Our Magical WDW Adventure -24 Days of Food and Fun-Updated 3/8 -Come Join Us

[ariel2007]

Come on lurkers, come and join in, I feel like I'm talking to myself half the time . I need more friends....

 

[TrueEeyore]

I love all of the Easter gifts you got!! How sweet of your DBF to get them for you. I love that towel!! So cute!!

Your plans look really good and I love how you have traditions...We have a couple that we follow as well. I hope you get to get everything done!!! Looks like a blast, take me with you!

Great updates

 

[ariel2007]

I love all of the Easter gifts you got!! How sweet of your DBF to get them for you. I love that towel!! So cute!!

Your plans look really good and I love how you have traditions...We have a couple that we follow as well. I hope you get to get everything done!!! Looks like a blast, take me with you!

Great updates

Thanks, I'm sure we will be so tired and need another vacation by the end of the 23 nights but I'm sure it will be amazing.

Yes the pressies were cool, he can be really thoughtful sometimes, he remembers things I told him when we first started dating over 4 years ago and every now again surprises me with them

I am really a sucker for traditions - my family have so many cause if we do something once or twice then thats it, I have made it a new tradition and then we have to do it every year... for life . It is lovely having traditions though and can't wait to pass some onto my own children, especially ones that involve Disney

 

[wdwgirl03]

Come on lurkers, come and join in, I feel like I'm talking to myself half the time . I need more friends....

OK, I'm here! I LOOOOOOVED the pictures of your collections! I know what you mean about spending hours in the stores...I could shop all day! But lately I've been trying to not buy so much in WDW. LOL! I have a shot glass collection too...but I only have 4. Oh yeah, and I collect pins too (like everyone else does!).

Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! I'm going to be there from May 14-May 19 and am sooooo excited (even though I was just there in January!).

 

[ariel2007]

OK, I'm here! I LOOOOOOVED the pictures of your collections! I know what you mean about spending hours in the stores...I could shop all day! But lately I've been trying to not buy so much in WDW. LOL! I have a shot glass collection too...but I only have 4. Oh yeah, and I collect pins too (like everyone else does!).

Sounds like you have an amazing trip planned! I'm going to be there from May 14-May 19 and am sooooo excited (even though I was just there in January!).

Oh yes I'm so glad you joined me . And your there for some of the same time we are, we may even bump into each other. I can't believe you were only there in January, I'm lucky if I get to go every 2 years, let alone twice in one year .

See my shot glass collection started very slowly to begin, but its amazing how many places actually sell them, nearly everywhere has them nowadays. And a fellow Pinaholic... welcome

 

[DisneyFan83]

I enjoy reading your plans- they're so much fun! I saw your list of foods to try and you definitely have to try the Cheddar Cheese Soup at Le Cellier! I am not a soup person, but it's wonderful I get hungry just thinking about it! Also, if you've never had it, try the Spicy Cheese Pretzel at the Lunching Pad in Tomorrowland at MK- I always have to get a few of those each trip! Can't wait to hear more plans

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh yes I'm so glad you joined me . And your there for some of the same time we are, we may even bump into each other. I can't believe you were only there in January, I'm lucky if I get to go every 2 years, let alone twice in one year .

Yeah, maybe we will! The only reason we're going again so soon is because our original flight got cancelled on our last trip so they gave us free vouchers for another flight...we couldn't let those go to waste! And with our DVC points the hotel is "free" too (more like already paid for with membership!). We used to go every 2 years but lately we've been going more often...it's kind of pathetic that I don't know how I ever survived going every other year.

Anyway...our trips will be here so soon! We're probably going to go to the Pirate and Princess Party on the 16th as well.

 

[ariel2007]

Yeah, maybe we will! The only reason we're going again so soon is because our original flight got cancelled on our last trip so they gave us free vouchers for another flight...we couldn't let those go to waste! And with our DVC points the hotel is "free" too (more like already paid for with membership!). We used to go every 2 years but lately we've been going more often...it's kind of pathetic that I don't know how I ever survived going every other year.

Anyway...our trips will be here so soon! We're probably going to go to the Pirate and Princess Party on the 16th as well.

Wow DVC members, how lucky , I'm hoping to convince Nick on our next trip to join and that way were almost guaranteed to go every 2 years or more. Shame about your flight on your last trip but glad they sorted it out for you. We were pretty unlucky as on our last trip (summer 2006) the holiday company we used cancelled our first Disney hotel and we ended up in one we didnt want and then spent the rest of the holiday trying to get them to sort it out. They really were not helpful and didn't want to accept any blame although there was no-one else to blame. They also messed up a few other things and needles to say we wont be using them again any time soon

Hope you have a great holiday too

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wow DVC members, how lucky , I'm hoping to convince Nick on our next trip to join and that way were almost guaranteed to go every 2 years or more. Shame about your flight on your last trip but glad they sorted it out for you. We were pretty unlucky as on our last trip (summer 2006) the holiday company we used cancelled our first Disney hotel and we ended up in one we didnt want and then spent the rest of the holiday trying to get them to sort it out. They really were not helpful and didn't want to accept any blame although there was no-one else to blame. They also messed up a few other things and needles to say we wont be using them again any time soon

Hope you have a great holiday too

Ohhhh, I hope you can convince him...DVC is awesome! I'm so excited about AKL...I think I read on here you've stayed there before (or maybe it was in another trippie...sorry if it wasn't you!)...how did you like it? I've visited it before and thought it was pretty cool so to finally get to actually stay there is like a dream!

 

[ariel2007]

Yes we stayed there in August 2006. It was little sister's birthday and she is a major animal lover so we decided to stay there for our 3rd week at Disney. The hotel is amazing, especially the lobby, its just so beautiful, especially at sunset. There is so many lovely things about the place, flamingo's by the pool, the open fire-pit, the lovely restaurants and shop, and then theres the animals . I'm sure you will have an amazing time there, we can't wait to go back to go to Jiko, just a shame we couldn't fit Boma in as well as it has a lovely breakfast and dinner buffet.

 

[ariel2007]

Today it is officially 4 weeks till we leave for our Magical WDW Adventure, to say I'm excited is an understatement . In honour of this momentous occasion I decided to do some of my favorite things... get a Starbucks, go shopping, get a Subway for lunch and then go home and watch some of my favorite programmes whilst Nick cooks a lovely tea of steak and chips (it always reminds me of America - probably cause 2 of my 3 favorite meals last time happened to be steak). And yes, you read it right, I did do MORE shopping . In my defense it wasn't planned, it just kind of happened .
Anyway back to the 4 week mark... the other night I needed a Disney fix so we decided to watch the WDW planning DVD. Now I don't know if this is normal for a Disney fanatic or it's just me being a highly sensitive nutter, but everytime I watch it I get goosebumps and tearful, but for a good reason, I just love it, love it, love it . Watching it started making me think about my past trips and how wonderful they were, all the memories came flooding back. So I thought that every Monday, since thats the day we go (4 weeks today remember ), I would recall for you our past trips starting with my first trip back in 1998, so here is the first installment...

WHEN: June-July 1998 - 2 weeks
WHO: Me (12), My older sister Kate (15), My Dad, Dad's Girlfriend Vanessa, Vanessa's daughter Nina (6) - My Aunt, Aunt's husband, Cousins Jack (5), Charlotte (3) and Patrick (9months)
WHERE: Days Inn Lakeside (Orlando) and Fort Lauderdale

THE BACK STORY:
My Aunt's husband is in the Royal Navy and was offered a 3 year transfer to Fort Lauderdale, which of course he took. So in 1997 my Aunt, Uncle and my 3 cousins moved across the pond to the wonderful Florida. My Dad almost straight away decided that we would go and visit and whilst we were there visit WDW too , this was to be Kate and my first and only holiday with my Dad since my parents split up, at least it was a good one . So the trip was booked, 1 week at Disney World followed by one week staying with my Aunt in Fort Lauderdale. Of course I was mega excited, Kate and I had already been to Disneyland Paris twice but this was our first trip to America and our first trip to WDW (everyone else was Disney virgins). Not much was done in the way of planning, Dad got the WDW planning DVD which I watched about 100 times but that was about it .

THE TRIP:
The night before our trip we drove up to my Aunt's house in Reading where we spent the night as it is much closer to Gatwick airport. We had McDonald's for tea and watched a bit of TV before an early night for a very early start. The next morning we were up at the crack of dawn to drive to the airport, checked in, breakfast at McDonalds and then boarded our Calendonian flight to Orlando Sanford. The plane was quite different to the First Choice or Virgin ones we are used to now but for our first long haul flight we knew no different so it was all a great adventure. The flight was good, nice staff and food, shame I got really travel sick at the end but nothing major . I still remember now that feeling as we first stepped off the plane, the heat was so powerful like nothing before. I thought it was just the heat from the planes engines, little did I know this is what it would be like for the next 2 weeks. I also remember first stepping on the grass whilst waiting for our hire car, discovering it was all bouncy and soft. The journey from Sanford to International Drive consisted of us 3 girls alligator watching, our mission was not accomplished. We checked in to Days Inn Lakeside somewhere off International Drive, a very basic hotel, nothing like the lovely Disney hotels we have stayed in since, but did the job. We explored I-Drive stopping at a little mall near FAO Swartz where we had our first (and definatley not last) taste of Bourbon chicken . We had a quick swim before bed, followed by soda and cheeto's and then our first nights sleep in America... wahoo we were finally there .

Now I'm not entirely sure what we exactly did for the week we were at Disney but most of our days followed the same routine - up late, lazed around the room whilst Vanessa spent 2 hours getting ready , breakfast at Ponderosa (except the 1st morning when we went to Denny's and I had my 1st American breakfast of waffles with strawberry sauce and cherry lemonade, yummy ), arrive at theme park / waterpark by late morning, tea on I-Drive, back to themepark, swim at hotel usually sometime after 1am.

Now I'm not quite sure how we did it but in 6 short days we managed to visit Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Seaworld, Universal Studio's, Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and River Country. We didnt get to do MGM because Dad thought we didn't need to visit both MGM and Universal as they were both movie themed parks, silly, silly man . Island's of Adventure was still being built, it was great seeing the Hulk there towering over Universal although we were disappointed we didn't get to visit IOA. Universal was quite different then, there was no CityWalk and we had to drive from the Universal carpark to the front of Hard Rock Cafe. Although I dont remember exactly what we did, here is what I remember about the parks:

Magic Kingdom - We all loved MK, from the second we boarded the ferry across the lagoon and first saw the castle I knew we were somewhere special. I also have distinct memories of first seeing the Grand Floridian hotel and thinking how beautiful it looked sparkling in the sunlight, this was the kind of place only rich people stayed right . I remember first walking down Main Street, so excited and happy to be there. The rides I remember going on were Thunder Mountain, Small World, Peter Pan, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. Now Splash Mountain was new to Kate and I as they don't have it in DLP and I absolutely loved it, as I did all of Frontierland, it just has so much atmosphere. I remember walking round MK in the dark as the park slowly got quieter, watching the lucky children in the Crystal Palace getting to have tea with Pooh and Tigger and thinking how lucky and rich they must be, getting fries from Casey's for tea (one of our only meals in the park), Nina buying one of those fake dog leads from the stall outside Haunted mansion then walking round the park with it as people petted and commented on her dog. I remember waiting to ride Space Mountain and seeing the carts illuminated whizzing by, then running up the escalator after Space Mountain so fast Nina and I broke her dog lead and Dad having to run all the way back over to Haunted Mansion to get another one, then riding the monorail back after a long tiring day.

Animal Kingdom - Animal Kingdom was very new at this point and had a completely different atmosphere to the other parks. We went on Kilimanjaro Safaris, Tough to Be A Bug, took the train to the Conservation Station and queued for an hour to get on Countdown to Extinction (now Dinosaur) before it get closed just as we went to go on due to bad weather . I remember our first trip on the safari, this was the first time we had ever done anything like this, it was so exciting to be this close to such beautiful wild animals, and the whole poacher story and wobbly bridge was just brilliant. I remember walking round the Tree of Life in awe of such beauty and creativity, and the brilliant show inside with those naughty bugs exiting at the end , a little boat ride that took us down the river, the train to the Conservation Station and the luggage at the station and the top of the train making me feel I had actually gone on Safari. And I remember queuing to get pizza in Pizzafari as the floor flooded from all the torrential rain.

Epcot - Dad decided we would go to Epcot on 4th of July to catch the fireworks as he had heard they were best here. We rode Spaceship Earth, visited the Living Sea's, and walked around World Showcase before we nearly died of heat exhaustion. Unfortunately due to the heat and the fact that it hadn't rained for weeks (this was obviously before AK and at the time there were lots of bush fires) the fireworks were cancelled. I remember going inside Club Cool's igloo and discovering the free drinks, sitting outside in the moonlight eating pizza and goofing around with Vanessa and Nina whilst Kate and Dad went to see Honey I Shrunk the Audience, I remember getting the lift thing down to the Living seas and buying a lovely dolphin bracelet, seeing the beautiful dolphins for the first time ever, I remember walking round World Showcase, buying my gorgeous Japanese Minnie Mouse, catching the friendship boat across WS lagoon, Dad buying us jacket potatoes from England in WS... typical English, and sitting on the grass trying to get out of the sun.

Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, River Country - In blizzard Beach I remember going on Teamboat Springs, the Toboggan Racers, having Snow cones, and going round the lazy river.
In Typhoon Lagoon I remember snorkeling with the sharks, an amazing experience, although Nina almost drowned me when she started kicking her legs , me and Vanessa racing down these two slides and finding at the bottom she had lost her bikini top and sunglasses , and the huge waves in the pool crashing us around.
In River Country I remember the lovely homely feeling of the place, it was much smaller and more intimate and right by the lake. I remember we went on a great slide that stopped and then you fell the rest of the way into the water, although it did feel a bit like a belly-flop, the zip-line, the lovely pool which you could sit in and look out across the lake, the lovely sandy beach.

Seaworld - We of course watched the Shamu show, a truely memorable experience, went on Wild Artic, visited the dolphins, sharks and manatees, saw Clyde and Seamore and went on Journey to Atlantis. I remember Nina and I sitting in Shamu's Splash Zone, getting soaked head to toe and having to dry our t-shirts on Nina's kart, eating nacho's as we watched Shamu and churros in the Kids Zone.

Universal Studio's -We went on Twister, Jaws, ET, Animal Planet Live and Terminator. I remember the flying cow in Twister and the coke products in the shop after, I remember laughing hysterically at the monkey in the towel in Animal Planet, walking through the I Love Lucy exhibit and bits from Terminator. I remember the endless elevators to the parks and driving round to Hard Rock so my Dad could get a beer mat (no nice tea for us ).

Like I said before my Dad did very little planning so due to this and his lack of taste for good food our daily meals consisted of a Ponderosa brunch, which was admittedly very good and quite a new experience for us, a few snacks and then either fries or pizza if we were in a park (well actually only 3 times), or a take out tea (I remember taking a KFC back to our hotel, having pizza in Maccy D's and playing in the play bit and Bourbon chicken at the mall). I also remember going in the pool late at night after a long, hot day at the park. The hotel had 3 pools so we changed every night and it was great fun coming home from a park, going in the pool for an hour, then back to room for cheetos and soda before bed.

The week in Orlando was magical but over way to soon. Luckily we had another week in Fort Lauderdale. My Aunt's house was in a gated community with 3 great swimming pools and a few hot tubs which were lovely to sit in in the evening surrounded by friendly little lizards. Whilst we were there we visited Fort Lauderdale beach where Nina and I got bitten by some watery bug things. A little waterpark called C.J Beach or something like that, it had a strange set up with a lake style swimming pool on one side and another area with a few waterslides. It was great fun but we got chucked out as there was a storm. I remember after we got changed we decided to wait for the rain to ease off so we wouldn't get soaked going to the car but it got heavier and heavier until we had to stand on the benches as the water rose. We also visited Sawgrass Mills mall and I brought Sophie (who was 18 months old) loads of toys and clothes from the toy shop and outlet Disney store. This week we ate lots of Bourbon chicken burgers and had a chinese takeaway. We also babysat my cousins whilst Dad, Vanessa, my Aunt and Uncle went to see Armageddon at the cinema. Fort Lauderdale was great, my Aunt's house and the pools were lovely, we visited some great places and got to see another part of Florida.

This was the only holiday to Florida however that I really wanted to come home at the end of it. As magical as the holiday was, and although I had an amazing time I really missed Mum and Sophie and often wished it was them I was with, after all they are the true Disney lovers, Dad and the others just saw it as a great holiday, not a dream like me. After we got back I didn't really think much about WDW for years, I had had an amazing time but never thought I would get to go back, Disneyland Paris would have to do from now on... or would it ... tune in next week to see (oh and there will be pics next week, promise)

 

[stagemomx3]

Love all the pictures. Seriously I thought I was a planner, but girl you totally out do me on that!

 

[TrueEeyore]

Love the trip down memory lane!! I don't know how you remember all of that. I wouldn't have remembered what we did on our January trip if I hadn't been taking notes!

 

[ariel2007]

Love all the pictures. Seriously I thought I was a planner, but girl you totally out do me on that!

Thanks. I am a total planning freak, I plan everything and usually months in advance. Thats why I started my pre-trippie cause everything was planned way before we even booked the holiday so there wasn't much more to do.

 

[ariel2007]

Love the trip down memory lane!! I don't know how you remember all of that. I wouldn't have remembered what we did on our January trip if I hadn't been taking notes!

I know its weird, when it comes to holidays, especially Disney I seem to remember lots of things, even strange random little details like the lovely bedroom us girls stayed in at my Aunts and eating fries from Caseys whilst we waited for the parade. I also have strong memories of our first ever abroad holiday to Greece when I was only 3. I always get images of when we first stepped off the bus, me pushing Kate in the swimming pool without her armbands on and catching the little rowing boat over to this island for dinner... oh and Lizzy our pet lizard. I also remember so much about our first few trips to Disneyland Paris, the first being in 1994 . Its crazy

 

[ariel2007]

Oh dear, I just realized that my photo's had deleted off my pre-trippie. I had moved some into new files in Photobucket and it deleted them so I had to find all the photos I used before and put them all back in again . And I was in the middle of writing a new post too, so that got deleted

 

[ariel2007]

Since I've been posting my pre-trippie for a while now, and haven't really given much information about myself, apart from the fact that I love and am completely obsessed with Disney, I thought I would tell you a bit about myself, my favorite things, places etc. I like to know a bit about the people when I'm reading their trippies so thought I would do this for you lot. So here is my favorite things...

Random
Colour: Pink
Animal: Cat, dolphin
Food: Crisps, most mexican food
Drink: Frozen Margarita
Hobbie: Travelling, Dis-sing

Entertainment
Film: The Sound of Music, Little Mermaid
TV Programmes: CSI - all but if I had to choose one it would be Vegas, the original and best, Friends, Will and Grace
Reality TV: So You Think You Can Dance, America's Next Top Model
Friends Character I'd most like to be: Rachel - she is just gorgeous
Actor: Dick Van ****, Ben Stiller
Actress: Julie Andrews, Kirsten Dunst
Idols: Walt Disney, Julie Andrews, Dick Van ****, Angela Lansbury


Disney
Film: The Little Mermaid
Character: Ariel
Park: Magic Kingdom - the heart of the magic
Ride: That is impossible to choose one, the 3 mountains, Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion are probably my tops
Hotel: Polynesian
Restaurant: Ohana
First Disney ride: Thunder Mountain then Peter Pan at DLP
First Disney experience: My mum brought me up on Disney films but I can always remember her friend giving me The Little Mermaid for a christmas present. I also had a Mickey that would read a book and his eyes and mouth moved... he was so cool.
Disney Ambition: To stay at every Disney hotel and visit every worldwide Disney park by the time I'm 30. Oh and to meet my idols (unfortunately I wont be able to meet Walt )

Favorite place: WDW of course, or home
Favorite place, other that Disney or home: Cuba - beautiful country
Top 5 places I'd like to visit: Mexico, Jamaica, Maldives, Rio de Janerio, USA (all)

Most treasured possession: My family, my photo collection
Favorite Disney Souvenir: My shot glass collection

 

[stagemomx3]

Drink: Frozen Margarita

TV Programmes: CSI - all but if I had to choose one it would be Vegas,

CSI is the best, well Vegas and Miami I don't watch New York.

 

[DisneyFan83]

Thanks for posting info about your favorite things- I love reading stuff like that! And I of course agree with you that Friends is the BEST ever!

 

[TrueEeyore]

I LOVE America's Next Top Model and So You Think You Can Dance!!!

Who is your favorite Top Model this season?