Recapturing my youth in my favorite place on Earth

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Here is some background: I have been planning to go to WDW for my 30th birthday for over a year. I figured it was the perfect place to celebrate a birthday that I was anxious about. When planning the trip I always assumed I was going solo, and my BFF and her husband would meet me down there for a few days. So I was pleasantly surprised when an online dating site matched me up with someone who also loves WDW and within a month or so of dating we were discussing taking the trip together to celebrate my birthday. Of course, we waited a few months before making our reservations to make sure the relationship was still going well. And the trip would happen the week before Thanksgiving, when we had been dating for 7 months. On a side note, it is a good thing he wanted to go with me because my BFF found out she was expecting her first baby and wouldn’t be able to travel.

Time for the first of many firsts for me: I used a travel agent to book my trip. Dreams Unlimited travel actually. I consider myself an experienced WDW traveler. I’ve been 8 times, have read the Unofficial Guide backwards and forwards, and listen to no less than 10 podcasts every week. But after hearing how great Dreams Unlimited was, I had to try it. Originally we booked Pop Century for 7 nights using a pin code. (Never had a pin code before, so it was another first.) Then free dining was offered. DBF and I looked at menus, figured out approximately how much we would spend on food, and discovered that for a little bit more we could stay at a Moderate Resort. So we booked 7 nights a Port Orleans Riverside with free dining. We chose POR because it is considered one of the most romantic resorts and this was our first vacation together.

Another thing I had never done was schedule an ADR. I actually have only had 1 table service meal at WDW ever. I ate at the bar at Paradiso 37 during my trip the year before. DBF and I spent one evening figuring out our itinerary and which restaurants we would like to try to eat at and then my responsibility was to make the ADR’s. I used the online ADR site and found that it was pretty easy. I won’t get into details here about where we got ADR’s. I will save that for further on in the report. I will say that I was able to get almost all the ADR’s we wanted 120 days out.

Fast forward to November and the first day of our trip. We flew Southwest on a Sunday morning. The lady sitting next to me was a nervous flier and kept asking if she could talk to me during the flight to keep her mind off of things. I had my Kindle with me, but didn’t get to use it too much since she kept interrupting. DBF had his new iPod loaded with movies so he was occupied too. We arrived at MCO around noon and got in line for Magical Express. We were at the front of our line and only had to wait about 10 minutes for our bus. I had taken ME before, but this was DBF’s first experience. He finally got excited when the video started. Prior to that he was playing it pretty cool and I was worried that he didn’t share in my excitement for the trip. By the time we drove under the main sign he was about to bust out of his seat.

In another stroke of good luck, POR was the first resort stop for the bus. We had not done online check-in prior to our trip so we had to go through the normal line, but we were done in about 10 minutes. We had bought our park tickets as part of our vacation package, but we decided on the way down that we would purchase another day so that we could hit Epcot that evening. The nice lady checking us in said we had to go to the Guest Services desk to add the extra day to our tickets. Getting the extra day added was not nearly as easy as checking in was. A new CM was working at the desk and she had a hard time with the computer system. It took almost half an hour to get our tickets upgraded. But she was very nice and everyone is new to a job at some point so we didn’t mind too much. Eventually everything was straightened out and we were on our way to our room. We were in the Alligator Bayou section in building 25 or 26 (I can’t remember now) on the first floor. It was a pretty far walk from the main building and not easy to find (more about that later) but the grounds are definitely gorgeous. Our room was what we expected. I wish they had double beds instead of queen beds, but that is really my only complaint.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

After we dropped off our carryon luggage in the room and changed into Florida-appropriate clothes, we headed to the bus stop to go to Epcot. POR is a big resort with a lot of bus stops. We went to the bus stop at the front of the resort this time, not realizing that there was one closer to our room. That was just one of many navigation mistakes we would make at the hotel on our trip. But we got to the main bus stop and didn’t have to wait long at all for a bus to Epcot.
We were meeting a couple that DBF knew from work that had recently moved to Orlando to be closer to the magic. DBF got a text from them saying “Meet us at Spaceship Earth.” I couldn’t help thinking back to something I read somewhere advising that you pick a more specific place to meet than “in front of the castle” or “under the giant golf ball.” Luckily they were waiting at the queue entrance so we didn’t have any trouble finding them.
Our whole reason for hitting Epcot that evening was to experience Food & Wine. Now, I know it is always a bad idea to go to an event like Food & Wine of the first or last night, but this was our only opportunity to go, and DBF really wanted to see what it was all about. It was packed to the gills with people! DBF got 2 things – a sausage on pretzel bread and a beer. I got one thing that night – a glass of pomegranate kir from France. It took me 20 minutes to get it, and while it was good, I would rather have spent that time (and money) on something else. I’m a super picky eater, so my dinner that night was chicken nuggets and fries from the American Inn. I thought it was really good, and it was empty because everyone was out at the kiosks. That was about all the four of us could handle in World Showcase that evening so we headed back to Future World to ride some rides.
Our first ride was Journey into Imagination. I have never been on that ride before, or if I have I don’t remember it. I’ve heard so many people rave about the original version and how the current version isn’t bad so I was looking forward to my first ride on it. There was no line (is there ever?). My overall opinion of the ride can be summed up in one word – meh. The tune is catchy. Animated figment is cute. Audioanimatronic figment is CREEPY! I don’t think I will be doing that ride again unless it is with my handicapped brother or when I have kids of my own. DBF didn’t think it was as cute as he remembered it either.
At this point I really wanted to see Captain EO, but no one else did. We went to The Seas with Nemo and Friends instead. This was DBF’s first time on it since the refurb. It was cute, but I was really disappointed that I didn’t get to see any dolphins in their tank. After that we went to Test Track, which is by far mine and DBF’s favorite ride at Epcot. Of course it was awesome. We wanted to get the picture of all of us on the ride together, but the fastpass reader at the end of the ride wasn’t working. I was kind of surprised that we only had about a 15 minute wait to get on. I guess everyone was still at the back of the park. After Test Track we did some browsing through the shops, but we didn’t buy anything yet. We then decided to call it a night because we had had a long day of traveling and our friends had to go to work the next day. We didn’t have to wait long for a bus, but when we got back to the resort we got off at the main bus stop again, so we had a long walk back to our room. Once we got back we showered and hit the sack right away because we had an early morning shuttle reserved to take us to Universal in the morning.
Next up: Universal Studios and DTD

 

[Disney_Jill]

Sounds like your trip is off to a pretty good start (minus the crowds at F & W). I can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

We got up way early this early this morning to catch the first Mears shuttle to Universal. We ate a QS breakfast at the food court using the dining plan. It was your average IHOP food. When we were done eating we went outside by the valet desk to wait for the Mears shuttle. It was only about a 5 minute wait. A regular van took us and another family to Universal and dropped us off across the street from the parking garage in the shuttle area. So we had to walk up the stairs and across a bridge before we even got to the US parking garage. Then the long walk/moving walkways to City Walk. And THEN we made it to the IOA gate about an hour before park opening. We were using gift cards to buy our 1 day/2 park tickets. We brought the receipts with the activation codes for the cards with us and while we were trying to get organized DBF threw one of his gift cards in the trash. Whoops! He reached in and got his card back, and then I rubbed antibacterial lotion all the way up his arm. Crisis averted. We purchased our tickets with no problems and got in line for the park.

I have a complaint about Universal. Their map (singular) is awful. I was trying to plan our route to WWoHP and it was not easy with their map. The gates opened about 20 minutes early so we booked it to WWoHP, put our stuff in a locker, and walked right on Forbidden Journey. The line was really cool but we didn’t get a chance to really study it. The rid itself is really cool, but I found myself getting motion sickness during the film sequences. And I screamed bloody murder during the dementor portion. I actually ended up shutting my eyes for that part. DBF loved every second; swinging his legs back and forth and looking around like a little kid. Oh, and a spider spit in my eye. It burned!

After the ride we decided to look around a little bit. We went on Flight of the Hippogriff just so I could see Buckbeak. Otherwise that ride is not worth it for adults. Tried Butterbeer, both frozen and regular. Frozen was better, but both were too strong for me. We got our picture taken in front of the Hogwarts Express. Best line of the day is when the conductor commented that DBF brought his only Weasley to the park. Did I mention I’m a natural redhead? We went in the shops but didn’t buy anything. Nothing really appealed to us as adults, and the stores are so small it was claustrophobic. I understand they were trying to be true to the stories, but there is no excuse for making the stores that small. They might actually be losing sales because of people like us who don’t buy things because we are too frustrated by the crowds to shop.

By this point Forbidden Journey was only a 20 minute wait so we decided to go again and use the time to enjoy the line. There are a lot of really cool things in there, but I won’t spoil it for anyone. I kept my eyes open on the ride this time, but I still felt sick. I will say that they way they have the lockers isn’t very accessible. There is a mass of humanity trying to get in and out with their stuff. That part takes longer than the ride itself.
After WWoHP we hit the Cat in the Hat ride. It was awful, scary, and painful. Never again until I have kids that want to go on it. Next was Spiderman. This was DBF’s first time on it and he loved it. I liked it too, but again had some motion sickness problems. It seems like the longest ride every when trying not to throw up! After Spiderman was Jurassic Park. I had never been on it before. I love that ride! We didn’t get as soaked as some people did. The scenery is beautiful and I like the dinosaurs. DBF enjoyed it because he had been on it before and knew he could handle the drop.

By this point we had seen everything we wanted to in IOA and decided to go for lunch before heading to US. I know there is a lot more to see in IOA, but we wanted to hit all the headliners in the one day we had. We had lunch at Margaritaville. We both had burgers and they were your average restaurant burgers. Our server was really slow. The best part was eating on the patio and watching the people walk buy. After lunch we headed over to US and were harassed by their photo people every 5 feet from the globe all the way to the first ride. Why do they have so many photo people in one small area? Our first attraction was Shrek 4D. I know it has story flaws, but I still really enjoy it. I don’t remember it being that bumpy before though. For all you well endowed ladies like myself, I highly recommend a sports bra for this show!
Next was the Mummy, which in my opinion is a mix of Big Thunder and Dinosaur. It was better than I remembered it and DBF really liked it. We saw Disaster next, and the only part we liked was the Christopher Walken hologram. That thing is great! Finally we went to the Simpsons. Both DBF and I are big fans and this was our big reason for visiting for US. The queue is really creative. The story is cute, but we were both a little disappointed in the ride. It seems like they just want to make you as sick as possible versus giving you a good ride.

By this point in the day we were both pretty much done with US. We were tired from being up early and had seen everything we wanted to, so we called to schedule our shuttle back to the hotel. We had to wait about 2 hours so we used the time to shop because my stomach couldn’t take any more rides. One thing we both noticed is that the quality of souvenirs at US is not very good. We both ended up getting sweatshirts and that was it. After we got home and DBF washed his sweatshirt it looked like garbage. It did not was well at all. Our shuttle was waiting for us when we got back to the shuttle area and we didn’t have to wait long for the other family that was joining us. We also stopped at Sea World to pick up a third family. Now we had no trouble with the Mears shuttle and definitely found it to be worth $16 pp, but the family we picked up at Sea World had a problem. The van that was supposed to pick them up in the morning broke down, so Mears sent a regular taxi to get them. The taxi driver didn’t give them their return voucher after they paid him, so when they got on the van to go home the driver wanted them to pay again. It became a big hassle, but I think they worked it out. We got dropped of first so we don’t know the final resolution. But a word of advice – always get your return voucher when you prepay!

When we got back to our hotel room DBF and I had the brilliant idea to go to DTD for some dinner and shopping. We got on the boat to DTD and enjoyed the ride down the Sassagoula. It was really neat to see the Treehouse Villas and the boat was so relaxing. Once we got to DTD we wandered around aimlessly into stores and looking for something that sounded good to eat. We finally settled on Paradiso 37 and were very underwhelmed. Maybe we were too tired, but the food was average and the server was not very good. We ate quickly and were out of there. We wandered into a few more shops and ended up at the other end of DTD. That is when we realized we were exhausted and the walk back to the boat dock seemed like 10 miles. Then the line for the boat was so long that we missed the first boat and had to wait for the next one. Finally we got back to the POR and we had to find our room. In our exhaustion we wandered around looking for our building for 20 minutes! I had a map in my purse and that still didn’t help. DBF was ready to sleep on a bench. We did finally find our room and a closer bus stop in the process.

Next Up: AK and MVMCP