Our Trip Report 11/29 to 12/06

[lindsey]

I will keep going in this thread

My trip report Nov 29 – Dec 6
DH (turned 59 yrs old during trip)
Me (50 yrs old)

Info - This was our first couple-only trip. We got the idea of taking this trip in June 04 after a Disney trip with extended family. During the ’04 trip, we lost 1 ½ days due to car trouble on the way down and 1 day due to a virus DH came down with. We ended up with one unused day on our Park Hopper tickets. My parents, who had also gone in June 04, did not use three days of their tickets. They were staying off-site where they thought shuttle service would be available. After two days, they did not want to deal with the heat and traffic in and out of the parks.

So I started the planning with 4 days park hopper tickets – which is a big savings! We have been the week before Christmas twice and Christmas week twice and knew earlier would be better. Our youngest started college this year, so school schedule was no longer a problem. We decided to splurge and stay at Boardwalk Inn and Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Tuesday, November 29
We left Greenville, SC via Delta Airlines about 8:30am and arrived in Orlando about 10am. We used Magical Express and were at Boardwalk Inn by 11am. We checked in and the room was ready. We had a corner room overlooking a courtyard. The fridge was hidden in a cabinet and a coffee pot sat on top of cabinet. After checking out the room, we took a bus to Downtown Disney. After finally getting my Disney Reward Card straightened out (long story), we headed to McDonalds for lunch. The line for Earl of Sandwich was just way too long and we were hungry. After lunch, we went to Once Upon a Story to build my grandson’s Mr. Potato Head’s box. The CM at the counter was very helpful and showed me how to pack even more “stuff” in the box. Once this was done, we went back to the hotel for a rest. Our luggage had arrived while we were gone.

It had been rainy earlier, but it finally cleared up around 3:30pm. We walked to EPCOT about 4pm and went straight to Soaring. I had heard of long lines on the message boards, but it was a walk-on. This became my favorite ride. Then we went to Test Track and Mission: Space. Both of these were walk-on’s. I had never seen a walk-on for Test Track before. We went back to the Land for dinner. I like the new décor in the food court area. Then we went to Journey to Imagination. We left Future World and headed to the countries. We walked around in Mexico’s pavilion looking at the different items. Next was Norway’s boat ride. I like the movie, but since we have seen it many times, DH wanted to skip this. We continued to walk around the world showcase and stopped at the American Pavilion to catch a glimpse of Phil Donahue in the CP. We continued to walk until we arrived at the International Gateway. Since we had been up early, we decided to head back to the hotel. We stopped at Boardwalk Bakery and shared a dessert.


Wednesday, November 30
We got up, ate breakfast in the room, and headed for the boat to MGM. There were a lot of people going to MGM, so we had to wait for a 2nd boat. Once in MGM, we went straight to RR. DH waited on the benches, and I rode RR. There was not line at all. After that we went to the Great Movie Ride and Star Tours, again no lines. By this time it was about noon, so we went to Sci Fi for our 12:00 ADR. We waited about 10 minutes before being seated. We were in the back seat near the back row on the right side. This was fun since we had not eaten there in a very long time. The sandwiches were huge. We only ate half and put the other half sandwiches in to-go boxes.

The boxes fit quite nicely in the bottom of my backpack, and since it was sill cool outside, they were fine until we returned to the room. We left Sci Fi and went on the backstage tour including Catastrophe Canyon (this tour has really changed in the years), then Muppet’s 3-D, and another ride on RR. We left and went back to the room for a rest.

Later, we went to MK to take advantage of EMH. I really wanted to ride Peter Pan since there is always a long line, so we headed to FantasyLand. There was still a long wait, so we went to Mickey’s Philharmonic, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Haunted Mansion, and POC. DH bought a Turkey Leg and we went to Pecos Bill’s for inside seats. Later, we found a spot between FantasyLand and TomorrowLand to watch the fireworks. After the fireworks, we rode Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear and I rode Space Mountain. We went to Adventureland and bought hot chocolate and a funnel cake. We sat at one of the outside tables enjoying the fact that we were at Disney. On the way out, I went to Guest Relations and got a birthday button for DH. We left MK very tired.

 

[lindsey]

Thursday, December 13, 2005
Today is DH’s 59th birthday. We had breakfast reservations at Spoodles. Our waitress was great and made a fuss about DH’s birthday. She even brought a cupcake with candles. We boxed the cupcake and took it back to the room for later.

Then we went to EPCOT. It was nice walking through the International Gateway through England and Canada with hardly anyone around. We could see the Segway Tour from a distance. We work for the company who designed and built the tires so we see Segways around a lot. We went to the Land and walked right on Soaring. We rode Test Track and Spaceship Earth. We went to Innoventions and sent two postcards to our son in college. We went through the “house of the future” and walked all the way through both sides of Innoventions. We left Future World and headed to World showcase. This time I talked DH into riding the Mexico boat ride. I like it, even though it is getting pretty old. We rode the Norway boat ride again and browsed in the shops. We stopped and bought a few things in Germany. By the time we got to the American Pavilion, I was hungry, so we ate at the American Pavillion. I know it’s just hamburgers, etc., but their fixing bar is really good and there are always seats available inside and out. We saw several school field trip groups that day. We continued to walk and shop, to the International Gateway, and we went back to the hotel to rest. We really needed those rests because we are so out of shape.

Later we walked back to EPCOT (that’s why we selected Boardwalk Inn) and headed straight for the Land. The wait was very long, so we decided to skip until EMH. We rode the boat ride Living with the Land instead. We walked back to Canada and went straight into their show. When we walked out it was 6:20pm and our ADR was 6:30pm for Le Cellier. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated. They were turning all the walk-up’s away. This was our first time at Le Cellier and we enjoyed it very much. It seemed roomier than Italy’s restaurant. The wait staff was very attentive and answered all of our questions. I don’t remember which section we were seated. We both had the cheddar cheese soup. DH had the tenderloins and I had salmon. DH had a side dish of the creamy potatoes. After dinner, our waitress brought a wonderful chocolate dessert with Happy Birthday spelled in chocolate on the plate. It was delicious.

After dinner, we found a good spot just past Mexico toward the walkway to Future World to watch Illuminations. The holiday special after the regular Illuminations was wonderful. While everyone was trying to leave, we went to the Land and rode Soaring one more time. We left EPCOT and walked back to the hotel. As we were walking out the International Gateway, the CM asked if we wanted an EPCOT birthday button. Of course, a free souvenir – how often does that happen! It was fun having lots people wishing DH Happy Birthday!

Friday, December 2, 2005
We slept in and had cereal for breakfast in the room. We went to Downtown Disney to do some Christmas shopping. We were able to find most of what we were looking for and I saved 10% using my Disney Visa Card. We ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich and then walked all the way to the Westside to browse. We took the bus from the Pleasure Island stop back to the hotel.

After a nice rest, we left for our Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. The weather was cool, so I packed extra jackets, gloves, and hats in the backpack. We arrived about 5:30pm. I had read that this year people were being sent to Adventureland, and since it still looked crowded, we headed to Pecos Bills for dinner. This turned out to be a good decision. After dinner, it was about 6:10pm and the CM’s were heading all of the non-party people out of the park. We went on Splash Mountain with absolutely no wait. We were even able to select which row we wanted to sit in. DH lost his hat during one of the small dips. After the ride, we looked around in the small gift shop and I bought the MVMCP ornament. DH looked for a hat, but did not find anything there. I rode BTMR and it was also a walk on. We went to the Country Bear Jamboree and walked right in. It was a cute Christmas show.

When we got out of the theater, it was 7:10pm, so the rest of the park was open. After grabbing Hot Chocolate and a cookie in Harbour House, we went to Fantasyland and rode Peter Pan one more time. After the ride, DH was able to find a replacement hat. We left Fantasyland and walked to Tomorrowland. We rode the TTA (still WedWay to me). Space Mountain had the lights on and we could see the tracks. We went to Stitch’s Escape. I had never ridden Alien Encounter. I enjoyed the Stitch storyline. We left Tomorrowland and headed toward main street. We stopped for more hot chocolate and cookies at the Tomorrowland Terrace. We found seats at a table on the walkway between Tomorrowland and Main Street to wait for the fireworks. We had a better view than we had on Wednesday night. Once the fireworks were over, lots of people were leaving. We fought our way over to Adventureland and rode POC and HM. We went to the curb area near the Hall of Presidents and decided to stake out our claim for the parade. We have watched parades in the past in this same spot. I enjoyed watching the parade since we had not waited and watched since 1993! Once the parade was over, and we could stand up and walk again, we went to get our last hot chocolate and cookie. We slowly walked toward Main Street, and left to catch the bus back to the hotel.

Saturday, December 3, 2005
We went to the Boardwalk Bakery for breakfast. It was warm outside, so we sat at one of the outside tables and ate breakfast. We went back to the room to finish packing. After Bell Service picked up the bags, we left Boardwalk and took a bus to the MK. We were glad we were not going inside MK. It was very crowded with people going in and all the busses, monorails, and ferry boats still dropping off people. We took the boat to the Grand Floridian to walk around and visit the Gingerbread House. This place is so beautiful. We left GF via monorail and went to the Contemporary Resort. After walking around and remembering when DS was younger and enjoyed the game room, we took the boat to Fort Wilderness. We bought a snack and soft drink at the trading post and sat in the rocking chairs. We have always enjoyed our stays at FW. Then we took a bus to Wilderness Lodge. We had lunch at Roaring Forks.

Then we took the Animal Kingdom bus and transferred to the AKL bus. It was almost 3pm and we had no problem checking in. We had a great location. Bell services delivered our luggage within 15 minutes after we checked into our room. We really enjoyed the savannah view. We spent the rest of the day resting, watching the animals, and exploring the hotel. Dinner was at Mara. We went back to the night viewing area later and tried to see the animals with the night goggles, but the animals would not cooperate.

 

[lindsey]

Sunday, December 4, 2005
We ate breakfast in the room and headed to AK. We went straight to the Safari for fastpasses, and then backtracked to the Lion King Show. This was our first time seeing the Lion King Show and thought the show was great. After LK show, it was Safari fastpass time. Then we went on the Pagani(sp?) trails. We went to Dino Land and rode Dinosaur. DH got his turkey leg for lunch and I had Flame Tree BBQ. This place has a huge seating area, so finding seats was no problem. After lunch I rode the Primal Whirl. We found a bench and DH caught up with family on the phone while I people-watched. Then we bought an ice cream snack and headed to Tarzan Rocks. After the show, we walked around several of the shops, then left and went back to the hotel.

After a rest, we went to MGM for EMH. There was a huge line at the entrance with CM’s giving out the bracelets. I checked the schedule and saw that the RR area was also giving bracelets. We went to RR area, got our bracelets, and I rode RR one more time. We ate dinner at the ABC Commissary –food was so-so. We went to the Streets of America to see the Osbourne Lights. We walked all the way around the whole area twice. I missed the glasses. It was pretty, but I enjoyed the previous years with the fake houses and yards. Afterwards, we headed to the area to see Fastasmic. We waited in a long line and finally made our way into the stadium. We found good seats in the middle about 1/3 way up. DH went back for his popcorn and soft drink. He made it back just as the show started. We had not seen this show in many years and enjoyed watching again. We waited until most of the people had left before we attempted to leave. We checked the time for RR, but it was 30 minutes, so I decided to skip. We rode the Great Movie Ride again. This time we had females playing both parts. We browsed through the stores on our way out. Nightly EMH was a nice perk and we used it at EPCOT, MK, and MGM, but all of the parks were crowded when you consider how many people are staying at all of the resorts.

Monday, December 5, 2005
We went to Mara to pick up breakfast and take it back to our room. It was fun to sit at the table and watch the animals. We took our time getting ready, and then rode the bus to MK. There was a lot less people going in this day than Saturday. We took the monorail to TTC, and walked to the Polynesian. We had stayed here in 1996 and always enjoy the walk from TTC to the hotel. We did a little shopping and people watching. When we left the Poly, we took the bus to AK. We were the only two people from Poly to AK and had a nice chat with the driver. When he pulled up the AKL spot, we realized we did not have to transfer. We ate lunch at Mara. We had heard that a baby giraffe had been born on Thanksgiving Day and was going to be let out in the savannah today. We tried several times to see him/her. Finally another couple told us how to get to the end of one of the hallways, so that we could see the baby. It was so cute and was staying very close to Mom. We had ADR’s for Boma’s, but were not really very hungry, so I cancelled our ADR’s.

Later we went to Downtown Disney to finish the shopping so that I could pack the bags. I bought DS over a pound of Jelly Belly’s at Goofy’s. DH tried to warn me it was $2.90 for ¼ pound. We were able to find everything we wanted and also enjoyed the night lights at Downtown Disney. After browsing the shops, we took the bus back to AKL.

Tuesday, December 6, 2005
This was our last day. We went back to Mara for breakfast again. After I got all of the bags packed, (I brought an extra carry-on bag for purchases), we went downstairs to the airline check-in. There was a problem with one of their computers (the one on the right does not like Delta). Finally, everything was worked out, we were checked in and our bags were taken away. I had one small carry-on that I let Bell Services hold for me. We lingered in the room until about 10:45am enjoying the view of the animals. We went back to see the baby giraffe one more time. Since our bus was not going to pick us up until 4:30pm, and I did not have any more park passes, and I did not need to do any more shopping (I would not have anywhere to carry it, even if I bought “it”), we decided to visit the entrance to all four parks. So our final adventure began by taking MK bus to MK entrance, monorail to TTC, transfer to Epcot monorail, bus to MGM, boat to Boardwalk, bought a coffee at the Boardwalk Bakery, bus to AK, and bus to AKL. It was fun and killed a lot of time. We had a late lunch at Mara. A Magical Express bus was at the resort picking up at 4:05pm, so we took it to the airport. There had been a wreck at the airport and traffic was backed up for quite a ways. It was nice knowing we had plenty of time. Once at the airport, everything went smoothly and we were back home in no time.

Overall – a wonderful trip.
• I enjoyed the split stay. It was a good opportunity to try two different resorts – busy Boardwalk with EPCOT and MGM close by, and more relaxed AKL with time to just enjoy the animals.
• I enjoyed the plane trip instead of the drive. The direct flight in less than 1hr 20 minutes was great!
• This was a great time to go. Tuesday through Thursday was not crowded at all.
• I enjoyed the fact that it was DH and myself this trip and we could do whatever WE wanted to do. We will return with family and extended family again – hopefully summer after next (2007).
• This was our first MVMCP and we enjoyed the park, parade, and fireworks.

 

[heaven2dc]

Really enjoyed your report - what a relaxing enjoyable stay!! You have inspired me to reconsider our vacation time to what seems to be a less hectic time of year - any pics to post? We would love to see them!!