Pumpkin's Big Trip 12/2-12/9

[chipmunkfan]

The Pumpkins’ Pre-trip report:

Cast of Characters:
Me aka (Lil P) The Disney freak and planner
DH aka (Big P) Could care less about going

After watching the Christmas parade in 04 I decided that I was miserable because I didn’t have enough magic in my life. How can you add the magic? Go to Disney of course! January I booked the vacation for December for me and Big P. I was thrilled because I haven’t been to Disney in many years and Big P has never gone to Disney….and never flown.

I didn’t know anything about planning, and happened to come across the DIS boards by accident. All of the sudden I became obsessed to plan the ultimate vacation. I became addicted to the DIS, bought the Unofficial Guide and Passporter, and subscribed to TourGuide Mike. The Unofficial Guide went to bed with me every night and the Passporter held all my Disney secrets which I guarded with my life!

Around March or so I began to discuss all the plans with Big P and he turns to me and states I thought we were going to Germany or something….huh? I mentioned that for a brief second and came to my senses and realized Disney was the place we needed to go.

Well I have been planning everything and the only time I’m aloud to talk Disney is through the DIS boards! Thank you everyone for listening! I have changed hotel reservations a million times, okay maybe three times but it sure seemed like a million. I planned everything from which ride to go on to which spot is best for a parade.

One brief thing I want to mention. I booked my airline through Disney, Delta out of Newark. I found out from the DIS my flight was cancelled because Delta Song was pulling out of Newark. Okay, I never heard anything from Disney Travel about this. I called them up and they were surprised to hear the information. After some investigation the DIS was right, and the flight was cancelled. Thank you DIS because I would have never known.

I do not want to make hardly any decisions…this will be a vacation within its self.

I have learned so much that is not only Disney but a lot of other information too. I love the Budget board!!! Yes, I have ebay’d my way to Disney and saved money through ING!

Anyway, the time is getting closer and Big P is still not excited, “Disney is the last place on earth I would vacation. Can’t we see all the parks in three days.” You know what kind of attitude I’m getting. I’m thinking okay pal this will be your one and only vacation and I will just go solo. Well, I think Big P is just getting nervous because he is 40 years old and this is his first flight and first time on a real vacation. Big P has his own business and never has taken a week off for vacation. Oh yeah, did I mention one more thing? He gets motion sickness. Ugh!

Pre-trip report learnings:
If you want to talk Disney, go to the DIS boards
Plan, plan, plan
Make hotel reservations early
Make flight reservations on your own

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/2 Departure Day
Hired a car service to pick us up at 8:00am. I was a little worried because our house is hard to find. Even though I had everything ready there is always those last minute items that have to be packed and little things that need to be done. I had to laminate my lime green mickey heads yet and attach them to all the bags. You never know when you will spot another Dis’er. Well, what do you know….the driver showed up on time and now I’m scrabbling to get my ducks in a row.


Left Newark International Airport at 11:30 on JetBlue. I must say this airline is awesome. The seats were comfortable and I loved having individual tv’s. Now, this is DH’s first time flying and he has severe motion sickness. I gave him Bonine early this morning to help him out. Well each seat had their own barf bags which was a relief….just in case.

Everything went smooth and we were in Orlando in no time. DH was a little queasy but held up fine. He said the Bonine made his stomach feel like one big knot and didn’t know which would be worse, vomiting or having stomach pains. Followed the baggage claim signs to the Magical Express area and waited in a short line to check in. Once checked in they send you to the appropriate bus line. I think we waited 10 minutes at the most until the bus came.

We pulled in the drive to Wilderness Lodge and once we past under the sign and my excitement was building…all of the sudden a little boy in front of us threw up everywhere. Not just the normal vomiting, this spewed straight out of his mouth…twice. I’ve never seen anyone throw up like this except on tv. Anyway, it was gross and sort of ruined the experience. I was thankful we were only about 100 feet from the entrance. We soon got over it once we entered the lobby. Wow, it is breathtaking. Check in was easy and a few minutes later we were in our room.

I made reservations at Whispering Canyon which I was a little nervous about because DH and I are kind of boring people. Okay, well lets say not really sociable. We were seated in BJ’s section and he was awesome. So for anyone thinking that it may be too rowdy for you….give it a try you will have a good time. The all you can eat skillet was excellent. A perfect meal to end a long day. Oh yeah, BJ was saying "Welcome to the crappiest place on earth." Don't you know, DH used this line throughout the vacation.

Lessons learned:
Always fly JetBlue
Carry a barf bag just in case

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/3 Saturday Animal Kingdom and La Nouba
Animal Kingdom had its early morning entry this morning and we arrived at about 8:10am. Of course we went straight to the safari with no wait. All the animals were out trying to get some sun since it was about 59 degrees in the morning. Thanks to Tour Guide Mike and all the planning, everything was walk on. Ate at FlameTree Barbecue which was just your average food.

The Lion King show looked great, however we only seen about 10 minutes of the show. They had technical difficulties with the hydraulics on the main stage and had to cancel the show. Too bad, we were leaving after this.
I must say I really enjoyed this park and the amount of animals we seen. We had such a great time!

I had tickets to go to La Nouba for the 6:00 show. I really didn’t know what the show was about because I couldn’t find out many details. All I have to say is it was amazing! The best show I have ever seen. There were so many things going on at once it was hard to keep track of everything. At first I thought the music was pre-recorded, but than I seen the small group of people playing all the instruments. The performers were flawless and breathtaking. To sum it up, the show displayed strength, power, beauty, and elegance. It was simply incredible. Even DH, who hates shows absolutely loved it!

Tips:
If it’s a cool morning go to Animal Kingdom, you will probably see more animals out in the sun.

Get tickets to La Nouba. Even if you think it may not be your thing. The show is spectacular!

This was DH’s first time to the World and I made a good choice by starting him out at Animal Kingdom. It isn’t too overwhelming for a newbie.

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/4 Sunday Magic Kingdom and MVMCP
Today was the big day to the Kingdom. We made it before opening, but it was crazy at the tunnel entrance going to Main Street. Once the rope was dropped only one tunnel was open to enter into Main Street. The other tunnel was closed off to let the parade people enter in the park. After a couple of hundred people cramming into the tunnel we beelined it to the stores on the left and went through the stores to get to the end of main street.

I had all the attractions planned out so it really eliminated the pressure of making any decisions. I seen a ton of people with maps spread out and that “where do you want to go” look on their face. Not me and DH, we had a plan. Of course at first you are awe-struck from the castle and loose your mind for a minute. But back to reality there were things to see and a plan to follow. Thanks again to tour guide mike! No waits on any rides! I couldn’t believe it, but I fast passed and followed my plan with no waits.

Around noon we decided to go back to the resort to take a nap and get ready for MVMCP. I had reservations and Cinderella’s Royal table at 4. Okay, so we are back at the Kingdom, rested up and eating at the castle. The eating area in the castle is huge. We were seated right at the window overlooking Fantasyland. The food was great, which was surprising because I just wanted to eat in the castle…who cares about the food. I had the best chicken ever and DH had a steak. The castle was beautiful at night. I couldn’t keep from staring at it.

We were waiting in line to get our wristbands for MVMCP and DH started talking to a lady from Texas. Out of the corner of my eye I caught the glimmer of a lime green Mickey head. I quickly jumped in and said “your’re a DIS’er”!!! Of course she said and I quickly whipped out my lime green Mickey head like we were in a secret club or something. It was funny. So hello to “wdwtheplacetobe”, nice to meet you!

So the rest of the evening went by quickly and we were able to do a few more attractions and at the end watched the special Wishes. It was amazing.


Tips:
Always stick to the plan. You have prepared for months, trust yourself, and stay with your original plan.

Go to Cinderella’s Castle for dinner

Bring a tri-pod for your camera (I could not get a clear night shot of the castle no matter how hard I tried everything came out blurry. Even tried balancing the camera on Dh’s head, but nothing worked)

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/5 Monday Relax Day
We went to downtown Disney in the morning. Nothing really special. Ate at Earl of Sandwich which was pretty good. I think we were back at the hotel by noon. Dh was feeling to good, so he took a nap and I decided to go to the beach. I was all excited to just go get a margarita and sit on a lounge chair and read. Well, I didn’t bring my driver’s license and was carded so I ended up with a coke….on a lounge chair reading. All was not lost, went back to the room a few hours later and Dh and I went to the bar for a margarita. A very strong margarita…yikes. Later on Dh was craving for a burger from Cosmic Ray’s so we took the boat over to MK for dinner at Cosmic Ray’s. I love this place, especially sitting outside looking at the castle. Nothing could be better. After that we came back to the resort. It’s so nice to have quick transportation.

Tips:
-Always schedule a relax day

-Pay attention to your food lines, don’t just jump in line with everyone else. The person at the register helps both sides, we bypassed a ton of people waiting in line because they didn’t realize you are serviced at both sides of the register.

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/6 Tuesday Move to Boardwalk Inn/ go to Epcot
Had the luggage transferred to the Boardwalk and took the bus over to Epcot. For those of you worried about the luggage transfer thing…it was easy. The bell hop was up to the room within 5 minutes and took care of everything. Just tell them the resort it’s being transferred to and he will give you a claim tag receipt. That’s it.

Epcot:
Of course I had each attraction planned…thanks to tour guide mike. So, it was easy. Walk on all the attractions. We were even asked to go again on test track!

In the afternoon we walked over to the Boardwalk Inn to check in. We were upgraded to concierge from a waterview room. I couldn’t believe we were sprinkled with pixie dust. The only compromise was I lost a good view. Our balcony overlooked a courtyard. The food offered at concierge wasn’t that great, but they did have sodas and snacks. I wouldn’t pay the extra money to stay in concierge, it just wasn’t worth it. The room was a pretty good size with a king size bed. However the tv was smaller than the Wilderness Lodge. You can definitely hear more things like showers and toilet flushes at the Boardwalk compared to the Wilderness Lodge. I doubt I will return to the Boardwalk but it was nice to stay there once.

Went back to Epcot in the evening for dinner at Le Cellier. The atmosphere is kind of loud and the tables are all squished together. The food was pretty good. However, there was this nasty women sitting next to us complaining about her food and her bill. She was so ignorant I wanted to ask her to leave because she was ruining our meal. At first I thought she was teasing the server, but she was actually being rude and ignorant. I can just assume she thought the prices were too high and she was looking for a comp. She showed them though, we seen her family sticking something in her purse, probably silverware. Good Lord! I just felt bad for the server because she was screaming at him.

After dinner we just walked around the countries. I have to note the Norwegian boat ride….wow….that was rough. It makes abrupt stops, but it was pretty cool

 

[chipmunkfan]

12/7 MGM
We were there for the rope drop which is insane. It’s like an angry mob waiting to get their victim. Anyway, I took DH on tower of terror and we were right upfront. Just to mention he gets severe motion sickness. So, I was laughing the whole time and he was well a little green. The picture taken on ride showed me with this huge smile and him looking at me with the god awful look. Poor DH. Needless to say he skipped rocknroller coaster. We did have lunch at the Sci-Fi, which was cool but extremely pricey. I must say I thought overall Disney was very inexpensive foodwise, until this restaurant. The prices were very high.

We did the fantasmic meal package, and went to Hollywood & Vine which is your typical buffet….nothing special. Fantasmic was pretty awesome, definitely worth seeing. Since we had the package we went in a side entrance with no waiting. I would recommend the package because the general public line was really long.

12/8 Relax day
Well it poured all day today. Basically we hung out in the room. My only objective was to go to MGM and take pictures, but that didn’t happen. Tomorrow we leave…..

 

[chipmunkfan]

Conclusion:
We both had a wonderful time, better than expected. The service and the rooms were excellent. DH is now a converted Disney fan! We are already planning next years trip. I will definitely use Tour Guide Mike again because his information was so accurate. Every park we went to was walk on attractions.

We absolutely loved the Wilderness Lodge. The best part is the grounds around the lodge. Go take a walk, we came across a ton of deer.

I found out that depending on your age your park tastes will change. When I was in my early 20’s I really didn’t like the Magic Kingdom at all. Now, it is my favorite park. I guess I appreciate the animatronics and more of the details.

To all with significant others that think they will hate Disney. I turned a total non-believer into a guy who can’t wait to go back. So, there is hope. After months of hearing that he didn’t want to go on this trip, now all he can talk about is going back.

My only pet peeve:
People you must walk like you drive, “stay to your right.” I don’t understand what people are thinking half the time because they were either just twirling around in the center of the walking areas or spread out ten wide across the path. By the third day DH and I got so tired of moving out of these people’s way we decided enough was enough. I was walking up a staircase in Epcot and this family was coming down and spread out across the steps. The man elbowed me against the railing so I got in my best football tackle position and when the women tried to push me aside I wasn’t budging. I sat her butt right down on the step! Why should I stop moving because you don’t know how to walk appropriately?
Come on people….stay to your right! Okay getting off of my soapbox now.

The trip was awesome thanks to all the DIS tips and tour guide mike.

 

[heaven2dc]

Sounds like everything is going great for your vacation - glad hubby didn't get sick on the plane! How is he liking the vacation so far? With all your great planning I think you have made it a smooth trip for both of you

 

[budbeerlady]

We also loved Cirque, we saw it on Dec. 15. DH was a non-beliver, he did now say he would go back. I am sure the dining plan and my outstanding plans did the trick. (I used Tour Guide and Dis boards also)

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

So how did you feel like the crowds were at that time of year? Did you have any problems with the filming of the parade? Were the crowds bad that day? Did you have any waits over 20 minutes for rides and shows? We are planning a trip for next December and we are trying to find the very best time to go (crowd wise). Thanks.

 

[Dooda]

Enjoyed the report! Thanks for posting it!

 

[Starrin]

Hi,

Great report ... I enjoyed reading it. I am heading down very soon ... this will be my second trip sporting my lime green Mickies .... I hope someone recognizes me

 

[exwdwcm]

i have an anti disney DH as well.....i think he is that way because we were living together and had been dating for 4 years when I told him I was leaving for 4 months to go work at disney on the college program....so maybe that is why he is anti mouse?

but I think i can turn him as well- not as crazy as I am, but at least get him to go and ahve a good time- it's nice to know there is hope! glad you and your DH had a great time!! thanks for sharing!