WDW Poly Princess
Needs a Disney Fix
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2000
- Messages
- 4,873
The Cast:
Crystal: Me! WDW Poly Princess, lover of all things Disney, DIS addict, planning addict-19 year old photographer/customer service person/horseback riding instructor/ Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant (Yup, 4 jobs. See why I need a vacation??)
Mary: Mother of 5 lovely daughters, has to be drug to Disney, but tends to start enjoying it quickly. Somewhere-over-50 wonderful lady.
April 30, 2001
Well, after all the planning and dreaming and scheduling and planning some more, the day had finally come! Well, technically the night before the day is where our story begins! If you read the pre-trip report, you already know that I got our flight reservations through priceline. While we did save a lot of money, the downfall to this is that you sometimes have to fly at less convenient times, and this was definitely the case for us! Our flight left at 5:50am, from an airport more than an hour away!
Im far from being a morning person, but it was for *WDW*, so I was more than happy to get up that early! The problem, however, lay in the fact that I first had to work at Dixie Stampede until around 8 the night before, and then come home, pack, work my online customer service job from 1-3:30 am, and then go catch my flight! I finally decided to get a quick three-hour nap after work, and woke up right around one. Mom decided to brave the elements and just stay up all night to get her packing done. She finally insisted that we leave at three, so I left work early, and hit the road!
Despite my unrealistic plans to sleep on the way to the airport, I was wide-awake the whole time. It reminded me of that WDW commercial where they are laying in bed- Cant sleep! Too excited! I was amused that both times we stopped at gas stations (once for gas, the other for coffee!) the people working there asked what we were doing out so late/early. I was thrilled to reply Were going to Disney World! As far as I was concerned, mom could not drive fast enough to the airport. If her speed fell below 60, I would immediately hound her to drive faster. Well, honestly, I did that no matter how fast she was driving, because it just wasnt fast enough! At last, we arrived at the airport a little after 4. We managed to get a great spot in the long-term parking. Even though we werent too far from the building, all of our bags made the short distance seem like quite a hike!! The TWA desk wasnt even open yet, so I sat and watched a map on the wall that shows where it is day and night in the world. Looking back, Im not quite sure why I was so fascinated, but when its 4am and not even the airport gift shop is open, its really very exciting to watch daylight hit Brazil, and night fall upon Australia. I couldnt help but wonder what everyone else in the world was doing. Then I decided- Who cares what THEY are doing! Im going to DISNEY WORLD! Then I wondered how many other people were sitting in airports waiting to go to WDW... it was a long wait ;-) Around 5, the small restaurant in the airport opened, so we decided to grab a bite to eat, because you know, we obviously wouldnt be doing enough eating in WDW! :roll eyes:
The flight out was uneventful- I was lucky to have the window seat, I always love to watch the view. How often do you get to watch the sunrise from 20,000 feet? I took the fact that our stewardesss name was Crystal as a good sign. Our flight to St. Louis was only a half hour, and then we flew from there to Orlando. I was disappointed that they didnt have peanuts on either plane, but some odd cookies that I have never seen, but were really rather good. I still mourned over the lack of peanuts though. Whats a flight without peanuts!? While we were flying low enough to see houses, I noticed that almost every house in the area we were flying over had a screened in back yard- roof and everything. Odd.. anyone know why? As we were descending into Orlando, my ears hurt REALLY bad! Ive flown a few times before and never had any pain, but this was horrible! I was about to cry by the time we touched down, but we were in FLORIDA, so I couldnt! They finally popped halfway on the monorail, and life was much better. I adore the monorail at MCO, it makes me feel like Im finally *there*.
I had submitted a request around midnight to Tiffany Towncar to pick us up, so I wasnt sure if they would actually be there or not. Sadly, as we descended the escalator into the baggage claim area, none of the men held a sign with our name
We decided to use Mears Shuttle, although at that time we would have ridden to our hotel on an elephant, as long as it got us there!
There was a huge group at the Mears stop, and the woman in charge informed us that busses would come to take separate groups to the resorts. Caribbean Beach came first, then Coronado, AK Lodge, all of the All Stars, and finally Port Orleans! Sitting on the bus I had fun watching the family right in front of us. They had three girls, the youngest of which reminded me a lot of my niece Hannah. What really got my attention was when she yelled rather loudly I hate Mickey Mouse! causing several people around us to laugh. Can you imagine the look of horror on her poor parents faces to hear that after they had just paid so much to get there?
Later on down the road, when we first entered Disney property, a little boy started chanting DISNEY WORLD! DISNEY WORLD! and it tool every ounce of willpower I had not to join in! Mom, in her habit of falling asleep anytime she has a second, slept for most of the trip, but I kept waking her up to point out everything... the entrance sign, our first sight of the Epcot Ball, Space Mountain, and the castle.. She didnt appreciate being woken up as much as I thought she would- Humph!
Before we knew it, we had arrived at Port Orleans Riverside, so we stored our luggage and set off to the TTC, because due to my annual pass discount, I needed to buy my AP before we checked in. We were thrilled to get a discount on our passes (AP for me, 6-day park hopper for mom) with moms Disney Club Card, which had arrived in the mail the <i>day</i> before we left. The only thing I dont like about my AP is that its thin cardboard, and hardly survived our trip in my back pocket. I cringe to think of what Dan Murphys must look like by now!!
Tickets in hand (or pocket in my case!), we looked around for a bus to Port Orleans, but found out we had to go to the MK to get one. Now, the problem with this was that I was walking RIGHT PAST the gates to the Magic Kingdom, with AP in hand, after dying to be there for a year, and I COULDNT GO IN! We had decided to make this a no-park day so mom would only need a 6-day ticket, so I could only gaze at the entrance, and know I would be there tomorrow. What torture that was!!! We finally made it back, and checked in. We ended up in Acadian House, room 8229. The walk over was beautiful, and I really enjoyed seeing DxL (pardon me as I continue to call it that- old habits die hard). We finally found Acadian House, and started following the signs towards our room number. We walked, and walked, and walked, following arrow after arrow. We even ended up in a different building than we started in, but finally found our room! It was a great room right on the corner, so we had 2 windows! The view mostly overlooked grass and trees, and just a tiny bit of parking lot. Inside we had two queen beds, a table with chairs, tv, two sinks with a mirror over each,. and then the bathroom. Mom immediately fell into bed, having had no sleep the night before, and I waited around for our bags.
Before we left, I spent a lot of time talking to my friend Katie, who lives in Orlando. We decided to meet up to see the Arabian Nights dinner show, and I bought tickets through Dreams Res. However, when I was buying them, I checked the Pick up in Orlando option, thinking that would mean that I would just pick them up at Arabian Nights. However, after when I got my confirmation email, it said I had to pick them up at a ticket center, which I really didn't want to do, so I called them while waiting for our Mears shuttle and changed it to room delivery, which is only $5 more. The tickets arrived shortly after our bags, and that left me with lots of free time. I took a quick shower, which felt wonderful after a day of traveling, and then decided to walk around the resort to explore and take pictures while mom napped. I slipped into the flip-flops I had bought the week before, since they were the only black shoes I had brought, and I was wearing black pants and a dressy shirt for the show. Now, I know flip-flops are horrible for WDW, and I had planned on only wearing them around the pool, or if my tennis shoes were <b>really</b> killing me in the parks. I <i>thought</i> I would be smart, and wrap the little part that goes between your toes with moleskin, to make it softer. What I hadnt counted on was part of that coming loose, and rubbing my foot wrong, giving me a painful blister before I even walked all the way up to the lobby area!
Browsing the gift shop, I came across something I just *had* to have- a 2001 Disney World <b>scrapbook!!!</b> Im an absolute scrapbook fanatic, and decided this would be perfect to use for all my trip photos. I planned to take a ton of photos, and had even struck up a deal with my boss to get 15 rolls of film for only $2 a roll! I didnt have the Disney Dollars I had earned on beenz.com with me at the moment, so I decided to come back for the scrapbook when I did. By now it was time to go back and wake mom up to get ready for the show, and arrange for transportation.
Up Next: Day 1 Part 2- Why On Earth Are They Clapping??
April 30, 2001
Well, after all the planning and dreaming and scheduling and planning some more, the day had finally come! Well, technically the night before the day is where our story begins! If you read the pre-trip report, you already know that I got our flight reservations through priceline. While we did save a lot of money, the downfall to this is that you sometimes have to fly at less convenient times, and this was definitely the case for us! Our flight left at 5:50am, from an airport more than an hour away!
Im far from being a morning person, but it was for *WDW*, so I was more than happy to get up that early! The problem, however, lay in the fact that I first had to work at Dixie Stampede until around 8 the night before, and then come home, pack, work my online customer service job from 1-3:30 am, and then go catch my flight! I finally decided to get a quick three-hour nap after work, and woke up right around one. Mom decided to brave the elements and just stay up all night to get her packing done. She finally insisted that we leave at three, so I left work early, and hit the road! Despite my unrealistic plans to sleep on the way to the airport, I was wide-awake the whole time. It reminded me of that WDW commercial where they are laying in bed- Cant sleep! Too excited! I was amused that both times we stopped at gas stations (once for gas, the other for coffee!) the people working there asked what we were doing out so late/early. I was thrilled to reply Were going to Disney World! As far as I was concerned, mom could not drive fast enough to the airport. If her speed fell below 60, I would immediately hound her to drive faster. Well, honestly, I did that no matter how fast she was driving, because it just wasnt fast enough! At last, we arrived at the airport a little after 4. We managed to get a great spot in the long-term parking. Even though we werent too far from the building, all of our bags made the short distance seem like quite a hike!! The TWA desk wasnt even open yet, so I sat and watched a map on the wall that shows where it is day and night in the world. Looking back, Im not quite sure why I was so fascinated, but when its 4am and not even the airport gift shop is open, its really very exciting to watch daylight hit Brazil, and night fall upon Australia. I couldnt help but wonder what everyone else in the world was doing. Then I decided- Who cares what THEY are doing! Im going to DISNEY WORLD! Then I wondered how many other people were sitting in airports waiting to go to WDW... it was a long wait ;-) Around 5, the small restaurant in the airport opened, so we decided to grab a bite to eat, because you know, we obviously wouldnt be doing enough eating in WDW! :roll eyes:
The flight out was uneventful- I was lucky to have the window seat, I always love to watch the view. How often do you get to watch the sunrise from 20,000 feet? I took the fact that our stewardesss name was Crystal as a good sign. Our flight to St. Louis was only a half hour, and then we flew from there to Orlando. I was disappointed that they didnt have peanuts on either plane, but some odd cookies that I have never seen, but were really rather good. I still mourned over the lack of peanuts though. Whats a flight without peanuts!? While we were flying low enough to see houses, I noticed that almost every house in the area we were flying over had a screened in back yard- roof and everything. Odd.. anyone know why? As we were descending into Orlando, my ears hurt REALLY bad! Ive flown a few times before and never had any pain, but this was horrible! I was about to cry by the time we touched down, but we were in FLORIDA, so I couldnt! They finally popped halfway on the monorail, and life was much better. I adore the monorail at MCO, it makes me feel like Im finally *there*.
I had submitted a request around midnight to Tiffany Towncar to pick us up, so I wasnt sure if they would actually be there or not. Sadly, as we descended the escalator into the baggage claim area, none of the men held a sign with our name
We decided to use Mears Shuttle, although at that time we would have ridden to our hotel on an elephant, as long as it got us there! There was a huge group at the Mears stop, and the woman in charge informed us that busses would come to take separate groups to the resorts. Caribbean Beach came first, then Coronado, AK Lodge, all of the All Stars, and finally Port Orleans! Sitting on the bus I had fun watching the family right in front of us. They had three girls, the youngest of which reminded me a lot of my niece Hannah. What really got my attention was when she yelled rather loudly I hate Mickey Mouse! causing several people around us to laugh. Can you imagine the look of horror on her poor parents faces to hear that after they had just paid so much to get there?
Before we knew it, we had arrived at Port Orleans Riverside, so we stored our luggage and set off to the TTC, because due to my annual pass discount, I needed to buy my AP before we checked in. We were thrilled to get a discount on our passes (AP for me, 6-day park hopper for mom) with moms Disney Club Card, which had arrived in the mail the <i>day</i> before we left. The only thing I dont like about my AP is that its thin cardboard, and hardly survived our trip in my back pocket. I cringe to think of what Dan Murphys must look like by now!!
Tickets in hand (or pocket in my case!), we looked around for a bus to Port Orleans, but found out we had to go to the MK to get one. Now, the problem with this was that I was walking RIGHT PAST the gates to the Magic Kingdom, with AP in hand, after dying to be there for a year, and I COULDNT GO IN! We had decided to make this a no-park day so mom would only need a 6-day ticket, so I could only gaze at the entrance, and know I would be there tomorrow. What torture that was!!! We finally made it back, and checked in. We ended up in Acadian House, room 8229. The walk over was beautiful, and I really enjoyed seeing DxL (pardon me as I continue to call it that- old habits die hard). We finally found Acadian House, and started following the signs towards our room number. We walked, and walked, and walked, following arrow after arrow. We even ended up in a different building than we started in, but finally found our room! It was a great room right on the corner, so we had 2 windows! The view mostly overlooked grass and trees, and just a tiny bit of parking lot. Inside we had two queen beds, a table with chairs, tv, two sinks with a mirror over each,. and then the bathroom. Mom immediately fell into bed, having had no sleep the night before, and I waited around for our bags.
Before we left, I spent a lot of time talking to my friend Katie, who lives in Orlando. We decided to meet up to see the Arabian Nights dinner show, and I bought tickets through Dreams Res. However, when I was buying them, I checked the Pick up in Orlando option, thinking that would mean that I would just pick them up at Arabian Nights. However, after when I got my confirmation email, it said I had to pick them up at a ticket center, which I really didn't want to do, so I called them while waiting for our Mears shuttle and changed it to room delivery, which is only $5 more. The tickets arrived shortly after our bags, and that left me with lots of free time. I took a quick shower, which felt wonderful after a day of traveling, and then decided to walk around the resort to explore and take pictures while mom napped. I slipped into the flip-flops I had bought the week before, since they were the only black shoes I had brought, and I was wearing black pants and a dressy shirt for the show. Now, I know flip-flops are horrible for WDW, and I had planned on only wearing them around the pool, or if my tennis shoes were <b>really</b> killing me in the parks. I <i>thought</i> I would be smart, and wrap the little part that goes between your toes with moleskin, to make it softer. What I hadnt counted on was part of that coming loose, and rubbing my foot wrong, giving me a painful blister before I even walked all the way up to the lobby area!
Browsing the gift shop, I came across something I just *had* to have- a 2001 Disney World <b>scrapbook!!!</b> Im an absolute scrapbook fanatic, and decided this would be perfect to use for all my trip photos. I planned to take a ton of photos, and had even struck up a deal with my boss to get 15 rolls of film for only $2 a roll! I didnt have the Disney Dollars I had earned on beenz.com with me at the moment, so I decided to come back for the scrapbook when I did. By now it was time to go back and wake mom up to get ready for the show, and arrange for transportation.
Up Next: Day 1 Part 2- Why On Earth Are They Clapping??
I'm waiting for mom to give me some notes so I can have her imput on things, so as soon as I get those I'll work on the rest!
