timeshare till 4 p.m. Possibly go to DTD. Pick up Dad and Lynn tonight. Check in to timeshare at 4 then go grocery shopping. Eat somewhere near timeshare this night.
What actually happened: Well we got up this morning and since we had already done Universal we just checked out of the Doubletree and headed to the Orange Lake to see if we could possibly check in. BONUS we could. So we got our room and this place was MUCH nicer than the Vistana. At first they tried the old bait and switch and tried to put us next to the highway again but we knew better this time and we got a nice room in the back over looking the golf course. This place has 4 courses and a huge lake as well as a water park and it is just a really great place! We then tried to find the Walmart that the lady at the desk mentioned but couldnt so we just went to the Publix and got our groceries. I cant remember where we had lunch that day but then we went to Downtown Disney and shopped. It was fun. We got to see the new place T-Rex and did a little shopping at World of Disney as well as a few of the other fun shops. Soon it was time to head to the airport.
We picked up my dad and stepdaughter and headed back to the timeshare where they dropped off their bags and we had decided earlier in the day that we had enough time to go somewhere nice for dinner but of COURSE there was no place decent we could get in without an ADR but we WERE able to get in to Olivias at Old Key West.
So we headed over there and I was NOT that impressed. It was OK but not great. And it was expensive. After that we just went back to the timeshare and took it easy. And that was that.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Plan: Epcot all day, Le Cellier for dinner. Eat lunch on the fly.
What actually happened: Well everyone was up and at em and today was our first day at the parks. We had breakfast at the condo and then were off. My mom was able to show her annual pass voucher at the parking kiosk and that got us in without paying (you get free parking with an AP) and then the first thing we did was exchange the voucher for the pass. Then we headed to guest services to buy her dinning card now known as Tables in Wonderland formerly known as the Disney Dinning Experience. For anyone who doesnt know about this or who hasnt used this this was a GREAT thing. All the table service places took it for 20% off and it saved us a bundle! It paid for itself after 1 meal!
Anyway our first ride was of course spaceship earth while Shane and Lynn ran off to get fast passes for Mission Space. This was grandpas first ever visit to DW so everything was new to him and we hadnt been on SE since they had changed it. It was kind of weird not seeing the ending with the kids in the classrooms etc. Not sure what I thought of it but the kids liked being able to do the little quiz and getting their pictures. After SE we did MS. Shane, Lynn, Katy and Grandpa all did the regular side and Grandma, me and Shelby did the green side. Even THAT side got to me a little bit. I get motion sickness. It was ok but I wouldnt want to do it a bunch of times. It was neat though. We then did test track and headed to the seas and did Nemo. We also did the Land and living with the Land. After that we did Journey into your imagination and then headed into WS. We had lunch in Norway at Kringla Bakeri. It was OK. Not great but not bad. We spent the rest of the day working our way round the countries and did the boat rides in Mexico and Norway and saw a few of the films and ended up at Canada where we had dinner at Le Cellier. I have never eaten there and I enjoyed my dinner although dad and Shane werent fond of theirs. Surprisingly they had the steak that the place is famous for and did not like it but mom had the scallops and I had the ravioli and we both enjoyed our meals. And we all enjoyed our desserts. After that we watched Illuminations which was great and then headed back to the room.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Plan: Magic Kingdom all day. Dinner at Tonys.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and had our breakfast in our room and were off to the park. We arrived at the TTC and decided to take the Ferry versus the monorail. We had a nice ride across the lake and headed into the park. To be quite honest I dont remember which rides we did in which order but we didnt do that many. It was starting to get busy and we got fast passes for the biggies and just did what we could and didnt push it. I do know that we took Grandpa to see the Country Bears, Philharmagic and the Carousel of Progress. He likes shows! Our first order of business that day as well was to see Tinkerbell and that took up a chunk of time but was worth it! We had lunch at our favorite burger place, Pecos Bills and dinner that night was at Tonys. This was another spot I had never been and AFTER I had made my ADRs I had heard some bad things about it on the boards but we were pleasantly surprised. We quite enjoyed the food AND the service. We would def go back. After dinner we came out to see Spectromagic starting so we stayed to watch since we had never seen this either. By then we were ready to go. We took the monorail back and stopped at the Grand Floridian to see the Gingerbread house which was awesome and then headed back to the room.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Plan: Animal Kingdom. Dinner at Boma at AKL
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and after our usual breakfast in the condo we were headed out to the Animal Kingdom. Our first order of business after Shane got fast passes for Everest was Kilamanjaro Safari. Now I have been on this ride twice before but this was one of the best yet. I dont know if it was because it was cooler than usual or what but ALL the animals were out and about and it was a really good day. We had a baby giraffe in the middle of the road and the daddy came running down after him. Then we got to see the new baby elephant and many many more animals. It was wonderful. We also saw the wonderful Festival of the Lion King and the Nemo show which was not there the last time we were there. Both shows were excellent. We walked through the Pangani Forrest and just as we were exiting we were surprised with Dream Fast passes!! That was nice and helped us get to go on Everest 3 times! That was our first time getting to go on that ride as it was not quite done in 05 when we were there and we LOVED it! We did most all the rides except Kali as it was too cold and Primeval Whirl because it was down on rehab. We love this park and had a good time! After we left we headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we had dinner at Boma. We did this in 05 and LOVED it and once again had a GREAT meal! After that we headed back to the room.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Plan: Open. Either go to AK or MGM. Golf in Afternoon. Dinner at Artists Point. Adults Only.
What actually happened: Well our idea of going to the parks first thing didnt work out. We knew we were going to play golf and we had to figure out what to do with the kids so we spent the morning exploring the timeshare to see what to do with them and then it was time to play golf. We dropped the kids off at the water park at our timeshare where they had a GREAT time by the way and they also were able to play putt putt golf and we played 18 holes of golf and then we got the kids pizza while the grownups went to dinner at Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge. That was a lovely place and GREAT food. We enjoyed seeing the hotel all decorated up for the holiday as well as the wonderful food at the restaurant!
Thursday, November 27, 2008 THANKSGIVING
Plan: Epcot. Dinner at Biergarten.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and we headed off to Epcot. This time we tried to see and do things we had not done the day before. We went in to Future World and did Ellens Energy Adventure which I had never done in my previous 2 trips and I have to say I was impressed! The theater alone was amazing. Then we did soaring and had lunch in the Land. It was Thanksgiving day and I had a turkey meal. After that we headed into World Showcase to see the countries that we had missed the other day. We spent the rest of the day doing that until it was time for our dinner at Biergarten. We spent our Thanksgiving meal at Biergarten and had a wonderful time listening to the German music and dancing along. After dinner we headed back to the room to relax.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Plan: MGM. Dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Osborne Lights Tonight!
What actually happened: Once again up bright and early and off to MGM. We did Tower of Terror first thing and Shane tried to get fast passes for TSMM but the line just for fast passes was too long. So then we did the great movie ride and then went to see characters. We saw Prince Caspian and then the Bolt characters. We had lunch at one of the counter service places on Sunset Blvd and then Shane and I and the girls did Rocking Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror again. After that my dad was not feeling well so Shane took him back to the room while mom and the girls and I shopped and looked around. Oh before that we did however watch Lights, Motors Action and enjoyed that. As soon as Shane returned we had dinner at Hollywood and Vine and although we had not really enjoyed it that last 2 times it seems to have gotten better and we did like it better this time although we would have liked to have eaten at the Brown Derby where I originally had a reservation but had to change because the lights changed their opening dates. After dinner we went to New York street and saw the Osborne Lights and they did NOT dissapoint! We really enjoyed that and I hated to leave! But it was getting late and we headed back. This day was one of THE most crowded as I knew it would be and it was hard to enjoy much but the lights made it worthwhile if nothing else!
Saturday, November 29, 2008:
Plan: Check out of Timeshare and into Pop Century. Dad and Lynn to airport. Epcot Candlelight Procession. Eat lunch at San Angel in Mexico and then go to 5:00 p.m. show.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and all packed and out of the timeshare. Mom and Shane dropped the girls and I at Epcot while they took Dad and Lynn to the airport. Then they went to the pop and were able to get rooms. The girls and I rode SE again and then went over to the land and got some snacks and were headed to WS when we got dreamed AGAIN with Dream Fast Passes! The crazy part is we had planned to dedicate the entire day to the Christmas stuff and we NEVER used them! It was nice to get them though and I kept them as a souvenier of our trip. Shane and mom werent with us anyway so it would not have been fair for them anyway. Oh and the girls and I did go on Test Track as well while we were waiting for WS to open. As soon as it opened we listened to the Canadian Santas tale. Then we headed to France and mom and Shane joined us. We then worked our way around the World Showcase and heard the Santas from Norway, Germany and Italy. It was a lot of fun and we got some great photos. We had our candlelight dinner at San Angel in Mexico and this was yet another place I had never eaten and it was VERY good! After lunch we finished listening to some more santas and then it was time to line up for the performance. Shane was panicking because you DO have to line up at LEAST an hour if not more in advance. EVEN if you have preferred seating. But we were lucky that he was there and someone was nice enough to have saved us a place in line! The performance was very nice but I must admit I liked the Disneyland version better but I like the DW prices better LOL! When it was over we wanted to see the candy lady in Japan as we had missed her the other day and this was our last day and the girls were VERY lucky that they got picked. They were the LAST ones but she made them a tiger! She does GREAT work! Then it was finally time to head home!
Sunday, November 30, 2008:
Plan: Magic Kingdom this day for MVMCP. Dinner at Cinderellas Table!
What actually happened: Up once again and headed out and this time we were pretty nervous. They predicted RAIN and lots of it. The day was actually pretty nice in the beginning but around midday it started getting ugly and at one point it started raining and they had like flash floods. I was really panicking that they would cancel the party and what would I do. We just did the best we could and rode as many things that were indoors as we could. They closed down some rides that were outdoors like thunder mountain and we just did the best we could but even with our ponchos we were pretty wet. It was finally time for our dinner at the castle. We checked in and it was really nice. When we went in 05 dinner was not a character meal and now it is. It was nice though. The food was great and the kids got the pictures with Cinderella and you got 2 packages as part of your dinner and they get wands. The mice come and take pics with the kids and then the Fairy Godmother comes and does a little show. It was a lot of fun.
After dinner we exchanged our tickets for our wristbands and then we watched the castle lighting ceremony. That was probably a mistake because by the time we got to the Twas the Night before Christmas show there was no seats left. That was a nice show but my mom couldnt stand. Then we went and sat and waited for the Celebrate the Seasons show and sat in the rain but at the last minute they cancelled it. So we thought we would sit and just wait for the parade and then they put it off because of the rain. We waited and waited and I was getting really mad. I felt like they were going to cancel everything. I just felt like because they didnt cancel the party but they were canceling all the individual events it was not really fair. But anyway my mom finally went and sat in the car because she was starting to get sick and was tired. We were walking around trying to find the supposed characters dressed in Christmas costumes like they usually do in Disneyland and I NEVER did find any. I was pretty dissapointed considering between the 5 of us we spent 250.00 but so be it. I am sure if it is good day it is a great party but oh well.
Anyway we finally just gave up because we were cold and wet and tired.
Monday, December 1, 2008:
Plan: Open. Go to whatever park we want. Eat on the fly. Possibly back to Ohana or wherever we want.
What actually happened: Since Sunday was so miserable with the rain we decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom. It was our last day and so we had packed most everything up and on a side note we were NOT impressed with the Pop. You definitely get what you pay for. It was definitely like a motel 6 or something. The rooms are small and the beds are doubles. They were so small that luckily we had 2 rooms because my kids slept in with my mom and my husband slept in one bed and I in the other. I am glad we didnt have to share or I would have gotten NO sleep. Now I stay at Disneyland ALL the time and even the cheapie resorts on Harbor have coffee makers and Kleenex and silly little things. This was a Disney hotel and it didnt even have THAT!
It was pretty bad. I sure missed my timeshare! And another thing everyone that said the parks should be dead the week after Thanksgiving? WRONG! They were mobbed. It was WORSE even then the Monday BEFORE Thanksgiving. That place was a madhouse. In fact it was less busy Sunday during the day then it was DURING the party. It got more crowded during the party even WITH the pouring rain.
Monday there were terribly long waits and you could hardly move in the parks. Even Downtown Disney was crowded. Anyway we just tried to do things that we normally wouldnt have done. We went to Tom Sawyer Island and looked for over an hour for the paint brushes and never did find them. We did go on Thunder mountain since it was rained out on Sunday but the lines were too long on most of the other rides. We did things like the teacups since we hadnt done them before and the TTA but otherwise just kind of hung out. Couldnt get into any eating places and had to get a hot dog at Caseys. Mom stayed in the room all day as she was really sick with a cold. We ended up leaving by 3:00. She wanted to have a nice dinner for our last night so she made a reservation at the Flying Fish at the Boardwalk. So we went and picked her up and went to the Yacht and Beach Club and saw the Gingerbread decs and admired what a NICE resort is like! Then took the Friendship II across the lake to the Boardwalk and ate at the Flying Fish. That was a GREAT meal and a nice end to the trip.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008:
Plan: Fly home.
What actually happened: Got up and packed our bags and gladly checked out of the pop. We wanted breakfast but didnt want to eat at the Pop again so we thought we would go to DTD. Nothing there so we called Kona and made a ressie. Headed to the Pollynesian and I FINALLY got to try the Tonga Toast. Had a GREAT breakfast at Kona and enjoyed yet another Deluxe resort and then headed back to DTD to do some last minute shopping. Picked up our stuff and then headed to the airport. We were able to score an earlier flight and got to Atlanta a bit earlier so we werent so crazed when we got there and then had a decent flight home.
All in all it was a great trip. Had a few snafus but it was wonderful! Loved all the Christmas decs and would love to go during that time again just not during Thanksgiving week. Maybe a week later. After my last two trips I had a definite plan for my next trip. At this point we dont. We just dont know what is going to happen with the economy. Shane and I would like to get our own timeshare but the airfare is a big part of it as well.
We are talking about 10 or 11 but at this point I have no idea when I will make it back. I know there will be another trip back in my future but at this point I dont know when. So until then I can only dream!
Cast: Myself 41, husband Shane 35, daughter Katy 8 (will turn 9 in December), daughter Shelby 7, my mom Rosemarie 63, my dad Gary 66 and my stepdaughter Lynn 16
Transportation: Air/rental car
Hotel: Doubletree at Universal Orlando for 2 nights, Orange Lake Timeshare for 1 week, and Pop Century for 3 nights
Experience: This will be our 3rd trip
Pre-trip planning:
I have written many reports before. This will be my 3rd about Disney World. We are currently annual passholders to Disneyland in California as we live in Northern California and go several times a year and as I stated above this will be our 3rd trip to the world. Our first trip was in May of 2002 during the flower and garden festival. Our 2nd was in October of 2005 for Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and that is when we saw some of the beginnings of the Christmas decorations and decided that we MUST come back to see that. We have been to Disneyland many times during the holidays and that is just about our favorite time of year to go. So we wanted to experience that in Florida. So pretty much right after we left in 05 we had already started planning this trip. It has been a long time coming and although we had ideas of what we wanted to do we didnt actually start making actual plans until the end of 2007. We booked our timeshare at that time and at this point that is about all we have done. It is currently Jan of 2008 and I am still in the hotel booking phase. My mother owns a timeshare in Mexico and last time we traded for the Sheraton Vistana. That place was located well but VERY well used and we found we were not able to stay again anyway. You are only able to stay in the same place once every 4 years I believe. So this time we are staying in a place called the Orange Lake Country Club. It looks nice from the photos so we are hoping for the best. Very soon I will be booking our room at Universal and at Disney. Our plan is to stay at Universal for 2 nights, check in to the timeshare for a week and then upon checking out of the timeshare check in to Pop Century for the last 2 nights before going home. We will be there over Thanksgiving and plan to see all of the Christmas festivities including Candlelight procession and the Osborne Lights.
February 12, 2008
Well FINALLY after all this time I have done some more planning on this trip. I have been planning it since our last trip in 05 but other than booking the timeshare we hadnt done much else. Then we thought we were going to have to cancel because my entire family gets their income off the real estate market and here in CA it is BAAAAD. But thanks to a great tax refund and of course the lovely rebates it is BACK ON!! J So I just got done booking the Doubletree and the Pop. We originally were going to try and stay at one of the nicer Loews properties at Universal but they are just too darn expensive and after all they ARE just a bed. So we got a GREAT rate online with AAA for 80 bucks a night at the Doubletree which is right at the front gates. I have stayed at Doubletrees before and they are usually always nice. The only catch was I had to pay in full in advance but that price was with tax. So for 160 I got 2 nights PAID in full! Not too bad but it is non-refundable so the trip is definitely ON now! J Then I booked Pop Century and I got the first night at 92 but the second for only 65!!! So that was a good deal as well. And with Disney you have to pay for one night up front but that was ok. It is refundable if we did have to cancel but that isnt going to happen. Now I just have to wait till the dates for MVMCP to come out so I can do the final tweaking to my schedule and buy the tix and then I can start booking my priority seatings as well. And then the next big item will be airfare which should be out around June. I am hoping to score some good prices on Southwest although it will be a brutal flight because upon looking it appears they have NO layovers and of course we all know they have NO food. So that is going to be a LONG flight! Then the only other thing I have to worry about is our tickets which I will not get till about a month before we leave. So that is it for now!
May 2, 2008
Well for those of you that know about Disney World you probably know that May 1st is the day they release the MVMCP tickets and so as of yesterday I scored my tickets. I also have since decided to add an extra day to our trip. We have thought and thought about it and since, by the time you read this report, gas will probably be to 5.00 a gallon whereas right now it is at 4.00 and when I started this it was still in the 2.00 range, we decided it was best to move our dates back to fly home. Southwest STILL has not released the flights and I fear everyday it is going to cost us a MINT. We feel that the farther away from the holiday we get the cheaper it will be if that is even possible at this point and so we went ahead and booked the pop for one more night. The ONLY good part was I got the value rate of 65/night for that extra night at least. So our hope is the minute they release November we will buy our outbound tickets and then worry about our inbound whenever they release December and take our chances! We know the days of 200 roundtrips are probably over but it is killing me waiting. I also have about 2 more weeks to wait before I can start making my ADRS and I am still not sure about the Candlelight Procession and have yet to get a straight answer from anyone but am sure in the next few months I will get my answer. But once I score our air tickets and ADRS then all that is left is our park tickets and that is a piece of cake compared to the rest. Also my mom is trying to convince my dad to go and thus bringing my teenage stepdaughter who originally was not going to come because of school. So it is up in the air at this point if they will be joining us mid trip. She cant miss school and thus they will not be able to come WITH us in the beginning but MAY be joining us mid trip and leave before us but that remains to be seen at this point although they will need to decide soon as I will have to buy air tickets and make ADRS in the next few weeks. So more things will be firmed up in the next few weeks. I am getting excited though and yet saddened as I know that this may be our last trip for a LONG time so I am hoping that this is a GOOD one!
June 2, 2008
Well at this point I just finished making my last ADR. So where we stand now is my father and stepdaughter ARE coming and the ADRS are made and we decided we could NO longer wait on Southwest. The gas prices just keep going up and we just feel that Southwest isnt going to offer any cheap fares esp being Thanksgiving week so we succumbed to Delta and now we are flying with them. It is probably better since they at LEAST have a movie and now we DO have a layover although ironically both ways our layovers arent till the flight is almost over. But at LEAST we DO have one. Anyway so the airfare is purchased, at a dear price I might add, and the ADRS are made. I had to get up EVERY single day for 7 days but I got them all! I am STILL waiting on Candlelight Procession and I will buy my Universal and Park tix around the end of summer and then FINALLY that should be it!
July 5, 2008
Well at this point I have my Candlelight Procession package reserved! They actually released early! They released it in June this year! I called right when I found out and got San Angel for 2:00. A little earlier than I wanted but at least we got it! So everything is FINALLY done. Now I just have to buy our park tickets which I will most likely do in either the end of August or September. And that is it! We are still trying to decide if we want to go to Ice so we need to make up our minds and probably book that but otherwise thats it. WHEW!
July 31, 2008
Well another little change has occurred. One thing that did NOT occur to me before was ticket price increases. As a loyal board watcher I was informed that around August 1st the prices usually go up and so I went ahead and bit the bullet and purchased our hopper tickets. I DID have the money set aside but it DOES pack a punch. For 4 of us for 9 day base tickets it was nearly 1000.00! OUCH! But it had to be done. My mother went with an annual pass and is going to purchase the DDE card so we can save on meals. She purchased a 6 day pass for my dad and stepdaughter since they will be there less days and she bought my stepdaughters pass to help us out since we had to pay double for the airfare etc. I have yet to buy our Universal tickets although I will probably have to get those in the next week or so now as well. We still have to reserve a rental car and we ALSO found out that Delta had already changed our flights. I had read on the Disney boards that peoples flights were being changed and we had JUST purchased them only a month or so ago and sure enough our outbound flights had been completely cancelled with NO word to us at all from Delta. Luckily I thought to check and sure enough they were changed both from here to Atlanta and Atlanta to Orlando. So I have gotten the new info and now have them marked for updates on the computer. So now we have to check my dad and stepdaughters flights as I bet money they have changed as well.
SO frustrating. And since we dont fly for another 4 months I will NOT be surprised if they dont change again as well as our outbound flights! So I will DEF be checking them several times before we leave. But other than the tickets and checking on the flights and the rental car we are NOW just about done. Now it is just WAIT for the time to pass. I cant believe though that in just a few days I will finally be in double digits. I remember when I started my countdown calendar it was 400+ days and now it is almost down to 99! Sometimes it still seems like a long way away when I think that it is Thanksgiving and right now it is still summer time but if the time flies by as quickly as summer has then it should be here before we know it! J
September 16, 2008
Well in just a few days it will be the first day of fall. I cant believe how close it is getting. I am finally in double digits and I think I am down to 60 some odd days left. It is really starting to fly now. Yesterday mom and I booked the rental car finally and we are going with a mini van through Enterprise. We have used them before and are pretty happy with them. I am using a coupon through our entertainment book and got a fairly decent rate for almost 2 weeks. The only problem is we dont get in till almost 11 and they close at 12 and they are offsite. So that could get tricky! Also I have decided to wait and purchase the universal tickets until a week or so before we go since you just print them off your computer. No need to spend the money till I absolutely have to especially since I am having to start booking my airfare and hotel for my NEXT two trips in March and April! But that just about wraps this trip up. I cant think of anything else left. The hurricane season has been pretty ugly and I am just praying that we dont have a repeat of 05. Luckily we are going about a month later than last time so hopefully that means we wont have any problems! I am really getting excited and hope everything goes off without a hitch. Delta has changed our flights several times but at least for now we still HAVE flights! Hopefully the next time I write it will be with a completed report! J
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Plan: Take noon flight on Delta to Orlando. Check in to Doubletree.
What actually happened: Well the day FINALLY arrived. Things right up till then were quite hectic so it made waiting for the trip easier. My kids are on the soccer team and in Girl Scouts and a church group and so our lives were VERY busy including our soccer party on the Sunday night before we left and church group the NIGHT before we left! But the day DID arrive and we were QUITE anxious! After thinking and rethinking everything we were finally on our way hoping we had not forgotten anything. We had all our bags packed and headed to the airport. Grandpa dropped us off and said he would see us in a few days. We got checked in with Delta and after ALL the hassles they surprisingly werent too bad. They had sent us an e-mail the day before and we were able to check-in online (including our bags) although if you dont do it correctly youre in trouble. My mom had this problem and almost got charged for her bag, but that is another story. But we got through security quite easily and the airport was pretty quiet! We had what we assumed would be our only meal for awhile and headed to the plane. We took off and had our LONG flight to Atlanta. Atlanta was EXTREMELY crazy and busy and we had about a 2 hour layover where we were able to have some dinner before our short 1 hour flight to Orlando. We arrived in Orlando quite late and after retrieving our luggage we headed for the rental agency. We got our van and the first surprise was that Enterprise is now charging for an extra driver. This was new to us and was an unpleasant surprise but what can you do at midnight but just accept it. We then stopped at a local 7-11 for waters and 3 curious raccoons came out to dig in the trash cans and they werent the least bit afraid. It was really cute!
We had a heck of a time finding our way to Universal at that late hour especially with the toll roads etc but we finally made it and checked in to the Doubletree. The rooms were nice and we were more than happy to hit the hay. It had been a LONG day!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Plan: Islands of Adventure all day. Stay at Doubletree again this night and eat at Mythos.
What actually happened: We were up bright and early and since we did not have many options for breakfast we decided to try the Doubletrees restaurant. BIG mistake. The food was OK but it was WAY overpriced as most hotel restaurants tend to be. I think it cost 60.00 some odd dollars and Shane and I only had toast and oatmeal. It was ridiculous. But nonetheless we finished our meal and were on our way to the parks. We took the hotel shuttle which dropped us off at the parks so we saved the parking fee and then walked in. It was surprisingly freezing. MOST of the time we were there they had a cold spell and it was in the low 40s and even 30s most mornings. BRRRRRR! We had planned to only do Islands of Adventure this day but we lucked out and the parks were very quiet. We had bought the 7 day pass because we had planned to go to Universal on Saturday but had I known that we were going to end up going to both parks in the same day I probably could have saved some money and just bought a 1 day 2 park pass but nonetheless I bought the 7 day print at home pass and that is what we used.
Shane and I hit the Hulk first thing which is great fun! We chose to skip Dudley do Rights this trip as it was just TOO darn cold! It is a great ride but you get absolutely soaked to the skin on that thing! We then did the spiderman ride and headed towards Dueling Dragons where he and I did both Fire and Ice. We saw the Harry Potter area and are very excited to come back and see that when it is finished! We took the kids on the Teradactyl ride and Jurassic Park and then through the Seuss area. We rode the Seuss train and the Cat in the Hat. By then it was about lunch time and so we had lunch at Mythos which was very good! We had wanted to try it in 05 and so we finally were able to do so this time. After lunch we were able to see Posidons Fury which was not running in 05 and did not have time to see the Sinbad show. We had pretty much done everything and so we decided we should go ahead and go to Universal since it was still early and so that is what we did. We hopped over and saw Jimmy Neutron and Twister as well as the Simpsons Ride and ET. We also rode the Mummy. We let the girls see a few characters and I believe that was about all we did. Since we have Universal here in California we have done a lot of the rides and such here. So we tried to just hit the things that we didnt have here. By then it was getting late and so we left and had dinner at Margaritaville. It was just ok. We then caught a cab back to the hotel and had wanted some coffee but were surprised that at only about 8 p.m. nothing was open. So we just hit the hay.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Plan: Check out of Doubletree and possibly do UO for part of morning. Cant check in to timeshare till 4 p.m. Possibly go to DTD. Pick up Dad and Lynn tonight. Check in to timeshare at 4 then go grocery shopping. Eat somewhere near timeshare this night.
What actually happened: Well we got up this morning and since we had already done Universal we just checked out of the Doubletree and headed to the Orange Lake to see if we could possibly check in. BONUS we could. So we got our room and this place was MUCH nicer than the Vistana. At first they tried the old bait and switch and tried to put us next to the highway again but we knew better this time and we got a nice room in the back over looking the golf course. This place has 4 courses and a huge lake as well as a water park and it is just a really great place! We then tried to find the Walmart that the lady at the desk mentioned but couldnt so we just went to the Publix and got our groceries. I cant remember where we had lunch that day but then we went to Downtown Disney and shopped. It was fun. We got to see the new place T-Rex and did a little shopping at World of Disney as well as a few of the other fun shops. Soon it was time to head to the airport.
We picked up my dad and stepdaughter and headed back to the timeshare where they dropped off their bags and we had decided earlier in the day that we had enough time to go somewhere nice for dinner but of COURSE there was no place decent we could get in without an ADR but we WERE able to get in to Olivias at Old Key West.
So we headed over there and I was NOT that impressed. It was OK but not great. And it was expensive. After that we just went back to the timeshare and took it easy. And that was that.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Plan: Epcot all day, Le Cellier for dinner. Eat lunch on the fly.
What actually happened: Well everyone was up and at em and today was our first day at the parks. We had breakfast at the condo and then were off. My mom was able to show her annual pass voucher at the parking kiosk and that got us in without paying (you get free parking with an AP) and then the first thing we did was exchange the voucher for the pass. Then we headed to guest services to buy her dinning card now known as Tables in Wonderland formerly known as the Disney Dinning Experience. For anyone who doesnt know about this or who hasnt used this this was a GREAT thing. All the table service places took it for 20% off and it saved us a bundle! It paid for itself after 1 meal!
Anyway our first ride was of course spaceship earth while Shane and Lynn ran off to get fast passes for Mission Space. This was grandpas first ever visit to DW so everything was new to him and we hadnt been on SE since they had changed it. It was kind of weird not seeing the ending with the kids in the classrooms etc. Not sure what I thought of it but the kids liked being able to do the little quiz and getting their pictures. After SE we did MS. Shane, Lynn, Katy and Grandpa all did the regular side and Grandma, me and Shelby did the green side. Even THAT side got to me a little bit. I get motion sickness. It was ok but I wouldnt want to do it a bunch of times. It was neat though. We then did test track and headed to the seas and did Nemo. We also did the Land and living with the Land. After that we did Journey into your imagination and then headed into WS. We had lunch in Norway at Kringla Bakeri. It was OK. Not great but not bad. We spent the rest of the day working our way round the countries and did the boat rides in Mexico and Norway and saw a few of the films and ended up at Canada where we had dinner at Le Cellier. I have never eaten there and I enjoyed my dinner although dad and Shane werent fond of theirs. Surprisingly they had the steak that the place is famous for and did not like it but mom had the scallops and I had the ravioli and we both enjoyed our meals. And we all enjoyed our desserts. After that we watched Illuminations which was great and then headed back to the room.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Plan: Magic Kingdom all day. Dinner at Tonys.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and had our breakfast in our room and were off to the park. We arrived at the TTC and decided to take the Ferry versus the monorail. We had a nice ride across the lake and headed into the park. To be quite honest I dont remember which rides we did in which order but we didnt do that many. It was starting to get busy and we got fast passes for the biggies and just did what we could and didnt push it. I do know that we took Grandpa to see the Country Bears, Philharmagic and the Carousel of Progress. He likes shows! Our first order of business that day as well was to see Tinkerbell and that took up a chunk of time but was worth it! We had lunch at our favorite burger place, Pecos Bills and dinner that night was at Tonys. This was another spot I had never been and AFTER I had made my ADRs I had heard some bad things about it on the boards but we were pleasantly surprised. We quite enjoyed the food AND the service. We would def go back. After dinner we came out to see Spectromagic starting so we stayed to watch since we had never seen this either. By then we were ready to go. We took the monorail back and stopped at the Grand Floridian to see the Gingerbread house which was awesome and then headed back to the room.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Plan: Animal Kingdom. Dinner at Boma at AKL
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and after our usual breakfast in the condo we were headed out to the Animal Kingdom. Our first order of business after Shane got fast passes for Everest was Kilamanjaro Safari. Now I have been on this ride twice before but this was one of the best yet. I dont know if it was because it was cooler than usual or what but ALL the animals were out and about and it was a really good day. We had a baby giraffe in the middle of the road and the daddy came running down after him. Then we got to see the new baby elephant and many many more animals. It was wonderful. We also saw the wonderful Festival of the Lion King and the Nemo show which was not there the last time we were there. Both shows were excellent. We walked through the Pangani Forrest and just as we were exiting we were surprised with Dream Fast passes!! That was nice and helped us get to go on Everest 3 times! That was our first time getting to go on that ride as it was not quite done in 05 when we were there and we LOVED it! We did most all the rides except Kali as it was too cold and Primeval Whirl because it was down on rehab. We love this park and had a good time! After we left we headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we had dinner at Boma. We did this in 05 and LOVED it and once again had a GREAT meal! After that we headed back to the room.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Plan: Open. Either go to AK or MGM. Golf in Afternoon. Dinner at Artists Point. Adults Only.
What actually happened: Well our idea of going to the parks first thing didnt work out. We knew we were going to play golf and we had to figure out what to do with the kids so we spent the morning exploring the timeshare to see what to do with them and then it was time to play golf. We dropped the kids off at the water park at our timeshare where they had a GREAT time by the way and they also were able to play putt putt golf and we played 18 holes of golf and then we got the kids pizza while the grownups went to dinner at Artists Point at the Wilderness Lodge. That was a lovely place and GREAT food. We enjoyed seeing the hotel all decorated up for the holiday as well as the wonderful food at the restaurant!
Thursday, November 27, 2008 THANKSGIVING
Plan: Epcot. Dinner at Biergarten.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and we headed off to Epcot. This time we tried to see and do things we had not done the day before. We went in to Future World and did Ellens Energy Adventure which I had never done in my previous 2 trips and I have to say I was impressed! The theater alone was amazing. Then we did soaring and had lunch in the Land. It was Thanksgiving day and I had a turkey meal. After that we headed into World Showcase to see the countries that we had missed the other day. We spent the rest of the day doing that until it was time for our dinner at Biergarten. We spent our Thanksgiving meal at Biergarten and had a wonderful time listening to the German music and dancing along. After dinner we headed back to the room to relax.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Plan: MGM. Dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Osborne Lights Tonight!
What actually happened: Once again up bright and early and off to MGM. We did Tower of Terror first thing and Shane tried to get fast passes for TSMM but the line just for fast passes was too long. So then we did the great movie ride and then went to see characters. We saw Prince Caspian and then the Bolt characters. We had lunch at one of the counter service places on Sunset Blvd and then Shane and I and the girls did Rocking Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror again. After that my dad was not feeling well so Shane took him back to the room while mom and the girls and I shopped and looked around. Oh before that we did however watch Lights, Motors Action and enjoyed that. As soon as Shane returned we had dinner at Hollywood and Vine and although we had not really enjoyed it that last 2 times it seems to have gotten better and we did like it better this time although we would have liked to have eaten at the Brown Derby where I originally had a reservation but had to change because the lights changed their opening dates. After dinner we went to New York street and saw the Osborne Lights and they did NOT dissapoint! We really enjoyed that and I hated to leave! But it was getting late and we headed back. This day was one of THE most crowded as I knew it would be and it was hard to enjoy much but the lights made it worthwhile if nothing else!
Saturday, November 29, 2008:
Plan: Check out of Timeshare and into Pop Century. Dad and Lynn to airport. Epcot Candlelight Procession. Eat lunch at San Angel in Mexico and then go to 5:00 p.m. show.
What actually happened: Once again we were up bright and early and all packed and out of the timeshare. Mom and Shane dropped the girls and I at Epcot while they took Dad and Lynn to the airport. Then they went to the pop and were able to get rooms. The girls and I rode SE again and then went over to the land and got some snacks and were headed to WS when we got dreamed AGAIN with Dream Fast Passes! The crazy part is we had planned to dedicate the entire day to the Christmas stuff and we NEVER used them! It was nice to get them though and I kept them as a souvenier of our trip. Shane and mom werent with us anyway so it would not have been fair for them anyway. Oh and the girls and I did go on Test Track as well while we were waiting for WS to open. As soon as it opened we listened to the Canadian Santas tale. Then we headed to France and mom and Shane joined us. We then worked our way around the World Showcase and heard the Santas from Norway, Germany and Italy. It was a lot of fun and we got some great photos. We had our candlelight dinner at San Angel in Mexico and this was yet another place I had never eaten and it was VERY good! After lunch we finished listening to some more santas and then it was time to line up for the performance. Shane was panicking because you DO have to line up at LEAST an hour if not more in advance. EVEN if you have preferred seating. But we were lucky that he was there and someone was nice enough to have saved us a place in line! The performance was very nice but I must admit I liked the Disneyland version better but I like the DW prices better LOL! When it was over we wanted to see the candy lady in Japan as we had missed her the other day and this was our last day and the girls were VERY lucky that they got picked. They were the LAST ones but she made them a tiger! She does GREAT work! Then it was finally time to head home!
Sunday, November 30, 2008:
Plan: Magic Kingdom this day for MVMCP. Dinner at Cinderellas Table!
What actually happened: Up once again and headed out and this time we were pretty nervous. They predicted RAIN and lots of it. The day was actually pretty nice in the beginning but around midday it started getting ugly and at one point it started raining and they had like flash floods. I was really panicking that they would cancel the party and what would I do. We just did the best we could and rode as many things that were indoors as we could. They closed down some rides that were outdoors like thunder mountain and we just did the best we could but even with our ponchos we were pretty wet. It was finally time for our dinner at the castle. We checked in and it was really nice. When we went in 05 dinner was not a character meal and now it is. It was nice though. The food was great and the kids got the pictures with Cinderella and you got 2 packages as part of your dinner and they get wands. The mice come and take pics with the kids and then the Fairy Godmother comes and does a little show. It was a lot of fun.
After dinner we exchanged our tickets for our wristbands and then we watched the castle lighting ceremony. That was probably a mistake because by the time we got to the Twas the Night before Christmas show there was no seats left. That was a nice show but my mom couldnt stand. Then we went and sat and waited for the Celebrate the Seasons show and sat in the rain but at the last minute they cancelled it. So we thought we would sit and just wait for the parade and then they put it off because of the rain. We waited and waited and I was getting really mad. I felt like they were going to cancel everything. I just felt like because they didnt cancel the party but they were canceling all the individual events it was not really fair. But anyway my mom finally went and sat in the car because she was starting to get sick and was tired. We were walking around trying to find the supposed characters dressed in Christmas costumes like they usually do in Disneyland and I NEVER did find any. I was pretty dissapointed considering between the 5 of us we spent 250.00 but so be it. I am sure if it is good day it is a great party but oh well.
Anyway we finally just gave up because we were cold and wet and tired.
Monday, December 1, 2008:
Plan: Open. Go to whatever park we want. Eat on the fly. Possibly back to Ohana or wherever we want.
What actually happened: Since Sunday was so miserable with the rain we decided to go back to the Magic Kingdom. It was our last day and so we had packed most everything up and on a side note we were NOT impressed with the Pop. You definitely get what you pay for. It was definitely like a motel 6 or something. The rooms are small and the beds are doubles. They were so small that luckily we had 2 rooms because my kids slept in with my mom and my husband slept in one bed and I in the other. I am glad we didnt have to share or I would have gotten NO sleep. Now I stay at Disneyland ALL the time and even the cheapie resorts on Harbor have coffee makers and Kleenex and silly little things. This was a Disney hotel and it didnt even have THAT!
It was pretty bad. I sure missed my timeshare! And another thing everyone that said the parks should be dead the week after Thanksgiving? WRONG! They were mobbed. It was WORSE even then the Monday BEFORE Thanksgiving. That place was a madhouse. In fact it was less busy Sunday during the day then it was DURING the party. It got more crowded during the party even WITH the pouring rain.
Monday there were terribly long waits and you could hardly move in the parks. Even Downtown Disney was crowded. Anyway we just tried to do things that we normally wouldnt have done. We went to Tom Sawyer Island and looked for over an hour for the paint brushes and never did find them. We did go on Thunder mountain since it was rained out on Sunday but the lines were too long on most of the other rides. We did things like the teacups since we hadnt done them before and the TTA but otherwise just kind of hung out. Couldnt get into any eating places and had to get a hot dog at Caseys. Mom stayed in the room all day as she was really sick with a cold. We ended up leaving by 3:00. She wanted to have a nice dinner for our last night so she made a reservation at the Flying Fish at the Boardwalk. So we went and picked her up and went to the Yacht and Beach Club and saw the Gingerbread decs and admired what a NICE resort is like! Then took the Friendship II across the lake to the Boardwalk and ate at the Flying Fish. That was a GREAT meal and a nice end to the trip.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008:
Plan: Fly home.
What actually happened: Got up and packed our bags and gladly checked out of the pop. We wanted breakfast but didnt want to eat at the Pop again so we thought we would go to DTD. Nothing there so we called Kona and made a ressie. Headed to the Pollynesian and I FINALLY got to try the Tonga Toast. Had a GREAT breakfast at Kona and enjoyed yet another Deluxe resort and then headed back to DTD to do some last minute shopping. Picked up our stuff and then headed to the airport. We were able to score an earlier flight and got to Atlanta a bit earlier so we werent so crazed when we got there and then had a decent flight home.
All in all it was a great trip. Had a few snafus but it was wonderful! Loved all the Christmas decs and would love to go during that time again just not during Thanksgiving week. Maybe a week later. After my last two trips I had a definite plan for my next trip. At this point we dont. We just dont know what is going to happen with the economy. Shane and I would like to get our own timeshare but the airfare is a big part of it as well.
We are talking about 10 or 11 but at this point I have no idea when I will make it back. I know there will be another trip back in my future but at this point I dont know when. So until then I can only dream!
It was awesome!!
I also think it is neat that the carolers do walk down Mainstreet. Too bad they want an arm and a leg for the dinner seats. 
