Nicoal13
not so patiently waiting for next vacation
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 683
Travelers:
Me - Nicole, age 25
Jenny, age 25
We've been good friends our whole lives. It was my 4th trip and Jenny's first. We left our husbands at home. Girls only!
9/10/04
I managed to fall asleep around 9pm on Friday night, but then woke up wide awake at 2am on 9/11. I managed to snooze a little bit, but then got up at 4am to get ready.
Our flight left at 7:30am and we got to Orlando around 11:30. It was a nice flight. We had a cute family behind us with 3 little kids who were so well behaved. We ran into them later in the week waiting for Philharmagic at Magic Kingdom, they even recognized us. Strange that in such a huge place, you still run into the same people.
After we got off the plane, we were met by our driver, who then took us to the grocery store where we picked up some water and snacks. Then it was on to the Wilderness Lodge! We had orginally planned to stay at POFQ, but on the day before we left, we changed our reservation to WL so that we would feel safer with the interior corridorrs in case Ivan showed up.
On our way to the Lodge we saw downed trees in the wooded areas and houses missing windows or with tarps on their roofs from the hurricanes.
We got to the WL (Wilderness Lodge) and our breath was just taken away. It is a beautiful resort and the lobby is spectacular. We were very pleased with our decision to change resorts.
We checked in and our room was not ready yet, so we hopped on a boat over to the Magic Kingdom. Jenny had never been there before. I was surprised at how there were no waits even though it was the Night of Joy. We got onto Buzz, Space Mountain and a few others.
Then we went back to the hotel to settle into our room. The room was very nice as well. We had a balcony with a view of a service area behind the hotel. We werent thrilled with that, but once it was dark out, we realized we could also see the castle from our room. In fact, we watched the fireworks from our balcony one night.
After we were settled, we hopped on a bus to Epcot. I had planned for us to take an Illuminations cruise with another DISer and her family to view the fireworks there that night as a surprise for Jenny. I had told her about it on Friday since she needed something to lift her spirits after worrying about Hurricane Ivan.
So we got to Epcot rode on Spaceship Earth, Test Track and walked around a bit before heading to the meeting place for the cruise. They were a nice family from Raleigh and we enjoyed chatting with them and our captain who was also named Nicole. The view of the fireworks was awesome and it was a great way to end our first day.
After that it was time for sleep!
Sunday we woke up pretty early, I think we were so excited to be there!
We headed over to Animal Kingdom around 9am and rode on the Kilimanjaro Safaris and got lots of pics of animals. We also saw the 3-D show Its Tough to be a Bug. Then we rode on Dinosaur a couple of times. We also saw The Festival of the Lion King show, that was awesome. I was so glad we saw that, it was my first time. I definitely recommend it!
By this time we were getting tired, so we headed back to the WL for a swim and a rest.
After that we headed back to Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and others. We also watched Wishes that night.
Monday was spent at Disney MGM Studios. We did Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Little Mermaid, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, The Backlot Tour and pretty much everything else there.
Monday night we went back to Epcot. We finally rode Mission Space. All the hype for this ride had me scared. We thought it was kind of boring! I was afraid I would get sick, but it didnt bother me at all. The take-off was great, but the rest wasn't the greatest. I would ride it again if I was with someone that wanted to go on, but otherwise I might avoid it.
Then we went back to the room to watch the Packers/Panthers game. Yay Pack! I fell asleep at half time though. My bed was just too comfy!
Tuesday we spent all day at Magic Kingdom again. We did much of the same rides again, it was great! We must have rode Space Mountain 10 times during the week.
We watched the afternoon Share a Dream Come True parade and the nighttime parade Spectromagic. Both were excellent. I got lots of great pics.
The absence of lines all week was awesome! 5 minutes to 0 minute wait everywhere.
Wednesday we went back to Epcot and walked around World Showcase, rode the rides in Mexico and Norway, watched the shows and films everywhere else. It was a nice leisurely day.
We also went to Downtown Disney that night, saw a comedy show at Comedy Warehouse and did a little shopping. We also went to Disney Quest. We did Cyber Space Mountain. To me, that was worse than Mission Space! That gave me a headache. So we went back to the room but it was already pretty late.
Thursday, I think we went to Animal Kingdom again for a little bit to ride Dinosaur again and the safari too. That night we went to MGM and got caught in a downpour.
Friday was spent at Downtown Disney for more shopping and Magic Kingdom and relaxing in the room.
Saturday we went to Epcot so that I could buy some silver bracelets in Mexico for Christmas gifts. Then we went to Magic Kingdom for a last ride on Space and Splash Mountains.
Our car picked us up at 4:30. It was supposed to be a car like the trip to the hotel, but they upgraded us to a Ford Expedition. It was very nice.
Our flight was delayed about an hour on the way home. No big deal though.
Like I said, the lack of lines were great! We never waited for anything. Also we took a break in the afternoon almost every day. We would swim and nap and get recharged for the evening.
It was a great trip!
I was glad to get home though!
Sorry for the simplistic report. But I'm not the greatest writer.
Any questions, please ask
Me - Nicole, age 25
Jenny, age 25
We've been good friends our whole lives. It was my 4th trip and Jenny's first. We left our husbands at home. Girls only!
9/10/04
I managed to fall asleep around 9pm on Friday night, but then woke up wide awake at 2am on 9/11. I managed to snooze a little bit, but then got up at 4am to get ready.
Our flight left at 7:30am and we got to Orlando around 11:30. It was a nice flight. We had a cute family behind us with 3 little kids who were so well behaved. We ran into them later in the week waiting for Philharmagic at Magic Kingdom, they even recognized us. Strange that in such a huge place, you still run into the same people.
After we got off the plane, we were met by our driver, who then took us to the grocery store where we picked up some water and snacks. Then it was on to the Wilderness Lodge! We had orginally planned to stay at POFQ, but on the day before we left, we changed our reservation to WL so that we would feel safer with the interior corridorrs in case Ivan showed up.
On our way to the Lodge we saw downed trees in the wooded areas and houses missing windows or with tarps on their roofs from the hurricanes.
We got to the WL (Wilderness Lodge) and our breath was just taken away. It is a beautiful resort and the lobby is spectacular. We were very pleased with our decision to change resorts.
We checked in and our room was not ready yet, so we hopped on a boat over to the Magic Kingdom. Jenny had never been there before. I was surprised at how there were no waits even though it was the Night of Joy. We got onto Buzz, Space Mountain and a few others.
Then we went back to the hotel to settle into our room. The room was very nice as well. We had a balcony with a view of a service area behind the hotel. We werent thrilled with that, but once it was dark out, we realized we could also see the castle from our room. In fact, we watched the fireworks from our balcony one night.
After we were settled, we hopped on a bus to Epcot. I had planned for us to take an Illuminations cruise with another DISer and her family to view the fireworks there that night as a surprise for Jenny. I had told her about it on Friday since she needed something to lift her spirits after worrying about Hurricane Ivan.
So we got to Epcot rode on Spaceship Earth, Test Track and walked around a bit before heading to the meeting place for the cruise. They were a nice family from Raleigh and we enjoyed chatting with them and our captain who was also named Nicole. The view of the fireworks was awesome and it was a great way to end our first day.
After that it was time for sleep!
Sunday we woke up pretty early, I think we were so excited to be there!
We headed over to Animal Kingdom around 9am and rode on the Kilimanjaro Safaris and got lots of pics of animals. We also saw the 3-D show Its Tough to be a Bug. Then we rode on Dinosaur a couple of times. We also saw The Festival of the Lion King show, that was awesome. I was so glad we saw that, it was my first time. I definitely recommend it!
By this time we were getting tired, so we headed back to the WL for a swim and a rest.
After that we headed back to Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and others. We also watched Wishes that night.
Monday was spent at Disney MGM Studios. We did Tower of Terror, Rock n Roller Coaster, The Great Movie Ride, Star Tours, Little Mermaid, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, The Backlot Tour and pretty much everything else there.
Monday night we went back to Epcot. We finally rode Mission Space. All the hype for this ride had me scared. We thought it was kind of boring! I was afraid I would get sick, but it didnt bother me at all. The take-off was great, but the rest wasn't the greatest. I would ride it again if I was with someone that wanted to go on, but otherwise I might avoid it.
Then we went back to the room to watch the Packers/Panthers game. Yay Pack! I fell asleep at half time though. My bed was just too comfy!
Tuesday we spent all day at Magic Kingdom again. We did much of the same rides again, it was great! We must have rode Space Mountain 10 times during the week.
We watched the afternoon Share a Dream Come True parade and the nighttime parade Spectromagic. Both were excellent. I got lots of great pics.
The absence of lines all week was awesome! 5 minutes to 0 minute wait everywhere.
Wednesday we went back to Epcot and walked around World Showcase, rode the rides in Mexico and Norway, watched the shows and films everywhere else. It was a nice leisurely day.
We also went to Downtown Disney that night, saw a comedy show at Comedy Warehouse and did a little shopping. We also went to Disney Quest. We did Cyber Space Mountain. To me, that was worse than Mission Space! That gave me a headache. So we went back to the room but it was already pretty late.
Thursday, I think we went to Animal Kingdom again for a little bit to ride Dinosaur again and the safari too. That night we went to MGM and got caught in a downpour.
Friday was spent at Downtown Disney for more shopping and Magic Kingdom and relaxing in the room.
Saturday we went to Epcot so that I could buy some silver bracelets in Mexico for Christmas gifts. Then we went to Magic Kingdom for a last ride on Space and Splash Mountains.
Our car picked us up at 4:30. It was supposed to be a car like the trip to the hotel, but they upgraded us to a Ford Expedition. It was very nice.
Our flight was delayed about an hour on the way home. No big deal though.
Like I said, the lack of lines were great! We never waited for anything. Also we took a break in the afternoon almost every day. We would swim and nap and get recharged for the evening.
It was a great trip!
I was glad to get home though!
Sorry for the simplistic report. But I'm not the greatest writer.
Any questions, please ask
