Our Month-Long Trip to Orlando (7/9 - 8/6) I'M BACK! TRIP REPORT COMPLETE!

[babieemelly]

We were back at the condo by 7:30, and I changed into dry clothes. My mom and dad walked Oreo, and then my mom took a quick shower. At 8:00 my mom, dad, and I drove over to the clubhouse to check our mail. Only one of the three computers were working, and there was girl on it, so we waited around until she was done. She was done pretty quickly, though, and within five minutes I was checking mine and my mom's mail. My mom wanted me to check hers first, and after looking through hers the Internet on the last working computer went down, and I didn't get to check my mail.

We left the clubhouse and drove around the other section of the resort, which I had never seen. There were a few condos near the clubhouse, but there were mainly really big houses that you could buy or rent around two huge loops of road. My mom and dad had gone to an open house in a 3-bedroom and a 4-bedroom house a few days earlier, while Mike and I were still sleeping. They said that the houses were gorgeous... I would have loved to see them, I love anything real estate-related. All the houses had a big window on top of the front of the house, and you could look in and see really nice chandeliers over a balcony, looking out over another window in the back with views of the pool in each backyard. They looked so nice.

We then went back over to our section of the resort and to our condo. Mike was inside reading the book he had bought at Walmart, and Oreo was relaxing on the couch. We relaxed for twenty minutes, before deciding to go take a walk to the pool.

Only my mom, dad and I decided to go, since Mike's lazy and he doesn't like to walk Oreo ran to the door and wanted to come, too, but as soon as she stepped outside she wouldn't walk. Yes, Oreo is just as lazy and Michael. So my dad carried her the whole way. The sky was so gorgeous that night... one side of the sky was already dark and you could see the moon perfectly, and the other side showed the last remnants of the setting sun, and was all kinds of colors.

The moon shining through the palm trees… I LOVE these pictures

We walked down our block and went to the right, towards the pool. There were a few people in it, but we had been wet enough today and didn't want to go in. We walked around a few blocks, and ended up back at our condo. We then walked down the block again, and this time went to the left, walking around the blocks near the nature trail. We then went back to the condo, and after a nice twenty minute walk we went back inside.

My mom coming out of the condo, for the second part of our walk (she had gone in to ask Michael if he wanted to come)

The block of our condo

Oreo on her “walk”

At 9:00 we made Pina Coladas and snacked on chips. Mike also finished the other half of his sandwich that he had saved from that afternoon. We watched Reno 911 (the funniest show ever) and South Park on Comedy Central, and then at 10:00 we watched the new episodes of Reno and Stella. Mike LOVES Stella, but I think it's stupid. Some parts are funny, and I love Michael Ian Black (he's hysterical doing the commentary for I Love the 80s/70s/90s on VH1!), but that type of comedy just isn't my thing. It’s... well, it’s not funny.

I finally went to bed at 11:30, but I was up on and off all night. It was a really horrible night.

Coming Up Next – Day 12: Welcome to Disney World!

 

[ChIP&DaLEfan]

yayy you finally get to go to Disney

still lovin your report though =)

 

[dean556]

great report

 

[Sandy22]

Coming Up Next – Day 12: Welcome to Disney World!

 

[BamaGirl]

I can't wait for you to finally make it to Disney! Great report so far, keep it coming!

 

[Catrin]

Ok... I just spent the last two nights reading your report... so far.....
WOW!
What a great job you have done.....

I know we all appreciate this, but I know YOU will appreciate this report in 10-20-30 years! Keep it safe. Congrats to your parents for creating such wonderful memories for you and your brother.
Catrin

 

[java]

Nothing .....nothing today...... Ok I am still waiting for more please.......

 

[babieemelly]

Day 12 – Wednesday, July 12, 2005

I woke up at 8:00 this morning, but I laid in bed and feel back asleep on and off a few times. From 10:00 - 11:00 I listened to my MP3 player in bed, before I finally got up at 11:00. I went downstairs and my mom and dad had gone shopping, so I sat in the living room and watched a Laguna Beach special on MTV. My mom and dad called while I was watching TV, and they were out at Publix getting cold cuts to have for lunch.

At 11:30 I went upstairs and took a shower and got ready. At 12:00 I blew my hair, and I flipped my head over to blow the pieces underneath, and my heart started going crazy. I have this thing ever since I was little where if I bend down really quick every once in a while my heart skips a beat, and then starts beating out of my chest. I was hospitalized for it in 2nd grade, after already having it for about four years, and they did a ton of tests and couldn't find anything wrong. They just told me to squeeze my arms and chest together, take a deep breath, and also squeeze like when you go to the bathroom (I know it's gross, but that's what they said ) It always stops after a while, but it freaks me out. My Aunt's best friend gets it, too, as does my Grandma.

So my heart started going crazy, beating about 175 beats per minute, so I called down to my mom and dad and told them that I have "my heart thing". I tried to get it to stop for FORTY-FIVE minutes, but it just wouldn't stop. Then I REALLY started freaking out, knowing that I was across the country from home and my doctors. I read my Entertainment Weekly magazine and tried to relax, but I just couldn't. I then just sat on my bed and took a few deep breaths and talked to my mom, and my heart skipped another beat and slowed down. Squeezing for so long always makes me light headed and exhausted, so I was really warn out. I was glad it had stopped, though, and I could go on with my day.

After a few minutes of relaxing I finished getting ready, and then I went downstairs. My mom, dad, and I ate our sandwiches at the dining room table, while Mike ate on the couch as he played his PSP. We all watched That Thing You Do (yes, again, I love that movie!) and relaxed.

When we were done eating I went upstairs to get my stuff together, and we were ready to go at 2:00. Well, all of us except Mike, who refused to shut his game off until he finished the inning in the baseball game he was playing. I was getting so annoyed, but finally he shut the game off and we were out the door, on our way to Epcot for our first day a Disney park!

On our way to Epcot

I LOVE this picture

Another palm tree picture

Ten minutes before we left my dad had gone out and put the AC on in the car, so it would be nice and cool when we got in. When we got in the car, though, it was SOOO hot... the air conditioner wasn't working at all. Wow, when it's 90 degrees in the middle of the summer in Florida, you DON'T want the AC breaking! On the way to Epcot everyone was sweating like crazy and complaining. I really wasn't that hot, but my mom was having a fit We knew we'd have to go get it fixed later on.

Disney, here we come!

A DVC tower

Some Disney foliage: rotfl2:

We eventually made it to Epcot, and pulled through the gates. I was SO excited! We parked all the way at the end of the parking lot, which was annoying. There were tons of spots closer up, but the parking attendants made us go all the way to the back. It made no sense. There was a tram waiting, though, so we walked over to it... and it left, right before we reached it. There were lots and lots of empty seats, and no one else walking to the tram behind us, so we were all so mad. It was just very mean, and again made no sense! One strike against Disney. We decided to just walk to the entrance instead of waiting for the next tram. The walk was long, but really wasn't too bad.

We eventually made it to the front of the park, and waited in a LONG line to get in. One of the longest lines we waited on all day was just to get into the park. I HATE those finger scans, they're pointless and they really back things up. They force guests to wait out in the heat just to get into the park, for the sake of amulti-million dollar company saving a few bucks so people can’t give their unused passes to family and friends. Very stupid After twenty minutes of just standing there, we finally made it to the front of the line, put in our two fingers, and activated our passes. We were in!

After taking in some of the scenery at the entrance, we went straight over to Spaceship Earth. That always has to be our first ride at Epcot. There was no line and we walked right on. Mike and I sat together, with my mom and dad behind us. I love this ride so much, regardless of how old it is. Besides it's not old, it's a classic! Mike hadn't seen Disney's animatronics in person since he was four and obviously didn't remember what they looked like, and he was amazed at how real everything looked. And these are animatronics that were here since the park opened!

I loved the burning smell, which I hadn't ever really noticed before. I tried taking pictures but they all came out blurry. I absolutely love the part where the kids are talking to each other via satellite... the animatronic boy laying on the floor looks just like the face on the screen! As we were going backwards and seeing all of the newer technological advances on the right side of us towards the end of the ride, the ride stopped for a few minutes, right by where the boy and his dad are talking to the mom/wife on the satellite. I got a pretty cool picture since we weren't moving. All in all, I love this ride!

 

[babieemelly]

Done with Spaceship Earth, we wanted to go on the Universe of Energy, but coming off of Spaceship Earth I was confused as to where we were, and I didn't know in which direction to go. Yes, everyone started teasing me about not knowing my way around Disney As we were leaving Spaceship Earth they started playing "Celebrate the Future, Hand In Hand' and I got all teary! I LOVE that song! It was just very unexpected to hear it, and I loved how even just the music at Disney really sets the atmosphere. It was a nice little touch of magic, and a great welcome to the park.

We saw the Imagination Pavilion from where we were so we decided to go in there. There was no line at all for Journey into Imagination, so we walked right on. I didn't know that the main guy is the guy from Monty Python, but my mom got all excited, since she loves Monty Python. Just as we walked up to the vehicles one pulled away with only two people on it, so we got on the next one. The four of us settled into one car, and there was an older couple in the car next to us, with only six of us in the vehicle. It was a cute ride, but more for little kids. I had heard a lot about Figment but couldn't remember who he actually was, so I like the idea of him being a figment of your imagination. The smells in the Smell Lab were so bad, and I have to admit we all jumped when the loud blast at the end of the ride knocked away the wall to show all the little Figment's It was a cute ride, but I wouldn't wait on a line for it.

After the ride, we went into Imageworks and the whole place was empty. We conducted music with our arms on the screens right when you enter the area, which was fun. We all remembered doing this back in 1992. A lady on the other side of this area called us over to a really, really big camera. She told us about how it was the biggest camera in the world, but we didn't think it was real. We looked and smiled, though, and what do you know... our picture showed up on screens around the pavilion! It was so funny! Then was our second little touch of magic for the day... we got a print out of our picture to take home! I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but we really weren't expecting to get anything free from Disney. It was just nice to get to bring home an extra little piece of the magic!

Our picture on one of the main screens around the pavilion

We looked around the rest of the pavilion, but didn't see anything we wanted to do. We saw the little glass figures that you can etch your picture into, and we hadn't ever seen anything like that before (now that we've seen it at Disney, everywhere we go up here seems to have them!) We wanted to get one but they were really expensive - $100 for a medium sized one, and $75 for a small one. In order to get one with all four of us it would be around $250. Needless to say, we passed!

Coming Up Next – Soarin’ on my new favorite ride

 

[kstinw19]

Oh man, that was just a tease...I want more

Sorry about that heart thing...how scary. Have you gotten it checked out as an adult? Sounds like an arrythmia.

Can't wait to hear about Soarin!

 

[disneymouse]

my DS6 and i love reading your report together! when i see a new installment i call him over and he sits on my lap as i read it out loud to him. we're so excited that your at disney now!

 

[ChIP&DaLEfan]

love it! post more soon

 

[babieemelly]

When we were done with Imageworks we went next door to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. At this point we had completely thrown out my touring plans and decided to just go with the flow. It was a lot easier just walking around and seeing what we could find rather than crisscrossing across the park to go on specific rides at certain times. There was no wait for Honey I Shrunk the Audience so we walked right into the pre-show room. The really long Kodak commercial they showed, the one with the little boy who does everything with his dog, but then the dog runs away and is eventually found thanks to Kodak pictures, made both my Mom and I cry It involved dogs, and you know how we are with Oreo! The second commercial they showed was also very cute, with a family taking pictures at a Wedding, and a frog wreaking havoc.

We eventually were let into the theater and got our seats right in the center of the screen (yes, we moved all the way down the row, but were lucky enough to stop right in a great spot!). This was such a fun show! The 3D was old so it wasn't great, some parts were kind of blurry, but the other special effects made up for it. I didn't remember the room shaking! I told my mom about the rat tail under the seats and everyone started screaming when they felt them, but my mom said she didn't feel it. Then she felt it and SCREAMED! It was SOO funny because she knew it was coming and what to expect, but she still got scared I love the dog sneeze at the end, when they spray water at you! I've always loved “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”, as well as “Honey I Blew Up the Kid”, so this was a very fun show.

A fountain by the Imagination Pavilion

When we got out of Honey I Shrunk the Audience we were right near The Land pavilion so we decided to go in. It was so crowded in there! Way more so than any other part of the park was, probably due to the recent opening of Soarin'. It was 4:15 at the time and fastpasses for Soarin' were all out, so we decided to just get on line and wait the hour and a half. Mike and my dad got on line while my mom and I ran to the bathroom and then went to get drinks from Seasons. We then met them back on line, and the line had hardly moved! We saved out spot while my dad and Mike ran over to the other side of the land pavilion and got fastpasses for Living with the Land, with a return time of 5:40 - 6:40.

They met us back on line, and we had moved up a little bit. In the first part of the line you can look down over the ledge and see people exiting, and the entire time people would come running out and give us the thumbs up sign and tell us how good the ride was. This got us really excited... but it didn't make the line move any faster. We eventually made it to the long, straight part of the line where they show climate facts about different regions of the world. The line for this ride is actually pretty short, but it's so wide that everyone crams in and slows down the line. We got to know a father and son in front of us (the son was around 20) and it was fun talking to the people around us. When we first saw the screens giving climate information Mike screamed "Wow!" really sarcastically about one of the trivia question answers, and everyone was laughing. It was actually pretty fun!

We eventually got to the front of the line, only to be ushered to the end of another line. After we left the main line we were sent to a small corridor, with two sides. We went to the left side, and a family from Brazil were the only ones let in behind us. The Dad looked at us and said, "Oh man, that was just the line for the line!"

Within ten minutes we were waiting in our row, watching the pre-show movie. We were lucky and got row one! The pre-show movie was hysterical, it was with the guy from Seinfeld... what's his name? My Mom and Dad knew, but I can't think of it... he's not one of the main characters. Oh well, he was funny! The pre-show movie was about five-minutes long, and then we went into the theater. They really try to keep everyone moving here, so when we walked into the theater the people on the ride before us were just getting up and leaving. We asked the lady who was previously in our seats how it was, and she said it was amazing and we should just sit back, relax and enjoy the view.

I love the seats on this ride, they're so unique. They were just flat bench-like seats, separated by a small bar. We stored our bags under the seats, put our seatbelts on, and sat back. Wow, wow, wow! That' really all there is to say! When we were first lifted up in front of the screen we were surprised how high we were, and my mom said she didn't like it. We told her to just look at the vehicles next to ours and she wouldn't feel like we were moving. She said she didn't want to miss anything, though, so she just relaxed and loved it! We ALL loved it! It's unbelievable how realistic the ride is. You really feel like you're flying! The scenery in California is absolutely gorgeous... I've never wanted to go so bad! I loved the pine smell as we flew over the forest, but my favorite was the beach scene. It was truly beautiful. When the ride finished over Disneyland I have to admit I teared up a bit, the view was just amazing. When Tinker Bell came out Mike started laughing really stupidly, and he cracked us all up. We weren't expecting that extra jolt with the fireworks at the end, either!

Five minutes later, and far too soon, our vehicle was lowered to the ground and we were ushered out of the theater while another group of people were let in. This was truly an amazing ride, and is now my favorite ride of all time! Whenever I think about going back to Disney, going on Soarin' is always the first thing that comes to mind... it was THAT good. As we were leaving Mike looked up at everyone at the back of the line, put his thumbs up, and screamed "It was good, it was good!" Everyone around us, who had waited on line with us the whole time, was cracking up It was at that point that I knew that Mike was having a good time, regardless of how much he wanted to pretend he wasn't.

Having just been on the most amazing ride, we left that area of The Land and made our way over to Living with the Land.

Coming Up Next – I love Ellen

 

[Sweedee]

Now you are at Disney, what are we gonna look forward to???? Just wanted to commend you on the great trip report, and the great detail. Sometimes too much detail can be boring, and you seemed to have found the right balance in this trippie! Thanks bunches for a great trip so far!

 

[marymrg]

He was Elaine's on-again, off-again boyfriend!

ps - love the report!

 

[lorrainesy]

A few days before we left I had made 2 CDs to listen to in the car - one with all vacation music (Vacation by the Go-Gos, Escape by Rupert Holmes, Kokomo by the Beach Boys, etc)

Hey what a great idea!! If you still have it, would you mind posting a list of the songs you put on that CD. I made three CDs of all the Disney songs I could think of to get my family in the mood for our trip.....after 4 months of it they are really getting sick of it not me I could never get sick of Disney Anyways...I love those sones you mentioned....forgot about them but love them So i was thinking I could borrow your idea and make a vaction CD....but I can't think of any songs

 

[cjhinch]

How long are we going to have to wait for the next update?? I was really looking forward to coming home from vacation and having LOTS of updates from you to read!! LOL

 

[heaven2dc]

Am anxiously waiting for more (loved the pics and reports of Universal Studios - we weren't interested in including it on our next trip but now don't want to stay away)!

 

[ChIP&DaLEfan]

bump?

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Oh my god , I just subscribed to your post and read the whole thing up until now. I can't wait to read the rest. We stay off-site on International drive and always end up doing some attractions on that strip too. My kids love it.
My next trip isn't until nov. 07 and after seeing all of your pics I REALLY can't wait to go. We are also going to US. So I love reading about all of the things you got to do , not just Disney( Even though of course that is the best part) Great Job. Oh and me and my daughter love oreo and my daughter tells me when there is another pic of a gecko or frog she wants to see it. ( she loves bugs and slimy things)