Friday July 25, 2003
Cast:
Me: (36) Certified Disney Nut
DW: (33) Just a Disney Fanatic
DD: (5) Slowly Becoming A Disney Nut
DS: (5 months) Hasn't Begun Conversion Yet
Actually, a better title to this part of our trip would be "The trip from you know where!!" After months of waiting, our trip was finally here. We loaded up the van and got ready to head to Jacksonville, FL where we would spend the night before getting to WDW the next morning. The trip down was pretty uneventful. We arrived in Jacksonville around 5pm and decided to eat at Cracker Barrel before the crowds got in. After eating we head over to the Master's Inn right off JT Butler Blvd. Our first site was a tour bus and a load of people outside. This can't be good. I park and go in to check in. I have two rooms reserved, one for us and one for another family that is in route. I give the clerk my name and she said that my room is ready. I asked about the other room and she said that I only have one room. I explained to her that I have two rooms and showed her my receipt from lodging.com where I had already paid. I am then told that due to overbooking, they cancelled one room and are giving me the other for free. I told her that this was unacceptable, there is no way two families can sleep in one room. She said that there was nothing that she could do, since all other rooms were occupied. I immediately asked for a phone to call lodging.com and they were great. They got me two rooms at the Jameson Inn next door and refunded my payment of the Master's Inn. I canceled the other room at Master's Inn and walked out. By this time DS was tired, hungry and crying. DW is on edge from all the drama and a crying baby. We drove over to the Jameson Inn and they immediately checked us in and gave us connecting rooms. Things are looking better. Our other party is supposed to be in route at 5pm and should arrive at 11pm or so. I call to check on them and they got a late start and will not be there until between 1 and 2am. That is going to make it hard to be on the road at 7am the next morning. Well they arrive about 1:30 am and immediately hit the sack. Good thing the room were in my name and I had already checked them in. They just had to come up and get the key from me. Things can only get better.
Saturday July 26, 2003
We all get up by 6am, even the other family that got in at 1:30am, and got ready to head out. Everyone wanted breakfast, so we ate the continental breakfast that the hotel provided and was on the road by 7:45. Good thing I factored a safety factor in to the departure time. Guess that is the engineer coming out in me. We had a PS at Chef Mickey's at 11:15 and it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to WDW from Jacksonville. After gassing up and construction delays, we made it to the WL at 10:30. We decided to for go any baggage unloading and just try to check in and get to our PS. Checking in was a breeze, no lines. We then head down to catch the boat over to the CR for our PS and arrive at the podium about 10 minutes early. While we wait, we get our picture made behind the big plate and get autograph and pictures with Goofy. Finally we are seated and breakfast was as good as ever. The kids got autographs and picturs with Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto.
After breakfast, I go over to the shops to get some scrapbooking scissors (hot items) and a PAL Mickey. As I walk through the store I notice to teenage girls coming towards the exit and as they walk by, they pick up a pack of Mickey Macaroni and stuff it in there bag. I am appalled. I save my hard earned money so I can come to the best place on earth and these girls think thay are getting stuff for free, not today. I let them exit the store and then tell the CM about them and point them out. She calls security. I felt better now. Then we head up to the monorail to go to MK. Our friends have never been to WDW so I request the front car and surprisingly, no one is waiting. As we start to the front, a lady and her daughter start to walk up to the front as if to board. We immediately cut her off and tell her we were waiting first and then the CM informs her that if she wants to ride in front, she will have to wait for the next train. What is it with people? Our friends loved the front of the monorail. The driver played with the kids throughout the ride.
At MK, we leave the monorail and I realize I have left DD & DS's autograph book at the CR. So I send DW, DD and DS and our friends into MK to wait on the barber while I go back to get it. Here we go again, this trip is not starting out very good. I get back to CR and retrieve the autograph book. Then head back to MK, walking. I had heard the walk was nice, but boy is it long when it is 90+ degrees. Anyway, meet the others at MK and the barber is backed up. So much for getting the kids haircut the first day. MK was crowded and it was hot, so we decided to just head back to the WL and cool off. Hopefully our rooms would be ready and we could unpack and rest before heading back to MK this evening for Spectro. Our goal was to see Spectro tonight and then we would be free the rest of the trip to just ride while it was going on. Got back to WL and my room was ready but our friends was not, so we all crashed in our room unil it was. We got everything we requested in our fax, standard room on the 6th floor North side with bunks. We could see the castle AND the otter pond. Room number was 6060.
After unpacking and resting, we head back to MK to catch Spectro. We decide to go to FrontierLand since it is not as crowded as Main Street. We get a spot right up front. Spectro was nice, but it hadn't changed any since last year so we knew that we definitely didn't need to see it again this week. After Spectro, we head toards the exit since we have been up since 6am and our friends only got 4 hours sleep the night before. The boat dock to WL is packed, so I suggest we take the monrailto CR and then the boat to WL. Worked great until we got to CR. We head out to the boat dock and we along with about two dozen other people wait for a boat to Wl or FW. And we wait, and wait. After seeing about three boats go by, we decide to find another way. Find out that the boats from CR to FW and WL stop at 9:30pm. To make a long story short, we had to take a cab from CR to WL. Everyone was exhausted and aggravated. Got in bed about midnight and tomorrow is early entry to MK so we have to get up early. Finally the day is over. Maybe the magic will start tomorrow.
Cast:
Me: (36) Certified Disney Nut
DW: (33) Just a Disney Fanatic
DD: (5) Slowly Becoming A Disney Nut
DS: (5 months) Hasn't Begun Conversion Yet
Actually, a better title to this part of our trip would be "The trip from you know where!!" After months of waiting, our trip was finally here. We loaded up the van and got ready to head to Jacksonville, FL where we would spend the night before getting to WDW the next morning. The trip down was pretty uneventful. We arrived in Jacksonville around 5pm and decided to eat at Cracker Barrel before the crowds got in. After eating we head over to the Master's Inn right off JT Butler Blvd. Our first site was a tour bus and a load of people outside. This can't be good. I park and go in to check in. I have two rooms reserved, one for us and one for another family that is in route. I give the clerk my name and she said that my room is ready. I asked about the other room and she said that I only have one room. I explained to her that I have two rooms and showed her my receipt from lodging.com where I had already paid. I am then told that due to overbooking, they cancelled one room and are giving me the other for free. I told her that this was unacceptable, there is no way two families can sleep in one room. She said that there was nothing that she could do, since all other rooms were occupied. I immediately asked for a phone to call lodging.com and they were great. They got me two rooms at the Jameson Inn next door and refunded my payment of the Master's Inn. I canceled the other room at Master's Inn and walked out. By this time DS was tired, hungry and crying. DW is on edge from all the drama and a crying baby. We drove over to the Jameson Inn and they immediately checked us in and gave us connecting rooms. Things are looking better. Our other party is supposed to be in route at 5pm and should arrive at 11pm or so. I call to check on them and they got a late start and will not be there until between 1 and 2am. That is going to make it hard to be on the road at 7am the next morning. Well they arrive about 1:30 am and immediately hit the sack. Good thing the room were in my name and I had already checked them in. They just had to come up and get the key from me. Things can only get better.
Saturday July 26, 2003
We all get up by 6am, even the other family that got in at 1:30am, and got ready to head out. Everyone wanted breakfast, so we ate the continental breakfast that the hotel provided and was on the road by 7:45. Good thing I factored a safety factor in to the departure time. Guess that is the engineer coming out in me. We had a PS at Chef Mickey's at 11:15 and it is a 2 1/2 hour drive to WDW from Jacksonville. After gassing up and construction delays, we made it to the WL at 10:30. We decided to for go any baggage unloading and just try to check in and get to our PS. Checking in was a breeze, no lines. We then head down to catch the boat over to the CR for our PS and arrive at the podium about 10 minutes early. While we wait, we get our picture made behind the big plate and get autograph and pictures with Goofy. Finally we are seated and breakfast was as good as ever. The kids got autographs and picturs with Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Pluto.
After breakfast, I go over to the shops to get some scrapbooking scissors (hot items) and a PAL Mickey. As I walk through the store I notice to teenage girls coming towards the exit and as they walk by, they pick up a pack of Mickey Macaroni and stuff it in there bag. I am appalled. I save my hard earned money so I can come to the best place on earth and these girls think thay are getting stuff for free, not today. I let them exit the store and then tell the CM about them and point them out. She calls security. I felt better now. Then we head up to the monorail to go to MK. Our friends have never been to WDW so I request the front car and surprisingly, no one is waiting. As we start to the front, a lady and her daughter start to walk up to the front as if to board. We immediately cut her off and tell her we were waiting first and then the CM informs her that if she wants to ride in front, she will have to wait for the next train. What is it with people? Our friends loved the front of the monorail. The driver played with the kids throughout the ride.
At MK, we leave the monorail and I realize I have left DD & DS's autograph book at the CR. So I send DW, DD and DS and our friends into MK to wait on the barber while I go back to get it. Here we go again, this trip is not starting out very good. I get back to CR and retrieve the autograph book. Then head back to MK, walking. I had heard the walk was nice, but boy is it long when it is 90+ degrees. Anyway, meet the others at MK and the barber is backed up. So much for getting the kids haircut the first day. MK was crowded and it was hot, so we decided to just head back to the WL and cool off. Hopefully our rooms would be ready and we could unpack and rest before heading back to MK this evening for Spectro. Our goal was to see Spectro tonight and then we would be free the rest of the trip to just ride while it was going on. Got back to WL and my room was ready but our friends was not, so we all crashed in our room unil it was. We got everything we requested in our fax, standard room on the 6th floor North side with bunks. We could see the castle AND the otter pond. Room number was 6060.
After unpacking and resting, we head back to MK to catch Spectro. We decide to go to FrontierLand since it is not as crowded as Main Street. We get a spot right up front. Spectro was nice, but it hadn't changed any since last year so we knew that we definitely didn't need to see it again this week. After Spectro, we head toards the exit since we have been up since 6am and our friends only got 4 hours sleep the night before. The boat dock to WL is packed, so I suggest we take the monrailto CR and then the boat to WL. Worked great until we got to CR. We head out to the boat dock and we along with about two dozen other people wait for a boat to Wl or FW. And we wait, and wait. After seeing about three boats go by, we decide to find another way. Find out that the boats from CR to FW and WL stop at 9:30pm. To make a long story short, we had to take a cab from CR to WL. Everyone was exhausted and aggravated. Got in bed about midnight and tomorrow is early entry to MK so we have to get up early. Finally the day is over. Maybe the magic will start tomorrow.
