Our pre-trip trip report!

[mrp4352]

What’s a pre-trip trip report? Well, it’s a trip report for the trip you take when you absolutely cannot wait for your September trip. A pre-trip trip happens to those who had their February trip with the grandbabies and their parents cut short because of a stomach virus (my Mom). It happens to those who normally travel to the World around their birthday with their best friend, but who’s friend can’t this year because of financial obligations (me). It happens to those who are crazy enough to hang out with the other two (Eve, my aunt).

Ah, the joy fuzzy Disney math – we saved money by staying at the All Stars (um, we could have saved more by not going…); we saved money by getting my Mom and Eve annual passes (which they’d need anyway on the September trip, so this way we’re just getting the expense out of the way); and we saved money by using my flight privileges to get us standby for free on flights (I LUV working for an airline!). So in essence, we spent $1200 to save money!

Day One - May 16th

It was early. Very early. At work by 6am early. But, a big cup of coffee and four hours later, my half-day of work was done and I was on the way home to get Eve. I scooped her up and we caught the shuttle to the airport. We had chips and queso at Chili’s, then met Mom while checking in at the gate (she also had to put in half a day of work) and went back to Chili’s and had lunch. Flights went very well – we got in right on time at 7:30! Grabbed our bags, headed to Magic Express, checked in (Hoops Court, building 3, first floor), and ordered a pizza and grabbed beers for dinner. Hmmm, that’s strange, the bedspread actually belongs to All Star Music, not Sports.

I think we collapsed into bed around 9:30. I know, terribly early for the first night at Disney, but after a late night the evening before and an early, early, early start that day – well, let’s just say it was best for everyone else in attendance at the parks the next day!

Generally, we are a fairly commando group. No, I don't have our schedule worked out to the fraction of a second commanding us to be where when. But, we plan (Mom says I get three times the trip for the money - planning, the trip, and the scrapbooking). We set our ADRs out, then figure in extra magic hours (evenings only, if you please), and use the vast collective knowledge of the DIS to know that we should probably go first thing to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder - unless it's a Saturday, when you should start with Soarin', then head over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends. We go non-stop all day (except for some lengthy meals). This works very well for us - during our normal touring time of January/February...

Going in May's a whole different ball of wax - and while I usually go to the World in May, it's with my best friend and her (now) 2 1/2 year old daughter. Which is a whold different style of touring from three adults - no kids. Factor in the humidity (heat's not a problem, we're from Texas, but here in Dallas, it's a dry heat.) and we were facing a whole new set of paramaters for touring. We found ourselves taking longish breaks in the afternoon and stopping earlier in the evening. Y'know, looking back, I really enjoyed the laid-back approach! Not one I'd want for all the time - but it was a really nice change!

 

[mrp4352]

Day Two

Rise and shine! Actually, we popped up out of bed around 6:45 and got moving. We were out the door around 8 and headed to Animal Kingdom. We had a wonderful, relaxing breakfast at Rainforest (including fresh squeezed OJ!). I normally wouldn’t recommend going to the Rainforest if you have one near you – but the one at AK is the only one I know of that serves breakfast – and it’s FANTASTIC!

Then it was time to begin – picked up APs for Mom and Eve, then bee-lined for Everest fastpasses – and since the stand by line was only 20 minutes, we hopped in. 10 minutes later, we were boarding our front row seats on the train! It is well-worth waiting the extra train or two for the front row – next time you go, please ask for those seats. You’ll smell the breath of the yeti as you narrowly escape his clutches!

After the ride (and drink break), we headed to see if we could track down a little clownfish in the big blue world. This has quickly become tied with Festival of the Lion King for my favorite show in the World! The music is wonderful, and I really think that the gentleman that played Bruce is in my picture from the Adventurer’s Club almost two years ago – except there he was wearing a grass skirt over his shorts and he had a pith helmet.

We used our (now expired) fast passes for Everest, and then ran across the park for Festival of the Lion King. I was so surprised to see the theater was only half full. We were able to walk into Bug’s Life before finally taking a break for Mom to by some contraband. We went into Tusker House and bought lunch, then went and sat – excuse me? Oh, the contraband story? Well, if I must explain…

I found the most wonderful beer in the world at AKL a couple of trips ago from South Africa. And Mom happened to mention to a coworker who was planning a trip to the World that he might track it down and try it, since I had really liked it, he enjoys beer and he’s from South Africa. He then asked her if it happened to be Tusker. Turns out his Dad retired from the brewery after working there his whole life! And it turns out that this beer can’t be sold in Texas for some reason and he hasn’t had one in YEARS. So, with this, it became Mom’s mission to bring back a Tusker for her friend. With the help of two wonderful CMs, she secured said beer in an unopened bottle and we smuggled it back to Dallas – where it was chilled and enjoyed one hot spring evening between a father and son!

Ok, where was I – ah, yes. Our little lunch nook. When you come out of Tusker House, cross over to the soft serve ice cream stand and there’s a little patio with maybe 10-12 tables tucked back in behind the building. It’s a lovely escape from the crowds – quiet, peaceful and it has a misting fan. We kicked back, enjoyed lunch, grabbed a soft serve ice cream and waited for the parade. In the rain… But, the storm lifted by the time the parade came through – and we were almost by ourselves watching the parade! They had shortened the parade because of the wet streets – I really missed the big lizard that sticks his tongue out at you. There was a huge puddle right in front of us that almost every character had to stop and play in. One of the dancers was trying to help Pluto avoid it, but as soon as she showed him, he ran back, then took a running jump into the puddle! We generally wait for the beginning of the parade route – but after this experience, I think we have a new favorite parade spot in the Animal Kingdom!

We were headed to the Magic Kingdom for the evening, but decided to drop the contraband off at the hotel room first, and ended up taking 30 minutes to cool off from the heat. Good choice! I hadn’t realized how inhuman I was feeling until we did that!

Ahoy, mateys! Be you seeking the adventures of salty old pirates?

We were! Eve hadn’t seen Johnny yet, so we beelined to Pirates! Every time I ride that, I have to look twice to make sure the first Johnny hiding behind the dresses isn’t really an actor!

Then it was off to the Haunted Mansion because it was closing soon for rehab and we wanted a fresh ride in our minds to compare against when we come back in September and ride the updated version (come on, please, please, please give us Leota and the bride from Disneyland!!!).

After watching Philharmagic, we had a momentous decision to make – dinner or SpectroMagic. Normally this is a no-brainer – Spectro all the way. Especially considering this is the ONLY night Spectro was running during this trip. Well, except Saturday, but there was no way we were going to the Magic Kingdom on a Saturday. There is not enough pixie dust in the world for that insanity! However, we were hot, sticky and tired. The week was catching up to us (we’d had a particularly bad time right before the trip). So, we decided that a nice dinner in the air conditioning would probably be a smarter move. My aunt had never seen Sunny Eclipse before, so we enjoyed dinner at Cosmic Rays. It’s amazing, we were ready to leave at the precise moment in his show where we had sat down! Disney’s good – very, very good…

The strains of Spectro just starting down the street becomes a siren song! Hold fast to the plan! Stay away from Main Street! Tie us to the mast! If there’s no mast handy, well, a space cruiser and a weapon will have to do. After I proved my continued dominance at Buzz Lightyear (hmmm, they won’t play me for Mickey bars anymore), we caught a bit of the breeze and some time off our feet on the TTA.

This is one of our favorite rides. It’s so relaxing, there’s always a breeze and you’re away from crowds for 15 minutes! What’s not to love? Unless you are the family going down the moving sidewalk while we were going up – the one where the mother was saying, “But I really thought that’s how we got to the spaceship ride up on top!”

We decided to call it a night and try to get out before Wishes started, but as we walked by, there was no line for the Monsters Inc., Laugh Floor and the show was about to start. Since it was brand new, we decided to give it a whirl. I was pleasantly surprised! I hadn’t been very sure of what to expect, and while not extremely mentally taxing, it was a nice break, clean fun, and a nice little show! We’ll probably stop in once a trip. I thought it would have been more fun if the house had been a little fuller. People tend to laugh more at silly things when they’re in a large group. In smaller groups, you feel more self-conscious about laughing at silly things – it just takes that one belly-laugher in the back to break the ice for everyone to enjoy themselves.

We grabbed desserts in the bakery to eat back in the room before bed, then headed out and watched Wishes receding in the distance as our bus took us home. Whew! What a full day! No wonder we’re exhausted!

 

[mrp4352]

Day three

“In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room!
In the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room!
All the birds sing words and the flowers croon,
in the tiki tiki tiki tiki tiki room!”

Hey, wait a minute… Where’s Mickey? Heck where’s Stitch? Our wake up call was just Disney music – not that Disney music is a bad thing, but where’s Mickey? No more time to ponder the mystery – we have a breakfast ADR at Kona’s today! And we were planning on doing it right. You see, there is nothing better in the whole wide world for my Mom than a huge breakfast that someone else fixed! Ok, maybe her grandbabies would beat out the breakfast, but I can assure you that’s about the only thing!

Unfortunately, getting to Kona’s from the All Star is quite a trick. We took the bus to the Magic Kingdom, where we sat and waited 20 minutes for the little boats that run between the Poly and the MK. When it didn’t come, we finally gave up and took the Monorail (front row seats! First time for Mom and Eve!). Tonga toast, pineapple macadamia nut pancakes, and the Big Kahuna platter later, we were stuffed and looking forward to the long monorail ride to Epcot.

I flagged down a photopass photographer and we had the obligatory pictures in front of Spaceship Earth and the pirate ship. Um, was anyone besides me freaked out a little by the Peter Pan topiary? Peter’s face, well, it just wasn’t right… He shouldn’t look puke green in the face. Hook and Tic Toc, on the other hand, looked great!

We grabbed our Soarin’ fastpasses, then headed to the Seas – another new attraction for Mom and Eve. Love the EAC scene! After grabbing some noggin’ with Crush in his part of the pavilion, we had just enough time to see Honey, I Shrunk the Audience before our fastpasses kicked in. (Does anyone know why they insist on having everyone in the pre-show room stand shoulder to shoulder when the main theater turns out to be only half full?) Use Montana Disney Fan’s GAT technique to score a seat in the back quarter of the theater for this movie – it’s fun to hear the audience’s reaction rolling closer and closer to you during certain parts of the film!

After a beautiful ride over California and a short Journey into my Imagination, we succumbed to the heat of the day. We trudged through the World Showcase, out the International Gateway, and over to the Beach Club. Can you believe that at 2:30 in the afternoon we had a 30-minute wait for a table at Beaches and Cream? But the burger and dessert were very well worth it! I ate way more of the Milky Way than I needed to, and Mom’s Mickey sundae will be recreated next time my niece’s come over for dinner!

After that huge meal, we decided the Friendship launch back to Epcot made much more sense than the walk did! As we entered the park, we noticed a group of Buddhist monks enjoying the World Showcase. For some reason, that just felt right to watch them enjoy the message of peace and unity that the World Showcase strives to show everyone!

After a stroll the long way around the WS (where were the panda topiaries in China? Did we not go far enough back to find them?), we ended up in Mexico. I’ll admit – I liked the old boat ride. Sure, it wasn’t flashy, but it was dark, cook and had a nice little song. Just the thing for a break during a hot afternoon! But, it turns out I love the Three Caballeros more! They did a good job on this rehab! They left in the best parts of the old ride and brought in enough new so that it doesn’t feel so 80’s travelogue-y.

Man, the humidity’s a killer… We’re on our last legs for the day and it’s not even 7 yet! We were able to walk onto Test Track, Mission Space and Spaceship Earth fairly quickly. Then decided to throw in the towel for the day. We were all hot and tired. So back at the hotel, we grabbed lovely beverages (they make the best mai tais and margaritas at the bar), some dinner, and crashed by about 9:30. Because of this, we didn’t get to see Illuminations (wow, we’re 0-for-3 on the nighttime spectaculars so far this trip), but it just gives us something else to look forward to in September.

 

[mrp4352]

Day four

This morning, we awoke to the bouncy strains of Woody’s Round Up! Which was appropriate for our breakfast at Whispering Canyon! This morning, we took the bus to the Magic Kingdom, then transferred to a bus for Wilderness Lodge. While waiting, our shoes were thoroughly investigated by three young ducklings; evidently, they don’t enjoy the taste of rubber Crocs. Their mother watched from near by, but evidently felt we were harmless and let her kids explore. This family had been adopted by one of the bus drivers – if they wandered too far out in the street, she’d come down from her position by the Royal Princess greeting stop and shoo them back to safety. J

Ah, the Whispering Canyon breakfast! A sight to make any good Southerner cry – biscuits, gravy, sausage, bacon, good strong coffee… Ahh!!! That’s how you should start a day! Evidently, not everyone there knows what they’re getting into, there was a family sitting a couple of tables over – all adults – and decidedly unhappy over their breakfast choice. They completely refused to even pretend to laugh at anything, just sat heads in their papers the whole meal. Looking up only to grimace as the stampede of stick horses rode by. What a shame that they couldn’t relax and enjoy the fun! We, on the otherhand, sang and danced with the best of them during “If you’re happy and you know it!”; Mom handed out certificates to the pony riders after one of the races; and I’m scared to think about the amount of food we put away…

We took the boat back to the Magic Kingdom so we could see the castle forecourt show. However, the crowds outside of security and the ticket lines quickly convinced us that our normal mantra of “Anyplace but the Magic Kingdom on Saturday” contained words to live by. Huddle in, guys, we need to change the game plan. I know – we got three free games of putt-putt with our hotel package – we’re off to Fantasia Gardens! I won in a stunning upset, owed in no small part to Eve hitting her ball off the course and down the stream that runs through the middle of the course.

We took the lovely stroll from the Swan to MGM and decided to actually use the lesson we had been learning all trip. It makes a big difference in our mood and stamina if we go back to the room and rest during the heat of the afternoon. So we grabbed a light lunch and drinks then headed back to the air-conditioned glory of the All Star!

Naptime is over, ladies! We have roller coasters to ride! Off to MGM! We grabbed Tower of Terror fastpasses, then headed to the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. Sign says “20 minutes” for standby, so we hopped right in – only to find out that they hadn’t updated the time yet to reflect the post-parade rush. But, that ride was well worth the 40 minutes wait! The initial shot down the tunnel – WOW! Evidently, the sight of three adult women laughing hysterically as they came off the ride was too good to resist and the Cast Members wanted to see it again. So Carissa came over to see if we enjoyed the ride (course she might have been checking to make sure that we were all still healthy and ok after the ride!), when we assured her it was fantastic, she said to follow her, and she took us down the child swap hallway and got us right back on for another trip through LA! Carissa, we can’t thank you enough – it made us feel so special! I’m just sorry you had rotated off of the exit platform by the time we made it off the second ride, so we couldn’t thank you again.

At this point, we weren’t going to be able to use our Tower of Terror fastpasses, because we had ADRs at one of our favorite restaurants – Mama Melrose’s! The new breads and spreads appetizer is great (although I miss the free bread on the table) and you can’t beat their flat breads! We rolled out of the restaurant and decided that Tower of Terror probably wasn’t the best of ideas right then, so Muppets it was! “It’s a glorious three-hour salute to all nations, but mostly America!” Not only that, but we ended up timing it so we got to see the whole pre-show – which I like almost as well, if not a tiny bit better than the actual Muppetvision show!

It’s about an hour until Fantasmic, but I had had all I could stand of the crowds and the humidity. I left Mom and Eve to watch Mickey save the universe, while I headed back for a nice long, cool shower. It was a good thing, too – they ended up taking a cab to get back to the resort because the bus line was so long! (They had even sat to the side to see if it would thin out and after 15 minutes the line had doubled, not shrunk.)

 

[mrp4352]

Day five – the last full day, sniff, sniff…

No alarm this morning, but Eve and I were up and going by about 7:30. Eventually, we gave up trying to be quiet and started making enough noise to wake Mom up. While she prepared to greet the day, we made a breakfast run to the food court – along with everyone from every other resort on Disney property… Actually, the food lines weren’t all that bad, but negotiating our way through the seating and drink areas was!

NO!!! Not the Letter of Death!! Couldn’t you have at least waited to hang the Magic Express return trip letter on the door until after we had left for the day – not so early that it greeted us as we opened the door the first time that morning!

We made it to the Downtown Disney bus stop and onto a bus by about 9:30. We met the most darling little girl – 3-ish – who was on her way to get Boutiqued! She was so excited and proud! We made an effort to try to find her about the time she should be finished – and she looked like a little doll! I can’t wait to take my nieces to do this! (Side note – about an hour later, we found the princess in tears, unfortunately they had pulled her hair really tight to create the look she had chosen and her head hurt. Her mother was taking out the bun.)

About 6 shopping bags later, we wound our way back to the bus stop and had lunch in the room. Followed by naps (see, we really did learn the importance of the afternoon break!).

It’s Extra Magic Hours in the Magic Kingdom, so we’re headed there for the evening. We got to see Dream Along with Mickey! What a fun show – and so much better than Cinderellabration! Loved Maleficent’s entrance! Yea! My picture with the fireworks in it came out!

Have you ever noticed that you start moving slower and slower as a trip goes by? By the last night, you feel like you can barely move, because if you move too fast, the trip is over. (Well, that and feet are sore…) We still managed to do quite a bit that evening: Space Mountain, Buzz, Pirates, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder. It just felt like we never really kicked into gear. We could have done so much more, but the energy level just wasn't there.

We did watch Wishes from Fantasyland for the first time – very cool! I prefer watching from in front of the castle (Hi Tinkerbelle!), but for future trips when we’re going to be able to see Wishes more than once, I think we’ll make an effort on the 2nd viewing to see it from behind the castle.

We piled onto a very full bus at the end of the evening and stumbled into bed around midnight. Which wasn’t so bad for Mom and Eve – they had an 8:35 Magic Express pickup – unlike others that had to work half a day on Monday, so they were on the 7:30 flight out, which translates into a 4:35 pickup… Let’s just say I was left alone at work most of the time I was there – they’re smart enough to take a look and walk away when I look like that!

 

[mrp4352]

We learned a lot this trip:

*Beaches and Cream is worth a 40 minutes wait
*there is a huge difference between humidity and dry heat (give me dry heat anytime!)
*even princesses can have bad hair days
*puddles are made for splashing; especially for parade performers
*always walk on the green of the 16th hole at Fantasia Gardens

but most importantly-
*stop and smell the roses - or take that afternoon nap

and so ends our pre-trip trip! Only 109 days to go until the Trip begins!

 

[hollybearsmom]

Michelle - this was so fun to read, looking forward to the real trip thread!

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

What a GREAT trip report--a perfect appetizer to the Really Big Trip in September. I'm awfully sorry to have missed it this year--but maybe little Stitch and I can help provide dessert in January, eh?

Thanks for sharing! I always love your reports! Love you!

(Um, yes, for everyone else reading, this is the missing BF who tragically couldn't make the trip this year. Count us in for 2008, however!)

 

[mrp4352]

vaTiggerGirl!!!! What a wonderful surprise to find you here! And yes, we'll definitely have a post-trip trip to report on next year!

 

[DancinDaisyDuck]

Thanks for sharing your trip report Michelle!