The welcomed guests: Dad (an over-acheiving professional), Mom (the planner and orchestrator of the household), dear Daughter (14) and dear Son (8 in 11 days). One child is highly gifted and the other is communication-disordered special needs. WDW has always been a great equalizer for our family......we can all enjoy everything at our own levels.
The scenario: After months of life-changing/life-threatening stresses, too many snow days out of school, my birthday in 9 days, son's birthday in 11 days, and nothing but church to do for the weekend, we wanted to get out of town. After considering an educational trip to the Chicago museums (for about 2 minutes), we were drawn to the fact that we had AP's calling to us from the lock box and DVC beckoning to us to "come home". Our objectives were simple: do as much as possible and let the rest go. After all, we could be home scrubbing toilets or folding laundry!
This was about 1:30pm on Friday afternoon. By 2:10pm we had found discount airfare to Orlando. WOW! It was close to our normal 14-day advance purchase fares and the departure time was at 6:15pm (4 hour away!) The next call was to DVC. They only had Friday night at OKW. Hmmmmm, well I got out our new Disney Club card and called to see what they had. They had everything open! Carolina at CRO was awesome when I explained to her what we wanted. I told her that we wanted to use DVC for Friday and purchase Saturday through her. When I asked her how I should do it, she said, "If you have two phone lines, put me on hold while you confirm DVC." I did just that!!! Boy, was I a sight, walking around the house with two cordless phones to my spinning head, talking to John (DVC) on one and staying in touch with Carolina on the other. After 10 minutes, we had it done. WhoHoooooooooo! This was really going to happen!
OK, we had the plane tickets, the room, our APs, all by 2:30pm. The school bus would be home shortly and we had to pack and leave by 3:45pm. It was crunch time. My husband and I quickly divided duties. I printed out my computer list of everything we need for a WDW vacation (I complied this master list a couple of years ago and it proved invaluable), hubby took off to gas up the van (1.5 hours drive to the airport) & get cash. The school bus arrived and I gave the announcement that they had 1 hour to get packed.
Now, for our son, 1 hour was 55 minutes too many. For our 14-yr-old-can't-live-without-everything-in-my-room-- --gotta-call-my-friends-- --must-have-10-matching-outfits-for-48hours-- daughter, .......well let's just say that she may be scarred for life for being forced into such decisions without the appropriate mental preparation. (If you don't have teenage girls, you won't understand the last sentence.) She wanted to create exciting ensembles and make-up artistry (she actually asked me if we had time to stop at a mall enroute!). I told her that we probably wouldn't see anybody that we knew and she only had 49 minutes left! As for my hubby and I, we literally threw clothes into suitcase. Mind you, we live in Indiana and haven't worn light clothes for months, so we had to get into the back of the closet! In the end, we only forgot 1 toothbrush, the swim goggles, and our daughter's swim robe.
Enroute, I used the cell phone to arrange for a rental vechicle. Traffic delays put us at the airport check-in at 5:40 for a 6:15 flight. Boy, this was close! We stood in line for 15 minutes, then had an inept ticket agent (believe me, I'm being generous here) and left the ticket counter at 6:09pm. We weren't sure if our checked baggage would make it but we were determine to do it. With a rund through the airport that would rival any Home Alone movie, we arrived at the gate at 6:14pm. Our outgoing flight had a connection at Chicago Midway and the Chicago-Orlando segment landed 30 minutes EARLY. We have never been that early before! 10 hours and 34 minutes after the thought crossed our minds, we were back "home", at OKW. Ahhhhhhhh!
The actual trip: Our goal was to do as much as possible before 6PM Sunday (to return to the airport). We have been to the World about 25 times, so we all had our favorites. We didn't want to relax......we wanted to party!
Saturday: Woke up at the Happiest Place on Earth and ate breakfast in the room. (I threw in muffins, oatmeal, etc... from home and we stopped at a quick-mart place from the airport.) We decided to start at MGM.
MGM: Arrived at 9:15am. Speed over to the RNR for FastPasses. Did TOT twice and RNR twice, (each had wait times of less then 20 minutes), then on to the Great Movie Ride. I was now 10:45am and we opted for an early lunch. Hubby wanted a 'burger from the BackLot Express and our son choose Pizza Planet. At 11AM, we had no waits and could find a table easily. After lunch, we did Star Tous twice. During lunch, we had a family meeting and everybody picked one thing to do before leaving MGM. Hubby didn't care as long as it didn't involve a telephone or beeper, I choose RNR, DS opted for a repeat of the GMR, and DD wanted to shop. (Boy, can she do some damage in 20 minutes!)
Around 1:30pm, we went back to OKW to swim. We left a foot of snow and ice, so 64degrees & sun was perfect swim weather for us! After rotating between the hot tub and the pool for an hour, we returned to our room to prepare for Epcot.
Epcot: We arrived just before 4pm and the park closed at 9pm. Our first visit was to TestTrack for FastPasses.
Unfortunately, the FastPasses were gone for the day and the standy-by line was 45 minutes. As we were debating whether to wait or not, a CM asked us if we needed assistance. After chatting for a couple of minutes, he gave us 4 "go to the head of the line" passes! Wow, we hadn't complained at all and was considering going in the singles line. We still son't know why he did it, but it was pixie dust to us!
I choose Canada for my early Birthday dinner. This is my favorite place and I ordered my favorite things.....Mushroom-stuffed Filet and Cheese Soup. The only disappointment in the entire trip was at Le Cellier. My husband wanted lobster but it wasn't on the menu. Our waitress did not tell us that it was available, but it really was. Oh well, it could have been Hamburger Helper at home! Our DS loved the pretzel bread, too.
On around the World Showcase...... We did Norway twice, with the first time all by ourselves in the boat. Each time, the doors were open to the movie when we got off the boat, so we wisked right through. (Love the movie, but didn't take the time to see it this trip.) Rode through Mexico and sipped hot chocolate on the way back to Future World. Our DS loves Space Ship Earth, so we walked right on. By 8:30pm, we were done with our favorites and went back to OKW for a full-night's rest. We were asleep by 10:15pm.
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 7:30pm, ate breakfast, packed (well, actually threw everything back into the suitcases), and left OKW by 8:50am. We had until 6pm to leave for the airport and two parks left to visit..........
Our first stop was the AK. While driving to the AK, we saw several hundred marathon runners. (We didn't know that it was going on!). It took us about 15 minutes to get into the park because of the runners. My hubby's all-time favorite is the Kilmanjaro Safari, so we started in Africa. The posted wait-time was 10 minutes but we walked right on (at 9:30am). This safari was the best we had ever been on! The guide was great and took his time, about 30 minutes for the entire trek. We saw lots of animals, including a lioness and lion.
We then crossed the park to search for an Iquanadon. We went back in time twice on Dinosaur and was at the RainForest Cafe by 11am. The RC was our DD's choice......she loves the food and loves to shop. Usually, my DH and I strongly dislike it because of the wait but this one was fast. From sitting down getting the check was only 40 minutes. We said good-bye to the AK around 12:15pm
We arrived at the MK around 12:30pm. Immediately got FastPasses for Space Mountain and trotted over to BTMRR. Did the "wildest train in the west" twice and it was time for our Space Mt. passes. (We did not want to get wet on Splash MT with the cooler temps & air travel so soon, so we left that for the next trip.) Space Mt. was temporarily down, so we took a break on the people mover. During the ride, we saw that Space Mt. was open and let the kids do it twice, with our 4 FastPasses. We shopped during the 3pm parade and headed over to the Pirates of the Carribean. After a visit to the Haunted Mansion, is was close to 4pm. We opted for an early supper at Pecos Bills (we wanted tacos but they closed at 4pm) and had Mickey ice cream for dessert. After a lingering on Main Street and packing up some pixie dust, we left the park around 5:45pm for the monorail back to the TTC.
Our 8:15pm flight home was non-stop but it was delayed by over an hour. We arrived at Indianapolis International at 11:30pm on a plane with 360 passengers. Another flight arrived just before us and they unloaded our luggage simultaneously. Approx. 500 tired passengers, all trying to get their bags at one. Not much pixie dust there! We pulled into our garage at 1:59am and fell into bed. The kids sleep the entire trip home, so they are better off then my hubby and I are today!
It is now Monday, 10am, and I can still taste the popcorn and smell the cookies baking on Main Street. Our weekend fantasy trip is behind us and we had a blast. Our family needed time to enjoy each other without outside stresses and it was just what the doctor ordered!
[This message was edited by Claudia1 on 01-08-01 at 10:12 AM.]
The scenario: After months of life-changing/life-threatening stresses, too many snow days out of school, my birthday in 9 days, son's birthday in 11 days, and nothing but church to do for the weekend, we wanted to get out of town. After considering an educational trip to the Chicago museums (for about 2 minutes), we were drawn to the fact that we had AP's calling to us from the lock box and DVC beckoning to us to "come home". Our objectives were simple: do as much as possible and let the rest go. After all, we could be home scrubbing toilets or folding laundry!
This was about 1:30pm on Friday afternoon. By 2:10pm we had found discount airfare to Orlando. WOW! It was close to our normal 14-day advance purchase fares and the departure time was at 6:15pm (4 hour away!) The next call was to DVC. They only had Friday night at OKW. Hmmmmm, well I got out our new Disney Club card and called to see what they had. They had everything open! Carolina at CRO was awesome when I explained to her what we wanted. I told her that we wanted to use DVC for Friday and purchase Saturday through her. When I asked her how I should do it, she said, "If you have two phone lines, put me on hold while you confirm DVC." I did just that!!! Boy, was I a sight, walking around the house with two cordless phones to my spinning head, talking to John (DVC) on one and staying in touch with Carolina on the other. After 10 minutes, we had it done. WhoHoooooooooo! This was really going to happen!
OK, we had the plane tickets, the room, our APs, all by 2:30pm. The school bus would be home shortly and we had to pack and leave by 3:45pm. It was crunch time. My husband and I quickly divided duties. I printed out my computer list of everything we need for a WDW vacation (I complied this master list a couple of years ago and it proved invaluable), hubby took off to gas up the van (1.5 hours drive to the airport) & get cash. The school bus arrived and I gave the announcement that they had 1 hour to get packed.
Now, for our son, 1 hour was 55 minutes too many. For our 14-yr-old-can't-live-without-everything-in-my-room-- --gotta-call-my-friends-- --must-have-10-matching-outfits-for-48hours-- daughter, .......well let's just say that she may be scarred for life for being forced into such decisions without the appropriate mental preparation. (If you don't have teenage girls, you won't understand the last sentence.) She wanted to create exciting ensembles and make-up artistry (she actually asked me if we had time to stop at a mall enroute!). I told her that we probably wouldn't see anybody that we knew and she only had 49 minutes left! As for my hubby and I, we literally threw clothes into suitcase. Mind you, we live in Indiana and haven't worn light clothes for months, so we had to get into the back of the closet! In the end, we only forgot 1 toothbrush, the swim goggles, and our daughter's swim robe.
Enroute, I used the cell phone to arrange for a rental vechicle. Traffic delays put us at the airport check-in at 5:40 for a 6:15 flight. Boy, this was close! We stood in line for 15 minutes, then had an inept ticket agent (believe me, I'm being generous here) and left the ticket counter at 6:09pm. We weren't sure if our checked baggage would make it but we were determine to do it. With a rund through the airport that would rival any Home Alone movie, we arrived at the gate at 6:14pm. Our outgoing flight had a connection at Chicago Midway and the Chicago-Orlando segment landed 30 minutes EARLY. We have never been that early before! 10 hours and 34 minutes after the thought crossed our minds, we were back "home", at OKW. Ahhhhhhhh!
The actual trip: Our goal was to do as much as possible before 6PM Sunday (to return to the airport). We have been to the World about 25 times, so we all had our favorites. We didn't want to relax......we wanted to party!
Saturday: Woke up at the Happiest Place on Earth and ate breakfast in the room. (I threw in muffins, oatmeal, etc... from home and we stopped at a quick-mart place from the airport.) We decided to start at MGM.
MGM: Arrived at 9:15am. Speed over to the RNR for FastPasses. Did TOT twice and RNR twice, (each had wait times of less then 20 minutes), then on to the Great Movie Ride. I was now 10:45am and we opted for an early lunch. Hubby wanted a 'burger from the BackLot Express and our son choose Pizza Planet. At 11AM, we had no waits and could find a table easily. After lunch, we did Star Tous twice. During lunch, we had a family meeting and everybody picked one thing to do before leaving MGM. Hubby didn't care as long as it didn't involve a telephone or beeper, I choose RNR, DS opted for a repeat of the GMR, and DD wanted to shop. (Boy, can she do some damage in 20 minutes!)
Around 1:30pm, we went back to OKW to swim. We left a foot of snow and ice, so 64degrees & sun was perfect swim weather for us! After rotating between the hot tub and the pool for an hour, we returned to our room to prepare for Epcot.
Epcot: We arrived just before 4pm and the park closed at 9pm. Our first visit was to TestTrack for FastPasses.
Unfortunately, the FastPasses were gone for the day and the standy-by line was 45 minutes. As we were debating whether to wait or not, a CM asked us if we needed assistance. After chatting for a couple of minutes, he gave us 4 "go to the head of the line" passes! Wow, we hadn't complained at all and was considering going in the singles line. We still son't know why he did it, but it was pixie dust to us!
I choose Canada for my early Birthday dinner. This is my favorite place and I ordered my favorite things.....Mushroom-stuffed Filet and Cheese Soup. The only disappointment in the entire trip was at Le Cellier. My husband wanted lobster but it wasn't on the menu. Our waitress did not tell us that it was available, but it really was. Oh well, it could have been Hamburger Helper at home! Our DS loved the pretzel bread, too.
On around the World Showcase...... We did Norway twice, with the first time all by ourselves in the boat. Each time, the doors were open to the movie when we got off the boat, so we wisked right through. (Love the movie, but didn't take the time to see it this trip.) Rode through Mexico and sipped hot chocolate on the way back to Future World. Our DS loves Space Ship Earth, so we walked right on. By 8:30pm, we were done with our favorites and went back to OKW for a full-night's rest. We were asleep by 10:15pm.
On Sunday morning, we woke up at 7:30pm, ate breakfast, packed (well, actually threw everything back into the suitcases), and left OKW by 8:50am. We had until 6pm to leave for the airport and two parks left to visit..........
Our first stop was the AK. While driving to the AK, we saw several hundred marathon runners. (We didn't know that it was going on!). It took us about 15 minutes to get into the park because of the runners. My hubby's all-time favorite is the Kilmanjaro Safari, so we started in Africa. The posted wait-time was 10 minutes but we walked right on (at 9:30am). This safari was the best we had ever been on! The guide was great and took his time, about 30 minutes for the entire trek. We saw lots of animals, including a lioness and lion.
We then crossed the park to search for an Iquanadon. We went back in time twice on Dinosaur and was at the RainForest Cafe by 11am. The RC was our DD's choice......she loves the food and loves to shop. Usually, my DH and I strongly dislike it because of the wait but this one was fast. From sitting down getting the check was only 40 minutes. We said good-bye to the AK around 12:15pm
We arrived at the MK around 12:30pm. Immediately got FastPasses for Space Mountain and trotted over to BTMRR. Did the "wildest train in the west" twice and it was time for our Space Mt. passes. (We did not want to get wet on Splash MT with the cooler temps & air travel so soon, so we left that for the next trip.) Space Mt. was temporarily down, so we took a break on the people mover. During the ride, we saw that Space Mt. was open and let the kids do it twice, with our 4 FastPasses. We shopped during the 3pm parade and headed over to the Pirates of the Carribean. After a visit to the Haunted Mansion, is was close to 4pm. We opted for an early supper at Pecos Bills (we wanted tacos but they closed at 4pm) and had Mickey ice cream for dessert. After a lingering on Main Street and packing up some pixie dust, we left the park around 5:45pm for the monorail back to the TTC.
Our 8:15pm flight home was non-stop but it was delayed by over an hour. We arrived at Indianapolis International at 11:30pm on a plane with 360 passengers. Another flight arrived just before us and they unloaded our luggage simultaneously. Approx. 500 tired passengers, all trying to get their bags at one. Not much pixie dust there! We pulled into our garage at 1:59am and fell into bed. The kids sleep the entire trip home, so they are better off then my hubby and I are today!
It is now Monday, 10am, and I can still taste the popcorn and smell the cookies baking on Main Street. Our weekend fantasy trip is behind us and we had a blast. Our family needed time to enjoy each other without outside stresses and it was just what the doctor ordered!
[This message was edited by Claudia1 on 01-08-01 at 10:12 AM.]
